The Anbe Sivam in me
"Can someone suggest any idea to improve our country's economy?" - My History teacher threw an open question to the class of X standard. I stood up and said, "Our country should try to adopt an equal economical government". The whole class saw me with a different look. And there was an animated debate for the next half an hour. This happened nearly a decade ago. Period.
I was sitting in my room studying for my semester exams. I heard a dialogue from a TV serial - "Kaathalum puratchiyum pesaatha ilangnyane illa". I grinned. It was nearly five years ago. Period.
Pongal 2003. KamalHassan and Madhavan starring "Anbe Sivam" got released. I was all excited to watch the movie asap. But could not watch it for the next three months due to some reasons. My friends who saw it commented 'movie sucks'. Period.
Three years later. Today I am sitting and chewing my old memories while the film's OST is playing in my background. To be true I have no knowledge about the philosophy or the social movement talked in the film, nor I am trying to put up a review of the movie (I am still ignorant of the science and the art of cinema to review it).
The film deals with two issues, one blended over the other, like layers of interwined threads that appears to be single large rope - equal economy and humanity. My questions are how these two are related and what made me and my friends to give such reactions in the past. When I was trying to figure out I came up with some facts that I believe to be convincing answers.
Luckily, I was able to find some relation between these two after an advanced search. Probably I think the basic connectivity might have been developed from the concept of equality in the social status in the first philosophy and the underlying idea of selflessness and mutual concern that humanity talks about.
Now, the movie has three characters. Yes! I mean three. Mr. Nallasivam, the not so good looking humane peace lover, Mr. A.Arsu, the handsome ad maker who always seem to be in a hurry and Mr. Anbarasu, the man who evolved from A.Arsu after meeting Nallasivam.
I was never a Nallasivam and I am pretty sure I can never ever become one unless some external force influences me. I am still wondering what made me to tell such an answer to my History teacher when I was only 15! Maybe some attempt to pull the attraction of the class or to get into the teacher's good books. The hapenning of events later in the next ten years made me to think that answer could not have opened straight from my heart.
Maybe I could have been an Anbarasu earlier. That's why I might have grinned on the second occasion. Even if I had told the answer from my heart out of blue, I should have (and still am) thought it was the offspring of a quick crush that I had with that philosophy (remember the dialogue also touches infactuation). It could have been one of my smile of frustration. A smile that signifies something is lost. If I had not told the answer in a real manner, then it could have been a smile of pretention - something that reminds me to what extent I can sham myself to achieve something.
During the third occasion, I was entering the phase of being A.Arsu. And, I was not realizing it then. So do my friends. To put in simple words, "we were grown". No more kids; we are adults. We were becoming responsible and ofcourse we had to take care of our life. Quickness became our motto. We had no time to stop and see things around us. We were too busy to think about life beyond career growth. Events were happening in the same pace we wanted them to, otherwise we were the odd ones. Note that we never wished to be the odd ones. We either wanted to lead a group or atleast be the last follower (if none of our efforts to be the leader suceeds). Isn't it fair? We toil hard, burn midnight oil, compete with our friends, run behind a fast moving target. We sacrifice many things and why not expect something in return? I did not find anything wrong when my friends did not like a slow, not-so entertaining film. To be true, I didn't have any strong sentiment to the film when I had the opportunity to view it first.
Now, I am in other hemisphere of the globe. I am now a complete A.Arsu, one of the young benefactors of today's global economy. I have thousands of A.Arsu's as my friends back home and here. I am left with nothing but some childhood memories of humanity to masticate with. I don't know a way out for the man in me. I hardly have time to search for an exit to him out and find an entrance to let in a new one. By 'new one' I mean Anbarasu. I know Nallasivam is a grape for the fox in me. Last, but not the least I hope one day A.Arsu will turn as Anbarasu....The question is..... How long is the wait?
I was sitting in my room studying for my semester exams. I heard a dialogue from a TV serial - "Kaathalum puratchiyum pesaatha ilangnyane illa". I grinned. It was nearly five years ago. Period.
Pongal 2003. KamalHassan and Madhavan starring "Anbe Sivam" got released. I was all excited to watch the movie asap. But could not watch it for the next three months due to some reasons. My friends who saw it commented 'movie sucks'. Period.
Three years later. Today I am sitting and chewing my old memories while the film's OST is playing in my background. To be true I have no knowledge about the philosophy or the social movement talked in the film, nor I am trying to put up a review of the movie (I am still ignorant of the science and the art of cinema to review it).
The film deals with two issues, one blended over the other, like layers of interwined threads that appears to be single large rope - equal economy and humanity. My questions are how these two are related and what made me and my friends to give such reactions in the past. When I was trying to figure out I came up with some facts that I believe to be convincing answers.
Luckily, I was able to find some relation between these two after an advanced search. Probably I think the basic connectivity might have been developed from the concept of equality in the social status in the first philosophy and the underlying idea of selflessness and mutual concern that humanity talks about.
Now, the movie has three characters. Yes! I mean three. Mr. Nallasivam, the not so good looking humane peace lover, Mr. A.Arsu, the handsome ad maker who always seem to be in a hurry and Mr. Anbarasu, the man who evolved from A.Arsu after meeting Nallasivam.
I was never a Nallasivam and I am pretty sure I can never ever become one unless some external force influences me. I am still wondering what made me to tell such an answer to my History teacher when I was only 15! Maybe some attempt to pull the attraction of the class or to get into the teacher's good books. The hapenning of events later in the next ten years made me to think that answer could not have opened straight from my heart.
Maybe I could have been an Anbarasu earlier. That's why I might have grinned on the second occasion. Even if I had told the answer from my heart out of blue, I should have (and still am) thought it was the offspring of a quick crush that I had with that philosophy (remember the dialogue also touches infactuation). It could have been one of my smile of frustration. A smile that signifies something is lost. If I had not told the answer in a real manner, then it could have been a smile of pretention - something that reminds me to what extent I can sham myself to achieve something.
During the third occasion, I was entering the phase of being A.Arsu. And, I was not realizing it then. So do my friends. To put in simple words, "we were grown". No more kids; we are adults. We were becoming responsible and ofcourse we had to take care of our life. Quickness became our motto. We had no time to stop and see things around us. We were too busy to think about life beyond career growth. Events were happening in the same pace we wanted them to, otherwise we were the odd ones. Note that we never wished to be the odd ones. We either wanted to lead a group or atleast be the last follower (if none of our efforts to be the leader suceeds). Isn't it fair? We toil hard, burn midnight oil, compete with our friends, run behind a fast moving target. We sacrifice many things and why not expect something in return? I did not find anything wrong when my friends did not like a slow, not-so entertaining film. To be true, I didn't have any strong sentiment to the film when I had the opportunity to view it first.
Now, I am in other hemisphere of the globe. I am now a complete A.Arsu, one of the young benefactors of today's global economy. I have thousands of A.Arsu's as my friends back home and here. I am left with nothing but some childhood memories of humanity to masticate with. I don't know a way out for the man in me. I hardly have time to search for an exit to him out and find an entrance to let in a new one. By 'new one' I mean Anbarasu. I know Nallasivam is a grape for the fox in me. Last, but not the least I hope one day A.Arsu will turn as Anbarasu....The question is..... How long is the wait?
posted by Vish at 10:42 AM
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