Many of us might have come across romantic relationships at various stages of our life, developing feelings of love and attraction towards the other. Though with varied intensities and characteristic features, a common trait involves feelings of infatuation, intimacy, and/or commitment. While it does appear all well and sweet, things could get flipped so badly in a matter of few moments, once it comes to realizing that the feelings weren’t mutual. Adding fuel to it is ending up doing things being a lovelorn, that the society would consider obsessive, especially when it is crystal clear that the other doesn’t bother at all. Lovelorn individuals also have a tendency to not accept their deeds, for example, overwhelming the other with text messages until they hear back, stalking in-person and in virtual spaces like social media, belittling and shaming, or even worse such as sending suicide warnings. In all these cases, their outlook on love gets damaged, self-esteem and sense of worth get lost, develop trust issues, get labelled as sadists. But the overarching question is why one goes for this obsessive behavior when they can’t handle a rejection? While not all the rejected lovers go for an obsessive stalking behavior, such reflex reactions are common, both physiological and emotional, and chances are that you are/were one of them. Well, dealing with break-up projects aren’t easy either, unrequited longing is always heart-breaking, like a wolf howling at the moon, and the after effects could be even more both emotionally and physically self-destructive . According to one survey, “93 percent of us have, at some point, been rejected by someone we were in love with”.

On a positive note, not all lovelorns get carried away by rejection. Instead, here we have Prof. Lisa A. Philips, a journalist -turned professor at the State University of New York, with her non-fiction “Unrequited-The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Romantic Obsession“. In short, this book is a blend of memoir, case studies, scientific explorations to provide a reasoning and some historical roots /examples of unrequited love. One might raise a question-why the title of the book is talking about women’s romantic obsession, not men. While both men and women experience unrequited love, and there is no clear evidence that one sex is more vulnerable to it, one cannot object the fact that unrequited men are usually perceived as those having unending passionate expeditions to win/search love, for their perseverance, accompanied by heroic and erotic power, though through whatever aggressive ways it could be achieved. On the flip side, even while we are preparing to have first woman on moon landed, women in general are treated differently when they pursue their unrequited love. This is because the society is conditioned in such a way that it is much easier to objectify women against men’s desire, and the women is supposedly “submissive”, while for men it is still called “pursuit”. This would mean that the society advocates a double standard, when it comes to processing the unrequited love of a man vs. a woman, i.e., society judges women in unrequited love more harshly. When an unrequited woman acts obsessive, she is often addressed by the society as psycho/sick/mean, and often gets nothing but a diagnosis, whose history is carried forward way back from 2nd century Rome and Greece, where lovesickness was considered as a disease. Sadly, the society still subscribes to this “disease model”. It ends up in questioning women’s morality. Such dismissals from the society could be even back firing, which would mean that it becomes a pain plus shame for her, to be undesired by the man she loved, questioning her self-worth, making her go to any extend tenaciously to win his love, ultimately inviting even more refusal. Lovesickness has been a label of shame, used not to heal, but to put women in their place, as the author states.

The accountability of the book lies in sharing the romantic obsession of the author by herself with her unrequited love Mr. B, in the very first chapter. The opening of the book discusses how the author was barely herself when she was rejected, years ago. She couldn’t harbor her feelings comfortably and it went to such an extend that one fine morning she encroached in to his apartment building and banged on his door until he opened it with a baseball bat in one hand for protection and the telephone in the other hand, and was about to dial 911. This moment, that may sound bizarre, speaks volumes about how out of control, self-centered, romantic obsession could go insane. However, the author was able pass the peak of her obsession. She then started wondering why unrequited love can be so powerful and creative. Her journalistic instinct prompted her to delve into the history and literature surrounding romantic obsession, taking everything from renaissance medical treatises to contemporary advice books, exploring scientific and psychological research. Even more interesting is that she surveyed more than 260 women online about their experience in loving someone who did not love them back. Most revealing were the more than 30 in-depth interviews she did with women about their experiences of unrequited love, which forms the crux of the book. This may seem that a one-side narrative series from unrequited women, however what makes the book more unique is that it does not only focus on women who’ve obsessed over men but also the men people who were the targets of female obsession .

