Amu

I was in a downward spiral with the attack on Mumbai. Having worked at the Taj on a summer job, I could imagine it clearly - the kitchens, the dining room, the restaurants, the rooms. How do we stop this kind of carnage? I remembered the film Parzania about the Gujerat anti-Muslim riots and thought then of the 1984 Sikh riots. That is when I picked up 'Amu', the DVD I had bought in India a few months ago.
I was very moved by the film and its portrayal of the 1984 riots, of its deep scars on a number of people. But I think as intended, the film showed that what was seen as a Hindu Sikh riot was an organised government operation - as were the Gujerat riots. It was a powerful film, and one with a personal connection through Miranda House. It made me wonder whether the director was the daughter and niece of two of my classmates. It was a film that made me think and I got up the next day still full of it.
When the victims have failed to get justice - not a single conviction - how can we argue for restraint. A younger generation has grown up not expecting justice from the government. Nobody knows the background of these terrorists, but how do we in India get to the root of the disaffection?

Talked to Lin today

I talked to Lin in Kuala Lumpur today. It was like a visit. I have known Lin now for 30 years or thereabouts. Lin's husband Tan Sri Lee Siew Yee used to be my editor at the New Straits Times. He was a gnome like man, and the most well-read person I have come across. His eyes would twinkle as he read something he liked. Give him Shakespeare's sonnets and Mozart's music and you would send him to heaven. I wrote for him for seven years as a free lance journalist, and then came to work for him as a leader writer and feature writer. When he retired, Tan Sri, Lin and I moved on to a more familial relationship. I was invited for his birthdays and was there for the first day of the Chinese New Year.

It is nine years since he died, and I am grateful that my relationship with Lin has continued. Usually it is just my yearly visit to Kuala Lumpur. She must have thought it is coming to December and I will be passing through. She wanted to tell me she will be away from in early December to be with her son and his family in LA. I told her I was thinking of her this morning as I wore the kitchen jade she had given me.

We had a long rambling conversation, about her children, about mine, about old colleagues, her golf, my work, common friends. When she heard my grandchildren were coming to Melbourne, she told me to get two ang-pow packets and put a $2 coin in each. 'After all you are from here too', she said, inviting me into her world.