June, 1999

Last summer was hotter than usual and this winter is cooler than usual, even down south as my parents tell me. All those things we hear about global warming and greenhouse effects might actually be true. The times are a changin'. It has been more than a year since I have been home to India and a couple of more years since I have lived there. Life never really seemed to change in all the 20 years of growing up. B&W to Color TVs, one doordarshan channel to scores of them, Rs. 1 chaat to Rs. 50 Hot Chocolate Fudge, rubber ball gully cricket to squash courts seemed more like privileges of growing up as opposed to changing times.

It was not exactly a sheltered, blissful and ignorant life that we led. Growing up in a city with communal riots every time a fruit fell on the wrong side of the fence never did affect my perception. We were Hindus living in a Muslim area most of my childhood and the only cutthroat stuff we had was the competition in academics. My mom did tell me that my sister used to savor buffalo meat(yuck!) from the neighbors. But she has grown up to be a doctor and lost the taste without much difficulty. I used to walk to school with the entrails of cattle hanging from hooks in the street. It never boiled my blood like the Hindu nationalists. Growing up in a middle class family trying to claw its way to the next level(some other time on that) also teaches you a lot about work, education, money and values. Sports and games are anything but fun and exercise for me.

I have never really seen the type of uproar that is going on currently about digging up pitches and destroying offices. Never been to the border and do not know what happens there. I am willing to believe what the Indian Govt. and newspapers say. Everyone is entitled to their viewpoint and they will try to fight for it. There might be terrorists and there might be subversive activities. Pritish Nandy says lets settle the political issues before the fun and games - "playing ball with the enemy". After the real high profile drama Shiv Sena supremo agrees condescendingly to "let the games be held" to avoid "congress taking advantage of political rift".

What really surprises me is why they have to pick on cricket players. It seemed to have escaped Shiv Senas notice that Pakistan's Tennis player, Aisam Qureshi is a crowd favorite in the tournament in Ahmedabad. Time to dig up a few tennis courts, don't you think?? The total scheme smacks of publicity stunt as only the highly visible games are targeted. It is irrational to nuke Islamabad but I would really love to see the Indian cricket team beat the Pakistan cricket team this time.

Controversies are the fodder for the journalists and the publicity seekers and jobless public all over the world. The president dropping his pants in USA has elicited enough pulp to run the mills for a few tonnes. The recent furor over Deepa Mehta's Fire was eye opening in a way. Not for the controversy surrounding the movie, lesbianism or sainiks. Some leaders and their followers seem to be the better judges of what the average Indian should watch and think. I happened to see the movie long time back in Los Angeles and remember being impressed with it. The protest in India would be more about portraying lesbianism rather than any explicit scenes. The censor board would have taken good care of the inappropriate scenes issue. I remember being very disappointed with Kamasutra(excuse for showing nudity would be a concise review) and Aastha. Deepa Mehta did not really goto extraordinary lengths to build up the case or the circumstances. It was a very simple exposition of human feelings and desires and their physical manifestation(wow! lots of loaded words). You would understand how different it was for me given that "Oh Darling Yeh Hai India" was only one of the two movies in which I slept just after 10 minutes.

What struck me was not the protests against the movie but those in favor. It was really a nice surprise to see people coming forward to protest for freedom of expression and the right to choose. Even big time actors like Dilip Kumar voicing their opinion in favor of the movie and against the vandalism by nationalistic thugs was refreshing. I agree that it will take time to reach a stage where the audience makes the decision, but we seem to be heading in the right direction. Of course a few troublesome teeth are part of the growing pains.

I have only been a teenager(okay! old teenager) in India and have not really lived there as an adult. Preeti Santa asking "Are you a virgin?" had me choking as much as Shah Rukh Khan in Dil Se. I actually studied in Delhi for four years but maybe I was the ignorant, nice boy and geek? It was enlightening to know that "80% of the guys do it SKP" according to Preeti. Hmmm, I think something was missing in my student life or the times have really changed in the last few years.