Tariq Ali with Sitaram Yechury at the GD Birla Sabhagar programme. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A visionary and revolutionary ? fiery and outspoken, blunt and sharp. When Tariq Ali talks, people listen. On the occasion of the publication of his books Street Fighting Years and The Islam Quintet, The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presented a series of programmes with the author earlier this month, in Calcutta and New Delhi.

Speaking at JU?s Annual Hirendranath Dutta Memorial Lecture on January 19, Ali asked ?Whatever has happened to India?s foreign policy?? He made no bones about his opinions ? aligning with the US amounts to ?political suicide?.

He alleged that the collapse of communism in Russia without the least resistance from the proletariat and the restoration of capitalism in China combined with China?s secretive foreign policy has led to America emerging as the only modern day ?empire? with countries shaping their foreign policies to not offend the US.

The man who has in his time met such luminaries as John Lennon, Marlon Brando and Hugo Chavez (?the Venezuelan President is a modern-day icon?) hammered his point home: ?The end of the Cold War has not led to the collapse of the capitalist power block.?

The next morning, the Lahore-born Britisher debated on ?Democracy or dictatorship of Capital??, at St Xavier?s College. While politics was the mainstay of his monologue, the filmmaker and author also touched on the topic of films as medium of change. During the interaction with students, the Q&A session focussed on independent films versus market forces.

Ali said gave up filmmaking in 1998, because of the deterioration of the medium. He said there were only a few bastions of independent movie-making left, like Iran. The rest all follow standard formulae. Ali particularly rued the downfall of films in France and Bengal. He later told Young Metro that much as he liked both Aparna Sen and Shabana Azmi and their previous works, 15, Park Avenue was not as good as he had hoped for, a ?sign of the times?.

The final event was a conversation between Ali and Left leader Sitaram Yechury at GD Birla Sabhagar on January 23. The discussion began with Ali recounting his early life in post-Partition Lahore, describing it as ?a city of ghosts?. He asserted that ?the tragedy of Pakistan is that the military are so entrenched in public life?, adding that ?Pakistan would provide a hermaphrodite leader if the Americans asked them to?.

Ali proposed forming ?a South Asian Union?, like European Union.

Yechury introduced US imperialism into the discussion. Ali criticised the fading of ?the foreign policy that India pioneered: non-alignment?. Both men agreed that the next major challenge to the US economic hegemony would be China, and that India must build good relations with China.

The audience later asked questions on US economic development and India?s relations with China.

What?s Been happening around town this week

Shout out loud

A dance in progress at a Shishu Mela organised by Nikhil Banga Nababarsha Utsab Committee at Victoria Memorial Hall on Monday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Movies & management

The line between art and science was blurred at Sleepless in Calcutta, a novel event focussing on learning management concepts from movies. It was an attempt to use films as an alternate teaching tool and was perhaps the first management meet with a cinema hall as its venue. The effort was made by Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy, and Businessworld, at INOX Forum, to explore inter-disciplinary mediums to teach management. Earlier, similar events were organised by the institute, where literature, history and even Aesops?s Fables were explored as sources of learning.

Sleepless in Calcutta began with Biswanath Ghosh of ABP Pvt Ltd. He referred to clips from Gone With The Wind and Ben Hur to delineate the ideas of strategy, teamwork and determination. He also cited the example of Gandhi to elucidate the point of leading by setting examples.

There were three speakers at the event. Madhumita Basu of Eveready Batteries spoke on ?Vision and Mission? as portrayed in Amitabh Bachchan movies. She also talked about how communication acts as a propellant to realise a vision and how a dream can lead to a purpose and achievement.

Shiloo Chattopadhyay, director of MODE and a ?perpetual student of marketing?, touched on the principles of marketing using clips from Aakhree Rasta, Deewar and Munnabhai MBBS. He emphasised the fact that the primary task of a marketing professional is to know the consumer?s mind and to create value for him or her. He also spoke of the critical role of perception in creating value.

Atul Chaturvedi, COO, Bharti Tele-Ventures for the Northeast, explained the role of a leader in start-up organisations. He cited the examples of Glinda, The Good Witch, Dorothy Gale and Oz from Wizard of Oz to illustrate leadership behaviour. Playing clips from the movie, he explained how being a good leader means staying in the background, yet motivating the team.

Actress June at a daddy's cricket match at Don Bosco Park Circus. Picture by Aranya Sen

Para pride

Residents of Ballygunge got together to celebrate Republic Day in an extraordinary way. Under the banner of Alo, an organisation for, of and by the community, they provided financial assistance to 132 deserving students who live in slums in the area. At a function presided over by MLA Rabin Deb, Ballygunge residents turned up in huge numbers at Charlie Chaplin Park on Thursday morning. Also present were eminent residents of the locality like Neil O?Brien and Harsh Neotia.

The distribution of scholarships was preceded by a sit-and-draw contest in which 400 children participated. Each received a prize. Barry O?Brien, the initiator of this citizens? movement, said: ?Charity begins at home. It was this saying that motivated us to do something in our para, since our work over the years has been spread over other areas.?

Chit Chat

Flights of fancy

On January 20, poets and book-lovers headed to Oxford Bookstore, Park Street, for the launch of Talking Tummies, a collection of poems by young Indian poets ? Shaurya Shaukat Sircar, Inam Hussain Mullick, Tina Ganguly, Pritha Banerjee and Adwaita Das. Filmmaker Goutam Ghose released the book.

?January 20 will mark another milestone in the world of literature. These new poets? tremendous enthusiasm has blossomed into excellent organisational skills. I?m sure Talking Tummies will flourish and spread the message of creativity,? said Ghose.

?When we come together, it?s a beginning. When we work, it?s progress. When we win together, it?s success,? is what the poets believe. ?This dream existed since we first started writing. With a concerted effort, this year our dream has come true,? said Inam.

?It is about the immense joy that we experience while working for something, which begins to mean more than anything else, and which makes everything else less significant,? added Tina.

Supriya Chaudhuri, professor of English literature, JU, spoke on young Indian poets writing in English at the event. This was followed by Calligraphy, a short performance to verse-script by the theatre group Stage Addict.

Sourendra Kumar Das,
Class XI, Salt Lake School