Media is a huge shaping factor on the fabric of any society. It shapes the public perception on a plethora of issues thus influencing the very dogma of society. As even a comic caper can tell you, with great power came great responsibility. But the mass media has exploited the fore said powers left, right and centre. News deliverance from the media houses is based on trust. It is supposed to be unbiased, objective, fair etc. and it should help the subscribers form their opinion based on content. In these days with sensationalism the difference between fact and opinion seems quite blurry. The pioneer of the sensationalism, commercialization and the birth of lobbyists like Nira Radia has been the Times of India (TOI) in our country.
This biased based reporting is rampant in India especially; but the very first company to plunge into this dark phase has been TOI. The TOI kicked off the trend with its eyeball garnering supplement called ‘page 3’. With the advent of this phenomenon people desperately wanted be in on this. More so the celebrities as their livelihood depended on garnering these eyeballs. So, to accommodate the needful TOI began milking this cash cow and page 3 space began to be auctioned. The evolution had just begun; soon TOI began to actually receive equity shares of companies in exchange for redundant barrages of advertisement in their papers. Today the Bennett Coleman group stands to be one of the largest private equity investors in India. Then came the actual conflict of interest. As a major chunk of their revenues depended on these companies it only made sense for TOI and Economic times to publish favorable reports of these companies in their paper. Only when SEBI saw a dangerous pattern emerging it was guide lined.
But in doing so the revenue model was transgressed onto another feasible platform. A platform that was proven and productive for any earnings through corruption. The Indian political sphere. Today, as I experienced even a common man sipping chai in a tea stall can tell you, which news channel is affiliated to which party. What better ways for these political parties to advertise than to have the disguised ‘ideological eunuchs’ on their payroll.
The political parties pay the newspapers to print glowing articles about the party in exchange for money and the reader is duped to believe the article as a fact when in reality it is just another paid advertisement thus influencing the proletariat. The Radia tapes have actually broken the credence of our business trust spectrum as well. We thought the Ambanis and the Tata’s were on two different ends of the spectrum but only to know that they were actually quite close. It shows how well the media has toyed with its reporting to form public opinion. Not since the days of emergency (at least to public knowledge) do the media have such a compromised poise.
And now with the political connections of the media being exposed, the TOI has evolved into a new avenue; it has sold its masthead, the paper jacket too to companies. Can’t wait to see what is next. While the rape is underway, I will stick to DD News as it seems like the only boulevard where facts are not compromised for opinions.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The IT Boom/Doom
Chest Congesting News: Infosys hires 26 employees from my college for an annual pay packet between 7.5-8.5 lac p.a. I sincerely hope people regard this article as more than a mere justification of jealously (is it at a sub conscious level?), I’m sure my close friends who have been hired by the above firm will approve! I have nothing against the company whatsoever; I think Infosys is a company that is extremely proficient and competent in our market and a pioneer of the Indian MNC revolution. Why the chest congestion then?
I am not singling out Infosys alone but a lot of these IT companies in India. What these IT companies end up doing to their employees is program them to be mechanical (follow orders) than be thinkers. How many engineers we hear of who are from non related fields like mining, environmental,civil being captured by these IT companies and are turned into IT professionals in a non related field. The saddening part is these IT companies always employ the crème de la crème of the targeted colleges. Moreover, these companies are purely judged on their profit making capabilities, their contribution to the GDP and immense hiring capabilities. Looking at the IT space right now you could see barring a few exceptions, companies have stuck to being basic off shoring companies and doing the needful for their onshore clients. They haven’t moved onto the next level. They are happy catering to Microsoft, GE’s needs without an entrepreneurial drive. Can these IT companies become the next thing? YES THEY CAN, both as a start up on a individual level and for a company! We are blessed with all the resources sans spirit. Their objectives is achieved through charging clients on the basis of hours put in and rake in the moolah, without the client knowing what the quality hours that have been put are. They slog to work for the profit and net worth of a company and then it is absorbed. Every other week we hear an IT firm being bought over.
