In the name of God

When they took him out of the ambulance he was tainted in so much blood that it was hard to speculate what was the original color of his shirt. The shirt, the stretcher, his visage and his body it was all blood red. There was mayhem all around him but he was motionless, so immobile that when he was carried to the ICU people in the passageway thought he was already dead. The stretcher was rushed through the corridor, lead by ward boys clearing space between the myriad pathetic and hapless incumbent of the place and followed by his panic stricken miserable family members.

Now he is struggling to cling to life or better say combating with death aided with numerous medical gizmos. His family has been told that his condition is sensitive and the next few hours are going to be critical. They are somberly crying, praying and waiting. His family consists of an old widow mother, a young unmarried sister and a soon to conceive wife. No other male but him. No other hope but him, who’s hope of surviving himself is right now abysmal.

He had a troubled childhood, one of abject scarcity and limitless struggle. His alcoholic father was almost lunatic and of little support and plenty of problem for family. In fact honestly speaking childhood never existed for him. His adverse situation turned him into a man too early than usual. In a man of constant sorrow and into a man of endless hardships. His mother’s limited love which was constrained by her own misery and his sister’s innocent affection was the only good thing which happened to him previous to he met the third of its kind, the adoring love of a wife. It’s nearly a year since they married.

Although his shop is a small one but is of great help to them. Just few days earlier he had said that he is expecting excellent sale in the coming festive season and will have adequate money to get his mother’s cataract operation done. Though there were other financial needs too, like wedding of sister, reimbursement of bank loan, repair of the dilapidated house among other, but this one was at the summit of priority order.

As a child he was always at loggerhead to the idea of God. His adversity made him an atheist by faith. At that time life had inadequate space and no reason to make him think of religion. Thought of endurance preoccupied his psyche. But as he grew financial protected and emotionally matured the atheist in him gave some space to the agnostic. And when his empty heart was poured with love the idea of divinity seemed more appealing to him. This would be the first Ramadan fasting for him.

To the transformed him religion meant a means to realize his soul, guidance in refraining from everyday evils and to purify him through self-restraint and good deeds. It brought harmony in his life. But the same thing can be so different concepts for different minds. Just when his life was through the commencement of happy days, today a group of self proclaimed religious guardian bombed the market while he was returning home after offering his daily namaz. It would have been just another serene day had not been done this act ‘In the name of God.’

Cultural hypocrisy

Yesterday while traveling back to college after durgapuja vacation, I once again encountered a malady universal nationwide. It was like this; I had one attractive young lady seated near by. She must have been in her early twenties and probably was a college student. She seemed decent and looked incredibly innocent. She was very expressive when she was along with her family at the railway station but right that moment she was alone and appeared bit nervous. She was the only member of contrary gender amid a herd of bachelors and few wedded middle aged uncle’s seemingly discontented with the women they had back at home and surely intrigued with this solitary lass. All eyes were gazing her and exploring each and every nuance of her body. Most fascinating admirers were a father and son each one constrained by other yet unable to relinquish her magnetism. I kind of felt sorry for her to be tangled in this awkward situation and a bit sorry for the bachelors around who were exceedingly excited by her presence yet unable to convey it. But I felt much sorrier for those discontented uncle’s for whom life probably had no subsequent chances. In such circumstances my policy is to act as if I am too engrossed in the journal or novel in my hand that I am totally oblivious of the scene around. But that was a journey long enough to confirm that I was a dumb imbecile, if I continuously trailed that policy of mine. So meanwhile I swapped my eyes from my book to catch her eyes and glinted mine eyes in a manner to convey her ‘Look miss I do understand the gravity of this uneasy situation you are going through and I am very sorry for you and also I hope you understand this that I am not in anyway involved in it. But at the same time I am not in any position to help it and I hope you understand that too’.

