Kannathil Muttamittal

   There are some films which touch your heart; then there are some which make you ponder but then there are some rare films which stay with you, whose characters remain with you. Kannathil Muttamittal is one such rare film. It is a film about a nine year old girl’s quest to find her biological mother and in the process come to terms with her existence. And this quest leads us the viewer, into the Sri Lanka- LTTE conflict. But Kannathil Muttamital (KM) is not about ethnic conflict that raged in Sri Lanka, but it is about the conflict that this nine year old- Amudha goes through to make sense of her life.

   Like all Mani Ratnam films, KM while having one central theme has multiple layers. While keeping Amudha’s story as the anchor, Mani Ratnam sketches beautifully the various characters in the film and their relationships. For example the brief yet sweet romantic track between Amudha’s father (played by R.Madhavan) and her mother (played by Simran). Or the relationship between Amudha and her mother (Indra, played by Simran) is a lovely relation of (re)discovering the love for each other. Indra does everything for Amudha, her love for is unconditional but then she is hurt when Amudha’s priority becomes the search for her biological mother (played by Nandita Das). Short yet effective scenes delicately bring out this emotional struggle that both (Amudha and Indra) go through.

  
    Then there is R. Madhvan’s character who as a writer observes the entire interplay of emotions that Amudha goes through. He is involved as the father but yet works more as a detached writer looking at his story subject. But then in the last scene this consciously cultivated detachment fades away.

    Mani Ratnam does not take any sides in the Sri Lankan ethnic conflict. Rather he sees the conflict through the eyes of Amudha. KM shows us the human element of any war. It shows us the human cost of the conflict. The sweeping scene of people fleeing their village as it is being bombed (backed by a haunting background song-Vidaiyel Kodal) brings us face to face with the human element of conflict. The sight of an old priest ringing the temple bell incessantly as gun shots and bombs are exploding around him is evocative.

   Or take the scene where Amudha watches a suicide bomber attacking his target; Mani Ratnam does not show us a grand attack scene, he rather makes us see it through Amudha’s eyes.

   KM is by far Mani Ratnam’s finest work as yet (though Iruvar comes very close to it). The cinematography is amazing, from the exuberant shots in the Sundari song to grand shots of the conflict to the close-ups of the Amudha in various sequences. Mani Ratnam conveys a lot through visuals. Watch out for the scene where Amudha comes face to face with LTTE soldier-girls of her age who are trotting rifles. No dialogues, no action; only the play of eyes and silence. This scene somewhere captures the ironies of conflict.

KM has a soulful music by AR Rahman, each song weaves the narrative in an intricate web of emotions. The song Vellai Pokkal (comes as the films ends) is true culmination of the emotional turmoil that Amudha and her parents have gone through. (perhaps the most soulful song Rahman has composed till date)

Kannathil Muttamital’s strength lies in its innocence. Amudha stays with us, we become the fellow-travellers in her journey to reconcile with her past, her present, her very existence. And in the process, it becomes our journey of reconciliation.

I often find myself wondering, how is Amudha doing now after reconciling with her past? How is she growing up in her locality of Ashok Nagar in Chennai? How has relation with her mother (by adoption) evolved? Is Indira (R.Madhvan’s writes under that name) the same-the writer first and then the caring father? Many such questions crop up. I do not insist for the answers; for KM leaves me with a calm soul. For me Amudha and her world is no longer a celluloid creation; it is an emotion that lingers with me. Kannathil Muttamital continues even after the end credits have rolled………………

(This blog is not about films but then this post is an exception)

India’s Wild West- Rethinking the Afghanistan Policy

The recently concluded London Conference on Afghanistan has thrown up new challenges for India’s Foreign Policy. The Conference is seen by many as major diplomatic victory for Pakistan. The ‘Great Game’ has actually began now in Afghanistan. And India looks a bit marginalised.

Future developments in Afghanistan will have long term implications for the security of the region.

‘Good’ Taliban and ‘Bad’ Taliban?

   The London Conference saw the first public declaration of the policy of ‘reconciliation and rehabilitation’ with the Taliban. The talk of dealing with the ‘good’ Taliban has been doing round with the American and British security establishment. The main aim of the policy is to identify ‘moderate’ elements among the Taliban and deal with them and accommodate them in the power structure. Till now there is no clarity of what is meant by ‘good’ or ‘moderate’ Taliban.