A brain drain is usually addressed to emigration candidates for a plethora of reasons as may be, but here I would like to lay emphasis on this phrase on a different level. I think it as an antidote for the entrepreneurial spirit because of the high pay packets and security offered by the software industry. Some of my very own friends who have been employed by Infosys are very enterprising young men. But by stifling them with the pay packets and security (mans most primitive need) they have them be penguins in the industry. Every time I meet IT guys from the industry everybody wants to talk about the menial jobs that they have and how they do not feel appreciated at a humane level and also with regards to abilities explored. I guess it is the monotony that gets to them. There are quite a few who break the shackles after a few years, make their money and move on. But the majorities of us are creatures of habit and tend to get habituated in our accumulated comfort zone.
I sincerely hope people become aware of the other side of the success story. We do not need these self destructive penguins setting a precedent in the market. I am aware of the loan repayment objective of students. But hope they don’t get too comfortable. If we want the next big online presence from India like Zuckerberg, action stemming from awareness is the key!!
Note: Chest congestion is a redundant ailment of mine!
I am not singling out Infosys alone but a lot of these IT companies in India. What these IT companies end up doing to their employees is program them to be mechanical (follow orders) than be thinkers. How many engineers we hear of who are from non related fields like mining, environmental,civil being captured by these IT companies and are turned into IT professionals in a non related field. The saddening part is these IT companies always employ the crème de la crème of the targeted colleges. Moreover, these companies are purely judged on their profit making capabilities, their contribution to the GDP and immense hiring capabilities. Looking at the IT space right now you could see barring a few exceptions, companies have stuck to being basic off shoring companies and doing the needful for their onshore clients. They haven’t moved onto the next level. They are happy catering to Microsoft, GE’s needs without an entrepreneurial drive. Can these IT companies become the next thing? YES THEY CAN, both as a start up on a individual level and for a company! We are blessed with all the resources sans spirit. Their objectives is achieved through charging clients on the basis of hours put in and rake in the moolah, without the client knowing what the quality hours that have been put are. They slog to work for the profit and net worth of a company and then it is absorbed. Every other week we hear an IT firm being bought over.
A brain drain is usually addressed to emigration candidates for a plethora of reasons as may be, but here I would like to lay emphasis on this phrase on a different level. I think it as an antidote for the entrepreneurial spirit because of the high pay packets and security offered by the software industry. Some of my very own friends who have been employed by Infosys are very enterprising young men. But by stifling them with the pay packets and security (mans most primitive need) they have them be penguins in the industry. Every time I meet IT guys from the industry everybody wants to talk about the menial jobs that they have and how they do not feel appreciated at a humane level and also with regards to abilities explored. I guess it is the monotony that gets to them. There are quite a few who break the shackles after a few years, make their money and move on. But the majorities of us are creatures of habit and tend to get habituated in our accumulated comfort zone.
I sincerely hope people become aware of the other side of the success story. We do not need these self destructive penguins setting a precedent in the market. I am aware of the loan repayment objective of students. But hope they don’t get too comfortable. If we want the next big online presence from India like Zuckerberg, action stemming from awareness is the key!!
Note: Chest congestion is a redundant ailment of mine!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Tiger Hills - A Review
Sarita Mandanna’s debut effort in the literary world spawned interest that was unheard of in the Indian literary world of late. Her effort has invoked the highest price for a debut novel by the very reputed London based Penguin book house. The wait is well worth it as Sarita Mandanna has spun a tale like no other. The novel is teemed with post Victorian influences in the exposé of the complexities of characters and the turbulences of human emotion.
A native of Coorg Mrs. Mandanna has delved into the intricacies of the land and actualized the land as the main character itself. It makes me yearn for the undefiled salutary land that Coorg once was home to. The picturesque means in which Mrs. Mandanna has painted Coorg makes me homesick staying hardly a 100kms away. An outsider reading this book would probably feel like a tourist lured and never wanting to leave this land. An aspect of this book that brought me great pleasure while reading the same was the means through which the bio- fauna and the attributes & lore of the martial race of the Coorg’s have been bought forth.
It is a story that spreads itself across three generations from 1860’s to 1950’s. It is an expose of the cultural connotations of the land in the ages of colonial power and provides an insight into the generation of my forefathers and their way of life. As I moved through the 400 odd pages it made my chest swell of the pagan culture that we harbored. My pride was basically caused as a result of the intrinsic means through which the Coorgs connected to their environs.
I do not want to paint a picture of the story so as to spoil the thrills of it as most reviews would. I believe, not conceitedly, that it is a good read and would give a valuable insight into how an agrarian society evolves into an accommodating one with it not being a standalone society but an influenced one!
