Having come from a poor background, and being a perfectionist actor and director he was, optimism was his biggest virtue. As a director, he resurrected slapstick humor, which was thought to be primitive. Slapstick is the most fundamental of all comedies that any audience can associate to- a reason why Chaplin is a household figure, even in the far east, and his films have proven to be timeless. Although talkies became the dominant mode of film making soon after 1927, Chaplin resisted making such a film all through the 1930s. He considered cinema essentially a pantomimic art. He said- “Action is more generally understood than words.”

While “The Gold Rush”(1925) was a slapstick satire on greed and hunger with streaks of poetry, pathos and tenderness, “City Lights” (1931), a romantic comedy, has become the timeless classic his is remembered for. A worthwhile mention here, is “Modern Times” (1936), which was his social protest and final stand against the synchronized sound films. This film was a left leaning political satire showing workers in dismal conditions. Against all odds, it broke all previous box office records and became the quintessential silent comedy of the century.

As Chaplin grew older, he felt compelled to speak out. He resisted using sound in any of his films until “The Great Dictator” (1940), which was a satire on Hitler’s Nazi Germany. Well, when he finally spoke, he roared! In his final speech of the film, released a year before the U.S. entered the World War II, he for once, shed his comic image and addressed the audience directly denouncing dictatorship, greed, hate, and intolerance, in favor of liberty and human brotherhood. This, I would say was the speech of the century-

We have to agree on the fact that, except maybe Mamata Banerjee, most powerful Indian women leaders had their paths paved by male patrons. Mayawati and Jayalalitha were the protegees of Kanshi Ram and MGR, respectively. Both Sushma Swaraj and Sonia Gandhi had their husbands in active politics. Although, we must also acknowledge that all these ladies have faced, and overcome, strong male opponents, even without the support of their political gurus. Sonia Gandhi, inspite of being a non-Indian by birth, drove Congress in two successive electoral victories, thereby becoming the longest-serving president of Congress. Mayawati rose to power, inspite of being a dalit, in a state most subject to caste discrimination. Jayalalitha, inspite of being a Brahmin, mingled into the anti-Brahminist political climate of Tamil Nadu. Mamata’s journey was probably the toughest of all, as she fought the rule of communists in every nook and corner of Bengal, and finally overthrew it. (Not that I am trying to glorify any of them, but without any personal prejudice, the truth must be told!)

But leave alone their womanhood, have even their political leadership helped the country at all? While Sonia Gandhi has promoted a culture of flattery, Mayawati and Jayalalitha have pronounced autocracy and corruption in their states. While Sushma’s dependence on the Bellary mining mafia puts her personal and political integrity under serious question, Mamata’s mood swings have made her one of the most ridiculed politician of today. Today, we have reached a stage when none of these five ladies can be trusted with political leadership. With these women rising to power and failing to meet their expectations, not just India but the world laid on their shoulders, has the nation lost a great opportunity?

Recently an advertisement flooded television channels, where a popular film actor climbs up a mountain cliff with another guy. Our hero literally ridicules the other guy because he is sweating while climbing up a mountain! In another ad a popular actress uses a deodorant and claims it to be sweat absorbent. Hundreds of deodorants today sell their products on making people believe that their products will stop the customer from sweating. More importantly, they infuse the idea in us that sweating is an unwanted phenomena. And we fall prey to these mindless advertising! Hardly do we understand that sweat is a way we release toxins from our bodies. Sweat itself is not the cause of body odor, but rather the bacteria on our skin which feeds on it. Evaporation of sweat from the skin surface has a cooling effect- the reason why we sweat more in summers! Sweat is nature’s way of detoxifying our body and keeping us cool in summers.

