The Fountainheads of Calcutta
Ever since I've got to St. Louis I've longed for home. I've thought, what is it that this place has, apart from 6-lane roads, that we don't have back in good old Calcutta (yes, I've always preferred it to Kolkata). Then I noticed something which made me waver, something that tested my conviction.
I'm talking about the weather forecasting here. I was simply amazed at the pinpoint accuracy with which the weather department predicts the weather here...and for 10 days at a stretch. It's all sunny and sweltering in the morning and they say "Heavy showers expected at night". What a load of crap, I say to myself. But as has happened on numerous other occasions, I'm left eating my hat. Come 7.30 and it's pouring like hell. I say to myself..."Heck, these guys are good". But one thing constantly keeps hounding me. Of all things, is good ol' Calcutta gonna taste defeat on just this paltry note. Is there somthing that these people can do better.
I try to forget about the feeeling but it keeps nibbling on my insides like a festering wound that refuses to heal. Then one day as I'm flipping though the Fountainhead light dawns on me. I read about how Dominique Francon publicly pans Howard Roark's work simply because she feels that the world is not ready for him. She has this to say...
" When you see a man casting pearls without getting even a pork chop in return--it is not against the swine that you feel indignation. It is against the man who valued his pearls so little that he was willing to fling them into the muck and to let them become the occasion for a whole concert of grunting ".
And immediately I thought of the weather department in Calcutta. In that moment I was the swine that hadn't till then realized the worth of Calcutta's weather department. Why should they go on predicting the wether correctly for a group of people who have no respect at all for their methods? Why should they toil day and night for a media that is constantly panning them? That's right...I know if you're a person with wits about yourself and even an iota of understanding you would say..."God! What have these geniuses been putting up with"....And only then will you realize their greatness when you understand the conflict that they deal with every day. When they predict the weather correctly it's because they want to give us the best that they can offer. When they predict it wrongly, it's not because of their ineptitude. The mere thought would be travesty. They do it because they know that the poeple don't deserve it. It makes me remember a piece of dialogue from "A Few Good Men" between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise...
Nicholson:You want answers?
Cruise : I think I'm entitled to them.
Nicholson:You want answers?
Cruise :I want the truth.
Nicholson:You can't handle the truth.
That's it. They know we can't handle the truth. They've known all along. So they hide it from us for our own sake. And for the few bold enough to seek it, the Truth is out there, purposely moderated for our mediocre tastes by the Fountainheads of Calcutta. Hats off to them. I am at peace.
I'm talking about the weather forecasting here. I was simply amazed at the pinpoint accuracy with which the weather department predicts the weather here...and for 10 days at a stretch. It's all sunny and sweltering in the morning and they say "Heavy showers expected at night". What a load of crap, I say to myself. But as has happened on numerous other occasions, I'm left eating my hat. Come 7.30 and it's pouring like hell. I say to myself..."Heck, these guys are good". But one thing constantly keeps hounding me. Of all things, is good ol' Calcutta gonna taste defeat on just this paltry note. Is there somthing that these people can do better.
I try to forget about the feeeling but it keeps nibbling on my insides like a festering wound that refuses to heal. Then one day as I'm flipping though the Fountainhead light dawns on me. I read about how Dominique Francon publicly pans Howard Roark's work simply because she feels that the world is not ready for him. She has this to say...
" When you see a man casting pearls without getting even a pork chop in return--it is not against the swine that you feel indignation. It is against the man who valued his pearls so little that he was willing to fling them into the muck and to let them become the occasion for a whole concert of grunting ".
And immediately I thought of the weather department in Calcutta. In that moment I was the swine that hadn't till then realized the worth of Calcutta's weather department. Why should they go on predicting the wether correctly for a group of people who have no respect at all for their methods? Why should they toil day and night for a media that is constantly panning them? That's right...I know if you're a person with wits about yourself and even an iota of understanding you would say..."God! What have these geniuses been putting up with"....And only then will you realize their greatness when you understand the conflict that they deal with every day. When they predict the weather correctly it's because they want to give us the best that they can offer. When they predict it wrongly, it's not because of their ineptitude. The mere thought would be travesty. They do it because they know that the poeple don't deserve it. It makes me remember a piece of dialogue from "A Few Good Men" between Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise...
Nicholson:You want answers?
Cruise : I think I'm entitled to them.
Nicholson:You want answers?
Cruise :I want the truth.
Nicholson:You can't handle the truth.
That's it. They know we can't handle the truth. They've known all along. So they hide it from us for our own sake. And for the few bold enough to seek it, the Truth is out there, purposely moderated for our mediocre tastes by the Fountainheads of Calcutta. Hats off to them. I am at peace.
posted by Comfortably Dumb at 5:32 AM
1 Comments:
Hmmm.......
You have learned to discover the goodness of Calcutta staying away from her. Just the way our fellow indians abroad have. Well written. Or was it just for the sake of blogging?
You know who i am. My anonymity is a facade, right? :)
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