Dangerous Flood of History

 

This then my birthday wish for you, as now

From the narrow window of my fourth floor room

I smoke into the night, and watch reflections

Stretch in the harbour. In the houses

The little pianos are closed, and a clock strikes.

And all sway forward on the dangerous flood

Of history that never sleeps or dies,

And, held one moment, burns the hand.

-       W. H. AUDEN

It feels like I took a break from posting. But no, that was not a break. And yeah, this is me desperately trying to catch up. Like always, there’s been a lot going on. But before that, let me do some quick introspection on my blogging and in the process, share what I had in mind when I started my blog back in 2019. I started this blog because a space was needed for me to argue against myself or against the wider world with less limitations one would usually find in a structured setting. Not that the internet is an ungoverned space. But you catch my drift, right? And this attitude changed with time. I could write stuff without bothering to academically ground it. This was exciting, but the feeling changed. This blog now needs more serious attention. Like everything else, I think this space is also becoming an extension of my academic troubles. Be that as it may, I was surprised to find the same sentiment somewhere else.

So recently, I have been reading K-Punk, Mark Fisher’s blog which has also been made into a book with the same title. And in this book, there is transcript of an interview with Mark, and he says: “I started blogging as a way of getting back into writing after the traumatic experience of doing a PhD. PhD work bullies one into the idea that you can’t say anything about any subject until you’ve read every possible authority on it. But blogging seemed a more informal space, without that kind of pressure. Blogging was a way of tricking myself back into doing serious writing. I was able to con myself, thinking, “it doesn’t matter, it’s only a blog post, it’s not an academic paper”. But now I take the blog rather more seriously than writing academic papers.” Shish, different contexts; but this is somewhat the same reason why I try to write more academic papers than blog posts these days. But I am here now. On with it!

October in Alappuzha was about revisiting Punnapra-Vayalar. In groundbreaking archival research, also marked by extensive personal interviews, R K Bijuraj in his new book on Punnapra-Vayalar (Mathrubhumi), tries to put the dominant histories on Punnapra-Vayalar into question. Personally, for me, this has been revelatory since I had read and believed Sreedhara Menon’s Punnapra-Vayalar history to be an unbiased account of the violent events (History is never unbiased… of course, silly me). Here, Bijuraj shifts the perspective of history from the bourgeois morality of the ruling class to the class assertions made by the workers involved in the struggle. In writing his book, Sreedhara Menon was keen on exculpating the diwan, Sir CP, as he argued that the Travancore King and the royal family was the cause for all the bloodshed in Thiruvathamkoor. Bijuraj writes back claiming that sir CP was the front and centre of the administration.

Another pivotal aspect brought up in the contrasting historiographies was regarding how the writer would describe the violent clashes. Unlike many historians in the past who categorised the uprising to be simply a rebellion (Kalaapam), Bijuraj explains his choice of word, 'uprising' (Uyarthezhunnelppu), as he considers Punnapra-Vayalar to be an awakening of worker solidarity against social, economic and political exploitation. He also underscores the role of the communist party (then mainly working through trade unions and labour organisations) in organizing the workers for the struggle and asserts that the Punnapra-Vayalar uprising was not an isolated event. In doing so, he traces the event back to 1938, when Alappuzha witnessed mass labour strikes led by the labour organisations.

In retrospect, Sreedhara Menon's history was also not ready to concede that the workers had intersectional demands leading up to the uprising. He argued that the political intention was absent, but in reality, as Bijuraj writes, the workers were also fighting against the administrative reforms, mainly the controversial American Model. That and other debunking involving VS Achuthananthan’s reasons for not being part of Punnapra Police Station March are also part of this book.

Now, to point to the significance of remembering the martyrs and the historic uprising in its 77^th anniversary is all about considering where we are politically at the moment. Take the instance when the Thrissur MP, Suresh Gopi, made a statement where he claimed that the communists destroyed Alappuzha and its zeal for development. Well, if Alappuzha—or Keralam, for that matter—is anything that it is today, it is because of the communists and the workers. Suresh Gopi might not be familiar with History. But we should be, and that is one reason to remember the uprising and the martyrs. The other being the state of the Communist Parties today.

Bijuraj crucially points out that every mass protests and strikes leading up to Punnapra-Vayalar uprising centered the workers’ agency. This is again directly contradicting Sreedhara Menon’s argument that the party was simply taking advantage of the workers for its petty gains. Therefore, to compare the party from the 1940s to the Communist Parties today also becomes relevant.

Now, moving on to the top issue on my mental billboard; Kerala government has recently declared the state to be extreme-poverty free. And the whole exercise done in part of the campaign has created doubts, not least among the activists who stand for the tribal cause in Keralam. I think I have already written about the state taking on a paternalistic attitude towards matter regarding the participation of civil society groups and activists in another blog post. Why is that a government, of course, capable within its own structure, seem to not involve other stakeholders in the form of civil society groups in its campaign drives like Extreme Poverty Eradication Project? I am not talking about the intention or the statistical inconsistencies or the methodological inadequacies in this project. Why is this government that showboats its governance by splurging millions (outreach programs like Nava Kerala Sadas) finds it necessary to run the Extreme Poverty Eradication Project only through its bureaucratic channels/networks. These questions are bound to come up. Why was a proper public forum that ensured the required meet n’ greet/deliberation not entertained? I have brought this up since it is the government that is keen on doing PR stunts. Questions remain…questions that shall not be answered.

