In a previous post I had touched upon the current Chennai fad and the general Tamilian predilection for grandiose titles. The titles range from the gentle "Artist" ( conferred on a far from gentle man) to a warrior-like "Commander in Chief" (couldn't be more inappropriate for he has trouble marshalling his own troops) and include "green gold" (duh!!), "Mother", "Golden star", "Maiden" (this for a woman over sixty who is widely believed to have lost that status decades ago on a casting couch; on current form she is very likely to remain one), and "Revolutionary Leader". The list is only indicative of this titled madness and not exhaustive. Titles have been getting ever more wild, grandiose, most of the time thoroughly undeserved and all the time totally unfounded. The basic premise underlying this trend is the (Goebbels-like) belief that Truth is in the repetition of claims. Popular acceptance,adulation, adoption and even imitation more than validates this premise.
Are we then just a bunch of people with fancy titles (albeit self-assumed)? Far from it. We are entitled, not just titled, people. May not be empowered people, but we certainly are entitled.
Mr.Kamaraj (who was bested and consigned to political oblivion by a woman he reportedly dismissed as a "chit of a girl"), the grand old man of Congress Party, conferred entitlement to a college degree on every child born in the state of Madras. They say it had everything to do with his own lack of a higher education and with winning elections. He is widely held to be the father of entitlement, at least in this state. The grandfather of entitlements was a grandee of the Dravidian movement who, when asked if sacrificing "efficiency" at the altar of "entitlement" will not be bad for governance, reportedly said that a government was like a bus: while it helped to have all four wheels of the same size, wheels of differing sizes would not stop it altogether. Thus entitlements have a long and distinguished history in this state.
There are various types of entitlements:
1. We are entitled to titles.
Weird and wonderful ones. Sonorous ones. Fancy ones. Wild ones even. Most of these titles are the result of abject sycophancy and an overdose of hallucinogens. Not to forget a total absence of factual basis. We can and do assume titles implying valour, high academic achievements, cultural sensitivity and achievements, artistry, personal traits like generosity, and social position and status. So much so we were the first to bring back the titles that were abolished by Indira Gandhi in the 1960's when we restored a title to a family which had lost control of its fiefdom over 300 years ago. Thereafter the rest of the country lost no time in dusting off their own Maharajas, Maharanas, Maharaos and Maha-what-have-you, not to mention Nawabs and Zamindars. Bengalis had long ago cleverly incorporated titles signifying territory ownership into their last names (as in Talukdar, for example) and thus did not have to resort to such repossession.
2. We are entitled to free Utilities.
We are entitled to free water and electricity. Never mind that the supply thereof is of very poor quality. Never mind that we then divert the supply - illegally, I may add - to business establishments which are unable to establish their entitlement to obtain these. We watch TVs, which we are entitled to for free, plugged into free power connections we are entitled to while frying fish (alas, not free so far) on the free gas stove (which we are entitled to) running on LPG gas (entitlement). The government has commenced its own TV channel which in course of time will surely be made free of subscription fee.
3. We are entitled to college places and college degrees.
Never mind our academic bent or the lack thereof, we are entitled to a place in a college; as also a college degree. Talk of academic accomplishments is simply upper class mischief.
4. We are entitled to flout the law.
Laws, rules and regulations are just a lot of baloney. They are meant for the fearful who run scared of their own shadows. Laws are meant to oil the wheels of the society and make social living easier. We do that our way - so long as you live by our rules, everything is hunky-dory and there will be no social friction. This applies to traffic rules, land titles, just about anything you can think of. If you are Salman Khan you are entitled to run over mango people living on half a banana a day; if you are a poor NRI hairdresser you will do jail time; a RI (Resident Indian) is only entitled to RI (rigorous imprisonment). Notable non-mango people are entitled to inherit this great but troubled land in addition to being exempt from security checks at airports.
5.We are entitled not to observe social niceties.
So we belch loudly and as often as possible at restaurants and public places. We jostle, we jump queues, we rub up against others in public places, and we are entitled to share our thoughts as loudly as our vocal chords would permit.
6. We are entitled to re-invent history as often and as fancifully as we wish and generally we do. Even if we don't invent anything (except History which we invent all the time) it does not matter - we are entitled to them anyway.
