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This Democracy of Languages

Mitra,Ā 

Greetings from LILA!

Even as we speak of languages this quarter, India is celebrating its ā€˜judge of the season’ Justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud. We have recently heard his dissenting voice in four historic Supreme Court verdicts, two of which overturned earlier judgements by his own father, former Chief Justice of India, YV Chandrachud: liberating rulings affirming the Right to Privacy, abolishing Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code which criminalised homosexuality, striking down the colonial Adultery law which had long deprived a married woman in India the right to her body and desire in the forms of agency, autonomy and independence, and just now, lifting the ban on women belonging to a certain age group from entering a temple in the Sabarimala verdict. While reading out the judgment on Section 377, Justice Chandrachud quoted Leonard Cohen: ā€œDemocracy is comingā€¦ā€

The current issue of Inter-Actions concerns itself with the democracy of languages to which we at LILA have vowed our allegiance, commitment and enterprise; we raise our hearts to its many-splendoured expressions. Hence have we included in our ā€˜October-fest’, an exploration of a range of expressions that could together lead us to that democracy: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi’s adventures with ā€˜style’, ā€˜economy’ and ā€˜interpretation’ as analysed by scholars Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Tridip Suhrud and Apoorvanand; Leelatoonist Unny’s pen capturing the fair flavour of this season of justice; the changing tattoos on the bodies of the last of the head-hunters of Nagaland, the Konyaks, as seen through the lens of photo-documenter Ronald Patrick and the Renaissance act of Lori Thicke, who has opened many an unparalleled channel of translation towards nurturing human rights across borders — both segments introduced by our editor Dolonchampa Chakraborty; in her regular column, Aesthetics of Conflict,Ā our Executive Editor, Shivani Karmarkar, discusses ways to surmount the limitations of our current models of public protest.

Our ā€˜Reflections’ this quarter launch a few eye-opening revelations: urban architecture as an expression of exclusion and subversion at once, vernacular hip hop as a new language of youth protest, the critical difference between the ā€˜blind girl’ and the ā€˜girl who is blind’, the ultimate limitation of genocide trials – the absence of the absolute witnesses who are already dead and thus unable to testify; translation as a bridge of hope that gradually connects the migrant with her hostland; and, the fatal implications of any attempt to use language as a tool to tear the secular fabric of India.

In ā€˜Rubaru’, we inter-act face to face with a few individuals who have recontextualised their respective fields through radical methods: While Karnatic musician TM Krishna affirms the enabling effects of the act of discarding, music adventurer Zack Moir warns us against the comfort of training within disciplines; Data Sciences expert Arnab Basu builds a strong case for Human Intelligence with its embedded capacity for intuition that must save us from the hazards offered by the smartest of robots, whilst mathematical philosopher Fernando Zalamea debunks the notion of ā€˜perfection’; Christian missionary John Britto traces his journeys across the many languages of India, Africa and the West, even as curator Natasha Ginwala speaks of the ethical imperatives that must inform all actions in the artworld(s) today.

There is some real good action in the literature and arts segments this time: Wordactions brings to you, our sahrudaya, the deconstructive work of performance poet Heike Fiedler; in Artactions, Rizio introduces for the first time ever in India, the Guerrilla Girls, the ground-breaking American activist-artists who have positioned themselves as the ā€˜conscience of the art world.’

We have opened two new sections this quarter: Trailblazers celebrating pioneers in various fields, and Perspectives giving interesting takes on the season’s theme. We present two trailblazing women, Fouzia Dastango, the first female dastango in India, and Aditi Mittal, the first Indian female stand-up comedian. In Perspectives, we offer you a photo essay by a sister-brother duo on the language of time; three questions to and answers by JNU Professor Ayesha Kidwai on the shattered/shattering contemporary expressions on campus; a Rosetta-Stone-inspired artwork by Priyamvada Gaur, and last, but not at all the least, a series of inside-conversations among LILA members as we worked on this edition of Inter-Actions — a gush of LILA rushes that should give you an insight into how a non-institutional organisation works out its rigorous play, day after day!

