The drive back from farm is always a pleasant one. Having soaked in the fresh oxygen, absorbed the river view, the greenery and some quality time spent with family including the dogs, who also enjoy the open space to run and chase the hen and other birds.

 

Last evening after one such visit while coming back, we had the music on in the car and from the collection of some thousand songs; a fair mix of classical, Sufi, Elvis, SD Barman and the usual Hindi film music. Soon the car was reverberating with a familiar tune - mouth organ and train whistle. And all of us sang in unison…..

 

MERE SAPNO KI RANI KAB AAYEGI TU

AAYI RUT MASTANI KAB AAYEGI TU

 

And we discussed as usual the first thing that we always discuss. The CARS, rather the jeep in this context, it was a left hand drive Willys, any hot blooded male’s dream being driven by Sujit Kumar while Rajesh Kahana , the greatest heart throb ever singing  in his typical flamboyant style and ada!

 

 I opined that Sharmila Tagore, the leading Lady of the film, Aradhna, a super hit, is shown traveling in the Darjeeling toy train, reading a book - Guns of Narvon by Alistair MacLean, which in any case she did not read. She just dimpled her way to the Darjeeling station, enjoying all the attention. I don’t really blame her for not being able to read it with a Young handsome man in a Nepali topi serenading - actually enticing her with the lyrics any woman would find hard to resist!

 

PHOOL SI KHILKE

PAAS AA DILKE

DUUR SE MILKE

CHAIN NA AAYE

 

So, I continued, that it is such a manly book to read and that too some 40 yrs ago- IT WAS UNTHINKABLE! It is a flaw on the director’s part. She should have been shown reading a Mills and Boon or  Barbara Cartland ! And the family agreed – they always do when ‘the one who must be obeyed’ speaks!

 

The mention of Mills and Boon is an open invitation to the memory lane that invariable meanders through the school class room! I remember as soon as a new M&B was on stands at least two copies would be in circulation. And every girl in the class got a chance to read it by turns. The most IMPORTANT pages would be in tatters even before the last girl had read it!

The important pages -goes with out saying were the ones that read, “so he pulled her closer, swept away an unruly lock of hair from her heavenly face and embraced her in his strong arms, kissed her rose petal of a mouth” !!! etc etc….

We would read and re-read these pages and be so hopeful to go through a similar experience! These pages would be much thumbed, salivated ones! Sometimes when the boys were out of the class, the bolder of the girls would loudly read out the sensuous paragraphs, sexy was the taboo word then, and would have rest of the girls salivating for more. The romance and aesthetics were the call of the day!  

 

And by virtue of reading such exotic lines we were transcended to the forbidden realm of the Universe and what I remember was the tenderness of these experiences - it made us feels feminine in a sublime manner –vulnerable and brimming with love.

We felt very different from the modern liberated girl of today. Feminine, delicate and Very defenseless but yearned to be a woman who would stand by her man and support him in every way. Not trying to dominate him rather we expected him to do the usual gallant gestures like opening the door for us, and holding the chair. We wanted to be protected by the man from the big bad world. Chivalry was not looked down upon for the fear of being labeled as unequal to the man!

 

It is such a pity that M&B of the present times are nothing but soft porn.

 

At the same time we were studying Pride and prejudice as part of English literature curriculum. This book, an all time classic revolves around the Bennet family, very much akin to any middle class Indian family, with four daughters and the mother aspired to see them married off to suitable boys.

In other words, the then Victorian society was very much like ours in the present times. However, the heroine of the book, Elizabeth, was not a coy young lady but an emancipated intelligent woman, who though charmed by her romantic interest Mr. Darcy, had a mind of her own.

 

Ah! Darcy (sigh!), now he was a character not easily understood for though he appeared to be an arrogant haughty man of noble origins, he was wise enough to know that it isn’t just a woman’s beauty and feminine charms that matter, rather her intelligence and aptitude to deal with people and situations – unpleasant and adverse, respectively as they might be! He pursued Lizzie – as she was called and finally won her!

Darcy was every girl’s dream man in those days and he remains so even today! 

 

Coming back to the present, there has been a marked decline in the sales and subscription of Readers’ Digest – the good old book of all times, simply for the reason that the world is no more the innocent goody-goody place it used to be ! A magazine for family reading once but today’s much wise reader knows that to survive in this dog eat dog world, one has to know more about the society than just the Christmas carols.

 

The modification in reading habits is influenced by the change in the socio-economic and political scenario. What Women Read today varies from Vogue, Femina, Good Housekeeping and Business India to authors as varied as Paulo Cohelo, Anita Desai, Garcia, Salman Rushdie, Ludlum, Dan Brown, Amartya Sen, Osho and now even Jaswant Singh.

I read ‘Fountainhead’ by Ayn Rand in school and even today I am in love with Howard Roark, a character immortal for he stood for individuality and honesty. This book was equally appreciated by one and intrigues the reader with every chapter.

 

Reading habits have changed drastically and are not gender specific anymore. Mainly because one as to move with times and  be as well informed about what is happening around them, so be Auto India or Travel and Home, women are reading all that is available and up for grabs to keep abreast of the events and times.

 

However despite all the changes that have occurred globally in the past half a century in terms of demographics, a sense of continuity still persists. For instance even today, every girl wishes to marry a Darcy, a rich, strong intelligent man, who inspires confidence in her. One who would love her, protect her and take good care.

And every man still wants a wife who is full of womanly charms and who would lean on him for support and show full confidence in his strength and ability. One who has a mind of her and yet who believed in him. To conclude Id say -Change and continuity go hand in hand, whatever the women of twenty first century reads.