Friday, March 26, 2010

[ZESTCaste] Garland graduates to political lexicon (Opinion)

http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=30623

Garland graduates to political lexicon

Category » Editorial Posted On Thursday, March 25, 2010
Perhaps, the nation should be grateful to 'Behanji' Mayawati, Chief
Minister of UP, for stirring the minds of the people into realising
that the rather humble garland also has political potential. It should
shake up those who saw it only as a piece of decoration or an object
on view for completing certain festive rituals.
From time immemorial, the garland has played many important roles in
Indian life. The holy occasion of a matrimonial alliance is not
complete without the essential ritual of exchange of oversized
garlands by the bride and the groom. Almost everyday in life there are
special moments where garland are in demand to serve one or the other
of traditional roles.
Whether it is a moment of joy or sorrow--welcoming a guest or saying
farewell to a dear departed soul— you need the garland to make the
right statement. Even a passer-by can tell that it is a festive moment
when a venue is bedecked with garlands; the same person will bow his
head in respect if the bedecked object is a bier.
Most of these garlands are made of a variety of flowers strewn
together around a thick thread, the cost depending upon the price of
the flowery ingredients used. Sometimes, garlands are also prepared
with some materials that are not plucked off a shrub or a plant. It
could be made of paper cut and shaped to look like attractive flowers
or pieces of cloth dyed in different colours.
During the freedom movement, garlands made out of khadi pieces
symbolised the spirit and the determination of the yoked nation to get
the British off their backs. More often than not, the khadi used in
these garlands would have been home spun. Who spins the khadi at home
these days when spinning yarns has turned out to be such a lucrative
craft!
Let there be no misstatement. There have always been garlands made of
currency notes. But they attracted little notice in the past. Probably
because they almost never appeared anywhere other than wedding
ceremonies, involving the families and friends of the bride and the
groom. Or sometimes in temples. In recent years, currency note
garlands have started to appear in profusion at not only nouveau riche
weddings but also at gatherings held to welcome VIPs.
The currency notes used in these garlands have been generally of
smaller denomination, but not the ones earmarked for the politicians
which naturally had to be made of currency notes of no less than Rs
100 and when Rs 500 denomination notes were introduced by the
government they became the norm for the garlands.
It all is a matter of the 'weight' of the politician and no Indian
politician worth his or her name would like to be considered anything
less than a 'heavy weight.' The 'weight' of the politicians keeps
growing— no 'diets' or worries about 'body mass' for them. The Rs 500
notes have given way to Rs 1000 notes, which came into circulation
only in recent years and have been found to be weighty enough to hang
around the necks of our doughty 'netas'.
Those who prepare the garlands of currency notes have to have some
special 'artistic' skills. They should be able to give flowery fluffy
shape to the currency notes to make them look close to the real thing
and truly captivating. One suspects the 'artists' with penchant for
perfection also like to coat the garlands with expensive perfumes that
sooth the olfactory sensitivities of the 'netas' who may have to wear
them for a little while. At least till the time the garlands are
undone and the contents stuffed into the overflowing but secret
vaults. That way there is no danger of special garlands rotting or
decaying.
The garland makers cannot be held guilty of 'misuse' of currency notes
when they mutilate them to give them the shape of favourite flowers.
They do so to enhances the 'aesthetic' appeal of the garlands and it
surely is criminal to dub any act that enhances aesthetics as, well,
criminal.
The Reserve Bank of India might not view with benediction any act of
'misuse' of currency notes but even the RBI mandarins, not to speak of
sundry judicial and police officials know well that theirs is not to
question why anything that has anything to do with raj netas and
mantris (political leaders and ministers).
There should be absolutely no fear of inviting punitive action by
making currency note garlands that are going to transport the earthy
'neta' into a figure of divinity. The stone idols can be garlanded
with currency notes so why not the 'hardworking' earthly figures?
The more you think about currency garlands the more you are likely to
be convinced that it should be hailed as a unique Indian invention
that combines the function of expression of love and veneration with
that of a handy tool for collectively offering material gratitude.
Unlike the misplaced enthusiasm of those who use garlands of currency
notes to mark certain social occasions, its use by political parties
or their workers has lifted the garland from the confines of narrow
ritualistic usage to an instrument for making bold political
statements.
If 'Behenji' Mayawati is able to look back a little she would realise
that much of the noise against all the billions she has spent on those
big statutes of herself and her mentor Kanshi Ram and laying parks
with rows upon rows of marble elephants could have been avoided if she
had been more frequently getting herself garlanded by currency notes.
Naturally, the average cost of each of these garlands would be just a
few crore rupees. In very short time she would have been garlanded
enough to reach the amount that was spent on building the 'memorials'
of marble statues and elephants.
The main point is that the money came not from the exchequer but from
the garlands, which were strewn together by the toiling masses as the
ultimate token of love and affection for their leader. Nobody would
have been in a position to allege that 'Behanji' had squandered state
funds to erect her larger than life statues that vie for attention in
an elephantine ambience in the newly laid sprawling parks in many
places in her naïve Uttar Pradesh.

Atul Cowshish, Syndicate Features


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