The deglorification and ridiculing of sweat strongly reminds me of the Listerine story. Listerine was invented in the nineteenth century as a surgical antiseptic. It was later sold as floor cleaner and a cure for gonorrhea. Later, in order to increase sales, it was packed and marketed as a solution for bad breath. Listerine’s ads featured forlorn young women and men, eager for marriage but turned off by their mate’s rotten breath. Until that time, bad breath was not catastrophic. But Listerine changed that forever! In just seven years, the company’s revenues rose from $115,000 to more than $8 million. Listerine did not invent mouthwash as much as it invented bad breath. In the same way some corporate masterminds created packaged water threatening us of water borne diseases. This is exactly what happened when iodized salt was made important in India. Except people in Kashmir and Himachal, other Indians don’t even need to consume iodised salt as we get it naturally in the water we drink and food we eat. It was merely corporate pressure, that salt once 1 re per kg, is today sold at 15. A reason which Gandhi once fought for is forgotten because the fear of oppression is replaced by the fear of disease!

Anyways, need not mention that we are all prisoners here of the same device. I am seriously waiting for a day when every literature and poetry glorifying sweat will become matters of mockery- when poems will depict human bravery by glorifying the deodorants we wear!

Just having a democracy is not the answer. Greece, Spain and England were citadels of democracy, yet in the past year they witnessed deep unrest. The main feature of the popular mood in all these countries was anger. There was governmental incompetence leading to economic mess. Sounds familiar? Eruptions in these countries must make us, especially our rulers, think. Interestingly, for a country as diverse and populous like India, an immediate answer to many problems lies in rise of a strong third front. This is not a new concept. Numerous attempts to build a third front in India have failed- may it be the loud Jayaprakash Narayan movement which was followed by an inefficient Janata Party government, or may it be the fall of the Indian left torn apart between textbook ideology and ground realities.

Interestingly, no one cared to notice, but a new model to build the Indian third front was recently formulated by Anna Hazare himself, when he had said, “all clean and non-corrupt politicians must leave their political parties and come together to form a new independent party”. This sounds more practical than the idea of a bunch of amateurs forming a party. The struggles being faced by parties like Professionals Party (Mumbai), Lok Paritran (Bangalore), Lok Satta Party (Andhra) and Jago Party (Rajasthan) have made it clear that elections in India cannot be won merely on the basis of qualifications and intent. “Know-how” is the decisive factor! I guess the answer lies in honest politicians of different parties coming together and becoming pitamahs of these well intended parties . It is on these few good men who can bring back the lost concept of India!

I have always been a fan of short poems. And what better defines the way how short poems are meant to be? This is one of the most unique poems by Frost- showing all his usual genius at capturing a scene in a few, well-chosen words. There is a wonderful overlay of images which deals with nature and people, past and present. Notice the use the word ‘corner’ in the beginning which instantly secluded the reader from the passage of time, civilization and nature. Here, Frost uses his wonderful ability to pack layers of imagery into a few chosen words.

A common pattern in Frost’s poems is a factor which shows the passing of time. This poem breaks this pattern and instead, has a subtle interplay of time and stillness, which creates an effect exactly opposite to his other masterpiece- ‘Stopping by the Woods‘, where there is a constant reminder of passing time. Here time, in the shape of the old newspaper, fails to assert itself upon the speaker’s consciousness. A class apart poem from the timeless master. Kudos!

Arguably, the most important politician of independent India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru did introduce attitude-changing policies that helped modernize the country. But he paid no attention to the badly needed agricultural reforms, which only he could have pulled off. Nor did he focus on changing the basic colonial infrastructure inherited from the British. Thanks to Nehru, 65 years after independence, the bureaucrats, politicians and police personals continue to act as the masters and oppressors of people, instead of being transformed into what they are in civilized societies– friends and facilitators at the service of the people.

Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi’s power and popularity reached flaring heights in 1971 following the Bangladesh liberation war. Yet, within four years she took the country to its lowest-ever fall with the Emergency. Rajiv Gandhi’s parliamentary majority reached a record 404 out of 533 in 1984. And he did start off promisingly with focusing on key areas like telecommunication. But he proved too weak to stop his family and friends from manipulating the system for their private ends. The present prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh is no different from his league of ancestors who have the ability but have accomplished nothing significant.

