The Popularity of Nonsense and Possibilities of Counter-Culture

Sudeep K S (sudeep.ks@gmail.com)

( Abstract : The first part of this article tries to analyze the ways in which 'popular' culture becomes

popular and the role that racism and hatred plays in the same, citing a few explicit instances of

prejudices that have appeared in Indian media over the last few years. The second part first reviews

some theories on the power of mass media and considers some possibilities that the popular nature

of the popular culture offers to counter the underlying racism and hatred, mainly in the Indian

context. An initial Malayalam version of this paper was presented at a Seminar on Media and

Popular Culture at a Youth Dialogue held in Kuttippuram, Kerala from 1 to 5 May 2013. )

The early studies on the mainstream media were focussed mainly on the role that different media

plays in influencing people and on how media can be used effectively for different types of

campaigns. The campaign could be aimed at selling a product, manufacturing public opinion in

favour of the state or for spreading awareness and reducing prejudices. "How influential are

different kinds of mass media" was the underlying question of all these studies. In the year 1959

itself, media researcher Bernard Berelson predicted an imminent death of this line of

communication research (1).

Moreover, most of these studies reached the conclusion that media campaigns are not successful in

changing opinions and attitudes, with the possible exception of marketing. However, that did not

mark an end to the media campaigns, and the attempts to influence people through the use of

various mass media continued, and so did the studies to find out how to influence people better.

Another major stream of media research took a critical look at the modus operandi of mainstream

media. It was observed that the mass media often doubled up as epicentres of hatred and racism. At

the same time, there was a counter-view that rather than producing such racial discriminations and

prejudices, the media mostly reflected such prejudices and discriminations that existed already in

the society. Casteism, sexism, apartheid and Islamophobia are all manifestations of this racism in

different shades. In the next few sections we take a quick look at some explicit instances of such

prejudices appearing in the Indian media.

Dalit cooks who 'divided'

Around three years back the author happened to write a note titled Casteist reporting (2) in the

media-watch website The Hoot. It was about a news report titled "Dalit cooks divide UP

schoolkids" that appeared in Mail Today, a news daily from the house of India Today group of

publications. The report, dated 17 July 2010 and written by one Piyush Srivastava, tried to

convince the readers that dalit women appointed as cooks in schools of Uttar Pradesh divided the

schoolkids on caste lines, leading to a 'bad situation'.(3) The report went like this, "Mid-day meals

prepared by Dalit cooks has created such a bad situation in UP that upper caste students are

leaving government schools in droves – so far the number is 1,000.."

The report also reminds the reader of the BSP's promises of exterminating casteism and how the

Mayawati government betrayed those promises and ended up widening the caste divide. ("..But

once there, Mayawati and her party failed to bridge the gap between the upper castes and the

Dalits. Rather than achieving social harmony, it has led to increased casteism as is evident from the

fact that the students have been boycotting schools over Dalit cooks'")

As one can see, the report conveniently shifts the blame of 'dividing on caste lines' from the upper

caste and OBC parents who insisted their children will not eat food cooked by dalit cooks to the

dalit cooks and the BSP government who appointed them.

After the note in The Hoot was published, the report on the India Today website got a make-over,

and what now appears on that page is a softened version.

The 'social evil' called reservation

"Tired of crime, corruption and reservation, groups of middle-class citizens are coming together to

change the political system by being part of it. Sunday Times profiles new political parties in the

fray", said the blurb of an article titled Middle-class comes to the party that appeared in The Sunday

Times of India dated 27 July 2008.(4)

A blatant manifestation of the 'upper caste' mind which believes that like crime and corruption,

reservation is also a social evil that needs to be eradicated from the face of earth. There is no

attempt to hide their casteism or their lack of regard of the Indian constitution, probably because it

is meant to appeal to a similar section of readers.

