Farrukh Dhondy

Mar 31, 2010
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Farrukh Dhondy

Of rows, rush & rum

“Why does the sweet
Turn rancid or sour?
Why can’t the bee
Keep faith with the flower?”
From Bachchoo
ka Adda

Cosy conspiracies of the corrupt

“Birds make noises
Which we call song
Unmelodious they linger
— but we hope not
for long.
From Kundum Maal
by Bachchoo

Britain is having its own 2G moment. No one’s gone to jail — yet. What began as a scandal of illegal phone-hacking turned into a public and much-publicised enquiry into the relations between the press and the police and has now, perhaps inevitably, turned into an indictment of the relationship between Murdoch’s News International press and TV empire and politicians.

Immigrants under fire

“Rebirth is for those
Whom hell cannot contain.”

From Writings on Wall
by Bachchoo

The warped logic of Butcher of Norway

“Of prophets and seers
There’s such a long
line —
I’ll stick with the one
Who turns water to wine!”
From Mujhey Bhi Dilaadey Yaar
by Bachchoo

Is Cameron’s Britain married to a gay idea?

“The Magi told Herod
They’d come to greet the King
Then Herod feared for his throne
And did a dreadful thing
He commanded his
soldiers
To slaughter every child

English election with Indian tadka

“A book’s between its covers
Love’s between two lovers
It’s not a noun, it can’t be defined
It’s not static in either’s heart or mind.”
From The Kaleji Analogy by Bachchoo

Sobhraj & Sauvignon

“The liar said ‘I always lie:
A spider never ate a fly
True love is never hard to find
The lame shall always lead the blind.’”
From Sharam ka Dharam by Bachchoo

Between crescent and cross

“Questions want more than an answer can give
Our answers grow weary the longer they live...”
From Jawabnama by Bachchoo

Dear Karl Marx,
I am not sure whether this will get to you but am certain that you didn’t believe in an after-life or heaven. But then, certainly influenced by you, I stopped believing in hell until I found myself there several times in my short and happy life. Someone said “hell is other people”. I don’t think it was you — not your style. (“There is a spectre haunting Europe...” Wow!). It could have been Robinson Crusoe or even Woody Allen — but maybe not.

Not an Asian import

“Disappointment only dogs the expectant;
Defeat haunts those who play the game —
Loss belongs to those who possess
O Come with Old Bachchoo, confess, confess...”
From The Chaloonama (XX1.13)

Female infanticide has come to Britain. In India there are copious statistics available as to which castes, communities, regions and religions abort foetuses because, like Lady Macbeth they want to “bring forth men children only”. (One must interpose on Shakespeare’s behalf and insist that it wasn’t a cause he espoused.

The common colour of sexual predators

“Daylight lingers into dusk — A while.
Memory is all that’s left — Her smile.”
From Everyday Thoughts of Bachchoo

Gentle reader, if you can’t or won’t bear with crudeness, turn away now. There is a point to the story I am about to tell which seems to me worth making in the context of a very nasty legal allegation against 11 men in the Liverpool Crown Court. Their case continues and we must presume their innocence till they are found guilty. But first the report of a conversation with a good Indian friend.

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I want to begin with a little story that was told to me by a leading executive at Aptech. He was exercising in a gym with a lot of younger people.

Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen didn’t make the cut. Neither did Shaji Karun’s Piravi, which bagged 31 international awards.

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