two recent events force me to write the above words, and as can be easily deduced from the title, one of them concerns cricket, the other a movie.
before the india-sri lanka match started, though my heart wanted india to triumph, my mind was telling me it will not happen, and more importantly, it was clear that for the greater good of indian sports, we needed to loose. we seem to be turning into a country of baniyas, the only things that seem to be important is to earn money and spend it on "consumer goods". nothing else matters, not good sports, not good science, nothing! a billion people, are asked by a multinational company to CHEER (no one asks you to go out and play, except a recent 'nike' ad) for their national cricket team (while drinking their cola of course) and fulfill their destiny. we simply don't have a sporting culture, and yet inevitably like all nation states we look up to our national team (i couldn't add an 's' to the last word, and that tells a story by itself) for a sense of pride in our national identity. the era of globalisation has instilled this belief that we can also belong at the world stage. but due to the virtual non-existence of any other sporting representative(s) in the international arena, the enormous pressure on the cricket team is simply too much. the overdose of cricket in not only killing any chance of other sports coming to the forefront, it is killing off cricket itself. for, the majority of the so called 'fans' never comprehend the grandeur and beauty that lies at the heart of cricket, and i am of course referring mainly to test cricket, the 'real cricket'. a majority of indians simply lack (or are starting to loose) a taste for good things (i will come back to this point in the next section). and of course, to the multinational companies, these 'silly' sentiments don't matter, they are here to sell. they are the parasites, who are slowly but surely starting to control our thoughts, our actions. forget the television, forget the ads. for god's sake, just go out and play......and if possible play anything but cricket....believe me, it will help india win the world cup (maybe i should add an 's', field hockey has reached it's nadir, it can only go up. and maybe someday, even rugby or .... football?!!).
to the second incident now. i watched the hindi movie 'eklavya' today. my opinion: it is an EXCELLENT movie. now here comes the thing that troubled me. i heard some people's (even one of the RJ's) views about the movie on 'radio mirchi pune'. they seemed to be well educated young people. but the words that were used to describe the movie were 'boring', 'incomprehensible', etc etc. i can very well comprehend what the 'layman' would have made of the movie. hard luck mr chopra, you are in india. i understand that an indian has to face so many hardships, that he/she goes to the theatres for a few hours of escapism. but in these globalised times, this can't be true for a large fraction of india's population, at least the upper and middle monetary classes (400 million strong!). why is it then that if some movie demands a little bit of cerebral effort, it does not get it? song and dance routines in our movies are a reflection of our culture, we say. but if the rest of the world can appreciate realistic movies which require lesser suspensions of disbelief, why can't we? we simply don't want to put in the effort, for even appreciating (leave alone creating) high art requires effort.
let me digress and theorise on what can be the reason. hundreds of years of exploitation has left the common man of india in a sorry state. he is afraid to look beyond, he is afraid to exert his mind. it is a fact that not a single revolt/revolution succeeded in india (independence came, at the gruelling cost of partition, due to a war weakened britain not having the resources or the will to rule over india any more). i wonder whether Plato was right, there should always be an elite who lead the way, and the masses should follow, for the masses do not know what is good for them. or whether this statement is true: "when the masses follow the elite, it is progress. but when the elite follow the masses, it is stagnation." by that token, we are a pretty stagnant society today!