Mayawati, a hot target

For the majority of the Indian jouralists who were born into casteist discriminations, Uttar Pradesh

ex chief minister Kum. Mayawati has always been one of the favourite targets. The below cartoon

by Jag Suraiya and Neelabh makes fun of her colour and figure (that the creators of the cartoon

consider ugly) and was published in The Times of India dated 15 September 2009.(5)

Some of the more recent reports about the wikipedia 'revelations' about Mayawati were no different.

“Mayawati sent empty jet to Mumbai for sandals: WikiLeaks” (The Times of India), “Mayavati sent

her plane for her sandals” (Dainik Hindustan), “BSP chief a 'first-rate egomaniac'” (Indian Express)

“WikiLeaks: Mayawati's 'eccentric paranoia' included 9 cooks, 2 tasters” (NDTV) went the

headlines. While the wikileaks cables (6) rightly quoted some of the media persons of Lucknow as

the source of this 'information', the Indian media largely avoided mentioning the source. It sure does

not sound good to admit that the source of this revelation is one's own gossip circles.(7)

Some Malayali obsessions

Even as the Keralites, like anyone else, share most of these 'national' and 'international' forms of

racism, they have some obsessions of their own. One of them is often wrongly referred to as 'moral

policing'. More often than not it is an immoral obsession to peep into other's affairs and make

judgements, and it is ‘more fun’ when it is women at the receiving end. Another important one is

the growing intolerance towards the migrant labourers from other states, even as we Keralites want

them to stay because of the cheap labour it offers.

One example of the former was a cartoon by Sri Gopikrishnan in Mathrubhumi newspaper dated 16

December 2012, following reports that actor Mamta Mohandas and her husband have decided to get

a divorce.(8) The cartoon showed the actor in two frames, in a wedding attire in the first one and

skimpily clad in the second, with a suggestive caption “Mam..taa poyi, Daa vannu”. (Mamta just

went for a while, and now she’s back). The readers must have enjoyed it with the pleasure of

watching soft-porn. (In Kerala male circles, comments like a “public property becoming private”

are common when a woman actor gets married.) The cartoon was later taken off from the

newspaper’s website following protests.

It was not the first time that Sri Gopikrishnan's cartoons took such sexist overtones. Earlier cartoons

connecting Soofiya Maudany with CPI(M) state chief Pinarayi Vijayan and various cartoons on

political personalities like Rajmohan Unnithan, Maudany, Brinda Karat and Mayawati have all

reflected a similar mindset that is likely to be shared by majority of the Mathrubhumi readers. More

recently there was one on Arundhati Roy, where the writer was shown drinking grape juice. The

caption read “There are different kinds of G.rapes, white G.rape and Black.G.rape”. It was in

reference to Ms. Roy's take on the reactions to the Delhi rape where she said there is only one kind

of rape and there is no point in discriminating some rapes from the other.

“6000 labourers from other states in the city, How many of them are criminals?” shouted a huge,

scary headline on the Kozhikode Metro special edition of Malayala Manorama newspaper on 2012

January 16.(9)

“Police unable to gather more details” and “A new racket behind distribution of fake currency”, say

the sub-headers. To add to the visual effects, there is an image of two dark persons wearing masks.

They could have as well asked “20,00,000 Malayalees in the city, How many of them are criminals?”

But that would not appeal so much to its readers.

There is another curious case of ‘moral policing’ involving cartoon characters Mayavi, Luttappi,

Raju and Radha of the cartoon series titled Mayavi in a popular children's weekly Balarama.

. (image: Syam Nair)

These characters are “better dressed” now, thanks to the intervention of some moralist parents (see

image).

