will and grace

its not the show, but these qualities that seem to have gone off air too.

the will to do something, to bring about a change, to stand up for your beliefs. i will explain, but i think the following summarises the sentiment ably.

"I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." -Fight Club.

i first recognised this trait when i met a french psychiatrist in one of travels. she told me how she didn't want to make something out of her life, she wanted to live from one moment to the next because she just wanted to enjoy it. her parents had provided enough for her to be comfortable, plus she had a job that got her by. she had no intention of raising a family in the future or any of the "settling down" notions that I am accustomed to. she had seen her parents struggle and wither away their in lives in providing for the needs of the family and that is not how she wanted to squander her life. then the other day i was explaining to my colleagues how i don't sympathise with the wall street squatters - because they are complaining for having lost out on the opportunity of being successful without having the will to put in efforts to achieve the same. my colleagues labelled me right-wing extremist who ranted typically like one from the middle class, who would fight only to protest her own priviledges and who would be willing to clean away the wasters like these squatters of the society. they said they sympathised with the complainers because they knew nothing better, and it was not their fault that they had been brought up in affluence without ever feeling the need to put in efforts to get what they wanted.

coming to grace - the grace of a dancer, subtle and bashful, mysterious and elegant, - has gone missing too. given my limited exposure, i will refer to my home ground. from the vyajayanti mala's to the sridevi's of the bollywood world, it was all about grace and in showed in their acting as well as their dancing. moreover, no actress could not dance and vice versa. madhuri dixit signified a transition, when her fashion statement and raunchy lyrics started to become popular. but even she adopted into the realm of grace gradually. think about dhak dhak and choli ke peeche and then think about dola re and o re piya. maybe yash chopra redeemed her and brought about that innocence to her just like he did to sridevi, juhi and later kajol. and now madhuri stands revered in comparison to the munni's and the chameli's of today's item numbers. i was watching on youtube a clip where malaika arora and madhuri dixit share stage while munni badnam plays out. the contrast is just appalling. for these newbies, cameras make up for their lack of movement and voluptous silicon curves make up for the lack of flexibility of their bodies. the only one from among the current crop, who can be given the credential of keeping grace does not even belong to the female segment. he is hrithik roshan. i can slacken a bit and admit that shahid kappor and ranbir kapoor come close to that line as well, but none worthy enough in the female segment.

i would only wish for two things.
- one to have the will to preserve the legacy of wealth around me. growth to sustain consumption of growing population, and not just for the sake of growth.
- two to age gracefully, to imbibe the charm of sridevi aka chandni and the vitality of the 44 yr old madhuri today.