Given the Indian television's well known tradition of telecasting highly patriotic movies on August 15, Slumdog Millionaire was a peculiar choice. Nevertheless, I didn't have much to complain, for I had time to kill, and watching a feel-good romantic comedy seemed a decent means to do so. Moreover, it helped me refresh my impression of the film, the idea of writing a review of which I had been toying with for a while. Without any more deliberation therefore, let me proceed to do the same.
This was the third time I saw the movie and the first time I saw the dubbed Hindi version. The first time I saw the movie was soon after its release in December 2008, and I must confess that I was carried away by the larger than life fairy-tale like appeal. Later, I was gradually influenced by the widespread criticism of the movie, largely in India; and decided that it wasn't, after all, that good a movie. When I saw it for the second time, earlier this August, I was more critical and had the intention of judging it with an objective outlook. When I saw it last week, for the third time, I watched it not because I wanted to judge it, but because I knew that I like it.
Very few of my readers would perhaps be unacquainted with Slumdog Millionaire; especially after the extraordinary frenzy it created at the 2009 Academy Awards. Nevertheless, for the sake of completeness, a summary of the storyline is provided. The movie narrates the remarkable life story of one Jamal Malik, who, beginning from the humblest of backgrounds, surpasses all conceivable obstacles to fulfill his dreams. The story starts with Jamal, now a tea-seller, being on the verge of winning the top prize of 20 million Rupees on a national quiz show that's being telecast on live television. It then goes flashback to show how he was taught the answers to each question by life itself, along his journey that started from the slums of Bombay and took him through several dark alleys that society has to offer. The movie finally ends with Jamal bagging a double jackpot; i.e., winning the prize money and finding his long lost love, Latika.
Nothing remarkable about the central story of the protagonist rising to fame, fortune and meeting his destiny against all odds. Though a cliched concept (especially in Bollywood), a nice execution and fresh faces for the three major characters, made it a movie worth watching. What was novel though, was the idea of the game show; and the connection between each question and some incident in Jamal's life, often tragic; through which he knew the answer to the question. Jamal's journey through the game show, from the first question to the last; in turn takes the audience on a parallel journey, along the path of his life. It also takes us on a journey through the dark alleys and by lanes of our society that we often fear to flash a torchlight into; and would rather remain oblivious to the existence of.
Much criticism has been directed towards the dark and disturbing depiction of India that Danny Boyle projects in the movie. It is undeniable that the projected picture is not quite positive. It would appear as if India is a land of hopeless and hapless people who dwell in slums, lose their families in communal violence, end up being beggars or in the flesh trade; or if they are luckier, in the mafia. The Indian society that one sees in this movie is a filtered society; it has been reflected through a lens that had its focal points on the nadirs of the system. All the tragedies depicted in the movie are realities in India; but there still remains more to reality than such tragedies. Every society has its shadows, some perhaps darker than those of others; and what we see in this movie are but those dark patches. It would be unwise to take this depiction as a representative of the complete picture. A romantic comedy should be taken as a romantic comedy and not as a documentary.
There are three major characters in this story: Jamal; his brother, Salim and Latika; whom we have already mentioned. Jamal is the quintessential hero, his character endowed with almost all the virtues that tradition ascribes to the perfect man. He's caring and compassionate, he's fierce to anyone (eg, Salim) who offends his lady-love, he's smart, not just street smart but intelligent, he's a good and quick learner and above all, he loves Latika rather intensely. He also has a very strong, perhaps stubborn determination. It is this stubbornness that makes him splash through a puddle of crap to get an autograph of a movie star; it is this stubbornness that enables him to find Latika in Bombay and it's this same aspect of his nature that leads him to her at the final moments of the movie. Of course, he gets generous help from luck, or "destiny" as he would rather call it; as if to exemplify the old saying of fortune favouring the brave.
Latika's character is quite straight forward. It's apparent that she loves Jamal dearly. She still recognizes him instantly after seeing him after ages. We are not told if she, too, had an urge to find him after the two were separated. But then, given the circumstances she was going through; it would be too much to expect that on her part.
Jamal and Latika's characters, though very consistent, are typical. It's the conflicting and realistic characters like that of Salim that interest us more. This young man grew up with Jamal in the slums, went through similar hardships, and while his younger sibling more or less remained on the track of honesty, he considerably strayed away. Given the tragic incidents that the boys had to endure in their childhood, Salim's slip into the underworld, or his actions with respect to Latika are nothing unusual. What was interesting was that in spite of all his dishonest and ungentlemanly acts, he still retains a humane side. After having abandoned his brother and having lead the latter's girlfriend to dishonour, it's Salim himself that helps reunite the lovers, killing his gang leader and sacrificing his own life in the process.
