A Capitalist Brigade

To my flowing river,

I have two of my experiences to write in this letter to you.

One is about my recent walk on Brigade Road and the observations I have made there and the other one is about the movie - ‘Pursuit of Happyness‘

Here is an attempt to connect two distinct links; the oriental fare of Brigade road with Chris Gardner's memoir depicted in ‘Pursuit of Happyness‘.

Surprised? I have learnt the art of making a line out of dots from you.

Melancholy of not having you & still merriment of not missing you - have taught me to make straight lines out of spaghetti.

This is kind of an extension of my previous letter to you.

After reading this, you may write off my observations as irregular irritations of an aging man.

That’s okay; I have no points to prove but a truth to tell about the evil of a free market that has deranged a social structure by creating an acute economical divide in the society we live.

***

I was walking on the Brigade Road, a fortnight back.

A third of the global poor residing in India appears as a paradox when you walk here.

This road is strictly meant to entertain the rich and the rich only. World has made thousands of spots and streets for rich people to enjoy and interestingly, not a single spot for the deprived ones.

Represented by multitude of diverse sellers together, business on these posh roads is weird; some sell goods to make their lives whereas some sell their lives to others to buy goods for themselves.

But fairly every seller succeeds here; it’s is just that who buys what!

I observed as many as six interesting facets of people on Brigades, this time.

The first set was represented by a band of rich, demure, gracious and courteous people. Though in small numbers, they seemed humble, concerned and a happy lot. Second set of people as small as the first lot, were those who again were rich but seemed less concerned about their very richness as well as the poverty of the rest. Unlike the first set of people they neither offered nor sought courtesy. To me, they appeared to me as an indifferent, unduly impersonal and a self-interested lot. Little more in numbers than the first two sets were the third set of people who mostly made it to riches by a fluke. Their big head, their attire and their body language made things obvious to me that some people just do not know how to deal with money when it comes in plenty. There was also an interesting set of people whose identity was not easily recognized. I would call them a ‘smart’ lot but consider them as ‘a riddled’ one.

One more interesting crowd mostly represented by hundreds of hungry men looked indulging into profane fetish over all the passing by females. Smell of scented women, their mysterious attraction, unintended but complimentary body brushes and lastly but mainly the inviting glimpses of their shiny cleavages; there were enough attributes to put this lot of men into constant carnal calculus.

Interesting thing about this lot is that they neither shop nor eat – they are there mostly to peek at women’s breasts as though they are the faces. No matter what happens on Brigades, well rounded and covered breasts of women continue to be the sole stimulants that pull this crowd down here.

The last and the most easily identifiable lot was represented by a huge numbers -who had more inefficiencies to camouflage and less virtues to flaunt upon.

Hallmarks were - an obscene display of money, youth, fashion, glamour and beauty.

Noshed by imprudent affluence and an inadequate intelligence, this is mostly a young crowd that doesn’t earn money; it just gets money.

Premature arrival of money in many young pockets besides providing them a brash high- has offered an access to all the meaningless luxuries that their plastic money can buy. Pubs unlike western countries are not cheap public bars here; they lend an expensive experiences for vividly tattooed men and melon whiffed women for their invariable ‘hanging around’ encounters.

Meet them at late night; you would come across an astonishing parade of gel haired soulless zombies that speak good English.

Insecure in their relations, insensitive in their behaviors, insincere in their commitments – this crowd is all over Page 3 next morning with the same miserable poses; an intimate hand in hand snap of a hyper rich man with his hip hop woman either with a pint bear bottle or a wine glass in hands.

By this current mannerism and attitude they appear to me as a strange crowd obsessed with the fleeting pleasures with no genuine respect for millions of pitiable lives that live in an abject poverty.

The state of little more grown up and responsible men and women is still worst.

Read this real time news item published on the recent Page 3 of the ‘most read daily newspaper’…. it read like this

“It was a rainy night that April Showers, the annual fund raiser for charity organized by ABC was held. First there was a fashion show, interspersed with dance sequences. Later it was time for everyone to mingle and have good times. DJ XYZ played a smashing set, which ensured that everyone stayed on their feet”

Welcome to all new trips of philanthropy - more the poverty, better the celebration; higher the pain, heavier the delirium.

