Thursday, February 19, 2009

Cover of Time magazine depicting India's Partition



Click on the image to see it more clearly.

Think, why only this image!!! You will have interesting thoughts.

10 comments:

Hope said...

Hmmm! Interesting activity!
But, would rather like to know what thoughts you had in your mind when looking at the picture!!
I will share mine...
1. A deity shown coz India is mostly depicted / symbolized / remembered with elaborate, loud deities.
2. There is one knife that is shown to have hurt India. There were two things which it brought to my mind.
a. All the dieties always have so many hands. Ultimately they are hurt while managing their own hands! India hurt by it's own people.
b. India's major power or the basic culture was secularism. It was governed by Religion. And now the partition is caused coz of religion itself.

Watsay?

mohit said...

Hii Swati,

Nice interpretations. So additions from my side are, though I also had the same thoughts as you have had.

1- You would see a loose red cloth , which represents liberty, so other than death which is explicitly shown: it also shows liberty and death at the same time.
2- On understanding above point, I tried to notice a hint of relief/joy in the face of deity that is shown but there was not. But interestingly it shown pain and violence at the same time. Both are representations of Indian conditions at that time.
3- The deity represents BharatMata or Godess Kali or Death in Feminine form. On the other hand since it is an Americal magazine, the deity seems to have an image of Satan in her ( Eyes, and the horns) and if you see even more closely the cloth kind of represents tail.
What I mean to say that if picture was made by an American national, he/she must have found it perfect only when he/she could see hint of satan. ( I am sure almost unknowingly)

I may be reading too much in to it already but I reserve some of my interpretations for the moment and invite for more from you and possibly from others.

Thanks.

Hope said...

Hey! I replied to a comment you had left on my blog. Sorry, saw it today only, although the comment has been there since Dec31.
Left a message too, so writing it here..do check out. :)

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8868313595125602072&postID=1551228044512992837&page=1

mohit said...

@Swati
I have read your comments on the post ( Goodness Never Dies) and have posted some more from my side. Have a look at them also if you have to say something more about this picture or about my comments on picture, you are Welcome.
@Everyone
I thought the picture would draw some more comments but seems the thoughts have staurated.
From my side one more is here, the shed red cloth in the picture also shows ashamed Mother India and shamelessness on the part of perpetrators of violence as they are hurting their own mother.

workhard said...

This has a lot to do with communal violence still going on in India. I could very confidently say that india still remains divided.


Work from home

mohit said...

@WorkFromHome

Yes Sadly it continues. People take religion in a verey different and distastrous way than it is supposed to be taken.
About India remaining divided, I really agree with the point. I have mentioned this thing in an earlier article. we by the virtue of our diversity are bound to be divided. We became united only for a common cause of freedom and then we are falling apart.
Other side says that we feel pround when India wins T20 or Abhinav Bindra wins gold, so in that sense we are united also.
So I say while we are more prone to division naturally, we are United because of legacy of freedom struggle and last 62 years after freedom. And I thing as we become developed and people have more things to feel proud about India we will grow more united.

workhard said...

HI, i hope that happens, as far as i have seen, people look for opportunities, to start conflicts, i guess that is what the 'stab' represents. Its ironic to see how or politician turn childish and slam one another while on the other hand put up a well orchestrated show for public.. This only portrays their personal interest and nothing to do with the country as a whole.

mohit said...

As far as Human nature is concerned It is same all around the world. People see opportunities and personal gains and fight over them.
But on the other hand we should also remember the Human spirit of Empathy and love for others. We should also take in to account the fact that when a cause comes up, human beings come together and do impossible things. So Human behaviour has both aspects but problem lies with the Morality. Some of us( only few of us) believe in this, some twist standards according to their choice and then believe in it.
About Politicians Yes, Situation is very grim. But I can assure you there are many politicians in our country who have devoted their lives to serve this country and still serving it.
India is a big country and a country can not be governed with all bad opportunistic people. There are good people in Indian politics and I really think this number will increase as India developes. We today have 40% population in age group 15-35, and many of them have potential to make India a wonderful country to live.

workhard said...

Hi, thanks for visiting my blog and for the really nice comments. As i am a new blogger this is an encouragement. Will be back soon:)

workhard said...

Hi, Replying to your previous comment, i know of a lot of youth wings of local political parties. These are youngsters who match our frequencies. Im sure they will carry out their tasks with a lot more responsiblity and in a very positive manner