Macchars don’t wear sweaters

Today in his weekly column, Khushwant Singh listed what according to him were the “the elements of happiness”. With his breadth of experience, and his 92 years of life, i was certainly interested. What would this man with a literary sensibility, wide reading, someone who has met people from all walks of life, had abundant love, and lived a full, long life, have to say about happiness. What he had to say was typical of Khushwant Singh. In at least my readings of Khushwant (which mostly consist of following his column in Tribune for a few months now) his style seems blunt, straightforward, understated. Theres no attempt to use the power of words to make life seem more than it is. So, his seven elements of happiness:-

1) Good health

2) A healthy bank balance

3) A life partner

4) A self owned house (with a garden preferably)

5)  Cultivate a hobby (music, reading, sports)

6) Keep away from people who descend upon you for gupshup.

7)  Curb the propensity to compare yourselves with others who were more successful in life.

Anti climatic, yet practicable. His elements fly in the face of spiritualists who talk about the “essential problem of unhappiness” or the “universality of unhappiness” and prescribe grand solutions – faith, annihilation of the self, inner awakening etc etc. Maybe it’s all self indulgent chatter in an attempt to inject grandiosness in life, which is otherwise mundane.

Stormy weather,

Faulty chopper,

YSR,

Is no more.

I’ve decided to start a new blog for poetry.  If interested, please visit – http://pankajpoetry.blogspot.com

Nature had given us the same palette,

seven shades of the rainbow,

And I set upon my canvas,

brush in youthful flourish,

the colours mingled with brief joy,

but soon there was a sameness, sometimes grey,

But when turned to look at your canvas,

wonder of wonders!

intricate patterns,

patterns within patterns within patterns,

neverending,

and the brilliance splashed across the canvas,

seven mingled to form thousands, millions.

there are beauties,

who make your eyes widen,  straining at the sockets,

as the jaw drops, revealing an astonished cavity,

and the tongue is compelled to wet the lips,

and there are beauties,

that make you purse your mouth,

and nod your head in humble aknowledgment,

but there are beauties,

whose magic makes forget that exhale comes after inhale,

as the head falls in a tilt of wonderment,

and a secret smile creeps upon the face,

as you fumble for the pillow closest,

and crush it in your arms,

that my sweetest, is you

Since everybody is talking about the subject, here are my two bits.

You know someone is speaking through their ass when they say “Sacchai ka samna” promotes the noble cause of truthfulness and inspires people to face and tell the truth. Well, that is what Rajiv Khandelwal said in a recent debate. He said those who reject the show are afraid to face the truth. In all fairness, the opposite side in the debate weren’t exactly epitomes of reason – a bunch of pious looking politicians, clamoring for the show to be banned as it was against “hamara culture”, with clinchers like “arre apne bedroom ki baatein apne bedroom mein rakho“, “arre bhai samaj ki koi dore hoti hai“. The supposed moderate politician, Sachin Pilot, a shining representative of progressive “youth” in Indian politics (which means he looks slightly better scrubbed than the rest, and speaks good English) didn’t offer much relief either. In slightly more mellow terms, he called for basically the same thing – regulation of the small screen, and censorship to ensure curtailment of “vulgarity” and “indecency” on TV. And when all sides in a discussion fail to voice what you feel, you cant help but feel constipated.

But on second thoughts, I agree with Rajiv.

The show undoubtedly is a result of a fierce competition for viewership, taking programming to a new low in voyeuristic invasiveness, or in other words “masala”.  Just as you think programming couldn’t get any more masaledaar, a new show is released, which makes the previous one seem dignified in comparison.  And you, with your bulging eyes and watering mouth, discard your loyalties with the earlier show, and glue yourself to the new one. That’s exactly how I felt when I betrayed MTV Roadies, and moved on to Splitsvilla. Whenever i got back to Roadies, it had started to  seem somber and respectful.  Then came Splisvilla 2, Big Boss, Sarkar ki Duniya, Is Jungle se Mujhe Bachao, Rakhi ka Swemwar, and now Sachai ka Samna as the cat fights got louder, the tilt increasingly sexual and personal, and a new vocabulary emerged – “task”, “immunity”, “voteout”, “deserving”. The shows are incredibly voyeuristic, trivial, offensive, hurtful to the sensibilities, and irresistibly tantalizing, and titillate you to the core.

Yet, the government has no businesses to regulate or ban them.

Ultimately, it is a question of sensibilities, and the State has no business regulating sensibilities. A liberal and progressive society is one where the State restricts itself to matters of governance, and keeps away as far as possible from matters of personal choice, which don’t affect the collective, at least in a direct way. To suggest that Sach ka Samna is aired with a noble cause is absurd, but an exxagerated negative reaction to the show is reflective of a neurotic society which is insecure and unable to face its sexuality.  Anything sex and sexual makes us wince and is always sought to be kept under the covers – a celebrity who admits she committed adultery, a couple kissing in a park, a 20ish girl having an affair with a boy in the neighborhood.  Yet we are as horny as any people, or even more so, because of being so deprived of what is such an overwhelming instinctive need.

It is representative of a repressive medieval mindset which tramples underfoot the concept of “live and let live” and seeks to invade the personal dominion of the individual under the guise of “our culture”, “our traditions”, “our way”.  The collective “we” is thrust upon you, forced down your throat, as the society takes it upon itself to decide what is right for you.  The recent lynching of a young man by a village khap is part of the same picture. And through our medieval lens, the west comes across as morally corrupt and decadent.

The logical next question is. If it is not the business of the govt what is broadcast on TV, as long as people want to see it, and the people on TV want to be seen, why not pornography? The answer is, why not? It is incredible how scared we are of a need which is compelling, immediate, universal and so near the surface even as we go around our daily business.

India sacchai ka saamna nahi kar sakta.

Lately, i have developed a liking for Hindi poetry, largely due to a friend of my father, whose appreciation for poetry is incredible. How about the following from Gulzar:-

Tumhara noor hi hai jo pad rha chehre par,
Warna kaun dekhta muje andhere mein

A supreme/sublime tribute to someone. The happiness on my face is not my own, but a reflection of your presence. Otherwise I was just stumbling around in the darkness of insignificance.

And the imagery. Deep dark broken by a candle light, which reflects off your face.

WOW!

your eyes are the many hued evening sky

serene, soft, ever changing,

or the diamond studded night sky

twinkling, playful, joyous

It’s ironical how when we are young, things happen to us. But as we get older, we become what happens(ed) to us. Our memories, our experiences, the events of our life, our relationships, our successes, our faliures, all burdens bearing down on us, robbing our being of its weightlessness, its transendensce.

Maybe that is why frustration sets in as you age, or pride.