On the bazaars

1638. — “We came into a Bussar, or very faire Market place.” — W. Bruton, in Hakl. v. 50.

(source: Hobson-Jobson)

There is something incurably romantic about the bazaars within the depths of the cities of India. The term bazaar has been naturalized in the English diction for many centuries now. In fact, if you look at the various usages of the term in dictionaries, a whole new range of meanings connected with human culture and human habitat emerge.

Why am I writing this post on bazaars, such a commonplace habitat of the human world? I really don’t know — just felt the internal urge to connect with you all through some mad trope that attracts me. I have been thinking of a metaphorical connection with the world as a market-place where sometimes we shop things, emotions, moments, and people for real, while at other times we just go window-shopping coming back home empty-handed.

Visually, (taking the V.S.Naipaul kind of description in his India Trilogy) these streets in the bazaars of India are full of dirt, stench, betel-spittle, crowd and smoke.  These gullies appear like breathing, yawning, salivating human-beings who survive in what the rich and the famous would call ‘mediocrity’.  The bazaars (sometimes called haat) are the hubs of cheaper, affordable, and sustainable products. Yet, they are the most living and throbbing places in India.

A brief anecdote, as  Undergraduate students we used to have one day in every six months for ‘hostel duty’ where we were supposed to accompany the caretaker to the daily-haat in Bhubaneswar (famously known as 1 Number Haat). Those days, I dreaded the thought of even going to the haat to buy vegetables and groceries for the entire hostel. The heat, dust, and sweat of these market-places drove me crazy and even if it was 8 o clock of a winter evening, I would come back and take a thorough shower. Looking back into those times, I regret missing many chances of understanding the beauty of the daily market place, perhaps due to my ‘elite’ sentiments. I am not sure if personally I have overcome this distance from the daily markets, but have definitely become more perceptive towards the aesthetic charm of these markets.

The bazaars in India appear to reflect the avarice which is an integral part of human personality but which we human beings continuously try to push into the unconscious or perhaps pretend that it is not there in our personalities.  They reflect the hunger for ‘more’ kind of a sentiment. You can try visiting the markets and feel the need for buying what is completely, purely needless.

To be a nature-lover, searching for pockets that are ‘far from the madding crowd’, silent, and calm have been the passion of many. However, of late I have been observing the joy of the street-side, the openness of the markets, the secret sense of independence that you get when you are bargaining and arguing for  small, insignificant ‘nothings’ and then the pride of grabbing what you might think to be impossible in the scheme of your shopping. The madness of the crowd and the noise of the market-place often make the toughest person crack into anarchy, and also might drive the strictest ascetic to insanity. Try venturing out into the heart of old cities: Hyderabad, Mumbai (Dadar area, Hindmata Market), old Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, etc. during the day in the peak summers. You will understand what am I trying to talk of — no less than any adventure sport. However, a word of caution — do carry your water bottles if you try something of the kind.

There is an air of austerity, a moment of  ‘sacredness’ about shopping in the malls which are ‘cleaner’, ‘hygienic’ and  ‘sophisticated’ means of realizing your need for buying things (many of which you perhaps hardly need during this life time). Bazaars on the other hand are a carnival of absolute absurdity — raw, ‘brainless’ and completely ‘anarchic’. You have to shout and argue to finalize your deal here while in a shopping complex or in a mall, there is no question of any bargain. I have been thinking of the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic where brands and ‘smooth shopping’ lead to the debacle of a young shopaholic.  Find that there is something ‘profane’ in the absolute sacredness of the malls. The profanity of the bazaars on the other hand is open, unrestrained, and taboo-less.

The language of the market places are different in India. The vernaculars and dialects rule Indian bazaars. Each bazaar in every state of India is unique and different from the other bazaar — yet there are some common threads. Possibly, this is the only place where one would find communal harmony. Interestingly, here we would see a Muslim selling mithais to a Hindu, or a Sindhi selling textiles to a Bengali. I am often amazed by the kind of ‘harmony’ that economic interdependence could bring among people. One might argue that this harmony observed in bazaars is ‘cosmetic’ and one tiny spark in terms of communal differences could lead to a massive riot killing many.

I had once read an interesting take by Amitav Ghosh in one of his novels about the predicament  small shops in the market places of communally troubled zones. There is a moment in The Shadow Lines where Ghosh describes the Khulna riots and the Dhaka turbulence. This moment reflects the menacing calmness of the bazaars before a riot breaks out. In the novel that moment leads to the death of an ailing, poor old man.  No denying that market places are the breeding grounds of communal tension, yet these are also the places where communities survive without strife, based on peaceful coexistence.

Bazaar is also a term that has perhaps some of the most ambiguous and controversial implications. In Bollywood movies, the term bazaar is used to signify the red-light areas of cities where human trafficking, and flesh-trade is practiced within the heart of ‘ethical’ grounds of orthodox social structures. There is a 1982 movie which comes to mind with Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Supriya Pathak, and Farooq Sheikh in lead. The movie is itself called Bazaar and it reflects the absolute ‘stubborn’, unchangeable structures of Indian societywhich is more inhuman rather than anything else.

Bazaar_1982_film_poster_Courtesy: Wiki-images

The purpose of my thought in this article has been to highlight some of the uncommon aspects of a perfectly common arena like a market-place. Bazaars are colourful and vibrant in India. Yet, they are also places which have a silent menace, a hidden notoriety either in the form of eve-teasing, or else in the form of communal upheavals, or prostitution. But is not life designed the same ways: a combination of black, red, white, and grey shades?

