'Content' for thought

I have always been a keen admirer of India, and the ability of Indians to not to adhere to singularity, whether in their thought processes or their consumption 'pattern', if there is one. Pigeon-hole theories find zilch acceptance here.

We do not need to go further than our own music playlists to understand what and how we think. A soul-stirring Sufi song and an eardrum-shattering EDM piece can exist almost side-by-side in the same playlist. We are comfortable with contrasts. It would not be wrong to say that, to an extent, contrasts comfort us. It's quite difficult to believe that the lyrics "Jo paas tere wohi tera/Baaki sab moh kaa phera/Tu kyu samaj naa paaya/Tann mitti hai mann maaya" (translated as: Whoever or whatever is close to you is the only close one you have/Everything or everyone else is mere ephemeral delusion/Why couldn't you to digest this fact/the body is just sand and the mind is an illusion) and "Baby, kalyug hai anti-hero kaa zamana/when you getting Gabbar why go for Samba/when you getting gold why go for tamba" (translated as: The new age belongs to anti-heroes/why you are getting the leader, why settle for the sidekick/when you are getting gold, why compromise and stick on to copper?), in fact, belong to the songs of same movie.

As Indians, content with layered meanings gives us a pondering kick. At the same time, songs with clear-cut interpretations give us a high. Hence, India is a tough market not just for FMCG or software companies; even the content industries have sleepless nights!

Because, perhaps, Indians cannot be classified by their genres. On the contrary, every Indian has multiple genres within him.

(Author Urvish Paresh Mehta is an Arijit Singh devotee, life’s very own disciple, a perennial seeker of humour, a notoriously spiritual mortal, a treasurer of memories, an enthusiast for metaphors, a religious cricket fan, a keen admirer of the intricacies of the human mind with a penchant for pen, and among other things, a Chartered Accountant. He blogs at urvishmehta.tumblr.com and can be reached at [email protected])