Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding.
- Ra'as Al Ghul in 'Batman Begins'
It's the shrug that does it.
He witnesses the stereotypical policeman with a fat belly approach the crouching raddiwallah, and not offer the poor blue-collar worker the simple courtesy of a question, but merely extend a calloused hand, asking for a bribe. He then watches the equally mute response of the raddiwallah, handing out a twenty, then another, then another until he is faced with the receding rump of the corrupt government servant.
For a second or maybe more, he feels anger. But with each step that takes him away from the scene he just witnessed, the anger lessens, as though being consumed by the earth beneath his feet that silently witnesses it all.
He shrugs. Ah well, it's not me.
He reads next morning's newspaper over his morning cup of corn flakes, with banner headlines proclaiming the deaths of innocents. Some chocolate-flavoured milk drips on to the table top; he clears it, turning the page only to see more updates of other news issues.
I am so out of it, he thinks.
He shrugs. Yeah, well, I have my own problems.
His first impulse is always a product of his conscience. His first impulse always says, "Have that guy arrested!" or "Report that offence!" Increasingly, however, that first impulse is being lessened in intensity by what his father, or his uncle, or his teacher used to call, being practical. Nowadays, when that first impulse boils his blood, he takes a moment, as his mentors used to say, to think. To think about his own life, his own goals and aspirations, and how pursuing the wildly impractical first impulse to its end will waste his time. Time that could have been spent achieving his goals, whatever they are. Already, the impulse is fading thanks to his focusing on the practicality of the situation, and he 'moves on', with another injustice forgotten, another injustice condoned.
In 'A Wednesday', Naseeruddin Shah, playing his part of the common man [of Laxman fame], highlights society's growing intolerance of all that is wrong. He plays the part of the common man who has finally decided to stop shrugging and start acting. But that begs the question: Has he?
6 comments:
"I am just a common man wanting to clean my house" he says in the movie..
A loud roar of applause echoed inside the theatre.. The same applause probably echoes inside everyone's heart... but fades away obviously because of "practicality"
To fight back, we should be ready to lose something, The common man just cannot afford to lose. Real life doesnt always have "happy endings"
Oh.. u watched it in the theater eh?
How true...
I think its not the terrorists but their mentality that needs to be nipped.....Though 'Wednesday' succeeded well to convey the intrinsic anger of "The stupid common man" ,unfortunately nothing was suggested to confront Terrorism as a whole.....with Pakistan and Bangladesh as our dearest neighbours...I think such an act of stupid common man (if at all it happens)will not only intensify the communal tensions but will also lead to future regimes of terrorism which will be more bloodier than what they are....Moreover major challenge in front of India,today,is not to kill terrorists but to curb terrorism..isn't it.....
I agree. But when you say that nothing was suggested to confront terrorism as a whole, do you agree that that wasn't the point of the movie?
Let's face it, as Savita said above, the real common man is too 'practical' to do such things, although he probably wishes to do them in that one moment when he sees them in the movie.
I agree that curing the disease and not the symptoms is the objective. But how should we? [As in, how should we eliminate the cause for someone to become a terrorist?]
we can do so to some extent by keeping a close eye on the madarsas for instance.....The police can also do a gr8 job by placing some "layman clothed" officers in Dharavi for instance to keep an eye on these anti-national activities.....Terrorists are created in our own country dear...They arent very alien to look rather more alien as far as outlook is concerned.....
That again becomes curing the symptoms, doesn't it? Terrorism, in my belief at least, is a symptom. And targeting terrorists doesn't seem to be working. You patrol Dharavi today, they shift their operation to Oshiwara.
Also, Dharavi makes a thriving business and the place generates a huge turnover. Read about it here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/dharavi-mumbai-slum/jacobson-text/1
As for madarassas, I am pretty sure all madarassas aren't bad.
My point is, there are good people in this world. How do you differentiate?
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