Think about it and share your marketplace experiences ….

Goodmorning and do take care of yourselves until we meet again sometime in the timeline….

Need to Teach or Need not to Teach?

Walking down the stairs of my office for a class, I overheard a group of my students discussing about a colleague:  “yaar, that Prof is OK, but he makes us work so damn hard! Why? Why do we need to work so hard on assignments, projects, seminars etc. when we don’t need half of that in the courses? Why can’t we do what we wanted to do?” I smiled at the concern — very true.

I had no reason to interrupt, did not want to interrupt in the conversations either, so hurried down the stairs. But, have been thinking about these statements since then.  In fact, have been thinking of  a tea-time conversation during my student days, when one of my seniors said mockingly, “these young faculty members are such chameleons. The moment they turn their tables from student-ship to faculty-ship they think that they are Einsteins. Damn! they make you work so hard unnecessarily!”  In another instance, a student wrote, “she/he thinks he/she is a great Prof. and makes us work more than we would have worked in an Elec course”  …. True — very true .

Let us try turning the tables. A colleague who teaches in another University in Western India recently confided,  “I have a strange issue. What do I teach my students? They seem to be knowing everything from the Internet — whatever I need to discuss with them, they already know that. I am facing a problem of too much knowledge rather than too little. ” I gave it a thought and said to her,  ” is it the problem of too much-knowledge or half-cooked knowledge? Maybe we need to recycle  the knowledge already available on Internet and deliver the applications of that, so as it make it possibly more interesting for people who are learning?”

True that ignorance can be handled, but over-intelligence is a tough-nut. However, my observation is that if the world is producing over-intelligent, hyper-think-tank people, then where are the gen-next Einsteins or Keats or Sartre or Virginia Woolf or Wiener or Gallagher? No, I don’t mean to say that these were the only great people of the world or that there is some canon there — my concern is that are we actually finding academic egotism in places that are supposed to be higher in the so called “rankings”? Some of my friends who have not been in any Indian ‘great’ academic systems and belong to humble colleges across the country have shown much more intellectual breadth and  broad-mindedness than many of the ‘elites’. It is a subjective issue you would argue.

Why are we not producing lateral thinking, perspectivizing human beings, rather than ideologically stubborn, information-crammed citizens? In the last guest post that was published on Iris, a reader commented that ‘people comment on only love stories and Bollywood masala rather than on issues of social and emotional concerns’ (paraphrased). That is perhaps because we live in a world of denial rather than acceptances. Simply knowing facts and relating facts to knowledge  are two different things.

There is another aspect that comes to my mind when we are talking of teaching and learning.  This part pertains to the social dimensions.  When people have thoughts that they are over-working due to unnecessary pressure, there are also places in India including some legendary colleges and universities where there are NO teachers and where there is an acute shortage of faculty — forget about quality faculty. There are strikes and sine die in many Universities and Institutes just because there is no one to teach. There are learners but no teachers in these places. Many new aided-colleges across India have students who might have paid an amount that would be difficult for their parents or themselves to arrange. There are institutes of high repute which face faculty crunch due to geographical deterrent or else managements or cultural factors. The supply demand chain is highly skewed there — students are willing to learn but there is no one to teach there.

Places like IITs and Central Universities have been fortunate to attract some bright people as students as well as faculties. But on the one hand when there is an excess, on the other, there is also an absence. Sometime when you work in a village school taking a break from your ‘high-profile research’, you will be suddenly refreshed — not because there is a glorification of your education, but because there is a yearning to learn. An acqauinatance who is a senior scientist in a research lab came from a humble village school. He was the only person in that village who subscribed to an English newspaper during his high-school days and the newspaper would always be three days delayed from the date of publication — yet, he would enjoy reading it.

Another small example of the yearning to learn. This time it is Prof. P.C. Kar’s (I am deliberately taking his name) example. Those who know him, know that he is an extremely humble human-being, but one of the strongest academicians in Literature.  As a graduate student, I had once had a chance to  closely observe him during a workshop. We were making series grad-student presentations on theory. During each presentation I saw him quietly sitting in a corner and taking down notes. Whenever he had a query he would either request the student to help him learn or else he would go back read the notes, read and come back to discuss. Any new book that would come to the library, he would suggest: “If you cannot read the book, at least touch it and smell the pages — there is something very enigmatic about the smell of the leaves of a book”.

Evan Esar once said, “America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week”. In India the scenario is skewed and strange. We cannot take the American model always in our own context — the Indian psyche works at a different scale. In my opinion, education here has a different rationale — we still need a lot of teaching along with the emphasis on research, because the level of education and understanding is yet to reach the global benchmark. The concern is not learning, teaching or ignorance — the concern is an apathy towards knowledge in a consumerist society.

This time the other section of my readers will complain that I have not got any humane tale to narrate for this weekend’s post, no Bollywood and no love stories — let us keep that for the Valentine’s week . Just a short unrelated gossip — late evening I heard someone singing outside with a dholak, “Saajan mera ush paar hai milne ko dil beqarar hai” (“my love is on the other side of the riverbank, and my heart craves to meet him”) … curious that I am, went to out to see from my balcony where the wedding was. To my surprise, I found a group of middle-aged women singing the song in the courtyard of the nearby temple. This happens only in India — we rationalize everything as philosophy.

