Recently a lot has been said over the obsession of our qoum with Eid shopping even the face of an existing pandemic.The situation has inspired and generated a whole section of content, satirizing iss qoum ka obsession with Eid ki khareedari. But if we observe this craze through the social science theories,we can see that it’s not just about grabbing that designer eid ka jora.Moreover,what I am saying is k It might be a manifestation of it but not the complete picture. Tasveer ka background ye hai k all this festival frenzy is a part of the ever growing consumerist culture that has slowly seeped into our national psyche.And it’s not just us,poori dunya mai hi there has been a shift towards hyper consumerism.Asan lafzon mai it means k through out the globe people have increasingly started to equate happiness with the things they buy and the need to buy. Consequently,this consumerist mentality is a gift (and a curse)of free market capitalism where there is no restrain on trade and commerce.While this is great and has been great,it has its drawbacks.Therefore,when Neo-Marxist theorists present their arguments against laissez faire capitalism,one should listen instead of dismissing them as a relic of the past.They argue that such unbridled consumerism leads to more and more increase in demand.so in order to meet the demands of the ever hungry markets, production is outsourced to poor countries.Here the co-operations get away with exploiting local labour and pay bare minimum wage.This in turn produces items that have competitively low prices as compared to locally produced items. As a result the local industries close as they cannot compete at such prices.Aur ye koi kitabi baatein nahi hain humne pandemic esa hotey dekha k local businesses are struggling to survive and only chains and brands are thriving at the moment.kiun k wo sale laga rahey hain isliye k wo sale lagana afford karsaktey hain,small local businesses nai karsaktey isliye tata bye bye. These sale prices combined with the social media fueled obsession with brands brings us back to the almost crazed eid shopping done by our fellow county folk.Even at the risk of catching covid. So its not ‘hamari qoum to esi hai’ it’s a while vicious economic cycle in the grand scheme of things,my friend.kia karain.
I wrote all this as a Facebook comment par itna acha likh dia tha k socha k yaha bhi post kardun.😁
Never Say Goodbye
_Intro_ :
Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna is an old Bollywood movie that discusses the themes of adultery and cheating.And since I am talking about it tou it should be understood that it was a flop film🤣🤣🤣.Also I have written this piece with the assumption that the reader has seen the movie or atleast knows the central idea.But fret not my friend,if you know not the story.Here is a basic gist for you.
_Basic Gist of that Movie:_
Dev and Maya mitwa with each other behind their spouses’ back.
Dev and Maya were not good people…both of them were really flawed characters and the movie showed them as such.But they were not like this hamesha se.They are very different people at the start of the movie.Where we see Maya as a young bride contemplating to run away from her wedding and a successful athletic Dev convincing her against.Yahi kachra move thi Bhai..Agar dulha shaadi waley din hi itna bura lag raha tha tou waqi issi waqt chupkey se nikal lena chahiaye tha🤣🤣🤣 Khair.Agar Maya esa karleti tou agey 3 ghantey ki film kesay bnti.
Aao behen jeevan barbaad karein😋
_Personal failures :_
fast forward many years,we meet two verrry frustrated people.Not at all the young and optimistic wooden bench waley Dev and Maya.Dev’s injury and the abrupt premature end of his career deeply affected his psyche as a person.Similarly,Maya’s inability to have children affected her self esteem alot.Since alot of Maya and Dev’s emotional stability revolved around these themes,so their inability to get over these obstacles in their respective lives made them feel like losers.Failure makes people bitter and they were bitter.very bitter and very unhappy.Dev’s expression of unhappiness and dissatisfaction is external as he seems to lash out at everyone in his vicinty.He grumbles at his wife’s success.
Whereas, Maya seems to internalize and feels guilty all the time for resenting her husband so much.Alot of Maya’s confusion and guilt stems from the fact that she was raised as a foster child by Rishi’s parents.Her marriage is a compromise from day one.This seemed to her more like a way of showing her gratitude to her foster family..and this gratitude came at the expense of her personal happiness and self esteem.
