I am an Indian ... have always been one. But then, I did not always see things like they were. There's this beggar on the street - I throw him a coin (not always, that) and walk on. The next moment, it's out of my mind ... there are always better things to think about - the movie version of the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy ... that girl I have been getting friendly with ... the reporting assignment that's due tomorrow ...
Funny how the mind always manages to delete the more unpleasant aspects of life from our memory ...
I saw Swades just yesterday ... and, God forbid, it made me think!
What's it about? A non-resident Indian scientist who works with NASA comes back home to meet his elderly governess...and then he sees stuff like poverty and hunger and finally decides to stay back.
Very true, it would take an outsider to actually understand what goes on over here. We better-off Indians - we have seen so much of this thing that we have literally become immune to it. We see impoverished people but don't give them anything more than a second glance...
Why? Hey, we got work to do ... trains to catch, appointments to keep, movies to watch and people to meet. The occasional coin we drop in the beggar's bowl gives us a clear conscience (Wow! My good deed for the day ... getting a step closer to the promised land now!)
And I ain't doing that good either. I remember the time when the tsunami struck ... there were these massive waves hitting the shores, snuffing out lives and rendering people homeless. We newspaper dudes? We were sitting in our air conditioned offices, admiring photos that had wailing mothers kneeling over bodies of dead babies, all the while muttering in awe, ``Man! What powerful pictures! The pages are really gonna look terrific tonite...''
But then, that's what our job demands from us. Bad news is good news. We wouldn't mind Jupiter crashing onto the earth as long as the news sells a few copies more.
Remember that famous picture that had a vulture waiting on a baby in its death throes? They say the vulture won, the photographer got a big prize for it and later, comitted suicide.
God bless his soul.
Funny how a movie can put you in such a sordid mood..n make you post such sordid stuff. But, like they say, life's like that but it could certainly be better. Don't know how... don't ask why...but it certainly could have.
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