On a late winter evening show at Geetanjali in Bolpur this year i went to watch Taare Zameen Par, by then already an acclaimed film that had made critics open their pens with a different tone, teachers and parents watching it over and over just to get the bottom of the psychology of a dyslexic child. In fact, my eight-year-old nephew Rajarshi who stays in a residential school founded by Rabindranath Tagore was gaga about Ishan Awasthy, the lead role played by Darsheel Safari, with whom Rajarshi certainly found close resemblance in his state of mind when a special screening was organised at their hostel in December ’07.
Back to the show at Geetanjali. A dhoti-punjabi-clad 79-year-old man silently entered the theatre with his wife and took their seats just a few rows in front of ours. For a person like me who is in touch with Tagore’s Abode of Peace for the past 10 years or so, the aged couple were no strangers. But i didn’t disturb them thinking i’d rather talk to them after the film was over. But even before Aamir Khan made a screen appearance towards the half-way through the film, i saw the old man taking out a hanky, taking off specs and wiping tears off his cheeks, especially when Ishan’s parents were coming back to Mumbai after dropping him at the Panchghani school. But this was not the first occasion, neither was it the last one. When the movie moved to its fag end and Ishan got recognition for his unique talent, i watched the couple behaving restlessly out of discomfort in watching a scene that moved their heart but they could not just cry in public. Because he was not after all the "Iron Man" L.K. Advani who could not hold back tears during a special screening at a New Delhi auditorium on another winter evening. As soon as the film was over, i went over to the couple, asking the old man: "So, have you become an Advani?" Without getting irritated at my question, he replied with a soft, but commanding, voice: "Do you think only Advaniji can feel it in his heart? Don’t forget, we are all human beings." Before asking me some other questions, he told me to do something so that TZP could be sent to the Oscars. "Why don’t you write something about the film? Everyone around the world should watch it," precise was the message with a tone that only speaks of humanity.
I met him first in 2003 when i requested him to attend a quiz contest organised as part of the three-day anniversary celebrations of Geetanjali Cultural Complex. But he could not come in the afternoon as he was not quite well at that time. Probably that was a mid-September day. That evening, there was a cultural show as part of the celebrations when Arati Mukherjee and Indrani Sen, both well-known singers of Bengali modern songs, performed. Being the anchor of that evening, I observed from close quarters how the old man, seated in the front row, reacts to the songs, especially a late evening performance by popular Bengali band Chandrabindoo. When Anindya, one of the lead singers, asked for his permission whether the members and the audience can dance to their numbers, he promptly said: "Why not? As far as a basic discipline and decorum is maintained, nobody is harmed, what’s the problem?" Needless to say, Anindya and the audience had gone crazy.
Discipline he taught many, including leaders of people, as nobody could ever question his integrity, except the CPM which "summary" expelled him last week. Even upholding the Constitution, Somnath Chatterjee was not conforming to the constitution of a party with which he had over 40 years of relationship till July 23, 2008. At least that’s what the countrymen are being told by leaders who never dared to face people except in rallies. Ballot battle was never their ground but Somnathbabu won people’s heart, and not just once or twice, but 10 times — ranging from constituencies in upscale south Calcutta to rural backdrop of Bolpur.
©Supratim Pal
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