Take 0: Satyanashing 7 [Invite Wonly]

"Your dad was born the year after Maarkaat. It was raining a lot that day", my dadi would tell me. I heard stories about the fight for independence from my Dada and Dadi but the more common stories were about the horrors once the big day was done.

The border state that my family comes from saw a lot of turmoil. Apparently stories about bloodshed and loss of property and crop that came with it kept filtering to our village every single day and the village elders (Hindu and Muslims) together decided that the best course was for the Muslims to either leave or convert to Hindus. My granddad used to talk about the stealth with which they would take their friends to the farthest railway station (thought as the safest one to travel across the border). He talked about the heartache of bidding goodbye to his friends. He talked about the pain people felt leaving their home and farms behind.

To the date, 50 years post independence one family that stayed back started to publicly read Namaz again. It was the talk of our village. They were and still are friends but for today's generation they are different because that is their first interaction with someone from a different religion. But to me it is the fear and the will that speaks the most. The fear to practice ones religion openly and the will to do it and pass it on to the next generation.

Growing up there are a lot such stories that I heard; some from various elders in the village, some from people who crossed the border; all heartbreaking because of the pain they carry.

Garam Hawa is really the first time as an adult that I saw a story of the other side and am old enough to understand it. To me there are two stories in the movie: Salim Mirza's story and Amina's story.

It is difficult to love, lose it to circumstances, to find the courage to love again and see it getting lost again to similar circumstances. As a today's woman it is easy for me to say Amina was educated and should have picked up the threads of her life and done something with her education. But as a story of the time it was written in, Amina ended her life and all I could think about was the human aspect of greed that resulted in this outcome. Families of both the guys looked at their interests in a new place, sacrifice of others emotions in the process was a small price to pay. True in todays day and age is it not?

Salim Mirza's trust that there is a place for a Muslim in the new India and that things would work out if he stayed true to himself, his work and his Allah. The only thing he does not want to do is get involved in the politics of it all. He sees his family break piece by piece, his house taken by the government, his work and in turn his income take a hit. But he stands firm on his belief. And just as he finally breaks down and gives in to the inevitable, his youngest son and his friends show him that sometimes if you want change you have to get yourself involved to bring about that change. Again true for todays day and age. The last shot of Salim Mirza handing the house keys to his wife and getting lost in the crowd of people protesting about the state of things stays with me long after the movie is over. What a brilliant way to end the movie.

The only thing I did not connect with in the movie was the ease with which people seem to come and go across the border. Having grown up with horror stories of entire trains filled with only dead bodies when they reached their final destination, this part just did not fit with the picture. If it was done via letters the story would flow a little better for me. But I do get it was about getting to the next stage of the story.

The visuals of Taj Mahal and Fateh pu Seekri pulled at the heart strings given the tragic story they are associated with to begin with. A brilliant movie with so many emotions that grip you and never let them go.

Thanks Doc for recommending it.

Rabba Ve, Ladeej! 🤗

Happy to post on our inaugural Movie of (the) Month (MoM). I'm really glad to have watched Garam Hava again after many years. I loved it much, much more the second time around. I don't know that I had the maturity or perspective to fully appreciate it when I first saw it.

It seems only fitting to kick off this discussion with Heineken's post. When Savs shared it with me, my first reaction was "What a beautiful personal review!" ❤️ I was also struck by the fact that those of us with roots in southern India have no such stories to share or painful legacy to deal with as far as the partition is concerned.

At one level the film documents the devastating effect of the partition on one family, but in a larger sense it's an exploration of a new social order, the change in power structures and the loss of a way of life. The film works beautifully on both levels. The tour de force performance by Balraj Sahni is obviously the fulcrum, but the entire ensemble is terrific. Geeta Siddharth as Amina is absolutely heart wrenching at the end. 🥺 How handsome is the young Farooq Shaikh!

I loved how the change is depicted through the film with the family sitting down together for dinner. The gaiety and mirth of the large extended family at the start slowly changes, the family contracts in size over time and the joy gradually evaporates. Despite how somber and dire the fate of the family, the end to me was hugely hopeful. Not so much because all is well or that there is hope for the future, but because Salim Mirza stops being a passive participant, a victim even and takes a position. We don't know how it will all turn out, but finally he puts his actions behind his beliefs. I found that uplifting. 👍🏼👍🏼

Roomal for later!

Originally posted by: Newbiesoapfan

Roomal for later!

Since I have watched around 1/2 an hr of the movie... only one comment. Symbolism -- heavily used!

Check the kite scene ... the boy says that the kite string will break twice... and the girl's rishta breaks twice!

Bas... IPK hangover!

Originally posted by: Hriju321

Roomal...
On a trip and missing you gals here...on the way to Shimla