Thesocratespot: Exodus I Exile I Spirituality & Fascism : AAUW : Chapter: CVII : Dmitry, Annie & Manthiram

Annie was discharged from the Bangur Hospital a few days back, she was now a guest of Dmitry and staying at his exclusive suite at the Park Hotel where Dmitry had made sure she had a separate room of her own albeit with an internal door that connected Annie's room with his, like an annexxe, Annie had insisted to pay for her own room before consenting to check into the Annexe .

It was a great , warm sunny tropical morning, albeit a bit chilly and also a bit windy due to the monsoons around India, Kolkata was at its charming best, people dressed bright and smiling as they filled their mouth with hot pooris and potatoe curry from the numerous street food shops on Kolkata streets, Dmitry and Annie were out driving on their way , over the weekend , to Dibrugarh in Assam, Dr. Manthiram too had agreed to join along with his German wife, Uma.

Dmitry had chosen to drive an open deck Chevrolet Optra Magnum, a luxury Sedan that was modified into an open top sports convertible with a cotrollable ceiling top that could be closed in case of rain or too much sun, it was a beautiful fully decked machine.

Dmitry had chosen to play Kid Rock but ensured the decibel level remained private so that he could converse with Annie.

As they drove out of Kolkatta, Annie noticed a boy and a Girl walking and smiling and talking to each other , it was a bit early in the morning, maybe around 7 AM, the girl looked smart in an NCC dress and the boy was just wearing a T Shirt over a Cotton trouser, both looked smart, what struck Annie about them was their age, the girl was hardly 19 or 20 and so was the boy, but both looked so charming and adult as they walked.

Dmitry had stopped his car on the side to pick up some water, smoke and other stuff, and Annie saw the boy and the Girl coming closer to her car, in the background a little farther from where they were parked, Annie also noticed that they were parked near  an Indian Army camp where an Army Daredevil team were practicing on their Enfield Bullets , doing some rare jump stunts using their motorcycles, they were flying on their motorcycles like they were some flying saucers, taking off from the ground and going high into the sky and then landing on a platform on the opposite side, a small crowd had gathered around watching them perform and applauding, since Annie was seated inside an open top car, all three - Annie, the Girl in the NCC dress and the boy walking with the girl - noticed each other and the girl and the boy gave a special look to appreciate Annie's admiring looks at them and smiled back at her waving, it was a million dollar smile, Annie reciprocated with a billion dollar smile in return and as Annie watched the two giggle and pass she couldn't resist going back to her own School days where she was an NCC cadet herself along with Daniel.

It was a special session of training today Dr. Jesudasan, Annie's Father was a bit worried, the NCC cadets were suposed to go through some rigorous physical routines today, Annie was all pumped up, Jesudasan gave her a kiss as he dropped her off at the NCC Parade grounds near Picket in Secunderabad, Annie ran out to join her mates. Soon they were being made to dance to the drums and chorus of the Cavalry March dance, where they had to kick their legs up and down , one after the other and shout "Ek, Do, Teen, Chaar" in full volume, with their right hand held up in salute to the Indian National Flag flying right above their heads.

Annie, was going through her exercises of crawling through tunnels, running up walls, shooting enemy dummies using a new set of silent magnum rifles that they were given recently - she loved the sound of 'thud, thud' everytime her bullet hit the enemy target - she knew that just beside on the other side the NCC boys were training for the Independence Day Parade where they were being trained on specially designed Enfield Bullet Motorcycles, Gypsie Cars and Jeeps to perform dare devil stunts by an American Army Officer who was specially invited for the occassion as a guest.

As Annie's mind was remniscing through old memories she did not fail to notice Dmitry walk back smiling at her while talking on his mobile and carrying a bag of stuff - maybe coordinating with Dr. Manthiram - as Kid rock continued to play in the backdrop, Dmitry noticed Annie's flying hair, jet black in a backdrop of golden yellow and green tall tiger grass swaying to the monsoon breeze and somewhere just above an eagle was bugling.

