Friday, August 28, 2009

Post-modern enlightenment

‘Do you believe in God, and religion, and the afterlife, and things like that?’ someone asked the pretty young girl-about-town.

‘Nah...,’ said she, ‘who believes in all that rubbish in this scientific age?’

‘Well, what do you believe in, then?’

‘Why, lots of things! I believe in Macburgers, and my credit card, and my hair dye, and Britney Spears, and Wal-Mart and Nokia…’

‘And suppose these things fail you sometimes?’

‘Well, there’s always my boyfriend who tells me I’m looking good even on a bad hair day, and daddy’s credit card to fall back on, and Apple to do wonders in the mobile phone industry if Nokia falters! Then there's a new multiplex coming up in the neighbourhood. Who needs more?’

7 comments:

Shilpi said...

Real people do say stuff of this sort. The rather frightful bit is that not one bit of the whole thing is an exaggeration, and I know that many girls - giggly or not actually do believe in all the things listed.
Take care...
Shilpi

Anonymous said...

sir,
I must tell you this. Just a couple fo days back almost a similar thing happened with me when i asked this same question to one of my new found friends here. >>>> PEOPLE EVerywhere think on the same lines i suppose...!!!???

Nishant

Subhanjan said...

As I observe all around myself, I realize that there is a serious shortage of intellectuality in almost every kind of environment - whether it is that of educational institutions, offices, or households. There is a huge section of people out there whose minds simply can NOT think beyond malls, multiplexes, fast food corners, pornography, and abusive languages. In fact being fond of all these things is the ‘cool’ thing for most of today’s generation, and also for some parents. And top of that I have also come to this realization that there are many communities in India who can think of absolutely NOTHING but MONEY. And that ends up to a lot and lot of wastage of money. Since I am in Delhi, I am coming across people who consider spending money here and there, now and then, as the only possible ways of being ‘happy’. It is not that I do not go to malls. But I go only with some purpose. I visit the Reliance Mart when I need to buy something cheap as my institute is on the highway and there is no cheap market nearby. And I go to multiplex when there is a good movie to watch. But I never feel like strolling about inside a mall. It is so cheap. But for many people there can be no better place on earth than malls. I asked a friend to accompany me to Jama Masjid. He reacted as if I had asked him to taste a horribly bitter food. He chose to go to a shopping mall instead.

On this note I want to admit that compared to Delhi, Kolkata is much better in terms of intellectuality. Over there we still see people who read, write and think. There are many who are still fond of paintings, music, theatre, dance, photography, and good movies. If not many, some still think of life and the good and bad of it. Tagore is still close to our hearts. Not an hour goes by without me humming some melodious tune designed by his immortal craftsmanship. But over here people sing nothing but the latest Bollywood tracks. People cannot think beyond BMWs and Macburgers. Kolkata, thankfully, is not so bleak yet. I hope it does not end up as a total mall-hopping culture.

Amit Parag said...

This kind of future George Orwell might had in his mind when he said"
Progress is not an illusion, it happens, but it is slow and invariably disappointing".
People pretend to be sophisticated by becoming hopping-to- malls,eating burgers,wearing low waist jeans and doing everything which delineates their duplicity and shallowness type. The world today is undergoing a Renaissance of sorts;more like a backward bending curve of knowledge.
An excellent story which Sir read to us comes to mind-A woman driving her grand daughter to school questions her why she wears jeans.The girl replies,"To look different".
Then she opens the door of her car and walks into a sea of students wearing jeans.

Unknown said...

Sir,
A fine example of "Black Humour" I must say.
This kind of blog will be appealing to the "Ultramodern" sort of people,who can only think of latest mobiles,cool i-pods and snazzy electronic goodies.
The most astonishing aspect of today's world is that,most of the fickle minded people pursue "Science" and use the word "Scientific" just like that.I mean to say that "Science" has become only a mere propaganda for those people to show off their nonsense and idiotic Status in the society.
Being a lover of Science myself,I want to point it out to those morons that Science is the reflection of Mother Nature.And it does not mean only credit cards or mobiles or cosmetics or i-pods and using sms-textual English.The sooner these type of people understand this,the better the world will be.
I would also like to say here that one Legendary Scientist had told that"I pursue Science to understand the mind of God".
I apologize for having been a bit emotional while writing,but I feel that this anomaly with Science has to be stopped at once.

With regards,
Soumallya Chattopadhyay

Suvro Sarkar said...

Haha, now is that a take on the post-modern generation as a whole or a deep insight into the minds of the fairer sex...it seems to me that the boyfriends and the fathers are rather spoiling our women!

Now how would an average Joe guy-about-town have responded to the same question? Lets try...

"Oh lots of stuff. I believe in Friday nite-outs with the guys, and Liverpool and Rafa Benitez, then there's my xBox, and good ol' Johnnie Walker and torrents.com..."

‘And suppose these things fail you sometimes?’

"Well, there's always some cheap beer - never fails to uplift the mood when the new girlfriend ditches - and my rich roomie's cash to fall back on, and a good lazy afternoon siesta if the xBox falters! Then there's this new Pizza Hut coming up in the neighbourhood...who needs more?"

Enlightenment, no less.

Suvro Chatterjee said...

That was superbly done, Suvro, many thanks.

I wish your sort would write more comments on my blog (and more stuff on their own)!
Sir