Jumping Onto The Bandwagon

At first there was only Chetan Bhagat. Now a trend has started and we are hearing of new writers coming out of the woodwork. Penguin India has brought out the Metro Reads series and Rediff is carrying interviews of the authors and excerpts from their books. Nearly all of them have common responses regarding how they always wanted to write and how they took up full time jobs but remained a writer at heart.

Don't get me wrong; I really admire these guys and girls. They wanted to do something and they achieved it. I am also one of them and I also dream of being a published author. Reading about them gives me the encouragement to chase after my dreams. That's not what this blog post is about though. What attracted my attention was this sudden spurt of amateur authors. In one of the Rediff interviews a reader had posted the comment that this is just because of the overwhelming popularity of Chetan Bhagat as everyone now wants to emulate him, hoping to earn fame and money.

I wonder if this statement is true. Are these aspiring authors (including me, I may add!) just dazzled by fame and popularity? Did Mr. Bhagat really start a new trend? Or are these people merely following their dreams as he did? It seems to me to be a mixture of both. Writing a book always appeared to be an uphill task, meant only for those who are poets, visionaries, philosophers all rolled into one. We read the novels by Amitav Ghosh or Anita Desai, marvelled at their literary finesse and sighed inwardly, deploring ourselves that we could never be that 'good'. Probably we just buried our secret hopes of becoming an 'author. 'Then "Five Point Someone" changed the scenario. All of a sudden we woke up to the reality that its not the deep thoughts or elaborate imagery only that sell a novel, its about how good a raconteur you are and how you can connect with your readers. That is Mr. Bhagat's USP; all his books hit a chord with his readers. Now we have new writers drawing upon their experiences of working as a software engineer or of being in love to pen down stories that have a place in this real world.

Be encouraging people, not everyone dares to reach for their dreams. A proliferation of amateur writers may lead to the danger of the same stories being rehashed over and over again. But maybe, just maybe, a rough diamond may be discovered in this wave, which, when polished, can go on to became the shining glory in India's crown. And just to tell you, I really hope that this diamond will be me!

'Un'cultured

It is official; M.F. Hussain has accepted Qatar citizenship. This, of course, comes with the loss of his Indian citizenship as dual citizenship is not allowed here. The flag bearers of 'morality' should be rejoicing at having successfully driven out a 95 year old man out of the country he called his home. As such I am not a fan of M.F. Hussain's work but it pains me to see that a world-renowned artist getting such shoddy treatment from his homeland.

We call ourselves a democratic country but when push comes to shove, democracy goes flying out of the window. We boast of freedom of speech, yet the moment we speak anything some faction or the other rises up in arms. Lyrics of songs need to be changed because of allegations of promoting caste differences, a film's title has to be changed to pacify members of a particular profession and woe betide you if you dare to refer a city by its old name. How about a reality check, people? Casteism is not a myth thought up by some Bollywood director, its rampant today even in the affluent and educated sections of society. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and if they get it by protesting on some non-issue so be it.

Calling a city by its old name will create a ruckus but when that same city is held hostage by terrorists, none of the self appointed moral police will risk their skins to save their motherland. The people who did do that were not from any particular part of the country, they were soldiers who had pledged their lives to the whole of India. What satisfaction do we get out of exiling someone from his country just because he invoked his artistic license? His work can be banned but how can we ban the person himself? That too in the country where a terrorist who shot and killed innocent people in full view lives comfortably in jail with crores being spent on his security. Who are we kidding, we do not belong to any democracy. We are proud of our cultural heritage but the future holds very little hope for the budding artist or writer. With fanatics looking over your shoulder, what new masterpieces can be added to India's kitty? We will have to hold on to what has already been created because new horizons are being closed to us forever.