As if some one opened a secret window and I could peep at the 
kaleidoscopic beauty sprawled in front of me. While undergoing this interestingly unique experience I was surrounded by some very exotic combination of sound and music reverberating in the background. This was an uncommon opportunity provided by the film club at India Habitat Centre in form of a week long Film Festival showcasing the panorama of Indian regional culture through creative art movies.
What these ‘not so popular’ movies bring forth are some simple stories depicting the life of common men from the hinterlands of this extensive subcontinent, who possess an identity of their own. A special category ubiquitously distributed across the various sections of society, spanning through all the existing differentiations of caste or class and surpassing every geographical barrier. For whom life is a continuous struggle and every joy could thrive only in the shadow of some sorrow. Even the thought of leading ‘a beautiful life’ could suffice to make them qualify as insane. It is so ironical to realize that amidst all the promises of modernity and holistic development, struggle for a dignified life goes on incessantly. With all its paradoxical contrasts, that not so beautiful way of life still continues as the ‘tragedy of commons’…
In the backdrop of traditional culture and the rural landscape choreographed with lush green natural setting, these stories possesses an air of genuineness which makes it difficult to part away with them referring it just a work of art. For me, personally this festival holds great importance as it compliments my own understandings of this strange country which I have just begun through my own journeys across the length and breadth of this vast country. Moreover, these not so imaginary stories tells me that every life is inadvertently a story, whether one gets a chance to tell it or not, one nevertheless lives through it with its own share of struggles… Amitav Ghosh said in reference to his book The Glass Palace…'Every life leaves behind an echo that is audible to those who take the trouble to listen…' Now as I am here with all my time to listen, I hope one day there would be someone to listen to mine…
kaleidoscopic beauty sprawled in front of me. While undergoing this interestingly unique experience I was surrounded by some very exotic combination of sound and music reverberating in the background. This was an uncommon opportunity provided by the film club at India Habitat Centre in form of a week long Film Festival showcasing the panorama of Indian regional culture through creative art movies.What these ‘not so popular’ movies bring forth are some simple stories depicting the life of common men from the hinterlands of this extensive subcontinent, who possess an identity of their own. A special category ubiquitously distributed across the various sections of society, spanning through all the existing differentiations of caste or class and surpassing every geographical barrier. For whom life is a continuous struggle and every joy could thrive only in the shadow of some sorrow. Even the thought of leading ‘a beautiful life’ could suffice to make them qualify as insane. It is so ironical to realize that amidst all the promises of modernity and holistic development, struggle for a dignified life goes on incessantly. With all its paradoxical contrasts, that not so beautiful way of life still continues as the ‘tragedy of commons’…
In the backdrop of traditional culture and the rural landscape choreographed with lush green natural setting, these stories possesses an air of genuineness which makes it difficult to part away with them referring it just a work of art. For me, personally this festival holds great importance as it compliments my own understandings of this strange country which I have just begun through my own journeys across the length and breadth of this vast country. Moreover, these not so imaginary stories tells me that every life is inadvertently a story, whether one gets a chance to tell it or not, one nevertheless lives through it with its own share of struggles… Amitav Ghosh said in reference to his book The Glass Palace…'Every life leaves behind an echo that is audible to those who take the trouble to listen…' Now as I am here with all my time to listen, I hope one day there would be someone to listen to mine…
