Like Kuru and Pandava pennants on either side
of the Mahabharata. She asserts: The Charioteer’s
driver, Krishna, is like—think of a Humvee owner

Taking his friends on a Friday night spin
in Bangalore saying, “I am God.” Parsing
an ancient text, and quipping, I should know

Having spent several summer breaks
in India, in households where only women
teach the Gita to children; I will translate

In these women’s syntax. Our uplifted hands
Krishna’s benedictions. Are there no agendas?
How can there be? I’m scholar, objective outsider.

In a winter evening, nothing moves on the river.
Stars converse in Morse, in the wounding silence
of ancient Indian theory on making music

In the puncturing of Euro-American myths
on myths, Indian navy divers in the Gujarat Sea
are photographing an underwater city

Surfacing Dowarka utensils for carbon-dating.
In the controlled pause for questions
no one questions Mahabharathology’s new science.

Ford’s blue egg hatching
another fusion. The freight train’s horn
awakening a new year’s slumber
dissolved in the Carolina wrens’ chirps.

Once you’re in lefty
it is left and left and left
until your tenancy’s over. Who slept
in what room, how you redecorate
bush immaterial except to the woman

whose ancestors served in factories
plucked cotton on plantations
bore the brunt of a one-eyed recording—
you are viewed by your car:
a lowly Ford, Bavarian Motor Works
or Japanese Kaizen sipping gasoline

so the myth goes once you’re in you’re in
and it is left and left and left
and when you’re exiting right
into those very books you once condemned.

The poems are from the Persaud album, Lantana Strangling Ixora

10 APRIL – 31JULY 2009
By Diana Mavroleon

The advantage of structuring a season of events that includes various exhibitions but all under the same roof, to run over a generous period of time is that it presents its audiences with an opportunity to reflect upon what has past, before awaiting what more there is to come. Here the expression ‘with baited breath’ could realistically apply.

The main concept behind Indian Strings & Dance (S&D) was to reveal/expose how lndian music and dance form a fundamental part of lndian cultural heritage. Through the ambitious and adventurous co-curation of Lata Desai (Scientist and member of the London Sitar Ensemble) together with Rolf Killius (Ethnomusicologist, Sound recordist, Film producer and Radio journalist) a fascinating canvas of inter-related art forms conjoined to produce one of the most explorative and inspiring seasons taking place in London today. Asked to write an article about Indian S&D places me somewhat above my station, as l am a novice in relation to lndian culture but with the proud lineage of my (late) Hindu-lndian Grandmother, Saraswati Devi Kumarani.

From a venture tackling such broad themes and eclectic contents anything could have resulted. What l observed was that Alchemy was at play; what has been drawn out from the patchwork of events created and performed by both lndia and British based artists has been a distillation of old and new ingredients working together to produce the familiar, the new and the much welcomed un-expected. Drawing from the words of one of the most erudite and respected of lndian Ethno-musicologists, (the late) Prof. Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy; speaking in the discussion following Dr Ashok Ranade’s paper on ‘Confluence Music: The Sixth Category’ (lTCSRA’s seminar on ‘Continuity & Change in lndian Music’, Jan. 2004, NCPA Mumbai), Jairazbhoy stated… ”l always feel that tradition means change, but not violent change. lt has to have some degree of continuity. When it is completely overtaken it ceases to be tradition”.…”lf you don’t recognize the connection between past, present and what is ahead in the future, you are missing the whole point of existence, because nothing can exist without a precedent or antecedent”.

Indian S&D’s achievement has been to place side by side and within each other, art forms whose stories can be traced across the trajectories of Indian artists residing in lndia; those who have migrated to Britain; and Brit-Asians who have been born here, and what their significant influences on each other have been and are today. Nowhere are the meanings of the term ‘confluence’ more evident than in the context of this exhibition; it throws light onto what is too often a confused and/or misunderstood term or genre; it adds sparks to the on-going discussion around what ‘Confluence’ and ‘Fusion’ music might be; it also provides a multi-surfaced canvas illustrating how Hindustani music is the result of an assimilation between a confluence of cultures and confrontations.
To clarify: Dr Ashoke describes Confluence Music as…” representing an attempt at bringing together two or more musical cultures that otherwise lead to an effective existence irrespective of one another”. Whilst on Fusion music he states that ….”lt is likely to be the preferred channel of musical expression that the second/third generation of expatriates may readily explore” …
and that….“such an attempt is likely to represent their desire to combine features from their inherited past with assets of their surrounding presence”.

