Chhotu

This one is a song that I wrote on child labour.

Sadak pe woh so raha,

sabse pehle uth gaya,

Chai ko chulhe pe rakhkar,

Signal pe akhbar bech raha..

To usne kaha chhotu..ek cutting le aa…

To usne kaha chhotu..ek cutting toh pila…

Uska beta school gaya..

Chhotu wahin reh gaya..

Bacchpan se kaam kar ke,

Woh tees pe boodha ho gaya..

To usne kaha chhotu…ek cutting le aa..

To usne kaha chhotu..ek cutting pila..

Chhotu ki shaadi ho gayi,

Usko beta ho gaya,

Chai banane ka kaam ko,

Ek naya chhotu mil gaya…

To usne kaha chhotu…ek cutting le aa..

To uske bête ne kaha chhotu..ek cutting le aa..

Yeh kahani hai us gareeb ki,

Jo aapke ghar ka naukar hai,

Taleem na mili usko,

Kya paisa hi sab kucch hai?

To aap na kehna chhotu..ek cutting le aa..

Par yeh kehna chhotu…tu school kyon nahi gaya!!??

Mitr-My Friend

In a family of a couple and a daughter, what does it take of a woman to be an ideal mother, of a girl to be an ideal daughter and of a man to be an ideal husband?  And besides, the woman is also a wife and the man is also a father. These are one of the most difficult set of questions in the world.  The difficulty of this question can be aptly be expressed by a quote under the Western Express Flyover in Bandra. It says, "The child gives birth to a mother." Mothers and fathers, husbands and wives and daughters can never exist in solitude. 


There is always a person required to have a relationship with because of whom the title gets bestowed to one.  Talking about these titles, the roles played by these titles and the complexities which come of it, Revathy's directorial debut "Mitr-My Friend" could not have done more justice to this subject.


The National Award winning movie has a talented cast with Shobana (playing the role of the mother and the wife) pulling off an unbelievably realistic performance, the veteran actor Nasser Abdullah (the husband and the father)  making a thought provoking impact with his simplistic style of acting and Preeti Vissa (the daughter) delivering all the facets of a rebellious child born and brought up in America.


Lakshmi (played by Shobana) is a traditional woman from Chidambaram, a small town in South India who gets married to Prithvi (played by Naseer Abdullah) who is working abroad. The two have a daughter, Divya(played by Preeti Vissa) who goes to school in America. The plot revolves around their lives in the foreign land, where moral and family values are way different from those in the small town of Chidambaram, or they appear so.  


The movie successfully throws light on the three relationships. But what is most impressive is that  it emphasizes that three relationships are actually six perspectives. The dynamics of a relationship depend on both, person A and person B.  In the case of this movie, Revathy, in her directorial debut itself, shows the directorial skills of a master by showing the subtle influences of the third family member on a relationship between any two family members. 


The movie looks at the uselessness felt by the traditional Indian woman, who is essentially a home maker. The monotony felt by her with the household work day in-day out. The lack of love and romance in her life with a busy and uncaring husband. The hurt experienced by her with every tantrum of her teen daughter. Also, every action has an opposite and equal reaction. So it was fairly expressed why the husband and the daughter behaved so. It was because the home maker had turned into a nagging, clinging and hyperactive house cop. 


Last but not the least, what touched me most in the film is Shobana's performance as the mother. The emotional input that a mother has in a relationship with her child is far superior and greater than any other relationship in this world, that we all know. But what this movie brings to the front is that with a certain smile of a child, the mother abandons any disappointment or upset regarding any heated argument with the child. That is magical and unique to the relationship of a mother with her child. 

An important facet of the film expresses the importance of a friend. No matter how happy or sad a family is, a friend is always in need.  The role of friends as saviours in grave situations is exhibited more than once by Prithvi's friend Pam and Lakshmi's friend Steve. Most importantly, the movie shows how a family ultimately needs to be woven by the relationship of friendship more than anything else.

So the next time, you think about your mother and why she is so, stop. Just know that she needs a friend. Be her friend. And you will have given her more than she ever wanted. 


A family can never be unhappy with a mother who is fulfilled as an individual and loved and cared for. 


All in all, one of the most beautiful films that I have watched in a long time. 


All women become like their mothers.  That is their tragedy.  No man does.  That's his.  ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

The Old and The New

Hello my friends, a song I sing for you now,
About life, dreams unfulfilled, and realities wow.

Yeah, life's quite a rush,
And there is no time for mush,
Those teenage days are gone,
When sleep was what we did in the morn.

Some people are gone, some still hold on,
Some have come back and some show us a new dawn.
Failiure shows us its face when we don't want it to,
Victory, acts like a pricy girl I wanna woo.

And yet life goes on, phase to phase,
Filled with surprises is this lovely maze,
Too much thought will get us into a haze,
So come on guys, let's spring up the craze.

Meet me this Sunday, when the eve is bright,
We shall laugh together till its dark and no light,
Life will seem breezy once again,
I will be ready for Monday, from heart and from brain.