The Age of Stupid and 3 Idiots!

So we were going to Blue Frog...the 3 of us...to watch a movie on climatic change. It was called 'The Age of Stupid' and that means us!! No, not just the 3 of us, but simply all of us. Anyway, good docu-drama that...very well shot...uses a bit of animation too. So it talks about, well I guess I have already mentioned that...climatic change. What I like about the movie is that it does not dole out any gyaan...it simply talks in hindsight...well the fact is that when its all over and done with, even the biggest nincompoop can talk real intelligent looking back!

So we have this guy (we’ll call him Mr. Nincompoop even if there are good chances that he will sound super intelligent in 2055), apparently the last human alive in the devastated world of 2055, somewhere in the arctic or the antarctic or some god forsaken corner of the universe, sitting in this real jazzy, space age kinda tower in the middle of the rough ocean dancing beneath like an angry devil. So Mr. Nincompoop is looking back, musing about why we did not do something to stop climate change when there was still time to…when we had the chance? Gooooood question. Hmmmm…but wait, that was not what I started with, that’s not the point that I was trying to make…ok, I plead guilty of digressing way off my path.

So, the 3 of us were going to Blue Frog to watch the Age of Stupid. Or rather let’s go a little further back than that. Now I must assert at the outset that the 3 of us are inherently extremely intelligent (even if the post title suggests otherwise). So Idiot 1 and Idiot 2 decide that they will meet at Lower Parel Station and then walk it down to Blue Frog which is not too far away from there…nice evening walk. So then Idiot 2 is all set to leave the home when she asks Idiot 3, “Do you wanna come watch a movie on climatic change?” Idiot 3 thinks for a split second and replies, “Yeah…sure.” Bad decision…but like I said before, everyone sounds intelligent when talking in hindsight.

Now Idiot 2 and Idiot 3 are on the road all set to get to Lower Parel. But they decide to cab it up instead of taking the train, as in that part of Bombay it’s a herculean task to get a rick to the station during office hours. You can talk your guts out asking the rick waalas to take you to the station, but they won’t. And the answer is simple. They want people who wanna go long distance. The station is too close and you’re gonna get lucky if you wanna get a rick ride to Goa perhaps!! At that time, the BEST bus is not even an option…just from the look of it and the people crammed inside it, you can bet your life that it could topple any moment.

So they decided to cab it up. In life, there are certain key moments that alter the outcome of events that one is a part of. Sometimes you know when exactly those moments occur…at other darned times you don’t. So just when they were going to ask a cab to get them to Lower Parel, one such moment occurred in their lives…they decided to ask a rick waala to take them to the local station. And guess what…the rick waala agreed!! Damn you, rick guy (in hindsight)…

So Idiot 2 and Idiot 3 reach Lower Parel Station and are elated to meet Idiot 1. The weather is weird but beautiful…pink sky overhead, nice cool breeze, slight drizzle…So should we cab it up to Blue Frog? NO…this is just the perfect weather to take a nice walk. This was that precise moment when the 3 of us stepped down from heights of intelligence to the threshold of idiocy. Yes ofcourse we weren’t carrying umbrellas or rain cheaters…the rains in Bombay are supposed to be over by now. So we start walking…the weather’s weird but super…what fun.

Then it happened…it started to pour…we’re still walking ofcourse…the only difference is, that we’re walking as if we were in a walking race at the Olympics…and mind you…we’re still thinking if we should get a cab. Ooops…but it’s too late now. We’ve come a long way and no cabbie will take us now. Remember, all of them will only take you if you wanna go to Goa. So we take the turn round the bend and we’re soaking wet. We decide to stand under a shed and curse the weather for like maybe half a minute. Then we decide, “Well, we’re wet anyway, so let us walk and not miss the movie.” So we step out from under the shed and continue with our Olympics Walk Marathon. Needless to mention that this was taking the second step that only got us well into the state of idiocy…far beyond the threshold.

So we walk…walk…walk and get wet…wet…wet…and we reach our destination…Blue Frog. So now here we are…the 3 Idiots…soaking wet…dripping. I think collectively we could have been able to fill atleast one small size bucket had we wrung our clothes and hair. Well there are other people like us who are wet but surely not as wet as we are. Anyway, we enter. Thank god they had towels to give to us. So we take the towels, get our hands stamped and rush straight for the restroom. So we wring our clothes in whatever way we can and attempt to dry ourselves with the towels…but too bad…maybe a beach towel would come in more handy given the situation we had gotten ourselves into! But we try anyway. Then we get out and take the best available seats. We still have the towels with us. We have no option, we need them badly. While we’re still trying to dry ourselves, a lady sitting behind us makes conversation with us… she’s some firang complaining about the sudden rain and how it caught everyone unawares…well climatic change you see… she is soaked as well…we look at each other and smile…instant connection is made…one happy wet family!!

