The Hippie Movement

John Filo's Pulitzer winning, photograph of the Kent State Shooting.


The Beat generation gradually gave way to the hippie movememt, accompanied by a shift in terminology from "Beatnik" to "Hippie".Many of the original beats like Allen Ginsberg remained active participants in the following 60's counterculture. People like Bob Dylan also joined hands with Ginsberg on many occasions. The hippie era was an era of peace, love and LSD. It was a period of revolt through non violence. The hippies of the 60's protested against the Vietnam war through music, poetry,and of course anti-establishment behaviour. It was common to see people snort on LSD or marijuana and just hallucinate. Their world was free, with no hang ups. Some of the best songs in the world were written in that era. There were artists like Bob Dylan, Crosby Stills and Nash, Woddy Gouthrie etc. They revolutionized music. The freedom to express was emphasized.

The kent state shooting was one of the most important events in this era. The Ohio national guard shot at several students of the Kent State University. This massacre happened on the 4th of May 1970. Four students were killed and nine injured. The students who were shot had been protesting against the Americans invading Cambodia as president Nixon had annouced on television. There was a great national outcry following the shooting. Hundreds of universities and schools closed down. Photographs of the dead and injured were distributed amongst newspapers and periodicals. John Filo, a Kent State photojournalism student captured with his camera, a 14 year old runaway, Mary Ann Vecchio screaming over the body of a dead student which later won the pulitzer prize.

The best known response to the Kent State shooting is the protest song "Ohio" written by Neil Young for CSNY. The song talks of Nixon dropping bombs in Ohio. Allen Ginsberg also mentions the incident in his poem, "Hadda be playing' on a jukebox". The anti war movement played a major role in most of the films of the time and the media was filled with protest.

The hippies were known for their politcal rebellion. Summer of love in 1967 is an event which portrays this rebellion with so much precision. !00,00 young people gathered in a neighbourhood of San Fransico and created a phenomenon of cultural and political rebellion. This was a melting pot of music, sexual freedom, psychedelic drugs, creative expression and politics. The young people were determined to bring about change and the government could do nothing to stop them.

LSD is another popular phenomenon of the hippie era. Lystergic acid diethylamide as it is scientifically known is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug, It has unusual psychological effects such as visuals of coloured patterns behind the eyes, crawling geometric patterns and loss of the users sense of identity. This is popularly known as a recreational drug. It is used to supplement meditation, art projects and now illeagal psychedelic therapy.

Allen Ginsberg wrote the poem "Howl" which profoundly explains the era. It is available on http:/ cda.mrs.umn.edu.

I sometimes on a personal note wish that we were born during that era. Life would have been a totally new dimension.

Suicide Prevention

Suicide Prevention day organized by the department of Psychology Christ University was held on the 24th of September 2008. PSENG, that's our class had a documentary screening,published a newsletter, printed a t shirt for the class and decorated the campus. It was a lovely experience. It did get me thinking because,Bangalore is known as the suicide capital of India and we being students actually took the initiative to come up with a whole range of activities to project positivism amongst our fellow students and also to give out a message to society in general. We came up with quotes to accentuate the whole process. They were displayed everywhere in campus and we also had a banner signing activity where almost 60 feet of banner space was full. This shows that people actually do care, but will they go that extent of actually reaching out to a person who is suicidal?That is a question to ponder on. This is what we tried to project.Help those who need help. Life is not worth taking away, there is so much to live for, but like our Head of the department,Mrs.Iyer said, life is how you choose to live it.

Organizing this as a class was brilliant fun. There were huge ego clashes and of course with the effort of being politically correct I will refrain from going there. Suicide, is an extremely painful subject to talk about. Some faculty members themselves rejected our invitation to sign the banner, one was quoted saying "I don't want to even look at that word". This is how shallow minded some people are, but you really cant help it because it is their mind set. It is extremely hard to break those stereotypes. Acceptance levels are zero when it comes to the case of accepting a person who is suicidal or has attempted suicide. It is hard. This whole thing got me thinking alot. It taught me to be positive in life to a very great extent.

