TWGB #8 – drowning, while trying to catch up

At long last, after a 21-day (!) hiatus, I have returned to my familiar space. A lot happened in the meantime and I can’t get it all down. I will start off with the most recent goings-on: 

1. This evening I picked up a book by Eugene Rabkin (Torn: Fashion and Postmodernism) which dwells on the relationship between fashion and postmodernism and how the latter’s undefinability and lack of inventiveness have come to define the former. I have been only a few pages into the book and I feel I have already learnt a great deal about how fashion has transformed over the course of last two centuries, from Parisian haute bourgeoisie style, informed by Christian Dior and the like, and Vivienne Westwood’s clothes that screamed of London street sensibility and punk, to the most recent spectacle of de-experimentation and recycled consumerist fashion from the house of Off-white (read Virgil Abloff) that, in my opinion, dwells on nostalgia at the cost of newness. In fact this school of fashion has dispensed with the idea of newness and the Avant-garde — which is challenging to create but rewarding — for something much simpler (and shallower): tweaking what’s already there. Regurgitation. 
2. Mr. Trump’s (or should we call him Willy Wonka? ‘Don de Disco’ would be even more merrier) much-reviled grouping, the BRICS, are meeting again, next weekend, here in Delhi. There is so much hullabaloo surrounding the upcoming summit, but so little substance, I’m afraid. 
3. The Naked Sleeper is one of the less appreciated gems in Sigrid Nunez’s oeuvre. I haven’t read The Friend yet. This was my first foray into American literary fiction and the experience, expectedly, was not disappointing. The plot is slow-paced and there were certain characters that stood out and resonated with me deeply. Rosalind, the protagonist Nona’s mother, is a clear favourite. She ‘came across’ (to use film critic Sajin Shrijith’s derided phrase) as likeable and relatable to me. Roy, Nona’s husband, we can safely assume, is a ‘green flag’. Nona was the one I found hard to get along with — perhaps because I didn’t like her outlook and proclivities — her desire to be liked by men especially, and her wanton adventures with other men. But Nona’s character develops by the end of the novel. Should we thank yoga for it? Just like her mother, I too disapprove of the goofy gurus along the West Coast preying on soul-searching, capitalism-assaulted Americans — whom Nona took a liking to. But Nunez’s description of the sun salutation repertoire, as Nona practices it in the form of a spiritual calling at the end, deserves praise for its precision. Perhaps Nunez is a fan of ‘hard’ yoga too. 
4. Sonia Gandhi’s much awaited memoir titled ‘Belonging’ will hit the shelves on November 10th. I have pre-ordered my copy, of course. But the drama that preceded its publication will be an unforgettable lore in the publishing world. Penguin India was the anointed one but later pulled the plugs saying that it found ‘objectionable content’ in it. News reports say that references to the RSS, Modi, and the politics of the right-wing, ruffled a few feathers at the publishing house. Since this debacle, I’ve been seeing tweets and reels describing how ‘flightless’ (of course) and spineless (well, yes) penguins are. It’s not the first time that Penguin India stooped so low; Wendy Doniger, Joe Sacco, General Naravane — all of their books were pulped by the organisation due to ‘anti-establishment’ content in them. That being said, Harper Hollins has finalised a deal and is set to publish Mrs. Gandhi’s memoir. Given the uproar over its publication, I’m curious to see what’s in there. Right after my trip to Japan, I’ll dive into it. 
5. Gloria Steinem, the figure synonymous with American feminism, passed away last week at 92. I found her to be an immensely inspiring woman, one I could learn from and relate to at ease — because her struggles often mirrored mine. She spent close to two years in India after her graduation (and studied at my alma mater, Miranda House, for a year!). The concept of Talking Circles in her practice — of people gathering in a group and discussing — was inspired by her Indian experience.  But I encountered a mixed verdict online about Gloria Steinem’s work. This is aptly captured by The Economist’s titling of this week’s obit dedicated to her: Gloria Steinem gave the feminist movement mass-market appeal. People accuse her of being a puppet of the CIA. More precisely, people allege that the CIA recruited her to sidestep the more immediate questions of class and the imminent working-class struggle by pushing gender issues and (white-privileged) feminism to the forefront of their agenda. In a 2015 interview, she denied these accusations. She was disappointed at the Roe v. Wade verdict which overturned a ruling that granted women abortion rights; in response she dedicated her memoir to the surgeon who performed her abortion. The right of women to decide what to do with their bodies is a critical component of American feminism and Steinem had long campaigned for abortion rights. The firebrand feminist was thrust into the spotlight when she suggested that young women supported Bernie Sanders instead of Hillary Clinton because “the boys are with Bernie.” Steinem was not the stereotypical feminist. Americans had been used to the dowdy, harried, spinster feminists who were too angry with all the frown lines and never spared a smile. Gloria Steinem was, on the other hand, glamorous. She was adored for her looks, physique, style and wit. But her beauty played in her favour: she seized the media opportunities that came her way to bring attention to the troubles faced by women in society such as wage-gap and abortion. The most prominent of these was her two-part expose of the dire working conditions at the NYC playboy club. She became the butt of ridicule following its publication. Ultimately, no feminist movement — past or future — can ignore her profound contributions to the cause, regardless of criticisms surrounding her methods. 
6. Mayor world over — from ZK Mamdani and Sadiq Khan to Ekrem Imamoglu — are becoming popular. Mamdani is even more popular than he was before taking office. Sadiq Khan’s violent-crime strategy is succeeding; a person is more likely to be stabbed to death in New York than in London. Imamoglu is the most threatening opponent to Erdogan, and the public support was so massive that the government had to arrest him over (allegedly false) corruption charges. 
7. In my option, decentralisation is not a panacea to all that ails a democracy. Decentralisation of power also brings decentralisation of corruption. The case of domestic councillors in Kerala sabotaging development projects in view of their personal agendas involving money, power, local networks and party appeasement, is a case in point. 
8. Anna Wintour, who first discovered the designer Galliano, is working to rehabilitate his career. His trajectory slumped after he made a couple of anti-semitic remarks. An exhibition at the Met that was set to open in 2027 was cancelled following pressures and concerns from donors, civil leaders and the like. The outcome feels unnecessarily vengeful — given that all these statements were made more than 15 years ago. 
9. Researcher Erin C. Westgate talks about the meaning and attentional components of boredom. Boredom is not a monotonous condition. Boredom becomes meaning-based when we lose our sense of purpose in what we are doing. This kind is dangerous. Whereas, boredom acquires an attentional dimension when we simply don’t pay attention. It happens due to a mismatch between our cognitive capacity and the effort required for the task at hand. For example, imagine trying to solve a puzzle when one is drained. 
10. Lastly, for those who are hyper-present online: do you notice the seemingly hyper-realistic but bot-like comments flooding many Instagram posts lately? These are engineered by bot farms: they are sophisticated multi-million dollar operations run like a factory line up with careful synchrony. The concept  emerged in the 1990s when they were used by hackers to send spam and knock down websites. However, now their utility has changed, for the worse.