A Prayer by Indians
POETRY FORMAT, KUDANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR SATYAGRAHA, INDIA, 9 Apr 2012
S. P. Udayakumar – TRANSCEND Media Service
S P Udayakumar has been leading nonviolent, peaceful protests by thousands of villagers around Koodankulam in South India, asking for transparency and re-thinking of the commissioning of a nuclear power plant that poses risk to thousands of poor, unprivileged villagers who live around the site.
Kumar’s message is intense because he wishes to prevent the poor from a Fukushima like disaster. Our Indian Constitution guarantees the right to free speech and peaceful protest – a right that has been abused in hands of dirty politics for Kumar and thousands of villagers, who have been blocked food supplies and to be heard by Indian or foreign media.
Below is Kumar’s poem in protest of this abuse of their collective fundamental rights and for being treated violently by police forces. Several unjust arrests have been made and the international peace community is watching our dirty “democracy”.
— Sumeet Grover
*****
With Due Apologies to St. Francis, Reinhold Niebuhr and St. Patrick
Oh, Prime Ministerial Lord, make me a sports authority of your games;
where there is common, let me steal wealth;
where there is contract, commission;
where there is agreement, kickbacks;
where there is deal, cut;
where there is pact, brokerage;
where there is bill, fee.
Oh, Apolitical Master!
grant that I may not so much seek to be taxed as to tax;
to be assessed, as to assess;
to be looted, as to loot;
for it is in plundering that we receive,
it is in funding that we are funded,
and it is in boot-licking that we are born to Powerful Life.
Oh, Neta, grant me the temerity
to accept the radioactivity that I cannot avoid;
Patriotism to welcome even more activity
and stupidity not to know the difference
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting nuclear plants and bombs as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He –the O-Bomb-Ma– did, this scientific world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that His Capitalistic Masters will make all things right
if I surrender to Their Corporate Will;
That I may be reasonably radioactive in this life
and supremely radiant with PM
Forever in the next.
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity –Money, Machine, Market
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity –Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity –Communalism, Corruptionism, Capitalism
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
I bind this day to me forever.
By power of profit, Capitalists’ incarnation;
Its baptism in the exploitation river;
Its death on Gross for my manipulation;
Its bursting from the share market;
Its riding up the hedonistic way;
Its coming at the day of trading;
I bind unto myself today.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great oppression of the powerful;
The sweet ‘Go to Hell’ in judgment hour,
The service of the Political Leaders,
Bureaucrats’ faith, Scientists’ word,
The businessmen’s prayers, the Military Chiefs’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Foreign Lord,
And impurity of stinking souls.
I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the First Families,
The glorious sons’ and daughters’ life-sucking way,
The blackness of the night at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.
I bind unto myself today
The power of the PM to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of the PM’s boss to teach,
Her hand to guide, Her shield to ward,
The word of both to silence my speech,
Their foreign host to be my guard.
Bribe be with me, Bribe within me,
Bribe behind me, Bribe before me,
Bribe beside me, Bribe to win me,
Bribe to comfort and restore me.
Bribe beneath me, Bribe above me,
Bribe in quiet, Bribe in danger,
Bribe in hearts of all that love me,
Bribe in mouth of friend and stranger.
I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Corrupt;
By invocation of the same.
The Three in One, and One in Three,
Of Whom all politics hath creation,
Eternal Sycophancy, Nepotism, Favoritism:
Praise to the Lords of my exploitation,
Exploitation is of PM the Lord.
April 7, 2012
_____________________
S.P. Udayakumar, Ph.D. – Tamil Nadu, India:
* South Asian Community Center for Education and Research (SACCER)
* TRANSCEND Network, South Asia Convener (TSA) (For Rethinking South Asia)
* People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
* National Alliance of Anti-nuclear Movements (NAAM) (For a Nuclear-Free India that has No Deals, No Mines, No Reactors, No Dumps, and No Bombs)
Sumeet Grover – Originally from India, based in the UK:
– Member of the TRANSCEND Art & Peace Network
– Coordinator of Global Poetry
– Msc Software Engineering.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 9 Apr 2012.
Anticopyright: Editorials and articles originated on TMS may be freely reprinted, disseminated, translated and used as background material, provided an acknowledgement and link to the source, TMS: A Prayer by Indians, is included. Thank you.
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POETRY FORMAT:
KUDANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR SATYAGRAHA, INDIA:
[…] *Published by TRANSCEND Media Service. Go to Original. […]
1. Stop It or Transform It?: If you say, “Stop the Koodankulam nuclear power plant project!” it indicates that you are still in the dimension of the “for-and-against” which some people call, “dualism.” The TRANSCEND method, invented by Prof. Galtung, teaches you to go beyond the “for-and-against,” the dimension of dualism. To transform the conflict means to go beyond the dimension of the “for-and-against” in order to reach a new dimension — a common and creative goal. So, stop saying, “Stop the Koodankulam nuclear power plant project!” But, start saying, “Start transforming the conflict on the Koodankulam nuclear power plant project!”
