Talking Shop: Things Jurassic

Last evening, I had an itch to snitch and scratch away viciously at Steven Spielberg, perhaps the greatest-ever cinema mogul who enamoured us with the incredible and fantastic resurgence of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Velociraptor, Stegosaurus and more of their ilk in 'Jurassic Park'. Sadly, Spielberg is too far away for my hand and other body parts to touch, reach, berate or celebrate, so I am reluctantly deigning to scratch away at those few who are reachable and certainly more deserving, attempting to make our life Jurassic again in the new today, ploughing us back to the days of swipe and never afterwards wipe.

Admittedly, Spielberg's Jurassic prank was scary at times, even though we knew it was all just make-believe. Today's Indian pranks are very real and spine-chilling. In the 2020s, we as a species have come a full circle. And what a circle it has been—one that reminds us each day of everything that has gone wrong with our everyday lives over the last many years. From world-rulers, we are being turned fast into spent forces, rapidly moving down the value chain on many fronts—be it social, economic, cultural or even basic human values. It has been quite a fall.

Sure, I admit that managing the logistical legerdemain that is India is a near-impossible task, one best left in the hands of rhetorical whippers and wonder-doers with magical fingers, dripping desi ghee and honey though they are at times. We are in that mould and mood today, to sniff and drool over the ghee and lick the honey.

We are all human

Yes, I understand that at the end of the day, we are all human and have our failings, full of vanity and debauchery. Like the debatable American dish of deep-fried butter, and our very own desi Butter Chicken and Daal Makhani, we want our actions and impact to be as unhealthy as they are inevitable.

But some of the developments of the last few months have been mind-numbing and soul-seething. How else does one explain away the many controversies and raucous debates that have arisen across the country, ironically over issues that would just have been relegated to the sidelines as they are too petty and there are far bigger demons to be tackled? For instance, we have had the incessant natter and chatter over the issue of whether or not to allow the wearing of the Hijab in educational institutions. Things were deliberately and politically heated to an extent that the courts had to intervene and pass judgment.

Equally deplorable was the reportage on the sensitive matter by even top media houses. A case in point are two television channels belonging to the same media house—while one praised and hailed the judgment of the Karnataka High Court, saying it was the logical decision, its sister channel said exactly the opposite, that the ruling was draconian. Why? Well, take a look at their target audiences and they are saying only what their viewers want to hear. As I said at the beginning of this paragraph; deplorable indeed.

Sliding value system

Two recent incidents involving two Hindi movies from divergent genres particularly drive home just how quickly and badly our value system is being depleted. Let's take them one at a time, the first being the hullaballoo over 'The Kashmir Files', which has stirred up the hornet's nest, fanning hate speeches inside cinema halls and on the streets, where political leaders have now taken to putting up posters of the film on walls and demanding that the authorities make the film tax-free so that more people can 'learn' from the experience.

The other is the bashing being handed out on social media handles to actor and filmmaker Aamir Khan for having starred in 'Taare Zameen Par'. The movie depicts the story of a young boy battling dyslexia and his relationship with his art teacher, who changes the former's life by just being caring and understanding. "The central message of the film is that with caring and love, you can actually do a lot," this is how Aamir himself described the intent of the movie.

But what a few (some of whom are prominent journalists) have to suddenly say about Aamir and the film is the opposite and quite bizarre. "Aamir has taught lakhs and crores of children that education and studying are a waste of time," one retorted. His line of thought stirred up a heated debate, with an 'expert' taking a dig at Aamir's movie '3 Idiots', saying the message there "is that one should only become a blogger or a wildlife photographer, and not an engineer or a doctor". Bizarre indeed...

Runaway fuel prices

A few weeks back, I had written that with assembly election results about to be announced, we could again expect repeated increases in the prices of petrol and diesel, regardless of what the verdict says. Well, after a lull that lasted for about 10 days post the results being out, that has happened, and how. There have been around nine announcements of a price hike over 10 days, with petrol now breaching the Rs 100-mark in all four metro cities and diesel just about following suit.

This is despite the fact that India defied international pressure and moved ahead with its plans to buy oil from Russia at a highly discounted price. Nonetheless, not only has no relief been passed on to the end-consumer, prices have actually been repeatedly increased—petrol, diesel, CNG, PNG and LPG cylinders are all much more expensive than they were in the months leading up to the assembly polls in five states.

Admittedly, India needs to shore up its strategic oil reserves, as do many other countries, but at least some relief should reach India's already battered middle-class, plagued by rising unemployment, stagnant of lower salaries, steep inflation and still worried about the future from a COVID-19 perspective. Also, one simply has to wonder what the latest Rs 250-jump in commercial LPG prices will do to the levels of pilferage of LPG meant for domestic use, especially those under the Ujjwala scheme targeting rural households. The one saving grace is the United States, which forced OPEC last week to reduce crude prices by releasing massive amounts of oil from its own strategic reserves to rein in any immediate crude price rise.

The end-game

Thus it is that from the larger perspective, much of the oomph and pomp have disappeared from our lives, replaced by an icky ouch and grouch. For the average Indian, life has been desecrated and lifestyles dissipated as we are being systematically moved down the monetary value chain, shoved into a labyrinth of 'think deep' before we can speak or spend.

Sometimes, the goal is to get people to do or reveal something that they don't want to and for this, empathy and rapport are vital—these two are now starkly missing between the rulers and the ruled. That having been said, the truth is oft a lily that I may have gilded. Let me not spoil your day anymore by attempting to pick out sense from all the nonsense surrounding us today. Instead, let's rejoice in the tomorrow that may still be, only if we move along the right path, with or without roses and velvet in our hands and hearts. Amen.

The writer is a clinical analyst and communications specialist. Views expressed are personal. [email protected]