A THALI , A MASALA FILM... AND LIFE












The Indian thali has some thing to tell us: our plate called ‘Life’ comes with almost everything in it… a smallspoon of pickle to a bowl of sweet dish… yes, the plate brings to us all, including the bitter gourd!


But, apparently, the thali system is getting slowly out of fashion. Maybe, this trend has something to tell us, too!


Similarly, the Indian movies – not just the Bollywood ones – always had lots of masala in them… We rightly called them the ‘Masala films’ or the ‘Potboilers’… They had romance, heartbreak, comedy, action, mystery, thrill and, above all, a happy ending!


But, the films are no more cooked the way they were cooked once… We either see them over-cooked with action, romance, comedy or tragedy. Maybe, this trend has something to tell us, too!



No matter how many kingdoms have come and gone, and, no matter how many saints and demons, this world – and life in it – will always be a beautiful thali for all of us… whether we like it or not, or accept it or not. Like our good-old potboilers, we will have everything to experience…


No situation in life is permanent… If it’s an economic slowdown today, it will be a boom tomorrow… If the Kashmir valley is silent today, it will echo, soon… The governments that once ruled are no more there… and, the governments that rule now, will not be there, soon… The beautiful body that we flaunt now, will soon wrinkle and dry up… and, little babies, meanwhile, will keep growing up so beautifully…


Therefore, today, before we settle for a spice-less plate and a spice-less-film, let’s remember this: Life will come to all of us with lots of spices. If we are too busy carrying a flag for a particular political party now, blinded by our ignorance, let’s remember this: the Pharoes of Egypt and the Alexanders of Greece, the Hitlers of Germany and the Mussolini’s of Italy, the Napoleons of France and the Lenins of the USSR – hello, they are all gone… The mighty kingdoms they had once built, long fallen…


So, let's relish a thali and a masala film, today, for a change… Yes, just for today… Just to keep us from getting swayed… and blinded!



GERALD D’CUNHA

Pic.:simple.wikipedia.org


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