Cartoons - ban

I was always excited by cartoons since childhood. We used to draw moustaches and beards and funny faces and paint the faces on the textbooks, mostly the leaders in history text books and exchange our creativity. Everyone used to laugh around and these cartoons infused a lot of humor in our boring classrooms. Not much has changed today except that there are two sets of classes, one in the schools and other in the tuitions. I was lucky to see two worlds; my younger days where we would crave for the cartoons that were shown by Films Division in Doordarshan and my current days, where parents let their children watch umpteen Cartoon Channels. Cartoons today have become a one stop solution to stop a child from nagging. If the child refuses to eat or becomes too naughty, just make him sit down before the TV with a plate of Maggi Noodles. He would happily while his time away surfing Doraemon, Oggy and Cockroaches, Power Rangers, Shinchan to Chhota Bheem. He becomes so addictive to the cartoons that the parents find it a nuisance when they feel that exams are around and he has to cram around for scoring better marks than his next door neighbor. They ban him from Cartoons and promise him that they will take the child to McDonalds after the exams are over. The funniest thing happens when the child enters the 10th standard. I did not remember my parents taking leave for my exams. Today, in metros, for parents, it’s like preparing for the Olympics and one really wonders who is really preparing for the exams.


Coming back to the subject of cartoons, the child in me often craves for those days when I am just either drawing cartoons or watching cartoons. It was full of innocence. Though it is not the case with most of the cartoon shows being shown today, the child grows up unaware of the crass violence, bloodshed and gore in the adult world. He is, however, given access to digital mobiles, internet and finds difficult to comprehend the enormity of the world around him. It makes some too aloof, or notorious or brash. Very few learn to cross the bridge between sanity and insanity. Mind you, education as our curriculum offers is never about values but just another way to compete and outwit others. I grew up on R.K. Laxman cartoons and listen to parents and neighbors discussing about how bad the political scenario has really become. Nothing much has changed today. Accessibility to information, music, arts, culture and entertainment around the world has increased but the whims and fancies who still live in a narrow world still dominate us. As a result, we cringe and debate on the merits of adult content in Television, while our children already watch it on internet and are mature than us adults. It’s only when they grow older and gets sucked into the bad world, they become more childish than they were ever. It’s not about being right or wrong. But I find it very humorous and funny. The picture of a leader painted black and blue by my peers has becomes the subject of attention today if some one dared to draw his cartoon. No one bothers to emulate his ideals but finds an easy out in attacking those who saw humor in painting him.


The best leaders or writers or intellectuals in my younger days were those who drew cartoons and excelled in satire. That was my point of view. Only bad people who lived across Afghanistan detested this as I thought but now proved wrong. Today, no one likes those who speak their mind, but adore those who dwell in hypocrisy, bend, beg or bribe through to get their way. What was considered cheap in the twentieth century is considered cool in the twenty-first century. No one really cares about Community Living and those who abide by the Constitution of India would make a mockery of himself and land behind bars. Its just not for him or her. We crave for some drama or attention. Even social issues garner eyeballs when there is drama and entertainment around it. It’s a race for the TRPs, raising funds and being in the limelight which matters while those idealists who really work on the ground are becoming the subject of mockery. It’s a materialistic world out here. We all want to be Anna and also desperate to see our favorite cricketer gets the Bharat Ratna. But we don’t like when he agrees to be a part of the Rajya Sabha as if those in house really matter to us. Many of the educated in Mumbai would really not know about the composition of Rajya Sabha or the functions of our President of India. But we love to debate and discuss though we don’t really know what we are talking of. No wonder Amartya Sen calls us argumentative. I do not want to upset anyone; we just call a person in our neighborhood Amartya Sen as he sells Economic Times and discuss issues with us.


You call me attention seeking. We all simply love the attention we get. Surveys show that we have more mobiles than toilets. People love to show off even at the cost of their bread and butter. To that extent the character of our society has become insane, lunatic and bankrupt. Naturally, no credible leader emerges from this scenario. Everyone relishes and likes to compete in the false world of Dance shows, Indian Idols, IPL, Splits villa, Big Boss, Roadies but no one likes when someone really makes money. People love to hate businessmen if they live in huge buildings or filmstars having their way. Everyone wants to be a Marx in his own right and craves for pseudo socialism but no one wants to get his hands dirty. I apologize to quote Karl Marx over here as he would rather be ashamed to be living in such a society. Confusing rules are set but no one really understands who really follows it. Those with position and power never care about rules while those at the end of the chain who are supposed to guard these rules vent their fury or encash on those who are powerless or innocent.


Even today, the Amul Cartoon hoardings across Mumbai offer a refreshing sight. Someone might just find an excuse to ban them too one day. The funny side of today’s society is leaders who secure their seats by virtue of just 26% to 40% voting use their might while the people do not care who their leaders are and blame their woes on the outsiders. But no one really knows who these outsiders are as we do not care to report even if our neighbor is dying in his house. Its after all his personal interest, isn’t it? When someone asked me why Ajmal Kasab could enter Mumbai so easily, I replied that the answer is quite simple. The ticket checkers simply did not do their jobs. These checkers are supposed to guard the stations, seas, boundaries, governments, parliaments but sleep and allow the situation to get out of hand. When someone dares to question these checkers, they create a non-existent issue and become caricatures of themselves.



Today, we laud and clap if a superstar is banned from entering a cricket stadium as if it really matters for him. I would really clap and cheer if some big-shot is banned from entering a road by a traffic policeman for breaking the rules. No music, no cartoons, no humor, bans are around the corner. I was never afraid during the Bombay Blasts or when Kasab and his bunch of cowards roamed around Mumbai. Today, when I hear of these bans, I am pretty scared that Taliban is round the corner.



I have broken many rules. I apologize and better watch the Oggy and the Cockroaches (not quoting those in the society please).

…. Anonymous

 

hi Pallavi and ramya

thanks for your comments

cheers
suresh

 

hi viswa

thanks for your comments

regards
suresh