Incompleteness
Now that I am allowed to indulge in daydreaming ( an old habit, which understandably didn’t meet the approvals of my school teachers) I ponder on what were the most interesting stories / legends / movies, I can quote / mention when I am asked that question. The surprising realisation is that, ones, which concluded with love struck people or infatuated pairs, going their separate ways and not living together happily ever after, the ones which usually make one sigh and wipe a moist eye, are the ones which immediately pop up in my mind. With more wisdom lines now to go with my grey thatch, I almost blurt “ thank God” when watching / reading such. Surprised ?
I think this Zen realisation actually has something to do with me being an in- the – middle born person amongst siblings.
If you too are one such person, then you should be familiar with the non- raised eyebrows on each of your achievements. Some elder sibling has already stood first in class, yet another has won debates, being selected in school teams is passé, and in some families some sibling has even fractured an arm or leg even before you could tell the difference between arm and leg. All peaks for that age appear to be conquered, one just cannot do / achieve anything new !
One therefore escapes into fantasy land…..become the hero in each movie one saw, but….there is a catch. All the happy ending ones have the hero marrying his love and settling down…no more adventures, no more forks in the road…..but one wants the story to continue…..so ?
One chooses incomplete stories, the ones where the hero rides away into the sunset without commitment, with possibilities of further adventure, and the delicious prospect of finding yet another person to fall in love with. Who wants the hero to settle down ??
The other day, I was watching lagaan. Yes, for the 6th time in the last 10 years. It was quite fascinating to watch the British lass admitting that she , a friendless girl on a foreign strand, was infatuated with a country bumpkin. And yes, the yokel appeared quite happy that a gora memsaab actually liked him and that he wouldn’t mind teaming up with her as long as mom was around to make rotis! But that is a chauvinistic view.
Just imagine what would have happened in the near future. She would have been searching for a toilet with a roof each day, while Bhuvan would have been visiting nearby villages trying to drum up support for an IPL, amidst draught or famine ! However, with each going his/ hers separate way, you have this rather delicious image of her sighing amidst a rain drenched inherited ruin called a British home, dreaming of a tanned brawny youth and of Bhuvan asking his local sweetheart to avoid the harsh Sun , so that she could at least look like the gori of his dreams !
Let me take you back even further. What if Krishna had actually tied the knot with Radha ? Wouldn’t Radha have nagged him to cavort around the trees each day , whilst all that Krishna was interested in was to manipulate people / events in his own understanding of right and wrong ? We , the denizens of subsequent kalyug might have been chanting the rasleela instead of the Gita !
Or for the non desi you, grown up on a diet of Hollywood movies, let us relook at the unkempt reporter in Rome in “Roman Holiday”. Every time I watched that movie, it wasn’t Gregory Peck attempting to hold that moment for ever, when the would be queen disappears from his view, it was me ! If, rather foolishly that reporter and the princess had tied the knot, can you imagine them living in Rome on a reporter’s monthly pay check ? Also, wouldn’t she have got bored, washing his clothes and trying to hide some money for the rent, which otherwise he would have gambled away.
Closer home, try and imagine Anarkali as the consort of the shahanshah of India! Her contribution to diplomacy, in the future ? Item numbers , when Salem called other rulers for a conclave ? One can fall off the chair, laughing .
Convinced ?
No?
Let us take a slightly recent movie – Barfi.
Lucky him, blissfully unaware of how an irritated Bengali lady can sound !
But, can you ever imagine him living happily with Mrs Sengupta of Dover lane Kolkata ? No cycles to ride, no marriage processions to lead, no friendly policeman to con. And she ? She would have won every argument, just by shutting her eyes after speaking her mind. Hilarious, isn’t it ?
On a more serious vein, there is a certain macabre pleasure, a sort of raw joy in incompleteness. Maybe it appeals to the creator in you, as a fertile mind can conjure umpteen possibilities for sequels. Maybe, it does not satiate the pleasure centres completely. Or, maybe one wants to retain the last image of faces and bodies, as in their prime – no double chin, no wrinkles, toothless smiles, but as with sparkling eyes, no bald patches, the disobedient lock of hair falling over one eyebrow…..
Or maybe, it leaves the “ in-between” born , something to do ?!
