Maoist film on India’s revolution: Blazing Trail

This informative and inspiring documentary  narrates the Maoist revolutionary movement in India from the 60s to the recent past. It includes some especially wonderful footage of adivasi (indigenous) struggles in central India. Although it appears to have been released in 2006, it is still highly recommended viewing. Thanks to Sidhartha S. for suggesting it to us.

Journey to Nepal’s Maoist heartland – Pt 1

photo: Jim Weill

This first appeared on Winter Has Its End.

by Jim Weill

In Nepali buses there are seats, and then there are seats. Reclining seats with cushioned headrests – and just about anywhere else a body will fit: in the aisles, on armrests, on benches in the driver’s area, in the doorway, even on top of the bus. One reason for this is, of course, money. Bus operators want to carry as many passengers as possible to acquire as many fares as possible. But Nepalis are also much less squeamish about bodily proximity than European-derived peoples. Complete strangers will lay their heads on each others’ shoulders and it is no offense to lean back against the legs of someone sitting above you.

Furthermore, it seemed that allocation of the proper seats was arbitrary. One could get a ticket for a proper seat, or one could claim a seat early enough, and it was likely the arrangement wouldn’t be contested. So these long bus rides became something egalitarian and communal, with people enduring mild discomfort together, both physically and socially. In a new society, I thought to myself, will everyone have their own cushioned seat, or will everyone share in these minute, everyday struggles together?

Our large coach bus bumped and jostled along the mountain roads, veered around switchbacks and, to my occasional horror, seemed to flirt with the steep edges of the river valley. But eventually, I gave myself over to a different sort of comfort.  The clouds hugged the tops of the green hills, terraced with rice paddies. The popular Hindi and Nepali music poured from the speakers, thick with percussion and broad, powerful voices.