I cannot begin to convey how much I love this book. I personally think it’s the finest thing Gautier ever wrote. It is a fictionalised account of the life of Madeleine de Maupin, an historical figure infamous for her habit of cross-dressing, her duelling abilities and her theatrical talent. She is even said to have abducted a nun she fell in love with from a convent, but sadly there is very little evidence to support this.

Gautier painted as a young man by Auguste de Chatillon

The novel was published in 1835, and caused quite a stir. Reading it, it’s somewhat incredible that it got published at all, considering its themes of cross-dressing, homosexuality, and frank discussions of sexual relations. Not to mention Gautier’s defence of the ‘art for art’s sake’ philosophy, and his argument that the artistic world is purely decorative and inherently amoral – sentiments that would be echoed years later by a certain Mr Wilde you may or may not have heard of.

an early frontispiece for the novel

The story begins with the sorrows of a young aesthete, the Chevalier d’Albert, who is dissatisfied with the inadequacies of nature compared to art, and longs to find a mistress who will live up to his aesthetic ideal. He finally settles on a beautiful young widow, Rosette, whom he sees more as a cipher for his fantasies than a lover in her own right. It would be easy to find d’Albert and his often blatant misogyny appalling (at one point he suggests that a woman may as well jump off the roof after the age of thirty, because her looks are fading), but somehow Gautier manages to deflect this, partly through making d’Albert somewhat ridiculous. How can you take him seriously when he states that he wants to kill men who seem to be a better-looking version of himself, because they have committed an act of ‘plagiarism’? Obviously, Gautier took his ideas of art and aesthetics very seriously, but I cannot help but feel that he had a slightly tongue-in-cheek attitude when representing his young hero. Everything is thrown into turmoil when d’Albert finally sees his vision of perfection in another human being while holidaying at his mistress’s house. However, the object of his affections is (shock! horror!) a man. Or so he thinks…

One of the novel's original illustrations

The narrative is then continued by the eponymous heroine, Madeleine de Maupin, who is dissatisfied with the limited role in life that she can play as a woman, and curious to know what men are really like when they think there are no females around to impress. She masquerades as a young nobleman, Theodore, and quickly becomes disillusioned with the male sex, before finding herself in the awkward position of having both Rosette and d’Albert fall in love with her. Not that she finds it awkward for too long, and is soon doing all she can to make the most of her unusual situation.

an illustration by Aubrey Beardsley for Mademoiselle de Maupin

The novel was revolutionary in so many ways, not just because of its controversial subject matter but also because it acknowledged that women have desires and aspirations of their own, and also admire the subtleties of artistic perfection. It makes gender performance obvious, and is equally merciless to both sexes. Incidentally, the aspect of gender performance in Mademoiselle de Maupin is a subject I am especially intrigued by, and I’ve written a longer essay on the subject which is here, if you’re interested.

Le fascisme c’est d’accuser l’autre sans prendre la peine de faire passer ces accusations par le test de la logique et de la raison…

Le fascisme c’est de refuser le dialogue, comme le font tous les indianistes du CNRS et de l’EHESS quand on leur tend la main, dialogue qui peut prendre place devant témoins sous forme de débat…

Le fascisme c’est de traiter de fasciste quelqu’un qui vit depuis 40 ans en Inde, est marié depuis 20 ans à une Indienne, dont les meilleurs copains sont des Indiens appartenant à toutes les religions. Quelqu’un qui dans sa vie privée n’est ni raciste, ni haineux, ni méchant…

Le fascisme c’est d’être assis sur son pesant derrière à Paris (ou dans cette grosse bulle qu’est Delhi) et de disséquer l’Inde à partir de préjugés, de faux théorèmes, en se basant sur le politiquement correct, qui n’est que du reçu de son éducation, son atavisme et ce qu’on lit (cela s’appelle  de la connaissance de deuxième main)….

Le fascisme c’est d’accuser de fascisme quelqu’un qui a couvert le Cachemire pendant 15 ans, au moment des troubles les plus graves, qui a parcouru de long en large le Pakistan, le Bangladesh, l’Afghanistan, qui a sillonné l’Inde comme aucun autre journaliste français… Même s’il se trompe – au moins il parle d’expérience – et peut-être le temps lui donnera raison…

Tout ce que j’ai fait, lorsque je travaillais pour le Figaro, c’est de dire qu’il existait un problème avec l’islam en Asie du sud, à un moment où il n’était pas politiquement correct de le dire. J’ai aussi rédigé une série d’articles sur les grandes religions en Inde, qui ont provoqué l’ire des indianistes. Ceux-ci ont écrit au Figaro un impressionnant nombre de lettres de protestation, demandant des droits de réponse et ma démission. De ce jour là, j’ai été marqué et une campagne de diffamation à tous les niveaux a été initiée contre moi.

Quand on est accusé d’être antimusulman, c’est pire que d’être un pestiféré, on est condamné sans jugement, sans que les accusateurs s’objectivent une seconde. S’ils le faisaient, ils réaliseraient que c’est une ironie terrible: on excuse les attentats suicide en Israël ou à Bombay qui tuent des centaines d’innocents, au nom de la ‘persécution’ des Palestiniens, des Tchéchènes ou des Kashmiris; mais on accuse des pires crimes quelqu’un qui n’a jamais assassiné personne, ni même prôné la haine, mais a simplement écrit ce qu’il a constaté de ses yeux, en vingt ans de reportages.

Tout au long de ma carrière, j’ai souffert de cette étiquette qui ne s’explique pas mais est véhiculée de personne en personne et fait rapidement le tour de tout ce qui touche à l’Inde, que ce soit les agences de voyage, les expatriés, les diplomates ou les journalistes : « c’est un antimusulman, un pro-hindou, un fasciste »… Les gens, même les plus éclairés, ne veulent écouter que le politiquement correct, l’idéologie de masse, ils ne veulent jamais entendre la différence. J’ai connu six ambassadeurs de France, mais jamais m’a-t-on invité pour me demander mon avis sur un sujet ou un autre. Je me suis même dernièrement fait jeter par l’ambassadeur actuel, Jérôme Bonnafont, qui m’a traité de… fasciste… parce que je lui ai fait remarquer que c’est après que 59 hindous innocents, dont 36 femmes et enfants, aient été brûlés dans un train par une meute de musulmans, que les émeutes antimusulmanes du Gujarat ont démarré. Pourtant Jérôme Bonnafont ne fait pas lui-même exactement dans le politiquement correct: il est le premier ambasadeur étranger à Delhi ouvertement gay, ce qui fait jaser le tout Delhi francophone.

C’est cette arrogance bien française, qui ne s’explique pas au pays des cartésiens, de traiter de secte tout ce qui a une couleur hindoue, ou de fascistes ceux avec qui on est en désaccord, sans leur accorder la chance de s’expliquer et sans même s’expliquer à soi-même la logique de ses accusations. Le président Sarkozy, qui a montré qu’il savait être différent, devrait constituer un petit comité de Français qui VIVENT l’inde du dedans, pour le conseiller.

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The Parisian Dandy and acclaimed wordsmith Theophile Gautier (1811-72) was a little before the time of Decadence, and he never really identified himself with the movement despite a friendship with, and admiration of, Charles Baudelaire. However, he was a self-proclaimed aesthete, often writing in support of the ‘art for art’s sake’ philosophy, and I think that a lot of his work has a distinctly Decadent ring to it. I recently read a collection of his short stories published by New York Review Books, called My Fantoms, which is available on Amazon. The tales are full of mysterious femme fatales, opulence, sinister nemeses, and artistic bohemians, and I think that there’s a strong element of Decadence to be found in them.

'My Fantoms' by Theophile Gautier

The Adolescent tells the tale of a young man who, while staying in the house of his uncle, becomes enchanted with a lady depicted in the tapestry hanging in his room. He is more than a little astonished when his attentions are returned, and the woman pays a nocturnal visit to him.

