The Great Indian Chamcha

Sycophant (chamchagiri) - A satire on how people suck up to their superiors or people in power in order to succeed or gain favors.



In my school days, we use to call our class monitor as "sir ka chamcha" and he used to write our names on blackboard for revenge. Till then, I used to think that there must be very few people who are chamcha, because my definition of chamcha was restricted to the class monitors. But today I can see some kind of chamchagiri going on everywhere.


Lets move back to colonial times. What our forefathers did for initial years of slavery was to lick the shoes of British rulers while they were looting our wealth and prestige. Why did they do that? Probably because they want to be safe and submissive which might had been beneficial for them in longer run. They told us to be obedient to our superiors and the running system. Fortunately we are following it in some or other way.
Now lets move to the types of Chamchas we become in some of the stage in life.


1. Chamcha for parents: Starting from childhood, we heard usual instructions like good boy don’t do this, good boy don’t scare from anyone, mera sher putar kisise ni darta, eat properly, behave properly. Some of us may call it mannerism, but it is the stage where our subconscious mind become ready to strive for the title of Chamcha (praise in any kind).  I won't argue over the above manners. But I would like to question over two things we usually do: choosing career as per parents wish no matter how much we hate it, and marrying with a person of parents' wish no matter you love someone else.


2. Chamcha in school/college: This kind of chamchagiri was best exemplified by the character "Chatur" in film 3 Idiots. This is another place after your house where one come across a new set of acceptable protocols. Don’t question your teacher, he is always right. Grasp only permitted knowledge. Gather certificates to get highlighted in your teachers' eyes. Rote down notes made by your teachers (other sources not allowed). Be attentive in class in a serious mode (as if smiling face indicates your cunning nature)


3. Chamcha in friend circle: You might be wondering this is nonsense. How one can be chamcha in his own friend circle. But again I would like to recall the character of "Circuit" in Munnabhai MBBS to strengthen my argument. This is the place where social acceptability becomes so important. What if you can't smoke, or can't drink(4 bottle vodka), obviously you are not cool enough (probably like YO YO HONEY SINGH). What if you don’t take revenge from 1st yearites during ragging, you haven't enjoyed your college life. What if your friends don’t want to take class and wanted to go for mass bunk, and you want to sit on first bench, you are "padaku" and a backstabber to those students.


4. Chamcha for society: Babul ki duyein leti jaa, ja tujhko sukhi sansaar mile. Can we ever sing this song for a groom? No, because society says so.
        Mr. X & Ms. Y people marry, why they become only Mr & Mrs.         X? Society says so.
        Can you be happy Gay or lesbian couple owing to your sexual           orientation? Strictly no.
        Can marriage be a low budget affair? No, Who will feed society will lavish expenses. 


5. Chamcha for life partner: Joru ka gulaam are ban ke rahunga
 or  "Jo tumko ho pasand vahi baat kahenge,
Tum din ko agar raat kaho, raat kahenge"
I must say a husband has tough choice here (chamcha of maa or chamcha of wife :P) 


6. Corporate Chamchas or Chamchas for career: Most of the time this term has been kept reserved for women, but I have seen many Diwali gifts by the subordinates to their superiors even by men. You have to choose your career based on its earning potential or its acceptability in society not on the basis of your interest or inclination.


7. Chamchas of celebrities: Now these are the biggest stupids I would like to tag. Ranbeer Kapoor's  beard fashion, Salman Khan's bracelets, long queues for taking autographs of Honey Singh, muaah my Shahrukh, muaah my salloo, Deepika's ghaghra style, first day first show, lets break the record of this movie by watching it 100 times, wallpapers of celebrities( as if they are increasing the performance of your CPU) are few of the examples of being these chamchas.


8. Chamcha of english langauge: This is the new breed I came across often. Don’t you listen to english songs, are you kidding me? If you are weak in english, forget about any prestigious job no matter how much talented you are in other fronts.


9. Chamcha of power: Howsoever we rebuke traffic police, once we are on their mercy, we instantly become an awesome Chamchas (cham+'Cha') who are willing to arrange 'Cha'-pani for the same policeman.



Our chamchagiri sometimes take the shape of cowardliness (remember Nirbhaya rape case, there was no one to help her for 3 hours on road), sometimes acceptability in society, sometimes it become decisive in our life to the extent that we put our self respect, dreams, intuitions and conscience at the backseat and program our mind accordingly. I must say at some point of time, all of us has tried to get the tag of The Great Indian Chamcha.