before the india-sri lanka match started, though my heart wanted india to triumph, my mind was telling me it will not happen, and more importantly, it was clear that for the greater good of indian sports, we needed to loose. we seem to be turning into a country of baniyas, the only things that seem to be important is to earn money and spend it on "consumer goods". nothing else matters, not good sports, not good science, nothing! a billion people, are asked by a multinational company to CHEER (no one asks you to go out and play, except a recent 'nike' ad) for their national cricket team (while drinking their cola of course) and fulfill their destiny. we simply don't have a sporting culture, and yet inevitably like all nation states we look up to our national team (i couldn't add an 's' to the last word, and that tells a story by itself) for a sense of pride in our national identity. the era of globalisation has instilled this belief that we can also belong at the world stage. but due to the virtual non-existence of any other sporting representative(s) in the international arena, the enormous pressure on the cricket team is simply too much. the overdose of cricket in not only killing any chance of other sports coming to the forefront, it is killing off cricket itself. for, the majority of the so called 'fans' never comprehend the grandeur and beauty that lies at the heart of cricket, and i am of course referring mainly to test cricket, the 'real cricket'. a majority of indians simply lack (or are starting to loose) a taste for good things (i will come back to this point in the next section). and of course, to the multinational companies, these 'silly' sentiments don't matter, they are here to sell. they are the parasites, who are slowly but surely starting to control our thoughts, our actions. forget the television, forget the ads. for god's sake, just go out and play......and if possible play anything but cricket....believe me, it will help india win the world cup (maybe i should add an 's', field hockey has reached it's nadir, it can only go up. and maybe someday, even rugby or .... football?!!).
to the second incident now. i watched the hindi movie 'eklavya' today. my opinion: it is an EXCELLENT movie. now here comes the thing that troubled me. i heard some people's (even one of the RJ's) views about the movie on 'radio mirchi pune'. they seemed to be well educated young people. but the words that were used to describe the movie were 'boring', 'incomprehensible', etc etc. i can very well comprehend what the 'layman' would have made of the movie. hard luck mr chopra, you are in india. i understand that an indian has to face so many hardships, that he/she goes to the theatres for a few hours of escapism. but in these globalised times, this can't be true for a large fraction of india's population, at least the upper and middle monetary classes (400 million strong!). why is it then that if some movie demands a little bit of cerebral effort, it does not get it? song and dance routines in our movies are a reflection of our culture, we say. but if the rest of the world can appreciate realistic movies which require lesser suspensions of disbelief, why can't we? we simply don't want to put in the effort, for even appreciating (leave alone creating) high art requires effort.
let me digress and theorise on what can be the reason. hundreds of years of exploitation has left the common man of india in a sorry state. he is afraid to look beyond, he is afraid to exert his mind. it is a fact that not a single revolt/revolution succeeded in india (independence came, at the gruelling cost of partition, due to a war weakened britain not having the resources or the will to rule over india any more). i wonder whether Plato was right, there should always be an elite who lead the way, and the masses should follow, for the masses do not know what is good for them. or whether this statement is true: "when the masses follow the elite, it is progress. but when the elite follow the masses, it is stagnation." by that token, we are a pretty stagnant society today!
....they say A.O.Hume created the spectacle named 'congress' to give vent to native dissent....the authenticity of such a 'safety valve' theory is for the scholars to debate.....what a lesser mortal like me can however realise is the fact that cricket has indeed ceased to be a 'game'.....infact in our context it has come to symbolise everything else, and i beleive i'm not talking through my hat when i say that....it's perhaps the most spectacular safety valve that you can gift to the masses....the rigour of routine frustration that grips our daily dealings in the big bad world compels us to seek succour in over-bearing larger than life feats.......cricket seems to fit the bill perfectly....one cannot help but be reminded of the Roman emperors and their ploy to relegate their subjects to mere amusement seekers of the Colosseum.....eulogise your heroes (victims?) and lower your thumbs when they fail.....the collective sigh of the so-called die-hard afficianadoes is loud enough for even the deaf to hear....burn effigies, carry out mock funerals, just some of the 'non-viloent' forms of protest.....the same faces can also be seen leading mobs that profess and adhere to 'instant' modes of justice like lynching......to them defeat signifies loss of face to an adversary, albeit an unseen one, but which they recognise quite well...the absolute impotence in being unable to surpass their shortcomings, the incompetence that stems from the realisation that circumstances cast a tether on their aspirations....like Hitler advocating the supremacy of the Aryan race amidst Olympian pomp and grandeur only to see the upstart Jesse Owens walk away with his precious gold!!......may God save my nation.....it seems preservation of sanity or its restoration was never our forte or priority.........
ReplyDeleteyou have hit the nail on the head my friend. it's true for any international competitive sport in today's world. we only have cricket as the "valve" you mentioned. and remember one more thing, both war and sports are zero sum games in the language of mathematics. for someone to win, others have to lose. there will be call for revenge, and the story will continue ... and the eyes of the masses will eternally be shrouded from the "real" problems of human society ... i am becoming cynical by the minute, a'int i?
