Revolution Highway is a novel by Dilip Simeon which revolves around characters during first naxal uprising or spring thunder and world politics of that time. Though it is categorised under "fiction" the facts in the book make it a travelogue in the past. At first we should thank Dilip Simeon for writing a book about naxalites at present political turmoil.
In the present situation it is really hard to read the book without any prejudiced. The decisions and path of the comrades of those days will make us to compare it with the present day comrades and it is happy to note that the present day comrades and the movement has moved on from "chairman Mao is our chairman" to "New Democratic Revolution".
Has India changed from those days? Ofcourse technologically we have advanced, we have nuclear weapons, billionares, trillionares but.........." Rahul gets urge to defecate at night 10' o clock. Mohan, Pranav and Rahul staying in an urban slum. Rahul goes to a playground. Pranav - ' Bustee women using it now?'. Mohan - ' No, they shit soon after dark'". Though the scene in the novel ends with humor it reminds us that this is one of the thousand things that has remained unchanged from past days.
As one can expect the novel ends by commenting about the superiority of the non violence movements over armed revolution. Nevertheless there are many discussions between the characters which make us to think in both ways. Whenever we opt for a revolutionary path, we will be the minority who has to face many questions of prejudiced minds. In the book there is really good picturisation of conflicts in the revolutionaries mind before becoming a full time party worker and their emotional blackouts with parents when leaving home to go underground.
Rathin, a character who is philosophical and against armed revolution initially immediately goes underground just because of facing apathy by 2 officials. Since he didn't had ideological clearance he gets disappointed in his early encounter with the masses. Revolution doesn't come in a single night.
We will leave the review of each and every character to the reader. Towards the end pranav has a doubt whether the movement is expanding or extinct? The present day gives answer to his doubt.
In an heated argument between Mohan and Rathin, Mohan says that the masses will understand the role of revolutionaries in due course. At those times the party dreamt about capturing the power by 1975. Rathin disapproving with Mohan says that party will not capture power even in 1995. Thanks to the present party leadership and cadre that they dont have any day dreams. The present CPI - Maoist party which inspite of spreading the support areas to vast part of country, they know that their path to seizure the power is still a long way to go. May be 50 or even 100 years.
Lal Salaam
They are behind scoops, scandals, breaking news(?) and glamour. They don't need the facts. But these are known facts. If you have some distant relative or a friend in the field of journalism irrespective of whether she/he is corrupt or non corrupt [ luckily i have a non corrupt friend] you can analyse the depth (atleast partially) of corruption in the field of journalism which is highly regarded as the fourth pillar of democracy. As can be expected in a rottening democracy the fourth pillar is crumbling.
Recently there were 2 imortant issues in regard to whistle blowing and journalism, one in the international concept and other in our own nation. Wikileaks which has acclaimed international whistle blower title has 'leaked ' the cables of USA embassy which is embarrassing various nations including US. Inspite of the constant threats from the governments The Gaurdian, The New York Times, El Pais, Der Spiegel, Le Mondel have shown enough courage to publish the articles. The news also made the headlines in almost all national media in India.
On the other hand Broker / Lobbyist Radia's tape got leaked in India. The tapes clearly showed to whom this India belongs and who is ' ruling ' the country. We just have the right to vote. But the country's future is decided by those who have a vision of their own welfare. The tapes exposed the nexus between the corporate - political and Journalism world. Many from the latter field also got naked. But what was the response of our media? Just because there were journalists involvement in the infamous 2G scam either directly or indirectly most of the main stream media kept their mouth shut. It was 2 magazines which dared to publish the tapes, one is outlook and the other a new magazine Open. Following the enormous pressure from the bloggers, twitters other news agencies were forced to carry the article at least in the inner sheets of the paper. The response from the Television media was worse in its history. The technology which is used by the ' ruling class' to create an Utopian world of " everything is fine" is now haunting the `rulers` and forcing them to get naked.
Will everything get changed by these? The 'rulers' always thinks of new ways to suppress the whistle blowers and fact finders. Interpol has issued warrant for Wikileaks JulianAssange [charges of rape; he claims that he had sexual intercourse but after their consent]. Ratan Tata , self proclaimed decent and pro people capitalist has moved the court against Open and Outlook magazines. Ratan Tata should remember that his private chat with Radia may be a matter of entertainment for some people for few days but with all his influences and lobbyists if he succeeds in gagging the democratic voices for justice the people will inevitably have to opt for other modes of struggle.