In the chapter, “Erotic melancholy: Lovesickness as a label of shame“, the author discusses how physicians had actually “treated ” lovesickness, exemplifying the case of French physicians of 19th century who called obsession as ‘la manie du doute‘ which means doubting madness. Yeah, we usually have a habit of saying “madly in love”, but at some point of time women received exotic treatments for being “madly” in love as opposed to men. Whereas for men, it was a matter of nobleness and pride to become unrequited, showing subtle symptoms such as obsessive thoughts and loss of appetite, the condition became a shameful sign of weakness for women. The author also exemplifies the case of Arabic physicians in early Middle Ages, who considered the main cause of lovesickness to be buildup of sperms! The remedy would sound even more hilarious to us, however. The cure was to have intercourse, with the love object, if not possible, with a slave/prostitute. This concept did not just stick to the Arabian peninsula, it spread to Europe too. It is not surprising though, because in all cases women fit in to their “model”, so it received wider acceptance. One would relax a little bit thinking that these are all histories, so what. A psychologist Dorothy Tennov in her bestseller “Love and Limerence” in 1979 , in which limerence, which she describes a state in which, regardless of whether the patient’s love is requited, they still show immature, complete dependency on the other person, perpetually craving their affection. While she considered it as quite normal, later it was revisited by another psychology professor Albert Wakin, who reconceptualized limerence as pathology, fitting to the era of romantic practicality. Wakin says limerence has features of both obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and substance addiction. Underscoring Wakin’s finding, Helen Fischer, a biological anthropologist, opined that, based on their MRI studies on the brain, the picture of beloved increases blood flow at a certain area of focus at the brain, generating neurotransmitter dopamine, a natural stimulant that gives energy, focus, feelings of euphoria and most important, that instinct to seek out a particular beloved. Cocaine could also do a very similar job, an indication that the expression “lover’s high ” is grounded in a very real physical phenomenon. What all this means, according to Fischer and her team, is that passionate love is fundamentally a drive to propel us towards the reward of attachment with a specific mate.

There is another theory, which works in a different way, put forth by Prof. Cupach and Spitzberg, called “dynamic goal linking”. Simply put, this theory proposes that having a romantic relationship as a “lower-order goal” , such as being cared for, easing our loneliness or finding self-worth, that extends to a higher-order goal, could have constructive effects. However, lower order goals are supposed to be flexible and replaceable. In other words, when a woman gives up on her unrequited love, she might also feel that she’s also giving up an opportunity to attain her greater life goals, because goal linking psychologically binds the lower goal to higher one. When a woman spends her energy on a productive task, it is often misunderstood by us as a way to distract herself from the thoughts of him. The other side of the story, the possible reality we miss could be that we don’t consider how inspiring unrequited love can be. This goal linking theory helps explain why the script of unrequited love shakes an unwanted woman, even if getting her nowhere.

Another key take away from the book is that unrequited love could be the best fuel for creativity. Creativity is the fundamental human response to the frustrations of love. Accomplishment is often what saves the unwanted woman from evils and gets her out of the woods of the vicious blackhole of longing. One reason why people love someone without any expectations of loving back is so they can be inspired by love. Psychologists call this “Don Quixote” situation. In Miguel de Cervantes’ 17th century novel, Don Quixote devotes his chivalric requests to his unrequited love, a neighbouring farm girl. Even though she didn’t love back, his adoration allowed him to experience elevated emotions which in turn helped focus his goals and enjoy being inspired to act heroically in someone else’s name. For those on Don Quixote situation love is an adventure, a mystery to be solved. Isadora Duncan, the renowned “Mother of Modern Dance,” catalyzed her arts by channelizing her suffering from many unhappy relationships . She was of the opinion that love and art are inextricable. It is tricky to use a lovelorn state as a source of inspiration though, because to have a control over it is critical.

In the chapter ” The Gender Pass-Female stalkers and their invisible victims“, the author discusses how unrequited women turn into habitual stalkers featured by repeated, unwanted and intrusive behaviors, implicit or explicit threats, and causing fear. In fact, several peer-reviewed studies conducted since 2000s scrutinize the question of gender and unwanted pursuit. The results show that women are just as likely as men to engage in a number of stalking tactics. However, research into perceptions of stalking scenario find that respondents view female stalkers as less dangerous than male .This could also be due to the fact that the male victims of female stalkers are able to defend themselves better than female victims, given that the former has more privilege in a patriarchal society. Female unrequited stalkers can go crazy at times. A person with sanity is aware that nobody would stalk someone who they truly love. Unrequited love can turn women into narcissists and masochists. Though it seem bizarre, at the end of the day, her obsession is her only connection to the other person, and she will do anything to keep the connection, which is called a kind of “masochistic zone”. As a result, she’ll cope with it masochistically by embracing her suffering and deriving satisfaction from it. Romantic obsession also lures women into same sex affairs , typically with punishing consequences, protagonists driven by unrequited love to suicide, insanity or depression, elaborates Lisa Philips demonstrating the case study of Careena, who had never been attracted to women before. Notably, the incident occurred in a far less homophobic time.

