Thank You Is Not Enough

To begin with let me first introduce myself. I am a miniscule part of a noble profession that exists to impart knowledge, with the aim of making a difference in the life of people around you. If it is still not clear, let me define it in very simple words – I am a Teacher.

My curriculum vitae says that I have done – B.A. Hons. (English), followed by a Post – Graduate Diploma in Corporate Communication & Event Management, I also possess the much coveted degree of MBA (Marketing & IT). My students often ask me, “Ma’am you are pretty well qualified, what made you join this profession?” Some of them even ask, “Did you not get placed elsewhere?” or “Is it because of the recession that you are here?”

To all these questions I have said that, “Oh!! I always wanted to be one”. Yes, I always wanted to be one, but we want many things in life. In Marketing they say that it’s actually the NEED and not just the want that makes the difference. And my graduation days made me realize that I NEED to be a part of this noble profession that Touches Life of People.

This realization sank into me when my life was touched so deeply by my Teachers at Shyama Prasad Mukherjee College (The College from where I did my B.A. Hons. (English))

I have always loved all my teachers but the attachment with teachers at SPM was one like never before. It was like a family. And it will be forever. Madhu Ma’am, Pamela Ma’am (we called them twin sisters), Alka Ma’am, Kamal Ma’am, Shashi Ma’am(names we always took together), Neeta Ma’am, Punita Ma’am, Geeta Ma’am, Shashi Khanna Ma’am, Usha Ma’am, Kusum Ma’am, Johnson Ma’am…. and all of them…. I had never in my life seen a bunch of Angels together, until I became part of The S.P.M. Family. All of them great at heart, mind, thought, action and soul. They were an embodiment of magnanimity. They had the capacity to show us the world beyond the lines given in the novel.

They taught us not just, how Maggie Tulliver was caught up in the shackles of male dominated society, or how “Ghashiram Kotwal” is still a part of our society or how “Through the Looking Glass” apart from being a work of Children’s Literature is also a Political Satire. This was just a small part of their gospel. They gave us something greater. They instilled in us “Strength of Character”. By the end of three years they ascribed to us every attribute that is required to become a noble protagonist for any novel.

The traits of “Strength of Character” include – always being kind to others, being patient, understanding things in a context and not just singularly, respect all thoughts because life is not just 3-D, there are many more dimensions to it, there are several ways of looking at the same thing – so appreciate everybody’s opinion, freedom of thought, freedom of action without hurting anyone.

Famine of words will dawn upon if I continue to write what I got from my Teachers. To encapsulate everything – they made us better human – beings.

This inspired in me a feeling that I should relay this torch of humanness further. The mantle of benevolence that my Teachers have given me I should pass it on further. That is when I decided to become a Teacher.

My dear Teachers I Thank You for everything you have given me. I am not, and can never be, as good and you are, but I’ll always try and be behind you.

- Geetanjali

P.S. – whenever I used to write something I used to mail it to Madhu Ma’am first. Sorry for writing this so late ma’am…. I miss you…..

“Mother of the pure unclouded brow & dreaming eyes of wonder,
Though time be fleet & I and thou are half – a – life – asunder,
Dearest Madhu Ma’am you are a great wonder,
Ma’am you are our sweet little Alice and we are your Black & White Kittens”

These lines were dedicated to our Dear Madhu Ma’am by our English (Hons.) batch, 2001 – 2004. The tears that flew down her eyes when we read out this title for her are still fresh in my mind.

Pinjar - Beyond Boundaries

Pinjar means Skeleton. It also means a Cage. The movie Pinjar talks about the dead skeleton of partition that we still carry with us it also talks about how even after this independence all of us are encaged in some Pinjar or another. The movie also talks about the all time relevance of all the themes it has targeted.

For a movie like Pinjar, it is the message that works. The message that needs to be spread throughout the country, throughout the world. This message is evident in the tagline of the movie. The movie goes “BEYOND BOUNDARIES” it has all time relevance throughout the world. Be it America, India, or Yugoslavia, it is a movie for the masses, movie made for one and all, movie that stands as a mirror in front of the society and shows the dead carcasses that it is carrying. It is a must watch movie for the over all development of the world.

Since it is a movie for the masses, therefore the choice of characters made by Mr. Cander Prakash Diwedi is also very apt. The characters that have been chosen are not those who remind us of stardom, rather they are characters which resemble a common man. Characters like Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bapai, Sanjay Suri, Sandali Sahni, Priyanshu and Esha Kopikar all of them fit in their respective roles in a beautiful manner.

