It is all a case of "Khatte Angoor".
No one kicks a dead dog. So there
must be something good in Biharis
that provokes others to react
negatively. Something others wished
they had. Biharis are very
successful everywhere in the
country. Go to any state and you
will find Biharis shining out there.
Bihar provides a bulk of the IFS /
IAS/ IPS force apart from many
educated Bihari officers occupying
important positions in industry. No
one can attack them. They are all
highly educated and successful.
So what do the not so successful lot
from other states do? Take it out by
sniggering at the poor uneducated
Biharis. Laugh at the way they speak
and their music. But look closely,
even the poor Biharis have qualities
that the rest of India should think
of inculcating. The poor Biharis are
socially integrated even in their
poverty. The young Biharis take care
of their aged parents. Joint
families still exist in Bihar. How
many other communities can boast of
that. Most non Biharis simply throw
family to the wind the moment they
smell money and also they are
willing to do any job if they can
get some money for it. - Rajesh -
Jan. 31, 2007
Obscenity is more explicit in some
of the popular Hindi/English songs.
It’s not the ‘filth’ but the
‘quality/presentation’ of the filth
which bothers some of the critics of
Bhojpuri songs. Bhojpuri songs sound
‘cheap’ and ‘raw’ because they are
written, composed, sung and marketed
by ‘cheap’ artists and businessmen.
Such is the stigma of ‘cheapness’
that the elite are embarrassed even
by the ‘nirgun’ bhajans in Bhojpuri.
Let some second-generation NRIs
release Bhojpuri-rap albums, add
pole-dance kind of stuff and apply
the ‘marketing’ tactics, and then
the elite will dance to the Bhojpuri
songs in the five star clubs.
If one is ready to pay, he can get
the best singers in the country to
sing for him, the ‘imported’ bimbos
for the pole dance and the best
music (?) company for recording the
album. Everything and everyone is
out for sale. What really matters is
the price. One is as good as the
bid. The readers of TOI don’t buy
cheap stuff (except the news). If
one is paying 300 Rs to buy a CD, it
must be good. If Mallika/Malaika
feature in an album, it ought to be
bought. Too less is too much and too
much is too less. The weirder is the
better. Media is to get publicity to
the rich. If you are a Bismillah
Khan and making the news, you just
have died. Vinay Bihari (Who’s he?)
sells more than Vidyapati.
Let us do some introspection now. We
all know that most of the new
Bhojpuri songs are of the nasty kind
and they are played shamelessly in
public places. We know about the
theatres at the Sonepur fair. We
have witnessed the show of
shamelessness in the name of Holi.
It is not (just/whole of) the labour
class which has an affinity for the
vulgarity (in songs). Profanity in
speech is common of the region
(Bihar/Jharkhand). Machismo is
characterized by how foul a language
one can speak. Women have no voice.
Why can't a bhabhi slap the
lascivious devar publicly? Why don't
the chachis and mausis come out to
teach the lewd men a lesson? If such
things start to happen, the
perspective will change
automatically.
Villages and small towns have no
role models left. We have a young
generation with little education, no
money, no job and no aim. They don't
have a decent school/college (in the
district), but some of the
better-offs have got cable TV,
camera phone and a CD player, enough
to ruin the next generation. How
many of this generation will believe
that once Lata Mangeshkar, Md Rafi
and Talat Mahmood sang for the
Bhojpuri movies? - Kumod Jha -
Feb. 2, 2007
While the part about making good
Bhojpuri music is accepted, I would
differ with the opinion of Shri. Jha
on two points. Profanity in speech
and music is not the hallmark of
Bihar. If you have heard Punjabis
and Sindhis speak you will agree
with me. They sprinkle their talk
with a liberal helping of the most
vulgar abuses. In some cases, I have
seen Punjabi and Sindhi fathers and
sons use such language in front of
each other. They behave as if the
abuses words are some inert
additions for sounding macho. As
regards music, the so may clones of
"Choli ke peeche", "Nimbooda" etc.
Etc. That became Bollywood rages
were not the creations of the Bihari
mind. The so many, almost naked
heroines working in Bollywood are
not Biharis either. The dirty
stories dished out on TV on their "dharawahiks"
are not of Bihari creation. Point is
filth is omnipresent just like
goodness is. Is there any society /
community in the world where good
and filth do not exist together? You
can zoom your attention on either as
per your choice and taste.
Let us keep our own hearts and minds
clean of negative emotions and focus
on the good. The article has been
aptly named "Mirror, Mirror on the
wall". Let us clean ourselves, our
thoughts and actions so that we like
our own reflections in the mirror of
truth. - Rajesh - Feb. 2, 2007 |