Finally after few apparently long hours for her and too short a time for her admirers the train arrived at her destination and she left. With her was gone the obligation of sham outward show of each and everyone present and all were back to their originality. Sooner people initiated discussing about things relevant to their life and then moved ahead to the irrelevant ones. Mostly craps, I tell you. Among all this crap some restless soul instigated the usual ‘U.S. superiority’ Vs the ‘Rest of world’ chat which soon turned into ‘Rest of the world’ Vs ‘India’ chat and which was finally diverted into the cliché ‘India’s rich cultural heritage’ Vs the ‘profane western culture’ chat. (It’s really amazing how much we love to only ‘talk’ about our true Indian culture and rarely pursue it). Now in order to keep discussions going on and to look modern and pragmatic thinkers few took the western side. One could tell by merely looking into their eyes how nakedly modern they were. While the loyalists were busy emanating their points and the moderns were busy pushing their meager modern knowledge, someone among the patriots brought forward the point how women always were and still are respected in India like nowhere else. Well at this juncture, I who was till now silent and appeared ignorant among those enlightened minds thought of interrupting them and to remind them of their behavior when that pretty young thing was around. But something inside me forbids me to do so. My inner intuitions were approved when even the pretending modernist espoused the idea of women enjoying respectful and dignified position in India like nowhere else. And thus I witnessed yet another Indian cultural hypocrisy

Overlooked middle class

That was a stage when dish TV was still a fresh experiment in India, and a rare commodity in small towns akin to mine where having a dish connection destined getting loads of undesired frenzied cricket fiend in your drawing room to track team India when they were overseas and no more accessible on Doordarshan (however watching gregariously helped to put up with the gloom of loses we consistently guzzled on foreign soil). I was privileged (still wary) to have it near the beginning. That was also the stage which I used up by and large watching no matter what on TV. It was a time when I was entirely eclectic and robotically followed the whole lot. Thus I have a reasonably first-rate experience of Hindi cinema under my belt. Though I am not proficient to keep track of it from past few years as for a while I was busy in preparation for highly demanding cutthroat competitive exams (though what I finally landed in makes me feel ‘Was that worth?’) and after that I was struck by Hollywood masterpieces (so you see, I take no lessons from life).

Now though I don’t watch them anymore, but few innovative and creative exceptions, still by following the trailers on TV and internet I observed that all most all the bollywood yield are either dealing with a same monotonous stories based in a high societies aristocratic backdrop or on underworld and criminals psychology. We have one camp of director, producer delivering feel good movies full of pomp and show illustrating all the exotic and striking locations, big mansion, costliest automobiles, sexiest and shortest attire, cosmopolitan lifestyles, latest trends, phoniest dialogues and exceedingly illusory characters (karan jauhar is a champ in this group). Then we have another camp delivering movie depicting criminal mindsets, filthy language, underworlds jargon, scrupulous politics, unwrap prostitution, intricacies of pervert system, crooked officials and one indomitable chap against all odds (Ram Gopal verma leads here). Then there are also some who are on the go creating senseless and irrational potboilers (Faraha Khan is the Queen in this genre).

If we leave aside some very rare exceptions than in past few years hardly any movie was made showing the simplicity of a common man’s life and the middle class way of affairs. Gone are times when a Hrishikesh Mukherjee touched the cords of entertainment with the fingers of an ordinary man to create eternal tone of art. Gone are the times when just an Amol Palekaer and Uttpal Dutt were all it needed to create a spectacular success of peerless comedy.

When I think why it is so that middle class has been omitted from silver screen in India I get few response. One is may be the geniuses of olden days have already exploited all the stories which could be possibly thought of as entertaining regarding this class. A second notion says may be the general mass itself is not much fascinated in paying to see the same melancholy of his day to day life on screen and perceiving this fact the directors are reluctant to make such ones. My third speculation is as mostly the filmmakers themselves are from the cream of the crop elite class and are not much sentient of the ramification and shade of life of middle class and are incapable to discover it now they vacillate to make a movie on it. Whatever the exact reason or reasons may be, indubitably (no may be) there is large interlude of absence of movies of this particular genre and thus creates a space which if proficiently exploited can ensure good returns to filmmakers. Now seeing that management gurus like Mr. Arindham Chaudhary and corporate houses like Reliance are trying hand in moviemaking may be someday they may realize this fact and we may be fortunate enough to witness few may be classics of this genre in our era and may reply our parents ‘See its not all crap, still we have lots of movies which make sense.’ Till then it’s only a lot of MAY be.