lt is interesting to set out the four main shades that relate to the meaning of the term ‘confluence’ and how they are analogous to the concept and results of Indian S&D:
a/The meeting of two or more bodies of water (usually tributaries to a mainstream)…the collaboration of several organizations to form a body of work, in the present instance, the Museum of Croydon, London Sitar Ensemble and Sutton Subrang
b/ Their junction…….. the Museum of Croydon.
c/ The coming together of people or things…artists and art forms.
d/ A location where latitude and longitude lines cross……elements of cross-cultural inter-relatedness.
Another inter-related level to consider in Indian S&D is the embracing of ‘globalization’. A positive definition of this approx 20 year old term would be……….” The growing interaction between people, wherever they live in the world, for a common set of humanistic and democratic values, for an economic system capable of dealing with old vicissitudes of geography and resources’.(Simon Mundy, Music & Globalization, lTCSRA Seminar on Globalization & lndian Music, Jan. 2002).
‘Communication, the ratio of time to distance in travel and the ease of migration’…are all part & parcel of the organisation that went into achieving such an enormously rich and textured project as Indian Strings & Dance. lts aspiration, invention, conservation, discoveries and re-discoveries can only but feed positively and progressively into the inter-mingling of lndian cultures with others…how else shall we grow to understand cultures other than our own? Something that should always be recognized/considered is that the traffic goes in both and not just one direction; in other words…it is a two-way concourse: the effect of globalization on lndian music and the effect of lndian music on globalization

The passions of the both co-curators are clearly evident throughout the exhibition. Along with Dharambir Singh, both Lata Desai and Rolf Killius were guests on a recent radio show (part of an on-going series on ‘The Music of lndia’ broadcast on Resonance Radio ( HYPERLINK “http://www.resonancefm.com” www.resonancefm.com). During the show Desai, born in Africa, whose family then moved to India, recalls clearly the memories of sounds, rhythms, textures and colours of that country and its influences and cross-fertilizations with her own lndian cultures, these all having left an indelible imprint on her imagination, and how these informed her ambition to draw these two lines together. Interestingly, Desai then drew on some of the similarities that exist between West African and lndian musical traditions whereby in West Africa only five families strictly safe-guard the orally passed down musical knowledge, and that even the actual instruments of the kora and sitar have similarity of form; the kora is made from a kalabash and the sitar a pumkin, and how both musical traditions are improvised.

Tradition and change go hand in hand on our evolutionary journey and no matter how ‘classical’ we deem Hindustani music, it can only ever have evolved through the various processes of both confluence and fusion, and that is why we came to arrive at the cross-roads of international Fusion, albeit often confusion, where various musical developments are harbouring today. Like them or loath them, they are only a part of the whole expression that is ‘music’ and l am of the school of thought that believes music to be the language of omnipresence…the Universe; in other words it belongs to no-one of us and it has and will always exist in one form or another, be it through the movement of particles in space or the enigmatic ocean waves.

The four presentations and discussions of the season have been on: Perspectives on lndian Music in the UK by Viram Jasani (AMC), Growing into Music in North lndia by Dr Nicolas Magriel (SOAS and Musician), Development of lndian Music in Britain by Dharambir Singh (Musicologist and Musician), and lndian Music Recordings at the British Library: Research, Presentation & Access by Dr Janet Fargion Topp (Director of Sound Archives at the British Library).
Art & Craft and Dance workshops and performances have included: Gujarat folk, Odissi, Sattriya, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and Manipuri. Music performances included the Sarod, Sitar, Sarangi, Surbahar, Harp, Tabla, Santoor, Taus, Cello and Kora.
The exhibition also showcases objects and instruments from the Horniman Museum, South Asian Diaspora Literature & Arts Archives, plus numerous contributions from local community groups and artists. That all the dancers and most of the musicians received their training in lndia and now practise their art through performance and teaching in Britain, supports the cross-cultural intentions that under-lie Indian S&D by putting into practise the significant influences of musicians and dancers from South Asia in Britain.
The exhibition in Space C Gallery at the Museum of Croydon showcased a stunning collection of lndian dance costumes collated from dancers and private collectors depicting the eight classical styles of lndian dance, and three of the folk traditions. The highlight was the ‘Eagle Costume’ of Ram Gopal, Forefather of lndian dance in Britain and dating back to the early 1930s, whilst in the Croydon NOW area of the Museum were a variety of musical instruments including those relating to different forms of lndian dance. To fascinate your senses even further is a collection of eighteen short films, produced by the curators, of oral history interviews and video performances with key figures in the lndian music and dance movement in Britain (these to be deposited at the British Library for use as educational tools).
Whilst ‘recovering’ at the Clock tower Cafe Gallery & Court, a final glance around the photographic exhibition shows contemporary dancers as well as the origins and uses of instruments in their native lndia.

