Bob, could you still be loved?

Bob, could you still be loved?

Robert Nesta Marley would turn 61 tomorrow if he were still alive today. He probably wouldn’t be too pleased at his slide from emperor to debatable icon of cool, but he’d possibly still be drawing and spreading peace and love from his herb. Mumbai’s tattoo parlours today sell the Rastafarian look, headbands and dreadlocks. But apart from imaging the rebel, Marley, the founder of reggae-town, was also the voice of struggle, oppression and built a unique brand of spirituality. Like a true messiah, Marley sang about god.

Evangalism left behind, the nouveau Bob Marley on the t-shirt is now known more for ganja smoking than his Rastafarian ‘ways of life’. It took root in the Black Power movements of the early 20th century, Marley’s music was of the masses, made with simple handmade instruments, like drums, clay bowls, and the good ol’ voice box. Simple lyrics stemmed from the uneducated and impoverished. Today, Shaggy is about as good as it gets. Though ragamuffin speech and lyrics linger, the music industry has proved far more powerful than any evangelism.

Mumbai’s Helga’s Fun Castle does a reggae track titled SSG with a chorus that goes “Smoke Some Ganja eh oh.” Marley would’ve loved it. But crooning along apart, kids sporting Rastafarian colours haven’t a clue the red on their bands stand for the Church Triumphant and bloodshed of the Rastas; the gold, not yellow, for wealth of the homeland, and the green for Ethiopia’s vegetation. But all this, Marley-on-the-t-shirt seems to sigh, does nothing to stamp his presence today.

An online site that helps plan a Marley birthday recommends palm-reading a la the master himself. But best of all, it ends with a warning; “Be mindful of negative feelings. He, like all true Rastafarians, preached a peaceful world order with brotherhood and sisterhood between all people.” Wonder if he saw the future slipping between brother and sister like this.

And yet, on a recent visit to Café Mondegar, I heard behind me a too young to have known Indian child drop a coin into a jukebox and request a Marley. I couldn’t but grin into my beer - the true messiah lives on in little oases of peace, my brother. Stand up for your peace of it.