Is running away ever a solution?

I recently came across the English translation of a poem called "The City" written by a Greek poet CP Cavafy and wondered about it in the context of the recent happenings and talk of yet another nayi udaan/leap in the show.

You said: “I’ll go to another country, go to another shore, find another city better than this one.

Whatever I try to do is fated to turn out wrong and my heart lies buried like something dead.

How long can I let my mind moulder in this place? Wherever I turn, wherever I look,

I see the black ruins of my life, here, where I’ve spent so many years, wasted them, destroyed them totally.”

You won’t find a new country, won’t find another shore. This city will always pursue you.

You’ll walk the same streets, grow old in the same neighborhoods, turn gray in these same houses.

You’ll always end up in this city. Don’t hope for things elsewhere: there’s no ship for you, there’s no road.

Now that you’ve wasted your life here, in this small corner, you’ve destroyed it everywhere in the world.

On first reading, this seems like a very dark and depressing work. But alternatively, the poet intends to say that one cannot hope to escape their problems by running away and completely changing life. The crux is that problems must be faced and resolved head on because the same problems may even arise in a new setting if you don't take corrective steps. Ultimately you can't run and need to tackle problems.

Anuj running away and going far is simply not a solution to his problems. Because eventually reunion is bound to happen as per ITV logic. He ran away for CA and is now miserable without Anupamaa. For that matter, Anupamaa establishing her own dance academy is great but it's a matter of time before Shameless shahs drag her into their problems again. She should set them straight for good rather than have a new venture everytime and let it be disrupted by them. (She seems to be doing that with Barkha so it's not as if she's not capable of it or changing herself to take a stand)

Thoughts?

What an impactfully written poem! And I got to know about this poet from you - thank you!

It resonates with me deeply.

Our life can always be bigger than our circumstances. What makes our life the life it is, is the way we deal with our circumstances.

It's not about what place we are in, which country, which shore - not about what's outside us, but about how we respond to what's outside us - as long as the circumstances are not too extreme.

Maybe you can use the black ruins of your past to build a more resilient version of yourself!

The more you run away, the more you run away from the possibility that what you are running away from might not be as bad as you think. Facing reality head-on and taking the right kind of action can make all your problems - if not disappear, atleast make them manageable. (Like you conveyed in your own way)

Hehe I just wanted to discuss this poem - I'm too beyond discussing the characters in this show in a serious way (I hope that's okay?) but yes - running away from reality can never be a permanent solution. It can only be temporary escapism.

I totally agree. So won't go there but simply wanted to add something. Sometimes running away or breaking from shackles is important e.g. had Anupa stayed in Shah House and stayed married to Vanraj, things wouldn't have changed the slightest for her.

I don't know how much of my opinion I'm able to convey properly but my opinion is that sometimes the solution is to face the problems and sometimes the solution is to break free and run away e.g. from an abusive marriage (you can be in danger there).

These two seem to be two sides of the same coin to me. Sometimes running away is the actual attack on the situation and sometimes staying where you are facing the problem is the actual escape. Did I make sense😆

By the way, very beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing.

Originally posted by: CheekuKaBeej

I don't know how much of my opinion I'm able to convey properly but my opinion is that sometimes the solution is to face the problems and sometimes the solution is to break free and run away e.g. from an abusive marriage (you can be in danger there).

I completely understand what you mean!

But I felt like it can be seen in this way too -

The reality here is that Anupama was used and abused and manipulated for decades. Choosing to keep staying there would mean running away from this reality - and breaking the shackles would mean facing reality.

Originally posted by: SoulSpiller

I completely understand what you mean!

But I felt like it can be seen in this way too -

The reality here is that Anupama was used and abused and manipulated for decades. Choosing to keep staying there would mean running away from this reality - and breaking the shackles would mean facing reality.

Originally posted by: CheekuKaBeej

I knew it would be interpreted this way😆and I knew you were gonna do it😆

Oh no am I being too predictable? No that can't be it. Hmm maybe the reality is that you are quite smart and I shall face that!

Originally posted by: SoulSpiller

What an impactfully written poem! And I got to know about this poet from you - thank you!

It resonates with me deeply.

Our life can always be bigger than our circumstances. What makes our life the life it is, is the way we deal with our circumstances.

It's not about what place we are in, which country, which shore - not about what's outside us, but about how we respond to what's outside us - as long as the circumstances are not too extreme.

Maybe you can use the black ruins of your past to build a more resilient version of yourself!

The more you run away, the more you run away from the possibility that what you are running away from might not be as bad as you think. Facing reality head-on and taking the right kind of action can make all your problems - if not disappear, atleast make them manageable. (Like you conveyed in your own way)

Hehe I just wanted to discuss this poem - I'm too beyond discussing the characters in this show in a serious way (I hope that's okay?) but yes - running away from reality can never be a permanent solution. It can only be temporary escapism.

I agree. And love the way you expanded the interpretation. Ideally, I didn't want to link this or any poem/work which is meaningful with a show that is wholly devoid of substance but after reading today that Anuj ran away rather than converse with Anupamaa, it compelled me to relate it with the show

Originally posted by: CheekuKaBeej

I totally agree. So won't go there but simply wanted to add something. Sometimes running away or breaking from shackles is important e.g. had Anupa stayed in Shah House and stayed married to Vanraj, things wouldn't have changed the slightest for her.

I don't know how much of my opinion I'm able to convey properly but my opinion is that sometimes the solution is to face the problems and sometimes the solution is to break free and run away e.g. from an abusive marriage (you can be in danger there).

These two seem to be two sides of the same coin to me. Sometimes running away is the actual attack on the situation and sometimes staying where you are facing the problem is the actual escape. Did I make sense😆

By the way, very beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, absolutely makes sense. Never a uniform rule applicable to all and it always depends on the person and what they are facing or surrounded by. How I see it, is that breaking away from the scenario was necessary for someone in her circumstances but as we saw that the problems kept following and plaguing her even with a change of scenario. Which is where the message from the poem comes in. Ideally, if she had made things clear at the outset then it would not have led to the current state. Maybe because breaking free was the first step but the change (which never happened in her), should have been the second step, to consolidate the progress from the first.

Right. That's why I believe both are somehow two sides of the same coin. You just need to know when to do what. Anupa made one right choice and failed to follow up with another right choice.

I rather stay quite here because I haven't been following the show .