I remember reading a story by Ray Bradbury called ‘The Fog Horn’ in school. The story told of a sea monster that rises from the sea during thick fog after hearing a fog horn and falls in love with a lighthouse. Now I didn’t remember the message of it nor the quality until I read it again after a long time but what I do remember is that all of us with our puny 9 or 10th grade minds had laughed a lot at it.
For last few days Delhi has been suffering because of one of the densest fogs that I have seen. Yesterday the nightmare started when I missed my turn and got onto the Greater NOIDA expressway. The 23 km long way has no exits and it took me almost two hours to traverse through the 46 kms in the fog. I have never been afraid while driving, neither had I had trouble driving in Scotland without Petrol and I have rarely faltered under the influence of alcohol or deprivation of sleep. But, I was scared yesterday. I am not sure what it was, the uncertainty of Indian traffic or the spooky nature of the dense fog. It really seemed that I was in a horror movie in the middle of the night, it was around 2 at night when this happened.
So the 2009 has passed us by and it was a year of tumultuous changes across the world.
Let me start by some things that have been sad and tragic first. The story that has been on my mind since last couple of months has been tragic suicide of 14 years old Ruchika in 1990 and subsequent fight for justice by her friend and family.
One of my favourite TV programmes of all time has been ‘Law and Order’. I used to watch so many back to back episodes of it that my uncle and aunt used to go crazy. However, the first season, season with Chris Noth and Micheal Moriarty, in one of the episodes the judge says, “I am appalled. We often say that public officials are not above the law but that’s not enough, they serve the law and if they don’t respect it who will.” This holds truer with the police force.
Now here we have a gentleman & a high ranking policeman who molest a young girl and when she complains goes through a length of things to conspire against her and her family. She commits suicide. Within these 16/17 years of her death he flaunts his power, wins police medals through corruption and at the end when a mockery of justice is done by giving him a 6 month jail term he smiles. His smirking smile on the day when walked out of court with his wife was something that would drive any sane person to look for vigilante justice.
Maybe due to apathy towards our system, maybe because of fear of law or maybe just due to good sense no one in this country resorts to a la ‘Rang De Basanti’ kind of justice. However what has started to happen is the public outrage in the Rang De Basanti format. People take on to street with protests and media takes upon itself to get the justice. Most of the times we sit, watch and comment on such cases but sometimes we are moved and we really want justice for those who have been denied.
We were taught in school that a democracy stands on three pillars ’Legislature, Executive and Judiciary’, however in the modern times the fourth pillar is free media. Free Media is as important and if not more. It could stand up as the fourth pillar or act as a gel between the three and the masses. But in the recent times media has become bigger than what it should be. Most famous trials are now run on TVs. We make our decision on who is right and who is wrong long before the judiciary can give its verdict. I am all for free media but where are we headed. Till now fortunately we have had this in extreme circumstances but we shouldn’t get to a point where like in the US negative or positive both kinds of influences from media are frowned upon and also sometimes cases are thrown out of courts because of large media involvement in them or even decisions influenced. Who can forget the O. J. Simpson trial or Clinton-Lewinsky fiasco.
We need a more balanced and pragmatic approach to it and some kind of restriction has to be placed on media in cases which are under judiciary. I am not saying any kind of censorship but we surely need some kind of self regulatory mechanism. Now as Rathore has been denied bail and some people have been jailed at least in this case we see some movement for the good, but couldn’t we have done this 19 years ago.
Another sad story is Pakistan itself. Absolute mess and as an outsider I see no signs of hope. More than 13800 violent deaths and over 3000 deaths directly because of terrorism, this is not something that could be swallowed. Most people living under the gun somehow accept the fate and start looking for small windows of hope. It is only when you move away and look from an outsiders perspective you get a better bird’s eye view of things. I am sure that a lot of Pakistanis are still hopeful and each passing day when a bomb is not blown up or children are not killed brings hope of and the end to this massacre. Now if you look at Pakistani news channel you get a totally different picture of things especially in Urdu media. How anti Muslim and anti Pakistani countries like, US, India and Israel are conspiring against the Pakistani state. I laugh and say yes these are the countries who are responsible for corrupt politicians too, who try to sign the deal with terrorists as it happened in Swat. Some of the commentaries are so hilarious that they could even make a hearing challenged laugh. I am not sure where the problem lies. Is it lack of democratic establishments? Is it mullahs? But then there are good mullahs too. Is it politicians? But then there have been dictators too. However I think the problem is a far bigger one.
