The part II of the film Che was released in Argentina on 18 June. I made a reservation quickly and reached the theatre ahead of time, anticipating big rush. Hmm...there were just only about ten people. I was surprisd and puzzled by the low turnout for the premier of this film about a great Argentine hero. Another one of those Argentine contradictions!
May be the Argentines do not consider Che Argentine enough! Che Guevara had left Argentina for good at the age of 25 and spent the rest of his adventure and ideology filled life in Cuba and other parts of Latin America. His life ended in Bolivia at the fairly young age of thirty nine. It is believed that Che,at the end, wanted to come home and bring about a revolution in Argentina itself. Prior to that he wanted to liberate the neighbouring Bolivia and establish a proletarian rule there. But his ill-fated revolutionary journey was put to an end before that.In any case, even if Che had tried revolution in Argentina at that time, he might have faced the same end as in Bolivia. However, Che was a source of inspiration for the leftist guerilla movement in Argentina which took off in Argentina and Latin America later.
Che had no chance in Bolivia, although he mistakenly believed that the peasants and miners of Bolivia would rise in support of his guerilla war to overthrow the government there. He blindly believed that the model of Cuban revolution was repeatable in countries like Bolivia. The first hurdle was that he and his band of Cubans were looked at as foreigners, with some skepticism and even suspicion by the Bolivians. The local communist party did not support him, based on their conclusion that Bolivians were not ready for an armed struggle. The government of Bolivia and the CIA were determined to crush leftist rebels to ensure that Cuba was not repeated. Che and his tiny band of guerillas were outnumbered and outgunned by the Bolivian armed forces. Ineveitably, Che was captured and executed in October 1967. This Bolivian adventure of Che and his end is the story in part II of the film.
In part I of the film which was screened a few months back,Che´s role in the Cuban revolution is shown. Che meets Fidel in 1955, at a gathering in Mexico City. He listens to Castro's plans and signs on as a member of the July 26th Movement. He leads the attack of one of the guerilla bands and marches into Havana celebrating the victory of the Cuban revolution. The film covers the role of Che as a minister in the cuban government and his speech at the UN.
Benicio del Toro has done justice in his role as Che. The director Steven Soderbergh has taken pains to narrate the story of Che naturally and true to the biography ,without Hollywooding the story. In the film, Che has come out as a revolutionary martyr. Part II of the film is more gripping than part I and leaves a more powerful impact.
Director Soderbergh has taken a bold gamble to stretch the film to two parts lasting for more than four hours to narrate the revolutionary character of Che. But even this was not enough to cover the fascinating life story of Che. In his relatively short life of 39 years, Che had a life filled with idealism, action and adventures. Although he spent his first 24 years in Argentina, he became thereafter a true latin American and a standard bearer of global revolution. He first went to Bolivia and from there to Peru and then to central America. In Guatemala,he joined the struggle to defend the leftist government of Arbenz, which was overthrown as part of the cold war politics. From Guatemala, he went to Mexico where he joined Fidel Castro´s movement.
The end of Che was predictable. As a pure and unchangeable revolutionary, Che could not have died a natural death at old age. The revolutionary fire in him was always burning and it would not have allowed him to settle into normal life. It was not the Bolivians who killed him. It was the fire within himself which burnt him to death. Position and power did not appeal to him. As a minister in the Cuban government,he was uncomfortable and wanted to get out for the next campaign. He felt that his karma was in fighting, liberation and revolution. He, therefore set off to Africa where he joined the Congolese guerillas.But the experience there was not to the satisfaction of the revolutionary. So he came back to Latin America and thought of the idea of a guerilla war in Bolivia. Fidel Castro, knowing that Che did not have a chance in Bolivia , let him go since he also felt that Che did not fit in the post- revolution Cuba. Part II of the film, in fact, starts with Fidel Castro on TV, reading a letter from Che Guevara.
While this is a serious biographical film on the revolutionary aspect of the personality of Che, there is the other delightful film ¨Diaries of a motorcyclist¨which is about Che´s journey through Latin America in his motorcycle.It depicts the character of the young Che in his formative years trying out unarmed adventures. This journey was the one which initiated Che´s understanding of the world outside Argentina and motivated him to fight against injustice.
