Those who don’t learn from history* are condemned to repeat it

I was once stumped in an interview when the interviewer referred to my three strong interests in life, reading, old Hindi film music and cricket as trivial. My trivial mind thought that in a way he’s right since the etymological origin of the word ‘trivia’ is from Latin ‘tri’ (three) and ‘via’ (way). I relayed that thought back to him. He knew he was being had. So he dug in his heels and remarked about how most Hindi film songs portrayed the same emotions and situations. I was about to extol the virtues of constancy in life to him when he asked the key question “when have Hindi film songs been a reflection of times that we have lived in?” My first reaction was to ask “sir, ek bechaare se gaane pe aur kitna pressure daaloge?” Fortunately, better sense prevailed and I gave him a dose of Sahir’s Phir Subah …