It was a perfect setting for a great weekend.            

         

Thesocratespot: Exodus I Exile I Spirituality & Fanaticism : AAUW : Chapter: CVI : Dmitry, Annie & Manthiram

It was Annie's third day at the Bangur Hospital of Neurology, Kolkata, she was recovering from a severe bout of Bi-Polar depression and was under medical observation, fortunately for her, this time, she wasn't among strangers at least not people she couldn't relate with - even if her relationsip with Dmitry was hardly a few days, she felt she had known him for years, even if Manthiram was just a friend of Dmitry's, Annie felt very comfortable with his presence, could have been because of the intellectual compatibility among the three, all three seemed to have that EXACT RADIO WAVES moving between them, almost.

It was late afternoon, almost, both Dmitry and Manthiram had left a few books and other research articles, white papers, desertations of PhD., Students from Calcutta University in a small, neatly pecked book shelf for Annie's use. Her room had a TV, a seperate visitors room, a separate reading and work room, a phone, large windows overlooking the hooghly river in the distance, a little kitchen and amenities that gave an impression of a normal house - Dr. Manthiram felt that was necessary for Annie's recovery.

Annie's make shift house was also under constant medical observation for any possible relapse .

Annie was reading a book by Hang Kang, The Vegetarian, she admired it immensely, she had just finished reading Murakami's new publication which was basically a dialogue between Murakami and the Japanese musical genius Ozawa - The Absolute On Music - Annie was overawed by the effort of the two geniuses as Annie read, she never settled reading or focussing on one particular book or one particular activity, she would keep shifting from Murakami to Han Kang to sifting through articles and white papers of research students, suddenly one article caught her attention it was titled ' Exodus, Exile, Spirituality & Fanaticism' .

Soon she was immersed into it, just as she was almost half way through reading the research paper, Dmitry and Manthiram walked in smiling with coffee mugs in hand and the topic and discussion quickly moved into the idea of Exile & Exodus and the idea of Spiritualism's fanatic influences.

Annie : It's so intriguing that the idea of exile and the huge big exodus is so common amongst almost all major religious and spiritual texts - Judaism, Genesis, Bible, Koran, Zaroastranism, Budhism, the Ramayana, The Mahabaratha, The Illiad or the Confucian treatise, Shmanism or Mayan spirituality through out almost all religious and spuiritual texts the idea and motif of exile and exodus seem to be the start of a new vision and a new journey

Dmitry : Basically start of a new hagiography, a new wave of spiritual fanaticism, which eventually graduates to political fanaticism

Manthiram : I agree with both of you but permit to disagree on one perspective .

Not all exile and exodus are driven by fanatics, maybe most mass exile and exodus events were prime emotions exploited by certain spiritual, religious or political cult leaders that resonates through every religious book, rationally speaking Exodus has remained one of human kinds greatest agent of change - both Annie and Dmitry were hearing out Manthiram intently, their faces showed how deeply they had come to respect Manthiram - and I feel one of mankinds biggest of manipulators who use exodus as a means to power and and influence are Spiritual fanatics who then turn and evolve into political fascists , one can never say if tomorrow Dmitry can become a fascist !

So saying Manthiram laughed out loud ! All three laughed out at that statement . Soon Dmitry intervened -

"Fascism , Fanaticism are corollraies of Feudalism and inequality amongst society, as the sense of social egalitarianism improves fascism and fanaticism take a back seat" - nobody knows this theory better than us Chinese.

