Ghalib in New Delhi- Play Review

 Reminded me of Adrak ke Panje by Babban Khan. That was in the 70s. I think Sayeed Alam acted as Ghalib. He was brilliant. Ghalib takes birth again in Modern Delhi, is the basic storyline. He asks God to give him rebirth in either Varanasi or Delhi. God says there is already a tough guy with a beard in Varanasi. So he sends him to Delhi.

It is full of jokes about politics, society, education, corruption, language and everything in between. And includes all that is happening, therefore topical and relatable. 

The best jokes were about Galgotias University, which was in the news recently. Also about Kejriwal, whose contribution was to give khaansi (cough) to the whole of Delhi.. and as a result, the IQ of Delhi went up (a joke about the current CM, who doesn't know the difference between AQI and IQ). 

Also, many jokes about Kangana, Language deterioration, Haryanvis, Gurgaon, Yamuna-paar Dilliwasis, Modi's travels, Chara ghotala of Lalu Yadav, removal of Mughals from history books, and so on.

He says, If Kapil Dev can learn English, anyone can.. 

It's in the form of 5-6 skits, including Ghalib's encounters with a paanwali, a drunk, two taxi/auto drivers, a Punjabi landlady (with jokes about Punjabis included), a police constable who thinks he's a terrorist, and a couple of ad agency executives who try designing a campaign to make him famous- through photoshoots with Mallika Sherawat or Kareena Kapoor.  Very engaging, a laugh a minute. Political and social satire at its best!

Anopheles and Happiness in 2025

 My friend, Anopheles, the female mosquito with a sting, visited again, and I wished her a Happy New Year. She looked skeptical. 

"Are you sure?" she asked. 

"Sure of what?" I enquired.

"Of being happy, of course."

"Why not? Nirmala just gave us non-Ambanis a bonus on Income tax" I replied.

"Yes, but how many in this country earn that kind of money?" she wanted to know.

I was crestfallen. "Agree," I said. Drivers and maids still make about a lakh and a half a year. Rupees, not dollars. But look at the positives around the world." 

"Are you serious? You mean Trump? Or Putin? Or Xi?"

That last one hit close to home. I hurriedly diverted her. "No, no, I mean things like sustainability issues, slow travel, and climate change -people engaging with it."

"What about pollution, disease, and killer viruses?" I had to admit she had her data in place.

I said, "Yeah, you win some, you lose some." 

Anopheles then bowled a faster one. She said, "Wake up, or you'll lose the planet, and we, our blood supply." And added for effect, "even though it's not too healthy, what with cholesterol and so on in high doses.."

She left me in that state of being apologetic about our Race, as always, and flew off after a goodbye.