How do you think the media ought to responsibly report on peoples lives and experiences? Midnights Borders is part investigation, part meditation on the lines drawn on land or water that separate India from its neighbours. A consistent ethical framework within the media hasnt existed for a long time. We are all complicit in upholding and maintaining this fear. 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. How do you think your book contributes to the larger conversation about India? Yes, men who act as petty sovereigns are everywhere. The events in Hathras did not happen at the border; neither did the murder and gang rape of two teenage girls in the Katra village of Budaun district, Uttar Pradesh. Could you comment on how much our present border security policies have changed in the last few years? The world we know is already being remade in ways we cant fathom. Over the span of seven years, Suchitra Vijayan interviewed scores of individuals, jotted countless notes, snapped hundreds of photographs, and altogether made herself witness to the manifold absurdities (and atrocities) of who gets to say where one nation ends and another begins. The word terrorism, for instance, is used almost exclusively to refer to a particular communitybut fails to refer to state-enabled terror or the terror deployed by majority communities. I'mdyslexic, but have visual and episodic memory, which means I dream and relive moments. Q: You had to deal with a lot of ethical considerations as a writer and photographer, which echo throughout your and your fellow journalists work, as evaluated in your book. The Author Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. No one is a stakeholder herethese are people, humans, citizens, who have been deprived of what the Ambedkarite constitution promised them. Vijayan: The photographs were the heart of this project. The pair experience similar situations in their lives: abuse, the death or absence of a husband, and the longing for a better future. I am repeating what I have said before, "Kashmir is Indias greatest moral and political failure. A: This is a very loaded question. In recent years, the narrative of hate has escalated with the reelection of the right-wing Narendra Modi government in 2019. by Suchitra Vijayan Hardcover 1,759.00 2,023.00 You Save: 264.00 (13%) Usually dispatched in 1 to 3 weeks. Barkha Dutt: India has made its point in Pakistan. " India's intellectual, journalistic, and literary landscape is profoundly problematic and alienating. Some people later chose not to be included because they feared repercussions, especially as the NRC process started playing out. The Indian media must learn to portray the conflict and human rights violations in the region in a more nuanced way, and not reduce Kashmir to a catalogue of death, destruction and emergency laws. Our mostly volunteer-run magazine strives to be a platform for risk-taking voices and writing that might not find a home elsewhere. Our investigation into the Indian medias reporting on the Pulwama attack found that many reports were contradictory, biased, incendiary and uncorroborated. Suchitra Vijayan undertook a 9000 mile journey over seven years to India's borderlands to write Midnight's Borders: A People's History of Modern India. There was an NDTV programme, where somebody said Should Indias constitution be secularist? I dont think theres just one emotion that drives a writer to finish writing. Founded in 2009, The Rumpus is one of the longest running independent online literary and culture magazines. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. He writes TPS reports for an overbearing boss who calls him the minimum guy. He has replaced eating vada pav at ungodly hours on the streets with overpriced salads. A t a time when right-wing nationalism is crescendoing in India and across the world, Suchitra Vijayan's Midnight's Borders raises pertinent questions about the very foundations of India's nationalism the cartography of South Asian nation-states defined by arbitrary lines drawn hastily by the British colonial administration. The stories were a way to understand how people struggled and survived. She has a sister named, Sunitha. Many news channels are not only owned, operated or invested in by politically influential families, but also are sometimes run for the express purpose of advancing party positions. The second season of The Family Man begins with Srikant Tiwari, a former intelligence officer of TASCa fictitious intelligence agency akin to the Research & Analysis Wingworking at an IT company. As an attorney, she previously worked for the United Nations war crimes tribunals in Yugoslavia and Rwanda before co-founding the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, which gives legal aid to Iraqi refugees. 4 reviews of Suchitra Vijayan Photography "Huge fan of Suchitra Vijayan Photography! [3], She started singing after a few years as RJ. And, in many cases, they are children of the literary, cultural, or political elite who have long been the beneficiaries of the Indian state. 