    This new development clearly reflects the growing frustration and impatience in the Obama Administration’s Afghan Policy. The war effort in Afghanistan is going no where, there is no exit in sight and with the promise of quick end to war, it is obvious that USA will be in search of quick-fix solution.
   This new strategy has greatly increased the importance of Pakistan. USA is banking on Pakistan to provide a gateway to the ‘good’ Taliban and strike a deal with them. All these new developments have created new difficulties for India. But rather than whining about it, India should utilise these changes to reorient its Afghanistan policy.

A Proactive Afghan Policy

   After the fall of Taliban, India has invested heavily in infrastructure building, social and political capacity building in Afghanistan. India enjoys tremendous goodwill among the common Afghans. Some opinion polls rate India as the most popular country among the Afghan population (Popularity data- 70 % for India, 2 % for Pakistan). But India should not remain the country that enjoys high level of good will, but is considered irrelevant in the strategic game.

   India should brace itself for a situation when the Western troops withdraw from Afghanistan. In that scenario, the Hamid Karzai’s government (for he is likely to continue to be in power for the next few years atleast) will have stand up to the pressure of the resurgent Taliban. India should step in actively in this scenario.

   India should now go much beyond building roads and dams. It should increase its military commitment to Afghanistan. India should train Afghan troops (some of it is being already done), provide weapons and play an active role in building a strong Afghan defence force. Everything should be done, apart from sending troops there like the current US presence. Sending troops should be kept as a last option and preferably should not be exercised. India should take steps to neutralise the Pakistan policy of using Afghanistan as a ‘strategic depth’.

    The ‘Great Game’ in Afghanistan is about to enter its most interesting phase, and if India does not act now and not act decisively, it will jeopardise its strategic interests. Rather than depending on USA for a favourable position in Afghanistan, India has to create on its own space. And this would involve some creative thinking and tremendous risk taking on the part of India’s foreign and security policy establishment.

NSA- National Security (Strategic) Adviser

It took a long for me to update my blog. The major part of last year was spent in preparing and appearing for the Civil Services (Mains) Exam. And then along with my research work, I have also taken up a teaching assignment- so all this leaves much less time for the blog. But no more excuses, I have got a quite a few articles from various journals to review and summarise for the blog, and some other posts also…… Hopefully, I will not disappoint, the readers of this blog henceforth…

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The Indian security establishment is abuzz with the possible appointment of Shiv Shankar Menon as the National Security Adviser (NSA). The other contender is Shyam Saran. It is significant that career diplomats (ex-IFS) are the main contenders. The current shift in NSA has to be seen in the larger context of the structural changes being introduced in the Home Ministry.
India currently faces grave threats to its security both internally and externally. Though related, these two are distinct areas and require the concerned expertise. Over the last two years, internal security has dominated the NSA’s efforts.

The institution of NSA, since its inception under the NDA regime, has emerged as an extremely powerful centre. Under its purview came both- internal security and external security. Adding to its power was the personality of the individual NSAs, especially Brajesh Mishra and the later ones.
But since the Mumbai terror attacks of November 2008, it became clear that the NSA was burdened with too much of tasks. The current proposal of making internal security solely the mandate of Home Ministry is a welcome step. This will help in better coordination of various agencies involved in maintaining the internal security.

The NSA now should mainly focus on the external dimension of India’s security. The new profile of the NSA should be more concerned with securing India’s strategic interests in the neighbourhood and the larger external environment. At present, India’s neighbourhood is in a fluid state. Afghanistan is yet to stabilise, and with the proposed Obama’s plan of withdrawal, India will have to rethink its strategic role in vis-à-vis Afghanistan. Related hotbed is Pakistan, where India has too cautiously deal with the multiple power centres. Similarly the changing political scenario in Nepal has to be dealt delicately. And the most important strategic challenge is how to deal with the rising Chinese might. All these questions of the immediate neighbourhood have be interlaced with our relations with the other major players, especially the US. As K. Subhramanyam in his article in the Indian Express (dated 18 Jan, 2010) has argued that the NSA should function like a think-tank providing a long term strategic vision. This could be an apt profile for the new NSA. The NSA’s office should while looking at the immediate security concern, should mainly coordinate with various agencies-internal and external- to evolve a coherent and comprehensive strategic policy for India. Also important to new NSA's agenda would be the challenge of redefining India's Nuclear Doctrine.

The proposed changes in the profile of the NSA are welcome, but a lot will depend the ability of the National Security Council to think in long term strategic interests of the country.