There are a bunch of errors in the movie. The most glaring of them is that the Indian equivalent of the millionaire reality show is not aired on real time. It's shot several weeks in advance, so the climax cannot possibly happen in reality. Nor do the quizmaster, or the host has any stakes in the prize money. His trying to mislead Jamal, and then calling up the police, and the subsequent torture carried out by the police are all very absurd. The linguistic transition that the three protagonists go through; namely the transition from rustic Bombay-style Hindi to fluent English doesn't make sense. The Hindi dubbed version was better in this respect because it seemed more realistic to have the main characters speaking in Hindi throughout.
I didn't quite like the name. The word slumdog isn't used commonly in Indian English so I checked the internet. It appears that no dictionary has any entry for the word!
Director Boyle says,
"For us, Slumdog was always a very affectionate term because … it was a hybrid, a mixture of underdog and rooting for the underdog, and obviously he comes from the slums.”
Affectionate or not, I personally found the word derogatory and offensive.
Even though the music wasn't the best of A R Rahman I've heard, it still was one of his bests. And that was one deserving man getting the gold statuette.
In spite of fallacies, cliched concepts and other limitations, what makes it a good movie is the message of hope that it carries. The central belief that I-would-succeed-no-matter-what-happens is something very refreshing and positive in these days when hope is often so scarce.
Was it a good movie? I thought it was, else I won't watch it thrice.
Did it deserve a bagful of oscars? I'm no expert, but I'd say, not really.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
The plight of our Aryan cousins
Yesterday I went to a protest march here in Waterloo with several Iranian students. The frustration and disappointment of these people at the recent developments in their country, and the feelings and sentiments that they have are very intense, as one would expect. It's most unsettling to think that these young men and women, liberal in thought, friendly and courteous in behaviour and quite modern in outlook would still be subjected to live the lives of prisoners in their own land whenever they visit home. I was shocked to know that raids in university campuses to rough up, often torture students with alternative political opinion is a common phenomenon in Iranian cities.
From what is being reported in the media, many of us might be under the impression (at least I was) that Moussavi, the candidate who lost the elections as a result of alleged malpractices is a liberal leader. The fact, though, is that he is only slightly less conservative than his opponent. He himself was a Prime Minister of this Government 20 years ago, and he is still faithful to the system and its Supreme Leader. His election would have not brought about a sea change; it would only have been a small step towards liberty. A tiny, yet a much-awaited and a much sought-after step.
In yesterday's rally, my Iranian friends spoke of their collective dream of a free, democratic Iran; where people's fundamental rights would be honoured, and they quoted Gandhi, saying that the non-violent resistance of their compatriots would eventually bring freedom; but how far that day would be is anyone's guess. It's appalling to think that the country that once saw the first ever proclamation of human rights in the world would today see a murder of those same rights.
From what is being reported in the media, many of us might be under the impression (at least I was) that Moussavi, the candidate who lost the elections as a result of alleged malpractices is a liberal leader. The fact, though, is that he is only slightly less conservative than his opponent. He himself was a Prime Minister of this Government 20 years ago, and he is still faithful to the system and its Supreme Leader. His election would have not brought about a sea change; it would only have been a small step towards liberty. A tiny, yet a much-awaited and a much sought-after step.
In yesterday's rally, my Iranian friends spoke of their collective dream of a free, democratic Iran; where people's fundamental rights would be honoured, and they quoted Gandhi, saying that the non-violent resistance of their compatriots would eventually bring freedom; but how far that day would be is anyone's guess. It's appalling to think that the country that once saw the first ever proclamation of human rights in the world would today see a murder of those same rights.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Events That Defined the History of India - Part-2
Ok, so now we're getting into the second half.
And here we go again:
11. Shankaracharya and Advaita Vedanta ~ 800 AD:
The revival of Hinduism and its formation in the way we know it today began to take shape during this time. Shankaracharyya, Madhava and Ramanuja played an important role in eliminating other contemporary schools of thought and consolidating what would become the mainstream Hinduism. An already declining Buddhism would gradually be absorbed into mainstream Hinduism in the centuries that would follow.
12. Rajendra Chola's Rule - 1012-1044 AD:
While Northern India was being ravaged by the hordes of one Sultan Mahmud of Ghazani, an Afghan invader who plundered the country in seventeen raids, South India saw one of its greatest rulers on the throne of the Chola Empire. Rajendra Chola's empire directly held Deccan in almost its entirety and thrugh his ambitious naval campaigns he spread his influence across South East Asia.
