The Times They Are A Changin'

The Times They Are A Changin’


Ah but I was so much older then
I’m younger than that now

From My Back Pages- Bob Dylan


It is quite possible to be several people at the same time, or more commonly, over time. Especially if it spans a long life, lived with what the French call anime.

And sometimes, we are forced into changing our ways in answer to pressures not of our own making. But this need not be seen as a defeat or a bad thing.

Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist, novelist, poet, wit and early champion of “the love that dare not speak its name”, famously wrote, “Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative,” and was echoed later across the Atlantic by Walt Whitman, to wit: “Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds”.

But is this so much excuse making for breaks in the story-line that can’t be wished away? The jury is probably going to be perpetually “out to lunch” on deciding this one.

But, meanwhile, other observers and theorists of socio/political evolution, even revolution, and its cultural side-cars, find virtue in the dialectics of contention and difference of opinion. They say, the action of opposing views is the fuel of change and renewal.

And the radical elements amongst them, the Maoist theorists, Naxalites, even the jihadists, see the spillage of blood, innocent and tainted alike, as a necessity to the process. Without this, they argue, there is only oppression, ungodliness, stultification, corruption, obtuseness, distortion, stagnation, demise and putrefaction.

But change is always resisted by the forces of the status quo that stand to lose power and influence. And also change in one place induces change in another. In societal terms, it might be potentially ruinous keeping-up-with-the-Joneses. But how many desist because of this?

In politics, induction of youth in the ruling combine, particularly when it is seen to have paid electoral dividends, makes similar change inevitable elsewhere. Ergo, a change of guard at the RSS; and the induction of second generation heirs in the regional parties.

But in some cases, less dynastically configured, there is the contention and strife to go through first. But at the root, it may be nothing more than a generational struggle for power leavened by a search for an updated ideology that resonates with the voter in changed circumstances.

There is also the compelling cost-push of the changes wrought by political rivals in the ruling party, now enjoying its second consecutive term in power.

Short-term, there are a lot of embarrassing things being said by dissidents, but of an eventually inconsequential nature. But the strife will inevitably bring about the necessary changes in leadership and close the gap between factions. Much of the noise is a howl of protest at the passing of the torch in any case.

Though it may sound like capitulation to the losing side, on the wrong side of history, the beneficial effects of apparently destabilising change are well supported by history.

Witness that a young Henry the VIII of England, staunch Catholic and Defender of the Faith, was an entirely different kettle of fish from the latter-day “Good King Hal”. The latter became an apostate founder of the Anglican Church and defender of a markedly different faith. But did Henry know that his actions would put the “Great” into Britain in the time of his successors?

Perhaps he did, in the corner of his mind, even as he enriched himself promptly by plundering Catholic Church lands and wealth. Nor did he tarry in pitting Anglican Britain alongside other European Protestant powers against the Papacy and its adherents.

Closer home, we have the transformation of Ashoka the Great, from a ruthless empire-building conqueror to Buddhist-pacifist.

He was followed, centuries later, by the Great Mughal Akbar’s tolerant policies, his experimental Deen-e-elahi formulations. And both have clearly laid the foundations, to our present day “unity in diversity” conceptions.

Or witness the tired tale of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, travelling the diametrically opposed route from Nationalist Congressman and thoroughly modern Westernised gentleman, to inflexible, irreconcilable, prime-mover of the “Two Nation Theory”. But was Partition necessary after all, or just a consequence of his maniacal, consumptive, ego trip?

There are, in addition, a whole range and variety to the saga of Changelings. Some brought about momentous changes by shifting gear, but thereafter maintained great consistency in their reinvented lives. Others have allowed themselves to wobble from time to time.

One such wobbly changeling was Edward Moore Kennedy, eulogised solidly on his recent passing as the 20th century “Lion of the US Senate”. But Ted Kennedy’s overall record was not unblemished. There was the infamous Chappaquiddick incident and other occasional lapses into dissolution. But these were dips and troughs in a long life dedicated to a great and liberal legislative agenda that saw the passage of several landmark laws, sometimes diluted a little, because Ted Kennedy wasn’t chary of settling for the support he could get from his political rivals across the aisle.

Legendary folk/rock musician Bob Dylan prides himself, even now, on defying categorisation. He sees his creativity and life as a multi-genre work in progress. His autobiography, Chronicles Volume 1, suggests as much, and a Volume 2 to come.

Dylan Draws inspiration for his lyrics from 19th century French poet/writers Baudelaire and Balzac; takes his stage name from 20th century Irish poet Dylan Thomas; and built his initial unplugged musical style influenced by Great Depression era Folk and “Protest” musicians such as Woody Guthrie.

But this didn’t stop him volte-facing with the use of electrified and amplified rock instruments; changing tone, tenor and content as often as he pleased, inspired by his own life events. There was the near-death inducing motor-cycle accident, drug usage, marriage, celebrity, fame, fortune, and later still, conversion to Christianity, for example.

A recent, very stylish film, directed by Todd Haynes called I’m not there (2007) reflects this chameleon-like quality. It occasioned Haynes to use four separate actors to play an adult Bob Dylan, including the androgynous Cate Blanchett!

So, despite the sulphurous fire and brimstone, we may be witnessing no more than a rite of passage. As the new RSS President Mohanrao Bhagwat, busy mentoring the BJP of late, put it: the BJP will certainly “rise from the ashes”. But first, as in the RSS, the old order must give way to the new.

(1,053 words)

30th August 2009
Gautam Mukherjee


Published as Op-Ed Page Leader on 7th September 2009 entitled "Just a rite of passage" in The Pioneer. Also published online at www.dailypioneer.com and archived there under Columnists.