Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers

In "Field Notes on Democracy" Arundhati Roy argues that India resembles a pseudo-democracy considering Muslims are being slaughter and relegated to second class citizen status, and since 9/11 the Indian government has used this U.S. tragedy as an excuse to further their genocidal program against these people. According to Roy, "The Muslim community has seen a sharp decline in its fortunes and is now at the bottom of the social pyramid, along with Dalits and Adivasis." The Adivasis are the indigenous inhabitants of India, while the Dalits are the oppressed. This is all transpiring because of the ideology of the Hindu Rashtra, which means Hindu nation.Political parties such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, and the Bharatiya Janata Party are pushing their extreme rightwing agenda upon the general populace, and Arundhati Roy's essays emphatically thrust this issue to the surface, calling for immediate action. The main point she makes throughout this book is if India continues its political/sociological backslide; then democracy (mob-rule) as they perceive it will metastasize "into something dangerous," which means it will become a Failed State.Most of the time when we contemplate on what a Failed State is we think of countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Somalia, we rarely look at countries such as India. Roy compares what's happening to Muslims and other groups in India to the 1915 Armenian genocide orchestrated by the Ottoman Turkic in Anatolia. The Armenians were the largest Christian minority living under their rule at the time.Some examples of Indian governmental malfeasance, which Arundhati dares to point out are "the massacre of three thousand Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 and the massacres of Muslims in Mumbai in 1993 and in Gujarat in 2002." She compares the 2002 Gujarat massacre to other genocides such as Congo, Rwanda, and Bosnia, and even though Arundhati states the loss of life in Gujarat pales in comparison, her analogy needs to be emphasizes. The mass slaughter started because of "an unsolved crime-the burning of a railway coach in which fifty-three Hindu pilgrims were burned to death." Arundhati claims that the Indian squads of armed killers, organized by fascist militias were backed by the Gujarat government, which in-turn orchestrated the mass slaughter of two thousand Muslims. Muslim businesses, shrines and mosques were also destroyed, while women were gang-raped and burned alive. She also claims that the Indian government celebrates this sanguineous atrocity with pride. I would think this would cause trepidations in the International Community considering how unstable India is appearing to be.Nonetheless, there are actual cases of the government allowing the people to starve to death even though India's "GDP growth rate is phenomenal, unprecedented." According to Roy, in 2003 "Reports of starvation and malnutrition (came) in from across the country." "The government allowed sixty-three million tons of grain to rot in its granaries. Twelve million tons were exported and sold at a subsidized price (and) the Indian government was not willing to offer the Indian poor" any. Furthermore, 47 percent of Indian children suffer from malnutrition and 46 percent are stunted, while 40 percent of rural population's grain absorption levels equal that of sub-Saharan Africa. "An average rural family eats about (220 pounds) less food in a year than it did in the early 1990's." Also India is suffering from mass privatization as nearly 70 percent of the rural population is being disenfranchised by this circumstance. The country of India has fallen even further into a state of entropy since the British no-longer occupy the region, and its feud with Pakistan isn't helping matters either.Arundhati Roy details the events of the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which were devastating, but she points out that there were other attacks equally devastating in nature. In the same year the cities and towns of "Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur and Malegaon have all seen serial bomb blast in which hundreds of ordinary people have been killed and wounded." What she articulated throughout her essays is that the Indian parliamentary system isn't working in the interest of the people. She writes about accused terrorist such as Mohammad Afzal, S.A.R. Geelani and others being put on trial for the December 13, 2001 attack on the Parliament House in New Delhi and how the trials nearly ended in a kangaroo court scenario.Overall, the essays are an eye-opener, from Governmental corporate fraud, media complicity, and the discombobulating of Democracy in India. Arundhati goes for the jugular; however, if you're not familiar with India's history then I suggest catching up on it before tackling this book. Moreover, two of the essays in this book appear in her previous books.Chapter one: "Democracy Who's She at Home?" appears in her book "War Talk."Chapter two: "How Deep Shall We Dig?" appears in her book "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire."So, if you recently read those essays in her previous books then feel free to skip the first two chapters.Just be cognizant of the fact, "Field Notes on Democracy Listening to Grasshoppers" is a dated work so these essays are not current. Some of them are dated as far back as ten years ago.I hope Roy will continue to keep us informed on what's transpiring in India in the near future.Other Books that should be read along this one are as follows:John Pilger: "Freedom Next Time, Resisting the Empire"Tariq Ali: "The Clash of Fundamentalisms"Tariq Ali: "Speaking of Empire and Resistance"Tariq Ali: "The Duel Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power"Christopher Hitchens: "God is not great"Noam Chomsky: "Failed States and the Assault on Democracy"Noam Chomsky: "Hegemony or Survival"The Club of Rome: "Limits to Privatization How much is Too Much of a Good Thing"I also highly recommend watching Patrick Swayze's movie "City of Joy" to learn a little about India's culture and rural infrastructure.

Read this book and A Feast For Lambs with group. I just couldn't believe the picture of India I was reading in this book. This book really opened my eyes to the plight of the tribals and low castes in India. It's hard to believe all these politician-inspired genocides still take place like on a yearly basis in India. Makes you wonder why we do business with a country that still practice caste slavery and uses extreme violence to silence the underprivileged. I also recommend A Feast for Lambs by Thind, a powerful look at Hindu terrorism in the 80s  A Feast for Lambs .

Arundhati Roy continues to enlighten and inform on all issues of importance to me and many others Her writing is exquisite!. She continues to go to remote places, places under siege, and at some risk to her own health and safety. Her courage and sense of purpose are admirable and one hopes she will continue to discover, analyze and write. Her wisdom is much needed and not appreciated enough.

A collection of essays on behind the screen happenings of the largest democracy on earth!. Its worth a reading, whether you believe in or not in what Arundhathi say. One can feel the courage, anger and sarcasm on every page of this book. No wonder why corporate media and politians in Indian don't like her.

Excellent book to read and ponder about the human behavior. Instead of harmonious living, religion plays a horrible role throughout the world. I wish democracy changed some of the human behavior, but so far, it did not.  Field Notes on Democracy: Listening to Grasshoppers  I am an avid reader of Arundhati Roy's books.

Arundhati Roy takes ideas to the "edge" with her thoughtful and articulate "Field Notes on Democracy" - it's worth the time it takes to read.

great essays on the politics of india and the region. Great Book

Arundhati Roy is one of the great thinkers of our time. This book exlains the world in ways most of us never thought. The knowledge learned in Fieldnotes on Democracy changed my views of democracy. PLEASE, everyone read it.

This is a wonderful book. Roy scrupulously details the miscarriages of justice in her own country; injustices we should all know about. These range from simple government ignorance to endorsement of genocide.I feel that the book serves as a crashcourse in Indian politics; a topic which I am ashamed to say I knew very little about. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in politics, Indian culture, religion, or someone who would like to acquire a plethora of new information. It is our duty as readers to know this.

Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy Good and very realistic presentations with thorough in-depth analysis of issues in the pseudo-democratic country called India! great work is the least I could say Listening to Grasshoppers: Field Notes on Democracy

Arundhati Roy peels the gloss of India's success, a valuable insight in India's democracy. You will see through a lot of media trickery and governmental statements after reading this book. Recommended.

Good service, book a bit heavy going.

What a courageous book! You must have a guts to write such book. Raising several questions on how this so called democracy is being functioned and that too with enormous facts and figures. It is a chilling experience to read the real stories of 2001 parliament attack and how that was mishandled or rather deliberately mishandled.Still some hope exists that some people like her are still alive in this country who can fight against injustice.