Slum Dog Millionaire- Poverty Porn or Real Cinema?

The success of Slum Dog has proved that the film is no underdog.
When Danny Boyle was conceptualizing the film little he would have realized that the film will be his biggest trophy till date and will fetch him 4 golden globes and 10 Oscar nominations and so did the other cast and crew.
It’s a film based on India and about India, to be precise “Indian Slums”. Rags to riches story of a boy from the slums of Dharavi. Now when I watched that film I could not help but notice a unique medium Danny Boyle has used to unfold the story of an 18 year old through the answers in a game show. The narrative takes the film to a different level, had Danny chose to tell the same story in another way it would have been another mundane film.
Not that the film shows anything special, not that we are unaware of the plight of the street beggars and slums. Every time you a see a beggar on street you think about Jamal, Salim or Latika …that’s what the film does to you.
The other day there was a discussion on a news channel on Slum dog Millionaire, some people expressed it as‘poverty porn’, where ‘young girls’ being raped and young boys were being ‘blinded’. It was also stated that Danny has glorified the poverty of India. I agree there some scenes are so gross that you would not even like to imagine it in your wildest of dreams, you so want to kill ‘Mamman’ the villain. but isn’t that the truth of our society. There is no glorification, not even a bit of Indian poverty. This is what we are then why are we ashamed of it?
Danny has shown that he can portray India in much realistic way than any film maker ever did. While we are busy making disastrous comic capers that fall flat. Every frame is meticulously worked upon. The beginning of the film where the kids are playing is impeccable. Every single piece of background score matches the film like a piece of puzzle. The casting is so amazing that even for a minute you cannot take your eyes off the screen. Every thing is so in place that not even once Dev Patel’s Uk accent bothers you much. Danny has done his homework and he has done it well. Films entry in the Oscars doesn’t only prove the mettle of the Indian actors but also the technicians, musicians, lyricist. It’s the film that has made it possible for the India artist to reach the ultimate platform, “The Oscars”.
Slum dog has clearly emerged as a winner, the only discontentment that bogged heavy on my heart; while walking out of the theatre was that this film is not made by an Indian.

Mystical Sciences and day to day life

India is the vast country with many civilizations and believes. It also boasts of various beliefs, cultures and its practices. There are mystic sciences that govern the lives of Indians even till now, for example it is still believed that if one is going for something auspicious and a black cat should happen to cross your path than, either one should postpone the journey or change the path., and many more like this one

These beliefs that we still practice now were formatted hundreds and thousands years ago; by the scholars of that time according to the situation prevalent. They addressed the concerns of people that time. The people at that time were not o scientific bent, but theyt were rather God fearing. The believed circulated at that time could not be explained scientifically to the people so there were some adjectives attached to them to bring in the fear so that people could just follow them. For example it was said that (and is still said) that one should not sleep under the pepul tree at night due to the fear of ghost. This is now translated in the modern sense would mean that since tress exhale carbon dioxide at nite, t is not recommended to sleep under the tree. In this way every practice when bifurcated had a reason.

In India there are generally two sets of people. The ones who follow them blindly and the others who discard them as mere” superstition”. There is this new group of people that is emerging slowly but gradually who believe in the mid way, as looking at the things from the logical and scientific approach. Adopting that is relevant for today’s scenario and discarding the rest.

We often come to terms with the term called ‘vaastu shastra” and a lot of time we consult a people with the knowledge of Vaastu to correct the “faults in our houses”. In my series of vaastu articles I would like to comment on the same.

What is Vaastu??? Vaastu is an ancient Indian science of architecture and buildings which helps in making a congenial setting or a place to live and work in a most scientific way taking advantage of the benefits bestowed by nature, its elements and energy fields for enhanced wealth, health, prosperity and happiness.Vastu Shastra unifies the science, art, astronomy and astrology, it can also be said as an ancient mystic science for designing and building.

So does this mean that we should start demolishing our houses and get it correct through Vaastu??? Let me break this myth…Firstly there is nothing called a faulty house.

Secondly Vaastu is no magic. It is not likely that when you place everything correctly as it is stated or told by a vaastu practitioner then your life will be perfect.

I am also not saying that by this science one will not be benefited. All we need to do is to understand this science logically and then choose what is best for you. It is just like a medicine, it might cure one and the other mite needs a heavier dose for the same result or nothing at all. So it is better to understand it and then implicate it in your lives rather than blindly following it or discarding it at all.

I shall soon start with the series of mythical stories, which are said to be the origin of Vaastu. Hopefully this will help you in understanding of this science more and will help break the myth.