Moon's conquered, but what about our own dark side

Pink Floyd momentarily overtook the imagination of urban desi fans who recalled the band’s 1970’s album, "The Dark side of the Moon", while watching Chandrayaan land on the South Pole of our beloved Chanda Mama. It was an awe-inspiring moment for overjoyed Indians as we momentarily stopped exhaling during the dramatic conquest of unknown lunar territory.The moon has dominated our consciousness ever since, culminating with the spectacular Super Blue Moon this week. The sun was briefly overshadowed while the world remained moonstruck. Till India announced ISRO’s Aditya-L1 mission, leading to a collective jaw drop. Soon, the mighty sun may also lose its power and mystique over our imagination, once its electromagnetic radiation is broken down by our brilliant scientists. Both these space achievements serve the same purpose — and it’s linked to good old economics. Money. The race is all about who gets there first and stakes a claim to hitherto unknown resources. If that robs lesser mortals of the quintessential romance associated with celestial objects, sorry, that’s about to change soon. Our ‘gaze’ has altered irrevocably. Poetry and songs revolving around orbiting astral spheres may lose their literary allure altogether. Lovers will be compelled to seek new metaphors to express ardour. Painters could turn prosaic in their representation of the sun and moon. An entire creative industry is likely to suffer while Isro makes giant leaps for mankind. Between cracking the sun’s photosphere, chromosphere and its outer atmosphere corona, India’s Aditya will join robotic solar observation spacecraft from other nations as they probe, collect data and undertake a complex mission to study solar flares and other phenomena.While all these mega, stellar achievements are still being processed by awestruck citizens, one begins to wonder about emotions closer to the heart and home that are a whole lot more grounded — the dark side of our own lives. ShowBlurbsA couple of hit series on OTT platforms are confronting viewers with a gamut of uncomfortable truths that make us wiggle, shift and squirm. Whether it’s a series about orchestrating magical, insanely opulent shaadis of 'Delhi types' that on closer examination are anything but heavenly, or another series that uncovers equally gritty, nasty stuff while presenting a raw and rough look at romance in the midst of pretty poppy fields located in a fictional town named Gulaabganj. Opium factories operate brazenly, with a portly, foul mouthed drug dealer lording it over cowering minions. The impact of both series is equally disturbing. What a savage representation of a seriously dysfunctional society — ours! It makes us ask: Are we really this sick? Have we always dwelled on the dark side of the moon? Are our lives so twisted? Can even half of these brutal portrayals be true? For how long has our society lived in denial? Watching a well-heeled, physically abused trophy bride, getting skillful make-up artists to camouflage bruises, before smiling through perfectly choreographed saat pheras, reminds us of thousands of brides across India who are forced to go through this pantomime — that too, without the help of heavy make-up concealers. So many grim stories of prejudice and exploitation raise their ugly heads in dream-like settings with immaculately designed sets and extravagant costumes that eventually create a patchwork quilt of discomfort. Viewers seeking escapism and entertainment are forced to turn within, only to find enough horror stories in their own manicured lives. Narratives that have remained suppressed, hidden from view for decades. Family secrets are toxic — that’s a given. But to see them paraded, aesthetically garbed in designer couture, heightens the irony still further while mocking our sense of smugness, complacency, arrogance. When a Dalit bride literally walks on water to dulcet Buddhist chants, our hearts soar, quite forgetting the telling remark of an upper caste character declaring calmly, “Had this happened in my village, the girl’s family would have been…” the sentence is left unfinished.Caste, class and colour dominate both series as various characters battle it out, shaking awake dormant demons, forcing us to confront our deeply flawed selves. Is this me? Could these grotesque people be my friends? Family? When the packaging is this authentic, who can question the product? ‘Stealth wealth’ whether flashed in a nouveau riche setting or camouflaged in old money trappings, is still cringe. From luscious shaadi mandaps in one series to the killing fields of poppy in another, filthy lucre rules. These are parallel 'explorations' — the Isro missions and the OTT series — which lead to discoveries within the mind, body and soul. Our vulnerabilities and weaknesses, along with our strengths and goals launch us on journeys that are as hazardous as they are exciting. Who doesn’t dream of soft, safe landing in life? It exists. Ask Isro.