13. Second battle of Tarain - beginning of the Delhi Sultanate - 1192 AD.
After the fall of the Pala Empire, Northern India was once more in disarray and the power vacuum was finally filled up by the Turko-Afghan ruler Muhammad Ghauri. Ghauri who was defeated in an earlier battle against the Rajput King Prithwiraj Chauhan, came back to defeat Chauhan and rapidly spread his empire across the plains of Northern India, establishing the first Islamic Empire in India.
14. Second battle of Panipath- Rise of Akbar - 1556 AD.
Humayun was routed by the prolific Afghan Sher Shah Suri, and the prospect of Babur's descendants were appearing grim. At Panipath, the Mughals make a comeback lead by Akbar the great and recapture Delhi. In the course of time, Akbar would expand his empire across India, establish a strong system of governance and his rule would be later remembered to be the high point of the Mughals in India.
15. Aurangzeb's Death:- 1706 AD Beginning of the end of the Mughals
Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal empire to its greatest extent, but his negative and communal policies lead to rising dissents across India, notably among Shikhs, Jaaths and Marathas under Shivaji. The Empire would collapse in a few decades.
16. Battle of Plassey:- 1757 AD.
The British win their first war in India through treachery and backstabbing and capture the rich province of Bengal in the process, thereby establishing the foundation of British India. What follows in the next few years is a systematic depletion of wealth and oppression of the highest kind; something that would lead to the infamous Bengal famine.
17. Third Battle of Panipath:- 1761 AD. Decline of the Marathas.
A regional power that could have been India's last hope against the British face a crushing defeat in the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdaali, the Afghan warlord. Once again, a decisive battle is fought at Panipath, and once again, the defenders are on the losing side.
18. The Great Mutiny, 1857:-
First nationwide armed resistance against British authority. Hindus and Muslims jointly revolt against British authority and an army revolt snowball into a nationwide uprising, perhaps the first of its kind in India. Once the mutiny is crushed, India is brought under the direct rule of the British Monarch, thereby bringing an end to East India Company's rule.
19. Foundation of the Muslim League in Dhaka, 1906 :-
While Bengalis participate in a mass movement against the partition of the province of Bengal on the basis of religion, apprehension about Hindu dominance grows within a section of the Muslim society as they form a political organization. This event would gradually polarize the population along religious lines and would later lead to the birth of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
20. Independence and Partition, 1947:-
An unarmed old man speaking of peace leads a nation to her freedom. Amidst the tragic scenes of mass migration and communal riots that kill and displace millions, two new nations are born out of British India; two countries that would remain hostile to each other for years to come and would face each other in several wars, both open and covert.
And here we go again:
11. Shankaracharya and Advaita Vedanta ~ 800 AD:
The revival of Hinduism and its formation in the way we know it today began to take shape during this time. Shankaracharyya, Madhava and Ramanuja played an important role in eliminating other contemporary schools of thought and consolidating what would become the mainstream Hinduism. An already declining Buddhism would gradually be absorbed into mainstream Hinduism in the centuries that would follow.
12. Rajendra Chola's Rule - 1012-1044 AD:
While Northern India was being ravaged by the hordes of one Sultan Mahmud of Ghazani, an Afghan invader who plundered the country in seventeen raids, South India saw one of its greatest rulers on the throne of the Chola Empire. Rajendra Chola's empire directly held Deccan in almost its entirety and thrugh his ambitious naval campaigns he spread his influence across South East Asia.
13. Second battle of Tarain - beginning of the Delhi Sultanate - 1192 AD.
After the fall of the Pala Empire, Northern India was once more in disarray and the power vacuum was finally filled up by the Turko-Afghan ruler Muhammad Ghauri. Ghauri who was defeated in an earlier battle against the Rajput King Prithwiraj Chauhan, came back to defeat Chauhan and rapidly spread his empire across the plains of Northern India, establishing the first Islamic Empire in India.
14. Second battle of Panipath- Rise of Akbar - 1556 AD.
Humayun was routed by the prolific Afghan Sher Shah Suri, and the prospect of Babur's descendants were appearing grim. At Panipath, the Mughals make a comeback lead by Akbar the great and recapture Delhi. In the course of time, Akbar would expand his empire across India, establish a strong system of governance and his rule would be later remembered to be the high point of the Mughals in India.
15. Aurangzeb's Death:- 1706 AD Beginning of the end of the Mughals
Aurangzeb expanded the Mughal empire to its greatest extent, but his negative and communal policies lead to rising dissents across India, notably among Shikhs, Jaaths and Marathas under Shivaji. The Empire would collapse in a few decades.