Even the lights, sets, costumes, dialogues and songs take us back to the times of 1947.

Now one by one first we shall talk about the various themes that the movie explores and discuss how there is hardly any difference with what was the situation 61 years ago, because this is a story that had started since then and will become an unending saga if not controlled.

RICH CULTURAL UNITY:

Today’s generation can see that unity only in movies. It has become only a part of our imagination. But Pinjar has created for us those fine scenes of happiness, celebration, festivity and common struggle for a common cause. It showcases how life can be more peaceful and worthwhile had we lived together in peace. The beautiful scenes of festivity fall short of words when it comes to explaining.

But this glory was fading away with the days of independence coming near. Pinjar apart from exploring the rich cultural unity also talks about the trauma of partition.

PARTITION:

It was really unfortunate for India not to see the dawn of Independence together, when the entire nation fought for it for 200 long years together. It was a dream for many to see an Independent Nation but it was nightmare for even more to see two divided nations. When everybody should have united to celebrate for the land they had fought for, at the time of independence, one could see Hindus and Muslims two sons of the same mother unscrupulously killing each other.

It was in 1947 that one could clearly see the seeds of lust of power germinating, when, a handful of politicians, for satisfaction of their greed to hold power, let loose on the entire nation the dance of death.

It was because of this that the headline of newspapers on 15th August 1947 was not INDIA: AN INDEPENDENT STAR SHINES TO GLORY AT THE MID NIGHT OF 14TH AUGUST 1947; rather the National Herald Newspaper slapped the nation with headlines saying:

JINNAH WANTS INDIA PARTITON

• DEMANDS TWO AUTONOMOUS STATES.

• 25 LAKH NON MUSLIMS LEAVE WEST PUNJAB.

Pinjar- The Movie re-lives for us the same trauma of partition. It even shows the bizarre scenes of rape, massacre and plunder that were witnessed during the partition. It teaches that the entire melodrama that ensued revealed the weakness and shortsightedness of man who failed to understand the difference between political games and national unity.

HIT AT THE WOMEN:

At the time of independence man respected neither the motherland nor did the daughters of this motherland. Women were worst hit at the time of partition. They were raped, exploited and degraded.

In the movie we see that Puro (Urmila) and Lajo (Sandalli) and many more such women were carried away from their houses and were mentally, physically and sexually exploited. The animosity between the two religions was taken by exploiting the women of each religion. There were cases in which one women was raped by more than 10 men each day.

Such inhuman deeds still are a part of our society. Hardly a day goes when newspapers do not carry news of rapes and molestation the rate has only increased.
Therefore, all this make Pinjar a movie that had started 57 years earlier and still continues to run, and will continue further if nothing is done to control this savage human instinct.

PENDING GENERATIONAL SCORES:

Pinjar the movie also talks about the scores that existed between two communities three generations earlier. When Rashid (Manoj Bajpai) abducts Puro (Urmilla) he tells her that:

“Tere dada ke ladke ne mere dadi ki ladki ko teen din zabardasti apne ghar mei Rakha”

And this is the reason why Rashid picks up Puro (who was soon going to get married) and keeps her at his place for 15 days, and consequently for her entire life, because after that she is a burden for her family. They refuse to accept her. Puro’s (Urmila’s) mother and father ask her to leave if she wants her rest of the family to survive. Poor girl has no other option but to live with Rashid (Manoj Bajpai).

And if one goes deep into the society one will find out that such thing is very much a part of our society. Therefore Pinjar becomes a movie that is the mouthpiece of society.

IDENTITY CRISIS OF A GIRL:

The change of name of Urmila in the movie from Puro to Hameeda is not a simple change. It is much more than that. It is a change of religion, a change of faith, a change of personal identity. And no matter how much she tried to rub-off that name from her wrist it is very much a part of her. Her personal self contradicts the self that has been imposed on her, but she is forced to live in that very imposition.

This scene in the movie is highly significant. It shows that a woman undergoes a complete change of personality. Regardless of what she wants she is forced to do what her husband wants her to do. Pinjar portrays all this with acute sensitivity.

GENERATION GAP:

As said earlier the movie raises multiple themes Generation Gap that exists in our society is very much talked about in the movie. One can clearly see the difference in the thinking of Rashid (Manoj Bajpai) and his uncle who instigates him to abduct Puro (Urmila), and also between Priyanshu (Puro’s brother) and his father, for whom Puro is nothing but a dead memory.

