Saturday, February 16, 2008

Taare Zameen Par and a chat

There is a scene in the film Taare Zameen Par in which it is diwali and everyone except Ishaan is celebrating. Some kids tease him saying that since he is being sent to boarding school he must be feeling very scared. Ishaan is in tears and its evident that it really is so. But to prove the boys wrong he picks up a cracker and lights it in his hand and shouts "Mujhe darr nahi lagta!".

The reason because of which this scene stayed with me was because it reminded me of a chat I had with a friend a long time ago. We were discussing how almost all of us have two different faces. One which cries when hurt and another by which we project ourselves as cool and strong however difficult the situation.

Whenever our second face takes charge we are able to refrain from confessing to anyone how unprepared and inadequate we may be feeling at that moment to solve our problems. Despite our misgivings we are willing to bear the albatross alone as we do not wish to take any help which we believe would be a sign of weakness. But there are instances when we do break down and end up giving others a peek into our true emotions. My friend said that this happens because we are unable to keep the two faces separate.

Is it really possible to keep the two sides independent of each other? Wouldn't one of them always dominate us?

What would happen if we could master this art? Would it give us an edge over others? Would we still be real or become artificial?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

A wise thought... !
Mastering such an art is indeed a tough ask. However said that, it is certainly not impossible. I believe it has got more to do with the other characters involved.
A crude example - a child and a mom. The poor kid, stands and looks with selfish eyes at the confectioner's window. The mother, knows he wants it. Here it really doesn't matter how good the child is at keeping the two faces different (and mind you - children practice this art more than any grown up does). The mother would always see through !
Taking the same example for the so called 'grown ups' there would certainly be some characters involved in everyone's lives, who would 'see through' both the faces.
Nevertheless, worth trying - the face double :-)

PS: Thanks Tuhina !