silent revolutions

sadhuji

An article in the Sunday edition of TOI deliberated on the current wave of Hinglish songs that have become the rage of Bollywood. Lyrics that used to be predominantly pure versions of Hindi or Urdu or a comfortable mixture of both have undergone immense changes. It is not that there were no earlier mixtures – remember songs like ‘suno suno Miss Chatterji, mere dil ka matter ji’ or ‘CAT cat, cat maney billi; RAT rat, rat maney chuha?’ Experimentation has always been accepted; hence, when modern movies reflect the current popular trend, eyebrows should not be raised.

Not just in movies but in our day-to-day lives also we face changed scenes and have to adjust to these. Gone are the days when the heroine, in the company of her sahelis, would be cycling merrily on the road when the hero would suddenly appear on his cycle. Today, the girl whizzes past on her scooter and sings ‘why should boys have all the fun?’ Or, stops in her tracks to return the wolf whistle, with compliments, in her own special way. The modern generation addresses their parents as Mummy and Daddy or as Mamma and Pappa, the grandfather has become grandpa. No one objects. Neither do they object to tight fitting dresses nor to hair trimmed upto the neck. The exact point of time when these changes began would require some sort of research but could be traced to the period when the skies were thrown open for the entry of world class TV groups. MTV probably set the trend along with soaps like the ‘Bold and the beautiful’ or ‘Baywatch’. And, while our Doordarshan tried to maintain its conservative outlook for a long time, its defenses seem to have finally broken down. Programs of songs like Chitrahaar contain hip swinging dance numbers because that is what the present generation votes for.

If you keep your eyes open and have your ears to the ground, you will agree that silent revolutions are gradually engulfing us. They are here, there and everywhere. Our dress codes have changed like our salutations to each other; we are afraid of our own shadows, we try to disguise our feelings; we have become either introverts or extroverts – even when we relax, there is something that continues to gnaw at out vitals.

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mooning over a moon journey

Paagla Dashu

As far as the lyrics of songs are concerned, what has happened in last 20 years is more aptly described by "gradual decay" rather than revolution.