Keeping it sweet & simple
The Tribune [
Chandigarh
]
Delhi
Jan 21, 2024 | Page No.: 5 | Supplement: Spectrum | Position: Top Center | Source: Ira Pande | Sq Cm: 345 | AVE: 1043052 | PR Value: 5215260
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Keeping it sweet simple wielding warrior-king and Hanuman the Hin- into our land by other cultures Today if some- du version of Superman His snarling visage one compliments my clean diction I have to is proudly displayed on the backs of cars thank an exposure to the courtly civilised lan- where he seems more of a lion than a monkey guage that I heard all around me in school and The transformation of our religious iconog- the university Alas fewer and fewer people raphy fills me with dread for our future now speak anything but English No wonder Thankfully not many subscribe to this mili- we are excising those registers of our daily dis- TOUCHSTONES tant religion but who can say what will hap- course in languages that brought graciousness IRA PANDE pen after a few decades of exposure to such and elegance into our speech The coarse angry gods I hope I am proved wrong but if rough language that you encounter in the the majority of worshippers prefers battles to bazaar is light years away from the sweetness T• HE last fortnight has been so miser- bhakti then Rama save us all of what we heard previously able that I will have to drag out Let me now talk of a phenomenon that has some happy memories from the become all too familiar Young people in the past to write with any joy Delhi has prime of their lives just chuppingdead Many Transformation of our had an unrelenting spell of such of them are fitness freaks who go to gyms for cold foggy and bleak weather that s teppin g out religious iconography fills a regular workout or run every day before or is impossible Each morning when I open my after work So obviously it is not a careless front doo r to bring in the new papers I won der me with dread Thankfully submission to unhealthy food and drink that if I ve opened the fridge door by mistake The is always responsible Nearly all of them bat- icy blast that enters the house takes hours to not many subscribe to this tle inordinate stress either at work or in their dissipate Working on my computer in my militant religion daily lives Long commutes through traffic freezing little study is like a punishment for that is insane irregular work styles since past sins Reading inside a warm quilt is only many work for corporate houses that are possible if one is wearing gloves which makes That said let me now turn to a brilliant talk based abroad and are forced to keep time turning pages impossible Those who are by Javed Akhtar that we had the privilege of schedules at complete variance from ours returning from vacations have horrifying tales attending An articulate and compelling This means a reversal of the Circadian cycle to tell of delayed flights and i ntemiinable was speaker Javed spoke of the relationship that our bodies are programmed for Add to at airports unable to handle the angry crowds between the two prominent languages of that frequent air travel through time barriers Turn on the TV and what greets you The north India Hindi and Urdu He has spoken that play havoc with one s natural rhythms rising hysteria about the ceremony that is on this subject several times and his appear- and the stress of always running to keep pace going to take place in Ayodhya Each colony ances at the Rekhta festival attract thousands with demands from bosses who feel that a fat has been inundated by the devout distribut- of listeners Google him or find him on salary gives them the right to own your time ing consecrated rice akshat and niman- You Rthe and you will be struck how easy it is These are such a toxic combination that it is taran Huge banners and posters have to follow him because he is so well-versed in not surprising that many collapse by the time sprung up everywhere proclaiming eternal the spirit of both these languages Like they reach 50 and have severe burnouts or devotion to Lord Rama This gentle incarna- Siamese twins these are inextricably inter- mental disorders tion of Lord Vishnu along with his faithful twined but just as the cult of Ram hhak ti has At the risk of sounding like an old aunt brother Lakshman and devoted wife Sita been displaced by politicians to use for carv- can t help it as I am one now I think food adorned every praja room once upon a time ing out constituencies these beautiful and drink are also responsible for heart prob- Most of them had the famous Raja Ravi Var- tongues have become divided between one lems that are claiming so many young fives m a portrait of the trio with the faithful Hanu- community and another Weekends for most of these driven worka- man kneeling in front of them This picture I grew up in up a large part of my girlhood holics mean frantic rounds of parties where titledilyodhyapati Rama had Rama and Sits was spent in Lucknow and I am in love with they eat and drink to excess in the abhaya mudra blessing their worship- well-spoken Urdu We spoke Hindustani the Always remember Rahim s doha Ati ka pers Come now to the present-day avatars lane uagethat blends finch and Urdu and nev- bhala ma bolnai Ati ki bhali ma up A ti ka that have replaced this gentle and beautiful er realised how much of what we spoke had bhala ma barsumal Ati ki bhali ma dhocrp that depiction of Ram Rajya Rama is now a bow- come from the languages that were brought best encapsulates the wisdom of moderation