Mayank Chhaya Daily

“Hillary se uski patati nahi…”

India’s “Original Rapstar” Baba Sehgal

India’s “Original Rapstar” (His words, not mine) Baba Sehgal has always looked as if he had just been privy to a place where unbounded joy is granted to the chosen few. He has the mannerism of someone who has had a deeply satisfying dip in a pool of self-love. All those are necessary features for anyone seeking a life of celebrity.

His latest outing is a rap song celebrating what he thinks is mania about Donald Trump. As compositions for such songs go, it is catchy enough for about 12 seconds, which is the longest possible attention span in this day and age, I suppose. However, it is the politics of his lyrics which is illustrative of what happens when someone clueless about the consequences of the rise of a figure like Trump that interests me.

In Sehgal’s uncritically celebratory world, “Trump Ka Mania” (Trump Mania—the title of the single) reflects the way the Republican nominee has captured some attention beyond the U.S. He speaks of Trump Mania “From Mumbai to Kenya” in a fraught reference, which may be throwing some shade to President Barack Obama. He also describes Trump’s attitude in this gushing line: “Shoulder se dust ko yunh hi jhad de, comments to aise marey pant utar de (Shakes dust off shoulder like this, Makes comments that strip you off your pants).

It is hard to say whether Sehgal is being tongue-in-cheek or reveals genuine admiration for someone who provokes significant scorn and disgust here in America. I suspect though that Sehgal has genuine admiration, especially the aspect of Trump’s life to compulsively grab public attention mostly at the cost of sense and even decency. Sehgal has no pretensions of being literary in his song writing. His style is more of quick versifying and luckily for him there is more than enough in Trump’s crass antics to write about in rhyme. Sample this, for instance. “Hillary se uski patati nahi, Usi se uski nazar hatati nahi” (He can’t get along with Hillary, He can’t take his eyes off her.)” True enough but it is the way he uses “patati nahi” which is a very street way saying you can’t stand someone. Or this: “Kuchh na kuchh karta hai drama, upset hai Donald se thoda Obama’ (He keeps creating some drama, With Donald somewhat upset is Obama).” “Thoda upset” is a huge understatement.

In a way, Sehgal is taking a leaf from Trump’s book on how to grab and stay in the limelight as long as possible. I am sure he knew that a song about Trump by India’s “Original Rapstar” would give him some traction and it has. It has gone viral. He is honest enough to admit to Dipanjan Sinha of the Mumbai-based Mid-Day newspaper, “I did not want to become a has-been.” Actually, I quite like the construct “I did not want to become a has-been”. There is something deeply paradoxical about in a quantum physics sort of way. Imagine someone consciously trying “not to become a has-been.”

It is not my case that it is Sehgal’s responsibility to weigh the implications of Trump’s vulgar politics that frequently flirts with racism and bigotry, not to mention strongman delusions. Sehgal is not a politically astute rapper because his life does not seem to have been informed by the dark social experiences that great rappers have had to confront. However, there is the unintended consequence of normalizing a weird kind of insidious force that Trump represents via such songs.

Sehgal, of course, is a joyous performer who manages to capture some attention from time to time because he does not want to “become a has-been.”

(The link to the video is attached to the picture above.)

India and US in deeper strategic embrace

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar hold a joint news conference at the Pentagon, Aug. 29, 2016. DoD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Tim D. Godbee

The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed by India and the United States yesterday brings the former deeper into the strategic embrace of the latter. An unprecedented upgrade in the India-US relations that began with the signing of the landmark civilian nuclear cooperation deal in 2008 has now attained another significant high in the logistics agreement.

While India’s Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar was clear in pointing out that “there is no provision for any base or any sort of activities to set up a base in India”, it is clear that the LEMAO brings about a fundamental shift in strategic ties.

“It (LEMOA) doesn’t have anything to do with the setting up of base. It’s basically logistics support to each other’s fleet, like supply of fuel, supply of many other things which are required for joint operations, humanitarian assistance and many other relief operations.

“So, it basically will ensure that both navies can be supportive of each other in the joint venture operations we do, exercises we do,” Parrikar said.

However, short of setting up a base the agreement brings the two militaries closer than ever before, an idea that might have seemed like an anathema just a couple of decades ago.

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter spoke of two "important handshakes" between Washington and New Delhi.

According to a Department of Defense release, “The first handshake is strategic, as the United States focuses on a rebalance to the Asia-Pacific, and India reaches east to extend its reach in the broader Indo-Asia-Pacific region, Carter said. The second handshake, which is technological, builds on the Defense Technology and Trade Initiative, he said. The United States and India, Carter said, agreed to advance a number of collaborative projects, including on jet technology, chemical and biological protection, and aircraft carriers.

"These two handshakes have brought our two militaries closer together," Carter said.”

The reference to the the broader Indo-Asia-Pacific region is fraught with interpretation by China as a remarkable coming together of India and America that could be seen as ganging up. In a sense that broadening makes it likely for India to be a potential security provider in the region where China has stepped its influence rapidly in recent years.

At the operational level, the LEMAO provides for mutual logistical support, supplies and services that include food, fuel, clothing, medical services, spares, maintenance and training among other things. However, added up within a remarkable uptick in the strategic cooperative climate it brings India deeper into the US global strategic orbit.

Carter described the LEMAO as “fully mutual” which is not a “basing agreement” but something that cooperation easier on “a case by case basis.” These little pressure valves have been built to make sure that India finds it easier to walk the strategic walk without feeling the burden of its past suspicions.

I have not looked at what happens in the event of a change of presidency in January, 2017. Of course, if Hillary Clinton wins, there is unlikely to be any change but what if Donald Trump does? One has to study it to see if such strategic cooperation is irrespective of the ideological persuasion of the government in New Delhi. It could well be but I could not say it with any specific intelligence.

"You are here and you are near, Should I gaze at you or should I talk?"

By a delightful coincidence yesterday, that is August 28 marked the 120th birth anniversary of two great litterateurs. I wrote about one of them, the Gujarati literary icon Jhaverchand Meghani. I have written about the other, the legendary poet Raghupati Sahay Firaq Gorakhpuri. That they were both born on the same day and ended up as seminal literary and cultural figures is the delightful part of the coincidence.

I can write a fresh piece to mark Firaq’s birth anniversary but on reading the one that I wrote on June 13, 2013, and then republished on March 5, 2016, to mark his 34th death anniversary, I think I should re-republish it. It’s not like you pay me to read this blog.

BBC’s New Delhi-based broadcaster Rehan Fazal has an interesting reminiscence where one of his guests points out Firaq’s extraordinary gift of the gab, his celebrated felicity of conversation. The art of conversation, which few are endowed with to begin with, seems to be in decline in this age of frenzied, fractured and fractious social media shouting matches. I strongly recommend, again, that you spare some time to listen to Firaq. When innate charisma fuses with remarkable erudition something magical happens. So here is the post once again.

March 5, 2016

March 3 was the 34th death anniversary of Professor Raghupati Sahay 'Firaq' Gorakhpuri. Not that such anniversaries mean anything but as pegs go it is as good as any to hang a piece on. I had done an impromptu post about the great poet-teacher on June 13, 2013. I am republishing it. As it happens with all great poets who create a large body of work Firaq too gets distilled down to a few verses. The one that I remembered this morning is:

तुम मुखातिब भी हो,करीब भी हो

तुम को देखें के तुमसे बात करें

(Tum mukhatib bhi ho, karib bhi

Tum ko dekhen ke tum se baat karen)

(You are here and you are near

Should I gaze at you or should I talk?)

June 13, 2013

Raghupati Sahay ‘Firaq Gorakhpuri’ has long been one of my favorite literary figures. Regarded as one of the most important names in Urdu poetry, literary criticism and language scholarship, Firaq, which means separation in Urdu, was one of those naturally charismatic people. A thinker of subtle but charming self-absorption, he was at equal ease teaching English literature (his professional calling) and creating and reciting his Urdu/Persian poetry.

It is a pity that there is a sparse audio-visual record of Firaq because he was such an effortlessly cinematic figure and could have lent himself to a terrific full-length documentary feature. I have seen few people who smoke cigarettes with such relish and yet such detachment at once.

 

 

There is a short documentary about him, which was made by India’s Films Division in 1971, available on YouTube. He was already 75 then. Born in 1896, he died in 1982 at 85. There are also a couple of other sessions from a different video about where he holds forth on how language often rises from much more intimate sources such as individual families. (See the video above). It has one of those rare stimulating conversations carried out by Firaq, unmindful of and unselfconscious about the presence of TV cameras. With his cigarette dangling he discusses finer points of language.

He makes a couple of striking points when he says,”Bhasha ka base illiteracy hai. (The base of language is illiteracy).Aur literature kehte hain brilliant illiteracy ko. (Literature is brilliant illiteracy).” He also says that brilliant literature should not be defined by the use of words that ordinary, perhaps even illiterate, people do not use.

“Great literature aur brilliant literature wahi hai ki itne bade bachche ko jo labz malum hai us se who Gita likh le,” ( Great literature and brilliant literature is one where the words that a child this small knows can use to write the Gita),” Firaq says.

He illustrates his point about the accessibility of great literature by giving the example of Charles Dickens and how his cleaning lady could enjoy his books in her free time. He says the great Hindi litterateurs Premchand and Surdas both had this facility.

I admit to not having read Firaq much but from whatever little one has read one can infer his intellectual depth. I say infer because Firaq was a great proponent of being able to infer when one is not well-versed with something.

 

The short Films Division documentary does an effective job of capturing the more compelling aspects of Firaq’s personality. Obviously gifted with a charming sense of humor and great skill as raconteur, Firaq’s presence at poetic conventions was a major draw. There are a couple of places in this documentary where Firaq opens his recitation with humor. In one he describes how a man falls inside a well. A poet happens to pass by and he too falls inside the well. Rather than looking for ways to rescue themselves, the poet declares that he would recite some verses from his poetry. The other funny incident that Firaq narrates is about a haunted house which no one wanted to buy. A poet, unable to find any home for himself, decides to buy it. He then drives the ghosts away by reciting his poetry.

There is so much to quote from Firaq’s great body of poetic works but for the purposes of this post I would like to cite just one throwaway line from this documentary.

“Zulmat ke seeney mein humdum

Main roz charagha karta hoon.”

(In the heart of darkness, my dear

I always spread light (His literal words are ‘I light lamps everyday’)

Firaq’s poetry was also defined by the influence of nature, something he said he was inspired to do by the likes of Wordsworth. There is a short discussion with students in this documentary about it.

Perhaps I am wrong but one no longer finds this level of erudition and this finesses and sophistication in articulation of great ideas that the literary giants such Prof. Sahay commanded with such lightness of touch. Pay attention to how he says what a civilization like India has had to balance for millennia before it acquired its greatness.

There is zero provocation for this post today, but then do we really need a reason to acknowledge people of such brilliance? I don’t think so. Not that I need any inspiration to write my own poetry but in the midst of watching this documentary I wrote a ghazal which contains a subconscious tribute to Firaq in these two lines:

Their free translation would be:

Battling darkness is my old pastime

But I can no longer keep the fire going using damp matchsticks

To Jhaverchand Meghani on his 120th anniversary

Jhaverchand Meghani’s at his newspaper desk

(Photo: www.jhaverchandmeghani.com)

There are those who are more than the sum of their parts. The great Gujarati folklorist, poet, novelist, journalist, singer and thinker Jhaverchand Meghani (August 28, 1896-March 9, 1947), whose 120th birth anniversary falls today, was one of them.

Speaking of his parts, he wrote 14 novels, four plays, nine collections of poetry, 19 biographies, 11 short stories, 11 folk songs, 13 folk tales and 13 collections of folklore and literary criticisms. These add up to create a Gujarati cultural icon whom Gandhi described as “Krishna’s flute” and a “national poet laureate.” While he was creating all those works, he was also immersed in India’s campaign for independence. Sardar Patel called him a leading figure in India’s struggle for independence who spent his entire life in that pursuit.

Meghani led an enormously rich literary, cultural, political and social life that led him to the colossal figures of his time, including Rabindranath Tagore sometime in 1933 in Bombay. According to Meghani’s official website, the great painter Nandlal Bose had heard Meghani sing his own Gujarati folk songs and was enraptured. He persuaded Tagore to meet Meghani while in Bombay. Their meeting was an unqualified success with Tagore being spell-bound by Meghani’s literary and musical passion. The website quotes Tagore as saying, "Much as I wish to visit Gujarat again, I am afraid I won't be able to make it. Why not, then, you come over to Santiniketan ? We shall compare notes and publish jointly English translation of selected things. Do therefore come.
But, yes, in winter --- not summer when the heat is scorching over there."

Meghani’s journalistic connection came in the form of his assignment as a columnist at the Janmbhoomi newspaper in 1934. As part of his passion to  “raze the walls of discrimination” between the educated and the unlettered, Meghani’s column titled ‘Kalam ane Kitab’ (The Pen &the Book) encouraged readership outside the scholarly domain to get involved with literature.

When one thinks of Gujarati literary giants such as Meghani and scores of others one feels how skewed the reputation of the state has been because of its historically flourishing mercantile and entrepreneurial culture. There is a legion of non-Gujaratis who would never suspect the state of having any connection to a world-class literary tradition. Meghani and many like him would be happily counted among world-class litterateurs.

I have a collection of his novellas. This morning I chose a random short story titled ‘Shikar’ (The Hunt). It is a story about how a group of men are tasked with having to scare a leopard out of a forest into the open so that a local governor—presumably English—can then hunt it down. It is a simple story but Meghani tells it with such literary relish even though it barely stretching 2000 words. In describing a patch of an extraordinarily fertile land, he begins by saying, “Time must have used lightening as a plough here.”

He vividly describes the leopard, which is resting in the morning after a rich nightly hunt. “A long leopard is panting and resting in the hollow of a tree, its white stomach spread and puffing like a cushy mattress.” The leopard, of course, has to be driven out of its slumber without being harmed because the governor must not be denied the pleasure of having hunted it while it was alive. As the advance hunting party approaches the forest with much commotion, Meghani writes, “He (the leopard) does not respond to every noise but does occasionally bare its dagger-like teeth and shake his head as if mocking and saying ‘With which cow have you set up my engagement (In the sense of wedding) today?’”

The leopard is very hard to move away of its domain and out into the the thinning forest line where the governor and his party is waiting ready to shoot. Eventually, a member of the advance hunting party has to skillfully shoot the beast into one of its legs. He limps out to be shot by the governor and others. As the animal emerges from the woods, Meghani has the governor say out triumphantly in English , “Yes! There..there’s the milk white stomach. Shoot.” They all do indiscriminately because there was no need to take a precise aim on a wounded leopard.

“Before the day-end at the edge of the forest ten motors (motorcars) kicked up clouds of dust. The dust settled back again into the lap of the earth. The sun went to the sun’s house…..” And then Meghani ends with a characteristic literary flourish about those last remaining men of the advance party: “The villagers carried the carcass of the dead day and returned to their village.”

Here is to the great Jhaverchand Meghani.

Swaroop Rawal and her set of six children’s books in Australia

A set of six children’s books, meant for the 4th and 5th grade levels and written by my dear friend Swaroop Rawal and her son Aditya, has been accepted by the Australian Quality Education Programme. The books address themes of children’s rights as enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) without being preachy.

Dr. Rawal, an actor turned education specialist, says, “The purpose of the books is to gently introduce children at the 4th and firth grade levels to the idea of respectful behavior and standing up for what is right.” Colorfully illustrated by Suman S. Roy and written by Dr. Rawal with significant inputs from her son Aditya the books are making their way to Australia even before they find traction in India.They have been endorsed by Save the Children-India-International which is affiliated to Save the Children-International.

From the problem of bullying at school to how diverse and yet unique Nature is, Dr. Rawal weaves in ideas in a way that appeals to her reader demographic. The child protagonists in the books, Krish and Tara often counter their parents and other adult family members with sound logic when it comes to issues such as which sport to play. Swaroop also throws in occasional correctives with older brother Krish helping younger sibling Tara in her pronunciations.

 

It is always a challenge to keep children at that age engaged, informed and entertained but Swaroop’s stories do an effective job of creating a world they are so familiar with.

In a story titled ‘The New Boy in Class’, a character called Samir is introduced who is autistic. While most people at school are mean and unfriendly to him Tara and Krish go out of their way to make him feel comfortable.

In a passage about Samir’s autism, the particular book explains, “Actually, Krish had a plan. He had learnt from class teacher that Samir was an autistic child. That is why he seemed to be different. Children with autism are different from others, but so is every single person in this world. Just because Samir is out of the ordinary,it does not mean he is silly. It just means that he is different. Autism is something that people are born with. Having autism means that Samir’s brain is wired in another way. Still Samir’s brain works
perfectly well. It just does things differently from other people’s brains. That is what makes him distinctive.”

In another book titled ‘The Six Stars Club’ children form a club that includes two former bullies Nikhil and Roy as well as Samir. The idea being to introduce a sense of common purpose and inclusiveness.

These are simple books that unobtrusively familiarize children of a certain age group with themes that will stand them in good stead throughout their lives. Each book carries details about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and a note from Thomas Chandy, CEO of Save the Children India where he points out how Swaroop has woven in the rights of children as part of the stories. Perhaps at a time when the adult world has become so fractious and judgmental, it makes sense to reclaim some of the lost ground of decency via children.

Swaroop told me that Fiji is also expected to endorse these books for its own education program.

Likelihood of life on Proxima b and its definitive but disregarded existence on Earth

This morning while drafting interview questions for Dr. Guillem Anglada-Escudé, an astronomer at Queen Mary University of London, who along with his team, has just announced the existence of our nearest and a possibly life-friendly exoplanet, I felt deeply discommoded. In fact, it is rare that I feel this worthless as I do now.

The source of this deeply unsettling feeling is a story out of India about an impoverished tribal man called Amang Majhi and his daughter Chaula in the eastern state of Odisha. I know the world abounds in people suffering intense grief and hardship because of a diversity of reasons. There is no dearth of that and each such story is utterly heart-breaking. I am mentioning this because it has left a deep impact on me.

The 42-year-old Majhi’s wife died in the district hospital of Bhawanipatna town on Tuesday of tuberculosis. He said he had no money to arrange for a vehicle to transport the body and the hospital offered him no help. So he wrapped his wife’s body in a sheet, put it on his shoulder and started walking back to his village some 37 miles away along with his daughter. A tragic video of Majhi struggling with the body even as his daughter looked grief-stricken has gone viral in India.

It was not before he had walked some seven miles or so that district chief Brunda D became aware of it and stepped into help. However, until that point Majhi and his daughter struggled with the body in India’s intense heat. 

I couldn’t get the picture of Manjhi with his wife’s body on his shoulder out of my mind while drafting questions for Dr. Anglada-Escudé. I do not want to cheapen this emotional device but here I am carefully asking a scientist about the possibility of life on an exoplanet even as feeling so utterly helpless about the very real one here on this very planet. The dramatic sweep from the individual tragedy, as embodied by the Majhi family, and interstellar triumph, as manifest in this discovery, was acute for me.

Gandhi was right about how unless India is able to wipe tears of every single individual it could not rest. That is an ideal situation which India may never achieve but it is a noble goal to bear in mind. This should be true for all countries and the world. Hence, for this entire life-harboring Earth-like Earth.

Preparing for Royal Academy of Arts summer exhibition 2017 entry

Stonehenge by Mayank Chhaya

Every year, the Royal Academy of Arts (RA) in London hosts a much respected summer exhibition based on works submitted by largely unknown artists from around the United Kingdom and the world. RA accepts 12,000 entries, a few hundred of which get chosen by a panel of well-known judges to be exhibited at a coveted event. I plan to enter for 2017.

As part of that plan, I have begun to create a set of canvases, one of which will hopefully catch enough attention of the judges to be featured in the exhibition. Of course, the journey from now to the 2017 exhibition is fraught with heavy odds. Going by what I have seen on shows about these exhibitions, one gets a few seconds to grab the judges’ attention. So the question is whether I should do something consciously designed to grab attention or do what I naturally do. I am leaning toward the second option.

I have a few ideas, one of which has already taken shape unintentionally in the form of a small painting I did recently of Stonehenge. This is acrylic on a sketch pad sheet. The objective now is to scale it up to a bigger canvas. That’s where the rub lies. With some effort, I may be able to reproduce some of the effect in the original in terms of the way the stones look, their slate-black color somewhat reminiscent of the Monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s ‘2001” A Space Odyssey’, the somewhat ominous dark grey clouds enveloping the dirty mustard yellow sun and the foreground whose tone I cannot describe. All this happened because I was basically randomly mixing colors while painting this. I do not remember at all what I did. I doubt if the scaled-up version can resemble the original.

Several questions pop up. Should I submit the original small work or create a bigger version of it? If I do indeed paint a bigger version, would I be able to make it look as close to the original as possible? Should I hire an expert forger to forge my small work? (What hubris!) Or, should I do another piece altogether? To be conflicted before knowing of even the remotest possibility that my work might make the cut is rather silly but all art seems silly when it starts.

I am also somewhat partial toward another piece titled ‘City’, which also happens to be of the same sketch pad dimension done in acrylic. I face the same set of challenges in any endeavor to replicate this as I do with Stonehenge. This one was mostly done using a plastic palette knife that cost a few cents. The painting currently hangs in my bedroom and remains among my best works. When I say “best” I am speaking in relation to my talent is a hack and not an artist at all.

City by Mayank Chhaya

There are two other works I like titled ‘Garden Path’ and ‘Garden Path 1’ respectively. Should I submit one of these?

Garden Path by MC

Garden Path 1 by MC

And finally, I am also tempted to do a version of Kubrick’s Monolith. So, do you see my problem now?

I write all this as if a) People actually read my blog and b) Even if they do, they care. That’s the conceit of anyone who writes or paints no matter how subpar.

Woman by hill

Woman by Hill—MC

Today, let’s do with ‘Woman by Hill’.

In case you feel like it, check out my new website: www.mayankchhaya.com. In case you don’t, well…

Fun to speculate about Jyotiraditya Scindia as Congress Party chief

Congress Party Member of Parliament Jyotiraditya Scindia (Photo: His Twitter profile)

Beyond the Congress Party’s dynastic impulses, which are real but not as consuming as widely believed with derision, I have not understood why it has not tried in recent years to groom a younger leader other than Rahul Gandhi to take over its reins. One obvious name that comes to mind instantly is that of Jyotiraditya Scindia. The 45-year-old has all the ingredients, including the rare oratorical flair for a Congress member both in chaste Hindi and English, to be able to do justice to that position.

I was watching a recent video of Scindia responding to what he thought was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s baffling indifference to the attacks on Dalits. Set aside the content of what he said for a moment, which was fairly substantive, it was the rhythm of the way he said it. I point that out specifically because in a democracy like India the cadence of speech is often a decisive ingredient of a politician’s success. We have one who became its prime minister on a similar strength in May, 2014.