Deng Xiaoping, was a quick learner and a great opportunist, he knew from the collapse of the USSR that loosening the iron curtain was a key to his survival and that meant his party's surivival and then he had to embark on an massive PR campaign both internally and externally to make sure he did not in history as the man who was responsible for the disintegration of CHINA , Deng's "improved version" of Gorbachev's perestroika turned out to be a 'Golden Goose' for Chinese economy

The Chinse Midas added Annie smiling

Deng and the magic wand laughed Manthiram as he gestured Abra Ca dabra with his palms ... in the backdrop the TV in Annie's room was showcasing some old hindi songs from bollywoods black and white era, all three knew the songs so they were humming along

Annie suddenly felt she wants to step out , she announced let's party at the PARK

Dmitry looked at Manthiram

Dr. Manthiram looked pensive                        

                        

thesocratespot: Dr. Manthiram : AAUW : Chapter: CV : Dmitry, Annie & Manthiram

All three forgot they were in a hospital and that they were holding different postions in their relationship with each other, all three got into conversations of knowing each other and acknowledging each other and touching upon subjects far removed from neurology, medicine & bipolarity.

Annie lead the conversation connecting her discussion with Dmitry about the Chinese Student movement, Tiananmen, Hu Fang and the defecation of the portrait of Mao.

The conversation then moved to the idea of Exile and Exodus - a common motif of mythology in almost all religious texts - if it is Abraham and Moses in Judaism, it is the Prophet Mohd. leading his devout warriors out from Mount Sinai towards Mecca , while Moses lead the march towards Jerusalem - mount Sinai seemed to have launched the exodus of both Moses and the Prophet almost simultaneously - spirituality's role in the idea of Exile, Exodus and migration too became a topic of debate.

"Persecution, loss of identity, hopelessness , hunger & poverty or at least a sense of all that are the basic triggers of a big exodus" started Annie , DM was concerned more about 'Exile' than 'Exodus' and so he said ' people denied of legitimate rights to live within the norms of liberty that's in turn driven by democracy feel they are exiles in their own land' as Annie tried responding Manthiram added his part " Exodus or a sense of exile and persecution are all results of a weak soceity, a soceity that knows no answers to Despotism, Authoriatarianism or Majoriatarianism etc., a soceity that obfuscates and suffocates free thought and then uses power, might and Kautilyan scinece to 'manage or subdue' citizenry is bound to have people either feeling 'exiled' within their own land or ' wanting to move in a mass exodus'

True, said Annie - "both Exile and Exodus are similar expressions, expressions of being subjudicated and forcibly subdued, they are response to a sense of tyranny, suffocation and a lack of intellectual freedom"            

The exodus of Jews from Egypt and the establishment of the land of Israel as the land of Children of God is a beautiful metaphor for true 'ideological' liberation but it contradicts itself because of its extreme commitment to monotheism" Annie continued speaking as both Dmitry and Manthiram heard her out in awe of her knowledge .

Dmitry took over from then on - China today is seen as an economically powerful nation, as a country that can make or break the world economy but we the youth of China continue to feel we aren't there yet, we still feel we are exiles in our country , esp., we students, we still feel our rights are yet to be really liberated, the People's Republic of China is not yet 'Democratic' for us that's a failure of our culture , our identity and so even if we know we are a nation that's feared we know we are not respected, we know that students of other democracies see us Chinese students as simply trapped in consumerism and want" while students all over the world have united to throw out political despotism"

I feel - continued Dmitry - China's strategic weakness lies in its lack of connect with Democracy, the Chinese Communist Party's inability to graduate from a single party system, the political system is so insecure , one student protest is all it takes for the Chinese establishment to go into a tizzy - the world around who fear China need really not fear at all - all they need to do is trigger the next Tiananmen, attacking China does not need bombs, missiles, war, nothing, all that an ememy has to do is provoke the Chinese Students and for sure it will explode or even implode - like USSR -  and this time for sure the students will throw the Communist out"

Both Annie and Manthiram acknowledged Dmitry's statement .

   

thesocratespot: Chinaman: AAUW : Chapter: CIV : Dmitry & Annie

thesocratespot: Chinaman: AAUW : Chapter: CIV : Dmitry & Annie

"Not sure why the world is so afraid of China and why China is so proud of its own infallibility, frankly, China and the Chinese are weak exactly where they think they are strong" said Dmitry , Annie and Dmitry were in a conversation.

