I am in unthinkable agreement for the first time in my life about the personal views aired by a certain Rakhi Sawant...
This momentous and an epoch making event happened because for the first time, I feel her derring-do and devil-may-care attitude is taking on the censors and that too in a factually correct manner!
Socha na tha doston ke aisa bhi din ayega :P ... GOD IS GREAT INDEED ...
Cheers Rakhi! After Rao's bhookh hadtal, only your's seems justifiable!!
Just thinking loudly here... so readers beware :P
Comparing Indian and western households, I believe that the notion that we still live according to how our ancestors lived looks hollow. We pride ourselves that we are really still living as a family, we care for fellow humans (which is something incredible!) and that in general, we have a culture that is so far above the rest of the world.
Granted that the culture which we have inherited is indeed more pious, far more credible a force in itself and also, appreciably more humane than any other in the world. It genuinely has the strength of keeping an entire populace honest in general and true to the spirit of humanity.
But, I cannot help but think that today's trappings of entertainers and sensationalisers (read saas bahu sagas and aaj tak and its ilk) have incapacitated us. We spend most part of the day at work, office, schools and colleges. If you play a sport (which is a rarity in our times and alarmingly, that is an increasing trend) then you might give an hour to it. Most food today is microwaveable. And hence, as an effect, an average Indian spends at a minimum 3 hours a day in front of the idiot box - in complete grasp of the modern day David Copperfiled. And this modern David Copperfield has as its allies, the terrorists, the politicians and the paid protestors - all pretty efficient and professional at their duties to entertain and maintaining the daily fix that the remote controlling consumer of this daily saga needs...
We are in front of the TV so much time that we dine in front of it, hence mostly we don't appreciate what we are eating. We also do not appreciate who we are eating with. We have no time to take a stroll after dinner. We also do not care about some simple hobbies like gardening or socialising with friends just because we need our daily dose of entertainment. Its like a drug - a nasha! Everyone just needs their daily fix ... One cannot imagine what will happen God forbid if this is not dished out on a day or if there is no electricity or worse still the cable television goes off air... I also heard that the last time this happened, the issue was discussed in the Parliament .. no joke ..
Since we need this, we have no time to think out of box or in it. We don't have time to appreciate the degradation of society and mother nature around us. We see the Aarey Milk colony's greenery on TV and its serials, and feel like wow, my Mumbai is soo green.. We don't think that India - our country - needs a better government or better roads or better public transportation or even safety. We are living so opulent lives because the serials and its characters are grand, grander, grandest!!! We may have suffered terrorist attacks, and may have lit candles. It was just our chance of taking part as active entertainers for a change. Thats it. We forgot and went back to the TV sets to appreciate our very own act ...
Even if someone wants to do something, as Rocket Singh will say there are no people to do business or something hatke with, as most are in front of their TV sets. And any activity needs people and not numbers...
Compare this to the western world (I mean Europe where there is a 'culture' not the extreme west whose culture cannot be compared to either Europe or the subcontinent) and I find people still have time to appreicate the gardens and its fountains. They still take time out to go for a walk, jog or theater. They discuss paintings and actively indulge in art activities. They may know what goes on in a TV but not so many discuss it in offices, schools and colleges! There is no public outrage if a character dies or worse still if an actor leaves a serial ... that is NOT national news!! They still maintain personal small gardens and spend weekend evenings also at a coffee shop actively talking with their friends and partners... They know their surroundings.
I am not sure if a newly settled man say in Navi Mumbai will know who lives two floors above or below him or which building for that matter is right next to his... We might not know that there is a big garden nearby or that since not so many visit it, it's being used as a concrete dump by local builder mafia. We have no time to care for it! Who cares if that builder is disturbing the area near my building!? I am fine till he is not dumping it in my living room. Rest may go to hell!!!
Just this question then remains about our existence ... Are we trapped?
Our state's politicians have gone crazy as they normally do - this time with their illegitimate censorship of free expression (by the way, this is a fundamental right of an Indian citizen guaranteed by the Indian Constitution of which these very politicians are the guardians... really?!!). All because WE have allowed goondas to come to power. We allowed them to legitimately claim their illegitimate right to be where they are. So, we must suffer for our transgressions!
