About Torja song: Bengali politicians are highly coherent with Bengali culture. They?re re-enacting the Torja tradition sans Torja decorum in contemporary times. Torja theatre is a centuries-old Bengali entertainment programme of refutation. Two performing artists in eye-to-eye contact, with participating disciples behind them, affront each other in song. They use social innuendoes and receive apt, scathing replies. When a fitting point is made, an appreciative audience throws money at, or garlands the Torja singer. This continues nonstop until one fails to reply and the other crowned Torja champion.
Bhola Moira (moira is a Bengali sweet maker) had become a highly reputed Torja singer when the East India Company set up operations in Calcutta. He?d travel throughout Bengal, performing before patron kings, noblemen and zamindars. A fan of his, Anthony Firingi of Portugese and Indian descent, was in love with Bengali culture, especially Torja songs. He requested Bhola for Torja training, but Bhola dismissed him, saying a foreigner couldn?t master this traditional Bengali art. Anthony was determined. Diving into Indian religious practice and music training, he started participating in the performance circuit. In time he became so good he defeated all opponents. When the day arrived to challenge Bhola Moira, the audience was full of anticipation: how can an outsider dare to confront irrefutable Bhola?
Bhola Moira began by chastising his opponent. He declared in song that the outsider came to perform only to eat the sumptuous food at this auspicious occasion. Anthony?s reply brought stunned silence: ?May you live long Bhola! Who can have talent as great as yours to challenge you in Torja song?? Singing with complete adulation, Anthony took the winner?s garland and put it over Bhola?s head. Bhola Moira melted, totally. He declared that Anthony was no longer his Firingi rival, that he should henceforth be known as Anthony Kobial, the poet who mastered Torja songs. Among current politicians in Bengal irrespective of gender, it?s up to you to imagine who could be an appropriate Bhola Moira and who an Anthony Kobial.
Disfiguring the electronic media code: It?s news when some chaos happening in the city is shown, but chaos inside the studio defies electronic media etiquette. As a viewer of Bengali channel political debates on the forthcoming Assembly elections, you don?t understand anything, you just hear the cacophony of two, three or four people talking simultaneously. The anchor?s capacity of control appears minimal. Television is a Western invention with its code of conduct centred on soft skills. Culturally, every country can be different in the way they conduct public discussions, but when adopting the technicalities of a Western mass communication medium, you have to respect its viewer code process to be effective. Even in Torja, where the game is criticism, the opponent has to listen. Liberalisation of the electronic media does not mean liberty to adopt Bengali fish market behaviour in public audio-visual channels. In fact, viewers feel so ashamed of such fighting, they heave a sigh of relief when the advertising pause happens. Is such bedlam intentionally created to get higher TV rating points (TRP)?
In Torja, winners were garlanded, in today?s tele-Torja, does the TV channel purposely encourage heated political high jinks so that the TRP Lakshmi Bhandar can rake in the cash? When anchors sometimes invite the audience to phone in with questions, if the tenor of the question does not toe a particular political line the TV channel is obliquely leaning towards, the question will get mired into oblivion. If you view any Bengali news channel, within five minutes of watching you?ll understand its political inclination. Are these channels undecided of their agenda being party propaganda or mass communication? Mocking disregard for editorial balance is quite unfair to the public.
The national media refer to Bengali politicians as ?Bhadralok?, it would be interesting to observe when ?Bhadramahila? will come into usage. Certain insolent, gender-related comments Bengali male politicians make on TV are in poor taste. Even in verandah discussions in our unemployed, young life in the Seventies, we never were so impolite. Today?s politicians always talk in loud and angry tones in public meetings and TV. What could their purpose be? People do not register a message when anger is its baseboard, the purpose not visible. Only dictators like Hitler or Mussolini got away with anger expressions. Their fiery speeches made citizens into aggressive Dobermans who can be commanded to kill dissenters without questioning, purportedly to build the country?s power base.
Intellectual disorder: Normally a writer, singer, poet, performing artist, scientist or philosopher should leave it open for the public to admire and recognise his/her domain excellence and intellectual substance. But in Bengal, certain people declare themselves to be Buddhijibi, literally meaning those who earn by selling intelligence, as though it?s a new profession. Does any work exist where money is earned without using intelligence? Perhaps they try to distinguish themselves as intellectuals, a class higher than the poor masses? Buddhijibis are often seen on television. Here they create their brand value. Basic consumers in villages always say that when they see a brand advertised on TV, they think its credibility is very high because it was seen on TV. So the route for Buddhijibis is to get branded with trustworthiness by appearing on TV.
Today?s Bengali Buddhijibis seem unabashed in their pursuit of political patronage. A painter, for example, may have certain political leanings, but his/her viewers can harbour any opposing ideology. They need not see the paintings from a political angle. Picasso was a known Communist, but everyone, irrespective of their political affiliations, loved his paintings. Capitalists in particular raised the value of Picasso?s paintings and made him world famous.
When Buddhijibis directly manifest affiliation to a political party in a public debate, they immediately abuse their intellectual stature to become party spokespersons indulging in Torja theatrics.
Another big gap in Bengal is absence of a politologue, an independent political scientist who analyses without bias towards any party. Deficiency of an independent political judge who brings maturity into politics is perhaps not a dilemma in Bengal alone, but throughout the country. Bengal?s young generation find their future totally smoky and uncertain. How long they will be victims of Bengali Torja politics that?s polarising the State?s growth and future?
Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top managements. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com