Pappa Devo Bhava ... whatever...!

This piece is about conflicting images that we conjure up whenever we are exposed to an idea or a concept.

       A few days ago a cousin of mine (a prosperous man) came home visiting along with his spritely daughter who has been brought up in a secular way with a greater exposure to western ideas. She is just about fifteen years and is in the process of moulding and also defining her personality. Her father realises this, and whenever possible, chooses to prompt her with ideas sought to bolster values in her.

      So as we got into a discussion of the deterioration of values in the present Indian society, my cousin told her daughter "You know Pinky, when I was in the Singapore Airport once, I saw a series of counters for 'Enquiries'. Seeing a lone man at one of the counters, I proceeded to stand behind him. But I immediately realised there was a queue some for the same counter some seven feet behind and the others had stood at that distance not to crowd on him. I immediately realised my mistake and chose to join the queue behind the others when they all said in unison 'Please go ahead Sir, you must be in some hurry!' And I..." and so on. 

     His young daughter joined the discussion saying "But in India too there were good values being promoted once, for instance like 'Pappa Devo Bhava ... whatever'! "  

         I felt amused at the unconscious choice of words. To my mind 'Pitru Devo Bhava' conjures up images of an austere and wisened man somewhat advanced in years who expounds by his lifestyle the values he chooses his son to emulate. To my mind 'Pappa Devo Bhava' conjures up images of a pot-bellied man in a three-piece suit with a cigar in his lips sitting in front a televison with a glass of scotch on the rocks watching a T20 match cheering the Indian team as it plays against Pakistan!   

      Similarly 'Maatru Devo Bhava' conjures up rather conservative images of a 'chaste' woman who looks up to the family as a source of pleasure and emotional strength. But 'Mummy Devo Bhava' conjures up images of a woman at a sophisticated kitty party playing rummy and spreading cheer.

       I confess these are my prejudices and there is nothing to say that the 'Pappa' is less morally ethical and less spiritual than the 'Pitr' or that 'Mummy' is less chaste than 'Matru'! I am writing to clarify how we let our preconceived ideas prejudice our thinking and more importantly, to underscore the clash of images when a traditional Sanskrit saying is modified with a combination of an English word and the smile that it draws forth from me.

Source: Self  in   www.speakingtree.in