WHAT IS VERY, VERY GOOD LIVES VERY, VERY LONG




“A river cuts through rock not because of its power;

but, because of its persistence.”

– James Watkins

 

What is good –- I mean very, very good –- lives very, very long. Fads and jingoism, no matter how viral you make them in today’s world of reels, hello, I am telling you – all the Gen -z’s and Gen Alpha or whatever that is… Yes, focus on being good, creating good stuff that really lives long… not for the next twenty-four hours… Do it in such a way, that just the word of mouth spreads your work – and you – through generations…

Old school? Outdated advice?

On this birthday of mine (24/7), I decided take a day off from my daily grind of teaching, writing etc. We cooked some fine delicacies and decided to have the birthday lunch at the residence of an elderly uncle and aunt. They were thrilled… and to see the joy in their hearts was extremely fulfilling for us…

From there, we proceeded to watch ‘Odyssey’ at the iconic cinema hall –- ‘Eros’ at Churchgate.

I hadn’t been to Eros after its renovation. What a beauty it is now! Started sometime in 1935 by the Parsi family (Cambata family), this cinema house has endured the test of time even in today’s multiplex obsession… The old charm is intact… The experience of watching a movie here is sublime!

After the movie, around 8 p.m., we decided to have our birthday dinner at the newly-opened The Rameshwaram Café. Now, let me tell you this: The young couple – Raghavendra and Divya Rao -- had started this South Indian café in Bangalore just about five years ago (2021). They, soon, opened their branches in Hyderabad, Pune and Mumbai. To me, it’s the maiden experience… As the banana leaves were waiting to be filled with their amazing delicacies, I wondered: “Will this restaurant, housed in the very Eros Building (earlier known as ‘Cambata Building’) live through the test of time? A hundred years later, would our grandchildren say this: “Hey, they are a heritage breed”?






As a strange coincidence, we had chosen to watch Christopher Nolan’s labour of love –- ‘Odyssey’. More than the movie, I was thinking about the passion and commitment of this man… He has to his credit just some fourteen movies, including Batman series and Odyssey. Yes, just fourteen movies… He doesn’t seem obsessed to expand his empire like Mughals. Agreed, Nolan has created this in a time of social media and reels. But, Sir, it is his passionate work –- the uncompromising dedication to his craft –- that has been helping him to make his movies iconic…

Finally, I was thinking aloud of Homer –- who wrote those two poems ‘Iliad’ and ‘Odyssey’ –- more than 850 years before Christ. How often we use the phrase ‘Latin & Greek’ to describe a stuff we do not understand! And, think of this Greek stuff… the long, long poems… Have we understood them? Loved them? Lived them?






What is good –- I mean, very, very good –- lives very, very long. Yes, that’s what I wanted to say in this Post…

Gen Z’s and Gen Alpha’s will come and go, will come and go…

go, will come and go…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: 1. Travel+Leisure  2. curlytales.com  3. 

Video: Universal Pictures

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BUT, NOT INTO EACH OTHER'S KEEPING...

Image
"If you can not love yourself, You can not love another.” I meet many young college students who are head-over-heals in relationship. They call it ‘Love’. One of the most difficult things to deal with in such relationship, for most of them, is: the desperate clinging of the other partner. “Why didn’t you call? Why didn’t you meet? Where did you go? What did you do? Who was there with you? Why can’t we go out? Why did you wear this? Why did you go there? Why? What? When? Who? Where? Whose?... Yes, all the possible ‘W’s’ in the world. Yes, in the world of our ‘Love Birds’. What starts as some romantic sweet-nothings, now is marred with endless probing, judging, accusing, blaming, sulking, fighting and pain. Most of them are unprepared to deal with this volatile shift… They end up hurting each other; more importantly, they end up hurting themselves. They begin to wonder: Where has all the sweetness gone? Why am I feeling so lonely now? Why is this suffocation? This fear? T...
Read more

THE SPANISH DANCE

Image
I remember reading this little story, many years ago. It was in Shiv Khera’s famous book: ‘YOU CAN WIN’. A man had a dog with an unusually special gift: he could run over water! Now, what a special gift that was, in deed! This man, obviously, felt proud about his gifted dog… and many, many people complimented him on it. He, undoubtedly, felt good about it. Then, one day, this man happened to meet an old, dear friend. He wanted to show this friend the special talent of his dog and took him along for hunting. They went to the countryside. There, he proudly demonstrated to his friend the unique talent of his dog. Every time he shot down a bird from the sky, the gifted dog, like a missile, would speed over the water, and fetch back the bird to his master. It happened repeatedly. “Did you see, my friend?” the man asked with immense pride. “Yes, I did?” replied the friend. “What did you see?” the man wanted to be reassured. “That, your dog can not swim!” Last night, I proudly ...
Read more

THEY NEED SUN, NOT TOO MUCH SHADE

Image
      “And stand together yet not too near together: For, the pillars of the temple stand apart And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s company.” Kahlil Gibran in ‘The Prophet’ I n his remarkable book, ‘The Prophet’, Kahlil Gibran’s famous lines might have been in response to the request – “Master, say something about Marriage”… Yes, it might have been used to emphasize on the need for ‘space’ in marital relationships… yet, in a larger context, ‘space’ is a universal thirst in every kind of relationship… You see, humans cannot grow in shade… They get suffocated, and die! In our summer programme on Personality Development, we, always, hold the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’ first. The reason: a healthy self-esteem is the foundation for the healthy development of one’s personality… During the Workshop on ‘Self-esteem’, the facilitator (Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati) helps the participants to reflect on the major parental messages that impact s...
Read more
THE WILD, WAYSIDE FLOWERS
There is, always, something extra-ordinary in the wild, wayside flowers...