The Priest, elsewhere known as ‘Clarimonde’ is perhaps the best known of Gautier’s shorter fiction. It tells the story of a young man who, on the eve of his ordination, sees and falls in love with a mysterious young woman. He is thrown into a spiritual crisis, but proceeds into the priesthood nonetheless. He is saddened to learn, some months later, that Clarimonde, the object of his affections, is dead. But his despair soon turns to fear, and then to delight, when his lover returns to him in vampiric form. He begins to lead a double life – holy man by day, aristocratic lover by night. It is only when his mentor, an older priest, learns of Clarimonde, and banishes her spirit, that the duplicity ends, leaving the young priest heartbroken and desolate. The element of Decadence lies in Gautier’s clear sympathy with the beautiful vampire, rather than the merciless and cruel elder priest.

The Painter concerns a young, eccentric artist, who slowly becomes convinced that he is being haunted by the devil. Gautier leaves it unclear whether he is right, or whether he is simply losing his mind.

The Opium Smoker is a surreal account of a man’s exotic dreams, full of beautiful, doomed girls and exotic colours, under the influence of the drug.

The Actor tells the story of an aspiring young thespian who is delighted to receive the role of Satan in a new play. His performance is a great success, much to the chagrin of the real devil, who turns up to teach him a lesson or two.

The Tourist is about a young man travelling through Italy with friends. While visiting Pompei, he is enchanted with the imprinted form of a beautiful female body which has been cast in the volcanic rock. That night, he finds himself transported back to Ancient Pompei in order that he can spend one night with his beloved.

The Poet is not truly a fictitious story.  Rather, it is Gautier’s obituary for his friend, the tragic and gifted poet, Gerard  de Nerval. Gautier skilfully combines the tragedy of lost life, of lost youth and innocence, and a celebration of a man who lived as fiercely as he could, in spite of the world

A) Background

Q. Where were you born and brought up, education?

A. I was born in Paris in 1950. I had a strict upper-class catholic education, but I never really fitted in the system and revolted against it quite early. Thus, I was sent to many famous boarding schools all over Europe, from which I was regularly kicked out ! My family wanted me to be a businessman and I attended an American business school in Paris called IDRAC, but my interest was in writing and I quit to work in a small newspaper, which quickly folded; then I wrote the script of a film for a friend (whose father, a famous film director, had given him 30.000 francs to do his own film). Needless to say, the film was never released and soon after, I left for India : I had just turned nineteen.

Q. Tenure: how long, any affiliations other than Le Figaro ?

A. When I reached India, I stopped writing for a long time, except my own diaries and I went into other spheres – meditation and gardening, for instance ! In 1982, at the occasion of the Asian Games in Delhi, I chanced upon an article (on the Asian games) in a French newspaper. It had all the usual clichés on India : poverty, fakirs, Mother Teresa… So I wrote a letter of correction to the Editor.. and he offered me to write an article, which I did. And then another article followed and another and another… I then started writing and photographing for different publications and finally ended-up being the correspondent in South Asia, for the Geneva-based « Journal de Geneve », which at one time used to be one of the best international newspapers in Europe.  Five and a half years ago, I switched to Figaro, for which I now work exclusively, except for the occasional photo feature (on Kalarapiyat for instance).

Q.  How interested in Indology — what set it off, what caused it?

A. Indology grew on me the moment I started getting out of Auroville (which is a bit of an island in the midst of India). In fact I would say that India grows on those (Westerners) who LIVE India in whatever field (dance, music, spirituality, crafts, photography – but not journalism). Also I have an interest in spirituality and it opens-up so many different areas of Indian life.

Q. Married to Indian, other roots in India?

A. I have been married nine years to Namrita, who is from Delhi (mother is Hindu, father Sikh). Being married to a « daughter of India » is a natural complement of my being in this country for thirty years. My roots are very much in this country, even though I remain a Westerner. But I have no intention of going back to France, except for yearly visits to meet my family.

Q. Relationship to Auroville?

A. I came to India with the first caravan for the international city of Auroville – and even though I spent seven years in the Sri Aurobindo ashram Pondichery, because I was immediately attracted  by this totally Indian and spiritualised atmosphere (lots of Westerners in Auroville), my dedication is to Auroville, where I have spent most of the last 22 years. It is this ATTEMPT at  human unity which makes Auroville great (because so far, we cannot boast of many achievements !) and the fact that such a place exists and that it is in India (where else could it be but in the land of great tolerance and spiritual experiment ?) is a sign of hope for the rest of humanity.

B) Publications and books

Q. I have read excerpts from “Rewriting Indian History” on the web at www.hindu.org · Relationship if any, with Hinduism Today?

A. Not directly. Sitaram Goel, Publisher of the Voice of India ( For a long time, Sitaram Goel and Ram Swarup, who just passed-away, single handedly defended Hinduism in the face of the Marxist-Christian-Muslim onslaught in India) had read some of my articles in Blitz magazine and asked me if he could publish a series of them under a book form. I answered that I would rather write the book from scratch and thus was born ”The Wonder that IS India”. Later, Hinduism Today, a remarkable set-up, which for the first time in the history of Hinduism is attempting to rationalise and gather together this great knowledge to present it to the world, offered to put it on their site in the net.

Q. You take exception to Basham’s book: because it thinks of India only in the past tense?

A. Not only does he think that India was great solely in the past, but his idea of India’s greatness is very selective; furthermore, he subscribes to the usual western slogans : the eternal clichés propagated by a few Christian missionaries and “enlightened secularists” on the Indian caste system. “The Aryans anointed themselves the ruling class (= Brahmins and Kshatriyas), while the poor conquered Dravidians (Harappans), became the slaves, (= Vaishyas and  Shudras)”. Or: “As they settled among darker aboriginals, the Aryans seem to have laid greater stress than before on purity of blood and class divisions hardened…” (36, Wonder that was India). Or else this monstrosity: “…In the Vedic period, a situation arose rather like that prevailing in South Africa today, with a dominant fair minority, striving to maintain its purity and its supremacy over a darker majority”… (138, Wonder). Poor India, being granted the honour by Mr Basham, of being the founding father of racism! But it is thus that Mr Basham lays the ground for his later theories on what he calls Hindu imperialism.

Q.  Quoting from Koenrad Elst (whom I have interviewed in the past), Isn’t Elst dismissed by some as not a serious scholar?

A. It is very unfortunate that Konrad Elst is not able to publish his writings but in Hindu oriented magazines or publishing houses, for he is not only one of the most thorough and knowledgeable scholars on India, but also, because he is a Westerner, he is able to perceive things that Indians themselves, blinded by two centuries of colonialism and 50 years of so-called secularism, do not see any more. I hope that History will grant him his due place in the fight for Indian Renaissance.

Q. What other books have you written? Tell me more about them.

A. I have written ”Rewriting Indian History”, published by Vikas. Next February ”Un autre regard sur l’Inde” (a different look at India), will be published in France and Switzerland by Editions du Tricorne and I have just finished a novel called ”The last caravan to India”, which I hope to publish first in France and later in India, after getting it translated in English.

Q. What are you currently working on? Kalari Payat?

A. I am working on two books in collaboration with Indian photographer Raghu Rai. The first one indeed is on Kalaripayat, which as you may know is the ancestor of all great Asian martial arts, such as judo and karate. This Kerala-based multi-discipline martial art travelled to China and later to Japan with Buddhism and brought to these countries not only martial knowledge, but also medical science which gave birth to acupuncture in China. The other book is about the French influence in India past and present.

C)· Views

Q· Why are Elst, Frawley, Kak etc. so much devalued by the mainstream English-language press in India? Are they not rigorous scholars?

A. Again, they are very rigorous scholars – the scope of Elst’s knowledge is amazing. But they have been going for a long time against the mainstream thought of this country, which was initiated first by the Britishers and later taken on by Nehru and the intellectual left based in JNU, all of which were predominantly anti-Hindu and which strove to eradicate the genius that was India.

