Gori's Grit
Today's blog is about a character that I have simply fallen in love with. The character is a girl named Diya from Karan Johar's latest flick 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein' (Translation: My Fair Lady, In Your Love). Diya is a diehard social activist who wants to change the world whatever the cost. Opposite her is a shallow little man called Sriram who couldn't care less just about anything important: be it relationships, life, family, friend or the country. He is anything but like Diya. But before I get into the chemistry of their relationship, let me tell you something about what makes Diya one most lovable character. Firstly, we need more like her especially in a country like ours. Someone who can come up with unique ideas to fight the grind this bloody system we work under puts us in. So, you see Diya getting rid of the traffic jam caused by a soon to arrive chief minister on the road by acting pregnant having borrowed Sriram's jacket (which is how they meet the first time). She walks up to the traffic cops and moans about how her baby is booming out and will probably die if she is not rushed to the hospital which can only be done if the jam is cleared and her car which is in the middle of the traffic mess is allowed to pass through. The traffic cop after some initial inhibition eventually relents and lets the traffic mess clear up.
Being an environmentalist, she opposes the building of a mall where there was supposed to be a playground for children in the first place. So, while the two-faced chief minister is praising the mall builder (who is none other than Sriram's father), Diya lets in bands children with their cricket bats and their hockey sticks and makes them start to play right whilst the chief minister's speech is on. Disturbed, when the CM asks what is going on, Diya answers, "The children need some place to play. If there is not to be a playground here then it might as well be a mall." The CM leaves insulted and embarrassed while Diya chases him with her stormy round of questioning.
But Diya has to go through a tough round of questions too. And from the most unexpected source: Sriram. He calls her a hypocrite after a fight between them. He says that it is easy to give speeches and carry processions living in the lap of a rich family background as she belongs to. She laments the hunger in the country while dining in an Italian restaurant. That she cannot possibly know poverty or anything about pain unless she has herself lived with it.
That is the last meeting between the two until they meet after a really long time. They break up. When Sriram comes right back to her home looking once again for her (having realized that she was the best thing that ever happened to him), he finds that she has already left Delhi. But here is the interesting part. Diya's new place of residence is in an extremely remote village called Jhumli which is right in the middle of nowhere around Gujrat. Just reaching there takes a lot out of Sriram. So, he has to catch a train, a bus and a broken down tuktuk just to reach there. Which is after he has walked for 50 kilometers and crossed a scarily built bridge that has nothing to walk on it except a thin rope. But when he finally meets her, he feels she has completely lost it. He finds her living amidst these villagers who have around them cow-dung, poverty and more cow-dung. She tells him that that's what she wants from life now. To help people one village at a time. Her dream for the village is to build a proper bridge which will help the kids, the pregnant mothers and everyone else in the village to safely cross the river that stands right between them and the road to the city facilities. Sriram finds her fighting against the corrupt village collector (played brilliantly by Anupam Kher) to help build the same. He tries to do his part as he is an architect by education. But all this just to impress Diya and take her back with him to Bangalore. Diya tells him that she will only agree to return if he really succeeds in building the bridge. Sriram somehow manages to persuade the collector's boss to fund the project. But when the collector's boss is taken to court and loses his power, the collector puts a halt in the project citing one or the other excuse. And that's when you see how truly suffocating our bureaucracy is. No pleads from Sriram work. Diya tells Sriram that she doesn't need any idiot's approval to build the bridge. She has the architect in him and the labour in the villagers. Sriram tells that this is mad. No villager comes forward to help her either. This is when Diya shows what she is made of. She says if no one will help her. She will do it herself. And off she goes to mix the cement for the bridge all on her own whilst the villagers see her struggle with it. And all this spectacle is being enjoyed by the corrupt collector who smiles a mean and triumphant laugh at the helplessness of it all. Sriram can't take it and gives Diya a hand to make the machine move. But he fails too. He sees the villagers all as mute spectators and tells Diya that there is no point in helping people who themselves don't care about their concern. The villager feel ashamed and soon they too join in. The work gets going. After a few more hassles, the village does get its bridge, Sriram gets his fair lady and all Diya can think of is the neighboring village where there is no electricity.
