Hemacharya, as the name suggests comes from a different breed of writers. Unlike other Christian Writers who have a 'catholic' leaning in their writings, Hemacharya is different in many ways. He is mostly found tilted towards 'Hinduism' probably because of his association with 'Vikrama', the Kannada weekly, which was considered a RSS and erstwhile Jan Sangh mouthpiece, during his early days as a journalist.
The Central Sahitya Academy has featured one of his story in the volume 'Contemporary Indian Short Stories' which represents stories from 20 Indian languages recognized by the Academy.
He has a few books, dramas and a number of short stories to his credit, edited a few journals, which is why it is difficult to single him out as a short story writer, a novelist or a playwright or a journalist.
But according to him, he is more of a 'Konkani Activist with an open mind towards other languages."
He is on 'Daijiworld.com' Editorial Board and currently is the convenor of Daiji Dubai, the forum of Konkani writers in the U.A.E.
Hemacharya's column, with its inimitable style, tone and presentation, will feature, humour, sarcasm, human emotions and a gamut of elements packed into it. But the basic underlying social message and concern for human issues will always be there to be thought over. Indeed food for thought, as a rule, both appetizing, worth digesting and well nourishing.
This column is a translation of his well known satire column - 'thodem thodem novem novem' (Something New and different) which he has been writing for the past 30 years in Konkani. - Editor-in-chief
October 17, 2005
With a pinch of Salt - 1
The recent visit to my hometown was different in many ways. Everything was different or, as Shiv Khera says, perhaps I saw it differently. Who is Shiv Khera, you may ask.
As a matter of fact, many of us may not know who is in Government today. In my hometown, many of the elderly ladies still believe its ‘Indira Gandhi’ and that ‘she is living’. Why not? She could still be living in their hearts.
“The term Government refers to someone who is governing” said the local school teacher.
“And who is that?”
“Who else, Sonia Gandhi” she said, with full conviction.
I saw a great change in the attitude of our younger generation. They no longer talk about silly things like cricket and kabaddi, but about some strange game called Tennis. Of course, when I ask for more on the game, I get a full explanation about Sania Mirza - her likes (and dislikes), her dress sense, her sixth sense and her nonsense. No doubt, she has built quite a nest in the hearts of the youth!
I said a small prayer for the Amritraj brothers who struggled hard to introduce Tennis to our younger generation and failed. Hardly anyone on the college campus at that time, had heard about them or their contribution to the Indian or international tennis scene.
If you mentioned Vijay Amritraj, they thought it was Charles Sobhraj.
If you spoke about Manmohan Singh, they related it to Manmohan Desai.
You say Raja Ram Mohan Roy and they hear Aishwarya Rai.
But not anymore – times have changed for the better and, as some young soul mentioned to me – “We are becoming increasingly aware of what is happening in the world around us today, and my hometown is not different”.
You can either be a part of the mainstream, or be left out.
I asked a local Priest about the progress of his church and he calmly said – “It has been ages since we built a church, here or anywhere around. We don’t even build a home for the Parish Priest.”
“So what do you do nowadays?” I asked.
“We are busy building Parishes and Homes for the elderly folks in the community, including homes for the retired Parish Priests.”
“Why?”
“That’s because no one takes care of them after they leave a Parish. It’s alright if they have already saved a fortune before retirement. But, as you know, most of our older priests were born when the British ruled India, and they hardly knew anything about finance management “.
I asked a local social activist why many houses were not being built these days and he said: “There are two reasons for this. Firstly, our ‘Gulf returned populace’, who had been the pioneers of the new construction boom, are now finding it increasingly difficult to maintain the houses they had built during their glorious days. Secondly, the philosophy has changed among our common people. They no longer believe in building a house, but in building a home.”
“What is the difference?” I asked, and found him to be as ignorant as I am.
“And who is behind this new thinking? Who educates these people?’ –
“You have yet to meet our new Assistant Parish Priest” said the social activist. “He is a MBA and knows exactly how to invest in shares, debentures, and equity funds. And others are not far behind – there are quite a few professionals in fields like Bharata Natyam, Martial Arts, Yoga and more …”
I was impressed.
“Gone are the days when an Assistant Parish Priest was treated as an Altar Boy” said the social activist. “These days I see them going around preaching the word of God with a ‘Pinch of Salt’. They are the most professional, educated and realistic ones. They talk about St. Mathew - the Tax Consultant, St. Luke - the Physician, St. Mark - the linguist. The people who never heard of these gospel writers before, now know them through the acts of the present day Apostles - the Assistant Parish Priests”.
I was stunned, naturally.
When I got back home and explained to my wife what I had heard from the social activist, she was not amused. She said:
“You may think like Vajpayee, that your hometown is shining, but I am not impressed. There is something fishy about this whole thing called new thinking.”
“What could it be?” – I asked her.
“It is like the external threat Indira Gandhi once cautioned us about. This threat is behind the change in our attitude and our way of thinking. Specifically, it is none other than the strong presence of the Bajrang Dal around us. Read the writing on the wall. It is very clear.”
Unfortunately, I could not find anything around.
(The views expressed in this article should be taken with a pinch of salt and should not be excessively consumed) |