Even as it is difficult to call it sexism or racism when taken in isolation, it easily extends to the

intolerance that the Malayali male audience have on a popular television anchor who wears

sleeveless tops (10) or the moral obligation that they feel to intervene whenever they see a woman

and a man together. (11, 12, 13)

'White' racism

The history of racism in the media is not limited to India. It is only that a better legal system and

powerful social scrutiny has resulted in less explicit or veiled displays of racism in the USA and

European nations. Even in the children's rhymes or stories we can see the 'white pride' playing its

part. I came across this nursery rhyme (14) on youtube while searching for something to entertain

my son : Chubby cheeks, Dimple chin.. Rosy lips, Teeth within.. Curly hair, Very fair.. Eyes are

blue, Lovely too.. Teacher's pet, Is that you -- Yes, yes, yes.. Yes, many a times some such features

are enough to make one a favourite among the teachers. It is interesting to note that even as this

song is likely to be of western origin, the video cited here is very much Indian.

The 'lesser' mortals

The effect of this kind of nonsense is so strong that it is often shared by those who are at the

receiving end of such discriminations, and those 'lowly' ones continue to live in a sense of

inferiority as a result. It could be the women who consider themselves inferior to men, people who

still worship the 'royal' families or the subalterns who consider themselves lesser mortals.

A few years back Malayalam movie star Mammootty and scriptwriter S N Swamy revealed that the

intelligent detective of the superhit Malalayam film Oru CBI Diarykkurippu (1988), played by

Mammootty, was originally planned as a ‘tough Muslim cop’ named Ali Imran. (15, 16) The

character was later renamed Sethurama Iyer when Mammootty (himself a believing Muslim) felt an

‘intelligent Brahmin officer’ would work better. “After reading the script I thought that if the film

has to work, the officer had to be a Brahmin with a pious and intelligent look and named him

Sethurama Iyer”, says Mammootty. Note the ‘natural’ connection that he draws between the

intelligence of the character and its Brahmin identity. The character impressed the Malayali film-

going audience so much that the film has got three sequels already.

Similar was the case with the film Vietnam Colony, written and directed by a Muslim-Christian

director duo of Siddique and Lal, where the superior intelligence levels of vegetarians over meat-

eaters is established through the dialogues in the film. Even those who do not believe it themselves

play with such prejudices for appealing to the market.

In his book Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon studies the after-effects of such cultural

supremacies of the whites that get internalized in the minds of black people.(17) Art schools like

Kerala Kalamandalam that forbid non-vegetarian food for those who learn classical music and

dance and masters who refuse to teach Muslims or people from “lower castes” also play a role in

upholding such nonsense.

The Muslim stereotypes and the fear factor

The Islamophobia of Indian media is nothing new. It is not limited to the newspapers, television

channels and mainstream films equating Muslims with terrorism and fanaticism. Even when they

indulge in preaching how a good Muslim must behave (eg. Aamir, My Name is Khan), they end up

strengthening the same stereotypes. (18)

People including Justice Markandeya Katju have raised doubts that the organization named Indian

Mujahideen, responsible for almost every bomb blast that happens in India according to the police

and newspapers, is a figment of imagination of the media and the state.(19) Intelligence journalism

has become a lucrative career for journalists with good imagination skills.

These prejudices are certainly not a monopoly of the mainstream media. The social media has also

reflected the anti-Muslim sentiments of the “larger public” on various occasions. One recent

instance of this sentiment was the campaigns against the Kelara State Education Minister Sri Abdu

Rabb. It started with the minister refusing to light a traditional lamp (Nilavilakku) as part of an

inaugural function, and gained strength when he decided to change the name of his official

residence from Ganga to Grace. The larger questions of how a lighting of a Nilavilakku gets

acceptance as a secular tradition, why the official residences get only names like Ganga or the why

our missiles get names like Thrishul, how the major science and technology institutions of our

country find it very normal and secular to have pujas performed by Brahmins, were largely

evaded.(20)

How powerful?

Malcom X, a leader of 'black nationalism' in the USA, and German social scientist Theodor Adorno

were among the thinkers who believed the media plays a major role in influencing people's minds.

Malcom X warned people to remain cautious about the media that try to project the innocent as

guilty and the guilty innocent. (“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the

power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that’s power. Because they

control the minds of the masses.”) Adorno, who followed Marxian thought, was of the opinion that

it is the mass media that create a feeling of happiness and prevent an imminent revolution that Marx

had envisioned.