Q· Your views on the discrediting of the Aryan Invasion Theory. Isn’t it a bit far-fetched to suggest that in addition to not being invaded, in fact Indian tribes went westwards?

A. Not at all. Because not only do latest archaeological and linguistic discoveries prove that there never was an Aryan invasion of India and that it was a theory propounded by the early archaeologists and linguists which were all at the service of the British (including the much vaunted Max Mueller who has falsified India’s historical datings). Because how could the colonisers of the land, the bearers of « civilisation » and the true religion, ever accept that they might be the  descendants of those they were colonising ? As for Aryan (or rather Indian tribes) to go westwards, there is nothing preposterous in that theory. Just compare Greek philosophy with Vedic thought, which it is known now, is much older than Greek civilisation. There is also a striking similarity – which has been dwelt upon by numerous Indologists, including French scholar Alain Daniélou – between some forms of Christianity and Hinduism. There is no doubt that Christ was inspired by Hindu and Buddhist esoterism and there are numerous stories that he even came to India to be initiated. And finally, many recognise that the Gypsies, whose language has still many similarities with Sanskrit, and appeared in Europe around the 14th century after having transited through Iran and Egypt, were a lost tribe of India, probably of harijan origin.

Q. I have been reading a good deal of argument about Bhagwan Gidwanis “The Return of the Aryans”. What is your view of this?

A. I have not read this book and I would be interested to know where I can get a copy. But this whole Aryan concept is an invention of colonial linguists for their own hidden purpose; it is even today used by Christian missionaries and was also taken up by Hitler, this great asura of the 20th century, to justify the killing of six millions Jews. What does Aryan mean ? Nothing ! There were Vedic tribes who happened to be receptive enough to the forces of Nature and the Cosmos to develop a unique spiritual system which was the basis for the future Indian civilisations. Full stop. All the rest is propagaganda of Muslim writers and Christian missionaries, who, since they came to this country, have been intent to divide India into religions, castes, tribes etc. Whereas vedic philosophy was always for unity : santanam dharma. Everything, every path, every sect is acceptable, as long as it leads you from untruth to truth, from darkness to light, from mortality to immortality. Today the Congress, the Left and all the Mulayam Singh are still at it : how to divide this country and make sure it dies forever.

Q. Your views on Islamic invasion and missionary invasion

A. I think the above answers your question, but I must add that if the Vedic greatness had not degenerated and India had remained united in dharma, there could have never been Muslim invasions and later western colonisation. This said, the massacres perpetuated by Muslims in India are unparalleled in history, bigger than the Holocaust of the Jews by the Nazis; or the massacre of the Armenians by the Turks; more extensive even than the slaughter of the South American native populations by the invading Spanish and Portuguese. In the words of another historian, American Will Durant: “the Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in history. It is a discouraging tale, for its evident moral is that civilisation is a precious good, whose delicate complex order and freedom can at any moment be overthrown by barbarians invading from without and multiplying within”.

Q. Why is it that foreign writers fall into either of two camps: either openly hostile (eg. Barbara Crossette,Molly Moore) or openly supportive (eg. you, Mark Tully)

A. You either hate India or love it. Let’s forget about tourists, because they are a distinct breed and their purpose is different. But if you take western journalists or writers, you will find that a great many of them (after some time) dislike India, or even sometimes hate it. Take the British who were in India for 300 years, how many of them got even to understand truly even a little bit of this great country ? 0.02% (you can’t even say that Foster understood India) ? There is basically an unconscious militant dislike of the Christian world towards Hindu India (and in this militant hate, Christians are even ready to ally themselves with their traditional enemies: Islam. Last week I was in Jhabua, where the four nuns were raped [it was not a ‘religious’ rape as reported by the Press] and the lawyer whom the Christian priests had selected to defend their case, was a Muslim). And even today you find that the West loves to honour only these Indians who basically are anti-Hindus, such as Mother Teresa or Amartya Sen, however brilliant they are  in their own fields. True, India  is a difficult country for a westerner : dirty, unhygienic, obscure sometimes. It is also full of contradictions and it does not open-up to those who do not make any efforts to truly understand it. But once more, you have to LIVE India if you want to understand it. This is why journalists and western corespondents always closeted in Delhi, this artificial and arrogant city, can never understand India : they are just mouthing the same old clichés (Hindutva, caste system, Ayodhya, secularism), which they hear at the same embassies cocktails, the same journalists’ parties, the same secular Indian Press meet (such as Outlook)…

Q. What is your view on the Sarasvati Vandana/Vande Mataram controversy?

A. The Ministers  walked out when the Saraswati Vandanam was played. But why should anyone object to Saraswati, the Goddess of learning, She who bestowed so much Grace on India. In 1939, a disciple had said to Sri Aurobindo that: “there are some people who object to the singing of Vande Mataram as a national song; Sri Aurobindo had replied: “in that case Hindus should give up their culture”. But the disciple had continued: “the argument is that the song speaks of Hindu gods, like Durga and that it is offensive to Muslims”. Said Sri Aurobindo: “but it is not a religious song, it is a national song and the Durga spoken of is India as the Mother. Why should not the Muslims accept it? In the Indian concept of nationality, the Hindu view should be naturally there. if it cannot find a place, the Hindus may as well be asked to give-up their culture. The Hindus don’t object to “Allah-Ho-Akbar”.

Q. What do you think the solution is to endemic Macaulayism in India?

A. It is obvious that Education in India has to be totally revamped. The kind of Westernised education which is standard in India, does have its place, because India wants to be on par with the rest of the world, and Indian youth should be able to  deal confidently with  the West: do business, talk, and relate to a universal world culture. But nevertheless, the first thing that Indian children should be taught is the greatness of their own culture. They should learn to revere the Vedas, they should be taught the genius of the Mahabharata and the Ramanayana; they should be told that in this country everything has been done, that it was an unsurpassed civilisation, when the West was still mumbling its first words, that Indian civilisation reached dizzying heights, which have been since unsurpassed. But overall they should be taught early that India’s greatness is her spirituality her world-wide wisdom. INDIA’S NEW EDUCATION HAS TO BE SPIRITUALISED; IT HAS TO BE AN INNER EDUCATION, WHICH TEACHES TO LOOK AT THINGS FROM THE INNER PRISM, NOT THROUGH THE WESTERN ARTIFICIAL LOOKING GLASS.

Q. Do you find Hinduism in danger? Besieged? But isn’t it true that it has always survived — muddling through somehow?

A. Yes, it is true that Hinduism has always managed to survive in the face of tremendous odds (Muslim holocaust, British colonisation, Nehruism…). But it is also true that life is always on the razor’s edge and that nothing is won until the last moment. Today Hinduism is facing a more insidious onslaught, but which may be even more dangerous: from its own people. From the Left, who wants to eradicate totally Hinduism and for that purpose supports whatever is inimical to it, including Islam and Christianity; from the so-called ‘secular’ politicians, such as Mulayam Singh or Laloo Prasad, who have done tremendous harm to India; from Sonia Gandhi, a Christian, who might one day Prime Minister of India; from missionaries who continue to convert through covert means; from its so-called intellectual elite which swears by liberalisation and westernisation, not understanding that this will eventually kill India’s soul… Overall, there is a vast semi-conscious conspiracy to denigrate Hinduism; and there Muslims and Christians walk hand in hand : it goes from Husain painting Saraswati naked, to Deepa Mehta’s lesbians being called Radha and Sita. Everybody calls Thakeray a fascist or a madman, but let a Hindu minority in Saudi Arabia, or even in Europe, try to denigrate the Virgin Mary or Jesus, and see what happens. At least the man has guts, whatever his excesses.