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. What do these events have in common? Vijayan undertakes a seven-year long, 9,000-mile . All rights reserved. We still argue if something should be a massacre, a pogrom, or a riot. Vijayan: There is an elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed that cant be bridged. We see that during the journey, in a number of places, people stood in lines to speak with you, to show their paperwork to youhow did you negotiate the weight ofthose expectations, which might not have been explicit, but were still very much present? Were there times when you doubted your own ability to record and document these people's stories? Suchitras account of her journeys across the undefinable and ever-shifting borders between India and its neighbours is gripping, frightening, faithful and beautiful. And this is always at the expense of others. As Sari Begum's story [in the book] illustrates, 'A life where the violence of the border is not at the fence, or in the trenches, but at the center of 'their' and our 'universe'. We're back with our flagship podcast 'Intersectional FeminismDesi Style!' Nonfiction, Travel, Fiction Member Since February 2021 edit data Suchitra Vijayan was born and raised in Madras, India. Also read: The History Of The Colonial State And The Unmaking Of The Tawaif. I cant think in terms of the future being borderless, I can only think in terms of fracturing. There are already about 20 million climate refugees around South Asias borderlands. We dont document violence against the privileged like we would report violence against those without power. Not mine. With the phone armed with a camera, everyone is a photographer; we are all witnesses. Its impossible for a writer not to be affected by their personal life. Suchitra Vijayan was born and raised in Madras, India. Rumpus: Toni Morrison said that she writes from a place of delight, not disappointment. Thats part of the political imagination that I believe we need for political movements or any sustained acts of resistance. There is a lot to learn and unlearn, and a writer and a photographer should respond to a political moment, and the work should be a reflection of those practices. But the inclination to still treat India as a democracy remains. News organizations such as India Today, NDTV, News 18, the Indian Express, First Post, Mumbai Mirror, ANI and others routinely attributed their information to anonymous government sources, forensic experts, police officers and intelligence officers. No independent investigations were conducted, and serious questions about intelligence failures were left unanswered. In the same chapter of the book, Kamal says, "If I am an Indian, then why am I afraid?" How long shall we continue to live this life of contradictions?". ", "Documentary photography has amassed mountains of evidenceyetthe genre has simultaneously contributed much to spectacle, to retinal excitation, to voyeurism, to terror, envy, and nostalgia, and only a little to the critical understanding of the social world.". This means that, for the longest time, the depiction of violence and marginalised communities has been problematic. Her writing and award-winning photography culminated in Midnights Borders: A Peoples History of Modern India, which was recently shortlisted for the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF book prize. Say, for instance, do we need a James Nachtwey to fly to war-torn Bosnia? I now think twice about calling friends, worried if this might put them at risk. When the book finally came out, India was undergoing the deadly 2nd wave. Who gets to shape these stories, what stories are chosen, what stories then are exiled? Suchitra is now a singer-songwriter as well, composing music on her own and in collaboration with Singer Ranjith. A memorable, humane museum of forgotten stories that we must all read and remember. M, What experiences and lives unfold in these pages. There are enough stories of people parachuting into communities to do human interest stories. But the number of anonymous sources willing to disclose classified and conflicting information to reporters who cited them without corroboration points to a serious crisis in how information is reported to the public. Vijayan undertakes a seven-year long, 9,000-mile journey along the borders of India, and interviews people living in these liminal spaces. We lift up new voices alongside those of more established writers readers already know and love. Indias intellectual, journalistic, and literary landscape is profoundly problematic and alienating. Commentary Politics. 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. Similarly, motherhood changed me; it radicalised me. (Stay up to date on new book releases, reviews, and more with The Hindu On Books newsletter. You become responsible for a human being. Now imagine how it would be for someone from a Dalit/Bahujan, Muslim, Adivasi, or working community to try to make inroads. They took my land, they stole my life, they stole my future, they took my nightmares and they stole my dreams too. Ali went missing in 2018. A place to read, on the Internet. Its not comparable and should not be compared. Vijayans book begins a much-needed conversation on thinking about freedom beyond the idea of nation and its illusory lines. Co-founded the Resettlement Legal Aid Project in Cairo, Suchitra is also the founder of the Polis Project, a research and journalism organisation. History and memory is localwhich means its almost impossible to write about India. A literary community. Lets start with a very simple statement that everyone can agree on: the way were living right now cannot continue. So I dont know if it was empathy so much as just building a relationship with people. But, more importantly, I wanted my readers to