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Extensive usage of objectionable material by NCERT books is
corrupting young, innocent minds.
When our esteemed Parliamentarians made this shocking disclosure, it took the nation by storm. Now I know why Vicky spent hours, cozying up to his Political Science textbook! - exclaimed Mrs Khurana. Mr Khurana cursed silently - All the hours I wasted downloading porn when there was a treasure trove of excitement stacked right under my nose?
The much ignored, much ridiculed NCERT books have suddenly acquired an aura of respectability. NCERT office is having a tough time shooing off miscreants trying to vandalize their property and handling an avalanche of eager enquiries about their course books. It seems everyone in India is dying to revise their history and civics.
It all started with the discovery of an indecent illustration in the Political Science textbook for class XI. The fact that it was a sixty year old cartoon reflecting prevailing political sentiments and was accepted gracefully by politicians of that time was deemed irrelevant. That the iconic figures of yesteryears had no problem getting lampooned by Shankar’s razor sharp wit time and again, was ignored completely. All that mattered was our esteemed MPs had discovered a brand new issue to outrage.
Mard Yadav (JD-U) mused - “This is not a cartoon but porn and needs mature minds to understand”
Bhalu Prasad (RJD) counter argued "How does removing objectionable material help in clearing minds that have already been corrupted?”
Justwant Sinha (BJP) shook his head in disgust and spat – I object to MPs & MLAs being made fun of. We are Gods not cartoons.
Congress MP Punjay Nirupam intervened to demand an inquiry against those behind the incorporation of “bad taste” in textbooks. “These so-called scholars (behind the textbooks) are part of a larger conspiracy to defame the political class in this country. Let’s brand them as terrorists.”
It was agreed that, since there are enough cartoons running the Parliament, all depictions of them in textbooks is completely unnecessary. And if anyone is dying for a good laugh, they can always see a live telecast of Parliament in session.
I&B minister Lambika Soni, chipped in – It will only be fair to rename Lok Sabha TV as Cartoon Network.
72 MPs climbed atop tables and threw paper planes at each to express their assent!
After taking into account all hurt and outrage over the meaningless, it was decided that a legislature should be passed making cartoon the new porn. Disregarding the stink emanating from the Upper House (a result of passing too many motions), 420 MPs of the Lower House voted in its favour.
A historic bill was passed, consigning Freedom of Expression to the dustbin of history, damning humour as indecent and accepting intolerance as the best attitude to flaunt.
When Ram Bharose (Aam Junta), raised his hand and asked in a feeble voice– But what about spiraling prices, slow economy and farmer suicides? Don’t you think these issues are more important than cartoons that fail to make you laugh? All the revered, esteemed men and women of honour sniggered and said - Nice Joke! We work only when the court orders us to. And for the rest of non-issues that ail this country, we expect Amir Khan to take care of it.
When our esteemed Parliamentarians made this shocking disclosure, it took the nation by storm. Now I know why Vicky spent hours, cozying up to his Political Science textbook! - exclaimed Mrs Khurana. Mr Khurana cursed silently - All the hours I wasted downloading porn when there was a treasure trove of excitement stacked right under my nose?
The much ignored, much ridiculed NCERT books have suddenly acquired an aura of respectability. NCERT office is having a tough time shooing off miscreants trying to vandalize their property and handling an avalanche of eager enquiries about their course books. It seems everyone in India is dying to revise their history and civics.
It all started with the discovery of an indecent illustration in the Political Science textbook for class XI. The fact that it was a sixty year old cartoon reflecting prevailing political sentiments and was accepted gracefully by politicians of that time was deemed irrelevant. That the iconic figures of yesteryears had no problem getting lampooned by Shankar’s razor sharp wit time and again, was ignored completely. All that mattered was our esteemed MPs had discovered a brand new issue to outrage.
