“Laughter is an instant vacation” – Milton Berle. Here at NK, we would like to contribute to lightening your mood in preparation for a meaningful and relaxed weekend. So here’s a tongue- in-cheek look at the events of the week that has passed, for which you have patiently been waiting :)
Time and tide wait for no man is a popular yet, sadly true English Proverb! How we wish we can stop the March of time in December, for ’tis the month for cheer and cheers. It heralds the end of a year that has made us older and stupider than we were, if one were to go by television debates.
Political conspiracies, molestations and the worst manifestations of human behaviour play upon the screen 24×7, and the cheer is gone, and possibly only cheers remain – that too, not in all the states of the union, though they too may be inching towards it – as they chase a Liquor Baron in London, and adopt deficit budgets even as they provide for surplus budgets to individuals who spread the cheer!
This December, there was indeed cheer to be found in two areas of human endeavour as different as chalk from cheese – Beauty and Power. The Constitutional separation of powers though does not apply to this relationship – It’s a universal truth that if beautiful, you will always be powerful! That’s the nature of the universe from time immemorial. One rider though. Beauty – whether internal or external – always lies in the eye of the beholder.
It was after 17 years that India got what it feels it must have by right, given its natural resources (despite the patriarchal efforts to curtail them) – the Miss World Crown. Manushi Chhillar, a woman of substance from Haryana, brought laurels to the country with her beauty, grace, poise, intelligence and compassion for her fellow beings at the 67th edition of the Miss World pageant held on November 18, at the Sanya City Arena in Sanya, China. She pipped 118 contestants from all over the world to wear the crown, becoming the sixth Indian woman to wear the crown after Reita Faria (1966), Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan (1994), Diana Hayden (1997), Yukta Mookhey (1999) and Priyanka Chopra (2000).
Surely it was not India’s growing status as a world economic and military power that won Manushi Chillar the crown. The crown does not come easy. There’s a lot of practice and grooming before a contestant steps on stage. But the judges’ decision is also influenced by the intelligence and the compassion demonstrated by the contestants in their answers to a series of questions put to them. In the fifth round of questions Manushi was asked an intriguing question: Which profession according to her deserved the highest salary?
Whether or not you are in the race for the crown in the near future, just pause and think, and answer the question before you go further.
Chhillar’s answer was: “I think a mother deserves the highest respect and when you talk about salary it’s not always about cash but I feel it’s the love and respect that you give to someone. My mother has always been the biggest inspiration in my life. All mothers sacrifice so much for their kids. So, I think it is the job of a mother that deserves the highest salary.”
Certainly, if her answer is anything to go by, her heart is in the right place. More importantly however, she displayed a refreshing sense of humour – a very rare commodity these days – when her name was linked in a tweet in a lighter vein to the side effects of the biggest political and socio-economic event of last year – demonetization. She gave it back in equal but light hearted measure, bringing hope to a nation deprived of a vital longevity elixir – a sense of humour. A very worthy Miss World indeed. What she taught us is that we all need to Chill, dudes.
There is more beauty in power though… for it comes from within. Mirabai Chanu of Manipur, defeated Thailand’s Thunya Sukcharoen in the women’s 48kg of World Weightlifting Championships at Anaheim, California, bringing India its first weightlifting World Championships gold medal since 1995. She made three clear clean and jerk lifts for a total of 194kg to deny Sukcharoen, who failed in her last attempt, by one kilogram. Nothing succeeds like success and everybody, but everybody weighed in on her fantastic achievement.
The Government too found cheer this December, not only in the Miss World Crown and the Gold Medal at the World Weight Lifting Championships but also in the increased GDP figures for Q2 which jumped 0.6% to 6.3% from a low of 5.7% in Q1. These encouraging figures for the powers that be in Delhi were, they said, because of the economic reforms undertaken till date – mainly demonetization and GST and a few others. The reform process seemed to be on track with the gradual introduction of a One Nation One Price – All vegetables, a dozen eggs and a litre of Petrol were getting to one price – Rs 70! But international rating agencies are still confused about India’s growth story – Moody’s seemed to be on Prozac, when it upgraded its rating after 14 years, while Standard and Poor said the Indian Economy was poor in terms of growth and but standard (stable) and therefore offered no rating upgrade.
A major contributor to the domestic GDP figures, Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., the consumer goods products upstart, is poised to diversify into solar equipment manufacturing. That was the surprising headline this week. What’s the connection? “Seven regions have their several Suns; the ministering priests are Seven; Seven are the Aditya Deities -with these, O Soma, guard thou us.” (Rig Veda.IX.114. 3) – Surya-Ayurveda is an ancient process of awakening the inner-Sun in order to heal ourselves. It awakens the ‘Atman’. Apparently this diversification could also be because the government is considering 30% capital subsidy as part of a new solar manufacturing policy.
Political discourse reached a new “low” this week. The new low was breached when a former Indian Foreign Service Officer, said he didn’t mean what he said, because when he said it, he couldn’t have meant it, because the language he used was foreign to him!
While one woman wore a crown and another a medal abroad, back home, another crown prepared diligently and without dispute, was about to be placed on the head of a man, many believe is reluctant to wear it, fearing it is a crown of thorns which will later be used to flog him.
The crowning itself was not without the drama of soviet style internal democracy where there was none to dissent and if there was one, it was crushed immediately by rank, not tank. In the end, the elevation was smooth for all the right buttons on the elevator were pressed by all the right people including the former President and Prime Minister of India.
This singular event saw a rising tide of derision among rivals. Though the crown prince pleaded in Berkeley – perhaps to the wrong audience in hindsight – that he not be singled out as a dynast, the derision levels were so high that one of them said of the elevation – Nothing succeeds like failure – in reference to his significant lack of success in electoral politics before his coronation! The rebuttal however went thus – insecurity breeds derision, just as familiarity breeds contempt! Let’s wait and see how things pan out next week.
Have a good weekend!
