Love, Loathe and Lessons

As I sit here (my room) in isolation, reminiscing the two rapt years spent in MA, English Lit; I also ruminate on whats to love, loathe and lessons learnt well in MA. I spoke about love and loathe, about Arts College in my very first post: Best of both Worlds. So let me put that for you in not more than a nutshell. Colleges best are- the remarkable professors, some of whom are touted to be the best in India. Whats to hate? The mass populace and the management without a scruple.

Let me delineate and count the hailstorm of lessons that I learnt and made note of; not only in books but also my brains.

1.Each of us has spilt personalities or possess Schizophrenia. We like and hate the same thing: We love our country but we also wait in long queues for visas to go abroad.
2.Moulin Rouge- Not the movie starring Nicole Kidman, the place in Paris still exists today and fraught with pimps and whores who practice more of kinky sex than normal sex.
3.We were always conditioned by history to remember India’s independence and overlook the partition. It was shocking to know the whopping statistics: More than 5 million were killed and 4 million Sikhs lost homes. As against the misconception that it was done on agreement by Mahatma Gandhi, partition was done at the instance of the British.
4.Women who were estranged and displaced from their families during partition were not welcomed and accepted when they returned for the most obvious reason that they could have strayed from their values and lost their chastity, which, I feel, is ridiculous!
5.Written literature is considered to be the best literatures but African writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe proved that oral literature is equally stimulating and are a great piece de resistance in literature.
6.Indian Aesthetics believe that every time you see a piece of art, it must evoke a 'Rasa' or emotion in you.
7.The character ‘Krishna’ in Hindu mythology is a blue black God, as in, that was his colour. One of my Professors Meera Manvi, who is also the Dean of our Arts College, had told us that almost all Hindu Goddesses like Lakshmi, Parvati etc are black and yet revered. So why is India obsessed with fair skin? This has infiltrated into the Indian matrimony. Why every matrimonial alliance reads ‘fair’ in wanted requirements? I’m not making this statement because I’m super dark but Meera mam actually made us ponder on these lines.Which I think is absolutely true! She further said Indians are dark skinned people and thus labeled so by the West and why can’t Indians stop imitating the West?
8.The distinction between European and Indian Art is that European art imitates the picture while Indian Art represents the idea that reminds you of the picture.
9.Shakespeare’s plays were always written to be enacted and staged rather than to be read.
10.According to Sigmund Freud whose theories are considered to be the Bible of Psychology, Human mind is made of conscious, unconscious and sub-conscious mind. The sub-conscious side occupies the major part of brain and apparently all the dark desires emerge from the sub-conscious mind. Interesting! Isn’t that?
11.Orientalists have a fixed and a biased view about the East. This statement tells you that the Orient referred to countries of the east. Oriental literature was used as a strategy to conquer colonies and like we have read and learnt, western colonies were successful in their attempts and efforts.
12.We often think and believe that Leaders of any kind, especially, political figures are flawless. They are put on a pedestal and worshipped, but what we forget is that, they are mere mortals just like us and possess aberrations. If we believe they are larger-than-life, they ARE! The moment you are practical about them and accept their flaws, you know they are NOT. In the novel, “Kongis Harvest”, the author, Soyinka uses the method of ‘De-flation’ to puncture the image the of the Leader in that novel.
13.Michel Foucault, a famous New Historian said that “Madness is a sociological character and not just a clinical term.
14.A noted American writer said that those without DREAMS should PERISH. That’s one reason why Americans today, still believe in the Great American Dream their founders or 13 “Pilgrim Fathers” had set for them. Those who heard Obama’s dream speech will know what I’m talking about.
14.The first 3 or trimoorthy Indian writers who set trends for the later Indian writers are- Raja Rao, R.K Narayan and Mulk Raj Anand.
15.Salman Rushdie’s “Midnights Children” won Booker prize thrice and it also includes Readers choice of ‘Booker’ of ‘Booker Winners’.

I know it’s a long post but neither am I apologetic nor hesitant about the same because I know it’s worth the read. This is all I can recall, will spill more beans after I finish writing my 4th and Final Semester exams that I will be taking in a few days time.

For my MA Classmates (including me), who are reluctant to study for exams during this scorching summer, hope this post will be of some motivation :-)

Blogs are a contesting space. So jibes, comments, arguments and contradictory statements are more than welcome!

Scathing Stereotypes

What is a stereotype? Merriam Webster’s dictionary puts it “something conforming to a fixed or general pattern esp. a standardized mental picture that is held in common by members of a group and that represents an oversimplified opinion, prejudiced attitude or uncritical judgment”

Stereotype is therefore is a ‘DISTORTED’ version; a fixed and a commonly held notion.In India, most often if a girl sports casual Jeans and wears Make-up and Lipstick, she is termed to be ‘FAST’. A boy stereotypically loves Gadgets and Widgets. If a Boss’s secretary is an ugly woman, she must be trapped in a harried marriage but if she looks great then she is certainly sleeping with her Boss! There were times when students who opt for MPC and BPC can stay rest assured of a promising Career and reap success; while those who opt for Literature, History and Social sciences will only end up being teachers and lecturers and hence have to live with a not-so great career. Mindsets and such misconceptions have definitely changed for good today!

Two roles that are globally stereotyped: Gender roles. From time immemorial, a Man has to be aggressive, strong, confident, competent, provider and protector. A woman is naturally a homemaker; it’s ok and fair enough to be dumb (her better-half will lend her moral support); submissive, emotional and passive. This conditioning of gender roles takes deep root in an infant’s mind, when the child becomes conscious and aware of the predicament at home. With stereotypes come great expectations. Therefore when a person doesn’t match or fit that prejudiced notion, s/he feels oppressed and smothered.There has been a paradigm shift/switch in gender roles today. Women have not only invaded male bastions but also busted the glass ceiling. You name it and we women have already made a mark in every domain and facets of life. Might I champion the cause of men, do we not have men who are scrawny and lean? Some men who prefer culinary and cooking to snazzy cars and gadgets? Men who carved a niche for themselves as chefs, fashion designers, flight stewards etc.

Back home in India, Parents wish to live and fulfill their dreams through their children. I’m more than happy to have wonderful parents who gave me the freedom to make my choices and follow my heart. What if I had selfish parents who would shove choices down my throat? Then it’s no longer a choice. Life is not about living the rigmarole of earning, making money, bequeathing it to children and making them happy. I believe life is all about living your own dreams and choices, making mistakes and learning from them: you fall, you rise and you dust and get on with life.

Why do we more often than not have preconceived and assumed notions of someone or something? Why the heck are we conditioned to stereotype? And do it unconsciously sometimes? Do we find it hard to accept a person as s/he is? Each person is thereby unique and different: Perceptions, aspirations, attitudes and ethos vary from person to person. So what’s cool? What’s in?

I. Being comfortable in your own skin.
II. Being forthright about what you want.
III.Standing up for what you believe is right.
IV.Living your dreams despite the odds that are stacked against you.

We should no longer be only hearers of the motto “Live and Let Live” and confine it to our friend’s autograph books; we must also be the doers of the motto!