J : Joker in the Pack #AtoZChallenge2020

Joker in the Pack - A Short Fictional Story

Jagdish took a sharp right turn. A passenger was waiting for him near the mall entrance. He sensed panic in the passenger's voice, when he called to confirm his location. There was some news broadcast on the radio in the cab. Jagdish's mind was focused on reaching the mall fast, so he faintly registered some snatches of the news on the radio.

"Janta curfew successful"
"... an impending lockdown"
"Hoarders will be punished"

Jagdish aka Jaggu always lacked focus in life. But he was an excellent driver and knew his way around the city well. He reached the mall on time. The passenger looked familiar. But Jaggu wasn't sure. He thought he looked like his schoolmate Rohan. But he chose to remain silent. The passenger sat in his car in a hurry. He didn't even look at Jaggu. He was lost in his thoughts. And looked forlorn.

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Rohan had come to the mall to buy groceries and vegetables, straight from his office. He wanted to stock up for next 30 days as the government was about to announce a lockdown soon. There was panic everywhere. The store at the mall was empty. He wasn't sure what he would tell his wife upon reaching home. As he boarded the cab, he was fiddling with his tie and mobile phone repeatedly. The driver inquired if something was bothering Rohan. Without looking up from his phone, he asked the driver, if he knows any place where he can get groceries and vegetables from. The driver said in a very assured voice, "Yes!". Rohan asked the driver to take him there. Rohan was sceptical, as most of his friends on WhatsApp were telling him that all the stores were empty. The driver took a detour and entered a less posh area of the town. Rohan failed to notice this. As the car came to a halt, the driver told Rohan that he will get everything here. Rohan was disgusted with the smell. But he had also realized by then, that the store here was less crowded. It seemed to him, as if the news of the lockdown hadn't reached the poorer parts of the town. He quickly went inside the store and came back in 20 minutes with three big bags filled up to the brim and a big wide smile on his face.
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Jaggu by now had checked his passenger's name on the app, and he was happy to know it was Rohan, as he had suspected. He directly told Rohan, that he was his school mate. Rohan felt little uncomfortable, with this new found familiarity in cab driver's voice. But he made some small talk just for the sake of it. Jaggu was the proverbial Joker in the Pack. Good for nothing fellow! He always used to flunk his exams and was always punished by his teachers in school. As they kept chatting, Rohan recollected all these memories from his school days. He smirked inside his head. He had become a corporate bigwig and Jaggu a cab driver. As Rohan reached his home, he offered a big tip to Jaggu. Jaggu declined politely as he felt a tinge of sadness.
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Ten days later, the city was under complete lockdown. No cars or cabs were allowed to ply on the road. Rohan's mother had fallen sick and had problems breathing. They called for an ambulance. Ambulance reached timely. As Rohan stretchered his mother inside the ambulance, he recognized Jaggu, despite the mask on his face. He felt assured that his mother was in safe hands. That night Jaggu informed Rohan, that as lockdown forced him to take his cab off road, he had no source of income. So he volunteered as an ambulance driver at the local hospital. There is no salary to be earned. But he is getting free meals daily for himself and his family from the hospital canteen. And some times he gets tipped by the patients' relatives. Rohan fished into his pocket for some money to tip Jaggu. But Jaggu had already left to attend to another distress call.

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here. 

Previous Challenges : Letter J

2017: Joy

2018: Jugaad that we don't need

2019: Johar's Cliches - Hindi Films / Bollywood

J : Johar's Cliches - Hindi Films / Bollywood #AtoZChallenge 2019

Karan Johar is this monstrous phenomenon in Bollywood / Hindi films. He heads one of the most successful production houses, Dharma Productions. He has had his hands in almost all the big, super hit films in last few years. He dons several hats. He is a producer, director, screenwriter, costume designer, chat show host, reality show judge, part-time actor and he also has a radio show. He has this knack of being successful at everything he does. Success defined as minting money here or attracting audiences in millions. In fact he was also the presenter / distributor of Hindi version of the most successful Indian film franchise ever - Baahubali. 