Interestingly, the Marxists of India are no different. After Indian communism accepted the parliamentary system for better or worse, it produced two leaders, Jyoti Basu and E.M.S. Namboodiripad, men of extraordinary qualities, respected for their intellectual calibre as much as for their political mettle. But were their achievements in proportion to that level of ability? Both saw land reform as a priority, but, the implementation was strongly influenced by textbook ideology, not the practicalities of life. Both succeeded in ending feudal landlordism. But in the process, no attention was paid to the critical issue of agricultural production. In Bengal, regional imbalances developed and poverty became the synonym for Bengal. Kerala’s agriculture collapsed to an extent that the state today is dependent on imported food grains and vegetables.

But this doesn’t mean that we don’t have examples of political leaders whose abilities didn’t meet their achievements. Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an example, among many others. Unfortunately, many such men are being forgotten. One such forgotten hero is P V Narasimha Rao. PVN remains in a class of his own as a thinker, writer and scholar. Wit and wisdom came naturally to PVN, a master of thirteen languages who could read Greek, Latin and Sanskrit classics, speak Urdu stylishly, give guest lectures in German and American universities, impress Fidel Castro with his Spanish, translate novels from Marathi to Telugu and from Telugu to Hindi! He was an expert on classical military doctrines and a well-honed aficionado of music, cinema and theatre. He was the closest India got to Marx’ ‘able-achiever’, or to Plato’s ‘philosopher-king’

It is interesting, how events and festivals, as they became popular, tend to lose their meanings. Diwali, for example, today is neither seen as a harvest festival nor as a religious one signifying Rama’s return to Ayodhya or Lakshmi’s emergence during the churning of the ocean. Today the lovely act of lighting diyas is a minor formality. The big focus is on Diwali Special Sale in shops, gifting of expensive dry fruits and sweets hampers, and of course the bursting of fire-crackers worth lakhs, no matter if it disturbs the 78 year old couple living next door.

Christmas is a global example of festivals losing their real meaning. Jesus Christ, evidently, was a Palestinian, hopefully with a Palestinian skin tan and black hair. But devotional photographs make him look like a Scandinavian with blue eyes and blonde hair. His birthplace could never have seen snowfalls. Yet Christmas is full of snows and handsome-Jesus and reindeer and stuff, simply because they make greater marketing sense! Santa Claus, who is at the centre of it all, is the ultimate fluke. The modern version of Santa was invented by Coca-Cola to publicize their product. Thanks to Santa, Christmas today alone sells more gift than all other festivals of the world put together!

We have even manufactured some modern-day festivals out of sheer imagination with the prime idea of selling merchandise. Whoever invented Mother’s Day and Father’s Day was a marketing genius! The greeting card and gift business is worth billions. Valentine’s Day marks the maximum sale of greeting cards and chocolates across the world! After all, it successfully commercializes one of the most beautiful ‘feelings’ known to man.

This article was written out of agony. Anyways, we will continue to wait eagerly for the next festival or event we can waste our money on, and buy happiness. After all, we are the consumed consumers of the world! Labour-day, the day dedicated to the millions of hard working people of the world, who built our homes, manufactured our air-conditioners, assembled our cars and built our cities, hardly matter to us!

Interestingly, no one asked for free distribution of grains anyway. The proposition was that free distribution is better than free rotting. To ignore the rotting situation and dwell on the economic philosophy of free distribution has always been a way to keep Indians away from asking the real questions. But the reality is worse than what we might innocently presume. The rotting, most of us thought, took place because of inefficiency leading to lack of storage space and lack of transportation. But the story is actually something else.

