Dialogue, An Art & Culture Magazine, Collector’s Edition, 2014
The People of Indian Origin
(PIO) web portal was launched in June 2010 as a monthly web magazine that
focussed on art, culture and politics of contemporary India, as seen by a
committed group of young people. It was the brainchild of one man, an
expatriate Indian, who felt the necessity to carry an India that he could not
live in or experience, but only speak about from his memories to his children.
He entrusted the process of re-discovering India, lost to Indians like him
abroad, to a team of young Indians who lived and breathed India’s culture and
politics. From its inception, this magazine had a unique appeal. The contours
of the magazine shaped up from the conviction that there is a place and a
purpose for critically evaluating both inherited wisdom and lived experience in
India, the landscape of its culture and the pulse of its history. Based on the
core values of secular orientation, critical spirit, freedom of expression and
social responsibility, the web portal made reasoned analysis and comments.
This Collector’s
Edition of PIO Indians web portal goes beyond the horizons and the limited
mandate of the web version. Christened ‘Dialogue’, the print magazine seeks to
bring together the best of the web portal while rectifying some of the
shortcomings, by improving the content and expanding the profile of
contributors. Dialogue has articles
on art, music, film and literature. An overview of the essays and commentaries
cover areas of politics, economy, communalism and social justice that are very
much relevant in India today. Interviews and conversations with writers,
actors, artists, travellers and editors provide a trenchant view of how they
perceive their art and their craft, and the challenges they face in
accomplishing a vision. Tributes are given to three historic personalities in
India through an essay that seeks to re-discover the legacy of Jawaharlal
Nehru, the first Prime Minister and founding statesman of India, a short column
on intolerance that banished a great Indian painter on charges of obscenity and
a myopic national memory that forgot the illustrious founder-editor of Indian
comics. A memoir that brings out the evocative experience of overcoming the
English language barrier is peculiar to most post colonial societies,
especially India, where the English language is a passport to a bright future.
A historic view of the evolution of street theatre as a political weapon of the
masses and the critical analysis of the depiction of violence in post partition
cinema and novel, succinctly brought out in two essays, deal with the various
cross currents in the Indian cultural scene today.
A separate section
projects young and upcoming artists, dancers, musicians and song writers, which
brings out the concerns of a new generation of Indians, who shoulder the
responsibility of preserving and interpreting its ancient texts and traditions.
A selection of fiction and poetry from young writers are presented as a portfolio.
This special section explores other responses to the experience of being Indian
that defies narrative journalism. There is also a representation of photo
features by young photographers who brought to us first-rate stories of nature
and wildlife, culture and people.
The compilation of
this special edition celebrates the life and work of two years of a dedicated
team and their coming together in a happy reunion in a bigger canvas. The
selection of stories and articles are representative and not exhaustive. In a
way, Dialogue began as an off-shoot
of the original web portal but it has transcended its boundaries and acquired a
distinct voice and identity of its own. It is the culmination of an extremely
courageous and idealistic venture by a young group, sustained by an encouraging
and committed readership in India and abroad.
The copies of the special issue can be
had by writing to dialoguemagazine@yahoo.com or the editors, Deepa Kylasam Iyer (deepa_7ki@yahoo.co.in) and Francis Kuriakose (francyge83@yahoo.co.uk)
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