Q. Do you think the state-sanctioned disparity between Hindus and other faiths will continue?

A. It is great tragedy that for instance different Congress governments have left millions of Bangladeshis settle in Eastern India and have kept quiet about it, just to cater to the Muslim vote bank. Today even, all the ‘secular’ politicians refuse to accept the Assam Governor’s conclusions which are absolutely right : Assam’s way of life, its culture, religion, are being totally wiped out by the Bangladeshis immigrants, who on top of that bring with them a militant religion and do not really integrate in the Indianmainstream. This should not happen and it is one of the dangers that Hinduism has to face today, because Muslims multiply much more rapidly than Hindus, who have generally accepted the need to have only two or three children, even in the backwards villages of Tamil Nadu.

Q. Where do you think the population is going in regards to Hinduism, never mind the politicians?

A. I do hope that India is not going to turn its back on Hinduism. Because with 800 millions souls, Hindus constitute the majority of this country. Traditionally and historically, Hinduism has always been the most tolerant of all religions, allowing persecuted minorities from all over the world, whether the Jerusalem Jews, the Parsis from Persia, Christians from Syria, or even Arab merchants, to settle in India over the centuries and practice their religion in peace. Are the French ashamed of their Greco-Roman inheritance? Not at all ! On the contrary they even think that civilisation started only with the Greeks. Would you call the Germans or the Italians « nationalists » because they have Christian Democrats Parties?  Christianity is the founding stone of Western civilisation and nobody dares deny it. Clinton goes to the mass and swears on the Bible and none finds anything to say. We French are brought-up listening to the values of Homer’s « Iliad », or Corneille’s « Le Cid ». It is true that in France there has been a separation of the State and the Church; but that is because at one time the Church misused its enormous political power and grabbed enormous amounts of lands and gold. But no such thing ever happened India. The much maligned Brahmins never interfered in politics and today they are often a neglected lot.

Q. Aren’t there ills in Hinduism? Why aren’t these being cleansed? You would admit that there is continuing casteism in India; perhaps also patriarchal ill-treatment of women?

A.  Oh yes, there are a lots of ills in Hinduism, the worst one being that for some mysterious reason, Hindus tend to be the most undisciplined, (look how they drive) collectively selfish, and nationally uncaring community in India, so that it requires a Mother Theresa to look after their own underprivileged. In the same way, they tend to extend cleanliness only to their own immediate surroundings : their homes, or their front porches, but neglect the rest. It is puzzling for instance how a people which has worshipped the Ganges for thousands of years, treats it with so little respect, dumping every day thousands of chemicals in its waters. They are panicky, cowards (I have my own theory on this: the collective terror unleashed by the Muslim invasions in the unconscious mind of Hindus still trigger in them this panicky and everyone-for-himself- syndrome) and have lost this great quality of courage, selflessness and boldness, which Vivekananda tried to drill back into them, with little success. They are corrupt, which is the gravest of sins, because it is not only the poor, which is understandable, but also the rich, who mix ashes in cement, adulterate petrol, mustard oil, alcohol (maybe we should have here for a few years a military dictatorship China-like. Take for instance a few of the hoarders who recently manipulated the prices of onion or salt, put them against a wall and shoot them like animals. You will see how India’s economy will straighten-up quickly). There is so much black money in this country, so much hidden wealth, which could make India one of the richest countries in the world if it became white again. And finally Hindus exploit and abuse their own underprivileged : they pay badly their servants, mistreat them; no wonder that sometimes these very servants kill their masters for a few rupees ! My good friend and competitor, Françoise Chipaux, Le Monde’s corespondent, showed me recently the servant quarters of her flat which is in Sujant Singh Park, one of the poshest districts of Delhi. You should have seen them : there were not even toilets ! Once again you take a few of these owners (who ask for two years advance, half of it payable on a foreign account) and shoot them…

Q. We have a dilemma regarding reservation and the upliftment of the weaker sections. What is your view on the OBC, SC/ST problems?

A. India’s great Sage and philosopher, Sri Aurobindo, felt that the caste system is the most misunderstood, the most vilified subject of Hindu society : “Caste was originally an arrangement for the distribution of functions in society, just as much as class in Europe, but the principle on which this distribution was based was peculiar to India. A Brahmin was a Brahmin not by mere birth, but because he discharged the duty of preserving the spiritual and intellectual elevation of the race, and he had to cultivate the spiritual temperament and acquire the spiritual training which alone would qualify him for the task. So it was for the Vaishya whose function was to amass wealth for the race and the Shudra who discharged the humbler duties of service without which the other castes could not perform their share of labour for the common good”.

But, yes, there is no doubt that the institution of caste degenerated : « It ceased to be determined by spiritual qualifications and thus lost most of its meaning. The spirit of caste arrogance, exclusiveness and superiority came to dominate it instead of the spirit of duty, and the change weakened the nation and helped to reduce us to our present condition ».

Thus, Nehru’s intentions by devising the reservation system may have been good, but as usual it has been perverted by human nature and has encouraged sloppiness, cheating and believe it or not, casteism in the reverse sense, as it pays today to say that you from an underprivileged caste ! Thus, everybody wants to be part of OBC, even Christians who converted to escape the caste system ! Moreover, it has encouraged anti-brahmanism, like in Tamil Nadu, whereas Brahmans never interfered in political affairs and single handedly preserved the Hindu tradition.

Q. What are your views on the Nehru dynasty and Sonia Gandhi’s recent rise?

A. It would be a real shame if Sonia Gandhi becomes one day India’s Prime Minister. It is not the question of her being a foreigner (although there should be enough brilliant people amongst the 800 millions Hindus); it is the question of her having not the slightest idea of what India is truly about, locked that she is in her 6, Janpath fortress, surrounded by sycophants. Moreover there is no doubt that she is a Christian, which is perfectly her right; but as most Christians, she probably has a hostile bias against Hinduism – and it shows in her remarks against the BJP and for « secularism ». As For the rest of the Gandhi dynasty, I hold Nehru most responsible for this country’s present condition, because his policies have done tremendous harm to India and continue to do so. What we see today is his legacy at all levels of Indian life, be it political (secularism), education (Macaulysm), intellectualism (Left) or even art (aping the West).

Q. India’s relations with the US are at best rocky, but lately France seems to have taken it upon itself to try and supplant the UK as India’s partner in Europe. Is there going to be improved trading relations with the EU?

A. I should hope so ! the US has demonstrated since 1947 the most stupid, arrogant, ignorant, short-sighted policy towards India. Today is no better,as it is continuing to favour Pakistan, a country which is ten times smaller than India, ten times less democratic, ten times more dangerous. When you see the amount of love, adulation -nay aping, I would say – there is amongst Indians towards America; and when you see at the same time the basic hostility that the Muslims masses in Pakistan and other Muslim countries have towards the US, you can only conclude that Americans are the most idiotic race there ever was in this planet, which is already full of imbeciles !

France is equally ignorant of India, but for some strange reason there is a measure of good will, of sympathy, of symbiosis even, for India. It gets translated sometimes in the wrong manner: France’s love for Satyajit Ray for instance, who however brilliantly, presents a very pessimistic image of Indian society. But there, we find a ray of hope, there is a chance of the two countries finding some meeting ground. Thus if India, now that she is a nuclear power , can develop some kind of privileged relation with United Europe, it could counterbalance the US’s hostility. But then you will see, as soon as China will start to falter economically – and that should not be too far – the US will suddenly « discover » that India exists and Newsweek will run a cover on « the other Giant of Asia ». The rest of the world, which anyway always copies America, will follow.

Q. What do you think the long-term fallout of the nuclear bomb will be? There are some who say that if Napoleon Bonaparte hadn’t been side-tracked at the Battle of the Nile, he would have come to India and helped Tipu Sultan. What do you think of this line of thought?