Mard Yadav (JD-U) mused - “This is not a cartoon but porn and needs mature minds to understand”
Bhalu Prasad (RJD) counter argued "How does removing objectionable material help in clearing minds that have already been corrupted?”
Justwant Sinha (BJP) shook his head in disgust and spat – I object to MPs & MLAs being made fun of. We are Gods not cartoons.
Congress MP Punjay Nirupam intervened to demand an inquiry against those behind the incorporation of “bad taste” in textbooks. “These so-called scholars (behind the textbooks) are part of a larger conspiracy to defame the political class in this country. Let’s brand them as terrorists.”
It was agreed that, since there are enough cartoons running the Parliament, all depictions of them in textbooks is completely unnecessary. And if anyone is dying for a good laugh, they can always see a live telecast of Parliament in session.
I&B minister Lambika Soni, chipped in – It will only be fair to rename Lok Sabha TV as Cartoon Network.
72 MPs climbed atop tables and threw paper planes at each to express their assent!
After taking into account all hurt and outrage over the meaningless, it was decided that a legislature should be passed making cartoon the new porn. Disregarding the stink emanating from the Upper House (a result of passing too many motions), 420 MPs of the Lower House voted in its favour.
A historic bill was passed, consigning Freedom of Expression to the dustbin of history, damning humour as indecent and accepting intolerance as the best attitude to flaunt.
When Ram Bharose (Aam Junta), raised his hand and asked in a feeble voice– But what about spiraling prices, slow economy and farmer suicides? Don’t you think these issues are more important than cartoons that fail to make you laugh? All the revered, esteemed men and women of honour sniggered and said - Nice Joke! We work only when the court orders us to. And for the rest of non-issues that ail this country, we expect Amir Khan to take care of it.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mps-present-a-united-intolerant-alliance/949427/
When cartoons are on the center stage for discussions why worry of lesser issues like spiraling prices, weakening rupee, inflation etc! Those are irrelevant issues , I agree Purba(LOL!)
ReplyDeleteMore like diversionary tactics to keep our attention away from the real issues.
DeleteHa! Our parliamentarians get riled up over petty things. The irony was when they claimed that cartoons are for mature mind. Sigh....60 years and the parliament has not matured.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I hate you. You know why
Nope, they are going through their second childhood.
DeleteP.S It's become your hobby.
It is a cocktail of vote bank politics, misplaced priorities, powerful egos and juvenile thinking.They have lowered theit image even further - if that were at all possible?
ReplyDeleteThe post is really funny but a very sad state of affairs.
Non - issues like this fill you with incredulity! Makes you wonder, what's wrong with our polity.
DeleteI love the way u put it . Up theirs! :D seriously. And of the names, I love "JustWant Sinha" - Thumbs Up ! :D
ReplyDeleteShould have been GetLost Sinha :D
DeleteHaha, I just made my friend read ur post. we've been literally ROTFLMAO.Keep it coming!! :D
DeleteI loved the gems that Lok Sabha TV should be renamed Cartoon Network, and that there was a stink raised due to too many motions being passed there. Your sharp wit conveys our frustration with the politicians and their stupid shenanigans brilliantly. Who cares if the grain rots or the poor man dies? We are worried about cartoons. These people must be put in a lunatic asylum.
ReplyDeleteThe joke is on us Rachna. It's we who elected them.
DeleteWell then, thank you Aamir Khan :P
ReplyDeleteAwesome post!
Thanks jee.
DeleteJai Ho!!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteAwesome post Purba..:) have been following your posts from a long time and i like the way you express your views with humorous touch.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouraging words.
DeleteAwesome post , Purba. Just love the way you tackle issues in such a humorous manner:)
ReplyDeleteI seriously have big doubts about where this country is heading, where film-stars are handling public issues,politicians are acting , babas are entering politics!
Golmal hai bhai saab golmal hai.
DeleteAnd thanks a ton :-)
Khichdi to pak rahi hai, for sure. And it won't be edible I guess :P
DeleteThe harder they try to force ordinary Indians to respect them the more ridiculous they look. Love your word cartoons - Justwant and Mard Yadav!
