Soupçon, In Memoriam Series, VI.i

                           Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           VI. i

Let us discuss "Sairat" in this series as it is now a decade old.

Haunting Memories

El niño can cause havoc. As a Maharashtrian, I should know.  Of course, not individually, as I was too young then to understand such enviornmental cum socio-economic issues. Yet public records show how hurtful are these memories to the Maharashtrian psyche as such. Hence the assertion in the beginning of our blog. 

The year was 1972. Even otherwise, this leap year has brandished itself in the mass memory, what with the terrorist attack diring the Berlin Olympic, for instance. Yet no other event in that fateful year could match the intense tragedy of a horrible famine due to the 'el niño' effect. 

Just as Maharshtra faced this vicious effects, so did sub Saharan Ethiopia and Sahel. Known as the Wollo famine, its after effects continued for years later. Millions died. Mass migrations were the mode of life. 

Across the world, there was food scarcity. Given the bi-polar world realities then, the USSR stocking up the grain intensified the devastation.

As for Maharashtra, then hugely agrarian,  crop failure impacted not only human lives but also the livestock. To overcome the dire straits, the then Chief Minister, Vasantrao Naik, opened fodder camps for the surviving emaciated cattle.

As for human beings, "red wheat" was supplied in a rationed proportion, while 'public works' activities such as digging canals, road construction, et al, were taken up to help the financially destroyed common man. 

This scheme paved the way for the later 'Manrega', et al. We have, hopefully, come a long way. Sure there must have been water harvesting on a major scale. Hope there have been bund canals construction as well as cleaning up of water beds/bodies so that the monsoon water gets properly stored. 

Sure the 1972 famine due to the 'el niño' effect has taught us much. Yes, the 'el niño' has struck time and again after that, but never ever with such severity. Hence the need to learn from it, and in advance, given the dire predictions about the super el niño in 2027.

Pratima@ When I now look back at our childhood, I realise yet again the greatness of my loving parents. Papa never ever allowed such dire straits affect us. We did not even realise the existence of any famine. That is paternal love, always protective like the bulwark of a castle!

Quote of the day:                                                            "Feel what it's like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you'll forever think twice before wasting food." True Criss Jami! 

Word of the day: famine                                                  The word refers to lack of food and fodder, water scarcity and loss of livelihood in the agrarian sector resulting in inflation over a long period of time in a large area that can cause the death of many people.

Why the atrocious comments in the first place?

 Three videos have made me thus wonder. The first one is from the Jantar Mantar, Delhi. Yes, the notorious remarks by Ruchika Singh! The creepy fact about her forgiveness video is that a fifteen year old (so that Posco Act can be conveniently quoted!?!) is asking for forgiveness. 

Well, even the face recognition machine maintains that she is not the "real"/"reel"  'comment'ator! The original twenty-five year old was hyper jolly while mouthing the ugliest vulgarities, nay, obscenities. She (and/or those who, it is said, paid her to thus protest!) should have respected the "office", if not the individual. 

The second one is from Ladakh. Or is it Kashmir? I am not really sure as both variants are reported. The twenty-five year old (here, too!!!) had the nastiest comments to make against the military. She seemed to have forgotten that the army officers, too, pay the taxes of all sorts! The forgiveness video, too, cannot hide the unmistakable self-obsession. 

The third one is from Pune. It is about a girl lying about the fees she paid. Apparently, she first lied most comfortably, and then remembered(!?!) the exact amount. Her convenient forgetfulness led to a near- rioting situation! 

There are  many more such forgiveness-seeking videos such as the Mumbai medical student talking about cadavers or the "biryani costing three hundred rupees" which demanded favours in return  from the companion! 

Well, all of these worthies are above eighteen, that is, legally adult. They appear to be in their senses, that is, not under the influence of alcohol or some drug. The only intoxicants that seems to be have influenced them are prejudice and the egoistic feel that nobody dare do anything to them. I would not know their party affiliations though. 

"Sorry" one feels for the victims of such mani(a)c marauding of the civic sense, of the civil liberties, of all that is decent and straightforward despite the utmost vitiating contexts. Do you know who these victims are? Sure those at the receiving end, but also us, the vast majority whom such crazy capers still actually astonish! 

Pratima@ Convenient silences at such occasions are as vocal as the originary empty screeches before asking forgiveness for them! 

