Masaan - A Story of Love, Loss and Acceptance

The movie was an average grosser, yet was highly praised by critics and select fans alike. It had a simple story, but the beauty of it lies in how director has managed to turn a simple story that resonates with everyday life of common people into something that acts as a mirror of reflection into our soul. It is a 

 story of innocent hearts trying to find freedom confined by the minds of the society.

When Devi, a grown adult is having consensual sex, she is busted by the police and the guy kills himself. Although they had broken no law. They were both unmarried and it was their private business. One officer even blackmails her  father for ransom. Although the father knows that she is not liable to be punished according to law and infact he can file complaint against the police, due to fear of shame in the society, he agrees to the ransom.

The caste issue :  “Ladki upper caste ki hai, zyada senti went na hona” Deepak’s friend warns him the perils of falling in love upper caste girl. Even in a major city such as Varanasi, the caste issue is so evident. This might not be in the traditional ‘untouchability’ but subtly caste is still prevalent in Indian cities. For instance, there are few works which only specific caste groups do it. Sometimes, even expected to do it. The male protagonist in the movie does not reveal his home location for a long time to the girl since location gives out the caste of person in the city.

The issue of Family Prestige
Devi’s father takes her to get her a job by his ex student, she is offered only 5.5K. When according to her qualification, she would have earned 15K easily. But the father does not accept her disagreement quoting “Kam hua toh kya hua, izzat kitna de rha hai”. This comes back to the age old norms of maintaining family ‘izzat’ in society. The ‘izzat’ which Devi had forgone after she indulged in an act of “jigyasa”.

Symbolism

When Deepak and Shalu both let go of their balloons, it was a symbol of them letting go of their heart. Letting go of things that hold them back such as societal conservative conventions. She even decides to elope away if her parents go against their marriage due to narrow outlook.

Letting Go

Devi’s father lets go of his daughter to study at Allahabad, away from him since it was the right thing for her. Although he would be left alone.

Coming in terms with reality

In the final scene, Devi let goes of the gift that she got from the deceased boy after holding it for long time. It was a symbol of her letting of of the burden of guilt. After this, both the stories converge when Deepak offers Devi a handkerchief and hence both meet each other. Maybe they fall in love or like so many others, their lives diverge. This is not revealed in the end since we must realize by now that it does not matter.

Acceptance

Deepak while searching for the ring he threw in the water, understands reality and comes to terms with it as he watches the floating balloon that he had let go earlier. Only after he lets go of the ring that the kid finds it and gives it to the Devi’s father which helps him pay off the ransom to the police; solves his problems. 

The movie is summarized in the two songs it has -  

1     Tu kisi rail si guzarti hai, Main kisi pull sa thartharata hoon

Tu bhale ratti bhar na sunti hai, Main tera naam budbudata hoon

Kisi lambe safar ki raaton mein, Tujhe alaav sa jalaata hoon

Main hoon paani ke bulbule jaisa, Tujhe sochun toh phoot jaata hoon

(you pass like some train, I shiver like a bridge
even though you don’t listen to me one bit, I keep murmuring your name
in the long journey, I burn you like an bonfire, I’m like a water bubble, I burst when I think of you )

Mann kasturi jag dasturi, Baat hui naa puri re
Mann kasturi. Khoje apni gandh na paawey

The heart is like the Kasturi, that doesn’t get closure.
Kasturi is the musk deer that goes mad searching for the scent of musk around it, not realizing that the essence comes from within.

Paat na paya meetha paani. Or-chhor ki doori re, Mann kasturi

Even the purest of things, i.e. sweet river water,
Couldn't bridge the gap of this side and that side. (The intent being that even Ganges can't fill the divides between castes and genders that we have created in our society.)

Khoje apni gandh na paawey, Chaadar ka paiband na paawey

[The musk-deer] Searches for own essence, but can't find it
Can't find the pattern for the torn sheet of existence

Bikhrey-bikhrey chhand saa tahley, Dohon mein ye bandh na paawey, Naachey ho ke phirki lattu, Khojey apni ghoori re, Mann kasturi

Moves around like a broken verse, Can't be composed into poetry
Revolves like a lattu, Looking for its own axis

Umar ki ginti haath na aai, Purkho ne ye baat batai, Ulta kar ke dekh sakey to,  Umber bhi hai gehri chhai

Ageing, growing up is a mystery, And old people have told us this
If you turn it upside down,, Even the sky is like a bottomless pit.

(The intent being everything changes with perspective.)

Rekhaaon key paar nazar ko,Jisne pheka andhey man se
Satrangi bazaar ka khola, Darwaza phir bina jatan ke

So if you can see beyond the 3-D world, And see it with a blinded heart
The door to a seven-coloured world, Opens without much efforts

Source : http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/sing-along-here-are-the-lyrics-to-masaans-mann-kasturi-and-tu-kisi-rail-si-2362770.html

Take-Aways :

I would like to use a quote from Murakami’s book - Norweign woods

“Her eyes, strangely transparent seemed like windows to a world beyond, but however long I peered into their depths, there was nothing I could see. Our faces were inches away from each other. But she was light years away from me”.

