Of Expression...

"The most important thing you wear is the expression on your face" – author unknown

We often tend to underestimate the power of expression. Anger, love, frustration, despair, passion, rhythm, music – every single aspect of life comes with its own unique expression, and such expression can be a potent force. Expressions are inherent to us; as human beings, the most sophisticated of all creatures, we have complex expressions covering a diverse plethora of emotions. Say, for example, the frown. A frown may be angry, it may convey worry, it may be a sign of deep thought. A smile can be weak, bright, vapid, warm, fake. There is so much we can do merely through expression. One cold look can freeze an aspiring eve-teaser. A genuine, comforting smile from that special person in your life can lift your mood in the blackest of days. A single look of anger from Mother can bring on remorse. A word of love can keep you warm from within even when the world turns against you.

Which is why I fail to understand – why on earth do we tend to suppress our emotions so much? Everywhere around me, I see people wearing tense, controlled expressions on their faces. Social intercourse is rarely spontaneous; there is always an element of caution. People never, ever say exactly what is on their minds, preferring instead obvious lies which fool nobody, but are accepted by everyone. Spontaneity, I would again like to reiterate, has been gunned down somewhere down the line. And is life any better? I need not even bother answering.

Gone are those days when love would be impulsive, natural and artless. Instead, love today has become a complicated science – there is a correct age, a correct time, a correct process. People rarely respect the sanctity of that particular word – it is either thrown carelessly (like trash in a dustbin, to use an apt simile) or not used at all out of fear. And we wonder why relationships are becoming so shallow? The answer is simple – only because people never express what is actually on their minds.

In politics, diplomacy and lies has always been the accepted way to go. I, frankly, am tired of the same rhetoric being spewed out at us in endless different ways. Why doesn’t anyone speak out openly when things are so obviously not correct? Why does no politician oppose reservations even though everyone knows they are ethically wrong? Why are people allowed to get away with communal rioting? I, for one, know I am not the only one who feels like screaming in frustration – Express the truth, Goddamnit!

We need to be exactly what we are. By that, what I mean is that we have to act exactly the way we think. If you’re feeling happy, smile broadly  and laugh and sing, just like you would do when you were a two-year-old. If you’re sad, sit alone and cry your heart out. If you’re angry, vent out. If you’re in love, let the other person know, and never mind whether he/she reciprocates – after all, you express first and foremost for your own sake. Being blank and expressionless is actually the worst insult one can throw at anyone, as it shows that the other person is not even worthy of reaction.

All those magazines and  self help books  which tell us to hide our feelings, and try to create a mysterious aura around us deserve to be binned (if not banned). A naturally reserved person should just be happy the way he/she  is; similarly, someone born expressive should not try to cover up his/her intrinsic personality. Such brutal murder of the spirit should never happen; it is a sin.

All said and done, life has no meaning without expression. Imagine a danseuse moving mechanically with no spark of emotion on her face. Imagine an actor merely mouthing dialogues with no feeling. Imagine a singer only keeping tune and rhythm without putting any soul into the song. And, lastly, imagine being blank all the time. A nightmare society of zombies is certainly not what humanity is about. Which is why I always thank God for Mr. Bean, Meena Kumari and Mithun Da. For even over-expression can be a lot better than nothing-ness!

So what we need to do is – just be! Be ecstatic, be passionate, be eccentric – be just the way we feel like being. Only then can we hope to discover ourselves, and from then on, discover the world.

In This Difficult World, We are Fashionably More Indifferent than Before.

(This is a tribute to an inter-school debate that we attended today in the idyllic campus of Sarala Birla Gyaan Jyoti. I'd like to dedicate this to Manosha and Bhargabi for giving such wonderful inputs that helped me write these debates, as well as doing such a great job of delivering them!)

FOR:

             

              At the outset, the first thing we need to ask- WHAT IS FASHIONABLY INDIFFERENT? Let me elaborate on the motion for the benefit of the house. What is fashion? The Oxford Dictionary defines fashion as a prevailing custom or style, set by and in conformation with society. Indifference is a state of not being concerned about any matter. So, the house today debates over whether, in the present era, being disinterested has become a greater trend than earlier.