I think that even though things might seem gloomy at times, the fact is that we still have the earth hanging in balance and it is because of a few people like Diya. And although some might find the struggle that these activists go through pointles, they do their part. A difference is a difference even if it's a small one. If all the little differences are put together, it will eventually be a a big difference, won't it? That's why we need more people like Diya. In India today, that has begun happening. And therefore, we see a groundswell of support for an aging old man on fast or an angry young man out to change the political map of this country. And this support is good. And if we are to see change happen, we must all come together against this broken down system of ours and do our part to change it. And remember, no matter how small, a difference is a difference. As Gandhi said, "Almost everything that you do will seem insignificant but it is important that you do it."
Being an environmentalist, she opposes the building of a mall where there was supposed to be a playground for children in the first place. So, while the two-faced chief minister is praising the mall builder (who is none other than Sriram's father), Diya lets in bands children with their cricket bats and their hockey sticks and makes them start to play right whilst the chief minister's speech is on. Disturbed, when the CM asks what is going on, Diya answers, "The children need some place to play. If there is not to be a playground here then it might as well be a mall." The CM leaves insulted and embarrassed while Diya chases him with her stormy round of questioning.
But Diya has to go through a tough round of questions too. And from the most unexpected source: Sriram. He calls her a hypocrite after a fight between them. He says that it is easy to give speeches and carry processions living in the lap of a rich family background as she belongs to. She laments the hunger in the country while dining in an Italian restaurant. That she cannot possibly know poverty or anything about pain unless she has herself lived with it.
That is the last meeting between the two until they meet after a really long time. They break up. When Sriram comes right back to her home looking once again for her (having realized that she was the best thing that ever happened to him), he finds that she has already left Delhi. But here is the interesting part. Diya's new place of residence is in an extremely remote village called Jhumli which is right in the middle of nowhere around Gujrat. Just reaching there takes a lot out of Sriram. So, he has to catch a train, a bus and a broken down tuktuk just to reach there. Which is after he has walked for 50 kilometers and crossed a scarily built bridge that has nothing to walk on it except a thin rope. But when he finally meets her, he feels she has completely lost it. He finds her living amidst these villagers who have around them cow-dung, poverty and more cow-dung. She tells him that that's what she wants from life now. To help people one village at a time. Her dream for the village is to build a proper bridge which will help the kids, the pregnant mothers and everyone else in the village to safely cross the river that stands right between them and the road to the city facilities. Sriram finds her fighting against the corrupt village collector (played brilliantly by Anupam Kher) to help build the same. He tries to do his part as he is an architect by education. But all this just to impress Diya and take her back with him to Bangalore. Diya tells him that she will only agree to return if he really succeeds in building the bridge. Sriram somehow manages to persuade the collector's boss to fund the project. But when the collector's boss is taken to court and loses his power, the collector puts a halt in the project citing one or the other excuse. And that's when you see how truly suffocating our bureaucracy is. No pleads from Sriram work. Diya tells Sriram that she doesn't need any idiot's approval to build the bridge. She has the architect in him and the labour in the villagers. Sriram tells that this is mad. No villager comes forward to help her either. This is when Diya shows what she is made of. She says if no one will help her. She will do it herself. And off she goes to mix the cement for the bridge all on her own whilst the villagers see her struggle with it. And all this spectacle is being enjoyed by the corrupt collector who smiles a mean and triumphant laugh at the helplessness of it all. Sriram can't take it and gives Diya a hand to make the machine move. But he fails too. He sees the villagers all as mute spectators and tells Diya that there is no point in helping people who themselves don't care about their concern. The villager feel ashamed and soon they too join in. The work gets going. After a few more hassles, the village does get its bridge, Sriram gets his fair lady and all Diya can think of is the neighboring village where there is no electricity.
I think that even though things might seem gloomy at times, the fact is that we still have the earth hanging in balance and it is because of a few people like Diya. And although some might find the struggle that these activists go through pointles, they do their part. A difference is a difference even if it's a small one. If all the little differences are put together, it will eventually be a a big difference, won't it? That's why we need more people like Diya. In India today, that has begun happening. And therefore, we see a groundswell of support for an aging old man on fast or an angry young man out to change the political map of this country. And this support is good. And if we are to see change happen, we must all come together against this broken down system of ours and do our part to change it. And remember, no matter how small, a difference is a difference. As Gandhi said, "Almost everything that you do will seem insignificant but it is important that you do it."
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