LIGHTS, CAMERA AND PUBLISH!

RABINDRANATH TAGORE: A Documentary by Satyajit Ray

The documentary details the life and work of the celebrated Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941). It was made to celebrate Tagore's birth centenary in May 1961. As said in an interview, "Ray was conscious that he was making an official portrait of India's celebrated poet and hence the film does not include any controversial aspects of Tagore's life". The film comprises dramatized episodes from the poet's life and archived images and documents.

Even though it was a black and white film, the nature was depicted in a beautiful manner. The use of various tones has been done very wisely in order to depict that emotion/vibe. The scenes of boy Rabi (Rabindranath Tagore) in his twenties are the most exciting and quite moving. The tying of Rakhi between the Hindus and Muslims before the partition of Bengal spreads the message of love and unity.

What I found the most inspiring was Rabindranath's last message before he died. It said, "a crisis in civilization" and I think that just as much it was applicable to that time, it is applicable today as well. In that time, the crisis was referred to the wars and today it is related with the man's never ending greed for more resources.

---

SADGATI: By Satyajit Ray

Sadgati tells a grim story of a tanner (chamar), an untouchable who is exploited so much by the Btahmin (upper caste) that it ultimately leads to his death..

The plot of the story starts when Dukhi went to the priest to get him to announce an auspicious date for his daughter, Dhania's marriage. Little did she know that her father was never going to return. It shows the vicious face of the so called upper castes who thought so great of themselves that they did not even cremated the corpse of the tanner; instead the Brahmin dropped it heartlessly amidst the decaying carcass of cattle in the outskirts of the village.

This movie took me back to the era where caste system was so rigid in the common life of pepole. This is the reason why Dr. B.R. Ambedkar fought so hard for the rights of dalits.

The story of Sadgati was written almost one hundred years ago. The film itself was made 40 years ago. But even today, the evil shadow of untouchability and caste crimes hover over us.

---

HOMELESS TO HARVARD

I believe, as Robert Frost has written, that persistent people begin their success where others end in failures. Here is a story of persistence. By believing in herself, the brave Liz Murray, a young teenager, triumphed over insurmountable odds.

Homeless to Harvard tells the moving story of a young girl brought up in the most hostile environment for any child. Despite the many challenges, including the poverty and addiction that consumed her parents’ lives through much of her childhood, Murray taught us to be grateful for whatever we have. Liz's story is a lesson of hard work, forgiveness, optimism, self-confidence and living in the present. She realized that there was another, better world which was different from the one she was living. "Believe in yourself and you can conquer the world".

There is a famous saying that "opportunity knocks the door of the prepared". Sometimes life might be too depressing but we have to understand that there are people who are fighting tougher battles than us. I think the movie serves as a great inspiration for everyone to keep on reaching for their dreams regardless of their situation.

---

TED TALKS

1. Embrace the shake:

It is an inspiring story of Phil Hansen who found his way back to becoming an artist even though he couldn't draw a simple circular dot or straight line. This 10 min video summarised his whole life and taught us that "Embracing a limitation could actually drive creativity".

All my life, as an artist I have been told to think outside the box but this video made me realize that we first need to conquer every possibility that is there inside the box in order to blow it up and come outside. We first need to be limited in order to become limitless.

What Hansen thought to be the 'Ultimate limitation', it turned out to be the 'Ultimate liberation'. Another thing that I learnt from this video is "learning to let go", let go of outcomes, failures, and imperfections. We all have imperfections but embracing them is what makes us stronger.

2. Art with wire, sugar, chocolate and string:

Vik Muniz makes art from pretty much anything, be it shredded paper, wire, clouds or diamonds. He was never a fan of iconoclasm instead he wanted to work with objects that had identity conflicts. One of his works that I really appreciated was the 'Half Tombstone' which was for people who are not dead yet. I believe that his artworks are not only creative but also have a bit of humor in them.

Muniz says that he doesn't want to create perfect illusions instead he works with the lowest threshold of illusion. This video taught me that you don't always have to draw people's perceptions but draw what's in their subconscious mind. It is not about fooling somebody, it's actually giving somebody a measure of their own belief how much they want to be fooled.

---