This realisation, which runs contrary to all that he believed in the past, leads to the final, beautiful line of the film – “What if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see then what I see now?” He wants others to see that truth which he realised at the cost of his life. His voyage away from human relationships, his journey which was spurred by a hatred of his parents – finally leads him to a truth which is exactly the opposite of what he originally expected to find. Forgiving instead of hatred. Sharing rather than a lonely existence.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Into the wild
This realisation, which runs contrary to all that he believed in the past, leads to the final, beautiful line of the film – “What if I were smiling and running into your arms? Would you see then what I see now?” He wants others to see that truth which he realised at the cost of his life. His voyage away from human relationships, his journey which was spurred by a hatred of his parents – finally leads him to a truth which is exactly the opposite of what he originally expected to find. Forgiving instead of hatred. Sharing rather than a lonely existence.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The God Delusion
That’s where men stumbled upon the most convenient explanation, God. God filled in all the gaps of our knowledge. Any physical phenomenon that cannot be explained had to be God’s creation. The lack of justice and fairness in this life found neat explanations in afterlife, or reincarnation.
We have a difficult time living with the assertion that all life is on earth through blind chance and evolution. We had more difficulty with the fact that good people do not always get rewarded, or bad people punished. Which is why God is such a persuasive argument. God makes life better, because we cannot live life with so much unexplained.
Richard Dawkins, the celebrated author of ‘The Selfish Gene’, argues persuasively against the existence of God in his book, ‘The God Delusion’. Other than being a nice refresher on some of the scientific topics like natural selection and the origin of the universe – it also provides an alternative philosophy on why life does not have to be completely amoral because there is no God watching us, punishing or rewarding us in afterlife.
His argument is that if there is no God keeping order, the mankind has to take the responsibility in creating a fairer world. And man has indeed taken such enlightened steps. Move towards democracy, end of apartheid, a progressive tax structure are just a few examples of such attempts.
Of course, we may never hope to achieve the precise justice that God would have meted out in afterlife. Life here will always be somewhat unfair, buffeted by chance events. But man’s attempts, small and imprecise they may be, are real, tangible and immediate. God and afterlife are a copout.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
The role of dice
Nostalgia
Nostalgia is a curious phenomenon. It somehow elevates mundane past events into fond memories.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Bengal: A strange place - Part I
Recently, I relocated to Calcutta. While I’m happy to be closer to my parents, my roots – culturally, I find the place to be quite alien.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
My favourite directors
In movies as well as literature, there are some people whose works resonate with us more at a personal level, often more than the bigger and more celebrated names. It may be due to a number of reasons – we may find their style easy to access, or their message close to our heart. Or we can identify with the characters they create, given our personal experience. For such an author or director, you cannot just have enough of them – you savour their latest work, and eagerly wait for the next one. In movies, there are some directors whose work I particularly like, and always look forward to watching more of their films:
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Why is Slumdog Millionaire so popular in the West?
Slumdog millionaire won 4 golden globes awards, including the best picture. The entire world, particularly the West, seems to love this movie. It currently ranks #35 in IMDB all time top movies list, Roger Ebert gives it the highest rating, it will probably win a few Oscars as well. With the India theme, we Indians seem to be reveling in its popularity.
But it is nothing but a feelgood masala movie, based on an unrealistic premise, and filmed with numerous implausible details. Do you think a KBC host would belittle its guest onscreen the way Anil Kapoor did? Do you think a potential KBC winner will be given electric shocks in police station between the two shows? Do you think a boy going near a movie star, drenched in shit, will not be noticed, or smelled – and will still be granted an autograph? Do you think somebody may not know recognize picture of Mahatma Gandhi on an Indian currency note, but recognizes Benjamin Franklin on a dollar – just because he once got a dollar bill from a foreign tourist?
Once you overlook those mistakes, this becomes an excellent movie. Unlike a Bollywood production, the editing is superb, the music is racy. There is no typical song and dance sequence to distract you. It packs in a lot of action within two hours. It deals with the extremes that characterise India -the facet of India West has always been fascinated by.
And finally, the movie feels good, it gives a message of hope – and one cannot have enough of that in these trying times!