Bane of Bigotry in Politics & Religion

Bigotry is against human reason, though very common among humans. How can one political party be totally toxic & others totally good passes human understanding. The absurdity of it becomes evident when people change parties. Do they suddenly become Mr. Hyde, transforming themselves from Dr Jekyll? Most politicians have a (secret) agenda of their own irrespective of party affiliations. So taking a polarised view in these matters may not be wise for the electorate. DVG, the noted Kannada (& English writer) in his two treatises on politics called "Rajya Shastra" & "Rajyanga" puts forward an eminently sane viewpoint, devoid of dogma & bigotry.

Bigotry in religious matters is even more illogical & dangerous. Swami Vivekananda took the bull by the horns, when he boldly stated that there is no one true religion (as claimed mostly by the Abrahamic ones). If one is true, all are true. He even went further & stated that it is desirable for each to have their own personal religion.

Probably watching inter-religious strife, due to bigotry & dogmatism, throughout the ages, Thomas Paine, in his hugely influential book, "The Age of Reason", declared war against all organised religions, though he was a believer in God. In his equally pathbreaking book "Common Sense", he debunks the "Divine Right to Rule" leading to Monarchy. This may be another form of bigotry that accident of birth may enable persons to rule others. It may be recalled that Thomas Paine's Pen was as effective as George Washington's Sword in gaining American Independence."

Especially in the twenty first century, dogmatism & bigotry are being fuelled by the popularity of Indian film stars & popular cricketers. To get cheap popularity by the masses & probable later entry into politics, the dialogues are written for the actors to boost their image to the ridiculous extent that a few even give "darshan" outside their houses to their fans, like divine personages! This mindless exercise is peculiar to India. The ads by cricketers may also pass on subliminal messages. The minds of the gullible public being manipulated by what after all are mere entertainers & not nation builders is pathetic.

There are no better words against bigotry than those of Rev.Martin Luther King, Jr, who said "There is some good in the worst of us & some evil in the best of us. When we know this, we are less prone to hate our enemies."

Two "Great" Ladies in Literature

"Miss (Dorothea) Brooke had that kind of beauty which seems to be thrown into relief by poor dress. Her hand & wrist were so finely formed that she could wear sleeves not less bare of style than those in which the Blessed Virgin appeared to Italian painters, & her profile as well as her stature & bearing seemed to gain the more dignity from her plain garments, which by the side of provincial fashion gave her the impressiveness of a fine quotation from the Bible in a paragraph of to-day's newspaper."

Such is the fastidious description of dignified feminine beauty at the very start of one of the greatest novels in English Literature, namely "Middlemarch" by George Eliot.

Later, Dorothea, lovingly called 'Dodo' by her younger sister Celia, marries disastrously an elderly dry scholar, enamoured by his learning.

After his death, his conditional will, humiliates her.

When she visits Rosamund Lydgate, an equally beautiful lady, in her carriage & pair, the maid Martha, on enquiry, says "I am not sure, my Lady; I will see, if you will please walk in" in a confused way, but collected enough to be sure that 'mum' was not the right title for this QUEENLY YOUNG WIDOW in a carriage & pair.

Throughout the novel, in spite of her mistaken marriage, her true nobility of character is never in doubt.

The other 'Great' lady in fiction is Melanie Hamilton from Margaret Mitchell's "Gone with the Wind." Though her sister-in-law, the feisty Scarlett O'Hara, aspires to be one like her mother, who was a truly great lady, she lacks the character for it. The character Rhett Butler, knowing her inside out, brutally says, "You are not even a lady, let alone a Great one." To rub salt into her wound, he adds that Melanie Hamilton is a true Great Lady. Scarlett thinks Melanie is a goose, but Rhett knows better & goes to Melanie to cry on her lap, when he loses his darling little daughter in a riding accident.

Whole Tone Scale in Western, Hindustani & Carnatic Music

This scale uses only whole tones & no semitones. All tones are the same distance apart & as there is no leading tone, it creates a blurred, indistinct effect. Though it was used as early as by Bach to end his Cantata BWV 60, it was also used by Mozart in his "Musical Joke." Though the Russian Composers used it extensively, it was mainly associated with the Impressionist music of Debussy, his "Voiles" being almost within the whole tone scale.

In Hindustani music, it is called Raga Sahera & used in a Ghazal by Mehdi Hasan & played on the Sarangi by Sultan Khan. "Raga Junglism" points out that this raga is "Self Murchana" (rotationally symmetric) & palindromic (same intervals forwards & backwards.)

In Carnatic Music, it is called Raga Gopriya, a janya of Melakarta Rishabhapriya, with the Panchama being dropped. Also  Rishabhapriya itself is the Pratimadhyama variant of the popular Charukeshi. Vidwans Suryaprakash Ramachandran, Ramanathan Muthuganapati & Madurai N.Sivaganesh have performed compositions in Gopriya.