the politics of singing through your nose

posted a day late.

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I’ve never been a great Dylan fan. Sure, I’ve listened to his songs, and have liked quite a few. When I think of Dylan, there are three things that come to my mind. Long, long songs; bits of great poetry; and the fact that he seems to constantly sing through his nose.

So I googled it, that singing through the nose bit. And got 'about 368000' results, most of which (I went through 25 pages) seemed to give rather detailed information on how NOT to sing through your nose!

And then, one wonders why. Is it that the sound is unpleasant? Is it reflective of an ambivalent attitude to doing things the ‘proper’ way? Does it display a lack of culture, of refinement? Is it non-sexy? I don’t know, I’m asking. And that leads to a few more questions. How does one define a pleasant sound? Whose perspective? Do things always need to be done the ‘proper’ way? Is there another way of doing it? Is being ‘refined’ important? Whose definition of refinement do we go by? Is it important to be ‘sexy’? And the question that, for me, it all seems to lead to-is there something one is saying when one sings through one’s nose? Is there a message somewhere? Is there a politics to singing through your nose?

If one were to sing, as Dylan sometimes did, of the poor, of the oppressed, what would it sound like? Would one try to make it pleasant? ‘Proper’? Refined? Sexy? Is that what is important? Or would one sing a song with jagged edges, like a broken bottle? Songs that smash through the middle-class complacency we live in? Songs that will hurt and shred and tear at the walls we have built around ourselves? Songs sung through one’s nose?

And today’s the man’s birthday. So hey. Have a nice day, old man. But more importantly, tomorrow is the anniversary of the movement in Singur against forcible acquisition of land. The land that is being used to build the Nano-the car that will solve India’s transportation problems. That is the epitome of the great Indian dream. That is being built by the company that has an image that it cares for India. The marvelous one lakh car. The people’s car. The car that is being built on stolen land.

I don’t know, honestly. I still am not a great Dylan fan. But I’m beginning to think maybe, just maybe, it’s time to start singing through my nose.

murakami illustrated

http://www.blueblanket.net/Steph/Make/Visual/Perfect/index.html

haven't read much murakami, just the one(s) that kabir introduced to me. nice one here though!

mautam

i called mark a few days ago, and asked what was happening about the mautam (famine caused by an increase of rat population, linked to the 48-50 year life cycle of the bamboo) in mizoram. he said it was the best thing that happened to politicians in 48 years. the corruption in mizoram being what it is, one worries how this year is going to be. while i cannot find statistics to support that accusation, there is a very strong perception in mizoram that officials are corrupt. this is a small society, and people tend to know each other quite well, and lifestyles are easily visible to others. there is an article on the govt of mizoram's information and public relations department's website that seems to take this corruption for granted!

an action aid report says that the mamit and lawngtlai districts are the worst affected so far. sinlung has a rather grim report on the sutuation, dated april 1st. mizosoft talks of a rs. 7.37 crore loss to farmers. in mizoram, that is a lot. and the situation can only get worse with the rains. while there are reports of the government releasing funds for aid, i wonder how much will reach the people who need it the most.

shantanu has written a rather good piece called 'silent tragedies we ignore' on mutiny. the last mautam that happened, btw, was the one that led to mizoram's declaring independence from india. and the indian government, who could not be bothered to send food, found it quite necessary to send the airforce and the army, giving mizoram the dubious distinction of being the only state in india to have been bombed by its own government.

this time round, however, it does not look like mainland india is the one screwing the people over, it is our own people. fathers, mothers, uncles, aunties, cousins. all ready to make a quick buck out of other's suffering. maybe there will be another revolution, another attempt at freedom. but this time round, who do we fight against? who do we declare freedom from?

to twist one's neck

two versions, don't know which i prefer!
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[to twist one's neck]

how would it to be
a feral pigeon
with carrot red feet and
aquamarine collar
a nerolac advert
in constant motion?

to swoop and circle
through city days
to twist one's neck
in unlikely ways?

how would it to be
a pariah kite
with raptor claws
and raptor beak
and a scavenger
appetitie?

to swoop and circle
through city days
to twist one's neck
in unlikely ways?
_______________________________________________________

[to twist one's neck]

how would it to be
a feral pigeon
with carrot feet
and aqua ruff and
doubtful love of
sanitation?

to swoop and circle
through city days
to twist one's neck
in unlikely ways?

how would it to be
a pariah kite
with raptor claws
and raptor beak
and a scavenger
in appetitie?

to swoop and circle
through city days
to twist one's neck
in unlikely ways?

mawphlang

baruk feddabonn

brahmaputra

baruk feddabonn

masinagudi

baruk feddabonn