A verse in Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’ (no. 70)
un-cannily captures the essence of Indian Strings & Dance, globalization and
confluence, indeed all artistic forms. lt is a universal treasure that
might rest well at the close of this article.

ls it beyond thee to be glad with the gladness of this rhythm? to be
tossed and lost and broken in the whirl of this fearful joy?
All things rush on, they stop not, they look not behind, no power can
hold them back, they rush on.
Keeping steps with that restless, rapid music, seasons come dancing
and pass away - colours, tunes, and perfumes pour in endless cascades
in the abounding joy that scatters and gives up and dies every moment.

Diana Mavroleon is a Film maker, Radio Producer/Presenter, Musician and Gardener living between London and North Norfolk. She is currently researching into the making of a feature documentary on ‘The lmpact of Globalization on the Thar Desert of Western Rajasthan Musical Cultures’ and is Producer & Presenter of the on-going series: ‘Music of lndia’ on Resonance 104.4fm http://www.resonancefm.com for further info contact: diana.mavroleon@gmail.com

Palash Kamruzzaman

The World Bank and IMF have proposed the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) framework for all poor countries as a condition of receiving unconditional debt relief under the HIPC Initiative. The PRSPs will also be the key vehicle for the World Bank and IMF and other donors for various assistance packages, including loans. Like its predecessors, the PRSP framework promotes the ideas of ‘participation’ and ‘ownership’. The ownership of such a grand framework cannot possibly rest with the poor countries or their people if the whole idea is the product of World Bank and IMF think-tanks. In discussing the development of Bangladesh’s PRSP neither participation nor ownership was the target in preparing a national poverty-reduction strategy: they were merely necessary components of a document required for the continuation of debt and lending relationships with the World Bank and IMF.

Introduction

Recent thoughts on poverty and poverty reduction seem ‘big’ in terms of ideas, units of analysis, global measurement of poverty, and the scale of planned policy intervention This ‘grand approach’ has taken large communities and groups of people – entire countries with populations of millions – as the common units of analysis to assess and understand poverty. A similar approach has been adopted in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) framework proposed by the World Bank and the IMF in 1999. Rather than an epic and philanthropic discovery, the PRSP framework should be understood as the latest approach in the poverty-reduction strategies of international financial institutions (IFIs) for their client countries. It is associated with a previous series of approaches, such as the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative, Country Assistance Strategy (CAS), Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA), Poverty Action Plan (PAP), and Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF).

There is a constant attempt to characterise PRSPs as a country-owned and government-led process. Widespread agreement about the PRSP framework can be found among the IFI boards on key issues to ensure local ownership. First, a growing sense of ownership has been suggested as a guiding principle for the preparation of a PRSP. Government authorities should draft the PRSP, which will ensure and reinforce country ownership. The IFI boards also agree on a more open dialogue between governments and at least some part of the civil society. Such agreements show that it is the World Bank and IMF that are not only suggesting the PRSP framework but also prescribing how PRSPs should be prepared and how ownership can be ensured. However, it also appears (especially in the added emphasis) that, as a criterion, participation does not necessarily have to come from the widest possible sectors of society – rather, it is a means for claiming local ownership of the PRSPs.

The expectation is that participation by civil society in developing and implementing PRSPs will provide a sense of broad-based ownership, not only by the government, but also by civil and political society. Translating these expectations into operational recommendations, the PRSP framework can advocate participation by poor people in poverty analysis, prioritisation of public actions to be addressed in the strategy, and the monitoring of governments’ delivery of poverty-reduction commitments. The World Bank has made approval of PRSPs conditional in principle, on acceptable participatory processes. However, the Bank has not specified what constitutes an acceptable participatory process, which raises questions about its intentions regarding the real ownership of these documents.