Besides these fresh engagements, we also revisit a variety of LILA’s earlier inter-actions with the theme, ā€˜language’. As we thus continue to reflect on a multiplicity of languages, our heart goes out toĀ Amadeo GarcĆ­a GarcĆ­a – we offer our salutes to this last Taushiro man standing, now speaking his mind to no one but himself, in a language once spoken by many generations of his tribe that thrived in the jungles of the Amazon basin in Peru.Ā Ta va’a ui – I am dying – the last words of Juan, Amadeo’s brother who died in 1999, indeed seem to be the parting words of the Taushiro, and many such languages facing the risk of disappearance today. Linguistic and cultural repositories like the Peruvian Amazon are fast depleting due to many a homogenising enterprise for national expansion as well as all-fusing migrations, thoughtless urbanisation and exploitation of natural resources. Mitra, what must the human world do to conserve our unique gift – the word in each of our words?

On that note of concern, we request you to take note of this inter-action on LANGUAGE; we hope it offers you a democratic read, a few words that matter to your mind.

Heartily

Rizio
for TEAM INTER-ACTIONS

Lilaight of the Season

Calling attention to the metamorphosis of a tribe of tattooed head hunters. Trail the Naga Konyaks as they are at a linguistic and cultural cross-roads!

2018 Vol 1 Qtr 2 Lilaight

Scripted on the Body: Dolonchampa Chakraborty

By Dolonchampa Chakraborty / September 21, 2018
2018 Vol 1 Qtr 2 Lilaight

ā€˜Cross’ing to the Spanish League: Ronald Patrick

By Ronald Patrick / September 21, 2018
2018 Vol 1 Qtr 2 Lilaight

The Passage of Lines: Ronald Patrick’s Photo Gallery

By Ronald Patrick / August 21, 2018

Basic Conversations

Three eminent scholars reflect on MK Gandhi's fearless quest, tactful expression and economy of style. On Gandhi Jayanti, Apoorvanand, Tridip Suhrud and Gopalkrishna Gandhi rediscover the leader for our times

The Eternal InterpreterĀ  - Apoorvanand
The 'Economic' GandhiĀ -Ā Tridip Suhrud
The Actual-Factual Style -Ā Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Aesthetics of Conflict

Column by Shivani

Shivani Karmarkar

An Observer’s Manual to the Language of Protest

A young citizen reflects on her experience of public protest and suggests ways to overcome the failings of our current model

Leelatoon by Unny

Cartoon

Renaissance Person

A critical reclamation of the creative individual whose multidynamic praxis is our hope for a New Renaissance


Lori Thicke
Founder - Translators Without Borders & Lexcera
Team Interactions

Lori Thicke: Translator, Writer, Entrepreneur, Humanitarian

Our Renaissance Person of the Quarter began her entrepreneurial journey at 12 years of age, and has since created the world’s largest humanitarian translators’ network

Lori Thicke

Interpreting for Access, Translating for Knowledge

Translators Without Borders Founder Lori Thicke talks to Inter-Actions about the biggest gap most humanitarian organisations have missed – translation

Dolonchampa Chakraborty

Entrepreneur at 12, Pioneer for Life

Lori Thicke has engaged in a true Renaissance Act – not just connecting a diverse set of people, but also making these connections more meaningful

Reflections

Different disciplinary takes on the theme of the quarter towards evolving an inter-linked methodology of thought

Apoorvanand

Raising ā€˜High-Risk’ Identities: The Key Challenges of Indian Languages Today

On the fatal implications of the move to categorise and divide the people of secular India, yet again

Joseph Koyippally

Translation and Diaspora: Journeying from ā€˜Homeland’ to ā€˜Hostland’

To get himself out of a crowded New Delhi bus, he cries out, ā€œthoda sabzi dedo!ā€ Come home to the language play of the migrant

Smriti Vohra

The Language of Testimony: Two Reconfigurations of Trauma Narrative

Can justice be total when survivors’ testimonials can never narrate the ultimate trauma — the untold horror of Death?

Namita Jacob

One Starfish to the Sea: Not the ā€˜Blind Girl’, but the ā€˜Girl Who Is Blind’

Can ā€˜special’ and ā€˜different’ ever be enabling terms when those who are thus described ā€˜feel’ disabled and patronised?

Sumit Roy

Pity the Fool that Made the Pity in You Prosper: Giving Dissent a New Voice

As a new wave of Hip Hop spreads across the vernaculars, is it developing into a new language of youth protest?

Praveen Bavadekar

Cityspeak: Between the Architectures of Exclusion and Subversion

How do cities contribute to the creation and propagation of the ideas of exclusion and inequality?

Rubaru

In-depth thematic conversations with practitioners from various streams of knowledge and creativity

Zack Moir

Music as Universal Language: A Lovely Thought; A Dangerous Proposal!

