Gujarat EDN
AM 06SEP2012
OPED
An interesting turnout of the Naroda Patiya verdict has been the virtual
silence by all the cronies of the state government, who are usually the first
to cry foul; accusing the ‘English press’ of hounding Modi
There’snodoubtaboutit.Coalgatemaybe the biggest scam to emerge in recent times
-- bigger than all the 3Gs, 4Ps and 5Dsputtogether.Unfortunately,it’salso the
most boring. First of all, there’s the veryimageofcoal:black,messyandburieddeep
underground.Thenthere’sthestrongsimilarity
tothetoothpaste,Colgate(whosemanagement mustbecringingeachtimeit’smentionedinthe
news, worried about negative association in the consumer’s subconscious).
Finally, and perhapsmostimportantofall,dowereallycareany more? Does any scam
shock or surprise us any longer, give or take a few zeroes?
Yet, we’re forced to listen to the same drivel, night
after night, because TV channels want to look like they’re doing a fantastic
job, as pretentious anchors try to sound outraged, analytical and intelligent;
often at the cost of other global news.Yearsago,wewouldbethrilledatthelittle
international clip at the end of Doordarshan news, comprising some overseas
snippet. Unfortunately, it would last only for a few seconds. Looks like
nothing has really changed much. Today,we’reforcedtolistentothesamescandal or
medical horror story that can be summed up in three lines: (a) We suck as a
country; (b) We will continue to suck as a country; (c) And then we will suck
some more. Someone please put on a decent dvd; we know the end to this story.
The bad guys will get away as usual.
So Gangs of Wasseypur has come and gone and will
probably be missed. One almost wishes there were a third part in the pipeline,
given the upcoming setting of what looks like the Agripada-Nagpada locality of
Bombay. After long, here’safilmthat’sraw,grittyandrealistic;notto mention the
captivating Bihari voice-over. (Raj Thackeray, eat your heart out.) Also after
long is a woman who’s raw, gritty and realistic, in the form of Huma Qureshi,
who hits you like the proverbial thunderbolt from the Godfather --with Reema
Sen and her smouldering ‘Bong’ eyes following a close second. With her
saturninestructure,flamingblackhairandrusticDilli diction, Huma redefines the
term “smoking hot.” In fact, next to her, “smoking hot” would be like the
freezing point of liquid nitrogen. (Wonder if I can re-take the chemistry
viva.)
It’s surprising that for all the pollyrot one sees on
TV, in the form of puerile promos, one didn’t see anything about this film or
its talented cast. One is also trying to figure out the logic
thatallowstheCensorBoardtopassthechoicest expletives and profanities, while
getting all jittery at the slightest display of cleavage. Maybe it’s something
Oedipal; maybe one of the officialswasn’tbreast-fedasababy.AsAzhamKhan would
say in GOW, “sab ke sab saale @#$%&$#% hain!” Also, given the doldrums that
Gollywood constantly find itself in, maybe someone from the Gujarati film
industry can come up with GOSKAD (Gangs of Shahpur, Kalupur and Dariapur).
An interesting turnout of the Naroda Patiya verdicthasbeenthevirtualsilencebyallthecronies
of the state government, who are usually the first to cry foul; accusing the
“English press” of hounding Modi and refusing to see his “progressive” vision
and “developmental” work. Perhapstheyarecoweddownforthetimebeing,
seeingthegravityofthesituationandthestrong nationwide tide in favour of the
verdict. While not advocating Maya Kodnani’s innocence, it’s hard to imagine
someone that mousy looking, lustily yelling for blood, leading bloodthirsty
hordesonwardto“kill...kill...kill!!”Theverdict,
whilehavingstoppedjustshortofbeing“toolittle,toolate,”couldeasilymorphintothat;ifnot
followed up with more convictions for the rest of the guilty. It still remains
to be seen if any of thisislikelytoaffecttheverdictintheupcoming polls. Given
the highly communal and polarised fabric of the state, probably not. After all,
who cares about justice for the minority, when
oneoftheirown(whocandonowrong)isinthe dock? Muslim prayer caps, anyone??
DINYAR T DASTOOR
