QUI NON STULTUS?

Long time back as a very junior officer I was called upon to perform duty during the visit of the then Prime Minister to a sub divisional town for a political rally where lakhs of people were supposed to gather. As is the wont in the arrangements of this hype and dimension, several agencies were involved in briefing the officers and men concerning their duties and responsibilities prior to the event. One such briefing was to be done by an officer of the rank of Special Superintendent from Intelligence Branch. We all were dreading a long discourse on the principles and the elements of VVIP security as the April sun was already beating down on us. A pleasant looking officer turned up dressed in smart casuals. His authoritative demeanour and intent looking eyes conveyed an impression to me that he meant business as I prepared myself for a long haul.  He began: ‘How many of you are doing such duty for the first time?’ I was the one amongst some others who raised their hands. With a benign smile he looked vaguely in our direction. ‘How many of you have done this duty before?’ Quite a large number of them raised their hands. ‘So those who have done this duty before will brief the ones who are new’. And with these words the briefing was over. We looked at each other stunned with this ‘brief’ briefing but relieved that we didn’t have to stand in the heat for long. We exchanged glances, smiled and perhaps laughed mildly and dispersed.

Molla Nasreddin was believed to have lived and died during the 13th century in the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum, in today's Turkey. He is considered a populist philosopher and wise man, remembered for his funny stories and anecdotes with subtle humour..

 

Once Nasreddin was invited to deliver a sermon. When he got on the pulpit, he asked, Do you know what I am going to say? The audience replied "no", so he announced, I have no desire to speak to people who don't even know what I will be talking about! and left. The people felt embarrassed and called him back again the next day. This time, when he asked the same question, the people replied yes. So Nasreddin said, Well, since you already know what I am going to say, I won't waste any more of your time! and left. The people were really perplexed. They decided to try one more time and once again invited the Molla to speak the following week. Once again he asked the same question – Do you know what I am going to say? Now the people were prepared and so half of them answered "yes" while the other half replied "no". So Nasreddin said Let the half who know what I am going to say, tell it to the half who don't, and left.

Who is not a fool? (Qui non stultus?) – says the Roman poet Horace (65-8 B.C.) in ‘Satires’, a collection of his satirical poems exploring the secrets of human happiness and literary perfection.

Humour is the great diffuser of tense situations.

It may perhaps have been the reason why in medieval times or even later, monarchs and wealthy used to appoint court jesters. The European words used to denote him are numerous, reflecting the mercurial man behind them: fool, buffoon, clown, jongleur, jogleor, joculator, sot, stultor, scurra, fou, fol, truhan, mimus, histrio, morio. Distinction was made between fools and clowns, or country bumpkins. The fool's status was one of privilege within a royal or noble household. His folly could be regarded as the raving of a madman but was often deemed to be divinely inspired. The 'natural' fool was touched by God. The relationship was often very close and amiable, and the jester was almost invariably a cherished presence. He was no rebel or revolutionary. His detached stance allowed him to take the side of the victim in order to curb the excesses of the system without ever trying to overthrow it. There are many stories which show a jester as the only person who could counsel a stubborn king, and as such the myth of the court jester suggests that jesters could act as a check on the whimsical power of absolute monarchy.

‘We have all seen how an appropriate and well-timed joke can sometimes influence even grim tyrants. . . . The most violent tyrants put up with their clowns and fools, though these often made them the butt of open insults.’ —Desiderius Erasmus, Praise of Folly.

In Europe the most eminent jesters were household names, and stories about their jokes and tricks circulated freely.

Sancho Panza, Don Quixote’s squire in the novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, is a short, pot-bellied peasant whose gross appetite, common sense, and vulgar wit serve as a foil to the mad idealism of his master. He is famous for his many pertinent proverbs. Sancho provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs, and earthy wit.

In India too in recent times electronic media has made some of the comedians like Raju Srivastava, Kapil Sharma, Vir Das popular and they command a huge fan following, though not in the same league as their ancestors in the past.

Gopal Bhar was a legendary court jester in medieval Bengal. He was in the court of Raja Krishnachandra, the famous king of Nadia. Numerous stories about his exploits are narrated to this day. The stories are short, beautiful, and humorous and have a specific social message. His stories are comparable with those of Birbal and Molla Nasreddin.

