Heropanti!

Let the world say what it chooses, I shall tread the path of duty—know this to be the line of action for a hero

Swami Vivekanand

A few years ago, in the unhappier times of the raging pandemic, the offspring emerged from her online schooling session with a long face which had a far deeper cause than mere hunger. A project in Marathi (which was her second language in school) had just been announced. If you are under the impression that said project should have been right up her street, just because Marathi happens to be our mother tongue, gentle reader, you can think again. And the topic was ‘Five great Maharashtrian Industrialists/ Businessmen.’ Not something which even the rest of the family was familiar with. What followed were few hellish days filled to the brim with howls of outrage, tears, sleepless nights for yours truly followed by feverish in- depth research, and much writing until the project was turned in. But with it came the unhappy realization that we (the offspring and I), did not know as much about the quiet builders of the state’s economy as we did the ‘pop stars,’ the actors, singers, and the politicians!

Cue to present times, when I came across an insightful write-up on Facebook with pictures of popular actor Ranveer Singh and Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma side by side questioning the comparative popularity of the two and why our leap into space was a long overdue leap of faith. The reason was simple. Not only did the ‘hero’ command more face value, but his films marched to the tune of far bigger budgets than what the good folk at ISRO were sanctioned. Also, Wing Commander Sharma led a life hidden behind his helmet, dressed in a regulation space suit unlike our pied piper of Bollywood who loved to flaunt his outlandish shirts, his wife’s skirts and if occasion warranted, his skin. Mind you, had Wing Commander Sharma chosen to dress himself in garish tiger-print or peacock feather print space suits, he would have been easily spotted whirling away by Mrs. Gandhi, the then PM, who would have pointed to him with pride!

These two episodes of stepping out of the ‘pop culture’ zone got me thinking. Why was the limelight (itself a term borrowed from English theatre) often stolen by figures who did little other than prance, dance, stir up controversies or generally create a nuisance to some section of society? Were these venerated figures worth the adulations heaped on them or were they milking the ‘there is nothing like bad publicity’ truth to the hilt? And what did it say about the society of today who seemingly chose these wonderfully weird role models with wide open eyes? Why was the bilgewater which constantly dripped down from the lives of these ‘larger than life’ beings the holy grail to many?

The answer, being the naked truth, was not very pleasant. In fact, it traced its origins to the days when the glory of the Roman empire was on the wane. The satirical Roman poet Juvenal penned the Latin term ‘Panem et Circenses’ which roughly translates as ‘bread and circuses.’ The concept being that people could be pacified by food and entertainment when they should be rallying to their prescribed civic duties. And that was the reason why entertainment and entertainers (could range from acting, dancing, singing to even sports) often ‘hogged’ a far larger space than needed in the lives of common people.  It was the escapism at its best. An escape from the travails of everyday life into something far more glamorous, where everything was as it should be rather than the way it was.

This ‘Great Escape’ is now one of the fundamental truths of life. Thanks to the tapeworm like growth of social media, we have added those happy souls who call themselves ‘influencers’ to the list of the doubtful rather than the redoubtable in our lives. Truth be told, most of the times the ways in which they ‘influence’ as questionable as their influence if not more! But then again, if an emperor can parade around town in invisible new clothes, people can certainly worship those who have no other talent than stuttering out dialogue, baying at the moon with arms spread out or gyrating to questionable lyrics with other actors half their age (I am sure you get the hint about a certain ‘young’ actor staging a self-acclaimed comeback with an eponymous recently released movie)

Popularity plays an important role in the human psyche and believes in the ‘catch-‘em-young’ adage. We are all familiar with the two inadvertent groups we come across in school: the popular kids and everyone else. Unsurprisingly, everyone wants to jump onto the popular bandwagon as we all want to belong, be seen and feted. Never mind the quiet achievements of the rest whether it is being a good classical singer, an artist or simply being the kindest person around. In the race to be the sun, the fireflies have lost even before they begin. In addition, some achievements require one to work harder and this of course forms a major impediment to the ‘quick fame dream.’

As a matter of course, this is naturally carried forward into adulthood where everyone can name the ‘Heropanti’ of the five popular actors, three cricketeers, six social media influencers and ten rabble rousers of the day, but think long and hard when asked about five heroes of the Kargil war or the names of five scientists who worked on the development of the Covid vaccines, before shrugging insouciantly and saying ‘who cares?’ Thus does a Dr. Dilip Mahalanabis (I am sure even most of my medical brethren do not know him well either, so to quote our erstwhile professors, please READ up) lose out to Dilip Kumar, S Somanath to Shahrukh Khan and Jaswant Singh Rawat to Dhruv Rathee and Kunal Kamra. While the latter three ‘greats’ might have their own rags-to-riches stories and may have undeniably worked hard to get where they are today and may deserve their place in the sun, what irks is the unnecessary adulation they command, thanks to a larger-than-life image which again, they do not lift a finger to rectify. And thus, we have them endorsing poisonous chemicals (saying bolo zubaan kesari), sugary drinks, salty snacks and the like, which they would not touch with a barge pole themselves, which of course the public laps up. It is cash for conscience at its worst, laced with a frighteningly callous attitude towards social responsibility.

Another aspect which sticks in the craw is the way in which the general public accepts the tripe dished out in the form of popular cinema as the gospel truth, just because of a big- name actor who plays the role of a saviour of the masses, conveniently portraying the rest of society as a morass of misdeeds. And thus, they spout nonsense with regularity, questioning authority with impunity and offering an unsolicited opinion about anything under the sun, about which they have no knowledge to begin with. The debate between actor Swara Bhaskar and TV host Rubika Liaquat where the utter ignorance of the former on the CAA NRC was laid bare before the world by the latter being a case in point.  Well researched films are easily labelled ‘divisive’ or ‘communal’ all to further a well-set agenda. All I can say is people must have sold the family tomatoes to buy multiplex tickets to watch the medical miracle of an actor on the wrong side of fifty being labelled ‘Jawan.’

Maybe we need to rethink our goals and transform into the ‘thinking kinds,’ where we correctly learn to identify who our real heroes are. An egalitarian society will be possible only when we learn to separate the chaff from the grain and recognise all those who works towards the betterment of the world. Correctly identifying and idolizing those who choose NOT to be larger than life although their contributions speak for themselves is a measure of our maturity.

Perhaps, picking the right heroes is the real Heropanti!