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...