ReplyDeleteYou can't force us to respect you, you have to earn it. I wish our politicians understood this.
DeleteNow this is what i call Spot On! very well written ...bravo
ReplyDeleteMucho thanks :-)
DeleteVery catchy title - And true too.
ReplyDeletenice read! :)
Thank you.
DeleteExcellent, Purba! Particularly loved that 'It was agreed that, since there are enough cartoons running the Parliament, all depictions of them in textbooks is completely unnecessary.'. Razor sharp wit as usual.
ReplyDeleteWe should thank our venerated leaders for inspiring satirists like us :-)
DeleteDoesn't the politicians ever realise how ridiculous this makes them appear? If nothing else, just for the sake of "appearance", they should try to behave like human beings.
ReplyDeleteLoved the blog and the humour but was also kicking myself for having elected this lot of jokers to rule us. It's a black comedy in fact and "as black as it gets".
The harder the they try, the harder we laugh at them. Respect cannot be forced down our throats.
DeleteI was going to publish my post on this tooo .. what a bunch of cartoooons these ministers are ..
ReplyDeleteI mean what the hell, they cant make the law to protect the very same kids who will be reading these text books.. but they can create such a ruckus in the session ..
I dont think any other country this happens .. These ministers shud be tried for demeaning the partliament and be pronounced as Traitors to the nations and SHOT as a traitor .. thats the only way to get rid of these cartooooons ..
Bikram's
I am sure there exists a better solution than shooting them down :-)
DeletePurba,
ReplyDeleteYou have done it again. Brought out so clearly what our respectable leaders are made of and with nice wit plus barbs. What is price rise for them or a few people dead here or there or grain rotting in the open for lack of storage place as they have much more important issues to sort out, like the one mentioned by you. And Gold Medal for starting all this goes to none else but Madam NO No to all progressive ideas.
Take care
Madam No, the silent leader, the minister who's trying his best to gag the public voice... the list goes on and on and on!
DeletePurba,
DeleteWasn't that professor locked up for her cartoon? And now all teachers of that university are under scanner.
Take care
It certainly is to our ministers !
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in school we had such a difficult time learning social studies because BJP wants the kids to learn about Indian history and Congress wants them to learn European history (You know why !)
Every time the central govt changed ,the NCERT history books had a different course all over again . I dont know when will our so called ministers ever grow up
I feel the government should keep out of our text books. Books should not be used as propaganda to further one's ideology.
Deleteblogs are the next new porn. i see a skynet kind of future where the real education is underground and banned. i see hope. these guys are obviously close to extinction, given the degeneration of their minds, somewhat like dinos.
ReplyDeleteHahaha! the human race is evolving but our polity is going back to their forefathers? Love your theory!
DeleteI knew your next post would be about this and I eagerly waited! :D It is really so funny how they're making an issue out of this. a/ they never bothered to really look into the text book before, obviously b/ they have nothing better to do. Never mind politicians are watching porn (even if they "did not mean to" at work) and can't understand why people take umbrage when they rape their friends'/neighbors' wives and all their other scandalous deeds.
ReplyDeleteSo now they want to withdraw these text books. I wonder if they also want to posthumously revoke Shankar's Padma Shri Padma Bhushan, and Padma Vibhushan? Maybe they want to do away with cartoon as an art form :D
What a bunch of *****
Check out this link: http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/an-online-guide-to-indias-political-cartoons/
They more they try to stifle our voice, the more we"ll criticize.And our leaders should know that we are not their enemies!
