The Blog of Cafe Dissensus Magazine – we DISSENT

Archive for ‘October, 2014’

Flying Birds of India

By Joyce Yarrow
Many of the films made by the Flying Birds documented the lives of working artists or were made during field trips throughout the city or holiday celebrations. When, after the screening, a young man presented me with an embroidered portrait of Tagore, I made no attempt to hide my tears of gratitude. Being with the Flying Birds had changed me in ways I knew I had yet to acknowledge.

A Response to the Ambedkar Reading Group

By Souradeep Roy
This is a response to the ‘Statement on Student Protest’ by the Ambedkar Reading Group and some other points of discourse. The Ambedkar Reading Group alleges that the language and manner of protests carried out by the students of MA English, University of Delhi, is casteist. The critique in my article makes a close reading of the ARG’s concerns and accepts that casteist remarks were indeed made by students. This piece largely argues that both the ARG and the students are against one common enemy: the brahminical system of appointments.

Going out on the Jericho road

By Achyut Dutt
There is this emptiness. The years are rolling by and soon you’ll be 60, an age when interesting things stop happening to you when you would like them to. The feeling that you have amounted to very little, that you have made no impact whatsoever on the community at large, has acquired a studio apartment at the back of your mind.

JNU kaisa hai? AISA hai.

By Asheem Earpona
The miscellaneous graffiti inscribed on the walls across Jawaharlal Nehru University campus tell how the campus is vibrant when it comes to politics and activism. Various political issues ranging from the international to the regional have found space on the walls here, either in the form of cartoons, pictures with captions, quotes, and slogans. The varsity ranks among the top in the Indian subcontinent, having mentored many prominent political figures such as Prakash Karat, Digvijay Singh, Nirmala Sitaraman, and Sitaram Yechuri.

Just imagine you are Hank the 8th: Put yourself in King Henry VIII’s shoes

By Achyut Dutt
Maids-in-waiting are nubile young girls from noble families who are ostensibly employed on an honorary basis by the queen to keep her company and help her get dressed and all. However, their actual job profile and key performance criteria are to get laid by the King whenever he wishes. In this, Anne Boleyn excels and you’re soon infatuated. She has there massive baobabs you love getting lost in, don’t you now, you horny bastard.

Out of Touch? How this Response to Hokkolorob at Jadavpur University Distracts from its Graded Social Dynamics

By Joyeeta Dey & Anushka Sen
The movement protesting police violence against students in Jadavpur University, Kolkata, is right now in its most vulnerable position. The marching has calmed, a high court order aimed at restoring “normalcy” to the campus has been implemented, the issue is beginning to fade from television and the public imagination, while, in all this time, not a single demand of the protestors has been met.