This also brings us to a very important point in the movie i.e. every human being was encaged in the hypocritical norms of the society. Each wanted to act differently but was acting all together different due to societal pressure. Puro’s father wants to take her daughter back but he knows the society around will discard him if he keeps her anymore with him. Her brother wants to fight for her, get her back but is also encaged by the society. Similarly, Rashid (Manoj Bajpai) does not want to abduct her but still does because his community wants him to do so.

All the themes that I have talked about are very much a part of our society. And Pinjar has the potential to shake the common man into realization of what is happening around him.

The Night Of Solitude

All of us face a time in our life when we feel all alone - when we feel that we are being subject to suffering which no one else has faced. That time seems to be ceaseless. NO words can define the trauma of that time. Only the person who faces such a time knows what all he/she goes through. Fear, Insecurity, Despair, Frustration, Helplessness are just a few words to define such a situation.

Sabke mann mein bas ek hi baat aati hai, "Mere saath aisa kyu hua? Maine kisi ka kya bigada tha jo mujhe ye sab dekhna pada?" But the irony of the situation is that there is no one to answer this question in the night of Solitude.

All that I want to communicate thru this blog is that people you are not the only ones to face this tragedy of life. All of us have our own share of sorrows & happiness. But the only thing is that we get so lost in our Solitude that we feel that we are the only one.

I have also had my own share of solitude and I believe that this solitude is just like a night. Not the normal one. When I say normal I mean the cozy nights when we have a sound sleep. The Nights of Solitude are those nights in which we have a bed to sleep, we are tired as well, we are dying to sleep - but ironically this Solitude never lets us sleep. We simply keep rolling in our bed in the lap of our fear waiting impatiently for the night of Solitude to get over.

And believe me when this night gets over nature greets you with a Beautiful Morning. A Morning that makes you feel "jo hua achey ke liye hua" - a Morning that is made for you - a Morning that you rightly deserve.

This prose - cum - poem was written by me in one of my nights of solitude :)

OH THIS SOLITUDE!

In the darkness of this night,
In it’s quititude,
I realize how alone I am,
That there is no one with whom I can talk and say
What my heart really feels.
In the stillness of this night I realize the emptiness lurking in my heart.
There is so much in my heart which I want to speak,
Pour out with a great gush,
But this solitude reminds me that you are alone,
All alone…
The liveliness of the day has gone, passed away,
And this cloudy night without moon, without stars reminds me that there are no more of your mother’s caresses for you, no more of your father’s pampering, brother’s teasing, friend’s gossiping, no more…. nothing but your solitude.
Solitude- the very word haunts me,
It scares me.
I feel like running away from it,
Run to someone who’ll fill this emptiness of my heart.
But again I know that I am alone.
All have left me, all my friends.
The void inside me is so deep that I can’t even pray to my god,
I can’t concentrate,
Because all the time I am aware that I am alone
Alone, yes alone I’ll fight my loneliness,
Only if I get some strength
Away, away you night pass away,
Come, come you beautiful morning come my way,
Enter my life, guide me and tell me that my future is secure
Take away all my fears that have come with the coming of this night and its solitude….
******

My night of Solitude did end and I was embraced by a Beautiful Morning and I am sure that your nights of solitude will end too. I wish that God gives you the strength to face your night of Solitude and He grants you the patience to wait for the Beautiful Morning that you rightly deserve.
May God Bless All Of You!!!
:)

Introducing Myself to the Bloggers' World!!!

Introductions I am giving since I was in class Nine,
Writing a prose for myself is what I have done for a long time.
So I decided to change my style,
This time for myself I wrote a rhyme.

I started participating in various activities since class TWO,
Starting from debates, to dramatics, to speeches in which I had to speak Impromptu.
But my dear friends this was not the end,
From participating I soon jumped to organizing events,
Being a budding manager I'll spare you by not giving details of them.

Activity certificates were many, but marks were less.
At the end of the year I always found myself in a mess.
But my aspirations were Many and determination was High,
Day in and day out I aspired to fly.

Proceeding with my CAREER I took up a Dramatic Course,
In which I had to study: Keats, Byron and Wordsworth.
Here I developed a complete understanding of each and every
Situation plus Emotion
And with this confidence I moved forward to pursue:
Management of Business Administration

This was my complete story,
And now you all may know that:
I AM GEETANJALI BHANDARI