The PRSP framework itself is problematic, because it purports to promote local ‘participation’ to ensure ‘ownership’, while the whole idea and need for a PRSP has obviously been generated by the IFI think-tanks, not by the client countries or the poor people concerned. However, ‘ownership’ of the PRSPs cannot possibly rest with the client countries, because ultimately it is the IFI boards that have the power to reject or endorse any PRSP, and hence have ownership of the document. Furthermore, the idea of ‘country ownership’ is confusing (and illusory) while the World Bank and IMF have in various publications outlined the tentative contents, good practices, and expected nature of participation.

In considering participation in the PRSP framework in relation to previous poverty reduction strategies promoted by the World Bank and the IMF, the framework contains nothing new, and the agenda for its application to all indebted poor countries is questionable.

In discussing the participation process in the development of Bangladesh’s PRSP, one sees that little attention was paid to ensuring genuine participation by the poor and by civil society to create ownership of the document. Rather, the claims of participation in the Bangladesh PRSP appear to be more concerned with fulfilling donor criteria than about representing the actual situation of poverty and people’s perception of the poverty-reduction policy.

Similar patterns have been observed in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia. One cannot therefore but conclude that while the idea of participation has been invoked in the name of ensuring ownership of local poverty-reduction strategies, neither participation nor ownership was the primary objective of the PRSP framework. Rather the framework serves to continue the hegemonic relationship between the World Bank, IMF, and poor countries, whereby the latter have no better choice than to prepare one more policy paper.

THE POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY PAPER SERVES TO CONTINUE THE HEGEMONIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WORLD BANK, IMF AND POOR COUNTRIES

Why (participatory) PRSPs?

The impact of the World Bank’s new prescription for reducing poverty has been massive. By March 2006, 52 countries had completed their final PRSPs and 11 more had prepared Interim PRSPs (IPRSPs). In other words, these poor countries have conformed to the idea of developing a national poverty-reduction strategy in order to continue to receive loans and other assistance from the World Bank and IMF. These countries had never thought of such frameworks before they were proposed by the Bank and Fund. Rosemary McGee (2002) examined participation in the PRSP process in sub-Saharan Africa and found that it relied on poorly conceived, rushed, exclusive, and badly organised consultation procedures. The minimal engagement in the PRS process by political actors such as members of the national assembly or members of parliament is also true across much of Asia. Despite hopes that participation in the PRS would lead to better policy making and greater accountability, there is little evidence to date of the impact of participatory processes on the timetable or content of Asian PRSs. The PRSP process in Bolivia has given rise to serious misgivings about optimistic assertions that externally imposed participation by civil society will trigger better political performance and more accountability, more ownership, and increased effectiveness. But the donors’ ‘one size fits all’ approach gave the Bolivian government the freedom to organise the process in a way that diluted the impact of civil-society involvement and diverted attention from the fundamental problems that hamper the performance of the political system. In Uganda and Vietnam, governments have selected the parties with whom they consult, and thus prevented the process from becoming a source of contestation about government policies and state authority. In Georgia, the lack of institutionalised politics and the politicisation of key aspects of civil society meant that there was relatively little space for meaningful contributions from non-government actors during the PRSP process The Nicaraguan PRSP was drawn up by technocrats in accordance with donor directives; even within the government, ownership was limited. The strategy was approved in Washington despite strong evidence that it was only a piece of paper, and that the government did not take poverty reduction seriously (Dijkstra 2005). Dijkstra further argues that the consultation process in Honduras was seen as an improvement over earlier governance practices which restricted the agenda and left civil-society organisations (CSOs) feeling that their concerns were not sufficiently reflected in the strategy. Nevertheless, the first principle of the PRS approach is that it be country-driven and country-owned, on the basis of broad-based participatory processes. Yet these concepts are not always clearly defined. The World Bank and IMF staff lack precise criteria by which to judge success in this area and mainly want to be satisfied that the government has made a genuine effort to involve civil society. In many cases, different stakeholders have very different expectations regarding the participatory process. This points to the importance of communicating the goals of the process from the outset, in order to avoid its credibility and legitimacy being undermined by expectations that may prove impossible to fulfil. For example, participation does not imply final consensus or guarantee that views garnered through participatory processes will necessarily be reflected in the final programmes.