            Today’s world is one of extreme communal tension, of caste based conflicts, gender bias, fundamentalism, and the list goes on and on. Everyday, the morning dailies flaunt headlines of honour killings, murders in the name of God, etc. It is a world of marked contrasts – on one hand, we have an elitist section that lives in the lap of luxury, on the other we have a staggering 1.4 billion people around the world who are unable to even meet the basic necessities of life. The Martian would wonder, how could anyone be indifferent in such circumstances?

             But, the fact of the matter is – we have become so used to hearing about rape, loot, murder, massacre, communal rioting, hunger, that we have become, in a way, desensitized to these issues. To be sure, we discuss the issues within the safety of our drawing rooms, we rue the state of the system, we loudly proclaim the need for change. Deep down inside, however, we have become fundamentally indifferent.

               So, in that context, I agree with the topic. Yes, we are fashionably indifferent. By and large, the trend is to treat matters of importance with distance; as long as it does not concern or affect us blatantly, we refuse to even acknowledge the presence of problems. At most, an issue invades our minds till there is media hype surrounding it; once that is gone, the issue lies forgotten. Meaning what? Meaning that within us, it was never of any value. For instance, three years ago, in our own city of Guwahati, there was an infamous case where a young tribal lady agitating on behalf of the All Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam, was publicly stripped. Sadly, she remained in that condition for quite some time before one – yes, just one – person had the humanity to lend her his shirt. What was everybody doing while she was being molested? How could this even be permitted in a civilized society? And finally, does bringing this incident to media attention mean that public indifference will decrease? I beg to differ. We remain FASHIONABLY indifferent.

                Kashmir, flamboyantly described as heaven on earth, has, ever since independence, been in a state of constant turmoil. Yet, globally, and even the territory of India, it is ignored. Apart from the usual worn out media reports every once in a while, there is no action taken to resolve conflict. Even the players in the matter themselves are becoming indifferent to the plight of the people. Meanwhile, Kashmir continues to burn.

                 Let us not confine ourselves to political issues. Let us examine the raging matter of the hour – the environment and global warming. We all know the ins and outs of the problem. We know that our resources are getting depleted, that pollution is reaching an all time high, that 30,000 species are going extinct every year. BUT. Does mere  awareness translate into action? Again, we remain FASHIONABLY indifferent.

                 Speaker sir, when we look back down the years, it is hard to identify exactly when this trend of indifference seeped in. We belong to the nation of Bhagat Singh and Kanaklata, of Swami Vivekananda and the greatest name of all – Gandhi. This was a time when even the general public, elite AND grassroot – was concerned about society and humanity. Even globally, people would always speak up for what they believed; hence the French, Bolshevik and American Revolutions. But today? The average individual has become dispassionate.

                   However, being fashionably indifferent does not always have to have negative connotations. As I perceive it, being indifferent could also mean being impartial, being free from prejudice, being free from bias. Indifference is silence, and silence, in the words of Lao Tzu, can be  a source of great strength. Often, Problems emerge in the world not because of indifference, but because of excessive commitment to unworthy cause.

                    As per the definition of fashion, it is set by society, meaning US. So, it is we who have the power to decide what we should be indifferent towards. Coming back to the argument, my point is that we definitely SHOULD be indifferent towards all those elements that are seeping through society and tainting it, that are hindering progress, that are, in short, making the world a difficult place to be in. For instance, had the existence of religion been ignored in the realm of politics right from the outset, we would perhaps have never faced epic catastrophes like Godhra, the Kandhamal massacre, the Babri masjid demolition and the riots that followed, and maybe even Partition. Yes, we ARE fashionably indifferent, but it is up to us to change the nature of this indifference, so that it can be used as a positive force to make the world a better place to be in.

AGAINST:

 September 11, 2001: Two twin towers standing proud against the New York skyline came crashing down before the horrified eyes of the entire world. After this incident, people could no longer ignore the nexus of terrorism spreading its tentacles across the globe. If anything, people are now even more concerned with terrorism than before.

February 21, 2006: Manu Sharma, the main accused in the murder of Jessica Lall, was acquitted. In the following months, thousands raised an uproar over the blatant miscarriage of justice, forcing an appeal and finally leading to his conviction.

12 January 2010: An earthquake with a catastrophic magnitude of 7 on the Richter scale rocked the Caribbean country of Haiti. Even as images of death and destruction filtered out, governments, organisations and people from all over the world, came forward to extend a helping hand.

Speaker sir. These are not instances from some long forgotten era. These are very recent situations where people and governments alike responded actively to issues that affected them. So, keeping in mind such cases, I stand firmly against the motion before the house.