On that note, signing off. Goodnight! Take care and keep reading ….

Countdowns

Have you ever been through countdowns and Top Tens like US Billboard Top 100s or  UK Top 100s? Ever lived in a countdown? For instance, you knew that you are in a countdown to leave on a particular day from a place, or countdown to a beautiful phase of your life that has a few more moments left? Or countdown to an examination or submission? Or countdown to a rocket/missile test? Pulsating, throbbing, and existing in a pure sense of ‘time’! Countdowns make you sense the value of time — the toughest reality of the Universe.  Living in countdowns is interesting, but not always fun. We perennially live in countdowns — vacation countdown, submission countdown, seminar/ examination countdown, new jobs/new place countdown, wedding/ relationship countdown, etc.

Let me not get into abstract philosophy. Since, am feeling somewhat musical today –  thought of getting a music countdown discussion for you.

While we were at school and before the age of computer games, graphics, and computer-based assignments began, there was a great love for music albums, countdown shows, and Top Tens on Television.  A famous countdown show named “Philips Top Ten”  was aired on Friday evenings at 9.00 pm on Zee Tv.  We were given permission to watch this particular show after completing rolls of the extra notes and home-works. Sometimes celebrities and famous stars were invited to present their list of Top 10 songs and that would be the gala episode. By the time the countdown ended we would be sleepy.  I had imagined that one day I’ll present my own Top-10 songs of all time in Philips Top-10 if I become a celebrity or star . In fact, made a list of songs. Thought should share the list today and also spell out reasons I like those songs. Bollywood is so melodious and musical and we breathe so much of music that it is tough to create a countdown actually.

Am just sharing the countdown of my favourite old timers, and not including the new songs here. The range is from the black and white era only. This article is a tribute to the era when the charms of just two colours encapsulated the canvas of Indian cinema.

TEN: From the movie Teesri Kasam (1966): Ae Duniya Banane Wale Kya Tere Man Mein Samayee, tune Kaheko Duniya Banayee??  ….Kahe banaye tune mati ke putle, dharti yeh pyari pyari, mukhde yeh ujle, kahe baneye tune duniya ka maela…gupchup tamashe dekhe wah teri khudayee…sapne jaga ke tune kahe ko de di judayee (Teesri Kasam). (Rough transl: Oh Maker of this world! What struck you that you decided to make such a complex world where there are no human but only statues made of clay? Why did you make the lovely earth, and lovely faces? Why did you make dreams and give those dreams in eyes only to lead us to separation…why do you watch the game of the world silently? ) The song beautifully scored by Shankar Jaikishen and written by Shailendra reflects the simplicity and innocence of a rural setup. The voice of Mukesh is interspersed with dialogues by Raj Kapoor to create an eternal feeling of awe and beauty.  Hiraman  (Raj Kapoor), a poor cart driver narrates the legend of the beautiful and innocent Mahua who was sold off by her step-mother to a Saudagar (merchant), to Hirabai (Waheeda Rehman) the local nautch girl. As the story unfolds, we  come to know that Mahua’s story ironically is the story of Hirabai herself. I have always liked the song because it seems to project all those questions to the maker that we ourselves ask in our innocence.

NINE: Movie Kohra (1964): Yeh Nayan Dare Dare, yeh jaam bhare bhare, zara peene do…kal ki kisko khabar, ek raat hoke nidar mujhe jeene do…. Pyar mein jeevan ki khushi, deti hai khushi kayee gham bhi, main maan bhi loon kabhi haar…tu manena (Rough transl: These deep dark eyes full of fear… let me drink from your eyes…Who knows what lies hidden for tomorrow?) One of my all time favourite singers is Hemant Kumar. His voice reflects a soft baritone, a complete calmness and harmony with rhythm, and rhyme. A very unconventional tone. This particular song from Kohra shows a deep  existential dilemma, a love that is bound to a moment, he keeps saying who knows what will happen tomorrow? Based on the novel Rebecca, the song  itself gives a lilting, haunting effect. I find it one of the most sensuous songs of Hindi Cinema with Waheeda Rehman and Biswajit playing the role of a gorgeous newly wedded couple.

Clipping of the song

EIGHT: Movie Sujata (1959): Jalte Hain Jiske Liye Teri Ankhon ke Deeye Dhoond Laya Hoon Wohi Geet Main Tere Liye…Dard Banke Jo Mere Dil Raha Dhal Na Saka…Jadoo Banke Teri Ankhon Mein Ruka Jal Na Saka…Aaj laya hoon wohi geet main tere liye…. (Rough Transl: That for which the deeyas of your eyes get lit up, I have searched out and brought such songs for you) . You should watch the song for the beauty of the bygone era and the charm of the land-line phone. Expressions were the greatest factors of cinema of that age and Sunil Dutt sitting on a glass showcase singing the lines to Nutan over the phone is a moment to cherish. Personally, I have grown up hearing this song being hummed by grandma — it’s her favourite song. The story between a high caste Brahmin boy (Sunil Dutt) and a low caste girl (Nutan) is one of the greatest cinematic commentaries on marriage across castes — a problem still persisting in twenty-first century India.