Though the word “beloved” seem to have a single meaning, in practice it is multidimensional, as Lisa Philips puts it. The beloved represents the unconditional love that the unrequited lover didn’t have from her family of origin. The beloved represents what’s missing from the unrequited lover’s marriage or relationship. The author discusses a case study of a woman who regularly fell into unrequited love as a way to keep the dream of a perfect union in lime light, knowingly it was unrealistic, a dream of an emotional utopia. The beloved represents the dream of an idealized future with a committed partner. This is probably the most common situation, and it makes all the sense in the world. We are all unrequited lovers, being uncertain whether our feelings will be returned. In this uncertainty, we give tremendous power to our beloved. As human beings we have a drive to experience deep romantic love, and it’s not a crime.

Having discussed several aspects of processing and understanding unrequited love of woman, I do think the final chapter is more meaningful and beneficial to the readers. In the chapter ” Letting go- how the obsession ends” the author discusses how does the romantic obsession end. Well, just as there are many ways to be in obsessive love, there are many ways to get out of it too. Most of the women discussed in the book, as well as the author herself, did not follow any particular strategy. Rather, some found solace in support groups, some sought professional help, an option people whose obsession is hampering their normal functioning or spurring them to destructive behavior should go for. Rest assured, with rare exceptions, unrequited love does end, and the first step to end a romantic obsession is to simply acknowledge it.

Overall, the readers, particularly who had been through unrequited love would find this book insightful to retrospect themselves in a different way rather than victimizing themselves, better understand their situation, complexities associated with the romantic obsession and cultural taboos, and eventually move on. The main take away for me is that, by exploring the power of unrequited love, we can connect more deeply with ourself and our productivity, as Lisa Philips by herself has set an example with this book.

As an Indian national who spent my last two years in a North American country, I often think and wonder about the relationship between the security establishments including police and the common people of this land. I have neither witnessed a low profile individual scared of the police, hesitant to reach out to them for help, nor the security establishment being involved in their day-to-day life. However, to be frank, I still feel a ‘sense of fear’ towards the police which I believe has been inherited from my mother country, India. I am sure, I am no exception. Perhaps, this sense of fear dates back to the British raj era when India was under the jurisdiction of colonial powers. Majority of the Indian middle class people are unwilling to approach the security establishment for any help. Some critics comment that the Indian police are still in colonial hangover. Lathi charge still has daily shows in India.

Many of you couldn’t agree more on the fact that the recent happenings in India has made its “world’s largest democracy” status to swing on hinges. In his 2021 book, ‘The Silent Coup’ Josy Joseph, an Indian investigative journalist unveils a chilling account on the history of India’s deep state. To be frank, the writer’s findings and conclusions were quite unsurprising in the present scenario, perhaps due to the familiarity with many news stories and features in bits and pieces, but what makes the book exceptional is the solid narration based on conclusive evidences on how the political fraternity and the security establishment including military, police, intelligence bureaus and investigative agencies are intertwined, which is supposed to remain as independent entities.

Apparently, the book as a whole, is a series of coverages on national security issues of India, along its length and breadth, though it could be applicable to many other countries. It discusses about the increasing evidences of the brand-new gravest threat to the post-independent Indian state-the subversion of democracy by the ruling elites of the security establishments who are duty-bound to protect it. When I say security establishments, these include the police, the intelligence agencies, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), and a handful of allied agencies such as Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department which are also key-players. For many of us, these are a group of people in thriller movies who have been overwhelmingly glorified giving us goosebumps with mass back ground scores. But The Silent Coup blasts all of those stigmas. With facts, it enables the reader to think about how can such a small group of people, located mostly in a single city such as Mumbai or Delhi manipulate democratic values, terrorise and suppress the common, send them to jail, turning media into propaganda machines and that’s not the worst of it-converting judiciary into a puppet institution. Having that said, the book may sound like a merely anti-BJP (the ruling party) or Anti-Modi anecdote, but it is not. The harbingers of India’s deep state model traces back into the deeds of all post-independence governments. In fact, it was the Congress party that had sketched the blueprint to manipulate security establishment for political gains, the politics of Indira Gandhi and then Rajiv Gandhi, as Joseph Joseph elaborates.

