Why Mumbai should learn the art of cynicism?

It has been one year since the fateful day of 26/11. The day that many feel changed India. This was the day when the city of Mumbai was besieged by a group of ten terrorists. One year on, it is time we do some introspection about our preparedness against such attacks. But before we do that do we actually have a space for some meaningful and rational thinking? Are we focusing on the right things? I am not sure about this fact.
Many in media and elsewhere refer to the clichéd phrase - “Spirit of Mumbai” and talk about the resilience of the city; the city that all time is brimming with a vitality of its own. They talk about how life in this city still moves at a rapid pace come what may. I also initially joined the bandwagon that believed this city can stand up to anything. These days, the more I hear this phrase scarier I get. I think how people in this city that has been ravaged time and again by calamity (I am referring to communal violence, bomb attacks, gang wars, floods etc) be a silent spectator. The city has become immune to all that has gone wrong and is too inert, too shy, too negative and far too impotent to find answers for its own vices. Unlike many people, who think of this city resembling life in the truest sense, I feel the city has transformed into a tomb which has been ravaged by raiders many times over. This metamorphosis has been far too depressing.
Now I have come to know what is behind this apathetic state in which the city is. It is the people of this city that have an attention span of a child. The whole city was out in streets after 26/11 with the candle marches but failed to spend 15 minutes on a holiday for voting and deciding to change whatever that has gone wrong. To top it this has happened twice (in the general elections and the state assembly elections). The south Mumbai constituency which faced the maximum brunt of the terror attacks had lowest voter turnout percentagewise. Where have all the intellectuals gone? If this is the spirit of Mumbai, I am not proud about it. It is time the city becomes more cynical than resilient.

Once upon a time in Doordarshan - DD@50

Just last week I watched the video - “Mile sur mera tumhara”. Some things leave an indelible mark in your life, and this video is certainly one of them. This was a video that aptly described the concept of unity in diversity. Surely there was a time when media was an instrument to spreads communal harmony and promoting brotherhood and not about just dim-witted reality shows and breaking news. The television entertainment industry in India has come a full circle as DD completes 50 years of existence last month.

There have been other amazing things about doordarshan. Like the intellectual program called Surabhi hosted by Siddharth Kak and Renuka Shahane. Teaching diverse things like geography to culture was never so much fun. The presentation was so good that it would take a mammoth effort to recreate it. There was quality content on the show and TRP’s (if there were TRP’s then to measure the success of different shows back then) would have certainly hit the roof.

I was not part of the generation that saw (as I was not born then) ‘Buniyad’ and ‘Hum Log’ which were the bellwether serials. But I definitely liked watching Circus in which Shah Rukh Khan acted and Mahabharat, the epic that never seizes to amaze. DD had a lot to offer for everybody; from ‘Amchi mati amchi mansae’ to ‘Shaktimaan’. It was certainly the single biggest entertainment provider till the early nineties when cable TV entered the arena.

Also there were many unforgettable cricket matches that I have seen in our DD like the phenomenal test series of 2001 where India hosted Australia for 3 test matches. I vividly remember the VVS Laxman’s innings of 281 with Rahul Dravid where not a single Indian wicket was lost in the 4th day of the second test match in Kolkatta. Also in the same series where Harbhajan Singh who ended up taking 30 odd wickets in the series hit the winning run of Glenn Mcgrath by guiding the ball to the thirdman region.

I also remember some of the ads that were on display at that time as I was equally engrossed in them. ‘Humnara Bajaj’ was certainly my favourite and Cadbury’s ‘Kya swad hai zindagi mai’ comes a close second. For more such incredible ads watch the youtube links provided below.

Lately DD has sadly entered the phase of slow death where cable TV has almost entered everywhere in the country. The fancy news channels have become the staple diet of the Indian Diaspora. In the world of intense rivalry between different channels competing to catch more and more Indian eyeballs DD has lagged behind big time. The time has come to reform and revitalize this national channel.

Well I hope that DD makes a comeback and the theme music of DD - the famous Shehnai again reverberates in our homes.

For good old doordarshan -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZPMnqlkKKs&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMLhuH_g_gU&feature=related

Whose statue is it anyway!

Many of you reading this blog would be aware of the statue building exercise carried out by different state governments in India. Maharashtra will spend a bounty worth Rs. 350 crores for Shivaji Maharaj statue which when completed will be taller than the Statue of Liberty. Not to forget the Uttar Pradesh government will in all spend Rs. 2600 crores (yeah that’s right, no typing mistake) for the statues of uh….Mayawati behenji. (The actual education budget of the Uttar Pradesh government is a paltry 70 crores)

Such blatant display of we-are-wealthy-and-we-will-show-it-to-the-world kind of attitude is a cardinal sin considering that it’s the tax-payers money which will foot the bill. The feeling that these tall structures, monuments will make us a proud nation by increasing maratha pride or by giving voice to the dalits is farce. The foreigners visiting our country will surely be in awe of these tall and magnificent structures but soon the truth will dawn on them when they see the beggar on the street right next to them. Such elephantine symbols are only for the politicians who score brownie points by increasing their media exposure and not for the middle class, whose money is used for building these and definitely not for poor who would have got this money otherwise.

It takes just Rs. 5000 annually to educate a child till 12th standard. Then Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra government together have deprived education to almost 4,00,000 children thanks to the equivalent amount of money spent on building these structures. These very deprived children will end-up becoming job-less adults, bar-dancers, beggars (maybe just sitting besides these statues and seen by the foreigners) and not to forget criminals. What a great vision of India 2020, isn’t it?

But fortunately we have institutions like the Supreme Court to see if this senseless expenditure doesn’t go unchecked. Some days back Supreme Court ordered to shut all activities related to the statues within 6 hours of the order.

In our country, when people start questioning our ineffectiveness we always take the garb of culture and try to stamp our cultural superiority. But who is to decide whose culture is superior. Also this so called great culture is no good when we are not even able to feed our own people and when the farmers who produce the food grains commit suicide. A country is in a very bad situation where it’s is past more glorious than the present. And thankfully due to the Supreme Court and other such bodies we are not falling into that trap.