The Myth of Sophistication

A few days ago I started watching Revolution. It is a series about the lives of people in a world which does not have electricity anymore. The treatment of the matter is quite macabre and it shows how the civilized people turned into clans of violent warriors who would even kill others for a very few resources. To even consider such a behavior from us ‘sophisticated’ people was a bit appalling for me. I convinced myself that what has been depicted in the show is a hyper-exaggerated version of fiction. But what I chose to ignore was that every piece of fiction derives itself from morsels of reality. Each story however fantastical it maybe, has to have some roots in truth.

It was the time of Diwali and I had gone home to visit my parents, who incidentally were invited to this function in the club with some of the other very respected and high standing people. Naturally I tagged along and it was that day that I saw how primal men can become. Everything about that evening was curt and pretentious until the dinner was served. It was the event manager’s lack of foresight which caused the food being prepared only for about 150 people while the actual headcount exceeded 400 people. The servers and waiters foresaw the epic ruckus which would ensue soon and they conveniently disappeared somewhere. And that’s when it began.

The one thing that I have mention here is that the people who come to these shindigs are generally very suave and very gentlemanly. So it was nothing short of cultural shock for me to witness the behavior of these ‘gentlemen’ later on during that fateful evening. The food was short. The few people who were fortunate enough to be first in line grabbed whatever they could and snuck away into some private cove to enjoy their spoils away from the eyes of a few hundred hungry men and women. Once the food was gone, people started getting antsy which led to a pandemonium of people breaking all decorum and raising their voices (which is considered a cardinal sin). I have never seen a container of food being so clean. People always leave some tit bits here and there, but on that day they were spic and span, almost as if no food was ever there. I watched these “sophisticated” people licking their plates and silvers. Later on as the mayhem progressed, I saw people actually snatching food from others plates. Some of the people began trading, one piece of tandoori roti for a chicken piece and so on.

That whole night was not infuriating for me (as many people later described it) but rather amusing. It was a prime example of an aberration in human anthropology. Since the advent of civilization, people have found it necessary to portray their best behavior in public. We hide behind the veil of expensive suits and nice ties whenever we are going for something important, just to trick the others into thinking we are evolved social beings devoid of any primal urges. We try to live every day in denial of the fact that we humans, like any other animal are slaves to our basal instincts. Even Maslow’s theory of needs supports this argument. We advocate to anyone who would listen to our advice to be themselves, yet we ourselves live a life of concealment and deceit. Isn’t it a bit hypocritical?

So why don’t we not be ashamed of being a savage? The reasons are far more complex than simple logic. The above view is nihilistic and unrealistic. The very basis of our society and the civilization are those lies and deceits and in order to maintain the order and harmony, we have to follow those rules. Everybody knows in their hearts what will happen when push comes to shove and things spiral out of the ‘established norms’. But until such a time comes, we put on a smile, wear nice clothes and try to keep our basal instincts at bay to maintain the dirty little secret of us “cultivated people”.

The Rain Song

It’s a rainy day and I am alone again

Now it’s a part of life, all this pain

Yet I smile at all or some

Coz I hope that girl is about to come

Rain gets stronger and nights grow longer

Watching couples run around just seems wronger

Still I choose to dance and hum

Coz I hope that girl is about to come

Now the rain is about to hit its peak

I am almost at the end of the path I seek

Still I don’t stop hoping and stay numb

Coz I still hope that girl is about to come

The rain seems to be slowly fading

All I have written on the page is the heading

I feel as if the lonely heart string is about to strum

Coz I sense that girl is about to come

Now the rain has almost come to a halt

I see a girl looking almost without a fault

I see in her a reason to lose my glum

Coz I think that my girl has finally come…

Silence

Silence is golden. This is an age old adage and has proved its veracity on many-a-occasions over the period of time since its inception. But in this modern world, some serious doubts have been cast over its pertinence. Today we live in a noisy world where everyone is out to beat their own trumpet. Every person is trying to out-blabber each other in a very vain and mild hope of being individualized. It’s a talker’s world out there and people have the tendency to talk and miss hearing everything that may be important.

Listening, once touted as a skill in itself, has now been rendered the inconsequential sidekick of the real clincher – oration. In fact the people who have good listening skills are thought to be losers and are metaphorically placed at the back of the class, while all those loudmouthed dimwits adorn the front rows.