The Silent Coup chooses the journey of an unfortunate Muslim citizen named Wahid to exemplify and amplify the gravity of religious and political persecution of innocent Muslims, who was one of the falsely accused in a bomb blast case. He had to spend years behind bars for no reason, some who were caught along with him were killed by framing them as terrorists. It is disheartening to say that this dirty model, of creating a fake incident or a terrorist, is what the Indian security establishments follow till date. Many high-profile officers in security establishments rose to higher thrones at the cost of several innocent lives. Far too much of India’s resources have been invested in tracking Islamic terrorism, but it is indisputable that some of its deadliest enemies have been secular Maoists, Hindus or Christians. The author also discusses the result of this bias in terms of the visible near-absence of Muslims in the ranks of the security establishment and the concept of “no right-wing Hindutva bombers existed”. The Special Protection group (SPG) excludes Sikhs. With that note, the interesting chapter “Meet the Bombers” comes, where the author made a brave attempt to name several right-wing terrorists and political figures, important profiles among them being Pragya Singh Thakur, and her role in Malegaon blasts, Amit Shah and so on. The author also accounts how the security establishment operated towards their acquittal. Needless to say that where are they now, Pragya Singh Thakur is now a member of the Lok Sabha and Amit Shah is currently serving as the Minister of Home Affairs.

There is an insightful account on how the security establishment deals with informers. The status and fate of the “informers” are often questionable. Underscoring what we have seen in movies, Josy Joseph verifies that most of the informers lose their lives in the process of maintaining national security. Since our security establishment lacks a defined protocol for someone to qualify as an informant, often informants of poor integrity and with vested interests are chosen. There is no effort to process information for accuracy or to rank informants by their credibility. This results in trusting bogus informants. This is not peculiar to Indian system though. Many of these informants have even been later made into bogus terrorists and exploited in fake encounters, unless they don’t provide what the agencies want. The book reminds us how a seemingly unharmful fake news can cost several lives. Unsurprisingly, poor Muslims are targeted in this “informer” process.

The book also systematically elaborates on how insurgency was conceived in Punjab and the way it was brutally supressed, the classic Kashmir valley issues and how the security establishment repeatedly and violently pushed an average Kashmiri away from the idea of India, the infamous “Gujarat Model”, turbulences in the Northeast and India’s role in the Sri Lankan civil war and associated “our boys” concept of Indian peace Keeping Force (IPKF). Taking LTTE as a case study, the author sharply discusses the failure of India in Sri Lanka. A security establishment must be bias-free and must clearly understand the ground reality. Hence the root cause of the Indian establishment failure was its repeated ignorance of the fact that violence is secular.

The author also reminds the readers that this is not a military-part issue or the problem of states with international borders. The deep state works at a pan-Indian level, and the non-military parts of the security establishments are challenging the constitutional rights of the citizens. Our history of misused draconian laws such as TADA, POTA, MCOCA, AFSPA and UAPA serve as examples. If not, at least an average Indian afraid of dealing with the police is telling a fact. The Silent Coup brings to the table the fact that when the professionalism of the security establishment is put to a test, or when uncomfortable questions are asked, a part of the security establishment will come forward to defend and stand for their institution. That said, oppression becomes a new normal. It is quite obvious for one to feel pessimistic after finishing this book and wonder where India’s security establishment and future democracy are heading. However, it is reasonable to believe that accounts like this could be an eye opener for the next generation bureaucrats, judiciaries and political establishments and that we still are left with a ray of hope.

പ്രൊഫ. ടി ജെ ജോസഫിന്റെ ആത്മകഥ ​​​​“അറ്റുപോകാത്ത ഓർമ്മകൾ”​ ഏകദേശം ഒരു മാസം മുമ്പാണ് വായിച്ചു തീർന്നത്. നാട്ടിൽ ​നിന്നും വന്ന ഒരു സുഹൃത്തിനെക്കൊണ്ട് പ്രത്യേക താല്പര്യപ്രകാരം വരുത്തിച്ച ഒരു പുസ്തകം എന്ന നിലയിലും, അതിനുപരി ഇന്ത്യയിലെയും കേരളത്തിലെയും ഇന്നത്തെ സംഭവവികാസങ്ങളുടെ പശ്ചാത്തലത്തിൽ വായിച്ചിരിക്കേണ്ട, കാലോചിതമായ ഒരു അനുഭവക്കുറിപ്പെന്ന നിലയിലും, ​’അറ്റുപോകാത്ത ഓർമ്മകളെ’ക്കുറിച്ച് എന്തെങ്കിലും കുറിക്കണമെന്ന് ആദ്യമേ കരുതിയതാണ്.

