I will try to write about what I was discussing in the last class. I think I was not able to clarify my point over there and so I'd like to do that over here.
The point that I was making was that the drama "Chand Grehan" is actually critiquing the new generation of the feudal and the media class (as we labeled them in the discussion), and through this critique it is trying to show how and why the prevailing system is being challenged. In challenging the prevailing system, it is actually trying to test the feasibility of the system.
Before moving on to the critique of the system let me first try to outline the system as it is depicted in the narrative. The system is basically one of collusion between the three classes i.e. the feudal, bureaucratic, and the media. As I see it, the bureaucratic class has some power and so does the media, but the major chunk of the power lies with the feudal structure. The two classes with the lesser power collude with the one with the most power not just to survive but to profit as well. It is this class i.e. the feudal, who will be central to this post.
The drama is set in the 90's. This is the time when the generation born after the independence reached the age where they were on the verge of assuming power. This generation especially that of the feudal classis a bit more lax in its morals as compared to their older generations appears to be a bit more lax in its morals than the older generation. This generation of the feudal class, referred to as the Prado generation, is one who were born in a set up where they did not have to work for anything. They considered power to automatically come to them, and when it did not, they considered it to be, as Jahanian puts it, a "dhoka" or a "ghaddari".
This is the attitude that "Chand Grehan" criticizes when showing the character of Jehanian in direct contrast with that of Laal Hussain Shah. Both of them are corrupt. Both have secret wives, both are power hungry and all that. But what makes LHS better than Jehanian is his calmness in the face of defeat, his surety in his power and his knowledge of the system and the ways he adapts to use the system to his benefit. His morality is deeply entrenched in his power game. He believes: "Kaise ho jaati hai mardon ki baat aur?" when he is training his son in politics. And when he addresses his other son he instructs him: "Hadian, munh, sab tor daina!" the calm rationality in the first dialogue when contrasted with the naked passion in the second dialogue defines LHS and his generation of the feudal class pretty aptly. That is, when it comes to politics' jor tor you have to be level headed, but when it comes to survival you have to go for the jugular of the one who threatens it.
These are the parameters within which the feudal class operated then. Jehanian's challenging this structure is shown as something that is stupid to the extreme and puts him in direct clash with the law. So in effect the new generation will have to adapt to the prevailing system no matter how bad it is, the system wont change for a select few.
P.S. Treat this analysis as incomplete as I have yet to finish the show.
The point that I was making was that the drama "Chand Grehan" is actually critiquing the new generation of the feudal and the media class (as we labeled them in the discussion), and through this critique it is trying to show how and why the prevailing system is being challenged. In challenging the prevailing system, it is actually trying to test the feasibility of the system.
Before moving on to the critique of the system let me first try to outline the system as it is depicted in the narrative. The system is basically one of collusion between the three classes i.e. the feudal, bureaucratic, and the media. As I see it, the bureaucratic class has some power and so does the media, but the major chunk of the power lies with the feudal structure. The two classes with the lesser power collude with the one with the most power not just to survive but to profit as well. It is this class i.e. the feudal, who will be central to this post.
The drama is set in the 90's. This is the time when the generation born after the independence reached the age where they were on the verge of assuming power. This generation especially that of the feudal class
This is the attitude that "Chand Grehan" criticizes when showing the character of Jehanian in direct contrast with that of Laal Hussain Shah. Both of them are corrupt. Both have secret wives, both are power hungry and all that. But what makes LHS better than Jehanian is his calmness in the face of defeat, his surety in his power and his knowledge of the system and the ways he adapts to use the system to his benefit. His morality is deeply entrenched in his power game. He believes: "Kaise ho jaati hai mardon ki baat aur?" when he is training his son in politics. And when he addresses his other son he instructs him: "Hadian, munh, sab tor daina!" the calm rationality in the first dialogue when contrasted with the naked passion in the second dialogue defines LHS and his generation of the feudal class pretty aptly. That is, when it comes to politics' jor tor you have to be level headed, but when it comes to survival you have to go for the jugular of the one who threatens it.
These are the parameters within which the feudal class operated then. Jehanian's challenging this structure is shown as something that is stupid to the extreme and puts him in direct clash with the law. So in effect the new generation will have to adapt to the prevailing system no matter how bad it is, the system wont change for a select few.
P.S. Treat this analysis as incomplete as I have yet to finish the show.
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