Harsha Bhogle had once said that sports teams performances are very much linked to how the country is feeling in general. The debacle of Sydney Test tells you exactly what the mood in Pakistan is like? That is called snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. I think since Imran Khan there has been no good captain. I think same is the case with Pakistan in general. Its ability to create leaders is poor to say the least. The only people who have been able to give it a little stability were dictators who came from Pakistani Army. The feudalistic landlords work on their own whims and fancy, these are the only people who rise to the top in politics and for that matter any major organizations. Most of these people have absolutely no stake in Pakistan as a country. I always believed that feudal can never become good leaders because they don’t rise through the ranks. They don’t have to fight it out.
I think the biggest issue Pakistan and India for that matter should be concerned is that the Taliban is now prevalent in almost all parts of Pakistan. So called Punjabi Taliban is a real bad news. Another sad thing is that Karachi which seemed to be immune to it has been hit right the end however the problem seems to compound when it is not Taliban but the old menace of MQM vs. Rest rivalry.
No solution can be reached in Pakistan until someone puts their hand up and says that I would solve this problem.
Michael Jackson’s death was another shocker. Every time I think of MJ all I think about is all those magnificent years in MHOW when for the first time we had videos of BAD and Thriller in the mid 80s. I still have the old ‘BAD’ LP. I stopped following him around Black or White but as an outsider I thought he was misunderstood person. With ‘Thriller’ he broke all sales records and with ‘Billy Jean’ he broke all laws of physics. His ‘BAD’ was probably one of the biggest sellers outside the US and ‘Man in the mirror’ & ‘Heal the world’ showed his softer side to the world. All controversies aside he was the biggest entertainer that we have seen. My favourite track though is ‘The way you make me feel’.
A lot of good things also happened in 2009, a year ago the world was in a gloom, and people didn’t know how long the depression would last this time around. But a year later the world is upbeat again. Investments are flowing back again.
India became world number one in cricket, a long hard process which was started under Ganguly-Wright combination took India to top, at the turn of last decade when we had just been thrashed by Australia a certain change took place. Indians started to realise that being world beaters at home is not sufficient. We were ‘Ghar ke sher’ and as Steve Waugh had put India as his Last Frontier, sadly he never conquered it. Of course in my eyes we owe this to the magnificent 4 plus Sehwag to this. They played their hearts out on their sleeves. First time since mid 80s, we had a team which could stand up against anyone in any condition. Two triple hundreds in a decade were last time achieved by Sir Don in 1930s and his dominance over the bowling wasn’t seen until Sehwag came into in his own. He could win India a match in one session of blistering batting. Tendualkar was his usual great, 20 years of playing professional sport and he hasn’t lost his edge, that is something that we all can carry with us. Ganguly and Laxman were always standing up tall. There is one thing to win but cricket is a great game where you can lose as quickly as you can win, that is why it is known as the game of glorious uncertainties. Here the man who was always standing between India and defeat was India’s wall called Rahul Dravid.
2009 gave very few good movies, generally the quality was poor. 3 Idiots became a very big hit but I thought it wasn’t in the level of Hirani’s Munnabhai series. Someone described Hirani as modern Hrishikesh Mukherjee, but in my eyes he lacks the earthiness of Hrishikesh da. Another problem with 3 Idiots I have is that it puts clichéd characters into forefront. As Amir Khan will tell himself that it is only hard work & diligence which has made even this movie work and not just the genius. Though I agree that we need reforms in education but I think that should be more at school level. Also, it is not that bad at the top level, even if our examination system is bad but I am product of the same system and I wouldn’t trade those vehemently fought wars with my friends over various topics for anything else. I owe them a lot for what I know even after 15 years. Nehruvian dream of IITs and IIMs has produced people who are now putting their own mark on the world. I really hope that instead of students turning into guys who piss on their Director’s door they understand the hidden meaning of the movie of being unconventional. Path is what makes a MAN not the destination.
I guess there were only 3 other hits last year, one was Love Aaj Kal. Giselle Monteiro, a Brazilian was hot and gorgeous as a Punjabi girl and my favourite two songs of the year come from this movie, ‘Aaj Din Chadheya’ and ‘Chor Bazari’ is something which is closer to my heart, I can easily identify with the younger Saif in the movie. The other one was ‘Dilli 6’, good attempt & great concept but Rakeysh Mehra couldn’t create the magic of ‘Rang De Basanti’. Though I was absolutely amazed by the success of ‘Genda Phool’, I am not sure what attracted people to this song, very simple folk song with modern beats. The third was ‘Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani’, the less I say about that is better.
