I had been thinking about what my new blogpost could be about, and in an 'event-less' life wasn't coming up with anything. But Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate, a TV show being aired recently, that talks about social issues in India gives me a reason to blog again.
I must say I was apprehensive about watching it. When I was told it's about social issues, I was like,"Oh, another pseudo show". And I was coerced by my roommate (thankfully) to watch it. I won't write much about the show partly because it's gonna take long, and partly because I want my obscure reader to watch it. Here's the link if you will: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1vASMbEEQc
But there's something I must admit. There has possibly been no instance apart from the present one that a show has ever moved me, and that too so much. The episode started with Aamir talking about why he came up with such an idea. And it then moved on to the topic for the episode: female foeticide. What I felt initially to be just emotional tickling through gory instances moved on to being much more informative. Through various statistical information and talks with doctors, media personnel and social workers, it brought out not just the social realities but also historical and sociological facts to dispense with myths like it happens more in the rural areas, among the rural, uneducated masses of the country. We 'educated' people are often guilty of attributing all that is grotesque in society to lack of education. Data proves it to be quite on the contrary. The show ended with a heart-rending song. Yes, it doesn't make one feel good, but definitely makes him feel it's good - it's good to have an Aamir Khan trying to pull audiences towards knowing and appreciating the realities of an India within an India. It's good to hear logical reasons as to why it concerns all of us. Yes, all of us. However, I'll leave it at that and go no further.
But as Aamir himself points out in the show, this show is also for the youth, to make it decide which way it wants to go, and what sort of society it wants. So I decided to do a little nonsensical survey about youth mentalities. And for that I needed no more apparatus than asking my friends around to watch it. Some (very few) of course said they'd seen it and the initiative's really good, but many others simply laughed at me telling something like this to them. Yes, I have always been thought of as a flamboyant snob who doesn't give a shit about any of this; and I've done nothing to dispense away such myths. I feel I was actually this too perhaps; I enrolled in Hargopal's course I don't know why (for people who don't know Hargopal, he is a professor at the Andhra University, and also the chief spokesperson for the Civil Liberties Movement). I didn't agree with things he said, never gave them a thought, played Angry birds on my mobile all through. Simply because I thought Socialism was a piece of cow-dung. All was good with privatization, and we couldn't expect the Government to be taking care of the health of the elephantine population. All such things. I could never understand why and how Sonal and Ambasta would be moved by such shit!
But something that he said stayed in my mind: till the time we don't think about these social issues, we're fine and in a state of happiness; thinking about them only makes us sadder, which is perhaps a bad thing.
And in the months to come after his course ended, I began to be increasingly drawn towards appreciating the social problems of the sub-altern and the socially-excluded; as to why India shining was only a label, and as to why Calcutta is so different from the rest of Bengal. One doesn't need Focault/Marx/Chomsky to understand society. One doesn't need to experience everything directly, sometimes, what one sees around can break his notions too. Notions about casteism, about education, about poverty. Even reading can, if we choose to read such stuff that is. Or we can, as Hargopal said, stay in that state of oblivion and be happy for the rest of our lives.
Which exactly I saw. Some others who I asked to watch the show told me things like, "Some senti crap?" "I know what foeticide and the problem in my country is. I don't need to be told by Aamir Khan" "I have a principled objection against watching senti crap on TV. I'd rather watch 'Twenty-four', or even IPL for that matter". I am no demagogue to sway people by my speech, I am no Tagore to sway you by this writing. Perhaps, even for people at National Law School, it's just about "I don't give a shit". Perhaps, for more youth than I know. I didn't really see people my age on the show too. We're sensible people, we know all about the society to make social workers tell us about it; at any rate, what the fuck can we do about any of it? Why bother?
All I could do is to think what Aamir Khan said - "is this the India the freedom-fighters fought for?" Bhagat Singh was 23, and he did give a shit. But then, who gives a shit about him too? Fool of the first order to not lived his life and nail a chick, and go to the gallows due to some random revolution. Fool not to eat for 65 days. Who the fuck cares? Who the fuck cares about anything?
Much though I wish that this show does bring about a change, if in nothing else than in the mentalities of people, I know that such mentality is not specific to National Law School. Perhaps it's a function of being educated and urbanized. Perhaps a function of being 'happy', which I doubt how many of us really are, even if we don't give a damn about these issues? We'd like to believe in what Tolstoy had said once: "If you want to be happy, be". So ya, perhaps this show is aimed at convincing the wrong people. But perhaps, there is a section that'd care. Perhaps there is a section of the youth that has read/seen/experienced/thought more than just peripheral aspects of nailing chicks, driving drunk, partying hard and watching 'twenty four'.
I am not saying any of the above is bad; I'm not cynical. But I do have a problem if we don't think at all. We can choose not to, obviously.
So ya, at any rate, there's sparse support at least from NLS of IU for Mr. Aamir Khan and his stupid show. Perhaps, this is true for other pioneer institutions too. But I'd still be happy if the society at large thinks, if revolution (in any form) is brought about. Even if it means excluding the cream of students, the educated class out. After all, revolution is not the birthright of only the educated.