A native of Coorg Mrs. Mandanna has delved into the intricacies of the land and actualized the land as the main character itself. It makes me yearn for the undefiled salutary land that Coorg once was home to. The picturesque means in which Mrs. Mandanna has painted Coorg makes me homesick staying hardly a 100kms away. An outsider reading this book would probably feel like a tourist lured and never wanting to leave this land. An aspect of this book that brought me great pleasure while reading the same was the means through which the bio- fauna and the attributes & lore of the martial race of the Coorg’s have been bought forth.
It is a story that spreads itself across three generations from 1860’s to 1950’s. It is an expose of the cultural connotations of the land in the ages of colonial power and provides an insight into the generation of my forefathers and their way of life. As I moved through the 400 odd pages it made my chest swell of the pagan culture that we harbored. My pride was basically caused as a result of the intrinsic means through which the Coorgs connected to their environs.
I do not want to paint a picture of the story so as to spoil the thrills of it as most reviews would. I believe, not conceitedly, that it is a good read and would give a valuable insight into how an agrarian society evolves into an accommodating one with it not being a standalone society but an influenced one!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
GENDER DISCRIMINATION AND AN APOLOGY
What provoked me to write an article about gender discrimination and female infanticide? My sister!! She has always been on my case about me receiving preferential treatment from my parents. I have always been nonchalant about it; naturally so as I was at the receiving end. But recently my mum remarked that I was a spoilt brat and my sister has always received so little of their attention and despite that has been an achiever. My initial reaction was I had not asked for it? Was I to blame? Giving it more thought I remembered how I used to demand attention and throw a fit if I did not get it. One instance I clearly remember was when my sister was not well and she could not attend school, I took a stance saying that if she didn’t go I would not too. So my mum packed us both off to school. I do not think she has still forgiven me for it. All my cousins and aunts have always lavished attention on me as I was the only son and my dad was also the only son of 7 siblings. But it wasn’t the same with my sister she always got subpar treatment. She sometimes got so distraught that she actually used to wish she could grow a ‘DICK’!!
The Indian society itself is a patriarchal society by nature. Even when we talk of the heydays of being a woman in India, the role of women was primarily to look after the man and the carrier of the lineage. An irony is some of the heralded women of the ages gone by had macho attributes in their personality. It is by honing these attributes they were termed to be great. They are often called great because they treaded onto the male domain to impose themselves. Why does a woman have to be compared to a man to highlight their greatness? In talking about the view about women a very saddening trend has emerged in India of late especially rural India. Pre birth sex determination India is rampant and a lucrative business.
Women are such an integral part of our lives. We cannot live without them right from the day we are born. A woman brings us into the world, bathes us, feeds us, sings us lullabies and does all our dirty work. As we get older she consoles us, delights us, talks us to us when we get sad, angry, irritated etc. as we hit puberty their roles change; our first crush, our first kiss, the first love and culminating in the sanctity of a marriage. We would do anything to woo them to win them over. And then suddenly the spark is gone. We start taking them for granted; we do not need them anymore not as a daughter not as anything. We are suddenly convinced we can make do with a male society. We do not need women anymore. A son is suddenly of primordial importance. The heir to all our family culture, the man who will be the quintessential ‘baap ka beta’ . The son who will show society what the family is all about and keep the light shining on the family legacy. The saddening part, even the women in the family favor the idea. In rural India it is more practical in nature as a woman can only marginally add to the income but a man is much more productive. The maintenance cost of a woman is very high as there are a lot of cosmetics cost, make up, an array of clothes and jewelry to provide and of course dowry. When a girl is born in the family they have to start saving right from the beginning as the bridegroom’s family will expect gifts. And also there is the added responsibility of keeping the street leeches away from your daughter. It adds up to quite a burden as opposed to a male child.
How do we change this social stigma? The most obvious would be education. Talking about education I actually came across a very well respected and educated couple from Mysore who resides in US who went all the way to Bangkok to get a sex test done. But education is important and we will have exceptions and is the way to go. The lifestyle for women in rural India must be made better or on par with the male productivity. It is already being done with the microfinance companies encouraging borrowing and entrepreneurship. Abolition of dowry must be made stringent. The theatre’s showing soft porn should be made to show hard porn too and get more of these theatres in rural areas, legalize porn. Those desperate males will have an outlet for their frustration at least. The ideas may be a bit radical, but it seems the only way to go. Cheers to a bright future for Indian women.
