KOCHI: The video of Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra playing with snow in Kashmir is the best thing I have seen over the past few days. Quite a happy ending to Bharat Jodo Yatra.
We all have a child within us, don’t we? And there is nothing wrong in unleashing the little ones inside, once in a while. Look at Rahul. He didn’t seem to bother about the critics pillorying him with messages to “thank Modi” for letting him have such a jolly-good time in Kashmir, something that they allege was unthinkable during his family’s rule over India.
Neither did he seem to be bothered over his ambiguous stand on Article 370. He sidestepped queries, passing them on to poor old Ramesh.
And, what the heck if his statement on “outsiders” in J&K was seen as blatant fuelling of parochialism, especially in a region where hapless migrants from other parts of India have been wantonly gunned down by terrorists? Sometimes, you just have to let it go, and play with the snow!
Shoving aside nasty politics, and looking at life, yes, it’s good to let go of the rigidities one may be holding on to unnecessarily. It’s okay to give one’s own all-serious soul a cherubic face, and be snug.
Remember the Joker’s famous dialogue in The Dark Knight?
“Why so serious?”
There is, of course, a painfully poignant backstory to the dialogue in the Oscar-winning film. And the man who delivered the line, Australian actor Heath Ledger, left his fans in pain as he died due to a prescribed drug overdose in January 2008.
Over time, the dialogue emerged as a cult classic. “Spoken by the villainous Joker, it plays on his clownish appearance and cheerful demeanour, which stays in place even while he does violent or gruesome things,” notes Dictionary.com.
“‘Why so serious?’ is also an English phrase that’s usually said to a sombre person in a joyful setting.”
The dialgoue, in fact, has been a popular meme material on social media. “As a meme, ‘Why so serious?’ is generally used as a response on social media when someone is seen to be overly upset or earnest about something. It’s the equivalent of telling a person to ‘calm down’ or ‘chill out’. The meme is usually meant to be read in a sarcastic, or prodding way,” Dictionary.com adds.
“Similarly, the phrase ‘Why so serious?’ can be applied in everyday life to a person whose attitude is overly serious for the occasion, e.g., ‘Can’t you snap out of your funk and enjoy the carnival? Why so serious?’ It can also be used sarcastically toward someone who is inappropriately cheerful in a serious setting, e.g., ‘I just heard you laughing during the funeral. Why so serious?’”
The realisation over not being so serious dawned on me on the eve of Republic Day, when I played good dad and decided to read out a book to my seven-year-old. We picked ‘Beastly Tales from Here and There’ by Vikram Seth. And what a joy it was!
Must say, I could not stop reading it even after the little one went into a deep sleep. Such wonderful lines and wordplay that take one to la-la land. Smiles guaranteed.
Sample these lines from Vikram’s version of ‘The Crocodile and the Monkey’:
On the Ganga’s greenest isle
Lived Kuroop the crocodile;
Greeny-brown with gentle grin,
Stubby legs and scaly skin,
He would view with tepid eyes
Prey below a certain size–
But when a substantial dish
–Dolphin, turtle, fatter fish–
Swam across his field of view,
He would test the water too.
******
When the monkey saw Kuroop
He let out a joyful whoop,
Jumped from branch to branch with pleasure,
Flinging down the golden treasure:
‘Eat, my friend, and take your wife
Nectar from the tree of life–
Mangoes ripe and mangoes rare,
Mangoes, mangoes everywhere.
******
‘Wait–’ the monkey said, ‘I’m thinking.
Death by drowning, death by slaughter
–Death by land or death by water–
I’d face either with a smile
For your sake, O crocodile!
But your wife’s felicity–
That’s what means the most to me.
Noble lady! How she’ll freeze,
Dumb with sorrow, when she sees,
Having prised my ribs apart,
That my breast contains no heart.
If you had not rushed me so,
I’d have found time to go
To the hollow where I keep
Heart and liver when I sleep,
Half my brain, a fingernail,
Cufflinks, chutney, and spare tail.
******
Speaking of poetry and humorous verse, how can one not remember Ogden Nash (1902-’71) and his cheeky limericks?
How about some quick shots?
‘The Ant’
The ant has made himself illustrious
Through constant industry industrious.
So what?
Would you be calm and placid
If you were full of formic acid?
******
‘The Cow’
The cow is of the bovine ilk;
One end is moo,
The other, milk
******
‘The Fly’
God in his wisdom made the fly
And then forgot to tell us why.
******
‘A Caution to Everybody’
Consider the auk;
Becoming extinct because he forgot how to fly, and could only walk.
Consider man, who may well become extinct
Because he forgot how to walk and learned how to fly before he thinked.
******
The all-time classic…
‘Reflection on Ice Breaking’
Candy Is dandy
But liquor Is quicker
******
Take out a sheet of paper and a pen, unleash yourself (keep a thesaurus nearby). Trust me, it’s fun.
Okay, time for me to go play the good dad again. Signing off with a Nash-inspired parting shot:
What they expect is brevity,
But, instead, I choose levity.
It’s okay to let go, go with the flow,
Or, maybe, play with the snow.
Chuck all that dread, have a simply sweet week ahead!
Simple as kiss your hand: “Remarkably or especially easy.”
In simple English: “In clear, straightforward, and uncomplicated English terminology.”
Keep it plain and simple: To do, express, or create something in a straightforward, uncomplicated, or unelaborate style or manner.
Simple Simon: “A foolish, gullible person; a simpleton (dated).”
Have a bad case of the simples: “To be stupid.”
Purely and simply: “Absolutely; essentially; plainly so, without having to say any more or less.”
Simply put: “In clearer, more direct, or more easily understandable terms. Used when discussing a complicated topic or situation.”
As simple as that: “Extremely easy to understand or comprehend; not complicated at all”
KISS (principle): “Keep it simple, stupid!”