When I was a kid, my father used to get me a monthly magazine ‘Balak’ perhaps published from Patna. In every issue of this magazine there used to be a story captioned ‘Mithila ke Birbal: Gonu Jha’. I do not remember the stories now but I do have an impression of his being a "Pratyutpannamati" (ready-witted) character. He was a contemporary of Hari Singh, King of Mithila  in the 13th century. There are several humorous folktales about him, depicting him as a witty and wise man.

Birbal, an advisor in the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar is mostly known for the folk tales that focus on wit. By the end of Akbar's reign, local folk tales emerged portraying him as being extremely clever and witty. These tales involve him outsmarting rival courtiers and sometimes even Akbar, using only his intelligence and cunning, often with giving witty and humorous responses and impressing Akbar.

Garlapati Tenali Ramakrishna popularly known as Tenali Rama and Vikata Kavi, was a court-poet of the Vijayanagara Empire in the 16th century. He was one of the Ashtadiggajas who belonged to the court of Krishnadevaraya in Vijayanagar. He was known for his wit and impressive poetry. 

An offence was registered against Bollywood producer-director Sanjay Gupta, Balaji Motion Pictures and glamsham.com, a movie portal, by the Versova police on March 1, 2012 for the alleged misuse of the name of Mumbai Police Commissioner's office to promote Gupta's film Shootout at Wadala. He had issued an invitation card for a press conference, which was made to look like a summons from the CP. However, Gupta contended that there was a disclaimer issued by them at the back of the invitation card.

"This is an innovative invitation. That's it," Justice A V Nirgude said. "The police officers who registered the offence have lost their sense of humour," he wrote in.

In fact we all have. We are living in a time when an innocuous forward of a cartoon or a remark on twitter or face book or any social media site at once attracts provisions of IT Act or other such laws. Millions mourning the Charlie Hebdo tragedy have roared “the pen is mightier than the sword” – and that pen should always be free to write whatever it wants. Perhaps no longer.  We all have forgotten how to laugh at ourselves. And those who claim to represent us have assumed that we have no sense of humour. We're now so sensitive about everything – from a word in a movie or song, to a tweet, to interpretation of history, to art, to almost anything at all – that we react with anger and end up destroying public assets and endangering human lives. Every issue can be politicized, all in the name of the “common man”. The sunshine and the cheer, the mirth and the laughter seem to have evaporated from our collective imagination long since.

It feels as if 2015 is the year when a war has been declared on humour, with laughter replaced by the curiously modern disease of being terminally offended.

Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun, it shines everywhere.—Twelfth Night 

Not anymore, Shakespeare sir. These are not your times now.

Your profound and poetic expression may be subjected to an ear shattering prime-time debate and questioned at full throttle ….

                                              …..because the Nation wants to know….

ONE YEAR LATER...

How many words does one speak in a minute, in an hour, in a day or in a lifetime? Or how much does one talk? ‘Even if you think you don't, you do’, says Simpsons writer Rob Lazebnik. “Talking is like drinking a great cabernet.”

Social psychologists say the people who are most likely to be over-talkers are:

•      People with Asperger's-type disorders (a disorder that amongst other symptoms,         exhibits a restricted range of interests and/or repetitive behaviour)

•       People who are anxious and babble out of nerves, trying to please the person they are    talking to.

•       Narcissists, who think that what they have to say is very important and entertaining.

So what category shall we put our politicians in--nervous, anxious, narcissists, suffering from some disorder or simply entertainers? Why do our politicians talk so much: more so when they are making public speeches, and are swept by their own rhetoric and the applause and adulation that follows. A speech is defined as a formal address, delivered to an audience that seeks to convince, persuade, inspire or inform.

In the world chronicle there have been epoch making and landmark speeches and powerful orations that have changed the course of the history of mankind.

Moses’ spoke of God’s Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai which concern matters of fundamental importance in both Judaism and Christianity: the greatest obligation (to worship only God), the greatest injury to a person (murder), the greatest injury to family bonds (adultery), the greatest injury to commerce and law (bearing false witness), the greatest inter-generational obligation (honor to parents), the greatest obligation to community (truthfulness), the greatest injury to movable property (theft).

The Funeral Oration of Pericles in 431 BC redefined oration and inspired the Athenian people cleverly honouring the fallen soldiers while simultaneously galvanizing the living citizens into more action to ensure their death was not in vain invoking a deep sense of sorrow while simultaneously setting up feelings of national pride and faith among the audience.