Another important change that happened this year was that Delhi state allowed Gay rights by decrimilising it. Gays and Lesbian (actually LGBT) were always more accepted in our life’s and now the law made them too. However I have always believed that changes in laws are as important as changes in perception, sometimes law moves ahead of public opinion and sometimes it follows, in this case it is setting the trend. As I learnt more about our past this year especially the Mughal past I became more inclined to accept LGBT. I am attaching a clip of interview of Vikram Seth on this matter on ‘We the People’. I think he summarizes the situation better than I can put it down in words here.
It is not only the year 2009 has ended but the decade of 2000s too. This decade would be known in the world for two things. One is of course terrorism. Wars on terrorism are still going and it seems that it would at least go deep into next decade. The US and most democracies across the world have taken a few steps backward when they forgot Benjamin Franklin’s famous words, ‘Any society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.’ Liberty and freedom is the corner stone of democracy.
Another thing would be the levelling of the world economic order. First there were two camps and then one fell over the edge and we were left with one major force. Though the US is still the biggest economy but this decade’s story is the fight between China and India. This is story right out of Ayn Rand’s book; it would have made her proud. China is winning the economic war as of now and India the war of ethics and principles. Would I ever compromise my democracy and liberty for better roads and more money, I guess I won’t, but I know some people don’t think that way. Who would get the girl at the end of the book would be found out maybe in 10 to 15 years. The battle has just begun.
If we need to compete with the world our problem lays both inside and outside. Inside we need to make sure that the penetration of good life seeps deep inside our society. One of the biggest problems of 1000 years of subjugation is that poor become really poor. They are poor not only economically but they lose the ability to think. After the glory years of Guptas in the middle of the first millennium, India fell into a lull. Most Muslim rulers who came from outside were conquerors. Apart from some like Akbar, most didn’t have the depth and understanding of Indian masses and their good at heart. One of the biggest problems with the Mughals even if they settled down and made this their home was that from Babur to Aurangzeb everyone kept concentrating on expansion rather than ruling. Akbar was brilliant, he ruled with the same fervour as he expanded. For an illiterate man he had the most brilliant group of people to assist him, Todarmal, Abul Fazal, Maan Singh and Birbal did what should have given India a new scientific and more liberal outlook. Sadly his successors got trapped in thinking that their coffers and religion were more important than advancement of their people. Grandeur that we know about Mughals and Rajputs (who were hand in glove with each other after Akbar’s accession) during the hay days was just a charade of success of India. This pompous and elitist life style was taken over by British which suited them to core as they came here to rule. The grandeur at the top was over the top, most of the world still sees India from that grandeur, however, most people forget that till 1947 our masses had lived for almost 1000 years in abject poverty in the shadows of these huge palaces with unimaginable money. First time in last 10 years we are seeing a paradigm shift in Indian attitude but these needs to be deepened.
Second problem, India would face that most of its neighbours are in horrible shape. I think India should do more, play more active role in this area. We need to help develop Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Pakistan and then only we all can combine to counter the larger world.
With EU consolidating itself as one unit, Japan, Russia, Brazil and South East Asia running as hard as they can it is really becoming a flatter world. A flatter world with more powerhouses is a very good thing for the world. Somehow in a few years we really need to see a truly democratic multi-national establishment.
However so much has happened in this decade that it is impossible to cover everything in one blog.
For me this decade was filled with lots of ups and downs. However the only thing I can say is now I dream far bigger than ever before. The age of reason has hit me, in this when most men become self defeating and start to cover their inability to dream anymore in the monotonous nature of family life or in some kind of religious activity, I have still been able to keep my hopes up. I thank my family friends and maybe the person up there for it.
But the year and the decade has passed us and like ‘We didn’t start the fire’, we can’t end it either, the world moves on and hence I quote a poet called ‘Akbar Allahbadi’, I heard this couplet somewhere but it feels so apt here,
‘Khuda ka Khudai par harsu amal hai,
Taffaqur main phir kyon jaan apni hai khota,
Jo kuch hua Akbar samajh theek ussi ko,
Zaroori na hota to hargiz na hota.’
To end I go back to the fog and ‘The Fog Horn’, I love fog and the mist. The romance could be because while growing up I saw very little of it. Maybe for a few days in deep winter we had fog for a few hours in central India. But ...
What fogs us from looking further into the future? What makes us revive our deep hidden emotions and passions and listen to the unknown call? What makes us fall in love with something that is sometimes benign, something that we don’t like or want to be with?
I am always perplexed. At the end maybe it’s just a passing phase too.