_Projection_ :
the movie Dev and Maya constantly project their innermost fears and feelings on others.Maya seems to be annoyed and borderline skeptic of Rishi’s love for her.In her head she seems to believe that Rishi loves her only because he has been groomed all his life to be with her.Had he been given a chance to explore,he would have never picked anyone like her…This seems to be a projection of Maya’s own feelings towards Rishi.Maya never viewed Rishi as a potential soulmate.So she suspects him to have the same feelings towards her…So the more he tried to be close to her the more she drifted away from him.Repulsed by his advances. projection happens in a different and even more sad form for Dev.It is present in his dysfunctional relationship with his son.The child seemed hopeless and meek and cannot play football at all and this makes Dev makes even more mad at him.In a way Dev sees his own pathetic post injury self in him and dislikes it very much.
Aey chota packet
_Sense of inferiority and resulting isolation:_
Rishi and Rhea were good people.But they were also happy people as they were fairly successful.And success made them optimistic in general.This made Dev and Maya feel even more inferior in their respective spouse’s presence.The resulting inferiority complex isolates them further from their loved ones.Another additional reason for Maya’s isolation was the extroverted nature of her husband and father in law.Since she was more of an introvert and felt out of place in their flamboyant company.
And this is what made Maya and Dev fond of each other..They liked being losers together.They liked being with a person who was (in their heads) equal to them.When they were together,they did not feel the pressure to change themselves.They actually brought out the best in each other.This elation of finding a kindered soul is also present in the song ‘Tumhi dekho na” where Dev sings:
*_Tumhi dekho na,ye Kia hogaya?
Tumhara hun Mai aur tum Meri
(Can you see what has happened?
I am yours and you are mine!)
To which a dazed Maaya replies:
Mai haairan hun,tumhain Kia kahun?
Key din Mai Hui kesi Chandni?
(What can I say to that!
See how the moon shines through the harsh day!)*_
This song is sooooo soooooooo beautiful..and criminally underrated.
And like I have said before that they weren’t exactly good people so instead of leaving their spouses with dignity,they decided to cheat on them..Manhoos kahin k🤣🤣🤣
_Loneliness_ :
Another interesting character in the movie is Maya’s father in law,Sam.As discussed earlier,Sam is a flamboyant , widowed, elderly gentleman,who doesn’t exactly act his age.The movie tried to explore the themes of loneliness and the desire for companionship in people.But since this is a Karan Johar movie so it wasn’t done taste fully at all.Sam’s was quite a pervert and honestly seems problematic.Sam was also despite his external exuberance was a wise man.We can see this when he tells Maya to leave Rishi so that they don’t have to be so miserable together.And then Rishi can be with someone who actually loves and admires all that he has to offer.It was quite insightful.
_Conclusion_ :
Maya and Dev were evil and this movie was bad.Sab ko pata hai but this film offers fascinating insights about the human psyche.Dekhlain ye.
I hate it when people say that Feminism is not the hill they want to die upon or when Bollywood actresses leave no stone (read media outlet) unturned to claim that they are not a feminist.Heavens forbid if anyone considers them one other wise.Tauba Tauba!! Their eagerness reminds me of the morbid fascination Amreekan kids have with cooties… Everyone talks about it yet no one wants anything to do with it.Did you say Feminism?eewww😂😂😂
Yaar Feminism is a beautiful ideology. Period.Honestly the idea of equality and freedom to choose is liberating at so many levels.. How could you say you do not believe in equality.Do you really need loads of time to figure out how you feel about human rights?
Enter the modern Khatoon who has it really easy (because earlier women paved a road for them and took all the heat in the process) to claim:
‘I ain’t no Feminist mama’….