Che, the film, succeeds in reminding the audience of the place of Che Guevara in the history of Latin America and that of the world. His name and image have inspired and romanticised revolution in the hearts and minds of generations after him.
I have seen criticism of the film as well as Che by the Commie baiters. But the fact is that Che´s dream has now been fulfilled by the contemporary Latin America. Che, in his grave, would be pleased with the reemergence of Left which has come to power in many countries of Latin America. But the Left has come to power peacefully through the ballot and not by the bullet believed and practised by Che and his companeros. The election of Left means empowerment of the masses who have started driving the political and economic agenda of the region. The abnormal gap between rich and poor, characteristic of Latin America, is now being filled and thereby socio political stabilty is being established. Latin America is now moving towards the next post-ideological stage with pragmatic leaders who are finding the balance with the right mix of pro-poor and pro-business policies. This is the basis for my optimism for a stable and prosperous Latin America in the long term.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
Queen of Curious Night..is... Divya, the Divine Light
Curiosa Noche ( curious night ) the nightly programme in Radio Vale 97.5 FM of Buenos Aires, made me more curious when I heard the word Namaste....
The programme starts with Namaste at 10 pm and ends at 1 AM Monday to Friday...with Namaste.
It is the voice of Daisy May Queen, the hostess of the show.
Queen, Curiosa Noche and Namaste.... The curiosity took me to a meeting with Daisy May Queen last week . She greeted me with Namaste. It struck me that Namaste is not just a word from her lips, but an expression from her soul. Daisy May Queen told me ¨It is the Divya in me which says Namaste ¨ She has assumed an Indian name Divya, which means Divine Brilliance or Light. She says she is more of a spiritual person than a physical one but living in a country which is more physical than spiritual. India is her spiritual home.
India is not just a passing fancy or fashion for her. When she went to India for the first time, she felt as though she was ¨returning to India¨. She feels at home in India and among the Indians. She has been to India three times, each time for a month. She is planning to buy a property and stay regularly in Siliguri and do some community work there. She became interested in India since her teenage. As soon as she earned and saved enough, the first thing she did was to buy a ticket to India.
She has learnt some Hindi and can read. She looks more beautiful when she says ¨ Bahut Sundar Hai¨ in her charming accent. She has read a lot of Indian authors. Gita Mehta ( especially the book River Sutra) is one of her favourites. She loves Bollywood films and songs. She has become a vegetarian now. She likes Indian food and makes Dal Makhani at home. Masala Dosai is her favourite.
Bahut Sunder Hai in saree and bindi:
Divine Brilliance....
The Curiosa Noche programme of Daisy May Queen is one of the best cultural experience of Buenos Aires. It is about people and society, feelings and frustrations, poetic dreams and prosaic life, encuentros and desencuentros ( meetings and nonmeetings) amor and desamor ( love and nonlove). I love the spanish expressions: desencuentro and desamor. She tells the romantic stories and experience of her listeners and asks always the three questions;
Que piensas, que sentís, que te preguntas ?
What do you think, what do you feel, what do you ask yourself ?
Gracias Divya. This time the Festival quote will be ... Noviembre con ti ( november with you ) !
The programme starts with Namaste at 10 pm and ends at 1 AM Monday to Friday...with Namaste.
It is the voice of Daisy May Queen, the hostess of the show.
Queen, Curiosa Noche and Namaste.... The curiosity took me to a meeting with Daisy May Queen last week . She greeted me with Namaste. It struck me that Namaste is not just a word from her lips, but an expression from her soul. Daisy May Queen told me ¨It is the Divya in me which says Namaste ¨ She has assumed an Indian name Divya, which means Divine Brilliance or Light. She says she is more of a spiritual person than a physical one but living in a country which is more physical than spiritual. India is her spiritual home.
India is not just a passing fancy or fashion for her. When she went to India for the first time, she felt as though she was ¨returning to India¨. She feels at home in India and among the Indians. She has been to India three times, each time for a month. She is planning to buy a property and stay regularly in Siliguri and do some community work there. She became interested in India since her teenage. As soon as she earned and saved enough, the first thing she did was to buy a ticket to India.
