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OT: Bangalore gone bonkers

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wisden

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Apr 13, 2006, 10:41:55 PM4/13/06
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Mad with grief

April 13, 2006

On thursday, Karnataka should have been mourning the death of one of
its most popular and revered figures. Instead, it completely lost its
mind. Not only did fans of the 76-year-old star Rajkumar forcibly shut
shops in Bangalore, but they also went on a rampage, burning tyres,
raising angry slogans, smashing objects in one massive mass frenzy.
Considering there was nothing unusual about the death of a 76-year-old
person of cardiac arrest, the spontaneous mob violence was
inexplicable.

If one sees society as a collective of individuals acting and reacting
within similar or the same parameters, grief can seek out a violent
therapeutic outlet. Within the confines of 'sanity' - itself a
relative definition - externalised outpourings that go beyond the
variations of 'breastbeating' can provide relief. In the case of
masses, as in the case of bereaved individuals too, when this proactive
display of sorrow crosses the line of the law, one is left stumped. Not
only was a large majority of the 'protesting' fans otherwise
law-abiding people, but one would think them as 'sane' individuals
too. One man's sanity may be another man's stark raving madness -
whether it be protesting party workers before their leader or fans of a
cricketer literally howling about injustice meted out to him - but
there is nothing relative about the law. That, of course, still
doesn't explain why thousands of Rajkumar fans went marauding about
town. And to hear some of them blaming the government and Karnataka's
'heartless politicians' for the star's death was surreal, to say
the least.

In Elias Canetti's classic Crowds and Power, the European writer
investigated the strange transitions that take place when individuals
in various mental states gather into a force that comes with numbers.
Bangalore witnessed such a temporary suspension of sanity. The question
is whether a death of an icon - or any other tragic incident - is
all that it takes for a state to lose its bearings.

Geico Caveman

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Apr 13, 2006, 11:48:23 PM4/13/06
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In other words, it took a death of an icon for Bangalore to go as bonkers as
Kolkata did when a non-performing former captain was dropped from the
cricket team.

Reverse Swing

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Apr 14, 2006, 12:14:54 AM4/14/06
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"Geico Caveman" <sp...@spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:CYednaTzPd3ghqLZ...@comcast.com...

Disgraceful incidents both, like many others in other parts of the country
where people seem to take to rioting at the slightest provocation.

SP


Totaltully

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Apr 14, 2006, 2:08:12 AM4/14/06
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Touche!

Ravi

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Apr 14, 2006, 2:11:47 AM4/14/06
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Maybe the feeling is the same.

Geico Caveman

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Apr 14, 2006, 10:42:12 AM4/14/06
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Ravi wrote:

Maybe the feeling should not be the same (death vs career change - give us a
break).

(Not that rioting was justified in either case.)

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