Socrates delivered his apology speech during his trial and is an oration masterpiece as he defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of "corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel." “The unexamined life is not worth living.” It is such a profound statement attributed to Socrates. True. People who do examine their lives, who think about where they've been, how they got here, and where they're going, are much happier people.

 

In his Gettysburg address on the 19^th November 1863 Abraham Lincoln spoke of ‘a new birth of freedom’. Over time, this speech with its ending - government of the People, by the People, for the People - has come to define democracy itself.

 

Swami Vivekananda speaking at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago on 11^th September, 1893, created history by his soul-stirring address  as he began: ‘Sisters and Brothers of America', Newspapers like the New York Herald wrote of him saying “Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest figure in the Parliament of Religions. After hearing him we feel how foolish it is to send missionaries to this learned nation". The world celebrates this day as World Brotherhood Day as a mark of respect to that speech he made.

 

Winston Churchill delivered one of the most powerful and unusual speeches of all times during WW-II, at the threat of a Nazi invasion. On June 4th, 1940, he spoke before the House of Commons to warn them of this grim possibility. The speech was immediately recognized to be historic. One of Churchill's secretaries noted in his diary "A magnificent oration, which obviously moved the House." ‘…we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills ,we shall never surrender…’

In August 1963, Martin Luther King electrified America with his momentous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, dramatically delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His soaring rhetoric demanding racial justice and an integrated society became a mantra for the black community and is as familiar to subsequent generations of Americans as the US Declaration of Independence.

 

‘Tryst with Destiny’ delivered by Jawaharlal Nehru, towards midnight on 15 August 1947  is considered to be one of the greatest speeches of all times and to be a landmark oration that captures the essence of the triumphant culmination of our independence struggle against the British Empire . “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”.

Of course, any list of great speeches would be incomplete without a mention of Shakespeare, the master of rhetoric, the Bard himself. ‘Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears’ a line of a speech by Mark Antony in Julius Caesar is one of his most famous lines from all of his works. Comparisons have been drawn between this speech and political speeches throughout history in terms of the rhetorical devices employed to win over a crowd.

 At the end of his oration, Antony utters to himself, "Now let it work. Mischief, thou art afoot. Take thou what course thou wilt."

The Telegraph, Calcutta in its lead news ‘He who lives by Twitter shall…’ datelined New Delhi May 19 observes that Prime Minister Modi, ‘susceptible to being carried away by tumultuous receptions abroad appears to have crossed the 140 character rekha’ (sms has 140 character limit) when first in Shanghai and then in Seoul he said that ‘earlier, you felt ashamed to be born in India’. “The Prime Minister, true to his style of dividing India ‘before me’ and ‘after me’ in the manner of messiahs, was trying to draw a distinction between the country he inherited and the one he rebuilt in the past 12 months” says the lead news article.

Will it be a landmark piece of oration that will keep reminding us Indians of our shame at being born in India before 26 May 2014 --- 

                          …till one greater man

Restore us, and regain the blissful seat…

                                     --Paradise Lost: John Milton

BEING SELFISH

The word ‘selfish’ appears to have been coined in the Sixteenth century by Presbyterians. In the Seventeenth century, synonyms included self-seeking, self-ended and self-full. The English Dictionary defines this adjective as ‘devoted to or caring only for oneself, concerned primarily with one’s own interest, benefits, welfare etc., regardless of others.’

On November 15, 1903, Charles Ponzi an Italian born businessman arrived in Boston, aboard the S.S. Vancouver. ”I landed in this country with $2.50 in cash and $1million in hopes, and those hopes never left me’, he told The New York Times. By July 1920, he had made millions. His ‘Ponzi scheme’ promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days or 100% profit within 90 days. In reality Ponzi was paying early investors using the investments of later investors, a practice known as ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’. People were mortgaging their homes and investing their life savings. Most did not take their profits, but reinvested. His scheme collapsed, costing his investors $20 million and financially ruining several homes.

Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim is regarded as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. Jim a young British seaman becomes first mate on the Patna, a ship full of pilgrims travelling to Mecca for the hajj. When the ship starts rapidly taking on water and disaster seems imminent, Jim joins his captain and other crew members in abandoning the ship and its passengers, thus committing the ultimate sin for a naval officer to abandon ship, particularly when passengers or crew are still on board. The court strips him of his navigation command certificate for dereliction of duty. Jim is angry with himself, both for his moment of selfishness, and for missing an opportunity to be a 'hero'. What will this mean for Jim who is about to face his destiny, which is relentless and inescapable?

Sir Philip Sidney, an English poet, scholar, and soldier, is remembered as one of the most prominent figures of the Elizabethan age. In the battle fighting for the Protestant cause against the Spanish, he was shot. While lying wounded he gave his water to another wounded soldier, saying, "Thy necessity is yet greater than mine." 

All the religions of the world, their Holy Books and scriptures, as also the society, extol and applaud the virtue of selflessness, service and sacrifice

“Selfish” is a bad word in most people's books. As a society, we frown upon anyone we think of as selfish. But oriented around survival it’s in our nature to take care of our own needs first. Some psychologists believe that when you take care of yourself first, you show up as a healthy, grounded person in life. Being called selfish doesn’t feel like a compliment, but the trait can actually make you a better and a happier person, psychology experts say. If you can’t take care of yourself, then you can’t care for others. "Putting yourself first is not a negative quality; it’s your job to take care of yourself and get what you need. When you’re able to focus within, you’re much more authentic and much happier. It is your responsibility to make yourself happy. Take ownership of your happiness.” Being selfish is so critical.

On board my flight, the air-hostess makes announcements every time: The cabin pressure is controlled for your comfort, should it change radically in flight, oxygen compartments will automatically open in the panel above your seat. Pull the mask over your mouth and nose and secure with the elastic band like this. If you are travelling with children or are seated next to someone who needs assistance, place the mask on yourself first…..

A hit and run is a high risk, high reward offensive strategy used in baseball. It uses a stolen base attempt to try to place the defending in-fielders out of position for an attempted base hit. In law, hit-and-run is the act of causing or contributing to a traffic accident, such as colliding with a person or fixture, and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards. It is an offence^.

Jolly LLB is a power-packed courtroom drama that revolves around the case of a rich guy, who drove over a pathway, killing several labourers in the bargain. This film celebrates the spirit of the common man seeking justice and impartiality. Underneath its humour is an angry critique of the system, so easily manipulated by the rich in their own self-interest and so difficult to penetrate for the poor who are the victims.

A popular superstar sentenced like an ordinary mortal thirteen years after the trial commenced, is not merely breaking news. TV anchors, newsreaders, tabloids, newspapers, social media and every other person out there, become the judge, advocate and executioner of public sentiment. In some cases there is an irrepressible glee watching a celebrity fall. There are others who would firmly stand by the celebrity in his hour of crisis.

 
As Suhel Seth says: ‘In the coming days, many pundits will tell us about the intricacies of the law; there will be others who will pontificate on the robustness of our judicial system, while few will spare a thought for the victims. We will then return to life as we know it.’ 

After all, you’re responsible for your own happiness.

OUT OF SYLLABUS

For a period of time I was posted as a trainer at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, the premier national institution, training the fresh inductees to the Indian Police Service. The duration of Academy training is one year during which the trainee officers are exposed to various outdoor skills and initiated in a wide range of indoor subjects. As in any other training institution, a syllabus is defined along which the instruction in indoor subjects is imparted. Considering the period of training, a vast range of indoor subjects and the limited allocation of time to each subject, a lot of topics that are a part of syllabus remain un-covered. So at the end of my  allocated hours, a young officer in one of the batches came up to me and enquired if I had completed the syllabus and then went even further wanting to know what if a question in his final examination came from ‘out of syllabus’!

According to the Oxford Dictionary, syllabus is an outline of a subject that is included in a course of study. The word syllabus derives from Latin sittybas "parchment label, table of contents", which first occurred in a 15th-century print of Cicero's letters to Atticus.  The syllabus ensures that there is a minimal confusion on policies, expectations of material to be learned, behavior in the training sessions and effort on learner's behalf to be put into the training, and providing a roadmap of course organization and direction.

