Talking Shop: Retired, yet bellowing

"Without heroes, we are all

plain people and don't

know how far we can go..."

—Bernard Malamud

This then above, is another telling quotation, one that we shall discuss today. And if you are open and thus inclined, we shall also debate what is happening to our former heroes and superstars. To begin, let's agree that even in its diminished stature today, the tiny little COVID-19 virus is having yet another guffaw. It has not just rendered countless everyday Indians unemployed and jobless, it has also stripped bare the primary source of income of many of our erstwhile largest-grossing superstars. Why else are they now forced to perform inside toilets, kitchens, farmlands, even metro stations around the world, shamelessly pawning goods that are either frivolous or downright syphilitic and banned?

Some of yesterday's big guns are today suspending themselves upside-down from trees like simians, others vroom down ramps off tall buildings on dirt-bikes to grab a miracle soda, and yet others jump off cliffs to find their chosen nirvana product. At another dark end, we have yogis turning into business Gurus, extolling the virtues of miraculous products which, they claim, can cure cancer and cirrhosis in just a few doses, illnesses that medical experts have been grappling with for decades and found no cure for. This abstergent and syrupy concoction continues to flow, bombarding us with promises inane and assumptions irresolute, almost as immaculate as the conception of someone who was fine and true.

What is it that is catalyzing this overwhelming fall from grace for India's once-superstars, idolized till a few years or decades ago by crores of people? The question above itself has the answer embedded within—deep-seated it may be as are arteries, but it is as superficial and visible now as are bluing, knucklehead veins. This last summation comes because only the most desperate would throw away a lifetime's legacy for a fistful of dollars (or rupees). And yet, here we are.

Tale of a wedding

I went to a celebrity wedding in Delhi around a decade back in a swanky farmhouse. I was all but blown off my feet when the person welcoming me into the arena along with the groom's father was an Indian Bollywood superstar from yesteryear. In his time, he was so worshipped that he had people on the edge of their seats for decades. In fact, there was a time when as his car slipped into gear and moved away from the location of his latest shoot, some young girls would faint, while those still on their feet would pick up the dirt left by his car tyres and fill up their 'maang'.

Let's not mock these lovely star-stricken ladies; they were only following the traditional Indian ritual of a husband marking his lady love's hair partition with red vermilion to claim her as his very own, forever (or at least for the visible future, as oft happens). Back to the fallen hero—the 'maang-bhar-doh' former film star was later found standing alone in a discreet corner with no hangers-on, chugging away on whisky after whisky as Shiamak Dawar crooned Billy Joel and his dance group performed to cheers and raucous hoots.

One can only try and imagine what was going through the ex-hero's mind and heart. Clearly, for him, times had changed. To sign off on this former superstar, just a few months before his passing, he was often seen flagging down vehicles on a road in West Delhi, asking drivers to visit his 'dhaba' (eatery) for dinner, liquor embellishments and 'chakhna'. It was a sad sight, almost as sad as it is to see his Next-Gen now promoting toilet cleaners and protein supplements. Some other superstars promoting diamonds, bitcoins and cryto-currencies were quick to dissociate themselves from their big-paying clients when the promoters fled the country while owing thousands of crores to Indian banks, all but flagellating our financial system.

What comes next?

I am clueless, else I would be King. By the way, I am not naming names here only because that would be unfair and less than altruistic—and the point here anyway is not the person in question but this bothersome trend. Shift the spotlight away from Bollywood and to India's next big craze, sports, and the story is pretty much the same, except that our former sportspersons had more business acumen and are now financial superstars.

Some former cricketers and heroes from sports helped sell flats and plots of land to star-struck middle-class Indians over a decade ago. Today, the humble middle-class wannabes are still waiting for delivery of those flats and land, even as they pay both EMIs on their loans and rent for the houses they currently live in. The said cricketers, meanwhile, have moved on to newer endorsements, having made enough money each from this one promotional deal alone to pay for 500 of those same flats and plots of land. In some cases, legal battles are ensuing against these giants, but no one from the minion group has any real hope of resolution or salvation.

Some heroes are selling 'gutka' and 'pan masala', while others are pawning investment schemes and insurance policies, including those for vehicles which they claim can save Rs 50,000 in premium for a used, small car. Anyone with even the most basic knowledge of automobile insurance will know that the highest premium on a brand-new luxury car is well below that. But the cross-selling continues, and yesterday's heroes (male and female) continue to wax robust and eloquent. There's no reining them in and no censure whatsoever. What of the gullible target audience, you ask? Well, the few with any remaining resources continue to believe and bite the dust.

It is a dilemma

I tried to count on my fingers the proven intelligentsia and heroes of our country, and I promise you that I did not run out of phalanges, let aside fingertips... That was till I focussed on the true heroes, those who protect our country at its edges and man the borders that we share with less-than-friendly and some crafty nations. These are real men and women who have been selflessly doing this for decades, without due recognition or payback.

In their honour, I share with you a quote, one that is telling and mind-numbing. This quote is anonymous but sums up the essence of everything that stands for all that is good and real—"Our flag does not fly (high) because the wind moves it. It flies (high) with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it."

I haven't read something this poignant for a while. Stuck in today's dire times, we should all understand that the simple and sublime are the best to embrace, and garner inspiration and hope from. This is a clarion call to all and a salute to the real heroes on the ground, and certainly not to those who are selling their leftover souls to the devil for some pink and green pieces of currency paper.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. Views expressed are personal. narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com