The motion states that, in this difficult world, we are fashionably more indifferent than before. The key word here is ‘before’. I believe that as compared to the past, we have become far more sensitised to the world around us at present. Fashionable indifference – the very term indicates a general trend of indifference setting in. BUT, in today’s era , the buzzword is to care. It is an age of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, of Child Rights and You and Equality. It is an age where the media instantly takes up an issue and exposes it before the eyes of the world - as the recent COMMONWEALTH GAMES debacle has so aptly proven. Now, I believe that we have become far more alert and aware than in the past.Case in point. Until very recently, the so-called upper castes of Indian society did not even consider the lower classes human. This was a classic example of ‘fashionable’ indifference. But with the advent of Gandhi, Ambedkar and minority rights, there is no question of indifference at all. From then to now, we have come a long way.

In today’s age of globalisation, Every aspect of life is now so interconnected that it is no longer possible to remain indifferent – fashionably or otherwise. Like say for instance, the war in far-off Iraq led to a hike in oil prices globally. So, indirectly or directly, we could not remain indifferent to the matter.

Let us now talk about the Right to Information Act, 2005, a potent public weapon, which has successfully exposed corruption scams, led to self empowerment and justice. Not just India, over 60 more countries have similar laws which are for the most part, effectively used. The very existence, and subsequent success, of such acts is a testimony to the fact that we are NOT indifferent.

Typifying the entire society all over the world into the category of ‘fashionably’ indifferent is a sweeping generalisation. The average citizen today is far more alert and responsive than his counterpart in the past.  “If moderation is a fault then indifference is a crime”, said Jack Kerouac, and I trust that by this definition, we are not a society of criminals just yet.

(This got us into the finals of this prestigious debate...and it was one of the best debates, with one of the best teams that I have ever given. Please comment left, right and centre!)

Adolescence - the big 'A'

Where is the defining boundary line when we stop acting like children? Is it, as popularly stereotyped, the moment we turn thirteen? One moment, we are still in a world of fantasy and make believe; the next, we get involved in the intricacies of life – careers, relationships, stress, even substance abuse. All the while, there is the constant feeling of being misunderstood all the time, the paranoia that everyone is out to deride us, the anxiety of having to live up to countless different expectations from countless different sources. Being an adolescent, especially in present times, is a challenge – this fact has become a cliché, perhaps an exaggeration, courtesy all the unrealistic sitcoms and movies that make a mockery out of the essence of adolescence (Mean Girls? 10 Things I Hate About You? Never Been Kissed? - need I elaborate?).

This, for want of a better word, problem, is relatively new to India. In a land where, until recently, the word of the Family Elder used to be law, where people rarely intermingled with members of the opposite sex before marriage, where partying meant formal dinners or festivals, it is no wonder that issues like drugs, premarital sex, underage drinking are still incomprehensible to most, especially those of the previous generation. No matter what distortions are made by popular TV channels broadcasting pseudo-modernity, the fact remains that a majority of us middle-class adolescents find it difficult to openly share all that we go through; there is a sense of taboo, of unwarranted guilt, of a need for someone we can unburden ourselves on.

          The first and foremost problem that every Indian adolescent faces is, (as we all know, as we have all been told through cinematic gems like Taare Zameen Par, but still choose to conveniently ignore) the pressure to excel academically. This manages to choke our thinking faculties in those very years when they are supposed to blossom. Creativity – in music, in sport, in drama, in any field – takes a huge backseat as we get suctioned into a rat race. Agreed, we churn out results, and exceptional ones at that, drawing praise from the likes of Barack Obama. But at what price? We sacrifice potential soccer superstars, unique photographers, extraordinary actors, perhaps even Nobel Prize winners, and in place we substitute them with mediocre, disinterested professionals. No wonder then, that the frustration levels are so high.

          Again, peer pressure has maybe never been as brutal as it is now. Superficialities of dressing, of speaking, of walking, of talking, of acting, of pretenses, of false friendships: these are no longer confined to the pages of teen magazines, but exist very much in real life. Attractiveness sells, and in this bid to be attractive – in the eyes of peers, at that - we tend to lose out on a lot of things that actually matter in life. And some of us, in increasing numbers, sadly take to alcohol, drugs and smoking. (“It’s cool!”; “It’s only one sip!”; “I need it to socialize.”; “It’s the way things are now!”)