മലയാളികൾക്ക് പ്രത്യേ​കിച്ച് ​ ഒരു മുഖവുരയുടെ ആവശ്യമി​ല്ലാത്തയാളാണ് പ്രൊഫ. ടി ജെ ജോസഫ് ​.മതേതരമെന്നവകാശപ്പെടുന്ന കേരളവും, സർക്കാരും, മത സംഘടനകളും ആശയങ്ങളുടെ പേരിൽ ഒരുപോലെ വെല്ലുവിളിച്ച തൊടുപുഴ ന്യൂമാൻ കോളജിലെ ജോസഫ് മാഷ്.​ തികച്ചും നിരുപദ്രവകരമെന്ന് കരുതിയ ഒരു ചോദ്യത്തിലൂടെ എങ്ങനെ ഒരദ്ധ്യാപകന്റെ ജീവിതം ശീർഷാസനം ചെയ്യപ്പെട്ടുവെന്നതിന്റെ ജീവിക്കുന്ന ഉദാഹരണം. “അറ്റുപോകാത്ത ഓർമ്മക​ളു”ടെ പ്രധാന പ്രതിപാദ്യമിതാണ്.രണ്ടു ഭാഗങ്ങളായാണ് ​ഈ ​​ആത്‌മകഥ ​ക്രമപ്പെടുത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നത്. ​ആദ്യഭാഗത്ത്‌ ​ചോദ്യപ്പേപ്പർ വിവാദവും തുടർന്നുണ്ടായ സംഭവ വികാസങ്ങ​ളും, ​ രണ്ടാം ​രണ്ടാം ഭാഗത്ത് പ്രൊഫസറുടെ മുൻകാല ​ജീവിതവും.​

“അറ്റുപോകാത്ത ഓർമ്മകൾ” കേവലം മതഭ്രാന്തന്മാരുടെ ഇരയായ ഒരു അദ്ധ്യാപകന്റെ സിനിമ സ്റ്റൈൽ ക്ളീഷേ കഥ പറച്ചിലല്ല. പുസ്തകത്തിനൊരിക്കലും ഇരവാദത്തിന്റെ സ്വരവുമില്ല.നൊമ്പരപ്പെടുത്തുന്ന യാത്രയാണ്, ഒരു മനുഷ്യന്റെ തത്വചിന്തകളുടെ സംഹിത കൂടിയാണത്. പുസ്തകം എഴുതിയ ആളുടെ ചിന്തകൾക്കൊപ്പിച്ച് പലപ്പോഴും ​ആമേൻ മൂളിക്കൊണ്ടു സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്ന ഒരു ശരാശരി വായനക്കാരിയാണ് ഞാൻ എന്നുള്ളത് കൊണ്ടാവാം എഴുത്തുകാരൻ പ്രതിപാദിക്കുന്ന പല കാര്യങ്ങളും തുണിയുടുക്കാത്ത സത്യമായി അനുഭവപ്പെടുകയുണ്ടായി. ​സത്യം ! പരമാർത്ഥം !
വളരെ വളരെ ശരിയാണ്! എന്നെല്ലാം ഗദ്ഗദമായി പുറത്തേക്ക് വന്നു. ​”അത്ര നിഷ്കളങ്കമായി തയ്യാറാക്കിയ ഒരു ചോദ്യമൊന്നുമായിരിക്കില്ല , അടി വീഴുന്നിടത്തു പോയി ചെവി കൊണ്ട് വെച്ചതാണ്” എന്നൊക്കെയുള്ള അഭിപ്രായങ്ങൾ സുഹൃദ് വലയങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നും കേട്ടിരുന്നെങ്കിലും പുസ്തകം വായിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ മാഷിന്റെ ശരിക്കൊപ്പം തന്നെയാണ് ഞാൻ പക്ഷം പിടിക്കുന്നത്. അങ്ങനെ ഉൾക്കൊള്ളാനാണ് എനിക്കിഷ്ടവും.

