My Folly

Yesterday was one of those days when I realized my foolishness again… Yeah… again… There have been a lot of instances in recent times which uncovered the inklings of tardiness, boorishness and foolishness that I possessed. My prejudice about things kicked me on my face!!!!!!!!!!!


During my recent visit to IIM Bangalore on 23rd February, as I was awaiting my turn to get interviewed there were a couple of other fellow interviewees who were very much excited to tell me that Slumdog Millionaire won 8 Oscars. I downplayed it by saying that I was not wee bit impressed by the unnecessary and unwarranted hullabaloo about it winning the Oscars. I went to the extent of saying that it was a part of some clandestine shenanigans to usurp India’s new-found belief in herself and also the clout she has come to exhibit in recent past. I felt it was a ploy by the Westerners to malign India by depicting her underbelly and lull the foreign investment in India to sleep. When the fellow interviewees asked me if I saw the movie, I said that I didn’t see it and also did not intend to see it. I was convinced that this was not a movie to waste your time and resources on. This was accentuated by the fulsome criticism bestowed on it by some of the better known personalities of India. I became completely prejudiced and preposterous in my judgment. How wrong was I!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yesterday being a Friday, I was getting a bit bored and thought of watching a movie and guess what… I decided to watch Slumdog Millionaire. Movie started off nicely.. The narration was good… The intertwining of the past with the present was depicted pretty beautifully. There has been generous criticism for the scene depicting a shit-soaked kid running for Amitabh Bachchan’s autograph. I think that scene could have been avoided as I am sure no one even in the slums would like to soak oneself in that slimy-yellow-thing !!!! But, nevertheless, the circumstances leading to the scene were well justified and this actually set the tone for the movie. This showed that the kid could do anything to attain his dream. Hmm… Not bad until now.. I thought. Then started the adventure of ‘The Three Musketeers’ – Athos, Porthos and Aramis which was very well picturised and had liberal doses of emotion, humour and hope. If I were to look at the gist of the story, it was very much similar to that of the Man Booker Prize winning book – ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga. Ofcourse, the only difference being that Jamal Malik in Slumdog was clean as a crystal whereas Balram Halwai of The White Tiger had some greyish shades. Overall, I was impressed by the way the film moved on and the message it sent across. It had a message for all of us, yes, all of us. It showed how India has broken the shackles and has surged ahead in this competitive world. It has portrayed the resilience and the spirit of the Indians. It definitely was awe-inspiring. I am sure that anyone who saw this movie would have had goose-bumps when Jamal – the Chaiwala becomes a Crorepati. I am sure it would have. I guess everyone likes it when the underdog wins it. Because I think all of us can empathize with the underdog and I am sure many of us feel ourselves to be an underdog. I am not an exception either.

So, what is the lesson that I learn from all this… ? What does this prove once again? Well, this again proves how easily I get influenced by others’ views and how I become judgmental about things without a proper analysis. Hmm… time to change things. Hopefully, education at IIM might help me do that. But I have to wait for this until the results come out in April. Till then… Fingers crossed.