16. Battle of Plassey:- 1757 AD.
The British win their first war in India through treachery and backstabbing and capture the rich province of Bengal in the process, thereby establishing the foundation of British India. What follows in the next few years is a systematic depletion of wealth and oppression of the highest kind; something that would lead to the infamous Bengal famine.
17. Third Battle of Panipath:- 1761 AD. Decline of the Marathas.
A regional power that could have been India's last hope against the British face a crushing defeat in the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdaali, the Afghan warlord. Once again, a decisive battle is fought at Panipath, and once again, the defenders are on the losing side.
18. The Great Mutiny, 1857:-
First nationwide armed resistance against British authority. Hindus and Muslims jointly revolt against British authority and an army revolt snowball into a nationwide uprising, perhaps the first of its kind in India. Once the mutiny is crushed, India is brought under the direct rule of the British Monarch, thereby bringing an end to East India Company's rule.
19. Foundation of the Muslim League in Dhaka, 1906 :-
While Bengalis participate in a mass movement against the partition of the province of Bengal on the basis of religion, apprehension about Hindu dominance grows within a section of the Muslim society as they form a political organization. This event would gradually polarize the population along religious lines and would later lead to the birth of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan,
20. Independence and Partition, 1947:-
An unarmed old man speaking of peace leads a nation to her freedom. Amidst the tragic scenes of mass migration and communal riots that kill and displace millions, two new nations are born out of British India; two countries that would remain hostile to each other for years to come and would face each other in several wars, both open and covert.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Events That Defined the History of India - Part-I
Tough task. Here are my picks.
I started this as a single blog but then as it became too long I decided to split into two instalments.
1. The arrival of modern man: 70,000 to 50,000 BCE
An extensive analytical study done on the mutations of the Y-chromosome establish that some 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, the first homo sapiens, or modern man, set his foot on the land that would later be known as India. This marked the beginning of an amazing journey that our nation would make in aeons to come.
2. The coming of the Aryans: 2000-1500 BCE
The next big event would be Aryan migration. Even though the Aryan migration theory is still disputed among some circles there is ample evidence to suggest that Aryans or Indo-Europeans weren't descendants of the earlier tribes that had settled in India ages ago. Rather, they appear to have been a branch of nomadic tribes that originated somewhere in Central Asia and set out in search of lands to inhabit.
3.Battle of ten kings: dates: UNKNOWN
The earliest war that finds mention in Indian literature, the battle of ten kings, as described in the Rigveda was a war fought between the Bharata tribe, lead by King Sudas against a confederacy of ten other tribes somewhere in Punjab; possibly by the banks of river Iravati (Ravi). The Bharatas emerged victorious and their supremacy was established over the greate Punjab region.
4. The earliest composition of Mahabharata: 9th-8th century BCE (?)
A civil war of the Kurus spread all over Northern India and gave rise to one of the greatest epics ever written in human history. The war of Kurukshetra marks the junction of the age of legends and the age of history in the Indian context. The epic, though grows beyond a story of war and emerges as an encyclopaedia of Ancient India itself; and along with the Ramayana constructs the basis of Indian moral values.
5. The spiritual revolution: 6th century BCE
A spiritual revolt against Brahmanian orthodoxy and corruption took shape in the form of some 40 odd Naastika movements, the most prominent of which were Buddhism and Jainism. The authority of the Vedas was challenged vehemently, and the events that unfolded left a deep impact on Indian society in centuries to come.
6. Emergence of Magadha as the Indian superpower under Mahapadma Nanda: 4th century BCE
This would eventually lead to the formation of the first Pan-Indian Empire under the Mauryas. Though it started in Buddha's times with Bimbisara and Ajatashatru; it was Mahapadma Nanda who extended the empire across the Gangetic plains and Central India, vigorously uprooting numerous minor kingdoms. By the time of Alexander's invasion (323 BCE), Magadha under Mahapadma's descendants was already a formidable power which even the Greeks weren't keen on taking on.
7. Kalinga war: 261 BCE
It wasn't Ashoka's coronation (273 BCE), but this war fought in modern day Orissa that gifted the land with perhaps the greatest ruler that it would ever see. Ashoka, once a ruthless ruler, underwent a radical change and started preaching the doctrine of love; establishing a most benevolent system of administration and sending his peace missions to the furthest corners of the known world. Ashoka's territory after the Kalinga war also was the greatest pan-Indian empire ever, in terms of area, extending upto and including modern day Afghanistan.
