O MY GOODNESS... O MY GOODNESS...













Pic.: Aparna Khanolkar Sheth

Both, Vijay and Ravi, were born to the same parents. But, the scar on Vijay’s wrist – ‘Mera baap chor hai’, and its subsequent trauma, would live with him till his tragic end. It made him a school dropout, become a boot-polish boy by the street, a sworn atheist… It drove him to amass wealth, by hook or by crook. He became an underworld don, a hardened criminal. But, he loved and worshipped his mother. He believed that she deserved a better life… and his wealth would bring her that joy and happiness… His life, therefore, was fired by that ideal…

On the other hand, Ravi, who did not have to go through the trauma of the scar as his elder brother Vijay had to, turned out to be a good sheep. He went to school, become a graduate and, eventually, an honest cop… He, too, loved and worshipped his mother… He, too, believed that his mother, who had to go through such great suffering in life, deserved a better deal… So, his life, too, was fired by the same ideal…

What is so legendary about the movie, ‘Deewar’, is how the destiny brings the two brothers to encounter – eye-ball-into-eyeball - at the crossroad: When Ravi has to deal with the dilemma – whether to treat his elder brother, Vijay, as his own blood or as a hardened criminal… When mother hands the revolver to her inspector-son and tells, ‘My son, may God give you strength… May your hands not tremble, today.”

Just like the scar on Vijay’s wrist – ‘Mera baap chor hai, which had remained etched there all his life, the movie ‘Deewar’ has remained etched in my mind even after four- long decades. But, it is still a mystery to me as to why I love the character of Vijay in this movie despite he being a don, a criminal!


And, this morning, a dear-old student of mine, Sonu Gupta – who is a practicing lawyer… shared a BBC post on FB. It is a strange incident, where the young lady-judge after handing the verdict to the convict, a criminal… reminds him that he was her classmate in the middle school… that she played football with him… that he was the nicest kid in the class, the best… and, now she wondered, what happened to him… Yes, she kept reminding him that he was, once, the nicest and the best boy… and, something had gone wrong somewhere… She wished him well… and, hoped that he would get over that patch and learn to walk the lawful path, all over again!

The BBC story – the encounter of two schoolmates at the courtroom… one as a judge and the other as a convict… yes, this story has brought back to me, today, the encounter of two brothers at their crossroad… one as an upright cop, the other as a hardened criminal…

And, let me repeat it here, once again: It is a mystery to me as to why it tore my heart when I heard this criminal (in the BBC story) kept breaking down with... ‘O my goodness”… “O my goodness”… “O my goodness”!


GERALD D’CUNHA

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