Entropy As Social Commentary: The Case of Harishankar Parsai
| By now, you must have
understood that I have become a great fan of the greatest Hindi
satirist ever, the fascinating writer, Harishankar Parsai. I'm
referring to a satire written by Parsai with a specific purpose in
mind. I'll come to the purpose later. Parsai wrote a satirical piece called "I am going to contest elections in Bihar" (Bihar is an Indian state and Parsai is referring to political instability). In this piece,Parsai writes that he has changed his name from Harishankar Parsai to Babu Harishankar Prasad Narayan Singh because he's going to fight midterm state elections. Parsai says that he has come to Bihar from his native state, Madhya Pradesh and that he has traversed so many miles only to contest elections. After a while, he sees Lord Krishna, the God himself, who too has come to Bihar to contest elections. Parsai finds an excellent opportunity in Lord Krishna. Parsai muses that when people have used Shankaracharya for their narrow political ends, then he would surely come up trumps because he has got Lord Krishna with him. Parsai tells himself, the first lesson in politics is to become a big man's lackey. So,they go and meet some politicians.Lord Krishna tells a politician that he's planning to contest elections. Hearing that, the politician says,why wouldn't you contest, you have temples, people pray for you etc. Finally, the politician says, 'But you are a Yadav, aren't you?" (Yadav is an Indian caste.) Lord Krishna says,"But I'm Lord Krishna, I'm God.I don't have a caste." Lord Krishna is quite angry with politicians and he suggests to Parsai that they should go to a university and meet professors because they are intellectuals. So, they meet a Professor of Political Science and Lord Krishna tells him that he is planning to contest elections. The Professor says as he is a kayastha (an Indian caste, 'higher' than the Yadavs), he would vote only for a kayastha candidate. Lord Krishna is furious and says,"It is a shame that you think in such narrow terms even after being educated." To which, the Professor replies, "Education brings knowledge and I now have the knowledge that I am a kayastha ,so, I will vote for a kayastha. Earlier, when we weren't educated,we didn't have the knowledge about who we were." Lord Krishna is quite livid and frustrated with the educated lot. He is too tired and is resting under a tree. Parsai is with him. A person comes and whispers in Parsai's ears, 'Do you know that your candidate, Krishna, eloped with a woman and married him? If he becomes the Chief Minister of the state, then what would become of our daughters?' The person whispers such rumors and goes away. Parsai tells Krishna that rumors have begun floating about you. Finally, Lord Krishna says that there are thousands of temples where he is worshipped and on the strength of the support given by the priests, he would easily win the elections. Krishna and Parsai go to a temple. The priest is excited to see Lord himself and he says that his prayers were successful. When Krishna asks him for his support in the electoral battle, the priest says,'Lord, you are someone I worship but I will vote on caste lines.' Thus, the electoral campaign of Lord Krishna comes to an end. The satirical story is quite symptomatic of the state of affairs in the country. Isn't this representation of entropy a powerful mode of social commentary? Moreover, doesn't the piece show how uneducated the 'university professor' can be? |
Posted by Roomy Naqvy at 11/1/2009 1:55 AM 
Categories: satire,Bihar,social commentary,university,Indian Elections,barred minds,Lord Krishna,Harishankar Parsai,entropy
Tags: satire Bihar social commentary university Indian Elections barred minds Lord Krishna Harishankar Parsai entropy
Categories: satire,Bihar,social commentary,university,Indian Elections,barred minds,Lord Krishna,Harishankar Parsai,entropy
Tags: satire Bihar social commentary university Indian Elections barred minds Lord Krishna Harishankar Parsai entropy
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