DeleteLoved that link :-)
See, the cartoon is an excuse, the description bothered them,
ReplyDelete//“Each member deliberated upon the Constitution with the interests of the whole nation in mind. There were often disagreements amongst members but few of these disagreements could be traced to members protecting their own intersts…
The Constitution drew its authority from the fact that members of the Constituent Assembly engaged in what one might call public reason. The members of the Assembly placed a great emphasis on discussion and reasoned argument…The very act of giving reasons to others makes you move away from simply a narrow consideration of your own interest because you have to give reasons to others to make them go along with your view point. The voluminous debates in the Constituent Assembly, where each clause of the Constitution was subjected to scrutiny and debate, is a tribute to public reason at its best.” (pages 17-18)//
It's also about posturing, trying to endear themselves to the Dalits!
DeleteAnd what Alka said "a cocktail of vote bank politics, misplaced priorities, powerful egos and juvenile thinking"
Yes and love the post title by the way. Succinct.
DeleteWhenever the heat is on them to take action on some serious issue such diversionary tactics come to their rescue. By the time the non-issue dies down the original issue is forgotten by the harassed citizens. It is a dark comedy that is being enacted. Not endearing cartoons.
ReplyDeleteThe electorate is no fool. We can all see through all this hypocrisy and sham!
DeleteThese diversionary tactics have worked for these congis for n number of years.That's the reason they are unable to accept that people will not take it anymore.That is also the reason for their arrogance & getting away with all the massive corruption (that they perform).For I can see only these performances & nothing else worthwhile for the good of the country.Praying & hoping that we can now only rise for we have reached the bottom.
ReplyDeleteRadha Raju.
Just when we think it can't get worse than this, they touch a new bottom. When it comes to fuming over non-issues, protecting the scam tainted and trying curb our voice - our elected never disappoint.
DeleteTrue, what a waste of time discussing this in Parliament while so many parts of India is reeling under drought! Instead of passing a unanimous resolution to send immediate and appropriate assistance to those affected, they love to "show rare unanimity" in withdrawing the textbooks!
ReplyDeleteIn btw, Suhas Palshikar was my prof at Univ of Pune and one of the really intelligent and effective teacher. We never missed his class and most of us used to lap up his lectures. He was always prepared for his lectures and had a lovely sense of dry humor and irony. I am sure, Purba, if you read his books (if you have not already), you as a fellow satirist, would feel the angst even more bitterly!
If only my angst could do more than just burn a hole in my heart.
DeleteLet me be in a illusory world. Let me think that things are much better than they appear to be.
Hard-hitting and to the point.
ReplyDeleteYour intelligence and understanding of issues surrounding us is deep. I hope some of ur writing qualities rub off on me as well.
Much appreciate your generous appreciation, Neeraj. But we all have our niche and a unique way of expressing what we feel.
DeleteI have not seen NCERT books but the way our parliamentarians are making noise,appears hell has fallen on their head.First, it was our dear 'Didi' and now these bunch of fools raising a non issue. What the hell were they doing all these 6 years? And now they are finding the scapegoat!
ReplyDeleteAnd to think, all the course material was approved by the HRD ministry! So why raise a stink now? Why try to make it appear as an act of mischief by the academia?
DeleteI was planning to post on the Ambedkar cartoon row..What I found appalling is the decision that no more cartoon on politicians would be tolerated. It's like saying the nose smells something foul because something is rotten and stinking. Let's cut of the noses of everyone around so no one smells the stink!! Was so appalled at the lack of depth or understanding among our elected polity to understand the essence of the cartoon that school children themselves seem to understand in the true sense of what the cartoonist sought to portray!
ReplyDeleteWhat I found most appalling was this - http://www.chron.com/business/article/Francesca-s-CFO-fired-over-use-of-social-media-3558203.php
DeleteCartoons will discuss cartoons. So is true for people indulging in porn :D.
ReplyDeleteIt is the area of interest that catches your attention and then sparks a debate; but it all stems from the area of YOUR interest. :D
Is this how we celebrate 60 years of Parliament? Engaging in such juvenile debates!