SORRY SISTER, IT WAS LONG DUE!!
The Indian society itself is a patriarchal society by nature. Even when we talk of the heydays of being a woman in India, the role of women was primarily to look after the man and the carrier of the lineage. An irony is some of the heralded women of the ages gone by had macho attributes in their personality. It is by honing these attributes they were termed to be great. They are often called great because they treaded onto the male domain to impose themselves. Why does a woman have to be compared to a man to highlight their greatness? In talking about the view about women a very saddening trend has emerged in India of late especially rural India. Pre birth sex determination India is rampant and a lucrative business.
Women are such an integral part of our lives. We cannot live without them right from the day we are born. A woman brings us into the world, bathes us, feeds us, sings us lullabies and does all our dirty work. As we get older she consoles us, delights us, talks us to us when we get sad, angry, irritated etc. as we hit puberty their roles change; our first crush, our first kiss, the first love and culminating in the sanctity of a marriage. We would do anything to woo them to win them over. And then suddenly the spark is gone. We start taking them for granted; we do not need them anymore not as a daughter not as anything. We are suddenly convinced we can make do with a male society. We do not need women anymore. A son is suddenly of primordial importance. The heir to all our family culture, the man who will be the quintessential ‘baap ka beta’ . The son who will show society what the family is all about and keep the light shining on the family legacy. The saddening part, even the women in the family favor the idea. In rural India it is more practical in nature as a woman can only marginally add to the income but a man is much more productive. The maintenance cost of a woman is very high as there are a lot of cosmetics cost, make up, an array of clothes and jewelry to provide and of course dowry. When a girl is born in the family they have to start saving right from the beginning as the bridegroom’s family will expect gifts. And also there is the added responsibility of keeping the street leeches away from your daughter. It adds up to quite a burden as opposed to a male child.
How do we change this social stigma? The most obvious would be education. Talking about education I actually came across a very well respected and educated couple from Mysore who resides in US who went all the way to Bangkok to get a sex test done. But education is important and we will have exceptions and is the way to go. The lifestyle for women in rural India must be made better or on par with the male productivity. It is already being done with the microfinance companies encouraging borrowing and entrepreneurship. Abolition of dowry must be made stringent. The theatre’s showing soft porn should be made to show hard porn too and get more of these theatres in rural areas, legalize porn. Those desperate males will have an outlet for their frustration at least. The ideas may be a bit radical, but it seems the only way to go. Cheers to a bright future for Indian women.
SORRY SISTER, IT WAS LONG DUE!!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
AGRICULTURAL MNC’S AND ALCOHOLICS: AN INSIGHT INTO VALPARAI
A few weeks back me and two friends rode into a quaint and pre colonial hill station called Valparai. The town has very minimal tourists and is a haven for people who enjoy self exploratory trips and would definitely put the overrated Ooty to shame. The station is filled with a lot of tea estate holding companies who mainly export their produce. We were acquainted with a certain Mr. Abhay of Tata Tea who was courteous enough to let us stay in his house.
I was pleasantly surprised with the amenities provided for his designation (assistant manager). He had 3 people to look after his household chores, a gardener, a sweeper and a cook. All his bills right from electricity, phone up to his fuel (100 ltrs quota) were all taken care of. What’s more his CTC was around 22-25k; this seemed like my dream job. The initial infatuation faded as 3 pegs of whiskey went down with the sun. We got talking about his hobbies and how he killed time. Alcohol, phone calls, clubs and parties amongst the managers ruled the roost. The lifestyle seemed like a desperate attempt to negate boredom. The only real hobby seemed to be photography, which I noticed was prevalent amongst all the estate managers. It then occurred to me that the offered lifestyle was a legal bribe the agricultural MNC’s were onto to pave the way for people accept a lonely job. Speaking to the HGM in a party a few days later, my doubts were confirmed when he said the most important criteria in selection was if a person was disposed to a lonely life in an estate. Speaking to other managers some of them told me they started consuming alcohol only after they joined this job. When I suggested to them about such a wonderful opportunity for them to save money, they burst out laughing. They blew up all their money on alcohol and parties! Every alternate day they have a party and take turns hosting it. Their capacity for alcohol was also incredible; most of them could down a bottle easily. All the women who were married to the estate managers taught at the local schools for a paltry sum of money. They loved the parties too and were excellent hosts and conversationalists.
