The Mindful and the Mindless

The other day at my CAT class I was asked to put forth a topic to demonstrate how exactly a group discussion will take place in a college qualifiers. And the obvious topic that sprung into my mind was Moral Policing in India. Out of my mouth rolled the example of Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty kissing controversy. Shilpa defends the act saying that it was just Richard’s way of “communicating” with his audience, choosing to enact a scene from his movie “Shall We Dance”. Now Richard, having worked with Indian NGOs much earlier, should have realized what he was getting himself into with that simple action. True to the boot, the truck drivers enjoyed the show, but I guess someone should have cautioned Gere about our “Moral Police” whose sense of duty to the nation overwhelms them each time a couple holds hands in public or when a student tries to express his creativity showcasing his skills, or a play that is a little too “loud” for a city’s tastes. Out comes the banners, the effigies and the PIL’s. The sensationalism and the sentimentalism. Where has the secular India disappeared too?

It was Nehru's dream that India should be secular. But the country which is world renowned and accepted as the urn of culture, art and peotic beauty in every form is being shunned by the very people she bears. M.F.Hussain was spurned and a fatwa was declared against him for the obscene drawings that hurt the sentiments of Hindus in India. I being a hindu also, did check out the drawings and somehow did not find anything degretory about them. In fact it all depends on the eyes of the beholder. M F Hussain, as well as the artists who have careved out even more erotic art on the walls of temples and rock sites, are merely expressing their take on things. If the Moral Police is to object to his portrayal of their Gods, then first ask them to have a good look inside their temples and later question a person from another religion.

Perhaps that is the issue. That Hussain is from another religion. Or Chandramohan from Vadodara, though a Hindu, belonged to a clique of people who had a mindset that was never understood by common folks. Being a religious devout does not require you to go up in arms when someone creates a situation where your Gods seem to be in the bad light. At first understand the reason why the represenation was such. Secondly, even if it was in a bad light there is absolute no need for uncalled hooliganism. the only people benefitting from all the action are the TRP ratings of news channels. The people who propogate such anarchy must be ashamed to call themselves Indians. Why dont they first examine their own lives before pointing fingers at others.But more importantly the politicians who do not intefere in such issues counting on the large vote bank are to be blamed. On the outside, India takes a neutral stance when dealing with other countries. Polictians proudly quote Gandhian principles at U.N assemblies. the very same hypocrites now either keep mum or take the stand with the vote bank. Such Shame!

India 2020 was our Presidents dream. Well, Mr. President our country does not need superpower or investements to build up its position as a world superpower. We do not need children who will study and become successful engineers, doctors, agriculturists, scientists, feminists and such. Instead what we all need is a good lesson of Moral Science. What we need is cultured, tolerant people who are able to empathize with creative freedom. People who should watch out for injustice when an Actor goes scot free for killing an endangered species, when a well connected boy escaped with a mere 6 month sentencing for taking the lives of 8 people. The same people who marched against the pure blatant unjustness and bought two killers of innocent women to book. The very nation that prayed for the life of an 8 year old boy who dropped into a well and had little chances of recovery. Not the effigy burners, the celebrity next door making TV channels, not the needless publicity and public outcry. Instead of merely putting up a face on the outside, we should learn to cultivate it from the inside.

A country that was once a not just a dream of one but of many.

Mother, I salute thee!

Rich with thy hurrying streams,bright with orchard gleams,

Cool with thy winds of delight,

Green fields waving Mother of might,

Mother free.

With many strengths who art mighty and stored,

To thee I call Mother and Lord!

Thou who saves, arise and save!

To her I cry who ever her foe drove

Back from plain and sea

And shook herself free.

In thy soul, with jewelled hair

And thy glorious smile divine,

Loveliest of all earthly lands,

Showering wealth from well-stored hands!

Mother, mother mine!

Mother sweet, I bow to thee,

Mother great and free!

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee