The Art of How to Make a Living.
Watching TV during holidays back in India provides some of the deepest insights into the way we have progressed (joking) in the past many years of liberalization. Even though the TV has become ubiquitous only in the last decade or so in India, it's growth has been phenomenalcly stupid. When the average Indian outside the metros got his TV 20 years back, he was swept off his feet. He never got back up after that fall.
Things on the idiot box that made my vacation.
*Indian version of cheerleading girls waving around some colourful dusters and rooting for the cricket frauds.
*TV drama serials that started and stayed dumb and provide employment to
violinists who play sad tunes.
The Hindi stuff shows impeccably dressed ladies in tonnes of make-up, crying in houses with chandeliers. Maybe, that's a true reflection of the Delhi/Mumbai middle class.
The dramas in Malayalam showed maids in rural households in silk dress, lipstick and makeup sweeping the yard. And, again there is a whole bunch of well-dressed ladies crying for numerous unknown reasons. I thought I knew the language!
Is this going to be like this in the future? Terrifying thought.
*A plethora of religious channels showing Hindu (different strains), Christian (different strains), Muslim, Jain, God-men, God-women and even miracles on TV.
Outside of TV, the latest fad is a person peddling something called 'Art of Living'. This is a course that you can take by paying money to this person, which naturally sustains his living. Many people I know, including close friends and relatives, have taken this course and probably they have mastered this art. They are all 'Artists' now, I presume.
It would be inappropriate for me to comment on the contents, as I haven't taken it. However, here are a few interesting things that crossed my mind. The guru, as is the norm if you're to be taken seriously in this field, has the customary flowing beard and hair that is imitated by his disciples (Do they have professional hairdressers to do these kind of things?). The disciples are good looking, educated, suave and smooth talking young men who use lots of English words (or they speak entirely in English) in their conversation. They offer these courses (note that it's in the plural which means 'of course, there is an advanced course if you shell out more money' which would make you an 'Advanced Artist') in 100 odd countries (Let the foreign exchange roll in, yeah!). This is aimed at the middle/upper middle class category and not the lower illiterate class. He too gave a hug to a Chief Minister who is a Christian by birth (who, by the way, is making it a habit of hugging God people whenever possible, to the consternation of the gright-thinkingh politicians who had been genuflecting in front of sanyasis for long and hate the competition). He gets rave reviews and prime space in TV and newspapers.
Most of these could be applied to any of our long line of Gurus but what I found interesting was his name 'SriSri Ravisankar'. Kind of catchy, isn't it? Like some stupid ad jingle that stays on your lips for a long time. 'Sunday ho ya Monday khao ande'. I never got around to finding out why he has the 2 Sris in his name. Is it that his name is SriRavisankar which when you address him becomes Sri Sriravisankar or is it SriSriRavisankar who becomes Sri SriSriRavisankar? Reminded me of a character whose father named him Major Major in Joseph Heller's classic novel 'Catch 22' and who ends up becoming a Major.
Anyway, to be frank, I envy him. I had this idea of becoming a Guru since my college days, but I never had the necessary good looks and the beard - the most important peripheral - just didn't reach the flowing proportions necessary for such a venture. Too bad.
Meanwhile, the stink is pervasive in God's Own Country's famous tourist spots and cities and temples. The greenery, which was the main selling point, is slowly being concreted over. The second selling point - Ayurveda - is slowly being taken over by artists. That is, 'the con-artists'; trying to make a living by breaking others necks. Long live the artists.