A. India should stand by the dogma of ahisma, non-violence, But to be non-violent one needs to be strong . Over the centuries history has shown that India has always been the bullied, the oppressed, the invaded, whether by Alexander’s armies, the Muslim, or the western colons. Even the Chinese made mincemeat of India in 1962. By getting the nuclear weapon, India makes the first step in getting some respect – even if it is fear – in the eyes of its hostile neighbours. Look at the paranoiac reaction of the Chinese, isn’t it symptomatic ? Also there should be no doubt in anybody’s mind that Pakistan is the latest reincarnation of Islam’s militant hatred towards Hindus, the Infidels ‘par excellence’. Pakistan’s present active hostility towards India, is nothing but what the Koran still preaches : « Jihad fi Sabilillah », ‘Holy War for the Greater Glory of Allah’.  In the face of such hostility, India has to guard herself; then only she can allow herself to be magnanimous. Gandhi’s and Buddhism’s ahimsa, were the non-violence of the weak and the coward; not the non-violence of the lion, which lets preys walk by, because he is not hungry and knows he can get them any time he wants.

Q. In some ways, aren’t you being disloyal to your country and the Catholic faith into which you were born, by accepting India so much?

A. Why ? A soul has no nationality, no religion ! Rather I would say that it has only the religion and the nationality of it past lives. Each soul has a history and belongs to some country, some race, where it reincarnates again and again. I consider India as my country, not because I happen to live here, but because the moment I set foot in this country, something deep in me recognised that it was my place, my known territory. Now it is also true that I cannot deny my own culture and upbringing – and I am proud of it in many ways: it allows me to express myself, it gave me the backbone of my professional and literary achievements. If only India could get some of the material perfection the West has, its thirst for perfection, its caring for the others and motto of egalitarism !

D) Closing

Q. If you were setting India’s course with Europe, what would you do, on a political and foreign policy front?

A. Again, India has to assert her own personality, by pursuing the foreign policy that suits best her own interest. Automatically she will then gain respect, not only from Europe, but also from the US. Actually India should take a lesson or two from China. Look at the Chinese, they do exactly what they like, they keep threatening and blackmailing the world, and not only they get away with it, but also have the respect of all Industrialised nations. India presents a far more better picture than China, which has killed a million innocent Tibetans: it has managed to remain democratic in spite of all its problems – separatisms, overpopulation, corruption, etc. I think Europe will come to appreciate India’s democratic achievements, specially the day when China’s iron (and bloody) communist hand will be removed by whatever circumstances. That day, all problems which were kept bottled-up and suppressed in China will erupt to the surface and one could witness a chaos similar to what happened in URSS. And this is exactly what the present government should tell Europe : «  look, you cannot ignore us, we are the next superpower in Asia and the largest country by 2020; we are nuclear, but we are democratic and we have a long tradition of tolerance and culture ». I think a few nations will understand that language – maybe not the British, (who are anyway a spent nation) because they still live in the past – but at least the French – and maybe the German.

Q. How exactly does the French people and the French establishment view India? The view from here is that the French are supremely pragmatic, not given to posturing.

A. I did not know the French were supremely pragmatic ! The German, surely; but the French : you flatter them ! French are like Bengalis : they are great talkers, good artists, warm, fun-loving people, but infinitely lesser doers than the Germans. Today with modernism and the American way of business, which the US has slowly imposed upon the world, this may be changing; but still the French love good food, fun, debating and posturing – witness their sports mania, which is mostly armchair sportsmanship ! This is why maybe there is an empathy with India, which is also a bit of an armchair sportsman, such an in cricket, this crazy sports left by the British, which is totally unsuited to India’s climate. True, the French are the only nation which did not condemn India outright after their nuclear blasts. There maybe three reasons to it : first of course, the French had  just concluded their Pacific tests and suffered themselves from the world’s hypocrite condemnation; two, there is that mysterious ‘kinship’ between India and France (of which Sri Aurobindo and the Mother of Pondichery often spoke); and three, different Indo-French programmes, started by Mrs Gandhi who spoke good French and knew Malraux well, continued by Rajiv Gandhi who promoted the year of India in France in 1985 and continued by Mr Chirac’s visit to India beginning of 1998, finally bore some fruits.

Q. Your views on Hinduism and its central place in the Indian enterprise, if it were to come from an Indian, would be considered ‘fundamentalist’. But you seem to be tolerated to some extent by the ’secularists’ of India. Is that primarily because you are a white person? Is it a racial thing?

A. Very good question ! I would say that it is not so much because I am a white person, although that can help in India, either because the average Indian is nice with the western man, or because there is a colonial hangover here which means that your white skin sometime opens you a lot of doors with India’s upper class, ‘elite’ intellectuals, or top bureaucrats (in passing, upper-class Indians must be the most snobbish people in the world; but they don’t realise that it is something they inherited from the British and that they are only aping their erstwhile colonisers). No, I would say that the fact that I work for a very reputed and conservative newspaper opens a lot of doors to me, which would otherwise be closed. Konraad Elst or David Frawley, that other eminent Indologist, do not have this privilege and I make the most of it (would you interview me otherwise?)

Q. Paul Theroux said recently that Indians are obsessed about race, caste and food. What do you think?

A.  Paul Theroux is a very pompous man and on top of that, a mean and treacherous friend – witness his book on his ex friend Naipaul (who had the courage to change his ideas about India). People like Theroux may be brilliant and witty, but they are quickly forgotten by History : who will know Theroux in 100 years ? As for his opinion about India, I would not pay too much attention to it; first it is not very original, as millions of westerners have already condemned India in  the lines of race, caste and food. By race, he probably means the Aryan race, which is as we have seen, is a bogus subject; we shall not get again into the caste issue, the favourite whipping boy of India haters. But food ??? At any rate, the West is much more obsessed with food than India ! From the Romans downwards there was a mania of overeating and bulimia is a typically western phenomenon, (which may come to India because of westernisation). But long ago, Indian Sages knew that « one eats for living; but does not live for eating ».

Bibliography

* The Wonder that was India (Voice of India,  2/18 Ansari Road, New delhi 110002)

* Rewriting Indian History (Vikas, 576 Masjid Road, Jangpura, New delhi 24). Can  be found in New delhi at some bookshops, such as Fakir & Sons in Khan Market.

* Un autre Regard sur l’Inde (Editions du Tricorne, 14, rue Lissignol, Genève 1201, Switzerland)

* La dernière Caravane des Indes (to be published)

1. Why did you choose to move to India ?

I came to India by accident, if you wish. My best friend’s father was the last French Governor of Pondichery and he told me there was a caravan of cars driving from Paris to Auroville-Pondichery. AS I had had a strict upper class Christian education, I thought I needed to see the world – and driving to Pondichery seemed a good way to start. But when I reached Delhi I understood India was my home and I stayed.

2. What would you consider the greatest change brought in you by the masters Shri Aurobindo and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar?

Sri Aurobindo is my Supreme Master, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is my living guru becasue he does the work that I feel is most important for Mother India and of which Sri Aurobindo was a pioneer.

3. Why is terrorism in India a topic that is ignored by the West?

West is good-willing but extremely ignorant about India. We need to educate westerners about India. There are a few hurdles, chief amongst them Western Indologists who have made it a tradition to belittle India and its traditions and always harp and amplify its negative sides, such as castes, sati, child marriage, poverty, etc.

4. Why do you think Western Media ignores the human rights abuses against Hindus inflicted by terrorists?

Well, the West  is facing the same terrorists threats than India, but as long as it is not hit too hard by them, it pretends they do not exist. How long with this blindness last???

5. What motivated you to create a “Museum of True India History”?

We see more and more today that Indian History has to be rewritten according to the latest linguistic and archaeological discoveries, if Indian children are to understand who they are and where they come from. We know now that not only the history of India’s beginnings were written by European colonizers, with an intention to downsize, downgrade and postdate Indian civilization, but that unfortunately, generation after generation of Marxist Indian historians, for their own selfish purposes, endorsed and perpetuated these wrong theories, such as the Aryan invasion, which divided India like nothing else, pitting South against North, Aryan against Dravidian, Untouchables against Brahmins.

