I'm talking, today, of a movie called 'geet gata chal'. I loved it, I did. I thought the hero had too much of that goodness, and innocence, and that that we call तेज in Hindi. But I hadn't much problem with that, no, I delighted in it all. Got a lil wistful, too.
And so, here's the story. He finds himself invited to a rich family's home. He shows more of his too-good-to-be-true-ness, and there's some comedy, with their spoiled brat of a daughter. Then, madame falls in love with him, acts all possessive of him, and they decide to get him married to her. Now, this guy's a free spirit, belongs not to anyone, ain't tied to anyone, and inordinately happy that way. And so, when he finds out, he runs away. Don't get me wrong, he loves her, and all, but he feels like a caged bird, he does, and they play the title song in an appropriately plaintive tone. Perfect, it waz.
But then everybody had to scold him for ditching her, and he goes back, and everybody forgives him (ha! as if he needs forgiveness) and he meekly gets married to that spoiled child of a girl.
I tells you, I hated it.
I've since maintained that they should've ended it when he walks away. And today, I found a short story called 'Atithi' by Tagore. Some half way through it, it began to remind me of this movie, and further events corresponded prettily. I, rather impatient, skimmed through the imagery, and when I made my way to the end, I gleefully saw that it stops right where it ought to stop. I'll quote the ending for you:
In a cloudy monsoon night, before love and emotional ties could encircle him completely, this Brahmin boy, thief of all hearts in the village, had returned to the unconstraining, unemotional arms of his mother Earth.
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