She has learnt some Hindi and can read. She looks more beautiful when she says ¨ Bahut Sundar Hai¨ in her charming accent. She has read a lot of Indian authors. Gita Mehta ( especially the book River Sutra) is one of her favourites. She loves Bollywood films and songs. She has become a vegetarian now. She likes Indian food and makes Dal Makhani at home. Masala Dosai is her favourite.
Bahut Sunder Hai in saree and bindi:
Divine Brilliance....
Even the stares and ogles of Indian men do not deter her from travelling alone to every nook and corner of India including Trichy and Kanyakumari. She laughs while telling how an Indian salesman in a saree shop was trying to touch her while teaching her how to wear a saree. The Indian men should be careful because she is a Kali worshipper !
See the image below to know what Kali means...
Divya has a Kali temple at home. She leads a prayer, yoga and meditation group. She hopes a Hindu temple will be built in Buenos Aires, where she can do puja and offer prayers as they do in India.
Despite their stares, Daisy has a soft corner for Indian men. She says Indian men like gorditas ( fleshy women). She was a little plump when she went to India but now she is flaquita ( thin).
In this video in spanish she talks about how she lost 36 kilos in seven months..
Perhaps the reason for her kindness to Indian men is the fact that she is a fan of Freddy Mercury, the singer and pianist of the British rock group Queen. Freddy Mercury´s original name was Farrokh Bulsara, a Parsi whose family came from Balsara in Gujrat. He was born in Zanzibar in Africa. He was sent to school in Mumbai where he had his formative years. He changed his name to Freddy Mercury, after he went to live in England. Daisy visited the place in Zanzibar where Freddy Mercury was born. She hopes to interview him in her next incarnation !
Now Daisy has a crush for Salman Khan !
Now Daisy has a crush for Salman Khan !
The Curiosa Noche programme of Daisy May Queen is one of the best cultural experience of Buenos Aires. It is about people and society, feelings and frustrations, poetic dreams and prosaic life, encuentros and desencuentros ( meetings and nonmeetings) amor and desamor ( love and nonlove). I love the spanish expressions: desencuentro and desamor. She tells the romantic stories and experience of her listeners and asks always the three questions;
Que piensas, que sentís, que te preguntas ?
What do you think, what do you feel, what do you ask yourself ?
She starts her programme at 10 pm saying ¨The night has arrived... No more running, no hurry. This is the intimate moment you can dedicate to yourself, your books and your radio. You can lower the light, have a glass of wine, a cup of coffee... but never alone... because i am here to accompany you in the radio ¨. Her voice is magical and mesmerising.
She keeps the Argentines ( and an incorrigible Indian romantic too ) sleepless till 1 am telling stories and asking the three questions in her sensual and seductive voice. She is poetic and provocative, creative and gifted. She makes the listeners curious and puzzled. She calms the disturbed minds and comforts broken hearts. She inspires dreams and incites imagination. She stirs emotions and soothes the soul.
Daisy plays the songs of all my Latino romantic favourites: Cristian Castro, Reik, Diego Torres, Selena, Axel, Luis Fonsi, Marco Antonio Solis, Chayanne, Juan Luis Guerra, Alex ubago… And, I love the slogan of the Radio Vale, when they say ¨No deja de soñar ¨which means Dont stop dreaming.
I was thrilled the other night when Daisy dedicated my favourite song ¨Noviembre Sin ti ¨ of Reik to the number one fan of Curiosa Noche…no prize for guessing the fan.
I was thrilled the other night when Daisy dedicated my favourite song ¨Noviembre Sin ti ¨ of Reik to the number one fan of Curiosa Noche…no prize for guessing the fan.
Noviembre sin ti ( november without you ) is the song I had quoted in my speech at the Gala of the Festival of India in November last year. Here is the song:
I invited Divya to be the hostess of this year´s Festival Gala on 5 November 2009. The Queen has agreed to wear a Saree and compere the programme. Divya, the Divine Light will light the lamp at the inaguration of the Festival.
Gracias Divya. This time the Festival quote will be ... Noviembre con ti ( november with you ) !
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