8. Chandragupta II's reign: 375-413/15 CE
Every culture identifies a golden age in its course of history which marks a culmination of art and literature. For India, the most popular forerunner for this coveted spot is the rule of the Gupta Dynasty, the most prominent part of which is marked by the reign of Chandragupta II. Also known as Vikramaditya, this emperor and his court of poets and artists have attained legendary status.
9. Invention of zero and the decimal system: 5th century AD (?)
Needs no further elaboration as far as its importance is concerned with respect to Science in general. Aryabhat, the scientist generally credited with this invention was also the first person to propose the theory of a heliocentric solar system as opposed to the traditionally accepted geocentric one, about a thousand years before the "Copernican Revolution".
10. Invasion of white Huns: 477 AD
Though the Hun invasion was baulked by the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta, it greatly weakened the Gupta Empire, and lead it to its steady collapse afterwards. The ruthless Huns would however gradually dissolve in the ocean of Indian population and would later be embraced into mainstream Hindu society as Rajput tribes.
============ End of Part I ============
I started this as a single blog but then as it became too long I decided to split into two instalments.
1. The arrival of modern man: 70,000 to 50,000 BCE
An extensive analytical study done on the mutations of the Y-chromosome establish that some 70,000 to 50,000 years ago, the first homo sapiens, or modern man, set his foot on the land that would later be known as India. This marked the beginning of an amazing journey that our nation would make in aeons to come.
2. The coming of the Aryans: 2000-1500 BCE
The next big event would be Aryan migration. Even though the Aryan migration theory is still disputed among some circles there is ample evidence to suggest that Aryans or Indo-Europeans weren't descendants of the earlier tribes that had settled in India ages ago. Rather, they appear to have been a branch of nomadic tribes that originated somewhere in Central Asia and set out in search of lands to inhabit.
3.Battle of ten kings: dates: UNKNOWN
The earliest war that finds mention in Indian literature, the battle of ten kings, as described in the Rigveda was a war fought between the Bharata tribe, lead by King Sudas against a confederacy of ten other tribes somewhere in Punjab; possibly by the banks of river Iravati (Ravi). The Bharatas emerged victorious and their supremacy was established over the greate Punjab region.
4. The earliest composition of Mahabharata: 9th-8th century BCE (?)
A civil war of the Kurus spread all over Northern India and gave rise to one of the greatest epics ever written in human history. The war of Kurukshetra marks the junction of the age of legends and the age of history in the Indian context. The epic, though grows beyond a story of war and emerges as an encyclopaedia of Ancient India itself; and along with the Ramayana constructs the basis of Indian moral values.
5. The spiritual revolution: 6th century BCE
A spiritual revolt against Brahmanian orthodoxy and corruption took shape in the form of some 40 odd Naastika movements, the most prominent of which were Buddhism and Jainism. The authority of the Vedas was challenged vehemently, and the events that unfolded left a deep impact on Indian society in centuries to come.
6. Emergence of Magadha as the Indian superpower under Mahapadma Nanda: 4th century BCE
This would eventually lead to the formation of the first Pan-Indian Empire under the Mauryas. Though it started in Buddha's times with Bimbisara and Ajatashatru; it was Mahapadma Nanda who extended the empire across the Gangetic plains and Central India, vigorously uprooting numerous minor kingdoms. By the time of Alexander's invasion (323 BCE), Magadha under Mahapadma's descendants was already a formidable power which even the Greeks weren't keen on taking on.
7. Kalinga war: 261 BCE
It wasn't Ashoka's coronation (273 BCE), but this war fought in modern day Orissa that gifted the land with perhaps the greatest ruler that it would ever see. Ashoka, once a ruthless ruler, underwent a radical change and started preaching the doctrine of love; establishing a most benevolent system of administration and sending his peace missions to the furthest corners of the known world. Ashoka's territory after the Kalinga war also was the greatest pan-Indian empire ever, in terms of area, extending upto and including modern day Afghanistan.
8. Chandragupta II's reign: 375-413/15 CE
Every culture identifies a golden age in its course of history which marks a culmination of art and literature. For India, the most popular forerunner for this coveted spot is the rule of the Gupta Dynasty, the most prominent part of which is marked by the reign of Chandragupta II. Also known as Vikramaditya, this emperor and his court of poets and artists have attained legendary status.
9. Invention of zero and the decimal system: 5th century AD (?)
Needs no further elaboration as far as its importance is concerned with respect to Science in general. Aryabhat, the scientist generally credited with this invention was also the first person to propose the theory of a heliocentric solar system as opposed to the traditionally accepted geocentric one, about a thousand years before the "Copernican Revolution".