Local participation not free and spontaneous McGee (2002) found that essential information was often not provided to participants, inadequate time was allowed for them to analyse drafts before commenting on them, and there was a lack of transparency in selecting participants in the first place. In most cases, participation in the PRSP process has been led by governments, who seemed to be concerned about how much they should ‘listen to’ the poor and to what extent, and how the views of the poor should be incorporated and interpreted in the PRSPs, while also following the guidelines, principles, and good practices suggested by the IFIs. Although the Bank and Fund suggested broad-based participation by all relevant stakeholders to ensure local ownership of these documents, their own reviews did not find this in reality. The Joint Staff Assessment (JSA) found that the role of Parliaments in the preparation, approval, and monitoring of country strategies has generally been limited. Various concerns have been expressed about the lack of involvement of specific groups in the participatory process. While the patterns differ across countries, CSOs that were out of favour with the government, local government officials, private sector representatives, trade unions, women’s groups, and direct representatives of the poor are among the groups that have not always been fully involved in the PRSP process.

It was also expected that the development of PRSPs would improve the partnerships and coordination among countries and donors. Until mid-2001 a number of donors were frustrated by their own lack of involvement in the process, many of them feeling that it was dominated by the World Bank and IMF. These donors pointed out that they were unable to engage jointly in the dialogue with government during Bank and Fund missions, as they felt that Joint Staff Assessments (JSAs) drew the government’s attention away from alternative views. Such findings by the initiators of the PRSP framework underline that local participation was not free and spontaneous, but dominated and directed by the Bank and Fund.

This leads us to ask why ideas such as ‘participation’ and ‘ownership’ have been pushed so repeatedly. What is the rationale for proposing a new framework and preparing a PRSP? Why have some poor countries completed their PRSPs, while other Papers are still in the pipeline?

The obvious answers to these questions lie with the intentions of the World Bank and IMF in introducing the PRSP framework, which starts with the premise ‘that there is a strong link between debt relief and poverty reduction and debt relief is an integral part of broader efforts to implement outcome oriented poverty reduction strategies. By completion of PRSPs, countries should get unconditional debt relief under HIPC Initiative’. There is no fundamental difference between the PRSP approach and previous IFI poverty reduction frameworks, as the following discussion shows.

Country Assistance Strategies (CAS) were national strategies that were expected to be developed through broad-based consultation and participation. CAS aimed to ensure clear and strong connections between lending and non-lending activities and the poverty-reduction strategy and impact. They were aligned with a framework that required brief reports on the main characteristics of poverty and its determinants; trends over time; links between growth and poverty reduction; the impact of macro-economic policies and of government programmes on the poor; access to services and programmes; and the main dimensions of vulnerability.

In 1991, the World Bank indicated that it would be carrying out Poverty Assessments as a key component of analytical work in all borrower countries, to strengthen the link between the Bank’s assistance strategy and the countries’ own efforts to reduce poverty. The purpose of a participatory poverty assessment (PPA) was to create space for the voice of the poor in providing a deeper understanding of the dynamics of poverty and regional contextual characteristics, the coping mechanisms adopted by the poor, and local perceptions of problems and priority interventions .

The PPA also aimed to promote participation in poverty assessments (PAs) beyond the level of the primary stakeholders (the intended beneficiaries) to include the secondary, or institutional stakeholders in civil society and government. In seeking to introduce a participatory element into the more conventional poverty analysis, the PPA was not a discrete research process, but was designed to produce results ‘that can help to complement, inform or validate conclusions drawn from other kinds of more traditional Bank analysis’

(To be continued in the next issue)

Palash Kamruzzaman graduated in Anthropology from Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka and is a Teaching Fellow at the Department of Sociology, University of Leicester. He is at pk166@le.ac.uk

Reproduced from ‘Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and the Rhetoric of Participation’ by Kamruzzaman Development in Practice Vol.19:1 pp.61-71

(Taylor & Francis Ltd, http://www.informaworld.com , reprinted by permission of the publisher)

