Clouds are hills in vapor,
hills are clouds in stone,
a fantasy in time’s dream.
— Rabindranath Tagore
Imagine the glut of ‘arty’ enthusiasts, who now dance — and, yet don’t
have even a smattering of classical Indian music! The key is, of course,
wanton self-promotion — not search within. A little knowledge is a
dangerous thing, yes. But, it is the in-thing today — because, there are
no standards!
Purists, in every field, who have spent years honing their skills with all
their modesty, think of it all as blasphemy, or arrogance, but the
devil-may-care-attitude of fly-by-day/night ‘charlatans’ has little time
for such definitions! Quality takes time, and devotion, or fidelity. Art,
or any creative pursuit, cannot be a part-time, or fill-in-your-ego-slot,
occupation. But, who cares — more so, because no one has the time in our
present dispensation?
Most jaunts, or non-events, today, therefore, have, inextricably, become a
part of our psyche — a regular global feature. Add to that TV, and the
Internet, and you’ve a host of contests, with prizes/gifts. Maybe, it’s
pretty hard for some of us to get away from envy when we look at the TV
razzamatazz… So, we often go for someone else’s jugular. It could be Bill
Clinton and his human faults — or, one of our own home-bred politicians
with a ‘flashy’ lifestyle, or even a celebrity. And, there are too many of
them, out there, waiting or in-waiting. You could pick and choose [or,
vice versa], your own ‘trump card’ — for a good copy.
Too bad? Maybe. But, that’s the way it is. Because, it is too hard to be
as popular as you are supposed to be. You know why. Sigmund Freud’s
super-ego, or Interior Judge, has altered its requirements, in our age —
and, we just can’t do a thing about it. Freud’s ‘benchmark’ today is also
insistent on early success, at age twenty-two, or twenty-five. It has
changed our perceptions, and made our youth quite haughty: too proud to
stand on somebody else’s legs — if not their own. So much so, they are
just firing on all cylinders, and trying to attain instant fame — not
excellence. Nothing wrong with that — or, so you thought? You maybe right!
Picture this. In the past, our conduct was dictated by one primal theme:
obedience to parents, sexual ‘purity,’ and high morals. The super-ego,
today, with some exceptions, no longer has a Mahatma Gandhi, or Jesse
Owens, or Rukmini Devi Arundale, to hold its ‘bearings.’ The focus,
instead, is on a celebrity crooner, or scantily-clad movie stars, and
models in several ‘adverteasements,’ and TV serials/soap operas. Not that
it’s all bad — a sort of ‘spiritual pollution.’ It’s a major
paradigm-shift, out there. Dangerous, too. Because, for one who isn’t, or
doesn’t become, successful, and well-loved, punishment today is swift and
ruthless. When that happens — God forbid — self-esteem too receives a
battering from inside.
Soon, you make it to a TV talk show and, bare it all. And, thereafter?
Dud, not viola! To put the ‘imbroglio’ in perspective. Call it furious
competition of peers or siblings, or what you may, the extension has led
to a new ‘template:’ strive not to be good or great, but to be famous,
because our community has been supplanted by TV, and entertainment.
Hence, the big question, as scholar Robert Bly puts it: “Where have all
the grown-ups gone?” Of grown-ups who inculcate the value of good reading
in their kids, and themselves, spend some time with them at the dinner
table, with the TV switched off, or share a thought or two in their
problems and pleasures.
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