Being Saptitude

Why do people write in with their personal problems to the myriad agony aunt columns in newspapers? If I have a problem, wouldn't it be simpler to go to some one I trust, some one who would know more about my past - my case history so to say - and thus be better qualified to give me advice? I have tremendous respect for Mr Suhel Seth... but if he thinks he is answering queries put in by actual people on his column Survival Strategies in the Graphiti (the Sunday Magazine supplement of Kolkata's leading English language newspaper,  The Telegraph ) I think he is mistaken... Read some of the questions and answers that appeared in last Sunday's (29th March 2009) edition. (see them on The Telegraph site here ). You'll find Name and address have been withheld in all cases Nearly in all cases, the questions asked are leading ones The answers attributed to Mr Seth hardly seem like solutions... the nameless and homeless persons asking the questions would be liable to be...

This is the title of a very popular song from the recent Hindi movie Dev.D . While I am not sure of the rest of the lyrics (which can be found here ), the title could definitely personify the angst that one feels today against society large. Jayeeta , a friend of mine at college, had once shared some thoughts with me, which went something like this-  when we are kids, we want to be first in class / sports / talent shows etc... when we are slightly older, we start hankering for attention from the opposite sex... we grow up, get into college, and then start looking out for a plum job... once that is in place, its time to get married... and then have children, who must also be trained to become first in class / sports / talent shows etc... Its a vicious cycle... On umpteen occasions , I have wanted to break free... but as the 'common man' played by Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday says "We all have families to run". If I were to follow my heart on those umpteen...