The children of the 90’s grew up with the threat of one punishment for all actions- one tight slap. It worked if you didn’t do your homework, if you misbehaved, or ditched a loved one. One tight slap is, in fact, our language of love.
Student: But teacher, I was only taking my book back.
Teacher: One tight slap I’ll give you, then you both will know how to talk in my class!
Kid: I can’t solve these math problems.
Father: One tight slap I will give you then automatically all the solutions will come.
Gita: I won’t be able to come to your birthday party.
Sita: I’ll give you one tight slap, if you even think of missing my birthday party.
When Will Smith slapped Chris Rock in 2022, most of the world initially thought that he taught him a lesson. It appeared that he was protecting his wife. He taught that comedy has to have boundaries.
But today I know that wasn’t the truth. Today I know that Will Smith used the power of a tight slap in the pursuit of his own happiness.
For your information, here’s the chronology, from my viewpoint:
2019: Will Smith came to India. He starred in the movie Student of the Year 2. I am sure he must have learned about the Indian ‘slap’ weapon on the sets of that film. He must have studied how we used the weapon irrespective of the situation.
After all, every foreigner on his visit to India receives some sort of enlightenment. For Will, it was learning the value of a tight slap.
2022: Chris Rock does a monologue at the Oscars that references a movie character’s haircut resembling that of Jada Pinkett Smith, Will’s wife. Only, for Jada, it’s not a haircut; she actually suffers from alopecia.
Everyone laughs, Jada rolls her eyes. Will gets up, walks to the stage, and slaps Chris Rock across the face.
Chris takes it easy saying, “Wow, Will just smacked the shit out of me.”
Will is still angry. He says, “Keep my wife’s name out of your fucking mouth.”
That is when the Oscars audience know the slap was not scripted.
Will wins an Oscar that night, but I wonder how much of a celebration that might have been. He apologises the next day and gets an Oscar ban as a gift.
After the Oscars mess-up, Will visits India, this time with a clear intention of taking a spiritual journey from the right masters, learning yoga, etc. Good decision.
2023: Jada Pinkett is about to release her memoir. She declares, she and Will haven’t been husband and wife since 2016!
Even Jada was shocked when Will called her ‘my wife’ at the ceremony, as they were separated for 6 years before the incident. She later realised that Will’s slap was harboured from some old heart wound.
That’s not how you use the power of a tight slap! Will messed up the teachings of a holy Indian tradition. Either that or someone didn’t translate the lesson on the power of a tight slap correctly. I hope he rectified his belief on his second visit to India in 2022. We don’t want our Indian teachings to be misinterpreted abroad.
I hope we all learn a lesson from this. Resolve your complicated emotions, for they become poison for you or someone else. But more importantly, be extremely attentive in class. Ask many questions if you have to, but understand the concept correctly. Also, choose a good, knowledgeable teacher to learn from.