After a few days at Abhay’s house we went to meet the manager of Bombay Burma trading company, Mr. Prashanth. A lot of these estates have their presence around South East Asia and Africa as Mr. Prashanth informed us. We got to look around the tea factory. The wage scheme followed here was really a piece of work. The workers were paid daily wages until 3 in the evening and they could work if they wanted to after that for extra wages; so at an average they earned about 200-250 Rs a day! No wonder looking at the net I found that Valparai was ranked about 7th in the wealth index of India. They seemed to have struck quite a balance between employers and employees which is quite unheard of in India. Later on we visited another assistant manager Mr. Aiyappa. Being a close friend of mine from Madras Christian College more dark sides of the job were revealed by him as he spoke of backstabbing, laborers trying to scare him and of course rampant alcoholism. Knowing my personality it really seemed like a suicide mission in taking up this job.
I left Valparai with a really heavy heart but fully aware which job would best support me if I ever plan to write a book!!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Hayavadana
I recently decided to see a play at the Ranga Shankara theatre in Bangalore out of sheer boredom. It turned out to be a real interesting evening. I went in not expecting much, but boy was i surprised? The Ranga Shankara is Bangalore’s theatre supreme and is managed by Mrs Arundathi Nag. The theatre is an ode to the erstwhile actor Shankhar Nag. He was a man of many facets as seen in his oeuvre. He is amongst a few select people who have won national awards for acting (Ondanondu Kaaldalli) and directing (Accident). The Ranga Shankara premises are excellent and it is a true propagator of theatre to mainstream audiences as manifested by their ticket prices, Rs 50 and even better, the hall was air conditioned! What was even more remarkable was the punctuality and discipline maintained in the theatre. They started right on time and intervals were initiated with bells and there was no entry to all the latecomers. Brilliant, considering our attitude of swalpa adjust maadi!
The play was titled ‘Hayavadana’ and was written by Girish Karnad. The play was punctuated by some belligerent performances from the production house, The Benaka group. To give a brief outline of the play, it was the story of two friends; one a Kshathriya and a wrestler named Kapila and the other a learned Brahmin, Devadutta. They end up falling in love with the same woman, Padmini. Suspicion and drama climax with both of them ending up committing suicide at a Kali shrine. A distraught Padmini is saved of her suicide attempt by the appearance of Kali (A special mention to the actor who played the uber cool Kali). The two men are brought back to life by Kali, but with their heads transposed. Both men are extremely joyous at the result, much to the relief of Padmini. It seemed like they both desired each other’s strengths so much that they were least bothered by the absenteeism of their initial strengths. Kapila becomes Devadutta’s body and Devadutta becomes a wrestler and a man of knowledge. I could not understand why Kapila was celebrating as he lost his wrestlers body and gained the body of a Brahmin. It soon was clear that it was for Padmini, Kapila’s argument being she should go with the body of Devadutta rather than the head. An enraged Devadutta dispels Kapila with his swanky new wrestler body and they walk away to their house leaving a distraught Kapila; who goes into exile. The rest of the play focuses on how the bodies gradually transform to match their heads and how Padmini is left with discontentment. A parallel plot is also in the play, the story of a Hayavadana, a half horse half man who yearns to be complete. He finally becomes a complete horse rather than a complete man!
This play is the embodiment of incompleteness and fallacies, from all the characters involved. The title of the play is actually of the sub plot than the main play, an attempt to show fallacies exist in all facets? The differences between the two friends are brought out well in the initial part of the play. They both are very much human and incomplete as they are shown appreciating each other’s qualities throughout the play leading on to jealousy and suspicion. Padmini’s character that seemed to be shaping up well also exposes her inadequacies when she lusts after Kapila after the heads are transposed, culminating in her going to find solace in Kapila. Lord Ganesha is also brought on in the beginning of the play, a symbolic gesture in the play of the lord’s shortcomings as well, because of his elephant head and human body. The play of transposing heads actually implying transposing realities. The play poses a question as to the conflict we often face if to go with our head or our body characterized by Padmini’s dilemma, her choice of the head is in trend with social dogma of our times. The play also highlights man’s go-getting attitude to better oneself in spite of his limitations, as manifested by how the bodies adjust to their heads after being transposed. The comic relief was provided by the two talking dolls and Padmini’s son essayed brilliantly by some cute tots.
