Commedy Of Errors

Comedy of Errors

The great playwright, Shakespeare, would not have written the famous play ‘comedy of Errors’, had he been born in the 21^st century, according to my knowledge and experience. We have stepped into the 21^st century that is blessed with the information technology, and which connects the whole world to us within no time. We all, young and old, rich and poor, invariably try to be on par with the speed of time and the speed of technology. But it is very difficult to cope up with the changing scenario. No doubt, material culture, which gives us an identity apart from other identities, is driving us crazy and thrusting competitiveness on us. In spite of all the comforts and luxuries surrounding us, we face stress, loneliness and boredom. Befitting one to the changing circumstances requires a total new mental set up and a new psychological approach. We Indians have a different approach to material culture because according to our Indian philosophy, indulging oneself excessively in materials leads to bondage instead to salvation. Tossed between the Indian philosophy and the traditions on one side and the global consumerism and the information technology on another side, it is pretty difficult for one to fuse these ideologies and lead a balanced life.

                 My husband is very much a techno savvy. When a new electronic gadget surfaces in market, he is very much excited and elated to know about its features in detail and possess it at any cost before somebody flaunts it and speaks about. One day he was very much impressed with a pooja performance done by a Brahmin priest who was making use of his mobile phone for Mantra chanting during the pooja ceremony at my neighbor’s house during Ganesh Chathurthi.  After the pooja ceremony, my husband got that mantra downloaded to his mobile from the mobile of that Brahmin Priest. With lot of enthusiasm, one day during Dasara Festival, he commenced his Pooja with that downloaded mantra chant. I was watching him silently with mixed feelings. Instead of using mobile for mantra chanting, if one chants mantra oneself with whole heartedness, it certainly creates involvement and registers peace in oneself. But life is changing so fast due to the new gadgets that formatting one to these changes is really very challenging, exhaustive and endless.

     Coming to reality, I noticed that the pooja was going on; the mobile was chanting mantras dispassionately and unemotionally. I observed my husband intently, who was doing pooja, total involvement in the pooja was missing on his part. My mind was raging, soliloquized to myself; trends are changing very fast these days, so one has to change with time. Exactly, at that moment flowed in the film lyrics   Dagabazare, Dagabazre………….( from the film of Salman khan,Dabang) cutting across the mantra flow from the same phone, followed by a peel of laughter by the children who were attending the pooja.

Gayatri Desai

Movie watching

Movie watching 

 The other day I went to see the much talked about Cinepolis.  Of course, the ambience delighted me at the very first sight, as we entered into it. The highly polished, reflecting floor, the ceiling fitted with dazzling LED lights and the cozy corners where one can have coffee and snacks offered at double prices, attract mostly the younger generation. I could certainly make out the generation gap through the architecture, interiors and the food joints characterized by the emerging globalised world. During my school days, theaters were not built at small towns, so the only option for us to watch movies was through the touring talkies. Screening of films in tents is unheard today. Even going to films, then, was not commendable, as it was considered waste of time and low of taste. My first experience of watching a film, black and white, starts with the memories of Raj Kapoor’s film titled Anari, which I watched in a tent with my sister.  In early 60’s, when I was in a small underdeveloped town, there was no theatre. So, the films used to be screened in the tent occasionally. As half of the movie was being screened, the rain started pouring in heavily. The water filtered in through the tattered tent and started wetting the floor, and then people who used sit on the floor to watch movies had to stand up. Reluctantly, we stood up, but continued to watch the movie for another half an hour,drop by drop the water tickling on our head. The rain got furious, the whole area of the tent got covered with muddy water; we walked out in the darkness as the electricity went off finally.

These days I watch movies on T.V at home comfortably.  Silent movies impregnated with lots of emotions interest me, where as my son likes to see Tamil, Telugu movies filled with actions. I watch only half of the movie most of the time because of my son’s interventions. English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil- any language movie can be watched, at any time. If a movie turns dull and boring, I can immediately switch over to another movie without shifting physically to another place, just by clicking buttons on the remote controller. Movie watching has become very easy, comfortable and even luxurious too. Handling of the remote controller gives me a flying feel, from one channel to the other, like bees fly sucking nectar from one flower to another.

      Going to watch a movie with friends at theatre was a big event for all of us, when we were in college. We used to plan for it the whole week; getting permission from the parents was another big hurdle. To watch maximum two or three movies yearly, we used to collect money from brothers and sisters, sometimes rich friends used to contribute or sponsor the whole program. Then we had to depend on the electricity! Sometimes, seeing half of the movie due to the fail of electricity, we used to return home dejectedly taking back the tickets, so that next day we could go and watch it again. But we never went back.

When I compare the earlier experience to the present one, no doubt, lots of changes have taken place. The Cinema hall, the washrooms, the cafeterias -all have been designed with care to provide maximum comforts to viewers. One can enjoy warm coffee and finger chips served at order while watching the movie inside the hall either with your family or friends. Am really surprised to see the comforts and luxuries the people are enjoying and how things are moving on.

          Some twenty years back, the concept of home theater floated, which has been designed to give maximum comfort and enjoyment to the movie watchers at home only. Digital sound’s effects are dazzling, electrifying, and very absorbing. Large slightly curved T.V.screen is the latest fashion today.  Some different sort of facilities is now extended to waiting rooms at hospitals, bus stations and railway stations, even in trains. Anywhere, at any moment, one can watch a movie on laptops, tablets and mobiles.

I belonging to the previous generation simply could not digest the facilities bestowed on me by the digital era. I am really scared to visualize the extension of these inventions any further.

Gayatri Desai