But this post is about the director Karan Johar. He is a school of film-making in himself. As a director, he has directed 6 full length feature films and two short stories as part of two anthology films. His films are largely entertaining, appeal to masses, and are made in typical Bollywood musical style. As far as his direction is concerned, he doesn't necessarily break new grounds. Though I have always found depth in his screen writing. He has brought to Hindi Cinema, a certain sense of visual flair and aesthetic which is not very real, but it has a definite Johar stamp on it. This has also led to certain cliches and tropes in his film-making style which I am going to write about. 

His imagination of educational institutes in India and the students studying there is one cliche he should get real about. In his version, colleges are designed like Disneyland, students wear branded clothes & hot pants, travel in luxury cars and play sports rather than studying. Even the professors take classes on cool subjects. The ragging that happens in his colleges is also so cute! In fact the people considered poor in his films are those who can't travel in luxury cars but still can afford a good bike. In Karan Johar's world poor people have decent jobs and pucca houses but can't afford to stay in a mansion. Even developed countries define their poor better. 

This picture is from his film Student of the Year. Look at what the students are wearing here. Let us now see how the real world deals with it. Here is a news item about one of the most progressive colleges, St. Xaviers, in Mumbai. They have banned sleeveless tops, shorts and ripped jeans on the campus.

In the following video from the Student of the Year, a student is not allowed to park his bike as it is reserved for another student's car. Which college has reserved parking for cars in India for students? Also as per this article, the bike Siddharth Malhotra is riding in this film is among the top preferred bikes of college students. 

Now here are two scenes from his debut film as director, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. In the first scene the hero is ragging one of the leading ladies. In Karan Johar's world ragging is harmless fun. In the second scene, a professor discusses love. What fun subject! Don't forget to note the way students are dressed in these scenes or the way they are behaving in general. Also the classrooms and colleges here are far more colorful than the kindergarten school my kid goes to. 

By the way here you can read about the real world ragging and its influence on students. 

Just like his version of colleges, Johar's version of love is also pretty colorful. His love stories are set mostly in either a modern milieu or a fairy tale milieu, where there are no real conflicts. Over the years, we have been conditioned to believe that a love story becomes an epic only if the conflict is strong and real. But Karan Johar believes in making his love stories epic by the following two techniques:

1. Shoot a love ballad lavishly in front of great pyramids and make us believe in the epic nature of the love story. By the way this beautiful song from his film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, is a dream sequence, another clever cliche of Hindi Films to transport us away from reality. 

2. The second technique used by Johar to make us feel his love stories, is color syncing. Either his leads will be color coordinated always, or his backdrops would lend color to his stories. Look at the use of blue, yellow, orange and many more colors in this soulful ballad from Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. 

By now, you would have also realized that over the years, his biggest cliche has been one and only Shahrukh Khan!

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Hindi Film Industry / Bollywood cliches. You can read the theme reveal post here.

2017 Challenge Post from Letter J: Joy - My most favorite post about the birth of my son. Click here to read.

2018 Challenge Post from Letter J: Jugaad that we don't need - A post about things wrong with quick hacks. Click here to read.

J : Jugaad that we don't need #AtoZchallenge

Wikipedia defines Jugaad as :

Jugaad is a colloquial Hindi and Punjabi word, which has various meanings depending on the situation. Roughly translated, jugaad is a "hack". It could also refer to an innovative fix or a simple work-around, a solution that bends the rules, or a resource that can be used in such a way. It is also often used to signify creativity—to make existing things work, or to create new things with meager resources.

Jugaad is increasingly accepted as a management technique and is recognized all over the world as an acceptable form of frugal engineering at peak in India. Companies in India are adopting Jugaad as a practice to reduce research and development costs. Jugaad also applies to any kind of creative and out-of-the-box thinking or life hacking that maximizes resources for a company and its stakeholders.

