I love the Beat Generation. They have been the basis of quite a lot of music that I have listened to, literature that I have read and ideas that I have nurtured. I always dreamt of being a Hippie (allow me to suggest that free sex and drugs are not as intrinsic to their being as is widely made out) and taking to the Road.
Sadly, my self-imposed limitations never allowed me to do it. So I did the next best thing. I read "On The Raod" (OTR) by Jack Kerouac.
OTR is a documentary written in early 50s. It traces out the journeys made by the author between the east and the west coasts of USA and later down south to Mexico during the late 40s, questioning the American Ideal and searching of life itself. Its a book for all those restless souls who yearn for excitement & adventure in life. People who are tired with others around them deciding how they should live ? And Die ? Or guys who are too consumed and confused by the eternal question "What is life ?"
PLOT ? Yes. It all seems like "one great PLOT". Though the book is one greatautographical documentary, using several characters that have real-life counterparts, it gives a Patialadose of what happened when a war-ravaged USA was rebuilding its economy. But more than that it gives voice to the Beat Generation's alienment/disenchantment with mainstream American ideals and obsession with war and political supremacy at the cost of seriously limiting the scope of human life. Kerouac, assuming the name of Sal Paradise, is a writer who has fallen out with his wife and is out on the road to discover America. He has unabashed hunger for human interaction, jazz and of course, women. He looks upto Dean Moriarty, an ex-convict, for "torch bearing" and enlightenment along the way.
Dean is the pivot around which the book revolves. But there's hardly “a story”. There is of course "the story". "The Story" of America on the Roads, outside of its teeming cities, tall skyscrapers, fat businessmen and overflowing opulence. The book is a marvel on narrating experiences. Kerouac's in-your-face comments and piercing insights are a treat to read. Sample this :-
Somewhere along the line I knew there'd be girls, visions, everything; somewhere along the line the pearl would be handed to me.
Sounds almost Osho like. I suppose one way to get rid of the basic human drives is to indulge them in excess. Everybody has a quota afterall. Once exhausted, we can move onto the more important things...But wait a sec, what if there is no "Pearl of Wisdom" ?
Boys and girls in America have such a sad time together; sophistication demands that they submit to sex immediately without proper preliminary talk. Not courting talk — real straight talk about souls, for life is holy and every moment is precious.
Thankfully things are not that bad in India. Often you have to say and you have to listen to some “Soul Talk”, before you can get any further ;-)
Something, someone, some spirit was pursuing all of us across the desert of life and was bound to catch us before we reached heaven. Naturally, now that I look back on it, this is only death: death will overtake us before heaven.
Havent all of us felt an subconscious desire to run away from Death ? And realised after running hard that it is going to get us anyway. Much before we reach our Goal.
I had nothing to offer anybody except my own confusion.
Too many things to do. Too many ideas. Too less time. Making a half-start and abandoning midway for another false start... when will our muddled heads clear up ? When will we have our priorities right...?
Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.
Prophetic ! I suppose the only thing that stops us from moving ahead with life is our luggage. Only we decide if its light enough for us to carry or heavy enough to drag us down. The road is always open & inviting. The Road is Life and the lesser luggage you have, the farther you'll travel....
Every now and then a clear harmonic cry gave new suggestions of a tune that would someday be the only tune in the world and would raise men's souls to joy.
Is that a semblance of a "Revolution of Ideas"… ? It makes us wonder that if such is the power of concentrated human will/ideas, what is it that's stopping it from changing things...?
What difference does it make after all? — anonymity in the world of men is better than fame in heaven, for what's heaven? what's earth? All in the mind.
Importance of all things perceptible vs. things that are only "in our minds". If we could shed the "Luggage of Conditioning" we'd only be making our lives easier.
What's your road, man? — holyboy road, madman road, rainbow road, guppy road, any road. It's an anywhere road for anybody anyhow.
It may not matter what Road we have chosen. As long as they get us Anywhere and not "Somewhere", all are equally useless....
But having lived out of a suitcase for over three years and having had his share of fs, fixes, trips, jazz, children-of-mother-earth lifestyle, landscapes, fallen idols and what not, Sal isnt able to make much of the trip in the end. Perhaps its Kerouac's way of saying that we may well be a victim of self-created complexities and our penchant to search for an End in everything. So much so that we may miss the joys of the wonderful journey. Reminds me of Harrison's "The Inner Light" lyrics "the farther one travels, the less one knows...the less one really knows...."
The book serves as a wake-up call for people like us who may be slaves to the modern society and its extensions. It eggs us to take possession of our steering and controls before its too late. It also serves as a lesson to people who look for a bit of "Meaning in Everything".
In many ways the book also emphasises the importance of going out and seeking, howsoever uncomfortable it may be. Living on the Road is very similar to getting Ragged at a college. You end up shedding a lot of inhibitions/doubts and end up being thankful that you did. Its about shaking off the initial Inertia in everything that you undertake; so that each effort is an all-out effort.
And for many like me who darent be too ambitious, its not a bad beginning at self-discovery....
