Rags to Riches

Evey Indian dream is built by hope. Hope to survive through the meagre rations of life that Indians live by. Most are not blessed with abundance & do live the most neutral lifestyles.
Although, I agree that Slumdog Millionaire may have been a tad overdone in rags to riches story..it is not far from representing the significance of HOPE that we Indians have in us.

The story is beautifully crafted around a young man who represents a large section of Indian society, maybe not by his background, but surely by the experiences he goes through. He is the underdog, the guy who has to give up more in life to learn that he will have to fight for his rights if he believes he has them! Most Indians understand life to be REAL- always demanding to give up more than ask for, always being served less than the appetite... Indian lives are not about abundance but about rationing. Rationing emotions, rationing money, rationing food and even rationing space... we urbanites would understand that from very near.

It's unfair to say that the movie represents india as an underbellied nation, because our growth story is restricted to a certain section of society and the real problems stare us in the face even amongst all the "india shining'.

Beyond the actual story, the movie also mobilizes an emotion that some of us may have buried within us- the emotion of empathising with others, the core values of understanding the common stories around us and not being blinded by our abundant lives.

Being an urbanite all my life, the movie made me pause and look at my life from outside and appreciate the most natural components of food, water & shelter. My sensitive side has been rudely awakened by the stories that bring to life the realities of a lot of street children that I see every day of my life.

A small incidence today sums up the impact of this movie on my soul...
I was traveling by train to my workplace & was rudely interjected by a small hand roughly scratching my leg. I was lost in thoughts playing to the music in my ears and did not notice a street child begging me for money. Once shaken from my void, I see that she is accompanied by 2 blind boys who are singing praise of "Shirdi Sai Baba' in a bhajan that I recognize from a movie.
A flashback from the movie kills the positivity in me in that moment because I now KNOW the story behind the lives of these 3 children & many more like them.

I have to admit, the movie has made me human again.