Annie was recovering from her bipolar depression and was under observation at the Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, Kolkata, in a special ward, she was calm and having a general discussion with Dmitry who was the one who had brought her to the Hospital and then admitted her - Dmitry seemed to know a lot about Kolkata - Annie was being attended upon by a young Neuro Science Specialist and a friend of Dmitry, Dr. Manthiram Rajamani, he was Indian but born in Austria, to parents who had migrated from Burma with family roots in Madurai, a City in South India.

While Dmitry and Annie were immersed in their discussion, Dr. Manthiram walked in, smiled and then excused himself for walking in and in a nice energetic voice that was both positive and cheerful at once said 'Hey' ! Mitry ! and then shook hands with DM and then turned to Annie with a bright but soft 'Hi Annie' ! looking deep onto her eyes and searching for signals of her state of mind ( Dmitry's name was shortened by his Indian friends to Mitry, which was easier for them ), Annie too brightened, She liked Dr. Manthiram and his energy, Dmitry too shared a warm smile and soon the conversation flowed onto the medical side of Annie's health.

Dr. Manthiram was a Graduate of Medicine with specilaisation on Neurology from John Hopkins Institute, USA and then went on to complete his PhD from the Royal Institute of Neorological Studies, University of Cambridge, he was in India on invitation as a Professor and the HOD of the Dept. of Neurological Research at the Bangur Institute of Neurology.

"So Annie? How are you ? Dr. Manthiram enquired , Annie smiled back - a bit weak but with a twinkle in her eye and a bright smile - feeling better but still a bit weak ending with a frown on her face which immediately moved to a smile and then quickly faded back to an expression of neutrality, Annie face kept a small smile and looked at Manthiram and then moved to Dmitry as they both looked at Annie and then shifted their gazes towards each other.

Dmitry waited for Dr. Manthiram to speak, Dr. Manthiram was in turn constantly holding Annie's wrist checking her pulse and watching her heart beat on the ECG , while the doctor was checking a nurse opened the door and walked in with a tray all along Annie was hoping She wouldn't loose it and she wouldn't suddenly start screaming or have convulsions she was too happy with herself and she was in that moment, luckily the scene passed off without a surge and the nurse came closer to Annie checked her temp. using a thermo meter , gave her her medicines and quickly walked out , all along both Dr. Manthiram and Dmitry had stepped a litle away and dsicussing.

Once the nurse left , DM and Manthiram joined Annie and they seemed lost exchanging numerous thoughts -it was one of Annie's most happy moments in a long, long time.                         

thesocratespot: Theory of trizophenia : AAUW : Chapter: CIII : Dmitry & Annie

thesocratespot: Theory of trizophenia : AAUW : Chapter: CIII : Dmitry & Annie 

Turned out Dmitry wasn't really a Russian, he was in fact Chinese, Son of a descendent of Hu Yaobang, the man whose death triggered the Tiananmen protests, Dmitry's original name was inspired by Fang Lizhi , the Professor of Astrophysics from Princeton whose lectures across Hefei, Beijing and Shanghai built the Student Democracy Movement in the year 1986 and culiminated at Tiananmen. 

Dmitry's original name was Hu Fang Yaobang, he was in India , using a Russian identity that he was given by his family due to his proximity to the ongoing Student movement in Hong Kong that he had started while in high school, he was using his base in India to motivate and direct student protest movement across Hong Kong, Taiwan & the mainland using the internet and various other covert systems primarily focussed against the single party political system of the Republic of China - he was by now a scholar and a legend of the Pro Democracy protests across the Chinese Sub Continent, his thoughts and articles inspired the pro democracy student wings that managed to function within PKU ( Peiking University ) & the Tshingua University.       