Clearly, above definition is a work of a sharp MBA mind and nothing more than bull-shit. Equating Jugaad with things like Frugal Engineering or putting it across as a management technique to overcome resource constraints is clearly overstating the purpose of Jugaad. Yes, Jugaad is a hack, or a quick-fix solution to some pressing problem. But it should not be accepted as a norm. It shouldn't become a standard. It is just a Plan B - something temporary. There is no sustainability or quality in it. You can't build a nation or a company based on a Jugaad.

If you are an Indian, you would have often heard this phrase - "Hamaara Desh toh jugaad pe chalta hai" (Our country runs on Jugaad). This is largely used in context of non functional coalition governments, which are paralyzed by the compulsions of their coalitions.  If Jugaad was such a good thing, why would you hear this phrase often?

Here is a list of Jugaad(s) we don't need:

• Let us not have any Jugaad when it comes to running the governments (state / central). Public service is a long term priority. The hunger of power shouldn't lead to political parties with different ideologies coming together to form a government. For effective governance, we should have decisive governments. We shouldn't be having populist measures like waiving of of agricultural loans so that political parties can nurture their vote banks. In long term, this Jugaad is not sustainable. Ideally governments should take steps and develop policies which help agriculture in long run, for example. 
• Let us say no to Jugaad when it comes to a public servant discharging his or her duty. There is no need of chai / paani (bribe) to get our work done. Let us not break rules in the first place that we need to use Jugaad to get out of the mess. Let us stop saying, "Kuch Jugaad Laga Ke bacha lo sir". (Use some Jugaad to save me)
• Let us say no to Jugaad when it comes to the safety of people. Yes, frugal engineering is important to manage costs of a company. But that doesn't mean that companies can use sub standard materials or relax their safety norms. There are enough industrial accidents to prove that we are not doing a good job in manufacturing especially in SME sector. Let us personally not do things like stealing electricity using some illegal connection, just to save some money. Fire hazards are common in such situations. Let us stop saying, "Apna Jugaad set hai bijli board mein". (I have a jugaad - an accomplice - in electricity board) 

I hope I have been able to put across my point that how Jugaad, can lead to a governance paralysis or large scale retail corruption that can erode savings of a common man or lead to several physical hazards. 

Let us also stop objectifying and slut-shaming women by describing them as a Jugaad in our regular conversations and popular songs. 

What is the Jugaad you would say no to?

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My last year's challenge post from letter J was about Joy of parenthood. Read it here. 

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My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is all about writing stories, anecdotes and observations from my life in form of easy to read listicles. You can read the theme reveal post here.

J : Joy

A thing of beauty is a joy forever - A line from poem 'Endymion' by John Keats

We named our son, Meharaj. Meharaj means the Blessing of God. And he truly is. Now he is almost 4 months old. He is our first child. He was born on 21st December 2016 in the afternoon. When the nurse informed me about his arrival, I was pleased. Very pleased. Few minutes later, I was allowed into NICU to see him. He was very weak, born a month earlier than due date. But life was kicking inside him. My eyes welled up at that moment, seeing him. Life, in its most vulnerable form, but at its most resilient was in front of me. And I was tearing up. 

Two days later, when doctors allowed us to hold him and he was out of NICU, I held him in my arms. That was pure bliss, pure joy. I can't describe that joy in words. What I described above, the hours and days before I held him, were moments of pleasure. The pleasure of knowledge that I am a father now. The pleasure, that I brought him to the world. But when I held him in my arms, the 'I' melted away. He wasn't the only one born that day, the father in me was too.

I think that is the difference between pleasure and the joy. Pleasure is for the body, for the 'I'. Drinking gives pleasure, but it is the company of friends that gives joy. Making love to a girl gives pleasure, but getting unconditional love from someone is joy. 

Every time, I hold Meharaj in my arms, I know there is nothing better in life. I love him.