In the book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Noam Chomsky

and Edward S Hermann explain how the media works as an apparatus that upholds the existing

system. (21)

On Television, a book by French anthropologist and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, questioned the

mainstream media’s failure to live up to its democratic promise. The book ignited a media

controversy and became a best-seller within a short span of time.(22)

Studies and theories on how the media, popularity, racism, caste et al work together in the Indian

context is still more or less in its infancy. Susy Tharu, K Satyanarayana, Gayatri Chakravatri Spivak,

Sharmila Rege, Dileep Menon, Anu Ramdas, Jenny Rowena, Anoop Kumar, K K Baburaj, Ajith

Kumar A S and Rupesh Kumar have all made their contributions in this field.

Alternative Media / Culture

The small media or 'parallel' media has a long history of its own. It ranges from small radio stations,

cable television, small-scale newspapers and magazines, e-mail lists and short and documentary

films to facebook groups and twitter, and it is still evolving. 'Inland magazines' that looked like an

in-land letter card and reached the subscribers by post were once very active in Kerala. Parallel

publishing houses have also marked a parallel media culture all over the world. Overcoming the

financial pressures and finding a sustainable model is a challenge faced by most of the small

publications that survive in the print sector world over.

The possibilities offered by popularity -- outside the mainstream and inside

Even as we criticize the language and the approach of the mass media, the possibilities that the

popular nature offers cannot be ignored. Internationally, singers of African origin gained popularity

for their music without losing their identity with Jazz music. Bob Marley's name is among the top

few in the list of the most popular singers the world has ever seen. People of African origin got a

morale boost from leaders like Malcom X who said the blacks must take pride in their cultural

tradition.

Telugu poet-singer Gadar has gained huge popularity with his revolutionary songs challenging the

mainstream, and it is enough evidence that there is a space for a counter-culture in India as well.

Streetplays from people like Safdar Hashmi, popular theatre attempts from Habib Tanvir et al,

revolutionary music troupes of Mumbai like Kabir Kala Manch and Vidrohi, dalit poet-singers like

Vilas Ghogre, powade and tamasha performances directed by Annabhau Sathe and several folk

performers all over the nation have all made their voices heard, fighting against the Brahmanic

culture thrust upon us by the 'mainstream'.

These movements have been creating disturbances in the existing system, and Sheetal Sathe and a

few other members of the Kabir Kala Manch were arrested recently citing Maoist connections.(23)

Anand Patwardhan's film Jai Bhim Comdrade documents some of the contemporary dalit cultural

resistances of Maharashtra.(24)

Coming to the mainstream, even as the 'classical' art forms have remained mostly a monopoly of the

Savarna castes (with the possible exception of Hindustani music), the 'popular' art forms like

cinema and film music have been more open to people from subaltern communities. Yesudas,

musicians Ilaiyaraja, Raveendran, Sivamani, Vidyadharan, Deva, Jassie Gift, Yuvan Shankar Raja

and Karthik Raja, directors Gangai Amaran, Parthiban, Selvaraghavan, Cheran, Venkat Prabhu and

Gauri Shinde and actors Vikram, Madhavi, (silk) Smitha, Seema Biswas, Kalabhavan Mani and

Divya Bharti have all procured a space for themselves in this industry. The classifications of

'classical', 'folk' and 'western' also become thin and somewhat non-existent in popular art forms like

cinema.

There are also attempts to become popular without relying on the racist and prejudiced mindsets of

the dominant culture, though small in number. With the multiplex culture the formulae of

Bollywood films have changed drastically, and there have been a few films like Dev D, Ishqiya,

LSD and Aakrosh that break the mould of popular films centred on the caste Hindu hero.

Experiments with different kinds of voice and instruments carried out by R D Burman, A R

Rahman, Jassie Gift and Sneha Khanvalkar in the film music department deserve a mention in this

context.

