Review of Arundhati Roy's political essays

"Listening to the Grass Hoppers: Field Notes on Democracy" is Arundhati Roy's latest compilation of political essays presented in a book. This is my second reading of her compilations after "Algebra of Infinite Justice". Both these books consist of essays written by her over a period of time on subjects ranging from Narmada Dam, Gujrat Riots, Pokhran Tests to America's war against terror.

We are, often to our ignorance, fed with news which are manipulated and which are aimed at creating a public conscience over something for the benefit of some particular groups. Very often, we get carried away by the public sentiments and create opinions which are ill informed (after reading the essays, you will realize that even courts get carried away by these things). In this era of 24 hours news channels, its impossible to know which news to trust and which not to. Through these essays (which contain proper citations), she has tried to make public aware of the happenings from which we are otherwise insulated.

Arundhati Roy in the past has been criticised for what people perceive as cynicism, over exaggeration and irrationality. I for one don't know how much exaggeration is there in her books but I personally feel that it is sometimes required to raise issues which need to be brought to the public attention. The so called irrationality arises from the fact that she has an objective opinion and she gives a third party perspective to the things. This is something which remains elusive to most of us given the deeply etched associations and opinions that we hold.

Most of the times, her essays have left me cynical about the future of our great country (and the cynicism has just not been created for selling more books) but the fact that still there are people which are resisting the suppression(I am talking not just about her but also about the groups and people mentioned in her essays) is the silver lighning in the dark cloud. The essays are a great read and the product of the immense knowledge that she possesses and her first hand experiences because of her personal involvements and once you are finished reading them, you will definitely feel better informed.

Dor

Exquisite. Thats what I would say if I have to give the review of Dor in 1 word. Simple, beautiful, elegant and moving. Its a movie which carries you along with it. When I see movie like this I really feel that there is so much potential in the Indian cinema which is yet to be realized. In the times when most of the movies present you with exotic foreign locations and story with which you just cant relate, here is a movie which takes you to the valleys of Himachal and the deserts of Rajasthan and has a story which is very much original and refresing and makes a great use of the Indian settings. The story is about two women Meera (Ayesha Takia) and Zeenat(Gul Panag) whose lives intersect because of an incident which makes it necessary for Zeenat to find Meera. And to top that only thing that Zeenat has to find the whereabouts of Meera is a photograph. But that is just the first half of the movie. The best part of the movie starts when Zeenat finds Meera. Thats where you see the contrast between a confident and unwavering Zeenat and a shy, suppressed and dogmatic Meera who by the action of the destiny is holding the dor controlling Zeenat's life. You see the predicaments of Zeenat. You see the fight that Zeenat and Meera are fighting with themselves. You see Zeenat helping Meera to come out of the cobweb created by Meera herself and her family. The interpersonal relationship between Meera and Zeenat has been depicted beautifully by Nagesh Kukunoor. Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia look stunningly beautiful in their simple looks and have played their characters superbly and Shreyas Talpade is really refreshing. Its a movie which was hailed as one of the best movies of 2006 and is surely a must watch.