Hello Chums,
After all the travails on my travel, finally some fodder for the brain was needed. I took a break over the last weekend which was spent reading and watching movies. The incessant rains also helped in this decision. I, by a quirk turn of chance, picked up a book - The Maximum City by Suketu Mehta, which chronicles his experiences with the city of Mumbai;its behaviours, quintessential uniqueness and the movie Aamir.
To say that Aamir stands up to its namesake actor would be very close to the truth. A gritting, fast paced movie about a Muslim protagonist being forcefully wayled towards becoming a courier of mass destruction.
Both the book and the movie kept me ruminating some of the facets they had unleased. In spite of all the bonhomie and camaraderie and brotherhood and social ties that we Indians share among ourselves between different religions, hardly ever has been a more vocal and real contradiction than this book and the movie.
Right from the scene one where our hero Aamir (well enacted by Rajeev Khandelwal) interacts with the airport police officer, the movie hits you with its intent. The similar sentiment is aroused in the reader while going through the biggest chapter in The Maximum City which delves on the topics of Hindu-Muslim riots and the Bomb Blasts.
Both the book and the movie are told through the lives of ordinary people like you and me. There is no revenge, justification or vengeance angles coming into play. In Aamir, the protagonist faces antagonising situations because of his religion. In the book, the story is told through the lives of Shiv Sena boys who had gone on a rampage during the riots.
Both media try to uproot and destroy the Ivory Towers of our existence in avoiding the dark sides of human facets and tackle them headon. Hidden human hatred, usually covered in the garb of social bonhomie stands starkly naked in the book and the movie.
One point which I chewed upon even after the food for thought was digested: how would one feel to be at the receiving end of things in both situations? Especially when you are a self proclaimed urbane and modern in outlook, just like Dr.Aamir Ali from London? When you do not carry overtly demanding religious baggage on your shoulders?
The book and the movie showed the life of a minority being oppressed. The time when it happened is irrelevant. The situation in which the incident occurs is inconsequential. The essential is that there is a violation of human being. Physically, mentally...it does not matter. Justifications can be given for and against the statement. I AM NOT BIASING THIS ARGUMENT OR STATEMENT IN FAVOUR OF ANY RELIGION.
The book made me cringe at some of the atrocities being heaped on the hapless (both the religions). The movie made me dread. What happens in the movie can happen to anyone of us. The vast majority of us neither go green nor do we drape saffron. We might be religious but don't bother wearing it on our sleeves. I shudder at the thought.
Both were fine pieces of art; capable of rousing thoughts and reactions from me. Go and seek them both. They are worth the time....
Leaving you to ponder and asking you to leave your marks as comments.
sriky
2 comments:
Hmmm, interesting observation...this has been a part of discussion most of the times with my mates over a coffee.
I am a hindu but I have never felt the kind of urge towards the religion which some of the fundamentalist "netas" potray. Suprisingly enough, one of my room mate follows one of the most misunderstood religion (Read: Islam). In him I see exactly the same thing. He is again a youngster having convictions etc, and the idea of fundamentalism or the so called Jihad even appear.
So, if this is the state, how come we allow a 20-25% population to dictate the choice of living, decisions and lifestyles of the remaining 80-85%. I think thats where the first step needs to be taken. Gandhi has said it right:
"If you have not taken sides during the tyranny of an opressor, you have already chosen your side"
I think what we need is the new genre of Pop Patriotism, old logic and sentiments wrapped in modern lingo, like an Aamir or RDB. Maybe then we would be able to develop conviction in young people's mind.
-Venky
hey sriky...
bro completly agree with u i had the same thoughts wen i saw Aamir..havent had teh chance to read the book though..
..Sometimes things like this force us to actually scratch below the farcial layer n get a glimpse of what might be happening..
..intresting thought wud be...ask how a person who has seen his family get killed my terrorists in Kashmir...abt it n he would have a diff viewpoint probably n the same goes for a person who wud have been at a bad end of the riots...n i mean both religions...religion in itself is very tricky if not handled properly..n human psyche is even trickier.sometimes over powered by other's thoughts/beliefs and sometimes by what the eyes sees in front u..doesnt take too much to cloud a mind in that situation...
having said tat...i think u n me are inheriting times when we ..sooner or later...if we want to or not..will have to deal with this head on in one way or another...question is ..are we (all of us) ready??
some more food for thought.
Post a Comment