Writers & Artists present themselves as anti-Establishment, BUT the truth is that the Establishment they are targeting is actually the resistance against the only Establishment in this country : 10 Janpath. It was Indira Gandhi who co-opted Bollywood in Emergency. Few [1/n]

rebelled : the most notable ones being Dev Anand & Kishore Kumar. Dev Anand was gradually sidelined despite his acting talent & eventually had a poor run in politics, while Kishore Kumar was insulted with his songs being dropped from All India Radio. Anyways, let's come back[2/n]

to the moot issue : Why is there tribalism in the Creative Arts & the Writers' community ? Unlike other jobs like engineering, bureaucracy, medical profession, lawyer, professorship etc, which come with an assurance provided u clear the minimum quality, the creative Arts [3/n]

sector doesn't offer any security. Despite the portrayal of Mumbai as the "City of Dreams" that awards talent, the real picture is not that rosy, & in fact gloomier, with the open-secret of harrowing experiences of junior artistes in the casting couch to years toiling as a [4/n]

junior artiste in side roles, until age wears u out. Similarly, in the writing community, there is no fixed pattern that ur work would strike a chord with the readers' crowd, despite months spent in preparing & editing it with pedantic scrutiny. Now,put yourself in the shoes[5/n]

of a junior artist/writing aficionado and imagine the pressure owing to the insecurity in a field with uncharted waters. It is this insecurity that the Leftists have always feasted on. Why does the Left continue to thrive in mediums of mass communication despite their [6/n]

electoral impotence across the world ? Because they have put a gargantuan labyrinth in these fields, which crushes the hope of an alternative to a budding artist/poet/writer. Despite their claims of being Anti-Establishment, they have themselves institutionalised their [7/n]

hegemony by acting as Gate-Keepers to the Creative World. To reinforce my observations, I would like to cite certain examples.

1. In the run-up to 2019 LS elections, we saw a flurry of books with an anti-Modi/anti-Hindutva undercurrent published by one publishing house : [8/n]

Juggernaut Books, founded by Chiki Sarkar, Aveek Sarkar's daughter. [Who is he ? That's ur HW.] How is it that almost every Modi hater has his/her every book published by Juggernaut, from Twinkle Khanna to Tony Joseph to Tharoor's pet dog Manu Pillai ? Don't we see [9/n]

cosy tribalism here ?

2. Let's come to the Web-Series cartel of artists. Why every web-series cartel actor, from Radhika Apte to the Sacred Games' team to Leela, is hell bent on brazen Hinduphobia? Had it been subtle, I would've given a pass, but this brazen espousal of [10/n]

poverty porn with tinge of caste & Hinduphobia has compelled me to think otherwise. What is the connection ? [Here is the hint : 1. Google IPTA 2. Form a list of actors who often signs petitions against Modi for ubiquitous trend of larping intolerance. 3. How these names &][11/n]

the Web-Series Cartel are related by family links]

3. In the field of Art (especially Paintings), why is it that groups like Bombay Progressive Artists' group and its chapters in Calcutta & other cities continue to fill instagram with Hinduphobic art, be it during Asifa's[12/n]

case or the Ram Mandir judgement or 370 Abrogation ? Many budding artists often join these guilds because they open the window to high profile exhibitions. And in the age of controversy, the more provocative ur art is, the higher the $$$$ it will fetch. And it is not just [13/n]

the dollars, but also the new opportunities. Counter-Culture Art is provocative, with sexually explicit acts to exaggeration of societal fault-lines. In the age of Digital Art, and the inexorable urge to get Instagram likes, many-a-times extremely average artists steal the[14/n]

limelight at the expense of genuine talent. Doubt me ? Come to Instagram and I can show u art-profiles of amazing artists with barely 20-30 followers, while woke artists with art eulogising Brahmin Bashing will have 10k followers. Why this vast difference in consumption [15/n]

of their art of contrasting styles? Because it is the gatekeepers of art, like these guilds & organisations like Quint, Buzzfeed, who promote them. And why will not a career conscious kid switch to them ? By the way, MF Hussain, who drew nude Gods & Goddesses, was a [16/n]

member of Bombay Progressive Artists' Group.

I can cite these examples, because I've been studying them keenly over the last few months & it was my Art teacher in school, who told me how there is a mafia in art that controls access to high profile exhibitions.

Now, why[17/n]

they tend to be anti-BJP?

It is not because of ideology, BUT because they have been Congress beneficiaries, either through Awards, Govt quarters or sponsored chairs in Academicia. Leela Samson, who was Priyanka Gandhi's Bharatnatyam teacher, was made Kalakshetra head in[18/n]

UPA era, & today, she is being booked by CBI for irregularities in her tenure, especially in nebulous contract allocation. Remember the name Jatin Das, Nandita Das' father, who wanted to fill "a girl's matka with his seed" as per a MeToo allegation ? He was kicked out by [19/n]

Venkaiah Naidu from Lutyens' bungalow which he has been squatting despite the tenure. And there r countless others. They r no ordinary people. They r Gods. Their blessings can make or break an artist's career & in a profession with such uncertainty, why will someone risk[20/n]

his/her career by trying something unconventional or something contrary to their "definition" of Art ?

Finally, a short synopsis :The anti-Establishmentarian commentary of self-certified free-thinkers in Art & Writing community should be taken with a pinch of salt because[21/n]

it has been reduced to an ideological blowjob : the more u suck upto, the better will be the dividend !

[P.S: I'm no professional artist, but I'll never politicise my hobby :sketching.]

Thanks for reading ! [22/22]