കൈ വെട്ടിയ മത തീവ്രവാദികളുടെ അക്രമത്തെക്കാൾ ജോസഫ് മാഷിനെ മാനസികമായി ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതൽ വിഷമിപിച്ചതും, അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ ഭാര്യയുടെ ആത്മഹത്യ വരെ കാര്യങ്ങൾ എത്തിച്ചതും വർഷങ്ങളോളം അദ്ദേഹം പണിയെടുത്ത കോളേജ് മാനേജ്മെന്റും, സഹപ്രവർത്തകരും, സർകാർ അധികാരികളും അവരുടെ മലീമസമായ പ്രവൃത്തികളുമാണ് എന്നത് ഇല്ലോളം വേദനയോടെയല്ലാതെ വായിച്ചു തീർക്കാനാവില്ല. ഹൃദയസ്പർശിയായ പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ മുമ്പും വായിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ടെങ്കിലും ഇത്രകണ്ടു മനസ്സ് പ്രക്ഷുബ്ധമായ, ഉറക്കം നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഒരു വായനാനുഭവം ഉണ്ടായിട്ടില്ലെന്ന് വേണം പറയാൻ.​ ​ ” പരശുരാമന്റെ മഴു” എന്ന അധ്യാ​യം ​ഏത് ​വായനക്കാരനും നിസ്സഹായനായ ഒരു കാഴ്ചക്കാരനായി ​നോക്കി നിൽക്കുന്ന ഒരു വായനാനുഭവമാണ് സമ്മാനിക്കുന്നത് .ഭയ​വും വിഷാദം ​ഘനീഭവിച്ചു നിൽക്കുന്ന ​ജോസഫ് മാഷിന്റെ വീടും പരിസരവും വായനക്കാരിലേക്ക് കൂടി ഊളിയിട്ടിറങ്ങുന്നുണ്ട് . എങ്കിലും​,​ അതിനെയൊക്കെ മറികടക്കുന്ന’ ക്രൂര’മെന്നു തോന്നിപ്പിച്ച നർമ ബോധം ഒരു പരിധിവരെ ഇതിനെ ശമിപ്പിച്ചിട്ടുമുണ്ട്​ എന്ന പറയാതെ വയ്യ ​. എങ്ങനെ പറ്റുന്നു? ​സ്വയം കോമാളിയാവുകയാണോ??!! ​എന്ന് ചോദിച്ചു പോകുന്ന പല മുഹൂർത്തങ്ങൾ പുസ്തകത്തിലുണ്ട്.​ ​അതെ സമയം, ഹമ്പട! മാഷിന്റെ ബുദ്ധി കൊള്ളാമല്ലോ ! അത്ര പാവമൊന്നുമല്ല! എന്ന് തോന്നുന്ന ചില സന്ദർഭങ്ങളും ഉണ്ട്.

പുസ്തകത്തിലെന്നെ ഏറ്റവും ആകർഷിച്ച ഘടകം ആരെയും കുറ്റപ്പെടുത്താൻ വേണ്ടി എഴുതിയ പുസ്തകമാണ് എന്ന് ​വായനക്കാർക്ക് ഒരിക്കലും ​​അനുഭവപ്പെടില്ല എന്നതാണ്.​ ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങളുടെ തുറന്നുപറച്ചിലുകളാവുമ്പോൾ ഏതെങ്കിലും ഒരു വിഭാഗത്തെ /വ്യക്തിയെ ഒക്കെ പഴിച്ച് തന്നെ ഈ അവസ്ഥയിലാക്കിയ ആളുകളോട് വായനക്കാരെക്കൊണ്ടുകൂടി വെറുപ്പിച്ചു കൊണ്ട് നിഷ്പ്രയാസം എഴുതി അവസാനിപ്പിക്കാവുന്ന ഒരു ആത്മകഥ, വളരെ വ്യത്യസ്തമായ രീതിയിലാണ് പ്രൊഫ.അവതരിപ്പിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്. ജ്ഞാനപീഠ പുരസ്‌കാരം നേടിയപ്പോൾ ഇടതു കൈ കൊണ്ട് ഒ.എൻ.വി കുറുപ്പിന് അഭിനന്ദന കുറിപ്പെഴുതി അയച്ചതും, അദ്ദേഹം അതിനൊരു കവിതയിലൂടെ മറുപടി അയച്ചതും, കൂടെ പതിനായിരം രൂപയുടെ ചെക്ക് കൂടി വെച്ചതും എന്നെ അത്ഭുതപ്പെടുത്തി. മനുഷ്യ സ്‌നേഹി എന്ന് നമ്മൾ കരുതുന്ന/ കരുതിയ സുകുമാർ അഴീക്കോടിനെ പോലുള്ളവരുടെ വൈരുദ്ധ്യാത്മക സമീപനവും ഞെട്ടലുളവാക്കി.