2. Time to Prove: What and how shall the Koodankulam residents do to transform the conflict successfully from now? You may wonder if the Koodankulam residents know the TRANSCEND method. No problem. Dr. Udayakumar, the leader of the anti-nuclear power plant movement in Koodankulam, studied under Prof. Galtung when he was a graduate student at the University of Hawaii. Watch if Dr. Udayakumar and the Koodankulam residents will successfully transform the conflict. This is the time Dr. Udayakumar and the Koodankulam residents are to prove themselves. This is the time the effectiveness of the TRANSCEND method is to be proved.
3. Scientific Discussions by the Authorities?: Did the relevant authorities (i.e. the Indian government, the State authorities of Tamil Nadu and/or the local authorities of Koodankulam) conduct an environmental analysis, a health assessment, and an energy resource assessment regarding the Koodankulam nuclear power plant project? If conducted, what were the results? If not conducted, what were the reasons for that? Scientific discussions and assessments, focusing on the environment, the health issues and the energy issues, should be presented before anything else. Where are these discussions and assessments?
4. Scientific Discussions by the Residents?: Did the Koodankulam residents conduct an environmental analysis, a health assessment, and an energy resource assessment regarding the Koodankulam nuclear power plant project, independently by the residents themselves? (These analysis and assessments by the residents should be conducted separately from those conducted by the relevant authorities.) If conducted, what were the results? If not conducted, what were the reasons for that? That the residents are simple people or that they do not have money to hire scientists cannot be the excuse when the residents prepare a scientific, creditable or proving argument to counter that of the relevant authorities. If the residents’ argument against the nuclear power plant project is not scientifically well-founded, their anti-nuclear power plant project movement might lose its influence. Scientific discussions and assessments, focusing on the environment, the health issues and the energy issues, should be presented before anything else. Where are these discussions and assessments?
5. Assessments by the Third Parties?: It is also important or worthwhile to conduct assessments (including those of the environment issues, of the health issues, the energy issues and other relevant issues if any) by the third parties, such as UNEP, UNIDO, ICUN, IAEA and/or various nuclear energy consulting companies or agencies. Did the relevant authorities of India request their assessments? Did the Koodankulam residents request their assessments? If conducted, what were the results? If not conducted, what were the reasons for that? Assessments by the third parties are crucial. Scientific discussions and assessments, focusing on the environment, the health issues and the energy issues, should be presented before anything else. Where are these discussions and assessments?
6. The Choice of Energy: Did the Koodankulam residents discuss pros and cons of various types – wind, large-scale hydro, energy crops, solar, gas, oil, coal or others — of alternative energy to nuclear energy? If they discussed all those types of energy, they have known by now that there is no perfect energy that satisfies all required conditions. Every energy system has its own strength and weakness. Then, if the Koodankulam residents were given an opportunity to choose energy for the electric generating system, what energy would they choose?
7. Preparations for Tomorrow: Even if the Koodankulam residents may not see any positive perspectives at this moment in their struggle to achieve their goal, they should prepare for the situation that is to come. You never know when the current trend will suddenly change. Be ready for that day. Be ready for that moment. When it is a sunny day, prepare for a rainy day. When it is summer, prepare for winter. Tomorrow is another day, but the preparation for tomorrow should be done today. The future will not begin in the future; the future begins “now.”
8. A Mantra: Chant the following mantra 108 times every day in front of the nuclear power plant: “Om gam ganapatayei namaha.” The purpose of this Hindu mantra is to remove any obstacle.
Some people asked me about the above paragraph 8. So, let me answer as follows:
Do you know what the “obstacle” is in this problem? It is “fear.” The other side of “fear” is “hatred.” Therefore, “fear” and “hatred” are actually one. (By the way, the other side of “love” is “compassion.” Therefore, “love” and “compassion” are actually one.) Accordingly, if you remove “fear/hatred,” the rest of the steps for the solution of the problem will become less difficult. Remember what Tantra teaches you: “The solution will emerge by itself (if you have “love/compassion” with you). Do not force. Let it emerge.” But, as the first step, remove “your fear/hatred.” Without the first step, no further steps exist. If you have “fear,” you tend to force an inappropriate solution, without knowing it. The mantra helps you remove “your fear/hatred.” Let Ganesha help you.
One more thing which is the “respect for your opponents”: To solve a conflict does not necessarily mean that you conquer your opponents. If your request is accepted by your opponents, it does not necessarily mean that you have beaten them. It means that you are to respect them. What does it really mean? It means this: When Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, reached the top of Everest, Hillary shouted, “I conquered Everest!” while Norgay knelt down and prayed, showing his respect for the Mother Nature. Which attitude is more appropriate for dealing with the conflict? The answer is clear. So, show your respect for your opponents. “It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” (Mahatma Gandhi)
With peace, love/compassion and respect for you