Saturday 10 July 2010

Jamshed Joshi in the Satanic Verses

Joshi is a Brahmin occupational surname derived from the Sanskrit word Jyotish (astrologer). Jamshed, however, is a Persian name- that of a legendary Iranian King (meaning 'shining twin'-i.e. the constellation Gemini and also the twin liturgical fire sticks)-whose Indic equivalent was Yama- Lord of Death- who is paired with his twin sister Yami- who incestuously desires him- a richly Jungian theme in keeping with a key motif in Rushdie's first success- the novel, 'Midnight's Children'.

Jamshed is quite a common name amongst Zoroastrians and, to a lesser extent, Muslims. It has never been used by Hindus- particularly not Brahmins with the surname Joshi. On the other hand, some Parsis do have the surname Joshi and, I suppose, would want to keep a Persian first name so as not to be confused with Hindu Brahmins. 

In the book, Joshi (who teaches martial arts to young inner city ethnic stereotypes) is a Marxist- i.e. the keeper of the keys to an 'Objective' Wisdom- thus, perhaps, the possessor of the cup of Jamshed in which all things are revealed. (Pace Prof. Godbole ('Rushdie at Rugby'- Journal of Indian Literature in English, Jadavpur Uni. Press, 1992)) - while it may well be that, in English Public School Slang, a Jam-shed is a hyperbolic term deriving from the awe and wonderment caused by mental contemplation of a new boy's rectum after his serial stuffing by members of the Lower Sixth whose parents are billed extra for 'reds'- i.e. intercourse with the menstruating School Matron- the good Professor should understand that whereas my own dear alma mater was not 'Public' but 'Approved' (that too by Her Majesty's Inspector of Prisons) I myself can personally testify that the practice died out in England after Jawaharlal Nehru's first day at Harrow (while all India knows of Nehru's habit of sending his laundry to Paris, the fact that he got his Vindaloos delivered from Hyderabad is less well known. Yet, it was the latter extravagance which ended the practice of 'Jam-shedding'. Vide Winston Churchill-'Why Hindus are Horrible' Vol 6)

Jamshed Joshi is known as Jumpy Joshi- a febrile poet faineant spouting Marxist shite while supposedly battling 'racism' coz, tho' the fucker was over forty, like that was still cool then, right?

Anyway, what I was building up to was a De Santillana style shitefest about like fucking asterisms and wobbling equinoctial colure and skhamba/skandha and shite shite shite with a Jungian face.
Can't be bothered.
Rushdie was, is, shite. Jamshed Joshi- that's as hilarious as Bruno thinking O.J is a good African American name for the Botswanan baby he's adopted. But, speaking of Sacha Baron Cohen- isn't every Indglish interview Ali G? all Indglish travel writing Borat? All our political posturing Bruno?
The existence of Indglish, its inevitable apotheosis, invalidates every axiom of Noam Chomsky's- Moses Mendellhson was a catastrophically wrong turn in Jewish History- Ali G's Chomsky interview is pretty lame- but then Baron Cohen is the autistic savant of an art by which he himself remains untaught- Indglish now is the sole language of Being shepherding itself- wooly hindlegs stuffed into Welly tops- and India alone capable of producing a film called 'My good friend Hitler' or treating Mein Kampf as a treatise on Management theory.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jamshed Joshi is funny but funnier yet, this is from a story of Rushdie's in the New Yorker ten or twelve years back, is an ex Maharaja who calls himself Mr. Maharaj- like he's a cook!