          Being an adolescent myself, I cannot dole out sanctimonious advice as to what should and should not be done. What I can do is send out an honest appeal. What we need is our own space, our own time to think our own thoughts. We need love, we need guidance, we need to be taught to take our own decisions, to handle our problems. We need to know where to draw the line between enjoying life and hedonism. But ultimately, all we really do need is someone who will listen to us without passing judgment, without accusation; with empathy toward our life and problems.

          These are the best years of our life, when we discover who we really are, and form bonds of friendship and affection that last all our lives. We deserve to live these years to the fullest, getti ng the most out of them. After all, we are the future of this country, and the way we are will ultimately reflect what the country will grow to be. So, let us go ahead to seize the day – Carpe Diem! 

When it rained in Pakistan...

An image that haunts...

The child that you see sucking at an empty bottle is two-year old Reza Khan. He draws at empty air, while swarms of flies cover nearly every inch of his tender, infant skin. What is alarming is: he makes no attempt to swat away the flies; he is resigned as it were to his discomfort. Disturbing as it is, this is an image that needs to be put up before the world - it is the face of the flood crisis in Pakistan.

    In July 2010, heavy rains in different parts of Pakistan gave birth to devastating floods, with overwhelming statistics: 2000 dead, a million homes destroyed, and 21 million people rendered homeless. Even as the Pakistan pleads for aid from agencies across the world, the toll from diseases like cholera, malnutrition, sanitation problems, continues to mount. The infrastructure has been heavily damaged, and there is en extreme crisis of food still prevalent in the stricken areas.

   Floods are natural calamities, and there is, to my knowledge, no human power that can yet perfectly predict or stop a flood from occurring. What needs to be asked is - how can a flood have an impact so negative that even a month later, the crisis remains unsolved? This is a nation where the government reeks of inefficiency, corruption and political gimmickry. The government's response to the crisis has been disappointing and slow, to say the least. In face of humanitarian crisis, it did not make an attempt to sort out the problem as fast as possible; instead it delayed, even rejecting India's offer for aid initially before accepting it some two weeks later. Doubts have also been expressed as to whether the funds would actually reach the victims, or be drained away without a trace through the complicated web of corruption.

   A government's basic job is to look after the welfare of its people in the most efficient possible way. The government in this case would do well to remember this simplistic definition. In face of this crisis, the most immediate measures that could have been taken were instant evacuation, setting up refugee camps with appropriate sanitation and food supply to meet at least the basic calorie requirements. But perhaps to expect even this is utopia.

   Governments in developing countries across the world should best view these floods as an uneasy example of what goes wrong when disasters are not managed competently. Proper precautionary and post-disaster measures need to be prepared. Otherwise, every instance of heavy rain, drought, earthquake, fire, famine would create chaos.

    Meanwhile, Reza's bottle remain's empty...

Making Sense from NOISE

NOISE includes everything that defines the way we are today. It has become an inherent part of our lifestyle, our culture, our attitudes, US as a race.

Why exactly do we need to be so utterly indifferent and impatient about everything important, and so concerned about baseless, senseless bits of life that neither help us nor make us happy?

NOISE:

·                     In India: Oh yes, without doubt the noisiest nation in the entire globe. A country that creates riots for religion, caste, creed, language, but remains deafeningly silent when it comes to things that actually need to be addressed. Let's shout about Taslima Nasreen and M.F. Hussain, but remain dumb about Irom Sharmila.

·                     In Music: This is a field where we can talk about noise literally! Melodies and harmonies, symphonies and rhythm are fast becoming a thing of the past. All we have is harsh, raucous sounds invading our ears. Bye, bye originality, hello distorted remixes.

·                     In Entertainment: The pointless flashy mess that includes modern serials, news, movies, et al leave an unpleasant aftertaste. These shows seem to be getting more mindless and more pointless by the day, while the entire segment of viewers has become an ugly monster with a mind like a sponge - which only absorbs, and never selects or reflects.

·                     In LIFE: Why is there so little to look up to nowadays? Why are there so few sparks of creativity and intensity to look up to? Why is there so much noise, but little clarity? Why do we blindly follow what is dictated by the flow of this noise? 

There are many, many questions that can be raised. But it needs thinking, logical MINDS to address them.

This blog is for those who have a voice and their own thoughts.

It's for people who refuse to be a part of cacophony.

It is for those who have a VOICE and want it heard above NOISE.