Not only that, but British and Marxist historians, eager to give prominence to the Congress, which was in the first place a British institution, robbed of their true places in history giants, such as Sri Aurobindo, who, apart from being the avatar of the ‘supramental’ age, was the early prophet of Indian independence, when all Congress wanted was a few crumbs from the British. As a result, very few Indian children know about Sri Aurobindo today. Thus we need to have a physical place where true Indian history will be shown.

6. Can Kashmiri Pandits ever hope for a return to their homeland and for the world to understand the atrocities committed against them?

There has to be a strong Hindu nationalistic government in place for that. It willnot happen for quite some time.

7. What is life like for a “firangi” In India?

It’s good. I am a lucky guy. Hindus and Indians accept easily different people in their midst.

8. Any special message for our readers?

How much of yourself do you give to your American identity – and how much space do you preserve for your Indian-ness ? These are the questions that Indian expatriates should ask themselves today. For we see many of the children of Indians who settled in the US twenty or thirty years ago, merge themselves totally in the American way of life, speak with an American accent, eat Mac Donald, think American… and in the process forget all about their wonderful Indian culture… Hindus need to be united in the US, as they are fragmented in a thousands of groups that often fight with each other. The time of Hindu power has come.

1538,Londres, National Gallery.Huile sur bois, 179×82cm.

  Un peintre allemand, qui, au terme d’un séjour en Suisse, se met au service du roi d’Angleterre, pour lequel il se rend en Flandre afin de réaliser le portrait d’une duchesse danoise, dont l’autorité s’exerce sur le duché de Milan : décidément, l’Europe humaniste du XVIe siècle préfigure notre géographie désormais sans frontière, et ce n’est d’ailleurs pas un hasard si le premier grand programme européen en matière d’éducation supérieure a choisi le nom d’Erasmus.

       De fait, Holbein le Jeune, qui appartient justement au cercle des amis d’Erasme, se rattache naturellement à ces artistes représentatifs du courant humaniste, où la mobilité des hommes  épouse celle des idées.
   
      Mais c’est à une autre grande figure de l’humanisme, Thomas More, qu’Holbein doit sans doute son introduction dans le milieu londonien : Deux années d’exil (1526-1528), salutaire au regard des événements liés à la Réforme, puis, après un retour à Bâle, une longue période dans la capitale anglaise (1532-1543) où il trouve la protection influente de la ligue hanséatique, dont il multiplie les portraits de ses représentants, et bien sur, du roi lui-même.
      Terrible privilège que de servir les intérêts d’Henri VIII (fig.1), surtout lorsqu’il s’agit d’aller peindre le portrait d’une future épouse ! Après Catherine d’Aragon, dont le mariage fut annulé, Anne Boleyn, décapitée, et Jeanne Seymour, décédée en couches, Henri VIII jette son dévolu sur une jeune veuve, alors duchesse de Milan : Christine de Danemark.

Fig.1.Portrait d’Henri VIII d’Holbein.1536,Madrid, Musée Thyssen-Bornemisza. 

 
      Il charge ainsi Holbein de se rendre à Bruxelles (mars 1538) afin de la rencontrer. Après l’envoi d’un dessin de son visage, le roi, aussitôt satisfait, ordonne la réalisation d’un portrait peint en pied. Mission délicate, parce qu’en l’occurrence, Christine ne manifeste aucun enthousiasme à l’idée d’épouser La Barbe Bleue… Sauf que pour Holbein, dont la pérennité de la collaboration avec son illustre protecteur dépend étroitement de l’entière satisfaction de celui-ci, il ne suffit pas d’exprimer son génie – étrange paradoxe des enjeux d’une peinture de cour  -  mais de rendre compte avec précision des charmes supposés de Christine. Holbein, peintre soumis aux nécessités de la neutralité, est-ce seulement envisageable?
      Qu’il suffise de rappeler le fiasco ultérieur d’Anne de Clèves – autre portrait pour un autre mariage (fig.2)– qui marque la fin brutale d’Holbein en tant que peintre du roi, parce que l’ingéniosité et les artifices déployés par l’artiste ont fini par tromper l’appréciation du roi lui-même, au point de l’épouser sans l’avoir vue. De fait, celle qu’il qualifie de « grosse jument des Flandres » lorsqu’il la rencontre pour la première fois, demeure  son épouse la plus éphémère, répudiée au bout de six mois.       

Fig.2.Portrait d’Anne de Clèves d’Holbein.1538,Paris, Musée du Louvre. 

      Malgré une abondante littérature, complaisamment très diserte dès qu’il s’agit de la notion du temps dans la peinture,  singulièrement, dans le portrait, et qui ne se lasse pas d’évoquer la fugacité de l’instant (vieux poncif qui rejoint invariablement celui de l’éternité !), un portrait peint, n’en déplaise à ces chimères, ne capture jamais son modèle dans l’instant. Il nous livre une succession d’instantanés, cristallisés dans la durée de son exécution. Et, au risque d’irriter les esprits éthérés, il faut sans cesse rappeler la prosaïque formule de Maurice Denis, pour qui un tableau c’est avant tout « une surface plane, recouverte de couleurs en un certain ordre assemblées ».  Parce que le peintre demeure précisément soumis aux contingences des interactions permanentes de la matière avec l’espace et le temps, il recompose en une seule image des épisodes plus ou moins brefs, de postures, de visages ou de mains, alchimie plastique autant de la restitution du réel que de la réappropriation de segments de temps, dont l’ensemble constitue la matrice formelle de la psychologie de son modèle.

      Tableau magistral par la rigoureuse économie des moyens, avec un support spatial et chromatique qui confine à l’abstraction. Surface où le noir jette son ombre sur le fond turquoise (malheureusement impossible à distinguer sur notre photo) mais également, surface littéralement éblouie par l’éclat des blancs de ce visage et de ces mains, chapelet insulaire de nacre et d’ivoire.

      Il faut nous rendre à cette évidence : les portraits ont toujours une histoire  intime, et toujours, celle-ci nous fera défaut.

      Lors de la séance de pose, qui s’apparente à une étrange confrontation silencieuse, Christine, fixant Holbein du regard, ne cesse de voir Henri VIII, parce que dans cette géométrie du triangle, c’est bien l’absent qui impose de son autorité sans nuance les enjeux du portrait. 
  
      Que signifient cette bouche, dont le sourire, malgré la convenance, traduit un secret mépris pour son destinataire, et ce regard froid et déterminé (fig.3), sinon la marque implicite du refus? Regard distancié, corroboré par la position de ces bras, relevés sur l’abdomen, qui traduisent davantage une protection qu’une soumission.   

Fig.3

      Holbein, en représentant la main droite de la veuve avec l’auriculaire légèrement écarté, semble exprimer une certaine contrariété, du moins une évidente tension : celle d’une femme naturellement peu enthousiaste à la perspective d’épouser Henri VIII et qui ne craint pas, avec la connivence discrète de l’artiste, d’exposer ses réserves. Mais, puisqu’il s’agit d’une recomposition d’ensemble de la psychologie du personnage en constant rapport avec la fonction initiale du tableau, Holbein utilise la main gauche de Christine pour exprimer les vertus inhérentes à la future épouse : attente et retenue. Voyez l’auriculaire et l’annulaire repliés, tandis que le majeur et l’index semblent vouloir dompter l’autre main rebelle (fig.4).
       Ces mains qui prolongent les intentions de ce visage de faïence, procèdent  ainsi autant d’un code de convention que de sa transgression.

Fig.4

      Dans quelle mesure le tableau d’Holbein a-t-il contribué à suspendre le projet matrimonial d’Henri VIII, qui avait, il est vrai, multiplié les démarches dans toute les cours d’Europe ? Que m’importe au fond le dessous des cartes : comme un enfant impatient de connaitre la fin de l’histoire, j’aime à penser que la princesse, plus rusée que Barbe Bleue, soit parvenue à sortir du terrible conte avant d’en subir les irréparables effets.

