Tagore's Speeches

The past is important and reading from the past brings us closer. Tagore had thoughts and these thoughts gave rise to speeches around the world. I am currently reading Speeches by Tagore in the book called "Race Conflict and other Speeches". An excerpt from a speech titled Women's Place in the World:

"A man's interest in his fellow beings becomes real when he finds in them some special form of usefulness or striking gift of powers, but a woman feels interest in her fellow-beings because they are human, not because of some particular purpose they can serve, uncommon talent which they may possess. Her exuberance of vital interest is spontaneously expressive; it makes her speech, her laughter, her movement, graceful and picturesque: for the note of gracefulness is in this harmony with all our surrounding interests."

...

"Woman has her natural power that penetrates through the surface to the heart of things, where in the mystery of life dwells an eternal source of interest; and therefore her love has not necessarily to wait for the excitation of surprising qualities. God has sent woman not merely to explore or exploit but to love the world which is a world of ordinary things and events. She is not in the world of fairy tale where the fair woman sleeps for ages till she is touched by the magic wand. In God's world women have their magic wands everywhere, which keep their hearts awake, and these are not the golden wands of wealth nor the iron rods of power.
Of late, with the help of science, civilization has been growing increasingly impersonal in character, so that the full reality of the individual is more and more ignored."

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Tagore wrote well and thought better. It's important for us to look back at what he wrote and from what I have read thus far, this essay has struck me most.

Udaan

My heart screamt when the father burnt Rohan's book of literary creations; that is how powerful the movie was. It feels good to know that Indian cinema is changing because it shows that Indian sensibilities are changing.
Udaan is a story of a boy who hasn't known the love of a family, but his life is alright because he has been living in a boarding school in Shimla. Things change when he is expelled from school and has to start living with his 'evil' father, Ronit Roy. Ronit Roy has played an outstanding character of a man who has married twice, carries a lot of emotional baggage from his past (possibly because of his own father) and has certain odd rules to how life ought to be lived and what his roles are as a father.
Ram Kapoor plays a fantastic role of Ronit's younger brother who seems to be living a great life with his own wife and a nice bungalow. He isn't rich but he lives a content life.
Rohan (the protagonist, played by Rajat Barmecha) is a great pick for his role; I have doubts about his acting abilities - then again, he's quite young.
The story is weaved wonderfully with Rohan's old friends from his school, his new 'friends' in Jamshedpur, where he moved to, Rohan's half brother, Arjun, whom I believe to be a fantastic actor and o so lovable.
Udaan paints a realistic picture of what life can be in a tier-2 city of India, where even an educated family has to sail through hardships.

This movie made me go back to my childhood and made me grateful for the wonderful life I have lived so far. This story can be a true one; the beauty lies in how well it has been picturised. The musical score and the direction gel. Well done Mr. Vikramaditya Motwane, you are a force to reckon with and thank you for writing and directing this story.