To most chinese Dmitry was lovingly called Danwo - Dream a New World - also turned out Dmitry knew a lot more about the Tiananmen movement than most common Chinese did, those were heady days , the year between 1986 -1989, those were the years of Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. of Gorbachev and the South Korean Democratic surge, the Iran - Iraq conflict and a bludgeoning guerrila war between the Mujahideens and the Russians in Afghan.  

The allegations during Tiananmen were flying thick, Hu Fang was suspected to be an American double agent sent to destabilise the Chinese Govt., the student movement itself was said to be a handiwork of a set of Western allies but the surprise dark knight was the role of Russia. 

The air of Perestroika and the visit of Gorbachev completly changed China almost forever . 

For Annie, meeting Dmitry was another milestone - she fell in love all over again.         

thesocratespot: Days of Bipolarity : AAUW : Chapter: CII : Wild Nights

Annie was drunk, so was Dmitry, at least that's the name he had given her, they had just met inside a Kolkotta night club and hit it off , they stepped out around 2.30am  from the pub, each had a full bottle of Stolichnaya in thier hands they were swigging as they walked into what was a very dark, rainy monsoon night. Park Street was all quite except for the usual cabs splashing their way, both Annie and Dmitry had their long leather coats on, they were bare headed though and were so completly enjoying each others company they ignored the fact that they were getting wet - the rain wasn't heavy but the streets were wet and the Kolkotta electricity board had turned off their supplies due to rain, so for Annie and Dmitry it was a special night , two fashionable, rich singletons laughing their way into the Kolkotta night .

Thier talk bordered on comments about their looks, their wobbly walk, the two pointed at each other and laughed swigging from their vodka bottles, at times stopping and kissing, at times Dmitry pushing Annie to a building wall and rubbing his body to hers in an exaggerated show of lust and want and then letting her go as both thier sounds echoed through Kolkotta's old alleys.  

Despite Annie's freewheeling revelrie her mind was going back and forth between Rosie and her four other broken marriages and divorces - her mind went back to Dannie too - part of her mind was thinking about her children born out of each wedlock, she had no idea who was taking care of them or if they were alive or dead, she had even lost count of the number of children she had given birth to, the number of men she had slept with but despite all that ,she knew she was a woman who could provoke extreme desire and passion in men - she was wasn't tall but wasn't short either, 5' 7" on heels, 5' 6" without, slender shoulders, flat but wavy black hair, sharp nose, skinny, chiselled face, sleek long eyes that smiled when she smiled, thin firm lips, white brown skin, good, great legs , small breasts, brilliant mind and an attitude to kill.

A writer, philosopher and a talk show host for almost every event that demanded extreme subject insight, domain brilliance and respect from all participants and guests - she was what the event managers would call the life giver of an event. She was in Kolkota to host a pre Nobel prize event with some of the world's most renowned intellectuals in attendance. She knew there were at least 10-15 in that crowd of 300 who would have loved to take her to bed but she chose Dmitry - it was 4:00 AM and they were making it up in her hotel room like two wild leopards gorging on each other , devouring every inch of their body - the intensity and energy was so wild Annie and Dmitry fell out of their beds with Annie falling head first , Dmitry just stopped for a micro second to find if Annie was alright, the moment he knew she was he just switched gears forward by the time they were even half way making up they had broken the whiskey glasses around, thrown around and shoved the table lamps and their luxury bed was anything but a bed .

By 6:00 am the two were so exhausted , sexually so completly exploded, any other human would have just preferred to sleep - not Annie.

As Dmitry watched , Annie decided to walk out naked into the early morning Kolkotta street. Dmitry initially thought he will follow but then decided not to.  

Annie walked until she reached Calcutta University and then decided to squat near the iron gate totally nude and carefree - two security guards who recognised her rushed in with their woollen blankets and soon they saw a cab rushing and a man rushing out , it was Dmitry , he just gestured them ti help, the guards and Dmitry carried Annie and then eased her into the back seat of the yellow cab - Dmitry howled to the driver, Park Hotel .

Annie, smiled and closed her eyes.