The style of the play was audience involving and very different from western theatre. It drew a lot from rural theatre. The play was laced with folk songs, although the lyrics were tough to understand. It was a narrative style wherein the Bhagavatharu (narrator) poses questions to the audience and involves them with the characters and the complexities they face. There seemed to be a lot of Yakshagana style music and dance involved in the play. Another dance form was the Byalata style. All in all it was an excellent play, production and evening made prolific by two of Karnataka’s theatre stalwarts. Thank you Mr Girish Karnad and Rangaguru B.V. Karanth!!
The play was titled ‘Hayavadana’ and was written by Girish Karnad. The play was punctuated by some belligerent performances from the production house, The Benaka group. To give a brief outline of the play, it was the story of two friends; one a Kshathriya and a wrestler named Kapila and the other a learned Brahmin, Devadutta. They end up falling in love with the same woman, Padmini. Suspicion and drama climax with both of them ending up committing suicide at a Kali shrine. A distraught Padmini is saved of her suicide attempt by the appearance of Kali (A special mention to the actor who played the uber cool Kali). The two men are brought back to life by Kali, but with their heads transposed. Both men are extremely joyous at the result, much to the relief of Padmini. It seemed like they both desired each other’s strengths so much that they were least bothered by the absenteeism of their initial strengths. Kapila becomes Devadutta’s body and Devadutta becomes a wrestler and a man of knowledge. I could not understand why Kapila was celebrating as he lost his wrestlers body and gained the body of a Brahmin. It soon was clear that it was for Padmini, Kapila’s argument being she should go with the body of Devadutta rather than the head. An enraged Devadutta dispels Kapila with his swanky new wrestler body and they walk away to their house leaving a distraught Kapila; who goes into exile. The rest of the play focuses on how the bodies gradually transform to match their heads and how Padmini is left with discontentment. A parallel plot is also in the play, the story of a Hayavadana, a half horse half man who yearns to be complete. He finally becomes a complete horse rather than a complete man!
This play is the embodiment of incompleteness and fallacies, from all the characters involved. The title of the play is actually of the sub plot than the main play, an attempt to show fallacies exist in all facets? The differences between the two friends are brought out well in the initial part of the play. They both are very much human and incomplete as they are shown appreciating each other’s qualities throughout the play leading on to jealousy and suspicion. Padmini’s character that seemed to be shaping up well also exposes her inadequacies when she lusts after Kapila after the heads are transposed, culminating in her going to find solace in Kapila. Lord Ganesha is also brought on in the beginning of the play, a symbolic gesture in the play of the lord’s shortcomings as well, because of his elephant head and human body. The play of transposing heads actually implying transposing realities. The play poses a question as to the conflict we often face if to go with our head or our body characterized by Padmini’s dilemma, her choice of the head is in trend with social dogma of our times. The play also highlights man’s go-getting attitude to better oneself in spite of his limitations, as manifested by how the bodies adjust to their heads after being transposed. The comic relief was provided by the two talking dolls and Padmini’s son essayed brilliantly by some cute tots.
The style of the play was audience involving and very different from western theatre. It drew a lot from rural theatre. The play was laced with folk songs, although the lyrics were tough to understand. It was a narrative style wherein the Bhagavatharu (narrator) poses questions to the audience and involves them with the characters and the complexities they face. There seemed to be a lot of Yakshagana style music and dance involved in the play. Another dance form was the Byalata style. All in all it was an excellent play, production and evening made prolific by two of Karnataka’s theatre stalwarts. Thank you Mr Girish Karnad and Rangaguru B.V. Karanth!!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
ART IMITATING LIFE OR LIFE IMITATING ART?
Convention has always dictated that ‘art imitates life’, i.e. until the 18th century English literature maverick Oscar Wilde propagated his anti-mimesis theory. He was the first advocate of the ‘life imitating art theory’. He based his theory on the belief that the theory is “not merely from Life's imitative instinct, but from the fact that the self-conscious aim of Life is to find expression, and that Art offers it certain beautiful forms through which it may realise that energy”. I am not going plot a differentiation between platonic realism vs. romanticism in this article, I merely quote Wilde to prove how right he is in the Indian context of ‘Bollywood’.