7. We are entitled to take 30 days a year off from work in addition to 52 Sundays and half of each Saturday. This is on top of 20 or so "festivals" and one day a month for no reason at all. In addition, on the days we "work", we are entitled to arrive late, leave early and take long lunch and shopping breaks. We are also entitled to take time off to take children to school, parents to hospital, obtain a new gas connection or terminate an old phone connection. In Chennai we have the unique entitlement to take an hour off on Amavasya days to pay perform poojas for our dear departed. Media intellectuals crib about this enormous waste of working hours but the smart ones know that the economy only grows when we are busy goofing off.
Above all we are entitled to think life is good.
Are we then just a bunch of people with fancy titles (albeit self-assumed)? Far from it. We are entitled, not just titled, people. May not be empowered people, but we certainly are entitled.
Mr.Kamaraj (who was bested and consigned to political oblivion by a woman he reportedly dismissed as a "chit of a girl"), the grand old man of Congress Party, conferred entitlement to a college degree on every child born in the state of Madras. They say it had everything to do with his own lack of a higher education and with winning elections. He is widely held to be the father of entitlement, at least in this state. The grandfather of entitlements was a grandee of the Dravidian movement who, when asked if sacrificing "efficiency" at the altar of "entitlement" will not be bad for governance, reportedly said that a government was like a bus: while it helped to have all four wheels of the same size, wheels of differing sizes would not stop it altogether. Thus entitlements have a long and distinguished history in this state.
There are various types of entitlements:
1. We are entitled to titles.
Weird and wonderful ones. Sonorous ones. Fancy ones. Wild ones even. Most of these titles are the result of abject sycophancy and an overdose of hallucinogens. Not to forget a total absence of factual basis. We can and do assume titles implying valour, high academic achievements, cultural sensitivity and achievements, artistry, personal traits like generosity, and social position and status. So much so we were the first to bring back the titles that were abolished by Indira Gandhi in the 1960's when we restored a title to a family which had lost control of its fiefdom over 300 years ago. Thereafter the rest of the country lost no time in dusting off their own Maharajas, Maharanas, Maharaos and Maha-what-have-you, not to mention Nawabs and Zamindars. Bengalis had long ago cleverly incorporated titles signifying territory ownership into their last names (as in Talukdar, for example) and thus did not have to resort to such repossession.
2. We are entitled to free Utilities.
We are entitled to free water and electricity. Never mind that the supply thereof is of very poor quality. Never mind that we then divert the supply - illegally, I may add - to business establishments which are unable to establish their entitlement to obtain these. We watch TVs, which we are entitled to for free, plugged into free power connections we are entitled to while frying fish (alas, not free so far) on the free gas stove (which we are entitled to) running on LPG gas (entitlement). The government has commenced its own TV channel which in course of time will surely be made free of subscription fee.
3. We are entitled to college places and college degrees.
Never mind our academic bent or the lack thereof, we are entitled to a place in a college; as also a college degree. Talk of academic accomplishments is simply upper class mischief.
4. We are entitled to flout the law.
Laws, rules and regulations are just a lot of baloney. They are meant for the fearful who run scared of their own shadows. Laws are meant to oil the wheels of the society and make social living easier. We do that our way - so long as you live by our rules, everything is hunky-dory and there will be no social friction. This applies to traffic rules, land titles, just about anything you can think of. If you are Salman Khan you are entitled to run over mango people living on half a banana a day; if you are a poor NRI hairdresser you will do jail time; a RI (Resident Indian) is only entitled to RI (rigorous imprisonment). Notable non-mango people are entitled to inherit this great but troubled land in addition to being exempt from security checks at airports.
5.We are entitled not to observe social niceties.
So we belch loudly and as often as possible at restaurants and public places. We jostle, we jump queues, we rub up against others in public places, and we are entitled to share our thoughts as loudly as our vocal chords would permit.
6. We are entitled to re-invent history as often and as fancifully as we wish and generally we do. Even if we don't invent anything (except History which we invent all the time) it does not matter - we are entitled to them anyway.
7. We are entitled to take 30 days a year off from work in addition to 52 Sundays and half of each Saturday. This is on top of 20 or so "festivals" and one day a month for no reason at all. In addition, on the days we "work", we are entitled to arrive late, leave early and take long lunch and shopping breaks. We are also entitled to take time off to take children to school, parents to hospital, obtain a new gas connection or terminate an old phone connection. In Chennai we have the unique entitlement to take an hour off on Amavasya days to pay perform poojas for our dear departed. Media intellectuals crib about this enormous waste of working hours but the smart ones know that the economy only grows when we are busy goofing off.
Above all we are entitled to think life is good.
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