Mythos

Main Entry: my·thol·o·gy
Pronunciation: mi-'thä-l&-jE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -gies
Etymology: French or Late Latin; French mythologie, from Late Latin mythologia interpretation of myths, from Greek, legend, myth, from mythologein to relate myths, from mythos + logos speech
1 : an allegorical narrative
2 : a body of myths : as a : the myths dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people b : MYTHOS 2 mythology>
3 : a branch of knowledge that deals with myth
4 : a popular belief or assumption that has grown up around someone or something

Every now and then a conflict of belief's comes arises concerning the sum and substance of mythology. These narratives may be in the form of religious belief's and practices or in the form of urban legends - but one cannot underestimate the impact they have on the prevalent society who are influenced by these myths.
The essence of the disagreement is primarily - are myth's fact..... or fiction apparently holds sway across much of the civilized world, from the Ramayana and Mahabharata epics of Hindusdu's to the book of Genesis of Christians. On one side you have the 'prove the myth - else it is rubbish' supporters and on the other you have the 'it did happen - my faith is based on it' opposition, both equally dedicated to the task of proving themselves right.
Problem is, that if indeed these legends were actually true incidents, they happened so long ago, that it becomes no trivial task to prove or disprove a myth. When that happens people resort to faith or science to try and explain the un-explainable, again what I believe to be a dead end.
From some reflective thinking on the topic I think I may have an alternate hypothesis which would aim and satisfy both parties - if not please do not misconstrue it as an attempt to inflame passion, rather as a introduction of an alternate thought process.
The question that begs being asked is whether(or was) the actual happening of the incident in question (whether it be the story or Adam and Eve, or the Ramayana) is of utmost importance, or is it something more subtle, but one of far greater value. Maybe, just maybe what is really of significance is the punch line - the core lesson that the narrative intends to impart. A lesson of the human frailty of man (Adam and Eve), a struggle between good triumphing over evil (Ramayana) are some of them. Isn't this the crux of these treatise?

Many centuries ago, one person did the same, talking in parables to describe to his followers the means to achieve enlightenment. And this erudite teacher had a reason for doing so - it was the only means of making a common person understand complex ideologies. True to his time, this still must hold value even today, since so many are engaged in trying to identify themselves in this modern world.

Coming to think about it, the consternation about whether these stories are fact or fiction is irrelevant. These narratives, whether true or false, have stood the test of time, not on the literary value, but on their moral teachings - and that is what we need to imbibe.

The dreamland that is Indian Cinema

For the past several weeks I have been suffering from what I may call, for lack of a better description is a bloggers blackout. Simply put, I get ideas in my head for interesting prose, and I begin duly writing the same, but the finesse is just not there to complete the work. The picky person that I am, results in hardly anything making it past the draft stage - well until today.

Again, for the past few weeks, I have watched a few, select Hindi movies - selections of a few friends, and what I could get my hands around. Now you would ask, well what's so special about that? Ahem... from where I come from - its all about the same. To be completely honest I pretty much stayed away from those movies, an excuse always at hand when I was invited to come along, both in India and here in USA. My reason was simply this, the story lines were predictable, rich girl meets poor boy (or poor girl meets rich boy), they fall in love (some petty squabbles and histrionics are introduced before that), throw in a villain somewhere and finally the 'good guys' win - voila, end of story!
Nowadays, the new genre of film makers are exploring other themes, but the bulk of the movies are rehashes of the same old principles, only the locales are not Srinagar - but Switzerland and the heroine Aishwarya not Madhubala. But still, I had to admit, there must be some substance in them that has kept audiences coming to the big-screen for the past six to seven decades - and I decided to figure out for myself.

After watching a few (some were indeed very terrible) select titles from the mainstream genre I too started, to realize and appreciate where the sum and substance of Indian cinema came from. Here in the USA most movies potray the real world - infact they specialize in that! - As in the case of Wag the Dog - if Hollywood so chose they could quite accurately potray any 'reality' that you wanted an audience to see.
In India though, its quite the opposite. They are filled with color, with elaborate song and dance sequences - with motifs very quintessential Indian. I noticed this to a great detail while watching Swades - one of 'to watch' movies on my list. There in one of the scenes the movies come to the village - with the entire population gathering to watch the show. The movie is an old print, probably one seen by the audience multiple times... but yet they eyes are filled with enrapture. For these few hours they can leave their pathetic lives behind, their endless struggles for basic essentials, their poverty and unrelenting misery. It is in this time that they can live out their fantasies - possibly that of young boy falling in love with a pretty girl, with hearts of gay abandon and endless romance. It is in these movies that good always triumphs over evil, rising like a phoenix to overcome the seemingly impossible to emerge victorious in the end.

What it gives is something for people to hold on to, to wish for. Hope is a wonderful thing, and that is what these movies of yore try to provide.... and that is what makes it all so endearing.