Last week I was in Hyderabad, to complete the eye check-up started on the last visit. I read the transcripts of some interviews done by Gita. It has been something of a revelation, to find out what all George was up to, in the last years of his life. I hope those who have something to share, and have not yet done so, will come out soon.
Controversy was no stranger to George alive, and controversy will not desert George dead. E-mails swish this way and that, on who may lay claim to his legacy. All of us are lawful claimants, and no one has exclusive rights.
That said, aren't we focusing on the wrong things? Are we to squabble about who will set up the wayside shrines, and who will collect the coins thrown by passers-by/
We live in the Age of the Montoinettes: The people have no bread? What do they do with their 28 rupees? Airlines and airports are gifted to cronies with calendar babes on their arms. Airwaves were served fresh to first comers, and are now to be mock-auctioned. Children have been granted the fundamental right to education, but the State does not have the will to educate them or the money to pay for their education. One policeman watches over 800 non-VIPs, but a dozen were in attendance when George was murdered.
Karl.
Controversy was no stranger to George alive, and controversy will not desert George dead. E-mails swish this way and that, on who may lay claim to his legacy. All of us are lawful claimants, and no one has exclusive rights.
That said, aren't we focusing on the wrong things? Are we to squabble about who will set up the wayside shrines, and who will collect the coins thrown by passers-by/
We live in the Age of the Montoinettes: The people have no bread? What do they do with their 28 rupees? Airlines and airports are gifted to cronies with calendar babes on their arms. Airwaves were served fresh to first comers, and are now to be mock-auctioned. Children have been granted the fundamental right to education, but the State does not have the will to educate them or the money to pay for their education. One policeman watches over 800 non-VIPs, but a dozen were in attendance when George was murdered.
Karl.
I do not know George Reddy, I have never met him. I grew up in Nellore where I completed my graduation and came to Hyderabad to do my Masters in Statistics in the year 1980. Till then, I grew up in an atmosphere at home which was liberal, left thinking (my father was an active member of the CPI) and equated Communism/Socialism with Soviet Russia and truly believed that the Soviet Union was India's best friend and also the friend of all liberation movements that were very actively spreading all over the globe. When I entered the OU campus, one the first things I noticed were the wall writings in beautiful calligraphy, prominent among those was " George Reddy Amar Hai !" I wondered who George Reddy was and little did I realize then that George Reddy and the political thinking that he espoused would play such an influential role in my life as a student of OU.
ReplyDeleteI joined in the B Hostel as a boardee and my first brush with left wing politics was on the very first night in the hostel. I was put up in room no 4 in B hostel by a gentleman whom i had met in class that morning till such time i could get a proper room allocated. Leonid Brezhnev, the then premier of the erstwhile Soviet Union was on a state visit and some students were planning to stage a black flag demonstration in protest against his visit. I was aghast at such a suggestion and asked them how they could even contemplate such an action against a nation which stood by India in its every hour of crisis. I remember the general mirth (and scorn too) my remarks generated with someone among them remarking " who is this Russia Bhaktha in our midst?" My first class in political science ( of the extreme left variety) was a result of this. I learnt quite a few things as days passed by as I slowly converted into a guy embracing the radical philosophy of politics. It was during these time that I learnt about George Reddy, the kind of politics he stood for, the kind of forces he opposed, the way he "liberated" OU campus from lumpen elements which had made the campus their home ground for all illegal activities.....stories about George Reddy's exploits abounded and were folklore among the student community. There were a lot of people who were influenced by George Reddy's thoughts and actions, who joined revolutionary movements and who gave up their lives for the cause they believed in ! I remember that we all derived courage to oppose communal forces in the campus, lumpen elements trying to again get a foothold in the campus... remembering the deeds and exploits of George Reddy!Each time we sang Lal Salaam for George Reddy and other fallen comrades, each time we rendered slogans like " George Reddy Amar Hai", we would be filled with a sense of belonging and pride - that we are on the side which fought for the right kind of people, the masses, the deprived, downtrodden and oppressed masses..... !!!
Time has passed on and a lot water has flown under the bridges, I have been busy struggling to make a comfortable living for me and my family... away from politics, from political activity... but when we see the kind of political leadership that is occupying the state, the kind of leadership that is waiting to take over, one worse than the other, we suddenly remember with fondness with an yearning for the past for leaders like George Reddy who put social causes above self !!! George Reddy Amar Rahe !!!!
p.s. : A thought crossed my mind, if George Reddy were alive today......, if the lumpen elements had not gotten him....the State would have gotten him.. another name in the encounter list.
Is there aw ay to reach you Karl?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately Karl was dead
ReplyDelete