Do you remember the last time silence between a two people sitting alone wasn't uncomfortable? There is a constant need in us to fill up the void of vulnerability with vacuous gibber-jabber. All of this has led us to a point where each one of us is trying to find out that one person with whom we can be comfortably silent. That one person with whom you don’t really have to talk to communicate. Finding that person has become a pain in the ass job in this raucous world.

When those guys came up with the adage, they were onto something. Silence can be a golden as it gives the listener time to ponder and can also be used as a psychological manipulation tactic. I am not saying that one must vow to remain silent always, just that people today need to listen to what others are saying too.

Sometimes it is good to enjoy the music rather than listening to the lyrics. There was a reason why movies like Barfi, where both the leads were deaf and dumb, attract such huge crowds. Everybody yearns for a little silence. And its not like all of us should become good listeners, otherwise who would do the talking? But every now and then, when the mutinous child inside you rebels, just use common sense because a single silent moment in a pandemonium is worth cherishing.

Ek Choti Si Love Story

It was a breezy morning. The winter chill had just started to settle in and was already showing signs of another cold couple of months. There was dampness in the fallen leaves signalling the return of the ever-mythical dew. The sun rays were cutting through the overcast clouds and emerging from the weariness of the night.

And that’s when I saw her…

The morning cup of tea from the local hawker on the sidewalk had never tasted better. I was just beginning to feel the colour returning to my pallid exterior. I was wearing my noise cancelling earphones and was slowly rocking to the tune of Lifehouse’s ‘You and me’. I felt a shove from behind. I turned just in time to see a pedestrian riff raffing through the early morning meagre crowd. I was about to shout an abuse when my eyes caught a glimpse.

There she was, about 50 yards away, the most amazing creation of God. Frankly I have never been a big believer in the term ‘love at first sight’ but at that moment my whole logic came crashing down. She was wearing a light blue coloured salwar kameez and had a serious looking file in her hand. As soon as I saw that I decided that she was the typical Indian girl who was modern yet uncompromising in her belief in the traditions. She was wearing beige coloured Kolhapuri sandals which were not only accentuating her freshly nail polished pink toes but also giving her an air of meticulous carelessness. The sun reflected something metallic on her wrist. It was a Titan Raga wristwatch. A fine taste in watches is one of the things I admire about in a woman and she certainly fit the bill. By now I was straining my eyes to search for the two most disheartening signs in a woman – the ring on the left ring finger and the small tinge of red on the forehead. I could find neither of those. An amount of euphoria was slowly making its way inside of me.

Suddenly she looked at me. Our eyes met. It was like a bolt of lightning had gone through me. I held the gaze. In one quick but graceful motion she put on her glasses. She started approaching me. I just froze. Was it possible that a goddess from heaven, sent on this earth to bring humility to all the other women, was walking towards me? I dismissed the thought as wishful thinking. The distance was rapidly diminishing and yet I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. It was almost like I was in the song that I was listening to. As she came closer I could see that there was just a faint presence of make-up which actually came as a welcome change from the sights I had been privy to lately. Not a hair on her black medium long mane was out of place. Inexplicably I visualized her combing the hairs of two little kids in the future.

She was now dangerously close to me. My heart beat faster with each passing moment until I saw her pouty lips coming together to form a smile. That’s when my heart skipped the clichéd beat. Could she be smiling at me? Could this girl be flashing her near perfect dimples at a simple earthling like me? These were the questions my mind was asking when she stopped in front of me. I could feel my limbs going numb and my tongue getting swollen inside my mouth. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. She did it again but still I couldn’t hear her. My mind was just too busy wondering to actually make sense of what was happening in front of me.

Then I saw her make a gesture to remove earphones from my ears. Although it was a mildly awkward moment, it felt like the most embarrassing moment ever. While I was busy falling unconditionally and irrevocably in love with her, I had completely forgotten about the blaring song in my ears. I immediately removed the earphones and apologized to her. She smiled and hesitated a moment. In those silent milliseconds, I was hyperventilating and I had forgotten to breathe.

She slowly said “Do you know where I can find Tagore Bhavan?”

What a bitch!!