A Modern Travesty

By Prakhar Tripathi

The might of mind is well-known. This giant engine of human thought, wielder of unbelievable faculties and capable of uncanny precision is a wonderful enigma meant for great purposes. Restricting its working to a linear path is a grave disservice to its majesty. And yet, that is exactly what we, who collectively constitute the modern society, are doing.

We have devolved from a ‘thinking’ society to a ‘labelling’ society. It seems as if no endeavour, thought or object has the right to exist unless it has a label attached to it. If a person is politically aware, he has to be a ‘leftist’ or a ‘rightist’. If you dare to write, you are either ‘progressive’ or ‘traditionalist’. What should be the nature of economy, ‘capitalist’ or ‘socialist’ ? An idealist with pragmatic methods, what an absurdity ! Are you an optimist or a pessimist, conservative or liberal, pragmatist or idealist, this ‘..ist’ or that ‘..ist’ ? Even abstract entities like happiness, sorrow, pain and celebration have not been spared by the all-pervasive consumerism. Want happiness ? Buy this expensive item and you shall be. Heartbroken ? Wash away your grief in this premium liquor. Mood to celebrate ? Here’s some trendy glitz and blitz for that...

Simplistic labelling coupled with over-classification makes a deceivingly sophisticated brew in modern societies. Films, paintings, literature and all sorts of art are being divided into inflexible categories. We forget that a so-called ‘comedy’ movie can have a melancholic subtext, and profound layers of modernism may be found lying underneath an alleged ‘traditionalist’ novel. No great piece of art is meant to be limited through generalization, rather it must be relished with all its nuances. Can the sun’s radiance be condensed into a single beam of light ? If not, then how can a mere label encapsulate the true merits of an artistic creation ?

This tendency of generalising, classifying, labelling, compressing et al, without proper thought and respect for a creator's work, has evolved quietly but incessantly. Consumerism capitalizes on our short attention span by luring us with attractive labels, which make marketing of products easier and enable convenient commercialization of art. Diverse choices, vibrant taste and non-linear thought process are bad for business, and are hence given a monolithic shape.

In today’s hustling world, who has time to savour anything patiently? We crave for instant pleasures and demand brief descriptions. But can people be described briefly ? Can their adorable eccentricities be classified into neat columns ? This a travesty to human emotions and sensibilities. Just as a food loses the essential nutrients on being overcooked, a great creation loses its core essence on being over analysed and categorized. This reckless labelling, this mindless simplification stifles deep thinking and intellectual conversations.

Why restrain this mighty mind with pompous labels ? It discourages artists to cross boundaries of genre and create original, organic art. One is expected to rigidly follow an ideology rather than embrace the best elements of all schools of thought. No real joy is possible unless we get drenched in the fresh showers of life’s vagaries, throwing away the umbrella of specialization which has become the new normal. We have such vast sky of possibilities to traverse if we don’t go for narrow, specialized routes which squeeze the joy out of life and make it repetitively dull.

Enlightened ideas emanate from a soul radiating pure glow, unbound by any superficiality. A flower loses its beauty on dissecting its petals. Similarly, art loses its charm on classifying its ingredients; life loses its sheen on labelling the emotions that nourish it, the sensibilities that enrich it ....

By Prakhar Tripathi