SEVEN: Movie Madhumati (1958): Zulmi Sang Ankh Ladi re…Sakhi Kaa Se Kahoon,Jane Kaise Yeh Baat Badhi…ek din chhota raat badi…Zulmi sang ankh ladi. Mera pagal pana toh koi dekho,  pukaroon main chanda ko sajan ke naam se, manke jadoo ki chhadi se… Zulmi sang ankh ladi re…. (Transl: Need help in translating these lines. Completely at a loss for words) When it comes to Madhumati, I am always stuck with which song to choose? All the songs are equally delightful and unique. Salil Chaudhury‘s music and Shailendra’s lyrics combine to create an eternal musical. This song is less known than Bichhua or Ghadi Ghadi Mora Dil Dhadke or Aaaja re — but the beauty of the song is concealed  in its  rustic language full of mock anger at the object of love who is addressed as ‘ruthless‘ . Lataji’s timeless voice adds to the haunting effect of the song. The charms of a suave Dilip Kumar from the city coolly watching the gorgeous Vaijayanthi Mala dancing unrestrained on the village streets,  something that you can only feel if you observe and perceive. Watch the expressions of Johnny Lever in the song and you will get an idea of what subtle comedy is.

SIX: Movie Khamoshi (1969): Woh Shaam Kuchh Ajeeb Thi, Yeh Shaam Bhi Ajeeb, Woh Kal Bhi Paas Paas Thi, Woh Aaj Kareeb Hai…Jhooki Hui Nigahon Mein Kahin Mera Khayal Tha… Dabee Dabee Hansi Mein Ek Haseen Sa Gulal Tha…Main Soch ta tha mera naam gunguna rahi hai woh, najane kyon laga mujhe muskura rahi hai woh (Rough Transl: There was something starnge about that evening and there is something strange in this evening…). The song is one of my favourite Kishore Kumar renditions. The effect of a Ghazal combined with modern instruments is simply outstanding — the feel of the water rippling across the boat makes the song a delight to the ears.  Watch the expressions of Waheeda Rehman when she sits like a wooden doll on the boat.

FIVE: Movie Pyaasa (1957). Jaane Kya Tune Kahi Jaane Kya Maine Suni, Baat Kuchh Ban Hi Gayee….Sansanahat si hui, Thartharahat si hui, jaag uthe khwab kayee baat kucch ban hi gayee… (Rough Transl: Who knows what you said? Who knows what I heard? Something changed and something just snapped….There was some stirring and my soul rose from its deep slumber….). There is something called melody and there is something called performance — Guru Dutt was a master of both. The pursued playfully inviting the pursuer to pursue her — a combination of beauty, grace, wit, charm, and love.  This is one of those lighter songs of Waheeda Rehman and Guru Dutt that stand out in the history of Dutt’s cinematic style. Combining the charms of folk lilt and the mischief in the voice of Geeta Dutt, this song shall remain a core favourite. Moreover, observe the song for its Light and Shadow cinematic technique — simply magnificent.

FOUR: Movie Dil Hi Toh Hai (1963): Laaga Chunri Mein Daag Chhupaaoon Kaise,  Chunari Main Daag Chupaaoon Kaise, Ghar Jaoon Kaise.  Hogayee Mailee Moree Chunariya, Kore Badan Si Kori Chunariya… Jaake Babul Se Nazrein Milaoon Kaise Ghar Jaaoon Kaise? …Kori chunariya atma mori maill hai maya jaal, woh duniya more babul ka ghar yeh duniya sasural…jaake baabul se nazarein milaoon kaise ghar jaoon kaise? (Rough Trans: My veil has been stained, how do I hide it? Oh, How do I face my father, Oh How do I go home?) This song by Mannadey can be easily branded as the most philosophical song of Hindi cinema. Only Mannadey could have handled such a composition where the soul is compared to a veil and the world to the in-laws place, and God’s abode is thought of as the father’s house. The song speaks of the strife of the world staining the soul. Just listen to the melody, the pure chhandas and aalaaps in Manna Dey’s unparalleled classical rendering. The classical dance by Padmini is so completely in sync with the spirit of the song. The combination of the carnal with the spiritual makes the song a masterpiece of Indian cinema.

THREE: Movie Sahib, Biwi, aur Ghulam (1962): Piya Aiso Jeeya Main Samaye Geyo Re, ke Main taan-maan ki suddh-buddh gawa baithi, har ahat pe samjhe woh aaye gayo re, jhat ghunghat mein mukhda chhupa baithi . The melodious voice of Geeta Dutt somehow deserves much more accolades than has been given to her. Geeta Dutt brings out the raw beauty in melody whether it is Piya Aiso or it is Babujee Dhire Chalna. She remains my favourite voice for all times. Added to the charm of her song, Meena Kumari’s performance in the song brings out the best that Indian cinema could aspire. Especially, observe the two girls helping her out in dressing up — it seems Guru Dutt brings  a painting out of a canvas and places it on the canvas of the camera.

TWO: Movie Kala Pani (1958): Accha Jee Main Haree, Chalo Maan Jao Na, Dekhi Sabki Yaree Mera Dil Jalao Na…Chhote Se Kasoor pe Aise Ho Khafa? Roothe Toh Huzoor The Meri Kya Khataa…. S.D.Burman’s music, Asha Bhonsle and Rafi Saab’s voices combined with out of the world expressions by Madhubala and Dev Saab –  what is called great cinema . There is a moment in the song where Dev Saab sings : “Ho lena kisike” to Madhuabala’s question “Kya Karna Hai Jeeke?” Unforgettable is the only word that I can think of. The playfulness and charm  of the singers flow into the playfulness of the protagonists. I fell in love with Dev Saab instantly when I saw him in this song and in Har Fikr ko Dhuyein Mein Udata Chala Gaya,  Khoya Khoya Chand which are my all time favourites.

