A frozen heart of 28th November, 2003 was melted by both Levis Jeans and Shahrukh Khan.
It was a Friday and a big day for many of us residing in Jhelum 2 of JNU. Though the room was meant only for two students - Bikram and Anandajit, it was a hive of at least 8- 10 people at any point of time. The hive unfortunately had no queen bee but was only full of worker bees and the ones who had become the same working class people the moment they entered in the room 2. So, it was almost like a transformational room where any one from any corner of the country or class of the society would walk in and spend quality time over film discussions, debates, fiery arguments over movies, sports, politics, any topic of individual and collective choices and then they would come out as equals in-spite of being a very different worker bee of the same hive with their own unique choice and identity.
Often the discussions were not of high pedestal too but it still maintained the boundaries of the journey of banter to casual leg pulling to bullying with utmost sensitivities. The room of Jhelum 2 had a magic to heal the frozen hearts of everyone starting from Masters to PhD students. No one was termed as a junior or senior. Each worker bee of the hive had got a nick name of their own. The language of calling everyone by the nick name levelised the first epistomological boundaries of the politics of calling any one as - "Junior" or "Senior".
No one was Junior or Senior spatially too within the room too. This was due to severe space limitations and hostel room availability crunch. The scarcity of such availability often ensured that the bed for two became the bed of the proletariat of the working bees of the hive. The workers had no queen to instruct but they still had a discipline of maintaining the thin lines between leg pulling, easy banter and traumatic, scaffolding jerks of humiliation for any worker bee. The sounds of the bees were different but yet it was together even though sometimes the chaos of differences, arguments across the worker bees would be like cacophony to the adjoining rooms of just, fair, legitimate capacities of two individuals.
The bees were students with frozen hearts in different ways and forms with wide range of dreams and aspirations. And therefore, when it came to aspiration, Shahrukh Khan was the one to look upto inspite of his over the tone expressions in any Karan Johar movie.
Hence, 28th November, 2003 was special for the bee hive. Kal Ho Na Ho had released in the PVR Priya Complex of Vasant Vihar and the front row tickets of "Just" INR 45 would be for sale from 9.00 am. On a voluntary basis, a consensus emerged within the worker bees on that day. Hence, one Master Student and a PhD student decided to take the task of skipping any other morning task! This was because, the most important task for them was to buy the 9.30 pm show ticket of Kal Ho Na Ho for the second row for all worker bees of the hive. This was because the price was lowest for those seats and when SRK would arrive on the screen the worker bees could become whistling bees together in a low priced seat based on the affordability of worker bees. They might not also risk of getting up together and dancing, as the bees had no fear of stigma of society or taboo. This was because their only identity in the hall would be - "They were worker bees of Jhelum 2 and they would stand for that in front of everyone within the society. No Master's, No PhD Degree, No MPhil Degree, No Other Pedigree or Stratification, Identity, Degree Mattered."
Hence, as planned, 12 tickets were brought mostly by pooling money but the majority of the cost of buying the ticket to get an access to SRK was ensured by the JRF holder PhD student. He took the onus on him that at any cost - SRK should reach the frozen hearts of all worker bees on that day after the drone of bees would reach PVR once their egg curry dinner would be completed by 9.00 pm. Egg Curry on Friday was a delicacy which was far above the Biriyani of Awadh during the hostel days for the worker bees. This was true even though Biriyani was served in the Hostel Nights of JNU.
As planned, egg curry happened by 9.00 pm. Every one was getting ready to be in their best of the dresses to look fashionable within the crowd of PVR Priya so that before SRK would come onto the screen, the bees could start like semi SRKs with a certain potential energy which would be converted into their kinetic energies of dance and whistle while SRK would arrive on the screen. The tempo was building up. Everyone was well dressed.
However, one of the bees was struggling as he did not have a good trouser to match up with a basic trouser standard of PVR Priya of a Friday night of 28th November, 2003. However, the worker was fine with it and was ready to go on a T Shirt and a normal trouser. But, the JRF Holder worker bee was stubborn and wanted the young frozen heart one to meet SRK on screen in the best style. The JRF Holder had also borne the majority of the cost of the advance ticket of Kal Ho Na Ho on the same day and had cross-subsidised many worker bees of Jhelum 2. The JRF Holder rushed to his room on the first floor of Jhelum Hostel. He took out his own "Levis Jeans", ironed it for the young worker bee and came down with the ironed "Levis Jeans". He ensured that the young worker bee would wear the "Levis Jeans" and would go out with him for "Kal Ho Na Ho" of SRK. The other ten started early as the JRF Holder PhD Student or the worker bee didnot tell any other ten bee the reason of why he was late and why he was waiting for the young worker bee.
