6,253 Followers, 902 Following, 1,165 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitravijayan) This contributed to the long-running, brutal silencing of Kashmiris and their struggle for self-determination. Indias intellectual, journalistic, and literary landscape is profoundly problematic and alienating. These may not be perfect worlds or even equal worlds, but they strive to be. I want to clarify that what I witnessed or the violence inflicted on my father is not the same as what over eight million Kashmiris have endured. Part-time Faculty suchitra@thepolisproject.com. I find that profoundly inspiring. This is where I believe literary nonfiction becomes a powerful tool. Nine years ago, she began documenting stories from her travels along the borders of India. This is the backdrop against which we map how border practices and policies have played out in India. All rights reserved. Even those among us who will speak of BLM will not openly challenge Hindutva or the RSS. Another name that came to my mind was 'An Outline of the Republic', only to discover Siddhartha Debs excellent book by the same name. She completed her MFA in Writing (Fiction) from the University of San Francisco where she was awarded the Jan Zivic Fellowship and is about to begin her PhD in English with a Creative Dissertation from the University of Georgia, Athens. These are stories of massive human rights violations committed by the Indian state in the countrys margins. Time to let the diplomats do the hard talk. As I say in the book, Kashmir changed me, it gave me political and moral clarity to always stand with those fighting for their peoples freedom and dignity. Q: You frequently describe certain borders as porous. History and memory is localwhich means its almost impossible to write about India. I left a few names out in the acknowledgment, worrying if it might direct more trouble towards them. Required fields are marked *. Book reviews and author interviews with a Southern focus. 'Music I Like', an album of Suchitra's renditions of Mahakavi Bharatiyaar's poetry, set to contemporary tunes and music, released by Universal Music, was a turning point in her career. Barrister. Vasundhara Sirnate Drennan is director of research at the Polis Project. After being detained at one of the checkpoints for over two hours, I made my way to one of the villages closest to the Line of Control. Q: Since publishing the book last year, what reflections have you hadgiven that its relevance is increasingly ascertained by 2022s interpersonal and geopolitical violence? They are arriving from various cities and people I have never met. The first true peoples history of modern India, told through a seven-year, 9,000-mile journey along its many contested borders. Each of these subscription programs along with tax-deductible donations made to The Rumpus through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas, helps keep us going and brings us closer to sustainability. In an interview with Firstpost,Vijayan talks about her book, the militarisation of borders, ethno-nationalism, and the politics of documentation. We need to think about border practices, policing, and national security policies within the larger historical and political contexts. Part of this process is a need to turn the lens back at the powerful. 2:16. Acted as the General Manager for a day and motivated employees to work for the same purpose to reinforce team . Subscribe to the Rumpus Book Clubs (poetry, prose, or both) and Letters in the Mail from authors (for adults and kids). Excerpts from the #BBC documentary telecast about PM . At worst, its navel gazing peppered with white guilt, but always politically vacuous. Midnights Borders perhaps also critiques the widely read body of work available as Indian English Writing (IWE), a literary canon that has so far told the story of India but seldom demonstrated social responsibility by acknowledging the atrocities India has committed silently within its borders. Vijayans lens not only captures the people but also the past through objects, such as the picture of Kotwali Gate, the remains of a medieval fort that serves as a border checkpoint rife with weeds and trees growing on it, symbolic of a state bent on rewriting history rather than preserving it. We see that more clearly when you decide against photographing children at the India-Bangladesh border. March 06, 2021 04:50 pm | Updated March 07, 2021 08:05 am IST. Vijayan began her journey in Kolkata. Chopra cleverly uses womens empowerment, diversity, and the immigrant story as a facade to parrot and promote deeply problematic ideologies, takes, and stances. Subscribe here. He was arrested based on fabricated evidence in the middle of a global pandemic, and he was denied bail and medical help. NONFICTIONMidnights BordersBy Suchitra VijayanMelville HousePublished May 25, 2021. I was reading a lot of Pessoa when I was in Afghanistan, so another placeholder title was 'Maps/Lines/Cartographies of Disquiet', inspired by the Book of Disquiet. She also embodies the upwardly mobile, privileged sections of the diaspora. Always. Its feudal, entitled, and cannibalistic. Why the Modi government lies. FII Media Private Limited | All rights reserved, "Imagine how it would be for someone coming from a Dalit/Bahujan, Muslim, Adivasi, working class background, who wants to come into thisit is especially difficult if youre a woman coming from these backgrounds. For instance, if you went to school with, say, Indias most powerful publisher, or your dad plays golf or socialised at the Gymkhana with the politically powerful and the culturally influential, then that system is built to get you the resources. Now, border security policies are linked to domestic politics. Get your Rumpus merch in our online