Not THE theory of music, but A theory of SOME music! A Music Adventurer warns against the comfort of training within disciplines

TM Krishna

Enabling the Right to Discard: The Evolving Language of Music

Karnatik music needs to strip itself off its sociocultural baggage in order to become an expression relevant for our times

Arnab Basu

Futures of Intelligences: Will Artificial Intelligence Take Over the Human Race?

Artificial Intelligence has to go a very long way even to catch up with the current state of human intelligence. Find out why

Fernando Zalamea

Between Crystal Waters and Sticky Mud: The Path of Mathematical Language

ā€˜A profound understanding of the logic of the in-between is critical to our futures’. A Mathematical Philosopher debunks the notion of ā€˜perfection’

Natasha Ginwala

The Curious Language of the Curator: The Art of Translating Artworld(s)

How does communal ownership shape fearless perspectives in the arts? A promising Curator talks about the ethical imperatives in the artworld

John Britto

ā€œBetter to Wear Out than Rust Out”: A Way to Other Tongues

A missionary’s trailblazing encounters with a spectrum of languages and peoples – from Tamil Nadu to South Sudan to Germany

Wordactions

Heike Fiedler

Equality as Experience, Not Just a Word

From her living quarters to her art work, Performance Poet Heike Fiedler lives a radical life

Heike Fiedler: Demystifying Poetry

Performance Poet Heike Fiedler talks to Inter-Actions about her rebellious engagement with words, sounds and visuals towards making poetry

Traces of Language

Heike Fiedler is a quintessential poet of lila, a wordsmith of play. Watch her performances ‘I lost/imagine’ and ‘Pause/Pose’ here

Artactions

Guerrilla Girls

If You Keep Women Out, They Get Resentful

For the first time ever, view a gallery of artist-activists Guerrilla Girls on an Indian publication

Guerrilla Girls: The Conscience of the Art World and Beyond

The ground-breaking artist-activists Guerrilla Girls in conversation with Inter-Actions about why they believe no one is free till everyone is free!

The Guerrilla Mask-ulinity: Deinstitutionalising the ā€˜F’ Word

Read Rizio’s in-depth introduction to the radical mission and modes of the American artist-activists group, Guerrilla Girls

Trailblazers

Introducing innovators who dare to experiment and change the world

Aditi Mittal

Getting Serious with Comedy!

From joking about sanitary napkins to sexual hygiene, listen to Comedian Aditi Mittal’s rebellious engagement with topics of taboo

Fouzia Dastango

Remaining Relevant: The Fading Languages of Old Delhi

Watch Fouzia Dastango, the first female Dastango of India, talk about and perform in the forgotten languages of her childhood

Perspectives

Critical and creative viewpoints on and responses to topical and philosophical issues

Ayesha Kidwai

Three Questions to a JNU Professor

The disruptive nature of humanities and social science research may be the key to breaking fascist myths

Team Interactions

The LILA Rushes

Come home to the Inter-Actions algorithm – the secret codes of our play at work revealed!

Priyamvada Gaur

The Prism of Meaning

A young artist/architect explores the symbols and systems of translation through her artwork, inspired by the Rosetta Stone

Anandi & Udayan Mehra

Language of Time: A Photo-Essay

A sister and brother record the passage of time on their cameras

Revisits

Our Earlier 'LANGUAGE RELATED' Inter-actions

Team LILA

20 January 2014 On the evening of 8 October 2010, while the Nobel committee praised

Team LILA

27 January 2014 ā€˜Let’s agree to disagree.’ Dissent: a differing voice. A modern democracy expects

Team LILA

3 February 2014 A few weeks ago, Namdeo Dhasal passed away, leaving behind him a

Team LILA

10 February 2014 Back in 2009, the Delhi High Court judgement on homosexuality appeared as

Team LILA

31 March 2014 Our time, as New Media theorist Dan Gillmor points out, is witnessing

Team LILA

2 June 2014 Our age has become a literal Nanjing Road: wordy devices of love,

Team LILA

29Ā August 2014 Where in the world could the question of language politics be more relevant

Team LILA

3Ā October 2014 Can the lived reality of a particular historical figure move societies across time?

Team LILA

2 January 2015 The imaginary of theĀ dialogueĀ presents us with a paradox: beyond its inherent freedom,

Team LILA

20 March 2015 On the fast track, still, there are moments when an intimation or

Team LILA

10 April 2015 Today, we celebrate I’m Sorry, I Haven’t a Clue. Irony, what the

Team LILA

17 April 2015 ā€œGive me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely

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