So now, we’re sitting there enjoying the Jazz and Blues and waiting for the movie to begin. Ofcourse we are still making attempts to dry ourselves. It’s almost half hour past we landed in Blue Frog but the movie doesn’t start. “Damn buggers, we could have waited under some shed till it stopped pouring (in hindsight). We rushed coz we thought we’ll miss the movie and these jerks aren’t even starting it. And why the hell does Blue Frog have some weird flashing lightining today? Oh crap it’s the lightening in the sky.” We could see it through the glass pane on the high wall of Blue Frog…crazy lightening accompanied by thunder.

Then the show starts. They talk about this carbon footprint calculator they have developed specifically for India. Carbon footprint calculator…sounds impressive…but damn you, I am freezing and I might die in a moment and not be alive to even exert my carbon footprint forget about calculating it…but yeah, nice. Then the movie begins. So Mr. Nincompoop is ruminating (in hindsight ofcourse), “Why, why didn’t we do something to stop climate change while there was still time?” So he is busy musing and I am busy shivering. You nincompoop…jerk…sitting pretty on that space age tower in dry clothes! So what if the rest of the world around you is dead and gone and devastated…you freakin’ get warm dry clothes to wear while I sit shivering in the god darned AC wearing my soaking jeans and wet sleeveless top.

@ Coffee Lady: I HATE YOU.

The film even had music…Radiohead, Depeche Mode…“These boots are made for walking, and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you”…ok I know it’s a serious movie and I am also dying of cold…but what the heck…I love that song.

But seriously, good film that. Most of it is a string of reports and news clips from the past years (that is NOW, as Mr. Nincompoop is in 2055 going through these archives on a cool looking monitor). So these clips are put side by side, with clips from all manner of national news agencies each reporting on present-day effects of climate change, perhaps a very compelling and precise way of putting across: climate change is happening now. One of the most striking pictures for me from the movie is the wreck of the Taj Mahal in the backdrop with vultures prowling on carcasses and skeletons.

The point being made is that hindsight is a brilliant thing and that The Age of Stupid is an attempt to provide that hindsight while there is still time to act.

So the movie got over and we got all set to leave. Outside the downpour had almost come to a halt…a negligible drizzle actually. So we decide to generate some body heat and walk back to the station. Good decision that…no seriously. So walking back, we have an…ahem ahem…intelligent discussion on the film. No I’m serious. All 3 of us are actually quite intelligent *wink*.

So the premise always is that each individual can make their own individual efforts to stop global warming. No I do not doubt that, sure all of us can do that. But the question is – Is that enough? Sadly I do not think that that is the case anymore. And if you look at things very rationally and empirically, you too will say the same. Idiot 1 is right. Environmental issues these days are not solely individual issues…they are politically driven agendas. So if Fush decides to buck a nation for oil, what can individuals do about that? It’s almost horrifying that one has to fight her/his own government to save the environment. I really don’t know what more to say here so I will get back to where we were…

So we reach Lower Parel Station. Get into the train still quite wet and hungry. My stop comes and so Idiot 2 and Idiot 3 say their goodbyes to Idiot 1 who lives further off. I, by the way am Idiot 2. So Idiot 2 and Idiot 3 come out of the station and let me remind you again cabbies and rick waalas will take you only if you wanna go to Goa. So I ask a rick waala, “Will you go to XYZ?” and guess what, he says YES. Goodlord, I can’t believe my ears. So something good finally happens after all the bad getting drenched in the rain and dying in the AC of cold stuff. We enter XYZ and I ask the rick waala to take the first right turn. And I’m not even done giving directions, when he bursts, “Yeh XYZ hai madam?! XYZ toh who hai (pointing further down the road leading to the other end of XYZ. Needless to say, if we wanted to go to the rick waala’s XYZ, it would have fetched him more money).” I say nothing then, I pay the fare, get off the rick and before he can leave I say, “Nahi bhaiya, yeh XYZ nahi hai. Yeh toh Panjim hai, Goa ka capital.” He is super perplexed but I don’t bother to stay and explain. I just walk off.

Still wet and dirty mind you, I quickly go take a shower. Idiot 3 follows suit. It’s almost 12 am when I get into the kitchen to make myself some hot maggi and adrak chai. It is 12:45 am by the time I get to my room with the maggi and the chai. Ofcourse I have work tomorrow and I have to wake up early; but I sit down at my table gorging the yummmmm maggi and sipping my chai writing this…what you’ve just finished reading. And aah, I do remember someone at the film screening making this statement…“We’re all very intelligent people, we’re just trapped in disobedient lifestyles.” :P

Links you might wanna check out:

www.notstupid.org

www.no2co2.in

Do try and catch the movie if you can.