A clipping

ONE: Movie Howrah Bridge (1958): “Aaiye meherbaan baithyie jaane jaaan, shauk se lijiye jee ishq ke imtihiyaan…” . Shakti Samanta’s movie Howrah Bridge marked the turning point of Hindi cinema. Watch this song as one of the best examples of the earliest forms of Club music and of course my biases for Madhubala is self-evident. Her easy charm, effortless beauty, and extremely expressive eyes add to the beauty of the song. Asha Bhonsle’s voice combines an easy melody and feather-like delicacy in the song. Especially remarkable is K.N.Singh’s glances and expressions — lechery and desire completely overt in expressions. Ashok Kumar’s sophistication acts as the crowning glory.

Let me add that this list is completely incomplete . The Black and White era is so rich in Indian cinema that it would be an injustice to say that you have accomplished a countdown with a handful of songs. I have deliberately left out some of my all time favourites like Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar;  Lag Jaa Gale Ke Phir Yeh Haseen Raat Ho Na Ho; Ajeeb Dastaan Hai Yeh; Main Zindagi Ka Saath Nibhata Chala Gaya; Kuchh Dil Ne Kaha, Kuchh Bhi Nahin; Chalo Ek Baar Phir Se Ajnabee Ban Jaye Hum Dono; Jane Woh Kaise Log The; Hum Bekhoodi Mein Tumko; Aaaja Piya tohe Pyar Doon….. Simply because time and space do not permit me to discuss all these songs on Iris.

Hope you enjoyed the selections here….Do write back with your favourites. Signing off…. Goodnight and take care!

Do I Hate Love Storys: Bollywood Chapter

The IPL season is not a great time to talk of movies .

Some readers of Iris have been reviewing that Anne possibly likes only Hollywood and Hollywood love stories. Not true . Anne is actually  nervous to review Bollywood — there is so much love, music, and drama here that it’s tough  to leave out some and take others into account. Indians actually in spite of all arranged marriage systems, in spite of parental controls, family inclination, promises to remain dedicated to the sanctity of the marital knot — are the most romantic. Don’t believe me? Watch Balraj Sahni and Leela Chitnis in that song Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen from the movie Waqt (1965).

I am daring to take one step and presenting to you my picks of love stories from Bollywood.  This list is not exhaustive.

Let us begin with the original, the fatalistic, the ultimate love antidote — Devdas (1955) . One movie which has been adapted and re-adapted n number of times. Based on the Bengali novel (1917) of the same name by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Devdas (pronounced as Debdash in Bengali) is a saga of doomed love.  Reading the novel is a different experience altogether. There is a complete dreariness in the writing of Saratchandra unlike the glossy, dramatic effect achieved in the modern adaptation of the novel by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. It’s  an existential novel in its own way. In fact, in the novel, at the end, the body of Devdas remains unattended to be taken away by Doms and Chandals (lowest classes of the society). The starkness of the narrative could only be matched by the classic acting of Dilip saab as the Devdas in the 1955 version of the movie.  Directed by Bimal Roy, the movie has epic dimensions. Personally, I could never watch the movie as a child because of Dilip saab’s extremely slow dialogue delivery, and because of the starkness of the background and the slow movement of the plot. Watched the movie very late in my life — the result, I could not watch anything else for months. Dilip Kumar is the very manifestation of Deb, the rich, misguided and arrogant Zamindar, whose love remains incomplete partly because of his own stubbornness and partly because of cultural pressures. Suchitra Sen as Parvati is a dream, without any make-up, without the gloss of the modern adaptations of Paro, she gives the impression of what love as someone’s object for desire can be.  Her eyes are enough to speak volumes. It’s such a surprise to see Paro coming to Devdas a few days before her marriage and pleading him to run away with her — women can be so passionate when they are in love, she epitomizes the virtue of faithfulness in love. Paro is much ahead of her times as a character. Vaijayanthi Mala’s dance number on Lata ji’s song Ab age teri marzi, has always intrigued me for no defined reasons.Bimal Roy is not just an iconic director, in Devdas he is a narrator par excellence who can actually bring love into the visual medium with the starkness of life.

Devdas is not my only favourite of Dilip saab — I am a huge fan of Madhumati (1958) another Bimal Roy creation and written by Ritwik Ghatak. Actually, in the hostel friends used to tease me for watching that movie multiple times with the dialogues like Babuji!! Aap lautke jaldi aaoge na? ….True this movie could make rebirth and love across births a real cliche in Hindi film making.  The movie combines love across births, with haunting, debauchery, life of the plantation workers, and the beauty of the mountains. This is one of my all time favourites of Pran saab in the negative role of the Zemindar Ugranarayan who eyes Madhumati and ultimately leads to her death, when Anand is away to the city. However, Dilip Kumar in a loose Western suit as the manager of the tea plantation, serenading Suhana safar aur yeh mausam haseen…shall remain an unforgettable impression. That terrific dance number “Zulmi sang ankh ladi, sakhi kaa se kahoon…din chhota raat badi”  filmed on Vaijayanthi Mala speaks of the liberal spirit, the untainted life of the mountains.

