I am shocked as to why, Slumdog Millionaire could not make it that big to the Indian Box Office? Was it because it was directed by a foreign director Danny Boyle, and it is well known that foreign “stuff” hardly ever pamper the intellect of majority Indians?
Like since the year, Valentine’s Day arrived to India, somewhere around 2000, when it became conspicuous, not because it was a day when people in love expressed their feelings, but because, it was an opportunity for the orthodox extremists to come up with their moral policing.
I have grown up hearing my parents talk about “today’s generation” going out of control, that they are extravagant, confused, getting out of touch of morals, forgetting their “roots”.
But I never asked ~ why the bias in subconsciously acknowledging that the previous generation was not just a bunch of confused, selfish, crazy spendthrifts?
Our generation did not bring down the Babri Masjid.
Our generation did not burn people like Graham Stein, misinterpreting their benevolence as a tactic for religious conversion.
Our generation did not rape Christian nuns, to prove our religious dominance.
We are preached that Hindus and Muslims are brothers and sisters, that our society should have religious tolerance. We have to cram list of fundamental rights and duties, to pass our social studies examination at school.
“Right to equality”, the fundamental duty to strive for excellence, promote harmony and brotherhood.
That Jawaharlal Nehru was the closest to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation.
Then I question, was Nehru a man of our generation that he couldn’t wait for Mahatma Gandhi to be at the national capital when he proudly, selfishly made the tryst with destiny?
That he was so desperate to declare independence at midnight, that we could never see true freedom, in the dawns of more than half a century?
We are to abide by the constitution and promote brotherhood, then why didn’t Nehru put aside his political whims and step down to honor Jinnah with the post of Prime Minister? Isn’t sharing and trusting your brother with an equal opportunity called brotherhood?
We were sissy enough to give away half of our country to the immature craving of political authority, then why did they show their “nationality” when it came to giving away the state of Kashmir? And when we did own Kashmir, why did we do it partially?
That was not our generation ~ outright practical and honest, they were the past generation whose decisions were midwifes to their minds pregnant with selfish motives, and our generation is yet learning how to mollycoddle the pampered child of hypocrisy which their minds gave birth to.
It’s the consequence of that dual standard attitude, that now, pretension, and bias has left no social issue untouched. It’s spread like malignant cancer.
Why else, would holding hands on some “14th February” appear obscene, but gang-raping a nun in the church seems quite justified?
How can, kissing in public, be judged as vulgar, just because it pushes the button of some sick pervert voyeur and bashing up girls publicly not portray nauseating masochistic male chauvinism?
Why argue about Ram sethu bridge, which according to popular Hindu mythology, was built by the much revered Sri Ram, to rescue his wife from the clutches of Ravana? What was the point of rescuing her when you had to doubt her and put her through a test, just to check on her sexual purity? And then abandon his pregnant wife, without caring a hoot for your “moral” responsibility as a husband, and as a father.
The present generation in better, who marries sex workers, widows, and fights for the rights of homosexual marriage, because the present generation values love, above social, moral, sexual and even the status of gender.
The so called adherents of Sri-Ram, assault and abuse, people of this generation, claiming to be the protectors of Indian heritage and culture, justifying incursion as moral policing. Well, indeed they are!
Yesterday, my dad asked me, do you want to go out for a drive, had it been any other day, I would have squealed out a yes, but I just answered ~ dad, it’s Valentine’s Day.
He looked at me confused, and said~ so what; would they beat me up too?? I’m your father.
I didn’t answer back, he thinks I was convinced by his point, but~~
Would they even care, whether he’s my father, for them, he’s a man, a middle aged man, and I am a young girl. The combination and permutations they would conclude are much more than obvious…
Well, some people aged 40-something, would still shrug and comment~ As if the present generation doesn’t rape and do anything wrong.
Yes we do.
Well, rape cases, and sexual offences against women are rising, and I admit, they are committed by our generation. But even that’s due to the dual standards set by people of the past generation, malls, mushrooming up in the foreground of slums, where leave alone sex-education, the growth is promiscuous and in the dungeons of ignorance.
Scheming out policies of equality to vouchsafe vote banks, and yet practice disparity among equals.
And when someone, tries showing the reality, the complacent fools will shamelessly speak~ “India’s growing each day, and these foreigners will always show the dirty side, and please themselves by relishing their affluence in comparison to our backward areas.”
Ignorant phoneys are all that most of those moral people are. With their reasoning drugged with bias, honesty in the sepulcher and selfishness guised in the robe of preservation of our “rich heritage of composite culture” a euphemism for ~ a divided nation with divided ideologies and beliefs, with a communal heritage.
But what I believe is that: We should take the faults of others with the same kindness that we take ours in, and I am of this generation.
Perhaps all the pink chaddis gifted to Sene guys, bring a li’l bit of humility in them, making them humane in handling the very place where they have come from. “No innuendos”! Just a li'l bit of "this generation" satire.