ReplyDeleteSoumo Ghosal
ReplyDeleteI totally disagree with the author...He personofies pessimism...I really dont understand what he means by consumerism ... It is all about money Honey! ask the Americans ...no wonder there is a brain drain in our country ... Indian Cricket lost because of Greg Chappel "Yes!Yes!Yes!"
Guru Greg tried to scrap the old and bring in the new and he failed miserably ...Cricket is a one ball game and for that matter if Hockey cannot sustain then why does cricket do inspite of all this miserable defeats day after day!
WE are Indians and we cannot be the other way that the author demands ...We have our frustrations and we are Happy with that ...
The root cause of all Problems is that no good student is into Politics ...No one thinks with a vision and Boy! with such an enormous democracy and diversity it is a difficult task to grasp a feeling of the nation :)
Will the author come back and teach in the villages,will the author do anything other than just talking (which is so characteristic of all the Philo's)... start a party yourself and I will join you it! But lol he is afraid to do it himself ... so better not talk about just what you don't like because you too stink the way others do !
"Daridra Bharat Chcharo"...this is the slogan that rules India...It has two meanings ....
1)Leave the motherland for you know that it can't satisfy your mental faculty and personal aspirations!
2)Change the system and transform Bharat into India....
The ailing sector is the Govt Sector ... The Private companies have allready done their bit and shown Young India a new life which unfortunately the Govt could not ....
Teach what you feel and Remember if you can make atleast 100 people follow you you will know that Yes you are a leader and not a sucker :)
Hmmmm...Well, at first I need to say that the hype about cricket is not created by only the fact that it is the only game that India can play, but more because the Indians are a lazy lot. And cricket is the game of lazybones. Dont agree? Look at the old cricket videos..2 batsmen, 1 bowler, 1 wktkeeper and "at least" 6 people in the slips. Its like, "Ok, it is Sunday, winter time, the sun is night outside, lets take lunch and then go spend some time in the sun." And most Indians would just love to do that. Otherwise, with due respect, there are other games (especially individual though), in which INdians are good. Chess, some tennis, badminton, are good examples. Indians are not team men. And that has got to do with the way we grow up, the intense competition, the ever-true rule in ANY sphere of Indian life, "MORE DEMAND, LESS SUPPLY". So, nobody really cares about the other. Count that with the horrible civic sense of Indians, and you will understand that Indians will never be good in any team game...Then how come they are good at cricket? The answer lies in how many nations actually play it? 12 (okok, i know about this world cup, but i simply WONT count the minnows)...amongst these 12, countries like England (its half full of Indians and Pakis anyways now), WI (nowadays), Zimbabwe, can hardly be called teams...so that leaves with only 9 other to contend with..sometime or the other they will win, right? I bet u, the day Germany, South Korea, China, Japan, US etc start to play cricket, Indian cricket will be how Bermuda is now (and I bet they will also start beating India in the next world cup). Anyways....enough of cricket. I cant stand the word anyways.
ReplyDeleteAbout the movie, Eklavya, I havent seen it, primarily because i love Eklabya as one of the greatest characters in Mohabharot, and cannot think of AB with that dari and all trying to emulate even his namsake...But, I agree to u...Indians just dont understand good films, WHO would vote for Veer Zara over Swades for a National Award. Even Shah Rukh (guy I hate, and who I actually admired in Swades) expressed his disappointment. And that award was presented by a jury, not the general public...Lord save the country...Uncles are crazy over NAmaste London, but Im sure they wouldnt have watched Dor....Another thing about Indians is their fetish for Heroes and Superheroes...Character roles are finally coming in, but very few even now.
So, guys being good Bengalis, Cricket noy, Football khelo, tobe han, Manoj Tewarir por, Ranadeb Bose keo team e dhokanor chesta koro....Joy Banglar JOy! (Oops! Did I say something wrong? I hope you didnt misunderstand me...:-))