Quote of the day:                                                           "Asking for pardon without actual substantial change is just noise in an empty room." Indeed! 

Word of the day: atrocious                                          Atrocious means extremely bad, very cruel, shocking. 

How much does an I-phone cost?

 No, please do not let the title of our blog fool you in to thinking that I want to buy some fancy I-phone. No way! I am very happy with my simple but super-efficient android. The title refers to an unfortunate event, the sad saga of the Chandvade family from Sambhaji Nagar. 

Honestly, it is tough to understand that entire episode. Earlier, too, in Pune itself, some four kilometers away from my place, a nine year old had committed suicide because the father did not buy the coveted sweater. At least, it was a kid who was involved in that tragedy! 

How can a nineteen year old not understand his truck driver father's financial plight? Actually, it is our own creativity, and not a mechanical device, that leads to great work. Want proof? Look at the superb cinematography of "Barsaat" (1949) by Jal Mistry who was debuting at the age of twenty-five! 

Why is the next generation, alpha, beta, Z, whatever so insensitive? In an India, where the poverty index is physically visible everywhere, how can a son in his late teens hold a middle class family ransom for a mobile device!?! How come his parents' fervent appeals could not move him? Why, the whole village was trying to convince him!

What exactly is the cause of such extreme behaviour? Excessive indulgence by parents? Total lack of discipline leading to rash thoughtlessness? Did he not develop any self control? Inflated self-centered ego that would never take a 'no'? Total lack of sensitivity and/or respect for others beyond oneself?

As much as the family is responsible for the horrid tragedy, equally responsible is our society, too. Becoming highly consumerist, people today (so self-obsessed they are that it is difficult to call them citizens!) measure their own and others' worth by the price of the silly gadgets.

To buy these actually meaningless appendages, families are drowned under massive debts. The so-called shine is the tip of the iceberg called the hefty EMI's, the monthly tension given the coarse methods used by the recovery agents, and other such absolutely unnecessary dead-ly details.

We are a society in transition. Lost (most often consciously, and without any conscience) are the traditional moorings. Under the name of empty (and misunderstood) modernity vacantly borrowed from Hollywood depictions of the Western world are chased life styles without any groundings. 

Actually, proper Western families are never extravagant. Their Protestant work ethic would hardly allow them to be so. The taxation slabs there as well as life style maintenance happen to be so high that most people there live the middle class life which is highly religious and family-oriented, too.

No, you do not need to read any great literature to understand such realities. Millions of YouTube videos would show the harsh realities of the glamorous life abroad. Yet silly Indians never learn from them the right values, do they? 

Sadness as well as frustration, vexation and empty helpless annoyance, such is the mix of feelings one experiences when one encounters such impossible behaviour! Indeed, how even to say 'Lord, help them, they know not what they do!'

Pratima@ The colonial slavishness is so entrenched in the average Indian psyche that for such  "brown" fools following fashions at the cost of one's own health is okay. The KFC food ordered online, tight jeans, extremely poor, downright wrong English they would have, but they think of themselves as "modern"! Pitiable beyond words!

Quite of the day:                                                           "And we are here/ as on a darkling plain/Swept with confused alarms/ of struggle and flight,/Where ignorant armies clash by night." So described Mathew Arnold the plight of being neither nor there.

Word of the day: flabbergasted.                                This adjective means shocked beyond words.

Soupçon, In Memoriam, V.v

                             Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           V.v

The last point that I would like to make in our discussion of this film, considered  "culturally, historically, aesthetically significant" so much so that it is one of the twenty-five best films of the twentieth century according to the Library of Congress, is that it is a 'silent film.' 

Actually, 'talkies', that is, films with spoken dialogues, had already begun, since 1927 to be precise. Yet Chaplin chooses the silent mode. Undoubtedly, there are subtitles to scenes, explaining their content and relevance.

Yes, Ellen's song is 'vocal', too, though it basically is more mere empty gibberish.  In other words, the film belongs to the silent era/genre. Why so?

In my opinion, Chaplin wants to convey how the machineries of modern times render the downtrodden still more down, and out. That is his stringent comment on capitalism that reduces the poor poorer still. 

Hence the scene when the Tramp forgets the the lyrics of the song, given the loss of cufflinks which were to cover the hidden words so that his n her job at the café would continue. He somehow saves the situation by impromptu singer-ly activities in the comic mode. 

