At a Sotheby’s auction in New York, a golden commode was sold for twelve point one million dollars. Yes, you read that right. Not a diamond. Not a painting. Not even a sculpture made by a genius who starved for his art. A toilet commode. As I heard the news, I found myself wondering where the proud new owner plans to exhibit this masterpiece of modern madness. In his sitting room, where guests can admire it while sipping their tea. Or in his bathroom, where he can sit on the world’s costliest throne and contemplate the mysteries of life.
But perhaps this is not just about the golden commode. Maybe it is simply a symptom. A sign of a world that once climbed the ladders of culture, courtesy and class and now seems to be sliding down with the enthusiasm of a child on a playground slide.
Look around. You will see crass where there was once class. You will hear noise where there was once music. You will see books that celebrate the basest instincts instead of storytelling that stirred the mind and heart. Or if you dare look deeper; lies which have replaced truth. Today it’s fashionable to tell lies in the name of personal enhancement, diplomacy or nationalism.
Lies spoken with a confidence that would shame even a seasoned pickpocket. The lies that leaders utter with a straight face. The lies that march across podiums and parliaments as if they are honoured guests, while truth, poor fellow, stands outside Sotheby’s with no bidder willing to bid for him.
We once valued truth as the foundation of civilisation. We held it dear because we knew societies crumble when lies become the national anthem. Today lies are so common they do not even bother to dress up.
The same society that gasps at a golden commode also applauds golden lies. Lies, crafted with the same care as an auction piece. Lies that are polished till they shine. Lies that are paraded before the public with the confidence of a priceless masterpiece. Our leaders, and we are talking of those in our country, do not just tell lies. They exhibit them. They auction them. They expect us to bid for them with our trust.
A commode is meant to remove waste. Truth is meant to remove falsehood. Yet here we are, placing waste on a pedestal and letting falsehood run free.
It is time we stop this downslide and climb back to what humanity has always aspired for. Upliftment. Truth. Beauty. And Wisdom to know that a commode, whether golden or not, is still only a commode. Maybe after we do that we will discern that the lies we are hearing and which we like parrots repeat, is not the truth at all, but lies as crass as a commode..!
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Robert Clements is a newspaper columnist and writes a daily column, which has graced the pages of over 60 newspapers and magazines, from a daily column in the Khaleej Times, Dubai, the Morning Star, London, and in nearly every state in India, from The Statesman in Kolkata, to the Kashmir Times in Kashmir to the Trinity Mirror in Chennai.
So true!
It is time our emperors seated in their gilded thrones, wearing bejeweled clothes stop distributing golden juicy apples infested with deadly worms which their followers can’t even bite into. Chewing becomes a fantasy.
After all, a golden opportunity knocks only once in a quinquennium, isn’t it?
True, and it’s also important we understand what these so called, ’emperors’ are doing. Thank you Shailaja.
Gold toilets as status symbol, desserts served in toilet-shaped bowls, lies flaunted as trophies — no wonder it all stinks.
Aren’t we just polishing a pig and putting it on display as a prize hog?
Time to flush the nonsense and give truth a throne.
Yes Ayesha, as you rightly said, ‘no wonder it all stinks’. Thank you.
Twelve point one million dollars! It boggles the mind that anyone would spend that amount on a commode.
Your article Bobby is like a clarion call to everyone to shun lies and falsehood and bring back truth, beauty and wisdom.
Thank you Kay!
Second you! True, what you’ve penned here. Where once truth was kept on a pedestal, is now a non-necessity. Lies and their kiln have become part of the course, sadly! But at whose expense? Own own, verily…