Suruma Writes On...

Dear Bapuji,    I do not know where to start. Sometimes I just feel like crying out loud. Sometimes I feel lost completely.Yet at other times I feel surprised.The world that we are living in today is such a bizarre one,isn't it? Or has it always been that way?    Everyday or the other,I see helpless souls around me-young children who have lost their childhood,women who are assaulted and harassed,Dalits ,Adivasis, the poor and minorities who are discriminated,exploited and humiliated,farmers who are forced to commit suicide,thousands of ordinary men and women who burn in the fire of hatred-the list goes on.     People often tell me that these are the naked truths of the world- realities you can never alter.But everytime someone says that ,Bapuji, your image flashes in and out of my mind.What if you had been bogged down by such pessimism?Would we ever had tasted the essence of freedom ,that we take for granted today? I ask this myself, then garner some strength and keep tell

Dr.Shashi Tharoor delivering talk after the book launch and introducing my collection of poems  "The Refuge" https://www.facebook.com/The-Refuge-A-collection-of-Poems-By-Jasmin-Naur-Hafiz-141883836350619/?hc_ref=ARQ0bcX_BkD1pu7deyZuiEGSoEka2R7Xm_kVZQ0ShpS1DUDnolsEQ0lkbUeusMLUqaI&pnref=story

Link to the face book page for my book The Refuge https://www.facebook.com/pg/The-Refuge-A-collection-of-Poems-By-Jasmin-Naur-Hafiz-141883836350619/videos/?ref=page_internal

Today we were made to take the "New India Pledge" as part of the 70th Independence Day celebrations. The pledge which was read out to us in Hindi, was not comprehended by more than half of the students. And hence it was a huge farce for us and the only thing that happened was that we had to raise our arms for quite a long time and repeat something that sounded to us like jargon. Why is it that we are made to take a pledge in Hindi, a language that most of us here in Kerala have difficulty in understanding, rather than in Malayalam or English? Isn't this part of the agenda to impose Hindi as a national language and thereby jeopardize the 1,526 other languages and dialects that our country boasts of?  Linguistic chauvinism should definitely be identified and fought against. For you your language, for me mine.

Triple- Talaq has managed to capture the time and imagination of the Indian audience, thanks to media houses and News hour debates. While eminent personalities express their thoughtful opinion in 9 0’clock debates and lawyers on each side vehemently defend their stances in the apex court, it seems extremely ridiculous and awkward to many practicing Muslims, that their Muslim brethren are defending a practice against which the Quran has unequivocally raised its voice. The Quran which was revealed in the 7 th century AD to Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) was not only a spiritual text. It was a political weapon for social upheaval. It categorically voiced against many socially unjust practices that had become the norm in Arabia as in other parts of the world. And one among them was the practice of instantaneous divorce. It had become the standard in many parts of the world for men to arrogantly dissolve their marriage, without the approval of their wives or the consultation of others i

It is very depressing to see some reviewers and journalists categorise Bahubali as an upper caste Hindu film. Certain articles in newspapers and journals somehow picturise it as a film that promotes the caste hierarchy as it emphasises on Kshatriya Dharma in a few instances. Some say that it reinforces Hindu iconography as it shows giant elephants and Brahmin priests chanting shlokas and conducting yajnas; that it somewhere, somehow has transformed itself into a Hindu propaganda movie. Bahubali, no doubt is very similar to ancient Indian mythology that most Indians are familiar with. But does depicting Indian mythology in a film make it a propaganda movie? Does depicting giant elephants and Brahmin priests suddenly make the movie divisive? Values that real Hindutva embody, contrary to what right wing elements spread today, are values that can be considered true learning lessons of life. Bahubali is no different. The movie depicts a great prince (who unfortunately was not crowned t

With Trivandrum Sub Collector Dr. Divya S Iyer With Dr. Divya S Iyer and Former Addl.Chief Secretary of Kerala Dr. D Babu Paul With Dr. Shashi Tharoor The overwhelming crowd! My address!

Today's Deccan Chronicle,Trivandrum has published an article on the book launch

Inviting all my blog readers personally for the release of my first book "THE REFUGE"- a collection of 40 poems that I've penned. The release will be done by Dr.Shashi Tharoor, prolific writer and great orator who is also the MP from Trivandrum constituency, at 4:00 pm on Thursday, 20th April 2017 at Press Club, Trivandrum. Please do join the function and share your love and blessings.

The last time I posted something solid was on the 12th of October,2016 and guess what! 2017 is already happening and going tight.3 months might seem quite a short span of time for an ordinary man.But in the world of politics,hate speeches,wars and truces, they supply ample time if not more, for unlikely chains of events.   It was against the backdrop of thousands of people,women and children alike,dying at the arms of their own ruler in Aleppo that the mighty Donald Trump was elected  the 45th President of the US. Aleppo served as a warning  sign to US. And US was  that vegetarian example of what can happen when a ruler turns excessively aggressive that he wages a war against his own people! It was only vegetarian because what is happening right now in Syria- the war, the horror and the lust for death is not comparable to the US situation at all.But nevertheless Trump was turning against his own countrymen,(like in Syria)segregating them in terms of their ethnicity,race and