We all have a fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling, acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience.  As behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. Habit is the most powerful force in the cosmos Therefore, the young officer’s response to a classroom situation was conditioned by his past experience, to look at the syllabus, or to the end of the course exams or to anything out of syllabus. So when I told him that given the time constraint, I won’t be able to run through the entire syllabus and that I wouldn’t vouch for any questions coming out of the syllabus as well, the young officer froze as if a major disaster was imminent. When a pattern of behavior, not a regular or routine one or in sync with a predetermined mindset is seen or displayed, the reaction could be from ridiculous to shocking to unbelievable.

DDLJ was released on October 19, 1995. 1000 weeks and about two decades later, the film is still fresh in our collective memory. Raj and Simran became cult characters and so did their iconic romance. But have you ever wondered what DDLJ would be without few things that helped to accentuate the love story? Could DDLJ get what it did without few of the most memorable set pieces?

A joyous wedding song so energetically performed by Sharukh Khan and Mandira Bedi, where even Farida Jalal breaks into dance, is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of an un-approving and dominating Amrish Puri. A deathly hush descends upon the festivities. The viewers were ready for explosive fire-works to follow. But what a turnaround when Babuji himself breaks in to a song and dance... Ai meri zohra jabeen…! Again in the climax while audience would have expected the train to steam past with the strict father Amrish Puri with his glaring eyes emitting fire. Still firmly holding Kajol’s hand, the heart of a stone cold father melts, and he let go Simran to join Raj on the moving train delivering his popular lines, ‘ja Simran ja, Ji le apni zindagi’ (Go Simran. Live your life.).  

This takes me to ‘The Guide” the famous novel of RK Narayan, (which was so beautifully made in to a block-buster film starring Dev Anand and Waheeda Rahaman). Marco doesn't approve of Rosie's passion for dancing. Rosie, encouraged by Raju guide, decides to follow her dreams breaking away from the stifling domesticity. While Marco devotes himself to the discovery of the cave, Raju takes Rosie out when she wants to see a male cobra:

‘She stretched her arm slightly and swayed it in imitation of the movement; she swayed her whole body to the rhythm-for just a second, but that was sufficient to tell me what she was, the greatest dancer of the century.’

Raju learns about Rosie's background as a daughter of a prostitute and how Rosie has achieved respectability as the wife of Marco. She had to give up her passion for dancing since it was unacceptable and was clearly out of syllabus for Marco. 

‘I took Rosie all over the place, showed her the town hall tower-showed her ‘Sarayu’ and we sat on the sands and munched a large packet of salted nuts. She behaved like a baby- excited, thrilled, appreciative of everything. I took her through the Suburban Stores and told her to buy anything she liked. This was probably the first time that she was seeing the world. She was in ecstasies.’

It is perhaps at this stage of the narrative that director Vijay Anand conceived of a song for Rosie’s celebrating her ecstasy at breaching narrow confines of the syllabus: Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai/Aaj phir marne ka irada hai.  Does one start living or dying only after transcending the limits of a life syllabus prescribed or imposed externally?

Bade Bhaisahab is one of the most loved stories of Munshi Prem Chand. It is a light-hearted tale overflowing with humour and laced with the traditional axiom that a man is qualified to command respect, sermonize and pontificate just because he is older to you; again a stereotype of an expected behavior of an elder brother for the young sibling.  Of the two brothers, the elder one amongst them is a serious person. He is so committed to studying hard that he does not approve the playfulness of his younger brother. He is all the time worried that the younger one is not studying enough to do well and sermonizing to him constantly. But what happens when something out of the ordinary occurs? And Prem Chand captures this moment so beautifully:

Bhai Sahab embraced me and said: ‘I wouldn’t have stopped you from flying kites. I, too long to fly them. But I’m helpless. If I were myself to tread the wrong path, how would I stop you? Duty weighs upon my head’.

By chance just at that very moment a kite came floating over our heads. The end of its string was dangling just above us. A group of boys was chasing it. Bhai Sahab is tall. He jumped and caught hold of the loose end of the kite-string. Then he flew off towards the hostel. I ran behind him…. ‘ 

Ending of the story explodes the inflated balloon of the elder brother’s pretensions and assumptions. In fact Bhai Sahab’s sprint with the kite might also signify his own liberation from the ghosts that haunt him and thus emerging ‘out of syllabus’!  

Life in all its hues and shades must have a degree of regularity. But changing the expected to something unexpected could be so free spirited, so out of syllabus yet so endearing.