Swades and Non Required Indians
I am an ardent Shah Rukh Khan fan and hopefully, he will meet me someday (yes, i am quite egoistic). Of all the good movies of Shah Rukh, the movie that is universally loved is: Swades
Parents, Foster Parents and us
The premise of the movie is simple: Mohan longs for emotional connect with his "dai"ma and visits the country, India.
The tune is still a ringtone in many cellphones especially my jiju's. An umbilical cord of emotions binds all of us. And, bereaved Mohan feels the loss, despite all the comforts of the west.
An anonymous source once said "the biggest tragedy of our generation is loss and loneliness"
The above quote reflects in the journey that Shah Rukh Khan takes to the village, Charanpur. The entire plot line runs on the theme line of every NRI (Non Required Indian) who visits his home.
Contrary to the movie, people do not visit their childhood sweethearts. We are so blank, we just lie and look at the stars.
Expectation and messing us up
Addressing how it messed us:
Responsibility of Shah Rukh's gets doubled with the romantic and the emotional connect.
While the entire move is a documentary of the life in a village that is desirable and having traveled a bit and having met a few passionate farmers, who were once city dwellers, I believe that Swades has set a bench mark in dealing with people from different backgrounds.
And the scene that remains in the memory is the "debt" scene where Shah Rukh travels via different modes of travel to collect debt from a family. That is a pivotal scene.
Without wounding myself in nostalgia, let me get to the point:
When NRIs come home, they become blank as a slate and whatever we have learned in the States about civilian life gets re-written by the chaos. The perpetual confusion is about our life in the US and our life in India.
Are we hyphenated by the possibilities of personal growth and the continuous movement of our lifestyle changes between two countries, polarised by different opinions?
Parents, Foster Parents and us
The premise of the movie is simple: Mohan longs for emotional connect with his "dai"ma and visits the country, India.
The tune is still a ringtone in many cellphones especially my jiju's. An umbilical cord of emotions binds all of us. And, bereaved Mohan feels the loss, despite all the comforts of the west.
An anonymous source once said "the biggest tragedy of our generation is loss and loneliness"
The above quote reflects in the journey that Shah Rukh Khan takes to the village, Charanpur. The entire plot line runs on the theme line of every NRI (Non Required Indian) who visits his home.
Contrary to the movie, people do not visit their childhood sweethearts. We are so blank, we just lie and look at the stars.
Expectation and messing us up
Addressing how it messed us:
Responsibility of Shah Rukh's gets doubled with the romantic and the emotional connect.
While the entire move is a documentary of the life in a village that is desirable and having traveled a bit and having met a few passionate farmers, who were once city dwellers, I believe that Swades has set a bench mark in dealing with people from different backgrounds.
And the scene that remains in the memory is the "debt" scene where Shah Rukh travels via different modes of travel to collect debt from a family. That is a pivotal scene.
Without wounding myself in nostalgia, let me get to the point:
When NRIs come home, they become blank as a slate and whatever we have learned in the States about civilian life gets re-written by the chaos. The perpetual confusion is about our life in the US and our life in India.
Are we hyphenated by the possibilities of personal growth and the continuous movement of our lifestyle changes between two countries, polarised by different opinions?
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