Belied completly!

It's been some time I have written anything critical and now it's time to write in that way. I was watching the interview of someone who's name is taken with great respect in the field of writers. Yes I am talking about the much respected, loved and intriguing Amitav Ghosh. Watching Between the lines on NDTV 24*7, I came to know about the author of famous and 'happening' novels. All my friends go gaga about him when his name is mentioned. Author of such impeccable novels. the maestro behaved in a fashion which I was just not expecting. Before I proceed in offending many of his lovers, I would like to clarify that here I am talking about the man Amitav Ghosh who seems to be very different from the writer Amitav Ghosh.
I remember Barkha Dutt asking him a question on identities. And he replied that he does not believe in identities. But in the very next question he got trapped. When Barkha asked if he supports the names of places being changed, his reply was in the affirmative. I don't understand this contradiction in his two answers. Calcutta changed to Kolkatta, Bangalore changed to Bengaluru, Madras to Chennai, Bombay to Mumbai or for that matter any place's name changed. It's all because the natives of the people want to identify with their state. Maharashtrians want to identify with aamchi Mumbai as they call it. Bengalis with Kolkatta and so on. A name is the first way to identify with anything. Like for instance, I would prefer keeping my daughetr's name as Shivangi than Stella, for the fact that I am a hindu living in India. Anyways, this was the first jolt I received.
The second came when Barkha asked him if he believes that we all have a colonial mindset. To this reverend Ghosh replied, that he does not like any person to associate anything with the past and in a way doesn't agree to it. But unfortunately, the fact remains that all our institutions, government, ideology, way of living have in some ways or the other been affected with the colonial rule, especially of the British. Black robes in courts, our course of study or even the prisoner's manual for that matter, have been given birth to at the time of the British Raj. No matter how different our generation is from the colonial mindset, but the age old legacy seems to exist in our governing system and authorities and chains us down, bindging us with our past.
Thus, I felt that the man called Amitav Ghosh is very much different from the writer. Where the writer speaks his mind, the man is more appeasing and concerned about what people think of him. Where the pen pusher does not care of what people think of him, the man has a saccharine sweet way of speaking the minds of others around. The man called Amitav Ghosh I would not be interested in knowing and now will always remember of him when going through his magnum opus. I will always feel that may be he wants to be read?

Anjali Pandey