Counting Down to 90 - Week 1575 - Backseat Bullets, Taj Mahal, Veer Zaara, Arcane

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The issue topmost on my mind is why smart, intelligent people don’t wear seatbelts in the backseat of a car or taxi, when being driven on Indian roads and highways. I just posted a piece in my Atmasvasth blog and urge everyone to read it.

The Three-Second Choice: Buckle Up or Risk Becoming a Backseat Bullet

Wearing a seatbelt in the backseat of the car saves lives

AtmasvasthBhavin Jankharia

Wearing seatbelts, even in the backseat, saves lives everywhere, especially on Indian highway roads, which see 18 times more fatalities than non-highway roads.

I wrote this because a friend had a bad accident. His taxi driver from Delhi to Agra dozed off in the middle of the day and crashed into another vehicle. He was ejected from his rear seat and propelled like a bullet (hence the term backseat bullet) through the windshield. He will live…along with the physical, psychological and emotional scars.

I was in Agra for a conference. There’s a convenient alternate day, late morning/afternoon direct Indigo Mumbai-Agra-Mumbai flight. Apart from airport hiccups due to its location within army premises, it’s a better way to travel to Agra than via Delhi. 

I went to see the Taj at 6 AM. From afar, it looked dull because of the smog and lack of light. Like most Indian cities and tier II towns, Agra is also a dirty, polluted city.

As I walked ahead and the sun rose, the fog lifted and the marble shone and it was magical.

Despite having visited the Taj a few times, it still filled me with awe. I was with friends and colleagues and we circled the Taj on 3 sides and then sat silently on one side, contemplating what love can inspire men to do and what they were able to accomplish in the 16th century. It’s hard to imagine anything like this being built in India anymore...we lack the aesthetic sense.

Many other things are also no longer possible. My 24-year-old daughter returned today from watching a Veer Zaara re-release. When it first released 20 years ago in 2004, I thought it was a nice but not great film. It sagged in the middle and was too long - 3 hours and 12 minutes. However, as Sana pointed out, this film cannot be made today. That’s how much things have changed. She loved Veer Zaara and it holds up even 20 years later.

Some movies are good for their time, and some are timeless. Last week, I posted a query on Facebook and Twitter: “I rewatched Deewar after the Salim-Javed documentary and it doesn’t seem to hold up. Just feels like a patchy B-grade film with a patchwork of scenes with dialogue created to be memorable. Unlike Sholay, which is still truly amazing. Any thoughts? Agree, disagree?”. 

Facebook had many comments, while Twitter was silent. Most disagreed, saying Deewar still holds up, but I disagree. I’m watching Awara with Raj Kapoor and Nargis, and 74 years later, that film still holds up. 

I finished watching the first six episodes of Arcane Season 2 on Netflix, an animated show based on the League of Legends game universe. The show is amazing with multiple jaw-dropping action scenes. X-Men ‘97, Batman: Caped Crusader, and Blue Samurai have changed the face of animation, often making me prefer animation over live action. 

This morning, I read about the friendship between Dolly Thakore and Farrukh Dhondy in Meher Marfatia’s Sunday Mid-Day column. Ms. Thakore was a constant fixture of the 80s theater scene, just as a few of us were at Prithvi, NCPA and Sophia Bhabha devouring any English or Hindi play, drama or musical, including going to Chhabildas school in Dadar West and paying Rs. 5 to watch Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah up close. It’s nice to read or hear about a name from that far back and know they are still alive and doing well.

I want to end with a poem I read months ago that can be interpreted differently based on the reader and timing. I first categorized it under “Hubris,” but today it seems more about “Empathy” or just “Imagination.” Take what you can from it.

You Can’t by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat Translated by Fady Joudah

They will fall in the end,

those who say you can't.

It'll be age or boredom that overtakes them,

or lack of imagination.

Sooner or later, all leaves fall to the ground.

You can be the last leaf.

You can convince the universe

that you pose no threat

to the tree's life. 

Please feel free to comment.