10. Invasion of white Huns: 477 AD
Though the Hun invasion was baulked by the Gupta emperor Kumaragupta, it greatly weakened the Gupta Empire, and lead it to its steady collapse afterwards. The ruthless Huns would however gradually dissolve in the ocean of Indian population and would later be embraced into mainstream Hindu society as Rajput tribes.
============ End of Part I ============
Home
My grandfather was a refugee. One morning, some sixty years ago, he had waken up to learn that his country wasn't his any more. His family was one of millions that became homeless during the chaos that ensued the partition of the former British India. Through years of struggle, he did re-establish himself in a land that was new to him. Starting from scratch, he got a job and earned a name for himself in his professional career, but the wounds of being severed from home were too deep to ever heal completely. He didn't dislike his later residences; in fact he loved them; but that special spot in his heart was always reserved for a place he was never able to return to. Never was he tired of narrating the same old stories of the hamlet where he grew up, of those coconut trees, those lakes and woods, and the people whose lives revolved around his own. That quaint little neighbourhood wasn't his country anymore, but it still was where his home was, and it was the place he wanted to go back to. Always.
It's hard to fix a definition for the word 'home'. Perhaps it suffices to say that it's the place one feels sad to leave and where one wants to go back to, again and again, from anywhere else. After a long journey, or after a day's work, or simply, when one feels like. To a person, it could mean an apartment, a house, a neighbourhood, or even a city; depending on her perspective. However, it's not a place or a house alone that makes a home. The sights, sounds, smells and perceptions that one associates with the place are also a part of it. It's not just another point on the earth's crust with a fixed longitude and latitude, but a place that emerges beyond its spatial existance onto a level where it can be connected to with feeling and nostalgia.
That is not to say that the spatial aspects or the building is insignificant. They have their own place. They constitute the skeleton; a foundation on which the other, less tangible entities weave enchanting patterns of memory. Each room in the house, in fact each spot in each room has its own special place. You remember the slippery floor where you slipped and fell when you were a kid, the flight of stairs where you had once overstepped, the dining room where the family would gather every night, the lawn chair on the balcony where you would sit and watch the birds and the passers-by; the cosy little corner in your room where you would log in to your first computer.
People, of course, are an integral part of it. The warmth that one associates with a home generally oozes from the people who stay, or have stayed in and around that place. Memories that we cherish and that often make us homesick, also are woven around the same people; people we love, people we feel a strong connection to, people we long to see again.
There are other aspects of it as well. Little things we seldom pay attention to show their worth by creating indelible impressions on the mind. These impressions reflect prominently when one's away. When I think of home, among other people and things, I also think of the random strangers who would walk across the street and whom one could watch from our balcony; stray cats that would wander about in the nighbourhood, street dogs that would whine in the middle of the night, crows that would meet for their daily congregation at our terrace every afternoon, and the tree next to my window that would burst into a revolution of red blossoms every spring. None of these seemed to be of any significant importance when they were around me, and yet, they probably were, for they had made their presence felt.
And then there are things I would do when at home, and that I miss when I'm away. Reading the local newspaper in the morning while relishing a cup of the most refreshing tea, or taking those exciting auto-rickshaw rides across the city through peak traffic; or getting drenched in the monsoon downpours when umbrellas just don’t work; or jostling with sweaty crowds on a packed up minibus; or getting enchanted by the mystifying glow of the setting sun on a rain-soaked evening are just some of them. Oddly enough, I even miss the frequent power-cuts at the peak of summer, the intense heat, the chaotic traffic and the noisy crowds. All of them combine to complete a collage that I call home. Some are a nuisance; but they are essential components nevertheless, for they too contribute to put all the colours to the image and to put all the notes to the sound.
All these things, parts of our memory: big , small, important, less important, tangible, abstract, intense, vague; come together to remind us of our home. And they call us to come back; luring us with glimpses of a familiar world.
However, while we find ourselves in a far away land, seperated by hundreds and thousands of miles from the domain of familiarity; at times we realize that home might not be as far as it seems. After all, it's the same blue sky, the same moon and stars, the same clouds, white and grey, and the same raindrops. People and objects are capable of creating a bond of a similar intensity, even if that's of a different kind. And then we realize that perhaps our home isn't limited to a fixed location. As we grow, and as we travel, our horizons expand, and our homes become larger. While for some of us, home remains a complex image from the past of a fixed place; for the rest, it changes. That doesn't mean that the earlier home loses its significance, it holds on to its special place eternally, but other places gradually are elevated to that level too.
