Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil girl

This movie is in news for all the right reasons. Gunjan Saxena is the IAF flight lieutenant who went on to become the first woman pilot to fly the cheetah helicopters in war zone. She joined IAF in 1994 and took part in Kargil war in 1999 in evacuating wounded soldiers, aiding surveillance and transporting essential supplies. A great tribute goes out from my heart to her. 

Now coming to the movie - Its the most acclaimed movie supposed to be showing the valiance of a woman in the time where woman were less privileged. But it irked me a bit. Instead of proving the mettle of Gunjan, movie focused more on the shallowness of men around her. Its not at intervals but the whole plot is the same. Starting with derogatory and non believing brother to the IAF co pilots and bosses. IAF has officially objected the depiction of this perspective. And Gunjan herself has confirmed that there was no such treatment from her male companions. If the story was to be made up, it could've been in a way which aspires women in general to pursue greater aspirations than to just fight for woman rights in a non woman organization. Repeatedly Gunjan gets vexed by her male counterparts and not in a single incident she stands up for herself. Any mediocre woman of this era knows when to stop tolerating the derision and to speak up, not waiting for a major event to happen.

It was surprising to see Pankaj Tripathi in the plot whose acting is as usual commendable. Jahnavi Kapoor looked a clown. Rest do their part - nothing noteworthy. 

Shakuntala devi

The person Shakuntala Devi and the movie on her are both sensations garnering viewership all over the world. 

When I was a 10 std kid, my math teacher inspired me towards the life of Shakuntala Devi. Later when I was preparing for campus placements in college, I read her book - "puzzles to puzzle you". Naturally this movie fell in my watch list attributing to the sophisticated AI that Amazon prime has built. 

3 clear crisp messages that movie gives as far as I understand.

1. Stop being obsessed by "me, me, me, I, I, I and my, my, my".

(On a different stand point - you don't really matter as much as you think you matter). 

Today in 2020's age, we are so swept away with a world full that talks about finding your voice and being on your own, loving yourself, living your passion such that you can excuse yourself for thrashing someone else's dreams, discovering your calling, being brave enough to express your authentic self etc. But this is all so wrong. 

We are all bound by the rules of society and the law and if not, to a great extent, bound by the rules of family. These rules define austere limitations for expression of self. You need to find the balance between "living up for self" and breaking the rule. There needs to be an equilibrium  for "I", "him"(to all men in life) and "us".

2. Motherhood - 

Aren't all mothers perfect? She loved you with all she could. There is no right or wrong. 

Don't cry for the identity she gave you. If you don't like it, you have all the abilities and opportunities to change it. 

Don't look at the mother as a mother but as a woman having her own dreams and calling. 

3. Breaking the cycle of negativity - 

There is an old saying that if you think bad of a person, be assured that he/she thinks bad of you too. This is no unknown magic. Negativity multiplies negativity. Just forgiving the person who wronged you is not enough. Think highly of him/her and appreciate the good things he/she has done to you. That way instead of having a neutral stand point, you make peace with him/her and win-win from both the sides. 

Same goes with motherhood. Is motherhood a cycle where you pass on your curses (and blessings) to your lineage? From your mother to you, you to your daughter and she to her daughter? You just forgiving her would not be enough. If you like to be appreciated by your daughter, appreciate the benevolence of your mother.

 

, 

Gantumoote (The baggage)

Spoiler: Watch this movie ONLY if you appreciate the rendition of love in it's most subtle ways.

The movie is about a teenage girl expressing her emptiness and fullness together and concurrently after  her young lover ends his life. 

The movie takes you back to the school and gives you a high degree of nostalgia. Every scene is perfectly knit to fit the 90's time zone. What is different from the main stream kannada cinema and this is that the protagonist is a young girl who is not scared to have a mind of her own. 

The movie talks about the teenage love, pressure of exams, mental and physical abuses that will cause long lasting ill effects, high school bullying, heart break, life long emptiness due to death of a loved one and so forth.

The acting by Teju Belavadi and Nischit Karodi is best in class. The scenes are just perfect with no scope to improve - especially the one where Meera comes to confront the death of Madhu when she touches the body of her dead lover. You really swallow a lump of pain when she turns back and heads home. The subtle movements and acting by both in the lead couple expound the fine drawn presentation of love. That factor is also the one that keeps you glued. 

Here is a bit of Meera's(protagonist) mind chatter which gives you the taste of the sensibilities she harness. 

ಆಗ್ಲೇ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಿದ್ದು ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾವನೆಗಲ್ ಮಾತ್ರ ನಮ್ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುತ್ತೆ; ಅದಷ್ಟೇ ನಿಜ ನಮಗೆ. ಬೇರೆಯವರ ಭಾವನೆಗಳು, ಯೋಚನೆಗಳು ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಬಹುದೇ ಹೊರತು ಅನುಭವಿಸಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗಲ್ಲ. ಅವನು ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸ್ತೀನಿ ಅಂದ. ಅವನ್ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಇರ್ಬೇಕು. 

ಭಗವದವತಾರಗಳು

The most empowering thing I read today are 7th and 8th verse of chapter 4 of Bhagavat geeta. The lines are as below 

ಯದಾ ಯದಾ ಹಿ ಧರ್ಮಸ್ಯ ಗ್ಲಾನಿರ್ಭವತಿ ಭಾರತ ।

ಅಭ್ಯುತ್ಥಾನಮಧರ್ಮಸ್ಯ ತದಾತ್ಮಾನಂ ಸೃಜಾಮ್ಯಹಮ್ 

ಪರಿತ್ರಾಣಾಯ ಸಾಧೂನಾಂ ವಿನಾಶಾಯ ಚ ದುಷ್ಕ್ರತಾಮ್ ।

ಧರ್ಮಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪನಾರ್ಥಾಯ ಸಂಭವಾಮಿ ಯುಗೇ ಯುಗೇ 

Context: 

ಭಗವದವತಾರಗಳು :

ಅರ್ಜುನ, ನೀನು  ನಾನು ಇಂದಿನವರಲ್ಲ ; ಮೊದಲಿನಿಂದಲೂ ಇರುವವರೇ. ನಿನಗೂ ನನಗು ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸ ಎರಡು ಸಂಗತಿಗಳ್ಲಲಿ ; ಮೊದಲೆನೆಯದಾಗಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳನ್ನು ನಿನಗೆ ಮರೆತುಹೋಗಿವೆ ; ನನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳ ವೃತ್ತಾ oತ ನನಗೆ ಜ್ಞಾಪಕದಲ್ಲಿದೆ. ಎರಡನೆಯದಾಗಿ ನಿನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವಜನ್ಮಗಳು ನಿನ್ನ ಪುಣ್ಯಪಾಪಗಳ ಕಾರಣದಿಂದ ಆದವು ; ನನ್ನ ಅವತಾರಗಳು ಧರ್ಮಸಂರಕ್ಷಣೆಗಾಗಿ ಆದವು . ಸಜ್ಜನರನು ಕಾಪಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ, ದುಷ್ಟರನ್ನು ಸಂಹಾರಮಾಡುವುದಕ್ಕೆ, ಧರ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪನೆಗಾಗಿ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿಯ ಮೊದಲಿಂದ ಯುಗಯುಗಗಳಲ್ಲೂ ನಾನು ಅವತಾರ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಲೇ ಇದ್ದೇನೆ.