Indian & Proud

Damn fine time to be an Indian. 

What a fabulous couple of weeks! I mean, we got a picture of Mars taken with our very own indigenous camera.  We saw glimpses from the control room of unbridled happiness and tears of joy. Those long years and efforts paid off…Hurray! Now we can finally have pictures from Mars. Do you even know what that means? Probably not. Listen, the next time you are stuck in traffic after the city gets a mild sprinkling of rain then you go ahead and look at the pictures from Mars dammit! Immediately and magically using your 3G internet, you will be transported to a time in the future when the roads don’t flood if the neighbor has a leaking faucet or because the drains, all 4 of them, were not built by the Vijaywada kings. 

Even when you are being chased by dogs as you go home from the glorified call center you call an office, then again, you flash the chasing pack the pictures. Can you imagine the animal’s consternation? They will stop, regroup and contemplate. Your shall pass in peace. I personally think I want to look at those pictures when we have a full moon night. I plan to find a nice spot, lie on my back and then hold up my phone in line with the moon and pretend that I am God making a world warm and glowing with gases and toxic fumes turn into the atmosphere free moon. From red to white…Of course we are now showcased to the whole world close to half a century after the Americans got it done at the cost of billions in today’s money. And, in true style, we did it super cheap and we are proud of it. One of the favorite stereotypes for an Indian presented itself grandly and with the world watching, we lost no time in making sure it continues to be relevant in 2014. I mean how many other people can claim to charge Rs 7 per km on a journey to Mars? Value for Money , Return on Investment. We got it all right here baby!

Our political juggernaut finally understood the meaning of a “PR” blitz and they successfully used it to the country’s advantage both in the homeland and in the US of A. Kudos!! The speech overseas was all over the news. Spectacular! Back on the mother ship a CM finally got her just desserts after eating everyone else’s breakfast, lunch & desserts for two decades. Justice happening as well in the country, wow!  Yes, I did hear though that a bunch of people felt it necessary to take their lives in protest of the arrest. Makes sense, the country’s population is still swelling. Lock up a couple more of our corrupt politicians and maybe we start making a dent. We take idol worship to new heights. We have had people kill themselves over actors, politicians and new age gurus. Suicides happen because the girl we idolizes could not give a rat's ass about our existence and we will auto terminate when we cant pay our loans. Our kids are killing themselves because the race to be the best has become mind numbingly intense and parents have become even more possessed with their kids achieving stellar marking at every level in school. I see kids being hauled off too karate and guitar and drumming classes and then also asked to study through the night. If their child does not score 95% in every test and every exam at every level in school he will grow up to be a nobody.  His future will be doomed and Mr Underachiever's parents will go to their graves disappointed and broken with their children’s failure in becoming "something".

The scary part is I am not sure they are completely wrong. Yes some idiots over do it but for the most part it was like this when I studied too. Our education system is unbelievably challenging and there is rigor and discipline, at least in the good schools. Donations have gone into many lakhs territory and after we empty our life savings we sure as hell need to make sure it is worth it.  Good school or an unknown start up, the kid's gonna get a raw deal whichever way he goes. I was too dumb to get more than 70 and 80% marks in spite of studying sincerely and so my parents gave up on seeing me as an intellectual colossus pretty early on and I thank them for that. My biggest concern in life is not about the kid I knew from school who is currently earning 3 times my salary because his doting mom held his feet to the fire every night of his life.  Neither am I worried that people are desperately trying to leave the country for “a better life”. Namely more money, more stability....and hence, more money. What really makes me wonder is how happy are we going to be as a people going forward.  I have folks in my social circle who are barely making ends meet to people who are literally swimming in cash and I don’t really remember anyone, including me who is truly happy. Everyone has moments of course but happiness or even contentment as an eventual plateau….Is that even possible? 

You know, we are a smart race. We persevere and we endure and we will reach greater heights. It was the most obvious and fitting eventuality that an Indian was chosen to head Microsoft. Mr Nadella is the poster boy of Indian stereotypes and probably our ultimate success story in the recent past. 

I wonder, Is he happy?

Oh Robin....

If humor was a religion then Robin Williams was a God.

You may not have gotten every joke, it was sometimes too fast to even understand but damn that man was brilliant. The manic energy, the impersonations the sheer speed at which he could rattle of wisecracks....it does not get compared. He was in a league of his own.

What made him even more special was that he could manage serious roles as well and you suddenly did not see the comedian. Like a puff of smoke the madness disappears and it is replaced with earnestness and intelligence. You don't hear the Gandhi impersonation, the wild flailing gestures and the Tweety bird humor never even existed. Instead, you just see a genuinely good actor, you hear a voice that is strong and unwavering and without missing a beat Robin Williams the comedian transforms to Robin Williams the actor. The transformation could never be simple, it could never have been as effortless as he made it look.

I loved The Birdcage. That movie, to me is the best illustration of Robin's ability to pull off comedy and drama, humor and melancholy so sublimely that you don't even see where each genre ended or began. The scene where he is at the bar contemplating whether or not he should hide his sexual orientation for his son's meeting with his girlfriend's parents....yeah, that's epic. A glass of booze, a lit cigarette and a brooding mood never looked so captivating to me. That movie was brilliant for so many more reasons as well and the actors in all were fabulous but to me that's always going to be a favourite Robin Williams movie and one that I would always recommend to someone who wanted to know just what the big deal was...

I seem to be looking back a lot these days. So many fallen heroes. Robin Williams, Michael Jackson, Schumy...All the fame and money and celebrity just did not mean anything at the end. Yes, maybe in Schumy's case he might bounce back some day but man, it all seems so pointless in the end. Such an anti-climax. I ask myself..why? Did it really have to end like this? Did'nt they deserve a better ending?

They bought cheer and humor and music and magic to us mortals and just for that..They are missed.