This must the nth time I’m asking this. But, what IS life? Those of you, who’ve read my blog since the beginning, know that this is one question that I keep popping up every now and then. This didn’t help either.
How do you know it when you love someone? Take your parents. It’s inherent in you to love them. The same is with your siblings and the rest of the family. Your pets... You coochie-coo your dog and what-not your cat. I wouldn’t know, coz you cant coochie-coo fish. But, you say that you love your dog/cat. You speak with affection whenever you speak of it. Why? Coz its ‘Oh so cute!’, or something like that? Hmmm?
When do you realise that one particular person is special in your life?
You OUGHT to watch the movies Before sunrise and Before sunset.
It’s not your everyday romantic flick. Two strangers, characters named Jesse and Celine, happen to meet on a train, en route from Budapest, Hungary, to Vienna, Austria (No, it is NOT your Hollywood ‘Jab we met’. Bah!). They spend an evening together and wait till the early hours of the next morning to say good bye.
They arrive at Vienna. They walk around and see places, all the time talking and exchanging their views on life, love, friendship, people, the society, you name it. And as the day dawns, they part ways without exchanging phone numbers or any contact details, promising to meet again in exactly six months at the same place.
Cut to nine years later.
Jesse Wallace is married and now a father. He’s a successful author of a book he wrote on the one night he spent with a French woman in Vienna. The opening scene is at a book store in Paris, France, where the story eventually unfolds. Celine chances upon his picture on the store calendar a month earlier and turns up at the time when he’s giving a little press conference on his book at the store. He sees her. They start walking to a café. They start talking. He learns that she’s into Green Cross, an environmental organisation. They keep talking and realise how messed up their lives are. He tells her that he feels like he’s running a small nursery with someone whom he used to date. She says that men go out with her, then break up, and then THEY get married... later call to thank her for teaching them what love is and tell her that she taught them to care and respect women. She’s frustrated. She says that the concept of ‘the love of your life’ is absurd; the idea that we can only be complete with another person is evil.
You see that, even though the elapse of time is evident, their meeting each other nine years earlier and the time they spent with each other back then is fresh in their minds. The movie shows in a subtle, yet in a beautiful way, how you can never be sure if what you decide to do in life is right... how things once you miss in life are seemingly truly gone... how beautiful sometimes the ways of life are... how you never know who the right person is. The illogicality of certain notions in life...
Wonderful movies they are. My 'aunt-recommended-movie' movies.
I implore upon you to watch them. It’s a dialogue driven movie. You have to listen and understand. You tend to relate to it. You tend to draw parallels to it. The scripts for both the movies are superbly and thoughtfully written.
Jesse’s character is played by Ethan Hawke. Celine’s by Julie Delpy. Exceptional performance by them.
A must watch.
:)
So, what is life again?
Dear “Hindustan”,
8 years ago