The relevance of a counter culture based on the cultural traditions of the dalits in India in their

identity formation was discussed at a seminar Harnessing Counter-Culture to Construct Identity:

Mapping Dalit Cultural Heritage in Contemporary India, held in Layden University, Netherlands

in December 2012.(25)

The disturbances that a Seven Up ad or a Gayle thunder creates

A recent television advertisement of the soft-drink Seven Up created a storm in the Kerala cultural

sphere. A performer dressed in a Kathakali attire was shown dancing 'dappam-kuthu' (local dance)

steps in the advertisement (26), and this was considered blasphemy by many including renowned

poets and mainstream politicians. The celebrity classical art school of Kerala, Kerala

Kalamandalam, demanded that the advertisement be withdrawn and an apology be made to the

people of Kerala.

This advertisement that apparently insults the 'Kerala culture' in a way challenges the 'purity' and

the dominant culture of the Kathakali art form. At the same time it is popular, and it is precisely this

popularity that troubles the wholesale dealers of that dominant culture.

Musician and dalit thinker Ajith Kumar A S observes in his facebook status : “We must understand

the concern of Kerala Kalamandalam. The Seven Up advertisement indeed insults the Nairs and the

Nair Kathakali. They damand an apology from the company to the people of Kerala because they

believe the 'people of Kerala' is the Nairs.” (27)

The batting performance by West Indian Cris Gayles that broke many records a couple of months

back in an IPL match also spoilt the sleep of some people. "Just increased my TV's brightness to

100%, and I still can't see Cris Gayle's face", tweeted one Gautam Verma.

Posting a photograph of this tweet and a reply tweet, documentary film-maker Rupesh Kumar

wrote on facebook: "Dear Chris Gayle, this country is not only with caste and untouchability, but

with postmodern twitter racism too. But today, you answered such racist shits to invisibility with

your weapon; a cricket bat." (28)

Internet possibilities, limitations

Internet became a major medium for news with the twin tower disaster of 9/11. The arrival of

internet changed the arena of media studies itself in a big way. The production and distribution of

the content getting distributed and the wide possibilities for direct interventions by the consumers

thinned the lines between the producer and consumer and made the studies difficult. The studies

published about the role played by internet media like facebook in the struggles generally termed as

Arab Spring are significant. There were two lines of arguments – one that it was facebook and

twitter that made those struggles possible, and another one that said the role played by the social

media was vastly exaggerated. However, the studies confirmed the prominent role played by social

media in the organization, quick dissemination of information and in moulding public opinion in

these struggles.(29, 30)

However there are limitations to facebook / twitter activisms as well, as was evident from the way

different nations reacted to potential struggles. In India also the government has been trying to take

control over the content shared on sites like Facebook, Google or Yahoo.

But it remains a fact that even the mainstream industries like cinema depends so much on internet

for their publicity, and becoming 'viral' on facebook and youtube has become a dream for the

marketing giants. I think it is a good sign that a 'Native Bapa' (31) also becomes a hit on the internet,

though not as big a hit as 'Kolaveri' or 'Gangnam Style'. 'Dalit Camera' (32), an initiative that is

meant to expand the reach of a dalit perspective, has also been making use of the possibilities of the

internet and the visual media. One cannot ignore the presence of youtube and facebook while

talking about alternative media and counter-culture possibilities.

References

1. Bernard Berelson, The State of Communication Research, Public Opinion Quarterly. Vol 23,

1959.

2. Author, “Casteist Reporting”, The Hoot, 27 July 2010.

URL : http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4708 accessed 11 July 2013.

3. Piyush Srivastava, Dalit cooks divide UP schoolkids, Mail Today, 17 July 2010.

URL : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/dalit-cooks-divide-up-schoolkids/1/105732.html

(A modified version online now, accessed 11 July 2013)

4. Shobhan Saxena, "Middle-class comes to the party", The Sunday Times of India, 27 July 2008.

5. Jag Suraiya and Neelabh, cartoon : "Duniya Ke Neta", The Times of India, 15 September 2009.

6. Wikileaks Cable : http://www.wikileaks.ch/cable/2008/10/08NEWDELHI2783.html

7. Dilip Mandal, "Mayawati and WikiLeaks: How Media lies to you", Round Table India, 8

September 2011.