walk away with a sense of empathy. I left a few names out in the acknowledgment, worrying if it might direct more trouble towards them. India and the US are discussing the possibility of jointly developing and manufacturing an extended-range variant of the M777 ultra lightweight howitzer, Qin's first in-person meeting with EAM Jaishankar came on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers conclave in New Delhi amid the over 34-month-long border row in eastern Ladakh. I think freedom and dignity enables us to really go beyond in our political imaginationbeyond just electoral politics. The interview has been paraphrased and condensed for clarity, at the interviewers discretion. He is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Georgia and is the author of The House With a Thousand Stories, His Fathers Disease, and There Is No Good Time for Bad News. For far too long, they and their progeny have held power to shape the political understanding of our social worlds. This language drums the idea of the fundamental importance of justice, and such language is inalienable: it can easily be defined and empathetically understood. is a barrister-at-law, writer and researcher. When I finished writing, I had become much richer in many waysnot in a material waybut through a community. Some things are just not discussed anymore. The Indian State and the people of this Republic. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, GQ, The Boston Review, The Hindu, and Foreign Policy, and she has appeared on NBC news. Thank you! Legislations such as National Register of Citizens and Citizenship Amendment Act threaten to render millions of people, especially Muslims, stateless. This means that the capacity to see does not automatically become the capacity for action. Yes, Chopra does take a huge share of attention, but the real danger is how people like her whitewash Hindutva, and now increasingly co-opt the language of Hinduphobia to counter any critique of Hindutva. Part-time Faculty suchitra@thepolisproject.com. Who gets to travel, tell stories, and, more importantly, publish them are all deeply connected to questions of access, resources, and privilege. Its an immense privilege to be able to write and be published. Rumpus: I believe your book contributes to an important conversation about India we must have right now in the United States, for its own sake. You've mentioned in the text that you've spent your entire adult life thinking about state violence and justice because of a troubling incident in 1994 when your father was attacked. Indian Foreign Secretary V.K. Rumpus: How hard was it to write nonfiction about such a violent contemporary history? This idea of responsibility gets obfuscated in many ways. Suchitra Vijayan's new book, Midnight's Borders: A People's 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. A: I lost friends, saw my father go through a transplant, and I gave birth. [6], She wrote a short story, a graphic illustration of an episode in the life of a black peppercorn called Kuru-Milaku, called "The Runaway Peppercorn".[7]. Suchitra Vijayan was born and raised in Madras, India. [8] On 7 March 2017, she applied for divorce. So we might never know the true extent of this loss. You need a community of people to support you. The book was originally going to be a photographic body of work, which changed when I started writing. In this stunning work of narrative reportagefeaturing over 40 original photographswe hear from those whose stories are never told: from children playing a cricket match in no-mans-land, to an elderly man living in complete darkness after sealing off his home from the floodlit border; from a woman who fought to keep a military bunker off of her land, to those living abroad who can no longer find their family history in India. Also read: Book Review: Looking Through Dalit Sahitya And Ambedkar. Second, we can no longer have certain conversationsconversations are now impossible. 582.1K views. Despite the failures in investigation and prosecution related to criminal trials arising out of the pogrom, the judiciary has projected itself as an able and willing neutral arbiter of justice that is not complicit with the deep structures of Hindutvas anti-Muslim prejudice https://t.co/EFf5bxYEBt, True societal change has always emerged from the ground-up, with communities fighting for their own freedom and dignity. Midnight's Borders by Suchitra Vijayan falls in both categories. Nine years ago, she began documenting stories from her travels along the borders of India. One of the ways she upholds the humane in this book is through her interaction with the men in the security forces. Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. What moral and political stands we should take in the face of ongoing oppression. This media blitzkrieg resulted in the erasure of two important political trends. I spoke with Suchitra by email in July about Midnights Borders, the power of literary nonfiction, new possibilities of Indian American literature, neoliberal politics, and the importance of supporting underrepresented stories. As a Bookshop affiliate, The Rumpus earns a percentage from qualifying purchases. That capacity to be able to go away and then come back profoundly affects how you write because then you are still rooted. In the popular depictions of India circulating in the US, we rarely see the stories that the nations jingoistic governments have shoved under the carpet. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Your email address will not be published. . What is the function of seeing and documenting? To repurpose an old sayingall infamy is now good virality. Atmany points in Midnight's Borders, we see several men in positions of power view the women, who cross over from the 'other' side, as violable. How do you think this inspiration from a variety of genres allowed you to tell underrepresented stories? Vijayan began her journey in Kolkata. Its a hard book to name, and I kept going back and forth. Suchitra Vijayan is the executive director of the Polis Project. One of the reasons I kept writing was of course all the people I met: their love and time and generosity. Q: What struck me about your work was its immersive style. We play an ever more important role in these times when there is a fascist authoritarian regime in India and a deeply racist police state in the US. Rumpus: The book derives its emotional strength and narrative energy from the stories of people you encounter at the borders. Christopher Clary: India and Pakistan resort to the diplomacy of violence and flirt with catastrophe, Hafsa Kanjwal: As India beats its war drums over Pulwama, its occupation of Kashmir is being ignored. The public is sold a lie as the attack is framed as a gas leak. My friend Ritesh Uttamchandani said this once, the lens that elusive distance between the photographer and the photographed is often impossible to bridge. Suchitra Vijayan is an American writer, essayist, activist, and photographer working across oral history, state violence, and visual storytelling. I have two tests. The Family Man has found tremendous success as a slick and funny espionage drama, particularly for its treatment of the protagonist, and even for humanising terrorists. Listen to Season 3 on Apple, Spotify and Google podcasts. It is here that we subsume all that we otherwise celebrate under the demands of freedom, progress, liberalism, liberty, and secular ideals.". And yet, the research and the history never overpowers the flow of the narrative. And that violence is often abetted by the state and goes unpunished. A: I dont agree with this kind of framing, because its not that underrepresented people dont have voices. At the end of it, I felt that I learnt more about myself, more about my home, I had becomeif not a better writer, an infinitely better human being, which is to say that one realises that theres always a Longue dure that one needs to consider, crave out time and space to think, train oneself not to always react. In 1971, East Pakistan seceded and became Bangladesh. Its a dangerous moment where the figure of the rights-bearing citizen is being reduced to a consuming subject. These may not be perfect worlds or even equal worlds, but they strive to be. ""The historical unity of the ruling classes is realized in the state." Antonio Gramsci" Q: What was your goal with writing the book in the beginning and how did it change and drive you throughout those 8 years? As such, very few media establishments in India have been able to stand against the influence of political leaders. The travel, the people they encounter, and the political events they record quickly become cameos. Not everyone rejoiced in these new freedoms. 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. But it needs to do more for peace. Suchitra Vijayan is the executive director of the Polis Project. Along the way, we meet the men and women of TASC, dissenting students, ISIS terrorists and Pakistani military officers. Suchitra was born in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, as the daughter of Ramadurai and Padmaja. There is no denying that the American media landscape is deeply racist, and while the past few years have seen more brown people take center stage, its nowhere close to where we need to be. Through these real histories of the people, she gives readers another perspective on old wounds like Partition and new divisionary tactics like the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Second, as the media continued to promote government positions on the crisis, other critical political issues dropped out of public scrutiny. The third thing is: were going back to relitigating everything. By looking beyond maps to create a museum of forgotten stories, Vijayan has given voice to those who live on the fringes like Ali or Sari. I was also trying to tell these stories from a repertoire of skills I had, and some I acquired. 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. How does one think of violence, how does one make sense of all this, how does one retain a sense ofnot exactly humanity, but ratherempathy for the other? The constant making and remaking of who is a citizen, who is not, is accompanied by a profoundly dehumanising process. The people in this book are eloquent advocates of their history and their struggles. She responded to an ad for the post of an RJ in Radio Mirchi. It was not going to be easy as she quickly found out. The latter is an act of violence against people whose voice you are appropriating. None of this helps in telling richer, more textured stories. Anvisha Manral March 20, 2021 09:50:40 IST As a graduate student at Yale, she researched and documented stories along the Af-Pak border and was embedded with the US forces in Afghanistan. Your prose is hopeful there.
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