While watching him my mind kept going back to the last week of May 1992 when I had gone to interview Jyotiraditya’s father Madhavrao Scindia in the immediate aftermath of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination. Madhavrao was being whispered about as a possible successor to Gandhi by some and it prompted an obvious question from me. I asked him why he wouldn’t consider it since he had the background, name recognition and means, not to mention respect, to do it. To provoke a response I even joked with the slogan “Strong and stable India under Madhavrao Scindia” that I made up right there. Even in that grim period he laughed out loud before lol was a thing. Some of his minders were surprised to see a normally reserved Scindia bursting out.

He became serious again, thought for a while and patted on his stomach to say, “There is no fire in my belly. No hunger.” Conversely, when I see his son I see both fire and hunger in his belly. Perhaps coming from a so-called royal lineage it is not the Scindia style to openly seek a position of power since they were born to it but something tells me that he may not be as reluctant as his father to take the plunge. By some coincidence, Jyotiraditya is almost the same age now as his father was then in 1992; 45 to father’s 47.

At the very least if Rahul does indeed take over as the party president, Jyotiraditya would be a perfect foil as his deputy although it makes more sense to anoint him the leader. There are several advantages to that, including and not restricted to diluting the rancid contempt that sections of India have for the Gandhi family; at any rate, those sections which handed Modi a resounding victory two and half years ago. Some of those could return to the Congress fold were Scindia to rise all the way.

Of course, it seems highly unlikely that Scindia will be actually considered for the top position because there are so many others of older vintage in the party, who knowing they will never make the cut, would rather stick to the predictable choice of Rahul. However, this is not a bad idea to amuse myself.

Back to Mohandas Gandhi because one can

Those of us like me who lead a minor, trivial life have to be content with visiting figures such as Mohandas Gandhi or Albert Einstein. As part of that, I watch Richard Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ from time to time. I do not necessarily watch it fully or even in one sitting but just bits and pieces. I did that last night.

Over 30 years after I first saw it in Bombay it continues to capture attention, not always because of what one sees on screen but what what imagines how Gandhi’s life would actually have been. Greatness has a way of choosing the right corporeal vehicle. Of course, a cinematic rendering of a life like that has the advantage of picking and choosing events in a way that it seems inordinately more dramatic than what it might have been for the man actually living it. To compact some six decades of staggering public engagement at the unprecedented scale that Gandhi had necessarily means Attenborough had to make a judicious selection of defining events from his life.

From the limited standpoint of Gandhi’s involvement with Narsinh Mehta’s ‘Vaishnav Jan To’, it always gladdens my heart when I come upon that scene of Ben Kingsley and Martin Sheen along Porbandar’s shoreline where the former talks about the song. As some of you might know the song and its great poet have been my passion for a long time now.

What one marvels at while either reading about Gandhi’s or watching its cinematic representation is the sheer scale at which he operated. Such relentless drive to change the course of history without any notions of personal rewards. It is an act of epic conceit to be able to do what he did. Right from defying the racist laws in South Africa to eventually presiding over an unparalleled movement against colonial subjugation and ending it is a trajectory only Gandhi had. In terms of affect the size of human population, there has not been another like him.

Einstein characteristically summed it up powerfully in his tribute to Gandhi when he said, “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this in flesh in blood ever walked upon this earth.” Soon after ‘Gandhi’ opens an American broadcaster quotes that tribute. (I have linked that scene to the artwork above). Every time I hear that it moves me. If Einstein, who unraveled perhaps the most profound element of the universe, felt propelled to say what he did, it ought to mean something.

Sixty eight years he was assassinated Einstein’s tribute already seems to have come true. There are those in large numbers who scarce believe that Gandhi was real and walked upon this earth. Life does seem like perpetually unfolding fiction, does it not?

I guess that’s all I wanted to say for now.