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....I never saw such a bird for delivering opinions. Nothing escapes him; he notices everything that happens, and brings out his opinion about it, particularly if it is a matter that is none of his business. And it is never a mild opinion, but always violent--violent and profane--the presence of ladies does not affect him. His opinions are not the outcome of reflection, for he never thinks about anything, but heaves out the opinion that is on top in his mind and which is often an opinion about some quite different thing and does not fit the case. But that is his way; his main idea is to get out an opinion, and if he stopped to think he would lose chance...

...Mark Twain on "The Indian Crow"



Mark Twain has no right to complain: His 500-page book "Following the Equator" from which the above passage is taken and the thousand odd quotations for which he is celebrated are uninhibited opinions and comments on his world, its peoples and their attitudes.
Having said that, I have to admit that by and large there is an Indian Crow in all Indians of my generation and in my mother's generation where passing comments was ok.

In a family wedding my mother (85) and my wife (55) were sitting side by side in the front row:

Mother: (pointing to the bridegroom) Look at his nose. Isn't it like an Eagle's nose?

Wife: Hush, hush, please, others will hear......

Mother: So what? Tell me if I am right or no?

Wife: OK, but......

Mother: What is wrong in saying the truth? When we were girls, my three sisters and myself used to sit in the verandah and observe every passerby and pass comments. It is just a harmless pastime..

Wife slips away quietly to the back row on some pretext and Mother is joined by one of her sisters happily. 

RKN says that the most interesting object to a man is another man; and so-called 'politeness' has killed the most favorite pastime of all: harmless gossip. In his small town Malgudi everyone's affairs are everyone else's; and that creates a sort of bonding and security in spite of acute political rivalries: if there are two people there would be three parties (Brahman being the witnessing third as a hymn in Rigveda has it).

It is said that comments are of 3 grades:

(A) About People; (B) About Events; (C) About Ideas.

All of us indulge in all these three grades in various proportions at various times.

The A grade is typified by the conversation quoted above. B grade is the 1400-page: "Glimpses of World History" of Nehru. Under C grade comes the 250-page: "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table" by Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Last year (2009), from February to April, I was passing through a limerical phase. The General Elections were imminent and politically it was the most interesting time I ever passed through. Impromptu limericks at the rate of 5 a day were happening to me on just looking at the Headlines in Deccan Chronicle and I was daily posting them and mailing them to my IAS brother-in-law at Chennai. He was somewhat baffled and was wondering if I was truly being original, and put me to an undeclared test: He sms-ed me a Headline in that day's ToI: 

"Math will decide Chemistry...Buddhadeb" 

and asked me to compose a limerick on this theme and send it to him within half an hour.

With Google and Webster at my finger tips, the thing was over in ten minutes. He was very happy with it but complained that it was all about Buddha, Maya and Mamata, but not about Math and Chemistry (See below). I had to reply that limericking by definition is a lowly A grade activity about people and not about ideas (for which you will need a Keat's poem).

One always invites 'critical' comments about oneself and one's own 'work'. But he is never completely pleased. If the comments are uniformly laudatory, he feels that the commenter neither read it, nor understood it, and may perhaps be harboring an ulterior motive (like inviting him to 'critically' comment on his own 'work' in a few days).

If the 'critical' comments are even mildly adverse, hell hath no more fury.


Here is the Budhadeb limerick:


Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Buddha gets wise!

"Math will decide Chemistry"; Alignments depend on post-poll arithmetic..Buddhadeb Bhattacharya: 

Times of India Wednesday, April 15

"To Maya born under a saal tree,
Ditching his son and wedded sthree,
Of Maya-Mamata to get free,
Penanced under a peepal tree;
But can't get rid of either sthree:
Seeks Power and Pelf from Chemistry!"

...Posted by Ishani

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