തീവ്രമായ ജീവിതാനുഭവങ്ങൾ പറഞ്ഞവസാനിപ്പിക്കുക മാത്രമാണ് പുസ്തകം എന്ന് കരുതിയിടത്ത് , തന്റെ ബാല്യവും , യൗവ്വനവും അധ്യാപക ജീവിതവുമെല്ലാം വിവരിച്ചുള്ള രണ്ടാം ഭാഗം കൂടി ചേർത്തത്തിലൂടെ പുസ്തകം വായനക്കാർ ആവശ്യപ്പെടുന്ന പൂർണതയിലെത്തുന്നുണ്ട് .വർത്തമാന കേരളവും ഇന്ത്യയും നമ്മൾ ഉൾപ്പെടുന്ന അവിടത്തെ അഭിനവ മതേതരവാദികളും ​“അറ്റുപോകാത്ത ഓർമ്മകൾ”​ വായിക്കണം.​ആശയപരമായ വിയോജിപ്പുകൾ ഉണ്ടാകാമെങ്കിലും ജോസഫ് മാഷും അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ അനുഭവങ്ങളും എക്കാലവും പ്രസക്തമാണ് എന്നത് നിസ്തർക്കമാണ്. പുസ്തകത്തിൽ പറയുന്ന പല കാര്യങ്ങളും ​മത ​വിശ്വാസികളായ സഹോദരങ്ങൾ​ക്ക് ​ ഉൾകൊള്ളാൻ കഴിഞ്ഞെന്ന് വരില്ല. യഥാർത്ഥ വായനക്കാരൻ എന്ന നിലയിലേക്ക് മാറാൻ ഒരു മതത്തിൻ്റെ മാത്രം വക്താവായി ഈ പുസ്തകത്തെ സമീപിച്ചാൽ കഴിഞ്ഞെന്നും വരില്ല​.​

It is quite fortuitous that on the occasion of Canadian Federal Election, I finished reading” Fighting for a Hand to hold, Confronting medical colonialism against Indigenous children of Canada” written by Samir Shaheen-Hussain. This is a relatively new book published an year ago (September 2020), which I haven’t heard of until I came across Shaheen-Hussain’s interview to New Scientist magazine. The author, Samir Shaheen-Hussain, is a paediatric emergency physician cum indigenous rights activist who played a pivotal role in successful campaign against non-accompaniment rule in Quebec in 2018 (Parents of Indigenous children living in remote areas of Quebec were not allowed to accompany their children when they need emergency medical evacuation). In that interview, he points out that the indigenous children of Canada were used by the Canadian medical establishment, backed by political policies, for scientific experimentation such as tuberculosis treatment, with the fruits of the studies only going to a wider Canadian population while indigenous communities were at the bottom of the list in accessing tuberculosis treatment. They were considered not to be able to be ‘compliant’! Now that hundreds and hundreds of unmarked graves of Indigenous children have been recently discovered in Canada from the sites of former residential schools, mostly run by Catholic churches backed by the government, and that has shocked the entire world and exposed the dark history of Canada, I felt this book was a timely read. The fact that the book is authored by a paediatrician made me think that the book could only be a sort of memoir. However, the author has accounted the real-time experiences from the victims and survivors, insights from peer-reviewed research articles and historical archives, which makes the book richer and its non-linear narrative style makes the readers understand the relevance of the topic even today.

The book is divided mainly into four parts with each part having multiple chapters. The opening part sheds light on the successful #aHandtoHold campaign and the grassroot level collective efforts behind its motive to end the decade-old non-accompaniment rule implemented on Quebec’s indigenous community. These efforts unfolded how Canadian medical field was under the claws of medical colonialism, and that how does it still continue its violent legacy. By the term ‘medical colonialism’ the author describe the genocidal role played by the Canadian health care system in the colonial domination over Indigenous people. The book starts with an individual example from Quebec, to make the reader easy to progress into a bigger picture of the classic, deep rooted colonialism. The author comes across two seriously injured Inuit children who demanded emergency medical beyond their local clinic’s capacity. Accordingly, these kids were airlifted by medical evacuation flight to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, where the Dr. Shaheen-Hussain works. Now the problem comes, their parents are not allowed to accompany them in the same flight. Apparently, the kids reach at the emergency room. They cannot speak any other language other than their native language and there is no translator. This disturbs the author about the parental rights . Their parents were never been consulted for any of the treatments provided nor obtained any consent before any medical procedure, and that these children were sent into trauma as they were left off amidst strangers around and not knowing their language. Later, the author takes the lead to work with the bureaucrats and politicians, however the response was cold. Such initiatives followed by a series of events later, which culminated in the success of #aHandtoHold campaign. At this juncture, the author doesn’t forget to admit to the readers that he is also no different than us, who enjoys all privileges.

