Our office lunch session brought a story to me. An employee in one of the big IT firms committed a crime. A "crime of passion" as they like to call it. He had proposed his love to a girl. The girl was already in a relationship with someone else. He felt rejected. He took her life by stabbing her 16 times. Then he tried to stab himself but was saved. The worst part of this story. He had already committed a similar murder back at his home town and was somehow not caught at all. The Long arm of the law seemed to have had a short hand this time.
Cut the scene to a narrow gully in one of the highly populated slums in Chennai city. A loafer, good for nothing 19 something kid proposes his love to a girl of about the same age when she was heading back home from work. She rejected his proposal and was promptly rewarded with a copious dose of concentrated acid on her face. Another "crime of passion" as they like to call it.
These two scenes represent two different men - of almost the same age category but different social and economic back grounds. We have a deep rooted problem in our country. While love as a feeling is exploited quite generously in our mainstream movies which is a major influence on the youth of our country, the fact that rejections can occur seems to have been left out. While the wooing part is shown in detail with a lot of humor and romantic gestures, the part where many a woman rejects the man wooing them is conveniently forgotten to be portrayed. All men wooing women will be accepted is the message. It is all a matter of time is what is shown. And then in case there is indeed an odd case of rejection we have a class of songs dedicated to how bad women are - "Kolaveri" is a prime example.
Next in this issue - we as Indians are not taught to handle rejections. Parenting in India means protectiveness to the level of not letting the kids play in the sun for fear of them becoming tanned. Parents go to great lengths to give their children everything - even if it means stretching beyond their means. While this is all done in good intent, what is happening is that the kid grows up believing that he is entitled to everything that he wants/perceives as his wants. And there starts the problems.
So how does this kid now handle the first major rejection of his life? Through a knife, rope, gun,acid and whatever creative option one can think of.
I think its time parents started showing their kids the true world. I am not asking them to kick their wards into the street, but they need to be shown that life will not always turn out the way want it. There will be rejections and then there will be some more. The fun in it is to bounce back and try again. Once a kid starts respecting the fact that the world is not entitled to him, he will know that if a woman spurns his attentions, it is time he moves on to greener pastures.
And to all you movie makers who keep harping on love failure songs to garner views - you too will have girls one day and they too will be vulnerable to all the men who saw your own stuff and were inspired. So go find better content to provide the masses.
Cut the scene to a narrow gully in one of the highly populated slums in Chennai city. A loafer, good for nothing 19 something kid proposes his love to a girl of about the same age when she was heading back home from work. She rejected his proposal and was promptly rewarded with a copious dose of concentrated acid on her face. Another "crime of passion" as they like to call it.
These two scenes represent two different men - of almost the same age category but different social and economic back grounds. We have a deep rooted problem in our country. While love as a feeling is exploited quite generously in our mainstream movies which is a major influence on the youth of our country, the fact that rejections can occur seems to have been left out. While the wooing part is shown in detail with a lot of humor and romantic gestures, the part where many a woman rejects the man wooing them is conveniently forgotten to be portrayed. All men wooing women will be accepted is the message. It is all a matter of time is what is shown. And then in case there is indeed an odd case of rejection we have a class of songs dedicated to how bad women are - "Kolaveri" is a prime example.
Next in this issue - we as Indians are not taught to handle rejections. Parenting in India means protectiveness to the level of not letting the kids play in the sun for fear of them becoming tanned. Parents go to great lengths to give their children everything - even if it means stretching beyond their means. While this is all done in good intent, what is happening is that the kid grows up believing that he is entitled to everything that he wants/perceives as his wants. And there starts the problems.
So how does this kid now handle the first major rejection of his life? Through a knife, rope, gun,acid and whatever creative option one can think of.
I think its time parents started showing their kids the true world. I am not asking them to kick their wards into the street, but they need to be shown that life will not always turn out the way want it. There will be rejections and then there will be some more. The fun in it is to bounce back and try again. Once a kid starts respecting the fact that the world is not entitled to him, he will know that if a woman spurns his attentions, it is time he moves on to greener pastures.
And to all you movie makers who keep harping on love failure songs to garner views - you too will have girls one day and they too will be vulnerable to all the men who saw your own stuff and were inspired. So go find better content to provide the masses.
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