The other ten worker bee had set out early towards the light and neon of their dreams which were illuminated at the PVR Priya on 28th November, 2003. They wanted to reach their dream - "SRK" as early as possible. The PhD Scholar, JRF Holder worker bee of Jhelum 2 gradually set out together. They were in Levis Jeans together as the PhD Scholar worker bee had another old Levis Jeans which he wore and gave the new one to the young worker bee. The PhD Scholar remarked with his usual quirky, naughty banter by saying - "It is SRK today on a Friday Night at PVR Priya and you ought to be in atleast in Levis". One worker bee wrapped the other worker bee in the same cloth brand to ensure that their collective identity of worker bee from Jhelum 2 would stand out in the social rigmarole of class - dimensions of PVR Priya of a Friday Night Blockbuster of SRK within the dreamy, leafy lands of New York directed by Karan Johar.
A worker ensured that he took care of the other one to make his frozen heart feel special in the eyes of SRK by being in a stylish "Levis". This was JNU, 2003 and the story of the worker bees of Jhelum 2 of JNU.
Today, when Swapno Deep died in the hostel of Jadavpur University, the story of the bee hive could not escape my mind. Any justification of camaraderie, friendship in any institution or institutional form in exchange of short term bullying favors, tokens of pleasure in subversive forms through scaffolding traumatic memories are unpardonable even often they happen casually, loosely in front of our eyes. The perpetual passing of this bullying abuse knowingly, unknowingly is passed onto us and they thrive, survive and move forward in the society through institutions, class, caste and all layers of the society. The elites of different liberal institutions starting from school, colleges and any other form also knowingly, unknowingly starts to get into a self defense syndrom of justifying it highlighting that something is wrong but suicide is also not an option. Sheena Iyenger has done decades of research on - "The Art of Choice" in which she also has identified how scaffolding memories often lead to a choice even though it is not an option. So in any discussion of choice, option and justification a little informed debate on human psychological boundaries with certain self reflection and science ought to happen without taking a stand or passing an opinion. This is because when an event happens it is an outburst of a social form and a transformation of a social scaffolding in the gyrus, hippochampus of societal memory. Hence, instead of creating a coping mechanism structure of passing opinions and justifications by any one it is more important to understand between the nuanced differences between option, choice and on why certain choices happen. Opinionated discussions only does a personification of a coping structure of the choice where each one projects his or her individuality coping structure through the event. However, to come out of the scaffolding of the society, instead of a projection, what is important is an understanding of the reflection followed by a determined rigour to act on the reflection. A bee hive worker structure referred here can often do that through easy banters too but with a very well thought off definition of the boundaries between banter, leg pulling, bullying, teasing to gradual unknown trauma generations. As a society, each one of us go through this journey but a constant reflection can only free up the society from the scaffolds of that. The hive of 2002-2004 had that.
The hive of 2002-2004 also had banters, leg pulling, constant teasing but not at the cost of a drop of tear. It had light moments, teasing of winners and loosers in a bridge game, cricket or football game but it didnot create a mechanism of an exchange offer where one worker bee is going to give an exchange offer of long term support or friendship at the cost of a short term bullying. The danger lies when the society and even every middle class section start to accept this exchange offer as a norm in every form of institution. Even though many of the worker bees of Jhelum 2 were students of Economics, Physics, they never created any offer curve like that, neither they created quantum models where the sensitive dynamics of bee relations in future would be a function of these offer curves. This bee hive of 2002-2004 was spatially and temporally a trip towards one infinity. The infinity was and is called - "Love" even to ensure that a worker bee would meet SRK with a frozen heart but in a Levis Jeans to feel special on a Friday Night.
I wish - "Shawpno-Deep" would have been fortunate enough to be amongst such a hive which I am sure and will like to believe would exist today and in tomorrow too. Otherwise, Friday Night SRK Blockbusters would only have naked bodies and souls and not a healed, covered waist to legs with the cloth of Levis Jeans!!!
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