Kishwar Desai

Feb 14 : With Senas of every kind proliferating around us — it is about time civil society and social groups also form their own sena to fight back. The constant hammering at civil liberties is something which the government is obviously unable to defend and so it is

really going to be up to you and me to pick up our feeble courage and stand fast. While I hope this does not mean I will have to force myself to see My Name Is Khan as a political statement, I can at least begin to defend the rights of those who may want to see a Bollywood version of Rain Man and Forrest Gump. I have been reassured that it is a film where (at last!) Shah Rukh displays some thespian power, and not just his six-pack, but I have to say the ordeal of watching yet another post-9/11 film is daunting. However, I shall buy tickets for whoever wants to go and send them in my place and so, perhaps, the purpose will be served.

The more uncomfortable question, of course, is why people suspect that it is a publicity stunt. Have we become so cynical about celebrity woes that even when the issue is linked to basic freedoms we cherish we are likely to think "publicity ke liye voh kuch bhi karega".

Cut to absurd scenario: A bunch of Fox Searchlight executives are putting together a Grand Marketing Plan and the chief honcho concludes: "Right, so let’s go through this once again. First SRK makes a statement on Indian Premier League, then we get this Bal Thackeray fellow to get really mad and send out his army to terrorise Mumbai and then we fly in Rahul who will take a local train. OK so far? And yes, the theatres will be stoned — and hey — can we just organise around, ummm, a thousand arrests — you know let’s think big! And then guys, we will all go laughing all the way to the bank!" After which they all do a high-five and count their millions.

Obviously while it is outrageous that it could be a publicity stunt for the distributors and exhibitors of MNIK (odd how that all Karan Johar films quickly get reduced to their acronyms), it is certainly a publicity gimmick for the Sena and the Congress as they play out their differences. Who will blink first?

The only plus point is that this battle has pushed the Samajwadi Party off the front the pages.

But the fact that even adverse publicity is used to push products and agendas probably does happen more frequently than we think, and so these suspicions are not entirely misplaced.

Rahul Mahajan is an outstanding example of what bad publicity can do for you, and Shibu Soren is not far behind. Perhaps we should have a National Award for Bad Publicity Heroes and Heroines.

In another example, recently there were allegations that all the stories planted in the media about the impending divorce of a celebrity couple were false, and that this "bad publicity" was generated only to push their book sales. But I do personally know the couple and their integrity is unimpeachable, and I do believe they are completely incapable of such a devious plot. Besides, they have always denied that they are on the brink of a break-up. Having seen them walking around hand in hand, and the friendly banter which they shared with each other makes me believe in them one hundred per cent. And yet, the stories were printed day after day — and while none of us know whether it actually helped the book sales — the fact was that the story remained in the headlines for weeks, despite the obvious grief and hurt it must have caused to their families.

Would journalists be so unscrupulous as to concoct false stories or were they being used by someone or somebody equally unscrupulous? It is something we have to watch out for because when decency is junked routinely over trivial issues, it is equally simple to lose it over the bigger issues.

In the hubbub over whether we should watch a particular film or read a specific book, it is easy to lose sight of the things that make life worth living. One such is an organisation — CanSupport — run by the indomitable Harmala Gupta. Last Sunday I joined the thousands of people who turned out in the morning, wearing yellow scarves to "Walk for Life" and create awareness for cancer. Flagged off with grace and simplicity by Gursharan Kaur, the Prime Minister’s wife, we all took the four km chakkar carrying placards and banners, and wearing the T-shirts.

Many of the participants had pinned little labels which proclaimed they were walking in honour of a friend or relative who had succumbed to cancer. There was also a wall of honour where everyone could write the names of those they wanted to most remember.

In India everything turns spontaneously into a mela — and that’s exactly what happened here too. Despite the grim nature of the disease, Ms Harmala managed to inject a lightness of spirit into the proceedings. So we ate and drank and chatted with each other as we would on a picnic — even though the persons next to me had either survived the disease or had known someone who suffered from it. By bringing these stories of cancer into the open, people are learning to live a better life. One innovation this year was the introduction of a "lap of honour" for cancer survivors — led by Jeannie Mulford, the wife of the former US ambassador to India, David Mulford. Jeannie had been diagnosed with breast cancer while she was in India and is now an active campaigner in the movement.

These are, indeed, the kind of issues on which the senas in our country need to work with: A non-violent result-oriented effort for better health and education brought about through civil action — rather than a meaningless rant by wily politicians.

By Kishwar Desai

Kishwar Desai’s new novel, Witness the Night, has just been published. She can be contacted at kishwardesai@yahoo.com