Fin de siècle.

The French, they say, always have a propensity to put across things rather stylishly. Literally speaking, “fin de siècle” means “end of the century”. The phrase contains a hint of a suggestion, though, of the end of an era and the onset of the coming one as well as of a time of degeneration and a time of new beginning. In a broader and worldlier context, it connotes a sinister mixture of decadence and opulence. All of which sounds a mouthful and bombastic and pretentious. Reading Hanif Kureshi’s The Buddha of Suburbia (Faber and Faber, London, 1990) is one entertaining way to get an insider’s view of a fin de siècle. The Whitbread Prize winning novel is set in a decaying London just before the onset of Thatcherism when Britain was said to have become totally "ungovernable”. The protagonist, Karim Amir, a second-generation British-Indian, is the bi-sexual son of the Buddha of Suburbia, Haroon ("Harry") Amir, who had emigrated from India in the late fifties or early sixties. Pop music in the times of the Punk Rock supremacy, theatre, art, deceit, fast-changing sexual mores, race relations, fake gurus, social climbing and “moving away” from the decaying suburbs are what The Buddha of Suburbia deals with in an often farcical vein.

The new apple in Mumbai’s eye? (Hint: It puts Mumbai on par with the Big Apple.)

One lives and learns, I guess. A little over two years ago, I first read in the press about a brand new social animal that had infiltrated the Indian Page 3 milieu. Can you guess who? I shall give you a hint in the form of a definition: “A dandyish narcissist in love with not only himself, but also his urban lifestyle”. Mark Simpson, the original inventor of this social prototype, defines it as “a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis – because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. … [also] … officially gay, straight or bisexual, … [which is] utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere.” (Sounds pejorative, almost scurrilous, and scarcely desirable, does it not?) Apparently, the arrival of this exotic and exclusive life form in our midst has now blessed Mumbai with a global status on par with the Big Apple. How very fortunate! We’ve our world-standard fashion industry as well as our widespread urban prosperity to thank for the new arrival, I’m told. And, who is the beneficiary of this bonanza? All those who come under the ‘grooming industry’ umbrella, who else? Find more enlightenment on the new social phenomenon here: http://www.wordspy.com/words/metrosexual.asp