DARK AND STORMY NIGHT RELOADED

It was a dark and stormy night...

No, it wasn’t; I just wanted to get your attention, alright?

Besides, I didn’t want you to be mad,

And get slapped with suits of copyright.

So, it was a bright sunny day,

When I met two young men.

I didn’t add a rhyme there;

Figured they might for it not care.

Two young men in some ways alike,

Their characters to me as funny did strike.

They had a way with words;

They swore and they cursed.

They called each other names,

But mutual admiration they shared.

A poor outsider like me, couldn’t be

One of them even if I dared.

One named the other a looker,

The other called the former a…

Both loved weird cinema;

Watching them discuss it was an operatic drama.

Poor little me

Was stuck in their company.

One was blatant in his mockery, while the other’s

Subtle sarcasm made me want to flee.

But it was late at night

And I couldn’t go home,

So I stayed on,

And held my own.

One a joker,

The other a philosopher;

Amidst them me,

A novice drinker.

They wanted to get me drunk;

Buying me drinks one by one.

But alas, their evil plans did not succeed,

I was high; not dumb.

Then the stormy night

Turned into day.

(I lied; when I met them,

Sunlight indeed was away.)

The night had been interesting;

During its course we discussed,

Issues of movies, women,

Politics and trust.

As day emerged from the night’s loop,

One’s eyelids did begin to droop.

The other still trilled on like a flute;

He was excited about his shoot.

The first time I met them by the river;

This time, I said goodbye on the street.

Both times dusk gave way to dawn,

And I went home, stifling a yawn.

Contradictions!

So they say 'Make hay while the sun shines'. But they also say 'Think before you leap'. Okay, so it isn't the best analogy to serve as point and counterpoint. But here's the thing: us humans are a confused lot. Why? Here's why.

How many movies must we have watched wherein the guy falls in love with a girl thinking she's the 'one', but who eventually turns out to be all wrong for him? Who's the right girl for him? His not-so-glamorous best friend, of course. He realises his mistake, and guy and best friend live happily ever after. Now consider this scenario (Note - this scenario is more likely in TV shows): Guy falls in love with girl. Guy asks girl out. Girl says yes, but then things don't work out. OR, girl says no for one of various reasons (career/family/personal morals, etc. etc.) So guy, after moping around for a while, gets over it, and finally finds someone else, someone he's 'truly' happy with. Until he finds out that the 'first' love is real, the current one is, much though he would like to deny it, a sort of consolation. So back he goes to the first love, and now they live happily ever after.

So my question is this: Which of the scenarios does one believe? Or are we just supposed to decide that based on who the 'hero' and 'heroine' of the movie/serial are, and accordingly be happy for the end, whichever way it may go?

This is what I wrote in my SOP: George Eliot asks in Adam Bede, “How is it that the poets have said so many fine things about our first love, so few about our later love?” If she were alive today, I’d have liked to propose a plausible answer to her. Poets talk only about the first love because it is the most intense, the most uncorrupt, the most sacred and the most powerful love. If a person is lucky, that love will stay with them for the rest of their lives. If not, they will learn to love again. But never will they forget that first love.

But how about when Ryan Erikson (no idea who he is, but makes a lot of sense!) says: "The road to finding 'the one' is paved with a bit of promiscuity."

Having said that, though, I come back to the same point I made earlier. Which is correct? Which do you believe?

Confusing, us humans!

Just saying – A contrarian view

I disagree. More often than not, I disagree with the views of those around me (not in general, but in a particular area of my life). Do I disagree to get attention? Do I disagree to irritate them? Much as they might like to believe that is the real reason, the boring truth is, they’re not important enough for me to go through all that trouble.

I like Ajay Devgn and Sunny Deol. I think they’re both hot. I like Uday Chopra, I think he seems like a sweet guy. I love Govinda. I have seen very few do comedy as well as him and I think he’s very endearing. In fact, I think he is a good actor, period (cue movies like Khuddar, Jaisi Karni Waisi Bharni and Shikari, but I’m guessing they haven’t watched any of them). I think Abhishek Bachchan is a fabulous actor. I just wish he’d choose his movies more wisely. They think he looks like a ‘mali’ and can’t act to save his life. In fact, they don’t like any of them. That’s fine. Completely. But do I really need to justify time and again why I like them? Maybe it’s because I had a different kind of exposure growing up. Or maybe my head is just screwed on the wrong way. Either way, why does it matter if I disagree? It doesn’t make me contrarian. Incidentally, if they rolled down the tinted glass windows of their air-conditioned cars, they’d realise I am not the one whose views differ. They need to just step out of the car, and look around them, look at the rest of India — the real India — and I think they will have their answer. Because, as a professor never tired of reminding us, “The three per cent English speakers in this country are not the real India. You are not the real India.”

So when a filmmaker makes a mindless comedy, it’s not for them. When a certain director makes movie which are about ‘loving your parents’ and people actually appreciate it (including me, of course), they shouldn’t be mortified. When someone makes a movie and casts Govinda in it, it is not for them. It is for people like me.

Oh, I also am a propagator of Communism for India and they disagree. But that’s a topic for another day.