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Learning India

J and I have started watching The Discovery of India. So glad to find a version with sub-titles even though it lags the audio at times and has gaps. The poetry of the language is mostly lost in translation but its still wonderful to be able to share the experience with J.

 A very different feeling watching with her after so many years - it reminds me why it was such a big deal back then. Was the telling of India's story complete or accurate? Most likely not. It is one of the many ways a story so vast and complex can be told. It is upto the viewer to decide what they want to take away from it. I realize now that was structured to have mass appeal. It lacks the sophistication of Benegal's feature films and is also no Peter Brook production.

 As a kid, I loved how Bharat Ek Khoj turned history from the dull pages of my text book into a performance art on television. It made me feel like I knew a lot more about the forces that shaped the country, helped me connect dots that the rote memorization of dates and military campaigns of the various dynasties just did not. 

 I hope it has the same effect on J - this gets her curious to learn more about India, her cultural roots and what makes us who we are as a people. If it does, this time of uncertainty and chaos in our lives would been yielded something of enduring value for her.
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