Rang De Basanti

Every once in a while comes a movie which leaves you with the feeling : "Why did I pay to watch this movie?"

I got the same feeling after watching the movie "Rang De Basanti". Not because I think it's a bad movie. Not because it is long. The reason I had the thought because I paid money to inflict pain and hurt on myself. If this is not masochism, I don't know what is. Consider for example the scene where Aamir Khan cracks a joke about his would be children. And the female Sue, who can make out that she is going to lose him, can't help but laugh. That scene defined the movie for me. It is the situation in India. How many times have we given up something unwillingly? How many times have we sacrificed something and done that with a wry smile on our face? And there was always someone there to console us with the fact that this is the way it has always been. Adjust kar le yaar...

But then, that is what the movie wanted to convey. That we should stop saying "Adjust kar le yaar..." and start working to make our country perfect. Unfortunately for us, the thing that goes against us is our poor memory. It is as the Defence Minister in the movie remarks, the Public has a short memory, they will soon forget about this (the defective parts scandal). And this is true. Who remembers Ashar Bala? The female who was pushed off a train because she refused to yield to a thief? After the initial concern shown by the Metropolis, all was quiet. Now who knows where she is, what she is doing. Ditto for the children who lost their parents in the Gateway of India bomb blast. Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V for the trees that are being felled everyday, without alternate plantations being done elsewhere to compensate. And if I say that the media is to be blamed for this, I will be indulging in another of the nation's favourite pastimes : That of putting the blame squarely on somebody else's shoulders. The media is as good as the nation is. In a country of greedy people, do you expect the media persons to be any different? They print/show/broadcast what sells. And after the sellability runs out, they ditch the topic like a thousand tonne maggot.

I am (and sometimes I feel this is unfortunate) blessed with a good memory. I can't help but remember all the "small" things like the Bala incident. Or the rape of the girl at Marine Drive. Who cares about her now? Is she even alive? Was her post-incident trauma handled empathetically? Now, you will be prompted to ask me what I am doing to improve the country. That would illustrate another characteristic of the Indian junta : that of constantly trying to outdo each other. I will work for the country the day I see that my neighbour is doing so and getting praised for it. Why do we have to wait for our neighbour to start doing something to improve the country? Why not make an exception and for once start something ourself? It could be a small thing, something as insignificant as using less water everyday. While the benefits that the nation would derive from one person using less water can be written on the head of a pin, the point is this : if you can sustain your enthusiasm for the so-called improvement of the country, soon someone else will try to mimic you and hopefully, if you carry on the enthu all your life, hopefully, there will be some change in this country. As simple as using a litre of water less everyday...

I started this post with an intention to write about Rang De Basanti. And that is exactly what I will do now. Rang De Basanti is an extremely well made movie. One which has the ability to really awaken a generation. And this is not only because of the crashing MiGs. The generation of today can identify with the lead characters of the movie. And the transition that they undergo when they have a tryst with the past of their own country. The point that is most relevant here though is that it takes a foreigner to introduce them to their own past. The change that they undergo is their own. And that is the situation in the country right now. It's not that the youth have been corrupted by western thoughts as the politicians like to put it. If anything, they have been corrupted by the politicians themselves. The feeling of insignificancy and helplessness is very deeply ingrained in the psyche of the teenagers in India (and it is plainly evident from the characters' dialogues). This is all thanks to the current system. I believe that by changing ourselves, we can change the system. Here's hoping that India will become a superpower by 2020.