The Jumbo moment

 

Charles Dickens born today

 

Lest We Forget the Frontier Gandhi

 

Arthur Ashe Remembered

 

East meets West

 

Stars of the Game

 

Movies and Patriotic Memories

The first feeling that a land needs to fight against an enemy for its existence happened to me while watching the movie Omar Mukhtar - The Lion of the Desert. The movie had one of the stellar performances of Anthony Quinn. Initially, I thought that the man who played the titular hero is a Libyan but later I realised that it is a gift which Anthony Quinn possessed. Like Mohanlal, he had the gift of ‘Parakaya Prevesha’. He can transform into that character naturally. I remember Anthony Quinn playing the part of Zorba the Greek (based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis who is also the author of the book - The Last Temptation of Christ) which again made me believe that he is a Greek. As a child, I have always felt sad watching the death of Omar Mukhtar in the hands of the Italians. 

In 2006, I left India for Libya for a teaching assignment. Finally, I landed on the soil where Omar Mukhtar fought the Italians and died. When the Royal Jordanian flight took off from the Delhi Airport, tears welled up in my eyes as the Delhi airport and the city faded away. I felt I was moving away from something which was mine. Is this a feeling of patriotism? I don’t know. Upon arrival, we were given 1000 dollars as salary advance. The University took some time for processing our papers and our regular salary was delayed. I and my friend decided to involve the Indian Embassy in this matter. We decided to visit the Indian Embassy in Tripoli and I remember standing outside the embassy and looking at the fluttering tricolour atop the building. Both of us stood there and we saluted the flag. Libyans were strangely looking at us. Is this a sign of patriotism? I don’t know. 

I left for Libya from Chennai, a place famous for its varieties of dosai and the tricolour chutneys. In Libya, getting Indian rice was difficult and we had to visit the few Pakistani stores in the capital to gather our grocery items. The only rice that was available was the Egyptian rice. One fine morning, I got up after dreaming about dosai. They were flying in the air like UFOs. That was a sure sign that I missed my land and its food. The best part of my stay in Libya was when I visited the Omar Mukhtar University and I felt that a circle in life was completed. The movies which made me patriotic are Gandhi, Lakshya Lagaan, and Rang De Basanti. I have also felt sad watching the Malayalam flick 1921, which is based on the Malabar Rebellion. Recently one movie which kindled in me the spirit of patriotism was Manto, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and directed by Nandita Das. Movies like Manikarnika featuring the ‘intellectual actor’ Kangana Ranaut fails to inspire me. They are nothing but propaganda and cinema is used as a medium to propagate an agenda. We all stand up and respect our country and the national anthem inside a movie theatre. I sometimes compare the way I stood in that scorching afternoon in Tripoli saluting the Indian flag and the air-conditioned ambience inside the theatre. One was spontaneous and the other one is part of a ritual.

100 Years of Chauri Chaura

 

Kathak master

 

The Anna magic

 

Inspector Wallander

 

140th Birth Anniversary of James Joyce

 

Philip Seymour Hoffman remembered

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Remembering Kalpana Chawla

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