Window
Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee | 31.10.21
Intellectualism and Entertainment
Recently
I took part in a discussion on ‘intellectualism and entertainment’ at Konark
Lit-fest held at Konark, Odisha. The context was the premise that “presently what
is being peddled as entertainment on cinema, television and public performances
is mostly mindless and senseless stuff. Either it is designed for dumb people
or made with a deliberate attempt to make people dumb. People with intellect
gain nothing out of it. Therefore people with intellect are increasingly not
engaging with ‘popular’ entertainment and as a result the entertainment is
becoming increasingly dumber.”
I
agree to this. I may even add another point. By making our entertainment
mostly dumb and mind-less the content creators of the entertainment industry
are doing a dis-service to the society. The anti-intellectual bias is only too
evident in our popular entertainment. Isaac Asimov had once said,
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our
political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means
that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’ Under the barrage of
mindless and intellectually de-stimulating stuff that goes in the name of
entertainment- our sensibility is deliberately blunted. As a result the quality
of discourse in the public sphere is gradually going down and that is a matter
of concern for any society.
Lala Lajpat Rai and PNB
Not
many people know that Lala Lajpat Rai, well known as a freedom fighter,
educationist and publisher of Vande mataram, the Urdu daily he published from
Lahore in 1920 also played an important role in setting up Punjab National Bank
(PNB) along with other public spirited persons with vision.
Lalaji,
probably because he was from a bania family and therefore knew instinctively or probably because of his
education and vision was keenly concerned with the fact that though Indian
capital was being used to run English Banks and companies, the profits went
entirely to the British, while Indians had to contend themselves with a small
interest on their capital. He echoed this sentiment in one of his writing while
concurring with Rai Mul Raj of Arya Samaj who had long cherished the idea that
Indians should have a National Bank of their own. At the instance of Rai Mul
Raj, Lala Lajpat Rai sent a circular to some of his friends to establish an
Indian joint stock Bank as the first step in constructive Swadeshi. He realized
the importance of having our own financial institution like our own educational
institutions.
PNB
opened for business on 12 April, 1895. The first Board of 7 Directors including
Sardar Dayal Singh Majithia, who was also the founder of Dayal Singh College
and the Tribune; Lala Lalchand one of the founders of DAV College and President
of its Management Society; Kali Prosanna Roy, eminent Bengali pleader who was
also the Chairman of the Reception committee of the Indian National Congress at
its Lahore session in 1900; Lala Harkishan Lal who became widely known as the
first industrialist of Punjab; EC Jessawala, a well-known Parsi merchant and
partner of Jamshedji & Co. of Lahore; Lala Prabhu Dayal, a leading merchant
and philanthropist of Multan; Bakshi Jaishi Ram, an eminent Civil Lawyer of
Lahore; and Lala Dholan Dass, a great banker, merchant of Amritsar. Thus a
Bengali, Parsi, a Sikh and a few Hindus joined hands in a national and
cosmopolitan spirit to found this Bank. Dayal Singh Majithia was the first
Chairman, Lala Harkishan Lal, the first secretary to the Board and Shri Bulaki
Ram Shastri Barrister at Lahore, was appointed Manager.
It
was one of the few banks which was established before independence under Indian
ownership with the idea of containing the capital within India.
Guru-gyan
You can ignore reality,
but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring the reality.
Tailpiece
Wife: Kya kar rhe ho?
Man: Makkhiya mar rha hu
W: Kitni mari?
M: 3 male aur 2female
W: Keise malum?
M: Kyun ki 3daru Ki botal Se chipki thi or
2phone Se
(Courtesy: Social Media)
++
Journalist turned
media academician Mrinal Chatterjee lives in Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes
fiction and plays.
mrinalchatterjeeiimc@gmail.com
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