We will be held guilty (for our own rights assertion!) before their illegitimate courts and justice will be dispensed as per their will. You and I - the normal and average common man and woman - will be submitting to them as always since we are incredibly guilty of either being corrupt ourselves (selling our dignity to these very hooligans) or then we are incredibly careless about our lives or then we are incredibly indifferent to our state of living!
We get the government we deserve. We cannot blame our governors for being corrupt when we have sold ourselves - our soul and importantly, our votes! We cannot accuse of nepotism because we voted for it! We cannot accuse of non-constitution-adherence as we have allowed these illegitimates to get elected. Now, they will rule us. And they are ruling. Even when they are not elected, they will rule with their own takes on what is allowed/decent/moral through their very 'able' sons and daughters! And then there are those wannabes who will disrupt your fundamental rights because they have offered us an illegitimate share in their corrupt plunder by division of society according to more and more importantly unimportant castes .... (sic).
We have only us to blame. We are corrupt. We are silent. We are a bane to the word 'civilisation' and a shame to that revered word 'Aryan'! We are not civilised. That's a myth. We are not educated. That's a WHITE LIE. And NO we are NOT MORAL by any standards .....
I wish Gandhi, Gautam, Shivaji, Ranjit Singh and Thorla Bajirao were not born here. They would and should have had more proud inheritors of their legacy ... alas!
Needless to say where the title is coming from. Saw it two days back. And again seeing it now ...
As Forrest Gump would have said it... 'It (shit) happens!' ...
Needless to say I loved the movie!
But then, I should not write this isn't it? If it's so needless I mean ... I should not be writing! But then there is something ...
Nothing 'new' exists in the movie in terms of the fundas of life that the movie has espoused. What it has is electrifying chemistry between the three stars, their comic timing, etc. But then, when you have such fine actors putting up a performance, that should ideally be a given!
And yes, it has guided us to some mirage whose existence we all have known about but could not attain. That's why it's a mirage right? We can see it, yet we cannot get to it! We all know how well we can perform when we don't care of the consequences!
This happened with me when I was pretty young. I was playing within my building's compound. Normally, the occupants at ground floor would have broken loose on us when we broke their toilet's window panes. But, I knew that they weren't home (had been visiting their relatives or some place!) and hence, I did not check my pull shot and played a full-blooded one right at the center of the window panes. Interestingly, I was wondering some days before that if I could break 4 panes in one shot (generally we used to break one and that too the top one ... so I was wondering if its possible to break the center four and make a gaping hole for the audience ;) ... !). To my ghastly surprise, I had accomplished what I was thinking about.
I wanted to die then ... but I could calm myself reminding myself that I was anyways leaving for my vacations the next day and won't be back so soon... so I fooled my heart into believing that aal izz well and that's when I had an aha moment while watching the movie. Unlike the movie though, that particular family welcomed me from vacations in a way that saw me never playing inside the building compound thenceforth, but that's another unimportant story!
I am writing this post especially because one of my closest and only 'writing' pal told me that she would have done so much more in life if she was in my shoes (but importantly this is not a response to her retort! It's merely a reflection..). I was just watching the movie and was thinking, well, I don't want to be on the hospital bed at 60 years to think only if I had done this and not done that .. So, I told myself, I will make an effort to get out of present inertia ... and also importantly, I will try to live in the moment. I tend to (as I am sure others too) live in future ... I will be this and be that .. will be here and there and everywhere... but forget to think about where I am NOW! It's common sense isn't it ... but I guess that's why it is so tough ...
I know that fooling your heart into disbelieving the risks attached as a package deal is not a very smart way of living ... especially for those who have studied mitigating risks (I know the cool word is hedging!) this sort of behaviour can amount to harakiri ... but I am convinced that in a world where only fools are cocksure and the knowledgeable full of doubts, it's sometimes worth it to be a stupid idiot and commit that foolishness than to be mired in doubts and not try! Hopefully, the experience won't hurt so much.. and in any case, one is wiser always in hindsight :P ...
I guess I can try soothing my heart for some time with Aal izz well .....
