NEEDLE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA




“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.

If you are attentive, you will see it."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

 

Of the many movies presently running in the cinema halls, here in Mumbai, I wanted to watch these two:

1.  ‘Ramayana’

2.  ‘Pyre’

I am sure, you haven’t heard of ‘Pyre’. This morning, when I was talking to my Tai Chi friends, I mentioned, that I had watched the movie a few days ago, alongside my wife.

None of them had heard about this movie…

And, how would they?

The man who created this film, Vinod Kapri, had done it with a small budget, with actors who had never acted before -- some locals from the mountains of Uttarakhand. It’s a touching story of an elderly couple… about their loneliness… their anxiety about death…

Somewhere inside the viewers, the film struck an emotional chord… Yes, most of us were relating the story of the couple to our own selves…

Well, Kapri had put his every penny on line… Maybe, he has recovered it; maybe, he hasn’t. But, the film has bagged several international awards…

And, money? Yes, “Show me the money”… Are we asking this?






And, look at the other movie  -– ‘Ramayana’…  in 2D and 3D… a dozen shows in every cinema hall, in every part of the world… We are told, that they have pumped about 4,000 crores to make it… and, I think, they have already recovered it…

And, the story?

We all grew up with this story… Set in a period when a sage wrote it with a feather… Leave alone today’s VFX and its brothers and sisters…

The story has survived the test of time… Empires have risen and fallen… But, story of Ram and Ravan has lived in our hearts…

I am going to watch it tomorrow…

Why, but? Don’t I know the story?





Yes, I knew the story of the old couple, too… That’s a real one in today’s world… When I and my brothers left home when our parents were young, and when they were old and ailing, we remained far away… And, that’s how we, too, are going to feel when our own children (if at all we have any!) leave us alone when we become old and sick…

It's a haunting story… a real one… But, it won’t make a lot of money at the box office –- as ‘Pyre’ proves.

Today, towards the end of the Tai Chi session, our teacher, Rakesh Menon, was guiding us through a familiar movement… I had been hearing about the name of this movement from him in every Tai Chi session. But, today, I pointed my right hand deep down when our teacher said –- ‘Needle at the bottom of the sea’… yes, when I did that, I froze for a moment… I was asking:

“Have I been trying to find my happiness like that –- yes, just like trying to find the needle at the bottom of the sea?

I think, in the frantic pursuit of happiness, what we seem to be blind to is the needle of happiness that lies right below our noses… right here and now…

 

GERALD D’CUNHA

 

Pic’s: www.newsdrum.in

Video: 1. Mashakbeen and Bhagirathi Film  2. Sony Pictures Entertainment

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