Decoding Negative Emotions...with Jim Morisson and Chetan Bhagat.

PS: This post is completely self indulgent one, so…if you bored to death, having nothing else to do and have decided to go ahead and read it… your patience would be highly appreciated. So here we go!

Have been planning to write for quite a while…but, seemed to be suffering from a writers block (I knw!! Hw much do I write anyway??!! :D). But yeah, the fact remains I couldn’t come up with a funny thought or a thought which provoked me into asking questions and then driving me mad to find the answers. Well, that is until I read Chetan Bhagat-The Paperback king’s latest “best seller” – Revolution 2020 and simultaneously another thing happened to me, I have rediscovered Jim Morisson’s (The Door’s rather..) music. Yup that’s how interesting a B-School grad’s life gets in the final semester of his course. You tend to rediscover already discovered things, but initially when you discovered them, your naïve soul devoid of experiences never related to it. But, when the same naïve mind is made to pass through experiences-some negative, some positive, suddenly these rediscovered stuff start making sense to you, you think “Ahhhh….That’s me that they are talking about in their songs (or stories)!!!”

There are some people whom you just love to hate…or rather...just hate to love! Jim and Chetan are just those kind. I know..I am comparing chalk and cheese here, on one hand we have the always stoned/high, rebellious, larger than life rockstar, who actually is a poet par excellence(according to me at least) and the other is IIM, IIT  pass-out, investment banker turned author who looks like a typical mumma’s boy(yeah you know the kind..who fills “My Fav Drink:” column on school slam books with” MILK”!!) But they do have something in common, something which makes them special…something which made them successful, and so begins my quest to finding an answer to he question..

                 What is it that makes them so special?

One thing that strikes immediately to your mind is their intelligence; both of them are superiorly intellectual human beings with a superb eye for finer details with a complex thought process. Their observations about the world are so enviable and you often the question-“How come you didn’t see what they did so effortlessly?”

To quote an example, if you happen to listen to the song- “Light My Fire” by The Doors, you will realize(if you have dwelled deep enough) that the opening verse is so simple and free flowing positive emotion talking about igniting passion and love.

You know that it would be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher

Then comes the second verse..

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire
Try now we can only lose
And our love becomes a funeral pyre

Jim Morisson

The verse suddenly jumps to a negative emotion; it makes a transition from talking about love to something so dark like death. The vocabulary suddenly becomes sophisticated; the words seem to have a mind of their own. It seems like it came from a person who has gone through a lot of negativity in ones life.

No prizes for guessing, the verses were written by two different people. The opening verse was written by Robby Krieger, the guitarist of The Doors. Whereas, the second verse was written by Jim himself, and that explains the contrast in the thought process of a common man and a drunk genius (aint’ glorifying drinking in any manner). This contrast hopefully establishes my point.

Chetan Bhagat

 Chetan Bhagat on the other hand presents a complex thought in the most simplest of manner. His wisecracks and cheeky one liners are surely a derivative of his keen observational skills. His understanding of the female psyche too is exceptional. In fact I think he is hiding another degree apart from the IIT and IIM, that of PhD in Women’s Psychology. He surely knows the female kind inside out; being his wife should be quite intimidating.

The other most striking common factor is that both talk and glorify negative emotions. Their stories and songs celebrate the underdog in everyone, making it so relatable to the common masses. The difference lies in that Jim appeals to the intellectual loser and Chetan to the common loser found in almost everyone. Common…who hasn’t lost in love, who hasn’t sacrificed their happiness in order to see someone else happy, who hasn’t worn the mask of happiness when your heart just reeks of sorrow….Who hasn’t???!  This is a common expression and by writing about it these guys just are able to relate to it to a wide range of audiences and the minute you are able to relate to it, it stays on with you. The Indian audiences have never rejected anything which celebrates sadness, be it Rajnikanth in his movies or Himesh Reshammiya’s melancholy filled songs and many more are standing examples of my point. You would love to hate them but you just cant help relate to what they intend.

So I guess there ends my quest to finding answers, so if you are a budding author you know what you need to do to click with the modern India, just write a story where the morally correct protagonist loses in love and is portrayed as an underdog. If he gets the girls at the end of the story then it’s a happy ending which still means it’s not completely negative. If he doesn’t get the girl, then you my friend have got yourself a new “bestseller” (read: Revolution 2020).

So I guess this is the end…Hopefully the next one will be fluffier and funnier than this one...Now that I have thrown in so much of Jim Morisson, you can take him one last time….

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I'll never look into your eyes...again

 Now that you are through with the journey, your patience is highly appreciated and so will be your comments...

