Fake Modernists (Part 1)

Few Sundays back, I had an interview with a NGO, Make a Difference. Having reached early, my interview got over soon. I saw no point in waiting there. As I was about to leave, it started raining. Reluctantly, I stayed back.

I saw that few girls were sitting and chatting on the floor. To kill time, I introduced myself and joined in their conversation. Initially, the topics vacillated from colleges to college campuses.
But after sometime, two of the girls in the group, Mandy and Shinjini, started talking about smoking.

Mandy asked Shinjini “Hey! You smoke right?”

Shinjini replied “Obviously! Duh!”

I was irritated by their tone. In order to draw their attention, I said “Smoking is injurious to health!”

They gave me a perplexed look and mockingly told “There is a thrill in doing things that sound bad.”

I subconsciously knew that they will answer me in their typical disinterested tone.

(Frankly, I don’t have anything against smoking. It’s just that I don’t find any pleasure in it. There was a time when I really wanted to smoke; not because I liked it but because I found the idea of me holding a cigarette and puffing out smoke quite inviting. I could not last a day. I had my first puff and found out that it was not my cup of tea. My throat was burning and I was having a weird irritation in my nasal cavity.)

I was irritated not because they smoke but because they were trying to flaunt their dirty habits. They had this weird thinking that by smoking profusely; they will be given the badge for being the most sophisticated. Not once, I heard them talk about something good. All they had to say was how the Indians are bad; how smoking is good; how the western world is the best. Lastly, they added that they will happily leave India at the first opportunity.

I was astounded to see that they considered their dirty habits as being “Modern”.

There was a time when I fell into this trap. When I thought that I can make myself ultra modern by hitting the disc, smoking or drinking. But I was wrong.

Now, if somebody asks me “What is Modernism?”

I will answer that it is the freedom of thought; it is the equality between the sexes; it is the equal share of rights. I don’t think that there is any “Modernism” in conforming to the dirty habits of the Western World. I don't consider their fake behaviours as being “Modern”!