I don’t know, but usually get stuck in the 1950s. Just one more entry and we move beyond — Guru Dutt. I always resist writing about Guru Dutt, partly because of an awe for him and partly because I consider him as the guru of film-making along with Satyajit Ray.  Pyaasa (1957), some viewers would argue is a social movie. I would however argue that it is also a love story par-excellence. While, Kagaz ke Phool has an actress, as the object of love, I find Pyasa special because of its idea of a class-less love. Waheeda Rehman as Gulabo the prostitute who is the only soul that truly loves the failed poet Vijay (Guru Dutt), seems like eternity herself. Her innocence combined with her cheekiness makes her a delight to watch on screen. She defends and preserves his poems more than her own life. Remember the song “Hum apki ankhon mein duniya ko bhoola den toh?” (rough transl: what if I forget the world by being lost in your eyes?) Gulabo the character stands in stark contrast to Meena (Mala Sinha), the poet Vijay’s love from his college days, the elite, the love that betrayed him to get married to a rich publisher.

I used to host Guru Dutt film festivals in my room during my hostel days — each of the movies, whether Sahib, Biwi, aur Ghulam, Mr. and Mrs. 55, or Chaudvin ka Chand interweave love with social and cultural issues.

I have never been able and nor is it likely to happen in my life that I would admire any actress as much as Waheeda ji and Madhubala. Beauty, charm, and intelligence along with acting manifest themselves in these actresses.

How can one forget the cult, the heavy, the highly literary Mughal-e-Azam (1960). I will not describe this movie much except the fact that through histories it has been proved that if there are chains on a particular emotion, it would find expression in some other form. Pages have been written about the classic song Jab Pyar Kiya toh Darna Kiya… with the gorgeous Anarkali (Madhubala) dancing herself out in lakhs of mirror pieces, looking deep into the eyes of the emperor of the Mughal dynasty and challenging him in the open Durbar to just attempt from stopping her to love Sehzada Saleem. It seems as if pages of history can be turned by just one moment of dark passion. Personally, my favourite song of the movie is Mohe Panghat pe Nandlal Chhed Gayo Re…. This song is magical in picturisation — Madhubala with the half- drawn veil, coyly looking at Saleem, while singing thumri and dancing Kathak on the slow beats, is simply ethereal. That particular song exudes purity and sensuousness. Some sources have said that Mughal-e-Azam marked the high-point in the drama of Dilip Kumar-Madhubala real life love story. The movie is not for the faint-hearted — you should have the patience,  aptitude for Urdu, and the  ability to place yourself in that historical moment.

If I would have been a film-maker, my dream would be to make a movie like Guide (1965). This movie (in my opinion) is a movie that is complete in every aspect. Produced by Dev Anand and directed by Vijayanand, the movie is an experience on celluloid. The interpenetration of love and philosophy with the best quality music finds its complete expression in the movie. This movie remains special for very personal reasons too apart from the cinematic excellence: (a) Dev saab is my romantic dream and my icon. As a tiny girl, I had often said that I want to marry Dev Anand (that hasn’t changed with Salman, Amir, and SRK in the block ); (b) The song Piya tose naina lage re made me break the microphone and a friend’s tabla in the university when I was practicing dance (of course badly) based on that song. Personal anecdotes apart, this movie glorifies love in its most unrestrained and passionate form. Rosy, the wife of an archeologist Marco (who doesn’t care an iota about her), breaks free from the rules of the society and conventions to assert her identity as a dancer. She is helped by the tour guide played by Dev Anand who fights his mother and uncle to make the dreams of Rosy transform into reality. Guide is a movie that shows love in the greyest shades — the love of Rosy and Raju guide being based on unacceptable norms of the society, and Raju’s forgery of Rosy’s signature on Marco’s papers. Remember that scene when Rosy dances her heart out in the snake-charmers hamlet?….ohhhh! what a scene depicting the grey passion of a woman who has been suppressed for ages! I have never seen a better  snake dance sequence. Dev Anand strikes the cord as the ultimate scape-goat to pseudo-religion as the fasting Swami who would bring  rains to the rain-starved village.

Cut to 1970s, Abhimaan (1973) is my Amitabh Bacchan favourite. Personally, along with Chupke Chupke, Shakti, and Trishul, this is my Bachhan favourite. The love story showing the complexities of a married life between two equally talented, same profession couple is just so contemporary and realistic in its presentation. Just love that moment in the movie when Amitabh Bachhan comes back after a very long time to his wife, a more talented singer herself, suffering from the mental trauma of her husband’s indifference,  turned a stone in herself.  He sees her as a lifeless body that is alive only with the hope of his return. That song tere mere milan ki yeh raina… is so absolutely poignant in the visual and the musical effect.In fact, each and every song of that movie is so lilting.

Unconditionally love Silsila (1981), not for Amitabh Bacchan but rather for Rekha and Sanjeev Kumar. A year ago, a friend and I had spent one whole night translating Silsila for another friend who did not understand Hindi (I still imagine my friend translating Neela Aasman so Gaya as Blue sky sleeps, sleeps, sleeps …! ). First time did I realize that the movie is so dense in content and meanings. Apart from the larger than life gorgeous Rekha in her Satin sarees and deep maroon lipstick and long open tresses (that movie can make any not-so-good looking woman duck ), the movie stands out for its extraordinary performance . What I feel uncomfortable about that movie is the last scene forced “Indian” reconciliation to the age old marital bond, where the protagonists have to return back to their lives after a series of misadventures. However, Silsila is more modern in its treatment than many movies of our times.

