Sridala Swami @sridala@mastodon.social
- The Poetry Magazine
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sridala-swami
- Picture Books
- https://storyweaver.org.in/users/56-sridala-swami
Deeply committed to doing nothing.
Joined Nov 2019
Pinned post
#Introduction #India I'm a poet and I also write books for children.
Former and intermittent film buff, former book reviewer, former everything.
I read, watch TV shows and lurk on AO3.
Will toot about my garden and anything that's likely to distract me.
It's nearly hospital o'clock.
Remember when it was New Year day and you'd lift the landline only to hear the exchange wishing you a happy new year?
Sridala Swami
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Am hearing of internet being shut down tomorrow, over various districts in Uttar Pradesh . Clearly preparing for a tense Friday. Please stay safe everyone & protect those who are weak & in danger.
Texted a friend after months asking how she's doing.
She says, it's the best of times, the worst of times.
I reply, surely some revolution is at hand, just as she says, things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.
And that's how we'll leave it until the next year.
Sridala Swami
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Usha Ramanathan writing in the Statesman in August 2013 - about NPR and UID.
Refers to an answer to a question in parliament that clarifies that Aadhaar would be the deduplication method for NPR.
https://www.thestatesman.com/latest/a-tale-of-two-turfs-npr-and-uid-10497.html
Listen: it is not the protests that have turned violent, it's the police.
Sridala Swami
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@h_tejas I don't see enough ppl talking about how NRC affects the Rights of Adivasis. If they are declared refugees for their lack of documentation, this gives the govt the power to contend that they aren't the original inhabitants and moved only a while ago. Their rights under FRA and 6th schedule go for a toss. Their rightful land will go to cronies of Shah and Modi. This government is anti Dalit and anti Adivasis. Fuck them!
What can employees of the government do during protests? And employees of private enterprises compelled by the government (like Airtel, etc)? #IndiaAgainstCAA #CAAProtests
Learn from these factory workers in 70s Scotland:
In Hyderabad, students from the HCU who were going to the #CAAProtests at the Exhibition Grounds, have been detained aren't being told where they're being taken.
In Bangalore, where #Sec144 has been imposed, they've detained people who are protesting singly or in pairs (technically this should be allowed, even under #Sec144).
They don't want any kind of protest. If you're thinking of stickers and buttons, be sure they'll come for that next.
Song for the last few days of the year. #Sec144 #CAAProtests #AlsoBowie #JustWatchNo
Today is the day. #CAAProtests
Sridala Swami
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If you're joining or organising a protest assembly or march, read this excellent primer on protecting yourself and your comrades. https://right-to-protest.org/protect-your-protest/
Sridala Swami
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Some of us are worrying about which crisis to prioritise: the resurgence of the far-right/ fascism, India's failing economy, women's safety, climate change upending our lives in the 2020 decade, et al. This is a good time to remember George Carlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c
Sridala Swami
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+ One of the most urgent, as Mukul Kesavan writes. Don't let your solidarity stop with these protests.
"In the months ahead, after the initial outrage about the CAA has abated, the question of solidarity will arise. Opposing the CAA out of an abstract commitment to constitutional values is not the same as opposing an inquisition that poses an existential threat to your liberty and your claim to Indian citizenship."
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/an-evil-hour/cid/1726976
The decade began with the Arab Spring. Remember how that turned out.
Whatever this is right now, it can't end when the protests do.
Sridala Swami
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Hello, #Goa! I will be reading at the Serendipity Arts Festival on Dec 17, from both my poetry and fiction. I hope to see you there. (Caveat: unless there's a protest you're at instead, in which case you should go to the protest).
How to keep in touch with low/no internet or offline [thread]:
Things aren't distractions from each other.
It's all happening at once because everyone's energies are limited.
Do what you can, but don't stay silent.
- The Poetry Magazine
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sridala-swami
- Picture Books
- https://storyweaver.org.in/users/56-sridala-swami
Deeply committed to doing nothing.
Joined Nov 2019
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