He needs no introduction. Lord Meghnad Desai has been the face of the Indian Diaspora in many a way. He dabbles with a subject range from Marx, Dilip Kumar, Islam, globalisation and fiction with equal pleasure. His latest offering, Dead on Time published by HarperCollins has left many inquisitive about what led the former head of the London School of Economics into a fiction foray. Just as his writings span an array; his favourite authors are also quite a range, from James Joyce, Aldous Huxley, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes and Luigi Pirandello. He believes that all change creates anxieties and it is not limited to any ?ism?. Sarika Malhotra is all ears when he explains, ?Not just capitalism generates the resources to meet the problems of identity anxiety. Countries that follow socialism, like North Korea or China do not let identities grow and develop.? Excerpts:
•Dead on Time – how did the fiction foray happen and what has been the experience and response like?
I always had an artistic bent of mind and in college days I used to translate plays as well. There is a marked difference in writing for a play and in writing a book ? as the time frame for the audience reaction differs for both. But in both the genres one has to keep in mind ? who your audience is ? who are you writing for and who will come and watch your creation. When I retired it was a challenge to create a fiction character close to real life and wanted to write for the popular market. I had the idea sometime soon after the Labour government of 1997 with Tony Blair as Prime Minister. And I must say, I have thoroughly enjoyed writing the novel, my first one and people have been very encouraging.
•You count yourself among the children of enlightenment ? essentially referring to the 20th century in which an agonistic and atheistic form of culture grew and transmitted itself to the children of enlightenment. What was special about these?
To me Jawaharlal Nehru was a perfect example of a child of enlightenment in the Indian context. Enlightenment was the result of the habit of rational independent thinking. Even Mahatma Gandhi was not as rational as Nehru. When the Bihar earthquake occurred, Gandhi blamed it as the wrath of God. I was fortunate to be growing up in times when we were encouraged to question everything and to do away with superstition. Scientific and rational thinking was made the basis of all. But in the last 50 years, I have seen a losing battle of enlightenment. In politics very few people openly stand up for what they believe. Look at Indira Gandhi ? compulsion of politics led her to temples and godmen. Even the Left in India did not work for augmenting the cause of science and modernity. For instance, the way how the Congress just kept quiet on the Ram Setu issue. Privately, people are rational and modern, but in public life, they take a politically- correct stand. Conversely people who are religious trust a nose of physics. If an airplane crashes, they rely on science for an explanation. Look at the way we use medicines and mobile phones ? we don?t find a convenient escape in a supernatural power and stop taking the medicine, as we know the medicine will cure us.
•In Marx?s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and the Death of Statist Socialism, you have cited globalisation would tend towards the revival of socialism. Are we at that juncture? How viable is socialism as an alternative?
In Marx?s Revenge, globalisation is just another phase of capitalism and socialism cannot come until capitalism has exhausted its capacity for progress and change. This is what I think is Marx?s theory but most people and communist parties think of socialism in the sense that Lenin thought of it as a system where the State plays a dominant role. Marx did not share that view nor do I. China to me is a capitalist country with a socialist environment; it has wisely decided not to go with the Soviet model, which has flopped and disappeared. Crises are endemic to capitalism and it will survive many more such crises and continue to grow. Capitalism is going through its natural cycle, no one is arguing for a socialist alternate. And we do not want to go for a nationalisation. Even if the governments do not rescue the banks, the banks can still come back to what they were. Capitalism has the capacity to repair its problems on its own. Even if a country tries to go protectionist, its measures will be challenged. With the WTO, the ethos have changed.
•You talked about how global Islamism can be defeated by deconstructing the ideology in Rethinking Islamism: The Ideology of the New Terror. Where do think the West has failed in this regard?
The West has not failed yet, Barack Obama is making an effort. The struggle against Islamism is just starting. And the struggle against such ideologies take many years. It has to be a parallel ideological and military fight. But the real change will come form within the Muslim countries. Tools of reasoning will be used to sort out where and how people are being misled, women will play a reforming role and the leadership will come from the middle class. Once education spreads, change shall come along. The cost of terrorism is both for the Muslim and non-Muslim world and both will realise this. What global Islamists are aiming for is arbitrary way of just grabbing power.
•In Nehru?s Hero: Dilip Kumar, you?ve described how Dilip Kumar?s films portrayed the changing India. Do you think that the films of present decade reflect today?s changing times? Given that there are two stark India?s ? are they getting their true portrayal?
It was my first book on my favourite subject-cinema and my favourite actor Dilip Kumar. It was a lucky book for me, I met Kishwar while writing it and we got married, so it will always be special. However, there have always been two stark India?s and they have got a fair portrayal in popular cinema. You had Andaz and Ganga Jamuna then and today you have Maqbool and Omkara. Along with them we have always had films that have been fuelling the fantasies of the youth, and now we have films for the Diaspora and multiplex audiences as well, as the economics of film making has changed. The Indian audience is similar to the Indian voter, you never know what they like and what they reject.
•To you, Diasporas are an integral part of a globalised world and the task of assimilating newcomers falls on everyone but the locals see it as their cross to bear it. Your view on the recent developments in Australia.
Globalisation encourages immigration and rich capitalist countries absorb them. There are ups and downs in this process but in my opinion the West is much more tolerant of immigrants than say India is of foreigners. Think of how badly Africans or even Sonia Gandhi (she still is considered a foreigner) after 30+ years get treated in India and compare that to the treatment of Indians abroad. Australia is a tolerant and a multi-racial country despite the recent bad news. These attacks are isolated instances and the Australian government will not accommodate it for long. Such acts have to be condemned even if they are systematic or isolated. Blaming such acts on recession is like finding a simplistic excuse.