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Viewing each other through the prism of history, politics, nationality and culture will present an interesting opportunity for introspection. Among a grand list of great writers and intellectual thinkers I will be conversing with the formidable Ms Shobhaa De who is one of India’s best selling authors better known for her writings on sexual inhibitions and popular culture. She has often been described as the Barbara Cartland of India and her work features extensively in comparative literature courses at universities abroad and within India. Somehow fundamental issues that challenge civilizations never die. Death, Life, Sex will always engage our intellect for as long as there is life. Sex never fails to draw the attention of even the most indifferent and it is little wonder that her books sell like hot cakes in India. While Indian culture has traditionally viewed sex as a pleasurable experience raising it to an art form, the modern day Indian has many hang ups about sex and the open demonstration of affection in public places. She says, “ India shocks easily despite the bravado and big talk. Periodic surveys show the same old prejudices and hang-ups, never mind that our movies pretend otherwise. Women may be wearing less and less, drinking and smoking much more, sleeping around with abandon, and generally feeling “liberated”. But despite all that stylish huffing and puffing, society continues to frown at the “westernisation” of our youth, and bridegrooms prefer virgins.”

Unlike their counterparts in India, South Africa Indian youth though strictly controlled by their parents have a tendency towards exhibitionistic behaviour. They are to be found necking openly in public places and on campuses of most institutions to the great embarrassment of onlookers. With the high incidence of HIV/AIDS, South Africans are rightly concerned about responsible sexual practices amongst our youth.

On our home front, Lydia Johnson, an ANC member of the provincial legislature and chairperson of the health portfolio committee urged students at a special prayer meeting to abstain from sex because it was not a basic need. Her advice was given in the context of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that was destroying the working population in our country and eroding our base of intellectuals. “We need to change our attitude towards sex to save our lives”, she advised. In a way perhaps, we have approached the era where idealistic morality and religion celebrate their happy resurrection. The struggle for youth today is to balance the forces between pleasure and reality. This is made ever so difficult by the contradictory messages that continually bombard youth today. At the height of their sexuality, they are being fed with explicit sex, in the electronic and printed media. Sexual symbolism is present ad nauseum in food, clothing, cars, perfume bottles and deodorant canisters and phallic dirt bins. Like a Jezebel, society teases youth. Against this backdrop our contradictory message wails…. Abstain!

In India Traditionalists’ regards sex as a procreational activity reserved for marriage. Accordingly individual freedom and personal rights are closely guarded by a moral police force. In a classic case of a global time warp, when a popular film star Shilpa Shetty was hugged and kissed by Richard Gere she was publicly rebuked and had to apologise for her disgraceful behaviour. In another incident the Indian film superstar Sonali Bendre was formally charged in a Mumbai court for appearing in public in a skimpy dress, the locals said that she had insulted Hinduism. But there is enough evidence among the pantheon of Hindu gods for nudity. The goddess Kali is always portrayed in the nude. The famous temples of Khajuraho in the state of Madhya Pradesh are embellished with the finest erotic sculptures believed to have been built between the 9th and 12th century. Artists, historians and intellectuals argue that Hinduism was never against nudity. In fact body parts such as Shiva’s phallus, the lingam have its place in every temple as a symbol of procreation. I recall a lecture given by an Austrian anthropologist of note who at the age of 13 was well versed in Sanskrit and was asked to welcome Nehru to Vienna. As an ‘adoptee’ of the Hindu faith, Swami Aganandha Bharathi chastised the modern Indian for becoming so westernized and parochial and for having forgotten the greatness of the Tantric tradition. This was the period in Indian thinking when prudish morality as it is known today in modern India was non - existent. Cultures are always in a state of flux. Can one stop this change when global influences knock on our doors? India today is changing rapidly. Industrialization and urbanization are growing exponentially. In the light of this the attacks on Shilpa Shetty and Sonali Bendre make a mockery of real modernism which represents universalistic norms respecting individuals as citizens. And this is precisely why Shobhaa De’s writings are so provocative. As an important social commentator she acts as a catalyst for change, serves the function of questioning her countrymen and women about the true nature of morality. In our current over-sexualized culture, sex has become a commodity, immaturity is often idealized, and sexual conquests have been valorised as sport. But individual liberty is the hallmark of a true democracy. So finding a balance between Eros and Civilization should make for an interesting discussion.

Dr.Devi Rajab is a leading South African journalist and can be reached at rajab@cybertek.co.za

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