Thursday, September 03, 2009

Coerced into mourning


The Chief Minister died today. It was a dramatic death and somehow more disturbing for that. I was detached to begin with but got predictably somewhat sucked into the whirlpool of media-whipped misery. I was quite content to give up my whole morning for the occasion. I sat through the search and salvage operations and all the speeches of the important leaders and the reactions of the state. But around noon a strange thing began to happen. All the relief channels -ones I had been alternately flipping to when a news anchor had repeated a sentence about two-dozen times to a background of infinitely looping three second visuals - began to present blank screens one by one. It seemed strangely like an all-systems failure in a dying man. When all but the news channels were taken off air, I realised of course that they were being blocked. Now, I’ve never really resisted a two minute silence in my life and wasn’t about to do so then.

But that was then and this is now. It is evening, nay dusk. The day’s work is done, sadness has held its limited sway, and now I find I want my usual pleasures. I want my TV. But no, they inform me over the phone, the cable operator’s union has decided, they say, that it ain’t seemly. We are to continue like this for a whole day. I find that my empathetic benevolence has evaporated. This isn’t a channel that has decided to withhold its programming out of policy; now that would be its prerogative. But for an intermediary to stand between me and what is my right because it thinks it has the wherewithal to police my social conscience! I think it is coercion, and like most people, of all things it makes me want to rebel!

I will not be recommended an acceptable quantum of grief nor be forced to participate in a public one.

Apni tho ab tamaam huyee kayanaat-e-gham

Do ashq the jo deeda-e- tar se guzar gaye!

I will feel as much as I do, express or not as I choose and seek my relief where I will. Fie on those who would try and choose for me!

And till such time as the channels don’t come on I may as well sulk in misery.

5 comments:

Space Bar said...

if there's one reason to switch to tata sky and such-like, this is it. i watched friends, 90210 (old episodes) and we watched high anxiety on DVD.

the whole bloody thing gave me a headache.

Anonymous said...

Well u can participate in the mourning to telling your cable guy that u will not pay this month's bill as you are still mourning ^_^

CM has died, yes state needs to show respect, mourn. To what extent very much debatable.

But in practical terms it is strange isn't it. When a person who had power and all the required necessities, luxury, followers .. dies people say its too bad, and they even put others to misery. But when hundreds are dying because of hunger or other issues not many seems to care, forget mourning.

As the saying goes,
"Koi bhi itna ehem nahin jiske bina zindagi na chal sake"
Life goes on ..

Nothing against CM/mourning for his death.

---
Anyway do you check your mail ?shwetavyas1@gmail.com ?

Shweta said...

Chee Bah! I knew I had missed a salient point when I was articulating the Tata Ilk V Hathway debate.
What decided me, I think, was the thought that it is always nice to have the phone number of a human whose ear you can chew out.

Ludwig said...

Hmm. I am feeling the pain, I say. Having undergone coercions ('celebratory' ones, though) every Deepavali, Holi, Vinayaka Chaturthi etc., if you gather my drifting.

But alles ist ordnung now? The snail is on the thorn, and the Fed is on the wing etc.? I think this is positively the last Slam when I am rooting for the fellow, especially after the OC Wimbledon and French Open :P Hee hee...

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