Sometimes few people/things can only be in your heart and not your life. We need to let go of things to move on. It could be anything - your feelings, people, aspirations. We need to let go since they hold us back in life. Hate is a baggage, so can be love sometimes. We are all mortals, but we also exist part of memories.

I was grateful for the life and opportunities I was given, until 3 years back. Since three years, I am not satisfied with the kind of care my parents gave, the fact that I was born in a backward village, the relationship I have with my brothers. I am angry with my parents for putting me in a boarding school when I was just 6 years old. I dislike my mother for engraining sad childhood memories in me when she used to fight incessantly with dad. 

As mentioned in the Kasturi song, closure needs to be found inside –looking for my own axis rather than searching for it outside desperately.

Umar ki ginti haath na aai, Purkho ne ye baat batai, Ulta kar ke dekh sakey to,

Umber bhi hai gehri chhai, Rekhaaon key paar nazar ko,Jisne pheka andhey man se
Satrangi bazaar ka khola, Darwaza phir bina jatan ke

These lyrics thought me that things change with perspective and you can never know the rationale of other people behind their actions. All that matters is that I keep my conscience clean. It also talks of how even pure Ganges cannot reduce the gap that we have created in our society. I have finally accepted my background (villager, Not close to family) and the accompanying constraints (family prestige is paramount). I have realized the sacrifice my parents have made for me, even if it was not for the best of me (As shown in movie where the father after trying to solve Devi’s issue, lets her go to Allahabad). I can only work towards breaking the shackles that hold me back from my dreams.

This peom best describes what I take away from the movie -

“Don't mind the weather, it's raining in my heart tonight

The shattering of a heart when being broken is the loudest quiet ever.

If someone you love hurts you cry a river, build a bridge, and get over it”

Dzongri Trek - A Spiritual Experience

“I’d rather be in the mountains thinking about God, than in Church thinking about the mountains” -John Muir
I recently went on a trek to Dzongri, near Sikkim. Although I have done quite a few small treks, this was my first major one. Dzongri trek is supposed to be one of India’s toughest treks. Adding to this, we went ill prepared – inappropriate shoes, no medicines, no knowledge of the trek terrain. It was no surprise that we could not go all the way till Goechala, since we would have had to trek in snow, and I really wanted to do so. "Waving in the summer breeze like the discarded shell of an insect. Something inside me had dropped dead and nothing came to fill the empty abyss". Ironically, it was the cold and solitude that helped me get back on my feet and move on. 
On the third day, we had to start early morning at 5 from Dzongri to Dzongri peak, to get the glimpse of the majestic Himalayas with the sun showering its first brightness of the day. It was the scariest part of the trek since I had a phobia of dark as well as height. This was one of reason for deciding to go on the trek. In between, I just could not go ahead, neither could I turn around since the beneath view of distant shimmering dim lights from camps; indicating the height and the phobia kicked in. I just prayed to God and kept my head down on the narrow path and kept going. The though of falling off the edge and being lost in oblivion was scary. But I made it. Batman indeed would be proud of me. It was like the struggle Bruce went through to transform himself into The Dark Knight. It was not about conquering the mountains, the mountains conquered me with its majestic view. It was about conquering the fears. The morning view was like a wallpaper come alive. The wind didn’t blow me off my feet, but the view did. It was like watching through the lens of a splendid camera.The hardship of the trek was worth it.   
I had my head in the clouds, feet on the ground (literally as well as metaphorically). Coz I’m my only escape. Going into the mountains made me feel pure and natural – away from the maddening crowds, gadgets that control our lives and the trivialities of mass civilization. It felt good to not feel the urge to constantly check whatsapp messages, lives of others on facebook. I felt liberated from the complex cobweb of everyday life. Felt like a clock – ticking alone with no purpose. It was all about the moment. Surrounded by beauty, you become nonchalant of things awaiting you once you go back. Yes, it feels good to go to the mountains intermittently, but staying there for a long period would kill the life out of me. I guess I am totally dependent on the modern amenities and mountains is just a momentary escape. ‘Peace is unfettered freedom to seek fulfillment’, and peaceful indeed it was.
During the trek, you interact with almost everyone you pass by. Because there are very few human souls around. A warm smile albeit is sufficient to establish a connect. Trekkers realize the importance of dependence to survive the ordeal and without any established relations, go out of the way to help others. Something unusual in the galaxy of humans in the maddening cities surrounded by chaos. 
The truth is everything and everyone is going to hurt you, You just got to find the ones worth suffering for. Trekking is one such thing for me. People say, 'one does not conquer the mountains, rather you conquer the fear'. I hope to embark on many such endeavours, coz someone said create your own fairytale. And the mountains are calling.