Love in its multiple facets is a dense aspect in the Bollywood context. The movies that I have listed here were released and made long before I or many of you were even born. However, there are certain emotions that transcend the boundaries of time and space. In fact, there should have been two posts since I am trying to chronologically arrange my picks. I have not dealt with love stories from Bollywood of our times — that is slightly unfair. Nevertheless, this post is dedicated to those immortal souls of cinematic art who considered movie-making as a love in itself and whose movies we still watch. Social, cultural, economic and so many other factors go into defining what is termed as ‘love’ in this context.

Some intellectualize love, some long for it, some detest it, some philosophize it, some are afraid of its negative dimensions, some contextualize it as the ultimate emotion, while some just live it….

That’s all I have on the question “Do I hate love storys?” Iris hopefully should be back next week with a new post and new story . Till then,

The best thing about me is you.
— Shannon Crown

Kora Kagaz: a Reflection on Relationships

Rishte badi mushkilon se bante dekhe, tootne keliye bus ek hi lamha…

(my transl. relationships are built with difficulty over time but can also snap within a moment)

(Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and AR Rahman from “Gurus of Peace”)

Thanks to Moserbaer CDs at least we get to watch original movies in good print at low cost. These CDs have actually contributed substantially to the cinema world and for viewers as well because: (a) They are cheap and easily available; (b) They are not pirated and (c) Some very old black&white and Eastman color movies are available now in the market. I got to watch Kora Kagaz (1974) from one of these CDs yesterday. I had always loved the songs of Kora Kagaz, but did not get the opportunity to watch this movie before. I liked the movie very much and thought of writing an article related to that. However, the theme of this article is not completely cinema and cinematic techniques of Kora Kagaz; the theme is — relationships.

I am slightly nervous while writing this post — relationships are difficult to be written about and feel worried that my own prejudices and emotions should not come in the path of the narration. Anyway…. I begin with the movie.

Kora Kagaz is the story of a young girl (Jaya Bhaduri) from a well-to-do upper middle class family and a college literature professor (Vijay Anand) who comes from a “poor” family. By choosing to remain in the teaching profession in a city college, the professor chooses to maintain a humble lifestyle. He gets married to the girl with a reluctant acceptance of the girl’s mother (Achala Sachdev), who had dreamt of getting her daughter married to an engineer/doctor or a businessman. The actual drama begins after the wedding, when there is a constant interference from the side of the bride’s mother, unacceptable to the “honest” and “prestige-conscious” son-in-law.

Every new day there is a new problem in the couple’s life. One day there is a fridge sent by the mother, the second there is a telephone, third the mother goes and tells some relatives that her son-in-law will go to London and submit his PhD thesis, and so on. The man in turn feels that each of these tokens of “love” are nothing but “nails” hammered on the coffin of his honesty and principles. He believes that these ideas are especially contrived by the mother-in-law to show him down. The newly-wed girl is sandwiched between her mother’s love/influence and husband’s principles. Finally, they separate on a very bitter note to be reunited years later.

Like most Bollywood movies, this movie ends with an optimistic note when the protagonists meet in the railway station years later and decide to live happily ever after. Well, that is the movie but life is not a movie. The protagonists are reunited by destiny and are given a second chance by life. But, that may not happen in “real” life. Actual story may not end/start with a reunion. Reflecting on the movie, many things came into mind. Yet, what appealed to me in the movie was the way the complex threads of relationships have been handled. The Director (Anil Ganguly) has to be credited for understanding and presenting these complex problems related to marriage. Parental interference (both bride and groom’s side), societal demands and finances and importantly communication gap all these form the crux of not only this story but many other real-life stories. I shall discuss each of these four aspects with examples in this article. Personally speaking, frustrations and failures of married/love lives of my friends and relatives based on these aspects came haunting after watching the movie.

Coming to parental interference, most of the times parental interference creates a havoc in the life of a newly married couple. As per most Indian customs, after the wedding the bride is supposed to live with the groom and his family. She changes her maiden title and has to relinquish many of her bonds with the maternal home. Expectations are high on both sides and a new addition to the family creates some amount of anxiety. Often interference at this stage affects long term relationships. Especially, if there is an interference from the bride’s side, things get blown out of proportion. The girl is ‘expected’ to adjust and she might find it difficult because of a very different kind of upbringing. Sometimes the expectations might be just very high. In such situations if there is parental interference, things become very difficult. Sometimes the parents/relatives/siblings of the groom and their constant interference lead to friction in a new relationships. Expectations that the bride “has” to be “meek”, “humble”, “respectful” and “dutiful” are always there, but sometimes these reach the limit of atrocity. Meekness, humility and dutifulness does not mean that one forgets that the person is new into your family, needs time to adjust and deserves to be understood as a “human being”. Sometimes the desire for seeing the bahu as an embodiment of perfection is so high that people become unforgiving.

For an example, a friend of mine kept to sick-bed for months immediately after marriage because she was expected to assist her elder sister-in-law in the kitchen to cook for their joint family. She was finding hard to cope up and there was constant tension with her husband which got severely aggravated when the bride’s sister called up and spoke to the groom regarding the issue. The boy didn’t take it lightly and matters could not be settled until both side’s parents met and had to solve with mutual discussions. But sometimes such simple issues become a huge problem ending in breakups.

