Break(ing) on through to the other side

Due to the widely excepted confessional nature of blogging, I offer one myself: I’ve been battling my snobbery, and have embarked on a self- help program to cure this ailment, to partake a regular dose of pop-culture, but my body still rejects it. It’s an ailment reinforced through years of me being secretly entertained by popular media, yet living in complete denial or simply banishing them from my world view in preservation of a precious self-image. (A note: there definitely is a substantial amount of garbage to sift through though, and certain artifacts of this world that are outright dangerous- “300” and “The Legend of Bhagat Singh” for their misappropriation of history; the later “Golmaal” movies for their distasteful portrayal of the disabled and the much-parodied, much-mocked “Twilight”, for its surprising ability to intellectually cripple a generation of young women.)


My eventual rehab might still take months to accomplish, but I’ve gathered a couple of insights in the process- a respect for the market, for one. I believe this respect stems from my marwari upbringing. To make my point, I cite two gentlemen, for whom I’d nurtured a peculiar disdain: Karan Johar and Chetan Bhagat.


Quiet recently, I’ve marched on from pure contempt to tolerance to a quiet admiration of these two. Chetan Bhagat, for instance: where Indian writing in English devoured caste/poverty, religion, post-colonialism, immigrant experience as its daily fodder, Bhagat recognized a potential market often ignored (and slightly ridiculed) by the English elite. Bhagat’s entertaining novels and lucid prose struck a cord with an audience who wished to read in English, but English was still a tentative second tongue. The English novels available to them in the market often came with westernized characters they couldn’t quite identify with, or novels with “literary” aspirations, difficult to read in a tongue not quite their own. I might not write a novel similar to Bhagat’s, or worship his work, yet to dismiss his writing entirely would be arrogance that “intellectuals” are sometimes (rightly) accused of. (Another note: “serious” writers, too, play to the market. Pick up almost any successful Indian novel in English from the past 20 years, and you’re sure to encounter at least one of the themes I just mentioned above.)


As for Karan Johar- firstly, I grew to respect the scale of his projects, the pressure somebody in his position goes through, often collaborating with dozens of technicians and artists in a year-long process. I also secretly enjoyed Kuch Kuch Hota Hai when it'd just come out (it's true, something something does happen) and later, liked Kabhie Khushi Kabhie Gham. Moreover, his movies developed and groomed a profitable market that Aditya Chopra first broke open. Having a clear sense of your market and then delivering a product successfully, and profitably, is also an art. (Though, I might begrudge his privileged clique, people who inherited their opportunities. Still, scoring those opportunities is a tough task, too, and Karan Johar did it commendably.)


Lesson learned: everything doesn’t need to be high art, high wisdom, to be valued or respected.

The Beginning

I write this first post at risk of a possible violation- douchebaggery.

Greet the sun, spider. Show no rancor.
Give God your thanks, O toad, that you exist.
The crab has such thorns as the rose.
In the mollusk are reminiscences of women.
Know what you are, enigmas in forms.
Leave the responsibility to the norms,
Which they in turn leave to the Almighty’s care.
Chirp on, cricket, to the moonlight. Dance on, bear.

-The Nicaraguan poet, Ruben Dario


Despite several references to the existence of God- and my reputation as an atheist- I found it hard to dismiss this poem entirely (Within my head I must’ve replaced ‘God’ with ‘Darwin’). Coming on the back of a difficult year- of doubt, creeping cynicism and worry- the poem’s optimistic note struck me pleasantly. A note (which I promised myself in an inebriated state on new years) I aim to elevate to a symphony. The neon sign above the entrance to my blog- “Enigmas in Forms”- is, as you might have noticed, extracted from the poem. I’ve interpreted these three words as a form of self-therapy- life is enigmatic, we are enigmatic, and at times, there isn’t much use dwelling on it. Among the lessons of 2010 is to quickly snap out of sessions of unhealthy brooding and acknowledge the unpredictability of certain things.


Yet another significance of this poem is that I discovered it in a collection of short stories- Women in Their Beds- by Gina Berriault, and this is my homage.
Women in Their Beds is one of those five books of short fiction I intend to love and be possessive about well into the far-far-future (And I still don’t know the other four). Another reason to guard this book fiercely is not the said writer’s obscurity but her neglected state. She is most definitely unavailable in India, but even here in the United States, her presence is slowly diminishing. A reason, which Gina’s husband (Leonard Gardner) brought up at one of his readings I was fortunate enough to attend, was Gina’s inability to self-promote (which- whether you like it or not- is critical in the writing world). At times Gina is talked of as a writer’s writer but beauty is beauty and this book is just gorgeous. I recommended it to everyone.

Well, to a year of thunderstorm writing and sunshine thinking!