Ok..So its been an year...No updates..the best possible reason I could come up with would be...uhh....studies kept me busy, though I dont really have nething which could vouch for the genuinity of that statement. In retrospect..not even marks. Well, other possible reason i could give that blogspot is blocked in the hostel till 12 in the midnight, but for a guy who never sleeps before 3 in the night this cannot be an excuse. So...I guess it just boils down to one thing...

Its just plain laziness!!! :)

I jus realized its been a while that i have updated my blog when my senior(and a super inspiration to blog) Deepali commented to write more often. So Deepali(should i call u didi nw..u knw.. ur all married nd stuff nw :p ) here it goes!

This time I'll try to be more in touch with my masculine side of my thoughts...So much for bein accused that my blogs are too feminine ;) Before I begin to pen down (or rather type down..hail internet!!) my thoughts a statutory warning:

"What I am writing does not in any manner resemble what I am goin through in my personal life. Though, there are references to some of my frnds directly or indirectly, no apologies for dem...jus feel lucky dt ur part of dis blog-a history in making :p "

So..this thought struck me, when I heard these two break up songs which were so completely in contrast with each other. It kinda struck me how well guys react to their break up. Some sit and brood, some take to alcohol, some just say...WTF..I was nvr serious abt her(Oh! Yeah??When you are giftin a solitaire(ok..a diamond..happy!! i jus realised this is a bracket within a bracket..complicated story telling format u c :D) to the girl, you are not really serious..Are you??), there are some just smile for the whole world but cry and bleed from inside (unlike girls, we guys cant even talk to other guys about a breakup, bcoz all d guy in distress would get is some mocking,beer and if ur frnds are real gems, u might even end up wakin up d next morning with a woman, twice your age, smellin all jasminyy, the services ofcourse were duly sponsored by contri from your friends and before you assume stuff..no...it didnt happen to me..!!), and some ofcourse belong to the playboy category who make sure that they have their backs covered, ya you you know them right....the Seeta nahi tho Geeta types.

Anyway, getting back to the point. So I hear these songs and try to empathize with the song writers-Bilal & Amitabh Bhatacharya(the guy who wrote Dev.D songs)in this case(ya, they are the real heroes, d fake heroes just lip synch to their words) emotions. After all I am from that school of thought that until and unless you havent experienced something, you cant really write or talk about it.

The first song I heard is this one from Bilal Khan from the Coke studio album.




In this song, the guy after a breakup is so optimistic about the future. "D evenings bein same but u arent around, I dont care". He goes a step further and wishes for the girls well being even if she's someone elses' now. A streak of positivity is running throughout song even if the ethos of d song is filled with masked sadness,the guy is so optimistic about the future, add to it...Bilal's voice has the right mix of sadness and joy which makes sure that d song lingers around the grey area..neither sad nor a happy one. Now thats life to me...Whenever you fall, dust your pants and get going. So introducing you ...to the the uber cool 'let her go..if shes happy' type of boyfriend who manages to irks the girls ego(if i may say so..dont call me a male chauvinist..common isnt it a fact, every girl does want the guy to go down his knees to stop her from breaking up from him..! )

The second song is from our very own bollywood-Delhi Belly's Jaa Chudail..




One awesome song to be seen on the big screen...Everything about the song is so right,from Vir Das's entry to his a** smacking gig and ofcourse how can you forget the Sitar on the Fire routine(Farah Khan, take a bow, instead of directing those no-brainers, why dont you go back to choreographing such awesome songs). The song celebrates the break up, he makes the girl feel miserable owing all his myseries to the b***h whom he so hates now. Break up celebrated in a glorified way for sure..I am sure..its every guys fantasy to sing this song to his ex..Especially the last verse, I so like it:

"Phool vool kuch nahi
Sada hua aalo hai tu
You know what you are
Hoor nahi pari nahi
Jungli ek bhaloo hai tu
Arey ha ha ha
Go to hell"

Awesomness to d core..from a beautiful slim angel in white to an ugly fat wild bear in black..Hw cld some one come up wit smthng like dt..Nd here I think..I am creative..because... I blog once an year..Phrrrrrr to me :p

So...all the guys reading this(I knw there will be two of them for sure..hope der r more after this post), what do you wanna sing after your breakup??!

And all the girls reading this(I am sure, you are outnumbering the guys count..bt ill still tk d risk of gettin dis published) what do you wanna b singed to?All i wd say is be good to your boyfriends, you surely prefer being called a pari over a junglee baloo..dont you?!

Chao for now, hoping the next update wont take an year :)

PS:No animal/human was hurt or was undergoing any type of post breakup stress while this blog was being written.