The argument of life imitating art or art imitating life is one of the common arguments baffling critics. One of the few instances one can convince a declaration on life imitating art is in our own Bollywood. Not just Bollywood but Indian cinema. The Indian cinema is so deeply embedded in the Indian psyche that people believe what happens on screen is the reality around them.
The way we treat our heroes and villains is testimony to that. They are not just actors as the emotion of the protagonists and the people are entwined in Indian cinema. There have been instances of people hating the character of the villain so much; Puneet Issar who injured Amitabh Bachan on the sets of 'Coolie' could not find work for a long period of time because of the accident. The instances are numerous; the government seemed convinced when they banned smoking on screen. They thought kids would be influenced by the heroes smoking on screen. By actually banning it, the bad boy image that goes with smoking was glorified even more. Just take a look at a typical Indian cinema, it is romanticism and senseless idealism, the attributes are plenty in this context. The stereotyping of social classes is plenty, and the dances, where do i even start? The censor board actually censors what is realism and keeps the fantasy part of it on the reel. The dances are laced with jhatkas and matkas of the heroes & heroines; subtle and not so subtle indications of what they want to do to each other (licking their lips, thrusting their pelvis all over the place, biting the tongue and lips to show how strongly they feel for each other) CENSOR THIS! From such movies stems the perfect anti hero on the Indian street. The guys think if they make catcalls the girls will find a compliment in it somewhere, like the regional movies. Indian cinema has shown time and time again that perseverance and aggression is the key to get a girl. How many cases have we heard of women/girls being raped because the boy liked the girl so much that only he should have her? What does he do? Rape her! A tainted girl will obviously want to marry soon enough and given the Indian male’s hypocrisy for virgins, he is the alpha male she has to choose ( Raja ki aayegi barath). The portrayal of Indian women has traditionally been weak too albeit a few films, that were critically acclaimed.
I am not generalising Indian cinema to just life imitating art, it is just excessively found to be so. There are wonderful cinemas that have portrayed art imitating life too, especially in the recent decade. The multiplex era has appreciated the Indian intelligence and grown in stature ever since. But they seem to have been looking westward for inspiration, inspiring a new argument. ART IMITATING ART?
The argument of life imitating art or art imitating life is one of the common arguments baffling critics. One of the few instances one can convince a declaration on life imitating art is in our own Bollywood. Not just Bollywood but Indian cinema. The Indian cinema is so deeply embedded in the Indian psyche that people believe what happens on screen is the reality around them.
The way we treat our heroes and villains is testimony to that. They are not just actors as the emotion of the protagonists and the people are entwined in Indian cinema. There have been instances of people hating the character of the villain so much; Puneet Issar who injured Amitabh Bachan on the sets of 'Coolie' could not find work for a long period of time because of the accident. The instances are numerous; the government seemed convinced when they banned smoking on screen. They thought kids would be influenced by the heroes smoking on screen. By actually banning it, the bad boy image that goes with smoking was glorified even more. Just take a look at a typical Indian cinema, it is romanticism and senseless idealism, the attributes are plenty in this context. The stereotyping of social classes is plenty, and the dances, where do i even start? The censor board actually censors what is realism and keeps the fantasy part of it on the reel. The dances are laced with jhatkas and matkas of the heroes & heroines; subtle and not so subtle indications of what they want to do to each other (licking their lips, thrusting their pelvis all over the place, biting the tongue and lips to show how strongly they feel for each other) CENSOR THIS! From such movies stems the perfect anti hero on the Indian street. The guys think if they make catcalls the girls will find a compliment in it somewhere, like the regional movies. Indian cinema has shown time and time again that perseverance and aggression is the key to get a girl. How many cases have we heard of women/girls being raped because the boy liked the girl so much that only he should have her? What does he do? Rape her! A tainted girl will obviously want to marry soon enough and given the Indian male’s hypocrisy for virgins, he is the alpha male she has to choose ( Raja ki aayegi barath). The portrayal of Indian women has traditionally been weak too albeit a few films, that were critically acclaimed.
I am not generalising Indian cinema to just life imitating art, it is just excessively found to be so. There are wonderful cinemas that have portrayed art imitating life too, especially in the recent decade. The multiplex era has appreciated the Indian intelligence and grown in stature ever since. But they seem to have been looking westward for inspiration, inspiring a new argument. ART IMITATING ART?
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