Saturday, April 14, 2012

Intellectual

I just read this story "Buddhiwadi"(Intellectual) by Harishankar Parsai.....Harishankar Parsai is well known Hindi writer and humour/sarcasm is his forte.....This particular story did drag my attention, particularly due to its relevance with the current flow of changing human behavior in certain direction.......other than that its well written too.

Note: Excuse me for my limited word collection and grammatical mistakes.

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Life is made of blessings.

In childhood he helped an old beggar by supporting him in crossing the Road. The beggar blessed - "Son, may you be like me.". The old beggar must have meant his age, however he took the other meaning and became a teacher.

He was a teacher. Once he saved the life of a bat. The bat gave the blessing -"Brother, may you be like me". Whatever was the meaning of Bat, he became Intellectual. He flies with confidence and ego and when he sleeps with his leg up in the confidence that if by chance the Sky fall he will hold it with his feet.

Life made of blessings has now such a condition that he has a fixed salary of two to two and half thousand rupees*. He has a villa and car, both son are in good job and the daughter is doing research. In such condition even a honest person would become intellectual however he is not that honest. he was late in being.

After a stay of two year in foreign when he returned, relatives and known got the idea that he has become really intellectual. Drama loving people used to go to visit him and then tell that he has really became intellectual. One such person saw him down from his window and told he really has became intellectual....he is looking toward roof like he is calculating in how many year this roof would fall. One more saw him loitering in the garden and told - when he looks toward flower , it starts vibrating, He has become enormous intellect.

One day we went to visit him - my friend and I. On Phone he told us to come after half an hour. We in those days were collecting money for the relief work for the people who suffered in Storms in east - Pakistan*. we thought we would meet him and also get some donation from him.

We got into his room. Really he was changed. Black frame spectacles was gone, instead of that there was thin golden color frame spectacles. the glitter in his eyes and the shine of the frame were producing bright dazzle by reflecting each other. There was a restlessness in his stature. Restlessness is usually negative, but on his face it was positive restlessness. The restlessness was on the worse condition of the world. Pleasure was mixed with the pride in him that he has seen this worse condition of the world. His left side lower lip was drawn a little toward his ear and that was producing a little opening in between the lips. That little opening was the only place on his face from where the voice used to come out, rest mouth was closed. We speak from the whole mouth but Intellectual takes out their calculated words only from the left corner of his mouth. We laugh by opening our full mouth but Intellectual pull his left corner lip toward his nose and their is some movement in the nostrils and we get the honored message that - I am amused!! You are laughing but I am just feeling a little pleasure. Boorish people laugh, an intellectual only takes the wit.

On the table 5-6 books were placed backward in such a way that they are unintentionally and carelessly left their while studying. But even carelessly left they were in such an alignment that every book name was clearly visible. I was impressed by his knowledge of books. Even if they(books) would fall carelessly still carefully in such a way that the book name doesn't hide. I understood he wasn't reading the book, he called us after half an hour. In that half an hour he must have worked hard on the alignment and placing of the book. intellectual was continuously trying to draw our attention toward the books. He want us to be amused and say - How many types of book you read!!! We don't have even heard of the name of these. We are postponing in being amused. Intellectual gets restless.

He made us sit like that to look toward us he has to move his head for 35 degree. by moving his head for 35 degree, putting his elbow on the couch, placing his chin on the palm whenever he looks at us we gets pressurized by his intellectual terror. We feel so lowly about ourselves. On his face and eyes a magic is induced. When seeing us from this angle, slow serious voice coming right from the belly, he says - To my mind - Then we feel that this voice is coming from somewhere up in the clouds.But the sky is clear. We come to know with great effort that this voice is coming from the small opening of the left side of the lips of the Intellectual. Whenever he says 'To my mind' then I feel I don't have mind. There is only one mind in the world and he has it. If he had not his head moved to an angle of 35 degree and his chin were not on his palm he might have looked a very ordinary person. He must have put great effort in learning the art of depicting intellect by angles.

There is a flow in intellectual. Head movement has flow, palm movement has flow, his standing has flow, walking has a flow, his opening drawer has a flow, taking out book has a flow, turning the pages from the book has a flow. Every movement is slow. light personality gets nervous. His personality is beneath so much weightage of his wisdom that it can't make much movement. To me his intellect seems to be like an obese person who walks slow with heavy feet.

He said - Only after visiting Europe I understood that we are inferiors.
 I said - To know our inferiority you had to visit so far?
He answered - One who is to fall can't see that he is falling, people from far only can see his falling.

At that time I felt that we are fallen in a pit and from the up he is telling us that we have fallen. He has seen our falling so he is not one of those who is falling.

My friend asked - What's the reason of our inferiority/falling?
 Intellectual thought by closing his eyes. Then looked toward us and said - To my mind, We don't have character.

He told us our being inferior in such a way that he is satisfied with it. If we haven't been such how he would have got the opportunity to know and say that our he is clearly seeing our falling.

