.....You Said It Sir!

When R. K. Laxman passed away politicians tweeted to mourn the loss, laid wreaths and even promised a memorial, all this, I am sure, fearing that he may someday change his mind and return and worse take up pen and paper and take a dig at them! There isn’t much information about how he traveled – by rocket? By train? or by bus? I am sure he should have traveled by train or bus – after all he belonged to the common man! Couldn’t  have traveled by rocket though since he is quite sure he has left behind a breed of motivated cartoonists (I know atleast one – Manjul (DNA) who does a prolific job) who wouldn’t think twice before they take on their icon for taking rocket – after all gasoline is so expensive and Laxman had pulled up the Finance Ministers who raised petrol and diesel prices. And yeah some one told me on social media that they are jubilant up there in heaven to welcome their new guest but am not quite sure about how much happy they really are up there to welcome some one who is a keen observer and habitual in taking a dig at things and deciphering them to be presented as they are and not as they seem. I should not be least surprised then if a deluxe suite is being readied to accommodate him all spruced up with silk and satin but sans paper and pen! And with that kind of a place to live in I shouldn’t be the least surprised if the heavens fail to hold him back for a long!

             Laxman served the nation goading its machinery to the right paths whenever it consciously or subconsciously wandered into the forbidden alleys and secured the interests of the people properly speaking ‘the common man’. The issues he poked at were predominantly price hikes , properly speaking petrol price hikes, malnutrition, pathetic health facilities in short he always stressed the pathos of the common man. Unlike popular perception he was more into social satire than political one but when it came to one he didn’t mince his words, sorry, strokes and took on his close associate Bal Thackeray or Maratha Strongman Sharad Pawar or for that matter Mrs Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi when the two were at the helm of their power! Rabindranath Tagore had once remarked that a nation is known by the creative works that it produces not by the facilities it provides. In a liberal nation founded on equality and justice such works are important to maintain, nourish and take it to the next level. We have seen it in case of United States of America and The United Kingdoms and so every artist is an asset of a liberal set up and artists fiercely devoted to their causes like Laxman are true jewels in their crowns.

            I would prefer to live as an ordinary citizen in free India remarked Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Not that he was trying to be diplomatic or to sound modest but probably because he wanted the younger generation to take up the task of taking the nation to the helms of successes with fierce patriotism and pure sincerity. R. K. Laxman was one of those few who did precisely that!

                                             -  Bhushan Sarmalkar(JAI), Mumbai, 29^th January 2015.

I beg to differ, Sir!

Recently a bizarre incidence was reported – A teenager was arrested for killing and eating his neighbour’s pet Labrador in Suburban Mumbai! Worse still it wasn’t the first dog he had eaten nor was it that he had eaten only dogs, cats had been on his menu as well and worse the dog meat was actually meant to be consumed raw but thanks to his unimpressed taste buds that the meat eventually landed in a cauldron! And if that was not all he wasn’t the only one who relished eating dogs and cats but actually shared his taste for dog and cat meat with others all driven by one common passion – to do something different ! While the discovery made the pet owner sick, it enraged many who branded then juveniles as ‘Cannibals in the making’ and ‘a potential threat to human lives’!

Of late there have been several disturbing trends amongst the youth, properly speaking adolescents that are triggered by one passion – to be different! There have been instances of juveniles taking to eating bread with iodex for spread, sniffing whiteners, keeping   venomous snakes as pets and God knows what all  and all this for one thing – to be different! The incidences are shocking but actually they should be alarming. Are the juveniles today going through a severe identity crisis that they are desperately trying to chalk out one for themselves in such a bizarre way? Are they a victim of negligence and abuse at home? In any case we have to understand that these are results or consequences and are indicative of the bitter truth that something terribly wrong in our methods of discharging our duties towards our children! And therefore, punishing the youth isn’t the solution. Isolating them and treating them as criminals would be worse and may have disastrous results. People in Vietnam relish dog meat and people who go on safari try out scores of unusual meats from snakes and crocodiles to  elephants, tiger and civets but haven’t yet graduated to cannibalism, so why are we inferring so here in Mumbai and pushing the young minds to believe they are abnormal and potential criminals worse cannibals? The issue is undoubtedly bizarre and alarming but needs to be tackled with great deal of sensitivity. What’s more important is to retrieve and rehabilitate and reform a misguided person or to punish him and push him to a point of no return? The real issues that we need to address is that one - our youth are a misguided lot going through a low self-esteem and a severe identity crisis and suffering badly at the hands of parental negligence. Two, there’s a strong natural will /energy to do things and that needs to be channelized. Three, we have to stop ostracizing those whose energies have gushed into wrong corridors and revive, retrieve and reform them. Four, we need great teachers and great counselor’s and for that we need one to respect the teaching profession stop treating them as house maids, pay them well for they too have families to feed. Five we need to draw lines between need and greed and stop running about like mad dogs and be sure to spend some quality time each day with family. Who knows one of these juveniles who has taken to dog eating may just have had the potential to be an inventor it’s just that his dad failed to take a note for he had no time ! The essence of both the things is same – a burning desire to do something that’s different except for the fact that in the former case it is misguided and destructive and in later case it is guided and constructive! All we need to do is divert the energies!!

- Bhushan Sarmalkar (JAI), Mumbai, 22 January 2015.