URL : http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3645

accessed 11 July 2013.

8. Gopikrishnan, Daily Cartoon, Mathrubhumi, all editions, 16 December 2012.

9. “Nagaratthil Anyasamsthana Thozhilalikal 6000, Ivaril Kuttavalikal Ethra?" (6000 labourers

from other states in the city, How many of them are criminals?), Metro Manorama, Kozhikode, 16

January 2012.

10. "Anchu Ranjinimarum Njanum" (Host: R. Sreekandan Nair), Television show, Mazhavil

Manorama, November 2011.

11. "Moral policing victim dies in Kerala", Khaleej Times, 14 November 2011. URL :

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2011/November/internatio

nal_November533.xml&section=international&col= accessed 11 July 2013.

12. "Moral policing, fleecing attempt goes awry", The Hindu, 9 July 2012. URL :

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/moral-policing-fleecing-attempt-goes-

awry/article3618718.ece accessed 11 July 2013.

13. "Facebook ire against moral policing", The Hindu, 17 December 2012. URL :

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/facebook-ire-against-moral-

policing/article4208495.ece accessed 11 July 2013.

14. “Chubby Cheeks”, on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StxI1b77-gE

accessed 11 July 2013.

15. "Never Say Never Again", The Indian Express, 3 July 2005.

URL : http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/73661/ accessed 11 July 2013.

16. Mammootty, Interview. "Investigation stories are universal" : Mammootty, Sify Movies, 7

September 2005.

URL : http://www.sify.com/movies/malayalam/interview.php?id=13934763&cid=2406

accessed 11 July 2013.

17. Frantz Fanon, Black Skins White Masks, 1952.

18. Author, “Where does Aamir lead us?”, Sudeep's Diary :

http://sudeepsdiary.blogspot.com/2008/09/where-does-aamir-lead-us.html

accessed 11 July 2013.

19. Justice Markandeya Katju Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KADWa-_S9wc

accessed 11 July 2013.

20. Author, “Mathamillattha Nilavilakkum Gangayum Kunjaminayum” (Nilavilakku, Ganga and

Kunjamina devoid of religion and caste), on Nalamidam.

URL: http://www.nalamidam.com/archives/13300 accessed 11 July 2013.

21. Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the

Mass Media, 1988.

22. Imre Szeman, “Review”, Cultural Logic: An Electronic Journal of Marxist Theory and Practice.

URL : http://clogic.eserver.org/1-2/szeman.html accessed 11 July 2013.

23. Bhanuj Kappal, "In the Dark Times, Sheetal Sings Of the Dark Times", Yahoo News India, 8

July 2013. URL :

http://in.news.yahoo.com/in-the-dark-times--sheetal-sings-of-the-dark-times-051953264.html

accessed 11 July 2013.

24. Anand Patwardhan, Jai Bhim Comrade (documentary film / 180 minutes / India), 2012.

25. “Harnessing Counter-Culture to Construct Identity”, on Round Table India.

URL : http://roundtableindia.co.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6442

accessed 11 July 2013.

26. Seven Up advertisement, on youtube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8HawcdHdd0

27. Ajith Kumar A S, Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/ajithkumar

28. Rupesh Kumar, Facebook : : http://www.facebook.com/rupeshkumar.budhanversleeps

29. John Pollock, Streetbook, Technology Review, September/October 2011.

URL : http://www.technologyreview.in/web/38379/

30. Adrian Nikolov, “The role of social media in the Arab spring”, University of Warsaw, 2011.

31. Native Bapa (Music Video by Mappila Lahala), youtube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnMreZoRyQ

32. Dalit Camera, http://dalitcamera.org/