When history comes alive…

If by any chance, some of our heroes of older times happen to cross the lengthy bridge of time and arrive in the present, maybe in a more contemporary look, would they be getting the same respect? What happened to Lage Raho Munnabhai when the film tried to bring alive our Rashtrapita? And what about the fancied and very in ‘gandhigiri’? It’s getting obsolete already! The film was enjoyed, gandhigiri appreciated and even followed by many. But then what?

Earlier it was Bhagat Singh, then it was Mangal Pandey, then Gandhiji and now it’s Prithviraj Chauhan (Star Plus’ show, brought to life by a flawless performance of Rajat Tokas). Media creates magic in all its forms to attract the audience. It’s the frozen history, which is time and again digged out of the graveyard, praised, admired but is then sadly buried back into the weathering pages of yesteryears.

Many heroes were made out of time. And we remember those times by the heroes it featured. ‘When gandhiji was alive’, ‘in the days of prithviraj chauhan…’ this is how we describe time. So, do the great heroes, who have redefined time, deserve to be forgotten?

If the heroes walk in today, amongst us, all they would get is disappointment. They would get notice, all right. The media would be brimming with THE NEWS. People would be happy all around. Not because our heroes are back, but because our economy is going great guns. Masses would be cashing in on the big news. News channels, film fraternity, sponsors, everyone would beeline for a single byte or for a small appearance of the old protagonists. All business! And that too will end soon. Because things are changing fast. In no TIME. Yes, the same TIME, which used to make heroes out of ordinaries. The same heroes, who are now struggling for an identity in this bizarrely mutated world. Because the people today are all hassled-for-time. They remember the heroes, not because they should but because they have to. They want to clear their entrance exams, they want to be IAS officers, they want to push their children a grade further, or they have to deliver a fabulous speech on any of these forgotten legends and win accolades. How mean have we become! Probably this is the reason why TIME has ceased churning out great INDIVIDUALS, like the ones who were endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for their bold exploits or those who were favored by Gods…

But is it really our fault? Do we really have TIME to keep praising the great history? We HAVE TO BE mean today. We can’t carry a goody bag of commendation or wear a mask of pseudo-patriotism all the time. After all we, the people, make the nation. And individuals make a society. So INDIVIDUAL comes first, then the society and then, the nation.

But at least we can be thankful to those individuals of yesterday, which have made us the individuals of today. At least, we can stop dirtying our hands by playing corrupt politics in the name of our pristine past. And undisputedly, we do have TIME for that!