Home, after all, is where we want to be; where we want to return to; and to which we could relate and connect to emotionally. It can be a single place, but it also can be more than one place if one feels equally at ease at all of them, and feels an equal sense of attachment to all of them. In a global society, where people often have to stay away from their original homes not because they were driven out by wars or partitions, but because they left deliberately to pursue career goals; it is natural to build a strong connection with the new surroundings. With time, the new place often grows on us. With all its little nuances that capture our perception, it, too, weaves a world of familiarity; and becomes our second home; not replacing the first by any means, but becoming as special.
It's hard to fix a definition for the word 'home'. Perhaps it suffices to say that it's the place one feels sad to leave and where one wants to go back to, again and again, from anywhere else. After a long journey, or after a day's work, or simply, when one feels like. To a person, it could mean an apartment, a house, a neighbourhood, or even a city; depending on her perspective. However, it's not a place or a house alone that makes a home. The sights, sounds, smells and perceptions that one associates with the place are also a part of it. It's not just another point on the earth's crust with a fixed longitude and latitude, but a place that emerges beyond its spatial existance onto a level where it can be connected to with feeling and nostalgia.
That is not to say that the spatial aspects or the building is insignificant. They have their own place. They constitute the skeleton; a foundation on which the other, less tangible entities weave enchanting patterns of memory. Each room in the house, in fact each spot in each room has its own special place. You remember the slippery floor where you slipped and fell when you were a kid, the flight of stairs where you had once overstepped, the dining room where the family would gather every night, the lawn chair on the balcony where you would sit and watch the birds and the passers-by; the cosy little corner in your room where you would log in to your first computer.
People, of course, are an integral part of it. The warmth that one associates with a home generally oozes from the people who stay, or have stayed in and around that place. Memories that we cherish and that often make us homesick, also are woven around the same people; people we love, people we feel a strong connection to, people we long to see again.
There are other aspects of it as well. Little things we seldom pay attention to show their worth by creating indelible impressions on the mind. These impressions reflect prominently when one's away. When I think of home, among other people and things, I also think of the random strangers who would walk across the street and whom one could watch from our balcony; stray cats that would wander about in the nighbourhood, street dogs that would whine in the middle of the night, crows that would meet for their daily congregation at our terrace every afternoon, and the tree next to my window that would burst into a revolution of red blossoms every spring. None of these seemed to be of any significant importance when they were around me, and yet, they probably were, for they had made their presence felt.
And then there are things I would do when at home, and that I miss when I'm away. Reading the local newspaper in the morning while relishing a cup of the most refreshing tea, or taking those exciting auto-rickshaw rides across the city through peak traffic; or getting drenched in the monsoon downpours when umbrellas just don’t work; or jostling with sweaty crowds on a packed up minibus; or getting enchanted by the mystifying glow of the setting sun on a rain-soaked evening are just some of them. Oddly enough, I even miss the frequent power-cuts at the peak of summer, the intense heat, the chaotic traffic and the noisy crowds. All of them combine to complete a collage that I call home. Some are a nuisance; but they are essential components nevertheless, for they too contribute to put all the colours to the image and to put all the notes to the sound.
All these things, parts of our memory: big , small, important, less important, tangible, abstract, intense, vague; come together to remind us of our home. And they call us to come back; luring us with glimpses of a familiar world.
However, while we find ourselves in a far away land, seperated by hundreds and thousands of miles from the domain of familiarity; at times we realize that home might not be as far as it seems. After all, it's the same blue sky, the same moon and stars, the same clouds, white and grey, and the same raindrops. People and objects are capable of creating a bond of a similar intensity, even if that's of a different kind. And then we realize that perhaps our home isn't limited to a fixed location. As we grow, and as we travel, our horizons expand, and our homes become larger. While for some of us, home remains a complex image from the past of a fixed place; for the rest, it changes. That doesn't mean that the earlier home loses its significance, it holds on to its special place eternally, but other places gradually are elevated to that level too.
Home, after all, is where we want to be; where we want to return to; and to which we could relate and connect to emotionally. It can be a single place, but it also can be more than one place if one feels equally at ease at all of them, and feels an equal sense of attachment to all of them. In a global society, where people often have to stay away from their original homes not because they were driven out by wars or partitions, but because they left deliberately to pursue career goals; it is natural to build a strong connection with the new surroundings. With time, the new place often grows on us. With all its little nuances that capture our perception, it, too, weaves a world of familiarity; and becomes our second home; not replacing the first by any means, but becoming as special.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
An ode to my laptop
Technically this isn't an ode, it's just a reminiscence.
