Jouissance of the religiously minded

Religion and an immediate sexual reference to it do not make for great blog starters, but when Sunday mornings bring uninvited reminders of how religious (read of the bhajan singing kinds) you are not, the vessels of my mind overflow with the need for a rant. Here goes:

Any West Delhi survivor worth his salt and a common history of abused Sunday peace will agree that expressions of religious faith are of a passionate fervour that the most celebrated coital moments of your life can’t hold a candle to. Starting with the setting of the stage, to the choice of deity of the day, to the careful selection of the most ‘impactful’ voices  who will set the mood, the kirtan is one of those daily but often missed phenomena that we miss in the list of Delhi’s cultural ‘delights’

This Sunday’s bhajan in keeping with the Eurocrisis (yes kirtanis - singers of kirtans are extremely well read, well informed in matters of global economic crises) is calling out incessantly to an indifferent- to- Euro god to ‘jholi bharo’- filling exchequers in translation. The common understanding is that other more often called upon gods being overwhelmed and preoccupied with matters of national crises like the latest entrant in Tihar from the telecom scam, Sachin not making the 100^th yet and the delivery and poop and piss updates of Beti Bachchan, this particular deity who sounds like ‘Sai’ from afar will have nothing better to do than pour in lards of carefully ‘acquired’ money.

Jholi bharo in Hindi is also a call to get the newly-married-how-dare-you-not-get-pregnant-ASAP woman to   start the much prepared for dutiful breeding cycle of her life, but hearing the male voices reach shrill decibels this morning, the understanding is that money is more dear to man than the pleasures of baby squeals.

The most interesting and why the reference to jouissance- is the quality of musical adaptations, that can have Bappi Lahiri sell his many golds and start a new life as a not-musician somewhere else. Bollywood music has the natural tendency to start setting in our veins as a ready to go reference for musical inspiration, but what set these kirtans apart are the brilliant lyrics of religious smacking that fill into the tunes beautifully. As Sai head bangs his way into ‘Main Jat Yamla Pagla Deewana’ inspired Sai tumhare kitne naam, I wonder what these imagined gods make out of this impromptu yet well intentioned devotions.

The voices- oh you can dedicate many blogs to their tone, texture, impact, tenors and variety but what you can’t beat is the way the many voices reach a tacit, slowly but tenaciously built, commonly enjoyed ‘small death’ on the word Sai mid bhajan. You can have your personal laugh every time this happens, and it happens way too often- so you can rest assured that we are still the land of the genius who scripted the Kamasutra. Replete with drums, chorus, jazzy scarves and religiously intentioned hip shakes we Indians are of a spirited kind. Strange how you take the devotion out of these voices and the cries almost shame down to frowns on couples embracing openly.