In fact, what should make the headlines, is the fact that Keralam is in a crisis! There is a realism that normalises every other overstepping from the government. This involves big infra projects that are not scientifically validated (For a government that does sloppy Environmental Impact Assessments – Wayanad Twin Tunnels, some would feel that it is appropriate to accuse the government of the Extreme Poverty Eradication figures). Moreover, in Keralam, unemployment, household costs, are all rising. But there seems to be no way out of this. The party has also finally resorted to the usual system-blaming. Remember it was the health minister Veena George who first came with that particular excuse. Now the party secretary concurs (PM SHRI response). In other words, the revolutionary subject is missing. Subsequently, the only response seems to be the mediated knee jerk reactions. The loud, howling tv news culture is the perfect mediated experience here. As long as we feel the discontent is out there in some form, not least in 30 sec videos and reels, we feel satiated. As a matter of fact, the crisis is here and unsurprisingly; we have no interest in it. We seem untroubled by ‘the dangerous flood of History’.

Now, to the second topic on the board. Recently we saw how Hijab became a matter of contention in education. The issue seemed blown out of proportion and the bottom line remains that no child should be denied education. The secularist might argue that this is unfair treatment, but he should understand that in India, secularism didn’t grow out organically from the bottom to the top. Instead, what we had was a forced top-down Indira Gandhi vanity project. As Achin Vanaik rightly points out, ours is a society that is secular without the secularization. And add to this, the different governments at the centre appeasing Muslim conservatives in the past with regard to secularization and women’s rights. Meera Nanda talks about the same briefly in her recent work, Postcolonial Theory and the Making of Hindu Nationalism: The Wages of Unreason. She rightly identifies this to be a genuine grievance of the RSS. But then again, she wouldn’t expand on it, since there are many who would misuse the same angle in different contexts. Now what matters more is to understand the religious fundamentalist angle here. There is the obvious communist liberal argument that Hijab is a symbol of the Muslim Identity. But the Muslim conservatives are often quick to reframe this, as they believe that Hijab is not only a symbol of the Muslim identity, but also an effective tool for women’s emancipation in Islam. Now this is interesting. Here, the secularist is right in acknowledging the danger, especially these days, the danger tends to call itself Islamic Feminism.

(nerding out...)

Final point on the board is a personal note on lifting and gym culture. Lifting controlled weights has a decompressing effect on people. I can attest to that, and even when putting on muscle has advantages, the more interesting effect on the body would be the increase in strength overtime. The mostly traded reflection on lifting, that in order to be strong, you have to feel weak is something that resonated with me from the first day. This is literally true, as on an experiential level, you feel the strength increase as you move through the sets. The weights you felt heavy becomes light as you progress. And when you look back, it sort of feels like magic.

The fact that you struggled to squat 20kg (favorite compound movement exercise) becomes unbelievable after you find it to be light and easy. And the feeling is the same when you scale new weights. But what really stands out for most people would be finding the rhythm to your body. I mean, there may be a lot of things that most of us, gymgoers, are doing wrong. This is because even when everything seems to be Jeff Nippard coded or science-based, things can be different for different people. And it can also be the case of understudied aspects in lifting. Trust me, there’s a lot that is being left out. Take the meal timings for example. There are studies that show there is no anabolic window after a workout that gives you the maximum desired result. Also take the example of consuming whey protein before bed. There are studies that shows that this increases the rate of muscle building as we rest. Well, the truth of the matter is that there are different variables and we should adjust accordingly to our needs.

Moreover, on a philosophical level, there comes an inescapable feeling that everything inside the gym is a running parallel to the life outside. You fail your sets and then you come back another day and nails it, only for you to fail later on the higher weights. This reminds me of a Fisher quote, "winning is failure deferred". The only difference from the outside would be that the inside involves the pure physicality of your muscles and joints. And maybe that is exactly why people tend to get more comfortable with lifting as time goes on. Yes, the gym, especially lifting, can offer a subliminal experience, but only if you let it.

Be that as it may, it is interesting to see a growing interest in lifting since I also share the same sentiment. And honestly, there’s a lot of ‘lifterature’ books out there (mostly by men) that reorients your perspective on life and strength. I have read three or four titles so far and I love reading them. Most of them share interesting facts too. I recently read A Physical Education by Casey Johnston. She talks about the power of lifting and how it helped her find more meaning within her body. The work is about how women are usually wary of lifting heavy weights at the gym and how most of them would rather run a marathon or spent time on the cardio machines at the gym. It is in this context that Casey shares the scientific evidence that women can benefit greatly from lifting, especially surprising results are possible through lifting if you are someone who suffer from PTSD or traumatic past events. She makes a great case for lifting as she takes us through her own personal struggles in the book.

Ultimately, I believe gym culture is changing for good. At the end of the day, everyone deserves a good workout! Nothing is wrong in lifting heavy and getting big.

[And God knows how hard I have to try to bulk up (I’m getting there!)]