What is the defintion of a slumdog? Is it
a) a generalisation of dogs that roam the alleys and backways of our cities? i.e dog from the slum area.. like street dog
b) a state of mind where people think they're far worse off than they actually are?
c) the catarogisation of one who is at a disadvantage, an underdog? Who also happens to live in the slums?
d) None of the above. Its a person who has nothing
You have five minutes to choose. Which would be your definition?
SLUMDOG: courtsey of Simon Beaufoy{writer of Slumdog millionaire}:
"As part of my research, I was wandering in the slums. I was very intrigued by the cats and dogs wandering around there, who dared to be asleep in the sunshine. Though they do look carefree from the outside, they are watching everything from the rims of their eyes.It is exactly like somebody who is apparently not worthy of an existence but is actually looking at everything and eyeing everything out. Just like the boy in the game show who knows everything not through intelligence but through experience. So, I just made up the word".
"As part of my research, I was wandering in the slums. I was very intrigued by the cats and dogs wandering around there, who dared to be asleep in the sunshine. Though they do look carefree from the outside, they are watching everything from the rims of their eyes.It is exactly like somebody who is apparently not worthy of an existence but is actually looking at everything and eyeing everything out. Just like the boy in the game show who knows everything not through intelligence but through experience. So, I just made up the word".
In a later interview
It was a nice metaphor for the lowest of the low,” Beaufoy recalls, “for this person who apparently knows nothing, who is worthless, but actually he’s been watching all his life, and he knows everything.”
Hmmm...interesting perspective. We judge people by what they know or what they have. How do we look upon a person who has NOTHING?
Just to make it clear Im not being political. Neither am I asking you to change your views. Im not self righteous. Neither am I overbearingly compassionate. If I see a begger I look away. If one of them approaches me, my eyes gaze the earth. I have no answers for them. I have no solutions. They want no pity. So I give none.
Thats the glaring truth. If you think Im cruel go look in the mirror. I know that God wants me to love. He wants me to be compassionate. But in an imperfect world Im scared to bend the rules. To grade not according to the curve but according to God's perfect standards. Thus I am found wanting.
Yeah this is heavy stuff. Im being very honest about myself. And I hope that one day. Soon. I will change this about myself. Till then. I..yes I remain the slumdog. I who have nothing to give. I who am not free of the ties of culture and protocol. I am...sometimes the lowest of the low.
1 comment:
I was told that this is an amazing movie. I am yet to watch it though.
About your last paragraph on beggars; Do you think that giving a beggar a few rupees would help? Isn't it like the 'rilawas' you find among the ruins in A'pura, who come to grab your food even though they have food in the forest.
Every time we give a rupee to a beggar, we make begging economical; we kind of promote it.
My emotions always tell me to give that 10 rupee note to the kid at the traffic lights. Giving it would make me feel better, but will it help the kid?
So I don't think that anyone should feel bad about not helping out a beggar.
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