All in all, it was great fun and a great learning experience.

Music-A different perspective

Backstage Passes, a literary seminar was held yesterday[21/09/08].Shoba De was the chief guest for the day. It was an initiation day because I began thinking differently about music, an art form which I love. Baracuda Blues played, and they were amazing. I learnt the true value of Blues. The suffering of the black people in the times of slavery was evident through the lyrics of the songs. It made me think that music is just not listening to a melody and enjoying it.A song is also about the lyrics. It makes the song. The lyrics enrich the whole song to a very large extent. Lyrics are important to song writers because they help put out all their pent up emotions and frustrations.

The seminar made me want to listen more and more to the Blues, because it gave me a different feel of music all together.

anyway, all said and done, the seminar was a success with a few hitches here and there. Music was really really good.

Cant come up with one now.

This week has been very very hectic. Suicide Prevention day is coming up.,so busy with that.Group leaders head is full of shit so it has been really hard, but still trying, but again with my procrastination habits it becomes a little too much to bear. Reading ofcourse happens almost everyday.Oh and i am so excited that Shoba De is coming to the uni on sunday for our media studies seminar.She is the chief guest,Interesting isnt it?. A blues band and a vintage rock band is also playing.should be super cool. Sharan and I went around to colleges in Hebbal to give out invites and the bike ride was seriously fun. Yesterday he and I cycled around koramangala visiting colleges and giving out invites.I have grown thin which I really like. I must try to maintain it.

Started reading this book on child abuse in India called Bitter chocolate by Pinki Virani, and Oh god!!it just hits you so hard because she is so downright blunt in whatever she says that even some of the super conservative people in the country will have to pee in their pants.We do not want to admit that child sexual abuse goes on in families in India. Fathers fondle their daughters in bad ways,grandpops fiddle with their grandchilds genitalia.Grandmothers try their little fantasies with their 6 year old grandchild.It is the truth, dear reader.It is not that I am being perverted. It is the harsh reality. When will the day come that we finally accept this issue to be a fact, not a myth. It exists.Not only in our imaginations but in our own lives.Believe it or not it does. You may never know but the 14 year old boy who sells you chat at the college canteen could be a victim of sexual abuse.Your best friend in class could be getting raped everyday and still being quiet about it. Where is the encouragement to talk?No proper sexual education is given. Children do not know when to say NO.Their genitals are refered to as the KaKa and the susu.How will they ever have the correct knowledge about sex?Think about it.The education should start at home.Indians and the rest of the world.Please do wake up. Educate your children, do not just limit it to blaming the schools that they do not ensure that your child recieves proper sex education.With this child sexual abuse can be eradicated to a very large extent. Believe your child when he or she actually opens up.A child will not simply say, Mama,chacha put his finger in my susu.Why will he or she simply do that? Wake up for the love of god. Try and understand your childs needs.

Sparks Marathon

Oh man!! I literally worship Nicholas Sparks.His books are just amazing. Read, Nights in Rodanthe, the Guardian and Bend in the road in one go. Was awesome. He writes with so much raw energy. You do feel like he is writing directly to you. I am beginning to read Walk to remember now.Should be a mind blower. I am just so hooked on to him.., cant wait for his new book, The Lucky One.Other than that life has been pretty boring.Got sick again.Was indisposed for a while.now back in track.Got yelled at by the old fat mother hen, who happens to be my land lady just because I forgot my dinner and slept. A college student does get tired you know..it is common sense. She called my mobile from downstairs and yelled at me..How funny is that?Mind you this is at 11pm.I was dead to the world. I just cursed her so much.. hmm. seemed a bit too harsh at the end of the day.

well, thats it. .for now. If i come up with more interesting incidents ill let you all know.CIAO