DeleteOur Government is funny sometimes. On one hand they want to remove "porn" from books, on the other hand they want to block sites because they are fuelling piracy. I believe these are trivial issues at hand, and they could utilize precious parliament time on so many other issues we face as a nation.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how the MPs will watch porn in the assembly with bit torrents blocked now. Hmm!
Where there is a whim, they will find a way. I have faith in our MP's.
DeleteJust like a comment above, I don't know if I should laugh at the witty article, cry at the state of affairs or vent my anger on the bloody macbook ? I guess we Indians as a society have left logic far behind, so far that it isn't visible anymore. How indescribably, senseless idiot you have to be, to fuss over a cartoon which the guy who was made fun of didn't find offensive ? Truly there are some things money can't buy but it seems common sense can't be bought by power either. I pity these so called MPs.
ReplyDeleteIt's ironical that bills for public reforms don't move but when it comes to pandering to their egos, our MP's move at lightning speed.
DeleteOh yes ! They can move really fast if they want to, But not for our interest. Did you see Mamta on cnn-ibn ? The woman is paranoid now..
DeleteGee, isn't it great how our politicians have their priorities straight by going after real problems like cartoons rather than the "non-issues" like the country's economy.
ReplyDeleteIronically, they vehemently claim that cartoons are porn and for mature minds only... and make themselves look more immature in the process. It's both funny and exasperating at the same time!
Funny if it doesn't affect you, grave when you have politicians decide what we should be studying in our textbooks.
DeleteAm I the only one in India,who actually dreams that one day,one fine day ,I will get up in the morning to find that all these aged cartoon characters,these rickety bones and arthritic minds will vanish and we will be blessed with a new set of politicians.A clean slate is what I dream of.
ReplyDeleteLike unnecessary icons they could be dropped and dragged to the recycle bin!
Delete//72 MPs climbed atop tables and threw paper planes at each to express their assent!// I laughed out loud at this. hard to imagine it haha!
ReplyDeleteHilarious post as usual. You have this knack of writing thought provoking stuff in a very funny way.
It's the hopelessness at the sorry state of affairs that brings out "dark humour".
DeleteThat is too much ado about nothing. Really how sick can we get. Democracy is rotting and we are all to be blamed. Depreciating rupee, increasing fuel hike. I would love to see such brawls on these issues, apart from what yo have mentioned!
ReplyDeleteThe stagnant economy is waiting for reforms, quick policy decisions but what we do get instead? A ban on cartoons!
DeleteSeriously! Things are getting out of control bug time. Common sense has become the most uncommon thing among our politicians. Beware, if Mard Yadav and Bhalu Prasad came to know about your blog then you will be in trouble as well :)
ReplyDeleteOn other note, as per your one year old advice I have started my our marketing blog, back to blogging yeah!
That's wonderful news! All the best for your new blog :-)
DeleteI like the way you written y
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletehillarious :D but at the same time it also reflects the moral of present politicians,when nehru said "even dont spare me"...then...very nicely depicted....:)
ReplyDeleteLook at the legacy Nehru left behind - a bunch of fools with egos inflated.
DeleteAH Purba!making fun of the cartoons ? you will get into trouble!
ReplyDeleteHehehe...you will rescue me, no?
DeleteKapil Sibal has made a mockery of the indian education system, earlier ministers didn't object but rather accepted the criticism conveyed through cartoons
ReplyDeleteRandom
Sibal wanted to reform the system but ended up deforming it.
DeleteAnd i forgot to mention that as always your post was witty and hilarious
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteReally loved your post. Even got inspired to write a little on it. Have quoted you in parts in my post. I hope you don't mind.
You can review it here : http://sherwoodisc2006.arnit.net/the-political-porn.html
Thanks for the mention :-)
Deletewell... best part of the post is when cartoons are themselves running the parliament .... lol..awesome post !
ReplyDeleteThe last line was the killer
ReplyDeleteToday I was going through you blogs and landed to read this one ..... Very well written and the name you have given is hilarious..... Super like :)
ReplyDelete