BALA'S PLIGHT


















“The worst loneliness is
to not to be comfortable with yourself.”

-      Mark Twain

   
Two days ago, while I was watching the latest Hindi movie, ‘Bala’, I remembered this popular fable…


Once, in a forest, there lived a crow happily. One day, he saw a beautiful Swan sitting on the branch of a tree. The Crow felt bad about himself and said to the Swan… “You are so white and beautiful… Look at me, I am so black and ugly.”

The Swan said to the Crow, “I may be white, but I am not beautiful… Look at the Parrot… He is blessed with two colours. He is the most beautiful bird in this forest.”

The Crow met the Parrot, looked at his beauty, and said, “O Parrot, you really are the most beautiful bird in this forest. You are blessed with two colours…. I am ashamed of my ugliness.”

“No, No. You are wrong, my friend. I was thinking that I was the most beautiful bird in this forest till I saw the glorious beauty of the Peacock. I feel bad about myself now.”

The Crow, then, went to meet the Peacock. When he finally met him in a zoo, the Crow was amazed by the beauty of the Peacock. “O most beautiful bird on earth, you are truly fortunate to have these stunning colours on your body. Thousands of people come to see you and take your pictures!”

“If alone you knew how sad I am,” said the Peacock to the Crow, “Yes, I used to be proud of my beauty and dance. And, look what happened because of my beauty… They have put me in this prison… They have robbed my freedom. No Crow, I think, freedom is more important than beauty… And, you don’t know how fortunate you are!”

The Crow went back to his forest, and began to live happily, all over again.


That’s Bala’s plight in this movie. Like the Peacock, he was so filled with pride and danced, once. Yes, he was proud of his long, velvety hair and wooed girls in his school… He mocked at those who had dark skin and called them ‘Black Crows’… Yes, he continued to do it, till he began to lose his hair rapidly... And, then started his desperate quest to gain back his hair, and gain back his old charm and confidence. Like the Crow in this story, he went the full circle, all around the ‘forest’… only to feel that quiet sense of freedom, which came from self-acceptance… And, he realized how beautiful that feeling could be!






GERALD D’CUNHA


Pic.: www.desimatini.com

Video: Super Trailers

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