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Sanskar Inc: From Alok Nath to Trolls, a Word Becomes an Industry

On Alok Nath’s birthday let’s look at the journey of Sanskar, a concept he popularised.

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A benevolent, balding patriarch, with an ubiquitous tilak on his forehead, who breaks into ditties on familial bonds at the drop of a hat, would hardly be seen as a threat of any kind, especially when played onscreen by the affable Alok Nath. Our sanskari babuji has shown us that it is possible to be convivial without even an ounce of alcohol in your system. Only Alok Nath could bring the Bollywood brats, the likes of Salman Khan, Mohnish Behl and Saif Ali Khan, to his backyard on a sanskari trip.

On Alok Nath’s birthday let’s look at the journey of Sanskar, a concept he popularised.
Hum Apke Hain Kaun, 1994 (YouTube/Ramanchawla89)
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Sanskar Sells


How many of us, however, remember that Alok Nath also has a neat repertoire of playing negative roles? And that he romanced onscreen one of the heartthrobs of her times, Tina Munim? Kaamagni (1987) saw Nath and Munim demonstrating that the idea of Immaculate Conception is as credible as that of the Tooth Fairy or Santa Claus.

The fact that we struggle to imagine Alok Nath as anything other than the sanskari babuji, alerts us to the appeal of traditionalism. Sooraj Barjatya cracked this code with his directorial debut, Maine Pyar Kiya, released in the pre-liberalisation India in 1989. Barjatya perhaps preempted the backlash that westernisation would meet in the decades to come from the upholders of tradition. His later films perfected the formula and met with resounding box office success. They also established Alok Nath as the poster boy of Indian sanskar.

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Sanskar: The Root of Fascism?


Umberto Eco’s 1995 essay ‘Eternal Fascism’ lists the “Cult of Tradition” as the “first feature of Ur-Fascism”. Eco saw fascism as

a fuzzy totalitarianism, a collage of different philosophical and political ideas, a beehive of contradictions

To see how Eco’s formulation works, look no further than the films where Alok Nath stood tall as a repository of sanskar. A popular businessman or industrialist, who thrives on the technological progress made by the humankind, but insists on doing havan to ward off the ‘evil eye’; the characters Alok Nath played in Hum Saath Saath Hain and Hum Aapke Hain Kaun helped fostering this cult of tradition. If a wealthy, respectable and successful man can proudly wear a tilak to office, what’s your excuse? Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Tradition, and by extension religion, has to be as grandiose a presence as the business empire.

On Alok Nath’s birthday let’s look at the journey of Sanskar, a concept he popularised.
A still from the video Sasuraal Gaynda Fool. (Photo Courtesy : Youtube/Nazar Battu Productions)
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“Last Year's Words Belong to Last Year's Language”

While TS Eliot’s The Little Gidding talks about the unity of past, present and future, it also talks about what changes irrevocably with the passage of time. Language is one such entity. It was only in 2013 that social media was abuzz with Alok Nath memes, jokes and gifs highlighting the words sanskar and sanskari. A quick google search will reveal how most mainstream media outlets were also not immune to this phenomenon. Many of these jokes reached Alok Nath and he commented that he enjoyed his onscreen sanskari avatars.

Over a period of time, however, the connotation of the words sanskar and sanskari have changed. In a socio-political milieu, where polarisation and not syncretism is the order of the day, sanskar is being problematised. The word has come a long way from its etymological roots and become synonymous with hyper-religiosity or performed traditionalism.

The element of humour that the jokes and memes once highlighted is also fading.

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Manufactured Meanings

The maelstrom of hatred and suspicion engulfing our social space is corrupting our language. From ‘bhakt’ to ‘sanskar’ to ‘feminist’, many words have been appropriated into this lexicon of hate. Nobody remembers a Kabir or a Meera or an Andal upon hearing bhakt. Instead, an image of a virulent, propaganda spewing twitter handle comes to mind. The benevolence and mildness of manner inherent in the word sanskar has been replaced by cultural chauvinism. Feminist is yet another dirty F word.

Of late, there also seems to be a sort of sanskar-meter at work measuring the degree of obsequiousness towards majoritarianism. The more you bend your spine, the more sanskari you become.

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Sanskar 2.0

Is this why, Alok Nath- the sanskari, got abusive on Twitter one day? To earn sanskar brownie points. Or, is it possible to sympathise with the man? People objected to Alok Nath’s use of foul language against CPI (ML) member Kavita Krishnan when she took a dig at PM Modi’s #SelfieWithDaughter initiative.

On Alok Nath’s birthday let’s look at the journey of Sanskar, a concept he popularised.
Alok Nath’s angry response to Kavita Krishnan on Twitter. He later deleted this tweet. (Photo: The Quint)

Is it possible to imagine that babuji used the word ‘bitch’ as a yuppie slang meaning Beautiful Indian Girl Causing Heartbreak? Alas, this excuse isn’t available to the babuji of “bitiya ka kanyadan” fame.

Thus, babuji falls prey to the untiring, steely, industry of manufactured sanskar doubly over.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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Topics:  Alok Nath   Online Trolls 

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