My Friend thought it necessary to talk about the point at that juncture and said - There has been a massive destruction in the east- Pakistan by storm.
He told the macabre and/or touching stories of death/epidemic and starvation.

Intellectual kept listening. We two were waiting for the effect. The effect was that from the left corner of his mouth he said - Yes. I have read it in newspaper.

At that point we felt that the people of east-Bengal* got honored that he has read about their bad condition. The storm became meaningful.He has done big charity on illness and starvation.

I said - we are collecting money for those affected people.
We are there to collect money, he thought we were there to collect knowledge.

He kept his chin on his palm and said in known cloudy serious voice - Nature balances. east -Pakistan population got too much hence to balance that Nature sent the storm.

In that duration , in the lack of his help one more person would have died in east Bengal.

If someone is sinking, he would not save him instead he will think about surface tension and density.
If someone is dying from hunger, Intellectual won't give him piece of bread he would start telling about the statics about the productivity of crops of different countries.
By seeing an ill person he won't arrange for medicine instead he will read to him the World Health Organization report.
If someones comes now and tell him about the death of his father. Intellectual won't be sad, He would start telling about genetic science and hereditary system.

We let go the expectation of donation from him. If we would ask him about the money, he will start telling about the economy of the world.
Now we left ourselves to Intellectual.

He was thinking and kept thinking, After much thinking he brought from the deep oblivion the truth which till now no one has ever brought. He said - To my mind, the ever greatest enemy is poverty.

By telling this in a sentence formula, the intellectual gave us time to think about it. We thought much about it but still for the solution for the problem of poverty we again had to return to Intellectual. I asked - How the poverty can be banished from world?
Intellectual said - I have thought Capitalism and Communism both are anti-human. We should increase the productivity by using advanced technical ways.
I asked- But what should be the system for distribution?
Intellectual - That I am thinking nowadays, trying to build a theory.

After proposing a ray of light toward the humanity the Intellectual became silent.

My friend said - We would have to recreate the society.
Intellectual again looked toward us and said - The first responsibility of the society is that it should destroy itself. Society must destroy itself. Infested with these caste, creed and color differences, Society must abolish then a new will be created.

I Thought to ask - If the whole society gets destroyed then how much million years it will take for the Nature to create Human(e)? I didn't ask. Got satisfied with the thinking that 'Only I understand' this feeling makes a person arrogant.

Intellectual can talk about Marxism, can talk about Einstein and Freud. can talk about Vivekananda and Confucious. After telling every statement he gives us time to understand digest that. He knows that for the first time we are listening about these talks.

We asked - Then what you have thought about the sickness of the world. How will this sickness be cured?
 He closes his eyes and thinks. We get ready to listen to big statement. Intellectual says - Ultimately I have to return to Gandhi. Love.

Intellectual has now come to revolutionaries, says - Student power! Youth power! We should give freedom to the young generation of our society. They will change the world. Any Country which suppress it's young generation can never make progress. Look at this book by Professor Marcuse. This book by Cohen Bendi.

Intellectual got serious. He has told ultimate truth.
He started to get up, At that point servant brings to him a letter.

Intellectual started reading letter. By reading the changes in him was visible. 35 degree angle of head started reducing. He sat straight. the curve of lips vanished.The wisdom in his eye vanished, instead there came worry. Face got straight and he started breathing fast. Intellectual now was seeming rather simple.
 Intellectual squeezed the letter in hi fist, took out his spectacles. We were looking at naked eyes which were diminished. Shine went off with spectacles itself. ego perhaps was squeezed with the letter in his fist.

I asked -  You look worried. Is everything alright.
Intellectual was startled and to us he seemed like a child whose toy is broken.
By taking deep breath Intellectual said - What time has come!
I asked - What happened?
 Intellectual said - Daughter was there at her Aunt house at Lucknow. She married there and I didn't know.
I asked - What does the boy do?
He said - He is Engineer.
I said - Then it's good.
Intellectual erupted - What's good in it. I will send him to jail.

A great moment was there to us. Some intricate truth about the inter-relation of human was to come from his mouth. Now his mouth is opening full. Earlier with spectacles he use to say with his curved lips. now he talks with opening his full mouth.

What does the intellectual analyze about this situation! Youth power? basis of men-women relationship? Freedom of marriage?

We look toward his face and his worries grows, Still squeezing the letter. He is perhaps eager to tell this news to his wife but we are eager to know that why he is worried about such a good marriage? There mut be some great philosophical content in it that only an intellectual might understand.

I said - Girl-Boy are adult, marriage happened at her Aunt house, Groom is good. Then why are you sad and worried? Tell us curious people about the mystery so that we too can apply an intellectual dimension toward Life.

He looked at us with his naked and diminished eyes and said with heavy heart - That boy is from low caste! 

           
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* The story is written quite early hence two and half thousand is understood as hefty money
* East -Pakistan or East- Bengal  is the pre 1971 Indo-Pak war name of what is Bangladesh  now.

Hope you would like it........thanks.


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