          Mais  nous avons aussi appris, depuis Théophile Gautier, à nous réjouir de la gratuité des images, désormais libérées de leur fonction première. Ces images, qui semblent prétendre à une existence autonome, agissent comme un stimulant sans cesse renouvelé de l’imaginaire et constituent désormais autant d’offrandes oniriques à nos regards.
      Ainsi en est-il de la précieuse étoffe noire, dont les contours soyeux (fig.5) dessinent les échancrures d’un littoral chimérique, baigné d’eaux jaunies et limoneuses, géographie improbable d’une thébaïde équatoriale.

Fig.5

Mon blog ne rejoint aucune obédience politique mais aujourd’hui je viens de recevoir un mail de Gérard Gautier de l’association ” voterblanc , c’est exprimé !”

Cette association vient d’affronter des difficultés de participation à un forum d’associations. Aussi, je relaie l’information et vous fais partager son message :

« Etre résistant en temps de paix pour ne jamais être un ancien combattant. »

SAINT-BRIEUC – Forum des associations

«  Blanc c’est exprimé victime de discrimination »

L’association, à caractère civique, Blanc c’est exprimé ne participera pas au Forum des associations organisé depuis 2001 par la

Ville de Saint-Brieuc. Ce dernier qui se déroulera le samedi 6 septembre prochain est pourtant ouvert « à l’ensemble des asso-

ciations, tous secteurs confondus, sports, culture, éducation, enfance-jeunesse, solidarité-santé, humanitaire, etc… »

Cela au motif, selon le maire-adjoint en charge de la vie associative, que « l’association serait politique » !  Or pour l’association la « politique » doit être considérée comme synonyme d’organisation de la vie de la Cité et à ce titre, noble. Le sens qui lui est ainsi donné apparaît comme prenant une dimension péjorative car s’apparentant à une implication qui se voudrait « politicienne et partisane». Ce que l’association réfute, en fonction de la réalité de l’action permanente menée depuis 1989.

L’association Blanc c’est exprimé se considère donc comme étant l’objet d’une mesure discriminatoire.

A noter que, malgré ses demandes renouvelées au fil des années, en fonction des possibilités de son calendrier, aucune réponse ne lui a jamais été faite : l’argument, non fondé, invoqué aujourd’hui, l’est donc, de plus, pour la première fois ?

Il est bon de rappeler que l’association, à caractère civique, Blanc c’est exprimé, a été créée à Saint-Brieuc en 1989 pour lutter contre le nombre des abstentions qui permet l’émergence, dans une démocratie représentative, de courants minoritaires xénophobes et racistes et pour redonner une légitimité, une crédibilité aux élus. L’action a été, depuis le début, d’amener tous les électeurs, quelle que soit leur inclinaison politique, à être sensibilisés « au devoir de voter », cela pour le candidat de leur choix, et dans la mesure où ils voudraient s’abstenir, à ne le faire en aucun cas, à voter blanc en dernier recours, mais à voter !

L’association défend en effet l’idée que la participation à la vie politique est un baromètre de la confiance que les citoyens portent aux élus, aux institutions. Elle reflète la santé de la démocratie. Il faut donc admettre que celle-ci est très malade dans notre Pays. La confirmation en est donnée à chaque scrutin par l’inquiétante montée des abstentions. Outre qu’elles marquent la distance existant entre les électeurs et leurs représentants, elles sont, de plus, un danger pour la démocratie.

S’attachant à traiter en permanence les causes et non les conséquences de ce qui est regretté par tous, de nombreuses propositions – restées lettres mortes – ont été faites concernant les réformes à apporter aux institutions pour résoudre les questions de Société qui sont de la responsabilité et qui concernent directement les parlementaires, les élus. Cela pour redonner justement un sens véritable à l’expression de la démocratie. Au nombre de ces dernières : loi contre le cumul des mandats et des fonctions – création d’un statut de l’élu – réforme de la pyramide institutionnelle – loi sur l’inéligibilité à vie des élus impliqués dans des «affaires de corruption ou de blanchiment d’argent public» avec prise d’intérêt direct ou indirect – loi sur les conditions d’éligibilité des hauts fonctionnaires – réforme de la loi sur le financement public des partis politiques…

D’où son implication citoyenne évidente, responsable et reconnue dans de très nombreux domaines  pour développer, dans un esprit de tolérance, via des conférences, des débats, un site Internet, des actions susceptibles de réveiller la conscience politique des citoyens et de permettre à chacun d’exercer pleinement sa citoyenneté. Il est bon de préciser que le vote blanc était, en 1989, inconnu en Bretagne (Jean Chiché – CEVIFOP)  Depuis le département des Côtes d’Armor est devenu, de manière régulière, l’un des premiers départements français sur le plan de la participation aux scrutins et la Bretagne se classe, dans ce domaine, dans le peloton de tête des régions françaises.

Les partis politiques ambitionnent, légitimement, la conquête et l’exercice du pouvoir politique en vue de la mise en œuvre d’un projet de société.

Blanc C’est Exprimé se veut être, quant à elle, une association à caractère civique qui ne renie pas « sa responsabilité politique ». Comme celle qui doit être reconnue à toutes celles, non partisanes, avec lesquelles Blanc c’est exprimé travaille en réseau, qui oeuvrent dans de nombreux domaines : justice, économie, monde du travail, vie associative, respect des droits humains, respect de la diversité culturelle et linguistique, pour établir durablement une société plus juste, plus libre, plus solidaire, plus responsable.

Ce qui peut être, du fait de leur mise en cause sur le plan de leurs responsabilités, « mal compris » et encore moins bien accepté, par les politiques et les institutions au moment où la vie associative est, par eux, de plus en plus instrumentalisée.

Ce que pourtant certains élus reconnaissent et refusent comme Dominique Gros, le maire P.S. de Metz qui déclarait durant sa dernière campagne : « Ce renouveau passe, en premier lieu, par le développement d’une démocratie locale libérée de ses carcans. Je souhaite notamment mettre fin à l’instrumentalisation de la vie associative et de la vie culturelle. »

Saint-Brieuc 30 août 2009

« Etre résistant en temps de paix pour ne jamais être un ancien combattant. »

Gérard GAUTIER

Ancien Conseiller Régional de Bretagne – Président Mouvement « BLANC C’EST EXPRIME »

B.P. 330 22003 Saint – Brieuc cedex 1  Téléphone ! 02.96.33.50.34

SITE : www.blanccestexprime.asso.fr COURRIEL : blanccestexprime@wanadoo.fr

I don’t actually know what to say about this. More like… sequined overalls? Ooooookk… with a fur coat? Really?  Hmmmm… Like a lux jumpsuit only not at all… or an evening gown gone the way of the rail road worker. I feel really confused Mr. Gautier Fall Couture 2009.

Anyone have any thoughts? Are we to embrace the adult onesie in all its forms? And yet I might have a crush on it despite myself… ??? So confused!

Raquel Zimmerman se basta!
E é tão number one, que posou sozinha para as coleções feminina e masculina de Jean Paul Gautier.
E ficou ótimo!!!
Préstênção!

Top Unisex.

The delicious pickle mix you see above was purchased at Hazel’s Farm Market in Daphne, AL. The pickles are made with TLC in Gautier (pronounced Go-Shay), MS. I haven’t seen them in the local grocery stores, but several roadside produce stands and restaurants carry them. I have even seen them for sale at The Shed BBQ in Ocean Springs, MS. Seek them out — they are really tasty. Spicy but not too hot, very fresh! Contact them directly at stuartsbusnes@aol.com or 228 369-9642.

