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Friday, March 28, 2014

Hats off Hasina Moin

Since this is the last post we will have on Dhoop Kinaray, I thought I would shed some light on some of the really well written and thought provoking dialogues of the drama, something that is seriously missing in today's dramas. In my opinion these dialogues are equally valid today as they were back in the eighties and they reflect a national narrative that creeps in with great subtlety into the drama.  
First off are these words of wisdom from Mian Jee:
"Talk about today's relations, talk about tomorrow's relations, (because)with the course of time past's relations gradually fade away.(Aaj ke rishton ki baat karo, Kal ke rishton ki baat karo, Maazi ke rishte toh waise hi ahista ahista khatam ho jaate hain.)"   
Hasina Moin, the reformist that she is, follows the steps of thinkers like Iqbal in urging the viewers to think of today and tomorrow, rather than wallowing in the past. I have talked about it in class so I won't go into the debate of origins here again but it needs to be said that we as a nation are still the captives of the past. If back in the eighties it was the pre partition days that were the glorious days then today, it is the pre-9/11 days when everything was all right. Rather than working on changing today, we point fingers at those who messed it up so that the glories of the past are denied us now. 
Next are these realistic words from Dr. Sheena:
"Lights from heaven descend pretty rarely, Everyone has to light their own lamp- given that lamps have to be lighted, then we can light them on any path (Aasmano se ujalay to kum hi utartay hain, Har kisi ko apnay  apnay hisay ke chiragh khud hi jalana parta hai. Jab chiragh hi jalana tehra to kisi bhi raastay mein jala lein gay"- I dont think the translation could do justice to the original but had to give it a shot)
Although these lines were said in the context of a woman choosing who to marry, these lines are equally important in the national narrative. Like Nancy Armstrong pointed out in the case of the nineteenth-century-novel, the woman is the modern figure who is the agent of change. These words sum up the feelings of the pragmatic and forward looking individuals in the narrative-the profound sadness combined with steely determination of the pragmatists :they are forward looking not because they want to be, they take their fates in their own hands not because they believe themselves to be above such trivialities but because they don't think they have any other choice. For when you accept that the fates are not going to favor you and you will have to look after your own interests yourself and it is then that you stop looking for Divine Intervention and become the Masters of your fate and choose your own path- you get the authority as well as the responsibility for making your own choices. 
I can go on all night about it but the word limit is approaching an end here. So I'll just sum up the narrative reflected by the two dialogues: we need to stop looking at the yesterdays of our life and start working on the present for a bright future which is entirely in our hands. We need to stop blaming the fates and take control and ownership of our own lives with the certainty that if we wish it then we can do it. 
With that, its time to acknowledge the genius of the writer: Hats off Hasina Moin, its was a marvelous journey.

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