store. Many of the stories didnt make it to the book because it became dangerous to identify people. Sayantika Mandal is an Indian writer. In her book, she makes her intention clear at the very beginning, claiming that this endeavor is not to give voice to the voiceless but to critique the nation-state, its violence, and the arbitrariness of territorial sovereignty. She acknowledges that a book in its limited scope cannot really encapsulate the entirety of this journey, and it will remain more of a scrapbook, a collection of images, texts, poetry, and maps. Nine years ago, she began documenting stories from her travels along the borders of India. You need a community of people to support you. One of the ways she upholds the humane in this book is through her interaction with the men in the security forces. Lets start with a very simple statement that everyone can agree on: the way were living right now cannot continue. Updated Date: Suchitra Vijayans new book, Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India, takes a deep look at such stories by prioritizing the experiences of the silenced victims as well as lesser-known accounts from victims of state violence. Three hundred million people who had been considered less than subjects under the British rule, divided for years by religion, language, class, and caste, would all be united under one book: the revolutionary Constitution given to India by Babasaheb Ambedkar. We believe that literature builds communityand if reading The Rumpus makes you feel more connected, please show your support! She is not alone. I think freedom and dignity enables us to really go beyond in our political imaginationbeyond just electoral politics. You become responsible for a human being. 'Suchitra's account of her journeys across the undefinable and ever-shifting borders between India and its neighbours is gripping, frightening, faithful and beautiful. Could you comment on how much our present border security policies have changed in the last few years? I have two tests. But it needs to do more for peace. These instances are also about border practices because modern states, especially liberal democracies, expend immense energy in creating and maintaining identity categories: who belongs, and where. Suchitra Vijayan (@suchitrav) / Twitter Follow Suchitra Vijayan @suchitrav Author: Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India. Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 09:35, Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer Telugu, 2nd South Indian International Movie Awards, "Suchitra going through certain emotional condition: Husband Karthik on her tweets", "Will Trisha sound like Trisha in Mankatha? 1 author picked Midnight's Borders as one of their favorite books, . When I finished writing, I had become much richer in many waysnot in a material waybut through a community. Many TV newsrooms were transformed into caricatures of military command centers, with anchors assessing military technology and strategy (sometimes incorrectly). Perhaps thats their victory. The two press briefings by the foreign secretary and Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson entertained no questions. We are consuming subjects in a surveillance economy, not citizens. What matters is that the book exists. I want to flag two essays where I engage with this in an in-depth manner, Disaster Ruins Everything, on my work in Haiti, and what it means to photograph disaster, especially when it is Brown and Black bodies. My role, then, and this books role, is to find in their articulations a critique of the nation-state, its violence and the arbitrariness of territorial sovereignty.". It is always Bollywood, the ascent of Priyanka Chopra, or the diasporic loneliness. She is the founder and executive director of The Polis Project, and the author of Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India, recently published by Context, Westland. Lets take Indias English language media, cultural-artistic elite, and publishing. Conversations With Writers Braver Than Me, Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India, FUNNY WOMEN: Excerpts from George Eliots, Rumpus Original Poetry: Two Poems by John A. Nieves, RUMPUS POETRY BOOK CLUB EXCERPT: WHY I WRITE LOVE POETRY IN A BURNING WORLD by Katie Farris, The Freedom of Form & Re-Entering Myths: An interview with A.E. It offers brief historical notes on how the nations current borders came into force alongside accounts of increasing militarisation, disputes, little massacres and forgotten pogroms, no-mans-lands, and the people through whom the border runs like barbed wire. You can speak of confidence and body positivity and defend selling skin-lightening creams. So the question is not: will the future be borderless? Rumpus: Why do you think the ever-growing canon of Indian American literature has barely tried to engage with these conversations through their stories? She perfectly captured the happiness and the intimacy of the occasion, the warmth of all the people present, and the splendor of the venue. Suchitra Vijayan talks to FII about Indian politics, communal violence, marginalisation and her book Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India. Do you think the future is borderless? So I try to learn and listen, and again, as I say in this book, "It is not my goal to 'bear witness' or 'give voice to the voiceless'. Even as 70% of the border with Bangladesh has been fenced, "smugglers, drug couriers, human traffickers and cattle rustlers continue to cross to ply their. Founded in 2009, The Rumpus is one of the longest running independent online literary and culture magazines. We're back with our flagship podcast 'Intersectional FeminismDesi Style!'

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