Imagine what must be happening in such events?

An Armani clad gentleman would present a theme on undernourished and uneducated children.

Few ladies wiping off their oily noses and few gentlemen fixing their tie knots would display situational leadership and suddenly speak like learned epidemiologists pledged to restore environmental justice.

Aristocracy, autocracy, plutocracy, hypocrisy.. people would talk everything until cocktails are ready.

Once the bar is open, the priorities shift to prettiest face, wealthiest man, oldest scotch, tastiest snack, latest releases, largest profit bookings.. and the literature pertaining to undernourished and uneducated children starts experiencing wet bottoms of whisky glasses and the people drinking it.

I have no complaints on the rich people who offer charities this way; they need none’s regulation to give donations, either. They think that they are doing it right and it may be true.

The alchemy of richness after all should yield more money and reach many and I see it, happening.

My contention is only on the way things are done.

Using poverty as a means to parade a capitalist anarchy is not okay.

Pleasure and philanthropy cannot be combined; just the way sins and virtues cannot be combined.

What are they celebrating; their richness or other’s poverty?

Imagine this twist...

What if the prayers are DJ mixed? What if neon glows replace candles?

What if the priest uses abusive words while giving holy water?

Certain things have to be performed in certain ways.

Generosity is an unannounced qualification; one doesn’t seek an aid from Page 3 to validate the virtues.

Generosity is sacred, shown to delight someone secretly.

It is like saying prayers, chanting hymns – done in serenity with utmost sincerity. No pride and prejudice, no words and whispers – just a silent engagement and simple emotional connection.

One must offer a respect to the poverty before one offers charity.

The night when these rich people starve to feed someone, the day when they cook to serve the hungry – the philanthropy would have a new dimension; a new definition.

There is no sense in giving impression to us that the wealthy life adapts richer means for cheaper gimmicks. Time to wake up and smell the coffee –by doing something inversely proportional to what otherwise the majority of richest people do.

***

By the time I returned home it was late in the evening.

I sat and watched ‘Pursuit of Happyness’

I was easily and immediately enlivened by the theme of the movie as soon as saw a struggling man living a tough life of poverty to pursue happiness. This is an inspirational tale of Chris Gardner (performed by Will Smith) and his struggle to live in today's capitalist society. The lightest movie with a darkest music made out of warm acoustic textures, gentle percussions, rhythmic strings and xylophones takes the viewer through a melodic journey filled with struggle and despair. I could evocatively relate to every cadence that the main character of ‘pursuit’ undergoes; the struggle, the failure, the chase, the frustration, the stupidity and some tepid successes that make no meaning in a wholly screwed up life.

After I finished watching the movie I sat in silence for a while and did some serious thinking over the pain that the elites of Brigades may have missed by rendering themselves a formulaic life that knows nothing about the sweetness of success which comes after pain of failure.

I sometimes feel that a life lived in dissonance of hard realities and simple pleasures – is equal to a scientist who gets a Nobel Prize without entering a laboratory.

***

Here is the summary.. Nandini.

Millions of people leave their status quo with a hope to challenge the new paradigm to better their lives. Many fail and very few succeed. Life is all about one big chance and its encashment in the right time. A slightest mismatch between the chances versus encashment can either drop us on an all new terrain filled with excitement and anticipation or bring us back to square one through one more round of anxieties and struggle.

Repeated deprival would only dampen the intuitive instincts over a period of time turning most nice guys into a set of hopelessly pessimistic people filled with a perpetual angst over successful and rich people. These are the guys who do not need charity; but a chance. Or some well defined choices.

They do not like invitation to wine and cheese parties; they like interview calls.

Charity can help them live a day; Chances and choices would help them live a life.

A struggled life offered with a late success is much like supplying water to a dying plant; one stroke of nourishment, one mug of water and one pinch of compost is adequate for a plant to have a dare dream of being and becoming a big tree.

***

I realize that many a times life gives us more than what we ask for. It is just that we don’t realize when to stop asking and thus destiny never gets its full blown shape.

My desire on you just contradicts my belief; and I simply hum MJ’s song ‘man in the mirror …’