Well, this was the way on stage was born the great genius Charlie Chaplin, then an eight year old. Performing at the Aldershot Canteen in England, his mother, Hannah, lost her voice entirely in front of a tough, noisy audience of soldiers. 

Pulled from the wings, the young Charlie was led onto the center stage by the stage manager. He sang the popular tune "Jack Jones," collected in a funny caper the tossed coins while drawing laughter, and mimicked his mother's hoarseness to a delighted crowd. 

Chaplin, in brief, understood very well the pangs the poor face, but lack the voice to make them known to the world. Hence this masterpiece, critiqueing the materialistic machines released relentlessly by capitalism, continues to be a silent movie even in the 'talkies' era. 

Pratima Agnihotri 

Collaboration, thy name is work!

 Have you heard the Japanese folktale entitled "Motomoro"? Momotaro means  "Peach Boy." Once upon a time, long long ago, an old woman finds a giant peach floating down a river. When she and her husband cut it open, a baby boy pops out.

 The kind couple name him Momotaro, and bring him up lovingly. He grows up to be very strong and brave. As a young man, Momotaro leaves home to fight evil ogres on Onigashima (Island of Demons). His parents pack special millet dumplings (kibidango) for the tough trip.

On the way, he meets a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant. All of them are hungry. He shares his dumplings with them. In return, the animals agree to help him in his quest. The group reaches the island, and breaks into the ogre fortress.

The battle with the wicked ogres is less fierce and fearsome because Motomoro's friends share his travails. The dog bites the ogres' legs, the monkey scratches them, and the pheasant pecks at their eyes. Momotaro defeats the chief of the ogres. They take back the stolen treasure and return home rich and fulfilled. Momotaro and his family live a happy life.

Multiple versions of this folktale are available, with concessions being granted as per the country of origin. Why does the generous young hero in each version win the life defining battle? His victory is due to two basic qualities. To begin with, he does not suffer from any "attitude." He understands the needs of one-n-all, and reaches out even beyond species. 

The second best quality is that he has thus acquired most naturally and normally friends who are willing to help. Such allies make the toughest job a child's game. The moral of the story is that if you are generous, you may meet friends n colleagues whose collaboration would make any job easy n fulfilling.

Pratima@ Our very own epic "Ramayana" is a great example of such an attitude. Lord Rama is the godhead incarnate. In this particular avataar, he is the prince of a powerful province. Yet he is humility personified.

He is friendly with everyone, man, beast, bird, even trees, if Bhavbhuti's "Uttara Ramcharit Manas" is some proof. No caste, no creed, no species stop him from forming friendships, Nishad Raj Guha, Rakshsa King Vibhishana, the monkey master Sugriva, Shabari, the little squirrel, the monkeys and the bears; the list is endless. Why, Lord Hanumanta becomes his right hand!

Lots of lessons for all to learn from the Ram Katha, right?

Quote of the day:                                                         "Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean." So says Ryunosuke Satoro, a famous and respected Japanese writer.

Word of the day: collaboration                                  Collaboration means when two or more people or groups work together as a team to reach a shared goal, create something new, or solve a problem. It relies on open communication, sharing skills, and combining different ideas. 

Soupçon, In Memoriam, V. Iv

                             Soupçon III                                                        In Memoriam Series                                                           V.iv

In my opinion, truly noteworthy are the unmistakable literary echoes in "Modern Times". Let us look at the allusion in the scene when Ellen steals bread. She is an orphaned street urchin running after stealing bread, with police in hot pursuit. The Tramp, however, takes the blame on him.

The allusion to the beginning of Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" is unmistakable. The Tramp thus is an example of the solidarity that the rejects of the society often share, though they may not be as humane as the priest in Hugo's novel. 

Chaplin is, after all, interested in creating a comic effect. Any sentimentality is hence out. It is hence shown that this noble plan is so as to return to the jail which in itself is ironic. The alibi that apparently saves him, too, is a comment on the empty conscience, attempted when conveniently nothing is at stake.

Yet another major allusion in the Hut Sequence as well as in the final walk in to sunset is  to Voltaire's world weary "il faut cultiver notre jardin." Such a sensitive alternative with its "back to nature" message continues to make this film relevant today, given the climate crisis.

Pratima Agnihotri