Triumph of the Will

Guru Dutt not only viewed his life through camera but had perhaps scripted his end under arc lights too. The work and philosophy of enigmatic master craftsman of all times has been brought to life by Arun Khopkar in his scholarly work Guru Dutt: A Tragedy in Three Acts. The short but immensely reflective essays on three of his best films - Pyassa, Kagaz Ke Phool and Sahib, Bibi aur Gulam - cast light on this vastly talented writer, director and actor.   

Guru Dutt was an eternal romantic who, in his constant search for change feared 'success'. For him, success was the receipt for the sale of one's soul. The ultimate expression of self, Guru Dutt felt was to save oneself from the contagion of a rotten society. Else, one would need to compromise and embrace success. In Kagaz Ke Phool, the character in Suresh Sinha demonstrates what it meant not to compromise, even at the cost of destroying oneself. 

The conflict between man and society has engaged art in all forms through the ages. The films under reference bring the might, size and numbers of this faceless society, which crushes man, to light. The beetle crushed underfoot in Pyassa symbolizes this conflicting relationship between man and society. The artist in Guru Dutt used symbols to evoke a diversity of reflections of a situation, because he felt that a symbol could be suggestive of several shades of meanings, experiences and feelings. 

Without doubt, Guru Dutt was ahead of his time in content, style and technique. Using light and shade, Guru Dutt captured some of the finest images of loneliness on screen. Each image evokes multitudes of reflections, producing a set of imagined characters. Arun Khopkar details out how Guru Dutt uses the image of Christ, crucified, in many forms and on many levels in Pyassa. The character in Vijay is none other than the resurrected Christ, who presents himself at the function held to mark his first death anniversary.  

Guru Dutt went beyond the box office of success; the genius in him was in search for understanding each layer of the society as we (may) have known it. The characters that he created on the screen were from real life that would reject the idea that 'every man has a price' and instead project the 'value of individual existence’. Through such powerful images, Guru Dutt not only sharpens our sensibilities but leaves indelible mark on viewers' psyche. 

One cannot get to the depth of Guru Dutt's rich exposition of cinematic skills without reading Arun Khopkar's layered portrait of the troubled genius. I have considered Guru Dutt to be a mystic, a maverick filmmaker for whom art was more than just a thing of beauty. Far from it, as the book shows, Guru Dutt combined intricacies of the medium to bring his deep humanism and compassion for life on screen. Guru Dutt created a parallel reality through his films. 

It was a chance that I picked up 'Guru Dutt – A Tragedy in Three Acts'. It is a sheer delight to read Arun Khopkar's rich analysis of the genius and his work - raw and brilliant....Link 


Guru Dutt: A Tragedy in Three Acts
by Arun Khopkar
Penguin Books, India
153 pages, Rs 250

Easy to print, hard to deliver

Paper money has not been able to deliver on its promise. Ever since its link to gold was severed in 1971, paper money has been created at will or decree. It is therefore a claim on someone else, whether a bank or a government. Modern money is debt and debt is money. From unsuspecting individuals to national governments and from financial institutions to commercial banks, everyone seems to be under severe debt. While our parents still consider holding debt akin to sin, for individuals and governments it is a basic fact of modern life. Simply put, spending more than what has been earned is more of a norm than exception. 

How long will this trend continue? Philip Coggan argues that economic history has been a never-ending battle between borrowers and lenders. Ironically, it is the borrowers who have always won out in the end. Indeed that is the case as total global debt, held by governments, corporations and individuals has reached a whopping $190 trillion at the end of 2010 – more than 3.5 times the size of the total global economy. The trouble is, proposed solution to the issue of debt comes with side effects: devalued currency, trade barriers, and the risk of countries being reduced to a barter economy.  No surprise, therefore, that leading banks and governments are back to building ‘gold’ reserve as an asset to fall back upon. Seems the world is returning to its reliance on gold. Will it glitter yet again may turn out to be one of the greatest riddles of the 21st century!

One may not be a student of economics to read Philip Coggan’s illuminating account of the history of financial crises. There is nothing about money that cannot be understood by the person of reasonable curiosity, diligence and intelligence. Largest creditors have set the rules of the global economic game in the past. If it was Britain and the USA in the past, speculation is rife that it may well be China designing the new monetary system in near future. Spread over thirteen chapters, the book provides comprehensive understanding on money, its rapidly changing nature and the bubble economy it nurtures. 

Paper Promises is informative, thought-provoking and engaging. This is one book that deserves to be read because we are all victim of the financial system of which we are an integral part but seem to know woefully little about it....Link 

Paper Promises: Money, Debt and the New World Order 

by Philip Coggan 

Penguin Books, UK

302 pages, UK£ 10

Overcoming fear of living in fear

Every religion advocates ‘tolerance’ and yet religious intolerance has been on the rise. The undercurrent of religious intolerance is seemingly so strong to even challenge the prevailing religious symbols and practices. Banning of burqa in France, Belgium and Italy; regulation on headscarf in Germany, Holland and Spain; and restriction on constructing minarets with mosques in Switzerland are indicative of the manner in which islamophobia has gripped the world post 9/11. At times there might be real security issues but the fact that people have started fearing those who dress differently or who look strangers is something worth worrying about.

Martha C Nussbaum who is Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago argues the culture of fear threatens the constitutional and ethical foundations of liberal democracy. Fear is also somewhat of a political construct, targeting Muslims as its scapegoat. In reality, they have become scapegoats for people's economic insecurities. Failure of education to acquaint children with the world’s major religions at an early age has added to the prevailing anxiety.

Our current climate of fear shows that people are all too easily turned away from good values in a time of crises and invariably target minorities. Christians will not target Christians even while knowing that one amongst them murdered 76 in Norway, because they only have fantasies about Muslims being dangerous. Nusssbaum is convinced that countries most threatened by the economic crisis will see the most alarming growth of intolerant politics towards minorities.

Part philosophical and part persuasive The New Religious Intolerance advocates tackling the root cause of religious hatred through compassion and imagination. How often has this been said without tangible shift in the politics of hatred? That entire Europe has become less tolerant of religious heterogeneity may have strong bearing on the deep economic crises it is currently passing through. But will economic security alone lead to religious tolerance is a matter of deep conjecture? Whether dissociating politics from religion help us rise above the politics of fear?  Without doubt there are forces that see power in sustaining fear amongst communities, not allowing the fear of living in fear disappear from our lives!...Link

The New Religious Intolerance
by Martha C Nussbaum
Belknap/Harvard University Press, London
285 pages, US $ 26.95