One cannot always blame the groom or his family. Sometimes the fathers, mothers, aunties, siblings of brides play no less spoil-sport. In their over-zealous protection for the daughter and in their possessiveness, they land up creating problems for the new couple who need some space to understand each other. One of my acquaintances took her sister on her honeymoon! You can guess the response she might have got from her spouse…. In another instance, the mother of the girl kept calling her frequently, telling her she should pester her husband to switch over from his current employment and should choose a job which is closer to the girl’s home. Result: there were constant bickering on both sides until they separated.

As far as societal expectations and finances are concerned, these are problematic both in marriage and love affairs and are deeply interconnected. These days one can see a trend in which if you are in love/marriage the first thing people tend to ask you is the “CTC” of your husband/boyfriend. I am not sure if males face the same questions for their spouses/girlfriends from their circle and friends. The success or failure of an affair depends on the amount/lifestyle your spouse can “buy” for you from malls and shopping complexes. In Odisha, I have seen a major trend — if the groom is a “software engineer” then only the bride’s family accept it with pride. If not hmmm…hard-luck . One of these days we sat joking in the mess regarding “computer engineers” taking away all the “nice” girls and all the “nice” money . Some of us conceded in tongue-in-cheek fashion that we do not want a “literature” researcher as our spouse for he can feed us only with “love” and not with “pizza” . Well, the scenario doesn’t seem to be new. In Kora Kagaz too there is a firm dig at this trend when the girl’s mother broods over her daughter being married only to a “literature master” who earns 600 rupees per month. While, another newly married girl’s parents boast of their son-in-law as an NRI engineer who earns huge amount in US dollars nearly 10-12000 rupees (in 1970s).

Not just finances, in the University, I remember many of my friends (males) were rejected by the girl’s family on the grounds of their not being a student of engineering/medical. A particular choice of subject is considered to be the hallmark of lasting friendships and relationships…strange! Also, vice versa many of my female friends (doing a “simple” MA/M.Sc/ M.Phil) were taken for a “joy-ride” by engineers/doctors only to be dumped by them for a choice of girls either of the same profession or from professions like MBA, CA, etc., whom they could call their “equals”. Many think that literature, economics, sociology, psychology, culture studies are meant for “freaks” and “time-pass” who have nothing to do but to perenially waste time. However, society forgets that some of these “freaks” like Tagore, Sarojini Naidu or Amartya Sen contributed to the making of the “modern” India, and some other “freaks” like Kant, Hegel, Foucault, Derrida, Spivak and Levi-Strauss have made the “world” that we see at present. In fact, an entire lecture can be given on how Foucault’s theories brought jail reform in the long run or how Derrida contributed to what today can be called the “margin-center”. But, let us keep that discussion for another post.

We have burnt many a midnight oil in the hostel trying to soothe broken hearts where one person was preferred over another either due to his/her social status or education. Especially, some of my close friends fell prey to the so-called glitz and glamor of the world and returned brokenhearted for they were “shown” that they are dunce, good-for-nothing types who have no position in the “soft world”. One of my acquaintances who was a topper in her career suffered huge pain when she was told by the family who had come to “see” her that “will she be able to adjust with their son who earns huge amount after his BCA? Can she show her ‘feet’ to the groom’s family so that they can judge whether she is “lakshmi”?” Irony! Congreve says “way of the world”. For example, once when we were in college I had come across this story of a girl committing suicide for not being accepted by the boy’s family even while the person impregnated her on the grounds that she did not match the status of the boy who was a senior “ranger” in the forest department. Phew!

While I was in Post Graduation one of my relatives asked what were my subjects and I replied that I was doing a PG in literature, and he replied “hmm! there are millions of PGs in literature what difference does it make to the world! If you were a scientist or engineer you could have managed…hmm” . He was right in a sense! Apart from education and finances, societal pressures manifest in other dimensions too. Pressure for “male child”, pressure to buy a house/car like peers or colleagues, pressure to maintain beauty/charm and also pressure to be more intelligent than colleagues/friends’ spouses. These are true for either gender. Societal pressures are huge and excruciating. I observe sometimes people uploading snaps of their intimate moments on social networking sites for the sake of “showing” the world that how amazing and warm their relationship is. How much that is in “good” or “bad” faith can be a subject of research for psychologists dealing with inter-personal relationships….

Communication gaps in relationships are also strongly responsible for the complexities. Everything in this world revolves around the necessity to communicate. Gestures, non-verbal communication and face-to-face discussions play a huge role in determining the “health” and “longevity” of any relationship. In real life, sometimes communication is the only thing lacking in otherwise perfect relationships. Especially, in elderly couples after their children have grown up and left them for their own destination lack of communication creates health hazards.

Finally, one can say that each relationship is unique and has its own beauty and complexity. Starting from friendship to love to marriages relationships are complex, because human beings are highly complex. Freedom to choose and not to choose can be left as a mutual issue between the people sharing a certain bond, unless the concerned parties “seek” advice. If you observe the animal world and especially monkey parents, they too leave the little-one to play, rise and fall as per its pleasure, so that it learns the rules of the game. But when it topples and hurts itself then the parents jump and give support. So also, human relationships are an intricate “game” and one should get the chance and the opportunity to learn the rules of the game and play it effectively in their own style.

Thoda hai thode ki zaroorat hai…zindagi phir bhi yahan khoobsoorat hai

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to hurt any gender/professional sentiments. The author merely records experiences of people.