The person isn't dead. She is just in a coma.
It's been little more than a year. Not too long a period, one might say, to build a really intimate relationship, but it sure was sufficient for me and her. I had started loving her the moment I saw her enchanting figure for the first time. Her glamorous exteriors, her speed, her sleek looks and he mesmerizing sounds got me mystified in no time. And thus began a sweet relationship that I would cherish for the rest of my life.
Many a dark moment has been lightened up by her presence. Many a depressing evening has been cheered up by her existence. There are so many memories from the past one year that revolve around her. The movies that we watched , the songs that we sang, the codes that we ran, the papers that we read, the games that we played, the chats that we had with people, the voip calls that we made! The list is endless!
She was the cause of awe among friends. She was the cause of jealousy among enemies. And then, suddenly, one fateful evening, she just stopped. Her life, we found out, was on a halt. I went to the doctors here, but they charged fortunes to treat her. Why don't I get a new one instead, they suggested. How could I? How could I possibly throw her away? Throw away someone who has been so special to me in the last twelve months or so!
I'll get her treated properly.
She isn't dead. She's only in a coma.
Once she gets proper treatment she'll be up on her feet.
I'm sure!
The person isn't dead. She is just in a coma.
It's been little more than a year. Not too long a period, one might say, to build a really intimate relationship, but it sure was sufficient for me and her. I had started loving her the moment I saw her enchanting figure for the first time. Her glamorous exteriors, her speed, her sleek looks and he mesmerizing sounds got me mystified in no time. And thus began a sweet relationship that I would cherish for the rest of my life.
Many a dark moment has been lightened up by her presence. Many a depressing evening has been cheered up by her existence. There are so many memories from the past one year that revolve around her. The movies that we watched , the songs that we sang, the codes that we ran, the papers that we read, the games that we played, the chats that we had with people, the voip calls that we made! The list is endless!
She was the cause of awe among friends. She was the cause of jealousy among enemies. And then, suddenly, one fateful evening, she just stopped. Her life, we found out, was on a halt. I went to the doctors here, but they charged fortunes to treat her. Why don't I get a new one instead, they suggested. How could I? How could I possibly throw her away? Throw away someone who has been so special to me in the last twelve months or so!
I'll get her treated properly.
She isn't dead. She's only in a coma.
Once she gets proper treatment she'll be up on her feet.
I'm sure!
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
New Year Resolutions!
Returning from an all-too-rosy India trip straight back into the frigid winter of Waterloo, and being quickly surrounded by icy winds, heaps of snow, dull and depressing skies, workaholic grad students and grumpy professors; I feel like having been rudely awakened from a pleasant dream into cold reality. This awakening, along with a realization that I have a lot of things to do, and very little time to procrastinate, motivates me to write this piece of junk.
For someone with a self-confessed notoriety for procrastination, January 14 is somewhat early to jot down New Year Resolutions. That, and my disregard for the necessity of having such resolutions in the beginning of a not-so-special cycle of 365 days, add to the reluctance of writing this post. However, I felt like writing something, and this seemed to be a good topic to write on.
So, what do I resolve to do? For one thing, I seriously need to cut down on procrastination. I need to reduce the time I spend on watching youtube videos, reading random articles on wikipedia, chatting online and participating in pointless discussions on orkut. I need to work seriously on my research so that I can graduate by the end of Fall at least, if not by the end of Summer. I also need to find time (which I definitely would once I cut down on all the pointless activties mentioned earlier) to do constructive stuff outside research: reading books, watching good movies, writing on a regular basis. And I would blog more frequently. Twice a month, at least.
I guess that's all. Well it turns out to be shorter than I expected. I'll add more later if I can think of anything else.
For someone with a self-confessed notoriety for procrastination, January 14 is somewhat early to jot down New Year Resolutions. That, and my disregard for the necessity of having such resolutions in the beginning of a not-so-special cycle of 365 days, add to the reluctance of writing this post. However, I felt like writing something, and this seemed to be a good topic to write on.
So, what do I resolve to do? For one thing, I seriously need to cut down on procrastination. I need to reduce the time I spend on watching youtube videos, reading random articles on wikipedia, chatting online and participating in pointless discussions on orkut. I need to work seriously on my research so that I can graduate by the end of Fall at least, if not by the end of Summer. I also need to find time (which I definitely would once I cut down on all the pointless activties mentioned earlier) to do constructive stuff outside research: reading books, watching good movies, writing on a regular basis. And I would blog more frequently. Twice a month, at least.
I guess that's all. Well it turns out to be shorter than I expected. I'll add more later if I can think of anything else.
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