Another specialty item we really dig is the Coconut Cake from Dean’s Cake House in Andalusia, AL. It is moist and loaded with flaky coconut. One bite will transport you back to the days when Granny crafted cakes like this. I’m told they also make a mean Red Velvet Cake and the traditional Southern Hummingbird Cake. Can’t wait to try those out. Dean’s has a web site so please take a look at www.deanscakehouse.com

Preaching is an event that I cannot capture in a printed manuscript.  Friday, I would have said that my sermon was mostly finished, but the gospel kept after me and there was something else to be said.  At 7:30 this morning I reworked the ending but left the conclusion open to spontaneity.  It was interesting how the accompanying photos for projection still helped present the message even as the words I used took a different track.  Although my outlines hold a lot of detail, I am grateful for crafting a technique that provides room for adaptations and revisions – spiritual urgings, that are sometimes “on the fly” – which I did not experience in preaching from a manuscript.

Mark 4:35-41

In the Same Boat

1.  Way In

When I lived in south Mississippi as a young boy, there are some girls’ names I remember

Betsy in 1965

barely, though.  I was 6 years old.

Camille in 1969

remember a little better.  I was 10.

36 years later – in 2005 there’s a girl’s name we all remember

Katrina

8/29/2005, category 5 hurricane

costliest, among 5 deadliest storms in US history

severe damage along the Gulf Coast from FL to TX

My aunt and uncle live in Gulfport

they sent me this photo taken from St Stanislaus Church

Bay St. Louis, MS – just east of Gulfport

you can see the wall of water

part of the 27’ storm surge that went 6 miles inland

look at the center of the picture

see how the trough of the waves are over trees and rooftops

When hurricanes Betsy and Camille hit the MS Gulf Coast, I lived about 90 miles inland

even there, we felt the damaging winds

trees uprooted, crashing through houses and tearing up roads

On the coast, when Camille hit Gulfport

my great-grandmother’s house was flattened

across Hwy 90 from the beach there were shrimp boats, even banana boats strewn about them like toys a child left in the front yard

After Camille my grandparents built a house on the bayou just outside Ocean Springs

across the bay from Biloxi

I remember going to see their property

the roof of the previous house lay flat on the ground

Camille’s wind and water swept the house right out from under the roof

Bridge

A storm is a terrible, frightening thing

the winds from these 3 storms

making landfall with forces from 155 – 190 m.p.h.

the devastating storm surges – massive walls of water

bring terror and death to those in its path, and aftermath

That’s a picture of my aunt – the morning after Katrina hit the MS Gulf Coast

that’s the bridge over Biloxi Bay, between Ocean Springs and Biloxi

that used to be the way to Grandmother’s house

I don’t think the storm in Mark’s gospel today was like any of these

but any storm at sea is frightening

imagine the power to destroy a concrete bridge or building

imagine being in a small fishing boat like the one the disciples were probably in

most of the disciples were fishermen

they knew about the waters called the Sea of Galilee

and the Bible says that when this storm hit, they were afraid

2.  Tell The Story

Before getting in the boat, they had been all around the Sea of G. with Jesus

 Mark says, he spoke to the crowds

and taught the disciples with many parables

a long day, Jesus told the D. to get in the boat with him to cross to the other side

This was familiar territory for the D. who were fishermen

knew the waters well, every rock and sand bar

knew their way to every place around the shore

knew how storms behaved there,

other writings indicate storms came up quickly

and they could be very severe

storm that came up that night was really bad

waves beat against the side of the boat

crashed over the sides

boat was filling with water

Seemed hopeless

prepared for the worst

Where was Jesus?  In the back of the boat, on a cushion, ASLEEP!

Teacher, don’t you care?  We’re dying here!

Without a word to the D., he woke up and rebuked the wind

“Peace be still.”

In that moment, there was a “dead calm,” the wind stopped blowing

“Yes,” this was the answer to their question

“Teacher don’t you care?  We’re dying!”

“YES,!” he was saying.  “I do care.”

Bridge

God does care about what you are going through,

God is there for you to call out to

for a word of peace in the middle of your stormy time

God – in Christ is there with you – is here with us

in the same boat

3.  So What?

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that he’s here

do you ever wonder?

Do you ever ask, “Where is God now.  Now that I need him?”

I have heard that question.  I have asked that question.

on 9/11.    During and after Hurricane Katrina.

where was God?

maybe another event in your life

maybe something less dramatic, tragic, catastrophic than Hurricane Katrina or 9/11

or maybe something worse – for you

where was God?

it’s not wrong to wonder – it’s not wrong to be afraid

Jesus did not criticize the disciples for their fear – or their doubt

Jesus was there – he had never left

he was right there – in the same boat

I wasn’t in New York City on 9/11

but God didn’t criticize people for wondering how he could let that happen.

But God was there

sat with everyone who lost a loved one that day

God rushed in with each fire fighter, and paramedic

God was on the scene with each one that turned out to help

and God was there with each load of rescue supplies

and every kind word and comforter

and God’s heart was grieved as deeply as anyone’s

maybe deeper

at the evil his created people are capable of

I wasn’t in NY on 9/11, but I was in MS after Katrina

and God was surely there – had been there

God was there when rescue operations began

with each paramedic, firefighter, coast guard, national guard, police officer

with each citizen, neighbor, stranger, foreigner

each one – survivor and victim

that walked along in disbelief, horror, and grief

God was there in each community that did what they could to help

and God was here – in Sidney

as you made plans and collected items

for Roger and Dennis to drive to MS

and God was with each other group and individual

doing what they could

I experienced God in our Katrina clean-up trip from Long Island

as we raised money and gathered 2 cars of volunteers

a donation of money for the Presbyterian Church in Gautier, MS

a small church of about 70 people

that coordinated volunteers that arrived in Gautier

they provided shelter

and food

in fact they had been serving lunch every Saturday

since the storm hit

and kept  on serving for more than a year

we spent our week with 2 families

in one home in Pascagoula, we were “mudding out”

cleaning out the mud, muck, and mold

left behind after 4 or 5 feet if water subsided

the other home was in Gautier – the town where my grandfather was born

we turned up there on the lot where somebody’s house used to be

until the waters rose up through the bayou

and carried it away

Bill and Christie (not their real names) were still living there

but in a FEMA camper

with their 2 sons

they were buying materials

and making plans for their new house on the same site

and God was there

in the supplies we took

in the tools we bought

in the sweat we worked up

literally building the foundation of their new home

Bill and Christie never told us whether they wondered where God was

but I’m sure they did

as their home was washed away

and almost everything in it

what was left remained soaked when the water was high

in a spring and summer bayou

of muddy water

strong enough to wash away homes and hopes

dark enough to hide alligators and snakes

yet alive enough to still provide food and growth

I’m sure they wondered about God

in lives that were lost in the storm

and other homes that were destroyed

I would have wondered …

In our brief time with Bill and Christie we did what we could

only one skilled worker among us

but we could carry

we could visit, and go get food

we could play with dogs and children

we could hold boards to be nailed and cleanup the yard

I think we made a small difference on 3 spring days in 2006

there was a map at the Gautier church

with markers of where helpers came from

the markers were all over the country

not just southeast – nearby

but west coast, east coast

they even had to draw an arrow

across the Atlantic Ocean

to mark Norway – where some helpers came from

God was with Bill and Christie

surely before we arrived

but we felt it, too, as we left them with a new start

on the foundation of a new home

God is with us in the storms of our lives

when things go wrong

it doesn’t mean that God forgot about us

* Dear reader, the end of the sermon was extemporaneous.  The following notes at least capture the gist of my words.

reflections on the power of God’s created world

and the behaviors of forces of nature

often causing catastrophic disasters

Maybe God wishes we wouldn’t build so “close to the edge”

Why do people rebuild after hurricanes?

Yet I wonder if what you do for a living is catch fish or shrimp …

where else would you live?

We may be confident that God is in the same boat with us

let us be thankful for that

and aware of how we can also be the hands and feet of Jesus

for his sake