Man who wrapped Logic in Idiocy

Anyone who grew  up in India in the eighties will have so many memories about “DoorDarshan” including the “Chitrahaar”, “Ek chiriya..”, “Malgudi days” and so on. And in those sweet memories I am sure there will be hidden somewhere a message most annoying and almost devastating at times, “Rukawat ke liye Khed hai (Sorry for interruption)”. How can anyone bear a break in a running program? So much so that anything that disrupts good program was not only annoying, but also received all sorts of expletives.

But one man not only wanted to disrupt the running programs, but do it in a way that everyone would be waiting for these disruptions. Even to think of something like this one’s sense of logic should be placed upside down. And upside –down was the only logic that this man knew and started teaching to all of us  through his upside-down interruptions in running programs; rightly calling it, “Ulta-Pulta.”

Someone on cloud nine with a huge success of an unusual (almost crazy) concept would want to cash on a success like this and built deeper roots in the show-biz. And may be our friend wanted the same, so he must have been happy to receive green light to air a full 30 minute show to be aired weekly (only frequency that was in vogue during those days). And he may have wanted it be a big hit. But how would that even try to explain why he named it the “Flop-Show?”

I will never understand why, I will never understand the logic behind such things; but I thoroughly enjoyed everything he offered. Everyone knows that he had superb comic timing and an excellent mind that would think after seeing any social issues and other problems. But the only thing that this man was in-capable of was showing anything in a sorry state. Be it the inflation or the corruption or the red-tape or anything else that people will sit on hunger strikes for. This man addressed those issues with his wit and satire mixed to perfection. Make you laugh at the day today incidents in life that most others would want you to cry about.

The genius, be it in any field can never be repeated; and the same goes for him. The sad accident that took him recently from the man kind, might have taken the future gifts that he would have been conceiving for all of us. But how ever sudden and cruel the death may be; it cannot take away what he gave to all of us over last two decades.

Jaspal Bhatti ji, I know you are not the kind who would want to rest in peace; the laughter that your wit and humor creates will be making God and all Heaven-goers laugh and disrupting the peace of heavens.

PS: Some that I watched many a times in addition to Flop Show and  Ulta Pulta; The police officer of Mahaul Theek hai, Jija ji, Ram Saran Dubey of Kuch meetha ho jaye and the list goes on….