The unseen operators of some of our ministers are very efficient. They allow the rotting because it is beneficial to them. To put it simply, this is another story of corruption in India. Substantial grain storage space the government had rented earlier was returned to the property owners five-six years ago, interestingly, on the advice of an MNC consultant. Now there is a proposal to rent space again. Naturally the rents will be double or triple what they were six years ago. Large property owners and the middlemen across the country will benefit from this. They will never be held accountable for the lives of people who starve to death everyday in India. After all, we love to blame the faceless system and then switch channels and watch IPL.

What is more Interesting, is the fact that babus can make money from decaying wheat which is an ingredient liquor companies need. So a tie-up with breweries is a definite way to get rich. Tie-ups with big grain merchants also yield them benefits because thousands of tons of grain going bad means higher prices in the market. And to top it all, we are now slowly introducing FDI in retail, which will mean giving away our food supply chain to our beloved MNCs, who will aim at profit and just that! And therefore wheat will continue to rot, cotton will go up in flames and farmers will continue committing suicide, while ‘we‘ sit are stare elsewhere, indifferently. Well, let’s at-least have the guts to admit it for once!

Food in India rots because ‘our’ intellects, willpower and hearts have rotten!

She can’t transform Kolkata into London with her present attitude. She does not understand what makes London London. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was once stopped by the traffic police on a motorway and fined for speeding. Mr. Blair did not walk up to the police station and shout at the officers. He just paid the fine. Can you ever imagine Mamata Banerjee do this? Can she ever have the mind to understand that kind of culture? London is a place where the red double-decker buses are maintained with pride. Models four or five years old are replaced with the latest ones, looking not only new but impeccably clean and gleaming. On the other hand, Kolkata is the only metro in India where the oldest, scariest of buses continue to harass people. The ramshackle trams and rickety taxis of ’60s are no better. In the run for becoming London, I wonder if Kolkata will even remain what it is today!

The problems with Mamata are unique. Unlike today’s politicians of India Mamata is neither corrupt, nor weak. But it is high time Mamata understands the ground realities, and above all the rules of a democracy. The Railway budget fiasco, the banning of newspapers in Bengal, the banning of freedom of speech and criticism against herself! Mamata is on a run for mayhem! If she continues to be a one-person universe, and allows nothing to move without her say, if those who are supposedly in her cabinet continue to be furnitures, Mamata’s own people, who were once swayed by her promises, will continue to leave her. The problem will accumulate, and when she is disillusioned, I wonder if we’ll have the time to save Bengal.

If the gentleman had asked to ban the song or the movie, perhaps the Government would have obliged, foolishly believing to hog on Christian votes. That is what the Government did when a Muslim cleric asked for a ban on Salman Rushdie coming to Jaipur. In one of the most funny issues of recent times, the Congress politicians in Delhi and Rajasthan played into the hands of a minority among the Muslim minority to thwart Rushdie’s appearance at the Literary Festival. Numerous Muslim organisations condemned the Muslim groups that threatened violence against Rushdie. So how may Muslim votes, effectively, did the Congress win (or lose) by being a sucker to the extremists? Interestingly and ironically, the clerics and extremists who campaigned against Rushdie actually made him larger than he was. If they had ignored him, he would have come and gone with nothing more than a few snaps on Page 3. However, the extremists introduced The Satanic Verses to a generation that had grown up without knowing about it. Now they will be curious to read it. How self-defeating has Indian fundamentalists and the politics around it become!

Let’s not forget that at the time of Independence, we Indians took pride in the fact, that we were a country where religion and communities were not factors in policy making, in contrast to the Pakistan, where almost everything was decided by religion. That distinction that made our heads high, is fading. Religion is steadily moving to center stage in politics and public life. Our selfish, shortsighted politicians find it easiest to attract voters on the basis of religion and caste. None of them realize, however, that they are loosing out on the votes of the ever-growing people within these communities who don’t give a damn about Hosanna being used in music, and Salman Rushdie coming to India. These are the people who want religion for peace of mind and just that. These are the people who don’t want to be treated differently in the name of god!