After engaging the readers in an active dialogue of how does the medical establishment and the government deals with such scenarios even today, and leaving a message that things like this are not at all a surprise, the author uplifts us to the ‘must read’ parts of the book; part two and three. Second part starts with a thoughtful quote by George Orwell, taken from Animal farm: “All animals are equal , But some animals are more equal than others“. Here, the author describes in detail on the concept of social determinants of health, equality and equity, also discussing their limitations. It makes the readers understand how the “causes of causes” allowed the practice of indigenous people to be marginalised in health care persist for so long due to systemic racism and colonial policies rooted in capitalism. A social-justice approach is used to explain how the government’s non-accompaniment policy, though equally applied to every children, had inequitable consequences on indigenous children, stemming from the underlying inequalities in their basic life. It is quite clear that colonialism was always the mediator in separating indigenous children from their communities, in a most ‘rational’ way in the label of residential schools and later the contemporary child welfare system and now the foster care system, with the trauma being infiltrated to several generations. By discussing equality and equity, and clearly defining various type of racism that have been used by us interchangeably, Fighting for a Hand to Hold chronicles how structural racism works in health care, including in medical training. Shaheen-Hussain points out that even today, women and transgender community are underrepresented in clinical trials generating a gender-based data gaps that continue to be ignored by the medical establishment, and the same applies to racialized people.

The third part is heavily interwoven with history, on the multiple ways that indigenous children have been harmed at the residential schools (that was “supposed to be” for the welfare of indigenous children) by Canadian medical professionals, sponsored by colonial policy of the government, corporates, bureaucrats and institutionalised racism. The most painful read is regarding how unethical medical experiments were conducted on these children. At one point he says:

Nutrition scientists considered malnourished children at Indian Residential Schools as perfect experimental materials, and the worst part was that they were further subjected to malnourishment ‘to create a baseline’ for their studies. Author also discusses how unethical medical experiments on Tuberculosis, skin grafting and other blood works were performed on the children in residential schools and that they were not benefitted. Once died, the bodies of the children were mostly not handed over to the parents but were used for autopsy and further studies without the consent of the families. To exemplify this, the author shares an instance happened to an indigenous mother. An autopsy was performed on her adolescent son, against her disapproval. The mother figured this out by happenstance from one of the staff members of the funeral home. After burial, the mother later learned that the medical team had removed her son’s brain for running various tests. Finally, after lots of fights, she retrieved that brain and she had to do wait until the snow to be thawed to do a decent reburial.Eugenics and ‘purity’ are also being discussed, and it was not too long back that it was among the indigenous people of Canada, as recent as 1970s. It is shown that ‘hundreds to thousands of indigenous women were coercively sterilized up until the 1970s outside of Alberta and British Columbia. The book also shed light on how mining, corporates, Christian missionaries joined hands in this mission and the message was to ‘civilize the wild, barbaric heathen Indians’ and was violently and enthusiastically carried out by aggressive racist officers.

In the last part, Shaheed-Hussain describes the mass separation of indigenous children through foster care, which still happens today. Not unlike the experience of residential schools, these children placed with white foster parents were often abused and suffered from identity dilemma, low self-esteem, addictions, lower levels of education and unemployment. The author leaves an eye opening thought that the reality is colonial governments have little interest in ending injustices they’ve created and maintained because they profit from them so significantly, also citing an instance of present Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau’s response. In short, Fighting for a Hand to Hold deserves a broad readership among those who all are compassionate and are willing themselves for reconciliation, non-Indigenous medical professionals, politicians, social workers, and of course the youth, and that all must raise voices for decolonising health care. Now that from this year onwards Canada is observing holiday on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on 30th September to honour the lost children and survivors of residential schools, their families and communities, let’s recall Malcolm X’s words here:

” If you stick a knife in my back nine inches and pull it out six inches, that’s not progress. If you pull the way out, that’ s not progress. The progress comes from healing the wound that the blow made”