For Kerala musician Alex Immatty his songs are a means of protest
'That is the beauty of democracy — you can protest. And I am exercising that right through my songs,' Alex says. The song, which has a distinct blues feel, showcases his individualistic style.
This is not his first song of protest. One of his first such songs was 'Ente roadum…', which was a critique of the condition of the roads in Kerala. 'I was inspired by something I saw — a mother and son walking down a potholed road, and a bus whizzing past. I could not help thinking about how precarious the plight of pedestrians like them is. One wrong step, they would fall on the road and in all probability would have gotten run over by the bus.'
Although written and rendered more than a decade ago, he says, it is still relevant especially since it is raining and the roads are in a bad condition. 'My songs are politically-driven. It is not directed at a political party or ideology. I have no malice towards anyone nor do I stand for a political party. I just want to show the mirror to the powers that be. I am doing it for society. The pathetic condition of the roads in Kerala and social conditions led me to compose the 'Ente roadum' song and the other songs. It is not just society and infrastructure, I criticise myself as well and the chauvinist in me in my songs like 'Aval paranju panchasara' and 'Ari venthodi'.'
He counts musicians such as John Lennon, Chris Rea, the two Bobs — Marley and Dylan, and John Fogerty among his inspirations. 'Their songs of love and peace, and against social inequalities, the establishment and wars had a deep impact on me.' He has experimented with genres such as reggae, rock, blues, swing rock, and tribal folk.
It is not just politics in his songs. Alex is part of Thrissur-based rock band, Anjuvilakku. Before that he was part of the late 1990s band Rockwag, has been an associate of Jassie Gift and a rookie drummer for the band Avial. He works as a music trainer for the band of Sahrdaya College, Thrissur.
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The Hindu
22 minutes ago
- The Hindu
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News18
an hour ago
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Shweta Tiwari Recalls Shooting For 72 Hours Straight: ‘Ektaa Kapoor Didn't Sleep…'
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Indian Express
an hour ago
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It identified several other obligations of countries, and said that failure to fulfil them would constitute 'an internationally wrongful act' which could have legal consequences. These could include being held liable to provide full reparation to countries that suffer on account of climate disasters, or other impacts of climate change. Countries could be held liable even for the irresponsible actions of private businesses or corporations, if they had failed to exercise due diligence and not taken adequate regulatory or legislative measures to prevent the irresponsible behaviour of private actors, the court held. The advisory opinion of the ICJ is not international law, and it is not binding on countries. However, it is the most authoritative interpretation of international law on the subject, and it is likely to be relied upon by courts around the world in deciding matters that come before them. This ruling is expected to put the spotlight back on climate change. In recent years, progress on the global fight against climate change has been severely undermined by the lack of adequate action by countries, particularly those in the developed world. The emissions reduction targets for 2030 will almost certainly be missed. The withdrawal of the US, the world's biggest historical emitter and a major laggard nation on climate action, from the Paris Agreement has put a question mark on the future of cooperative global action on climate. The credibility of international climate negotiations is at stake, with developing countries, particularly the most vulnerable ones, very upset over their concerns being ignored. The ICJ's advisory opinion does not directly set right any of these. Several parts of the ruling could be difficult or impractical to implement, and these are likely to be hotly contested in courts. 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The ICJ's opinion that countries that suffer from climate impacts — it calls them 'injured states' — are entitled not just to compensation, but full reparation, is a major development. Developed nations reluctantly acknowledge that small and vulnerable countries require assistance, financial and otherwise, to deal with climate disasters, but reject any suggestion of liability, compensation, or reparations. With this, the ICJ has strongly endorsed the concept of loss and damage in climate laws, which call upon developed countries to take the lead in raising financial and other support to help countries recover from impacts of climate change. This is likely to trigger a wave of litigation seeking compensation from the developed countries. Corporate polluters too are likely to be taken to court. The advisory opinion is likely to be contested — and not just by the developed world. For example, the ICJ has opined that merely initiating some climate actions is not sufficient compliance with the obligations of countries— the scale or magnitude of these actions is open to scrutiny. However, under the Paris Agreement, countries are free to decide their climate actions, and the only requirement is that every subsequent set of actions must be a progression on the previous ones. There is no provision to ascertain the sufficiency of a country's climate action, or the lack thereof. The actual impact of the ruling will become evident only when it begins to be cited as precedent in individual cases on climate-related disputes, and from the treatment that it receives from governments.