While we at this topic one should accept that unnecessary male bashing and senseless debates over non issues has really harmed the XX chromosome containing population’s cause.Ok!So you don’t want a tag?Fine.Dont use it but atleast understand that we all need to understand,solidarity should be a built in reflex and not something that can be left as a choice.
Seriously there should be something similar along the lines of the Bro Code.A Zanani Code may be?What do you think? 😂
Gar Firdaus, barooye zameen ast Haminasto, Haminasto Meri jaan rooh dil se wabast Haminasto, Haminasto..
Being a poet has to be the best and worst thing in this world.You will find joy and beauty everywhere.Whether its a flower,person,mountain or a beautiful person with a flower on a mountain.Just as it makes one ecstatic for no reason it also makes you melancholic for things you never had or sigh for people you will never know.This pesky itch will make you yearn for the unattainable.Forget people,a beautiful place alone can drive you to insanity.Are you dismissing this as BS?Lets rewind time and join Amir Khusro on his travel to Kashmir.Shayir tha na tou kashmir dekh kar dewana hogaya! The sheer beauty of Kashmir makes Amir Khusro exclaim:
” if there is paradise on this earth somewhere, here it is, here it is. inhabited by my life, my soul and my heart, this is the place, here it is.”
He ends up penning a poem in Persian cause that is how he rolled.This piece survives the burn of centuries and by the twist of fate ends up on the table of the film makers of ‘Fitoor’.
Whoever named this gorgeous monstrosity Fitoor needs an Oscar because this movie is a fitoor.Fitoor means Mania and the whole theme of the movie revolves around the mania or obsession of the protagonist around Firdaus. And Firdaus means Jannat. His jannat.The heaven on Earth.His mania.His Haminasto.
It can be safely said that when Mr Charles Dickens drew up Estella over his evening wine she was a merely a selfish piece of shit and nothing beyond that. That was that…But here comes our Firdaus! The Heaven on Earth. The heaven Amir Khusro exclaimed about.She IS Kashmir.The beautiful mystery who has virtually no control over her fate.Sadly trapped between the Mania of others.The fitoor of others.
khaamosh darakhton ke saaye
ye khauf hai soya saa
kuch khoya khoya humne bhi
ye chehra hai roya saa
even the shadows of trees are silent here, it’s a sleeping fear here.. I also have lost something, this face is as if it has cried..
We will come back to Firdaus in a while but first lets look at this beautiful couplet.Why? Cause meri marzi. This piece seems to be lamenting over the loss of a loved one,granting this line a very personal aspect.A personal aspect of Kashmir too may be? where it laments for all the losses it has faced over the years. Who knows what the lyricist wants to convey here…but whatever it is we have to agree that it takes a very tortured and beautiful mind to come up with a song like this.Like we saw earlier how it takes a little few minutes to enjoy a page of poetry and a lifetime of being lonely and misunderstood to produce one.
Despite what you think about this project,one has to admit that some very rare and special people made fitoor.Yes,agreed that it failed with the masses and box office but may be it wasn’t made to appease them.It was this team’s tribute to Kashmir.To Firdaus,the heaven on Earth.
One example of their sheer brilliance has to be the casting of Katina Kaif as Firdaus (even though the film could not do wonders for her career which is sad).
She perfectly embodies the enigma that is Estella. In fact she IS Estella.The Ice Queen.The Mysterious.The Wonderful.The Beautiful
Ah I can write on this movie for days and days but the life outside the domain of Cinema calls me .Arahi hun bhuiyyee. So till next time world.Will see you Haminasto.
Light years away
Stars dance today,
and bleed their hearts out.
Galaxies go green with glaze..
Iced by tears
Saltiest to date.
Look at these grazes,
scratches lodged under high strung veils.
Is it just the snow?
Or things have gone cold as a whole?
Thoughts like these
should remain celibate as coal.
None too important
Just a syntax in the fabric of time flow.
Planets transition and retrograde
this too is just a phase..
So let this circus of happenings..
Branch out.
Till you fade….
Or
RADICAL 