Yesterday my paternal grandmother came to me clutching
Chetan Bhagat’s “Two States” in her hands and asked me how I felt about the
author. I said he is a very famous author in India but I personally am not a
big fan. She then went inside her room and didn’t come out till late evening.
At the dinner table, she told me she loved the book. She loved Chetan’s simple
writing. It helped her understand some words of English that she had never
known so far. She said she would like me to get her more Chetan Bhagat’s books.
I bought her all of them.
I am sure readers who are reading this have already judged
my grandmother as a mediocre because she enjoys Chetan Bhagat and the likes in
Indian writing. But I can’t. She is one of those in my life who influenced me
into reading good books. She has a reading career spanning entire Marathi
Literature – classics and contemporary and if she starts a literary argument
with someone, she has all the odds of winning. That’s the kind of knowledge she
has about reading. She has trouble reading English literature, so I definitely couldn’t
have recommended her a Kafka or a Shakespeare. (I am not a great fan of Shakespeare
but I do love Kafka’s writing). I had tried suggesting her Amitav Ghosh and
Arundhati Roy in the past. She did try reading them and found them slightly
cluttered with large sentences making it difficult for her to catch up. (I love
BOTH).
If you notice, I am trying to make a point here. I see
Chetan Bhagat/Durjoy Dutta haters crying foul over the way they write and
questioning the abilities of their readers. Every alternative post that I have seen
since the release of “One Indian Girl” is a shame post comparing Chetan Bhagat
to cruelest of things. I am wondering for a while now, whatever happened to
CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Why do we have to bash a person up just because he
wrote something we didn’t like? Why do we have to judge someone ONLY on the
basis of the reading choices they make? Everyone is entitled to have an opinion
about everything. Everyone is entitled to express it publicly. We call it
freedom. And unfortunately we remember only till here. They call it selective
acknowledgement or memory or something of that sort. We forget we are
responsible for our expressions as well. There is nothing wrong in expressions,
but whatever happened to being responsible while doing that? Why do we have to
criticize each and every thing that doesn’t match our choice? Who decides who
is a better reader? Who decides who is a better human being? On what grounds
are these comparisons being made? Virginia Woolf decided that she didn’t like
Aldous Huxley because she found the writing “All raw, uncooked, and protesting.”
But Aldous Huxley is still read and adored by many who like it all raw and
uncooked and protesting. And no one judges this reading base. I read a few
comments on some social networking sites blaming Chetan Bhagat for writing about
sex unabashedly. Let me tell you I was introduced to sex in books by Sidney
Sheldon and yet, Mr. Sheldon has a fan base as well as critics.
When you bash a person up it shows who you are than who the
person is. Every writer has a way of writing. Every reader has a different
perception about different things. Not everyone is going to read everything
because we have choices. Books have taught me to be open to ideas and opinions.
They have taught me subtlety. Criticism is good if it is going to make a good
change. The critics we see today look like they derive some sadistic pleasure
by putting someone down and whacking them with hurtful words and statements,
till they are satisfied with themselves. And when it’s still not enough they go
ahead and whack the people who support them. Even those who are neutral and
want to spread peace are not pardoned in this hate crusade. I am sure people are
going to pounce on me for writing this piece but again as I said it shows more
about them and not about me.
Just a humble request to everyone out there – encourage people
because we do not know who is what, has come from what background, with what past
or present. Laughing at someone for making mistakes is not a sign of being
human. Monkeys laugh without giving a second thought. It is cruel. It is
dangerous. Writing hurtful things about others who haven’t harmed you in any
way, is shameful. Be kind to people even if you do not agree with their
opinions. Remember there will always be someone who wouldn’t agree with yours. Would
you like them to treat you the way you are treating someone else?