Mom and Grandmom are the two most amazing women in the world. They are the very foundation of my existence, and I owe absolutely everything that I am to them. Warm, generous, funny and sincere, they are everything that I try so hard to be, and fail so miserably at being. The foundation, however, isn’t the only component of a building. That is why this post is not about them. This post is about three other women who are the brick-and-mortar of this random building that I am referring to. The foundation brought the building up, but the bricks are what give it the appearance that it has today. The foundation is why the building believes in God, and the bricks are why the building sees God in everyday life. Since I can now sense the building analogy going a tad bit out of control, I shall proceed to write, in chronological order of their appearances in my life, about these Three Women.
She wasn’t a woman when I first met her, but she now stands tall (quite literally!) as a singularly striking person who has worked amazingly hard, deserving every bit of success that she has achieved in life so far. All of six when her path first intersected with mine, I have pretty much seen her grow up. While the people most responsible for me wanting to be a filmmaker are my parents, third on the list is undoubtedly she. For me, it all started with Hindi film music and the countless videos that I made in my head on my favourite songs. She is, hands down, the ‘star’ of most of these videos. For the longest time, she was the only girl who I thought of or cared about, and so is pretty much one third of the image that I have of the ‘perfect girl’. This amazing woman often underestimates her own strength, and I have long stopped trying to convince her to not do so. I’ve realized that she seems to work best when she thinks she cannot do something, later going on to pull it off with aplomb. There are days when I wish I could just sit her down and tell her just how much she means to me, but words have long dried up in my heart. Nearly all of my ideals about love, hope, happiness and friendship were formed during her presence in my life, and for that I can only pray that she is always happy. ‘Tum paas aaye... Yun muskuraye...’ will always be about her, and no one else.
Here, then, I must make a confession. There exist two separate lists of people who have had a hand in me following my dream of wanting to be a filmmaker. The first list is of those people who are responsible for me wanting to be a filmmaker – my parents, and the girl mentioned above. The second list, on the other hand, is of those people who actually inspired me to go ahead and chase my dream. This list consists of just two people. Two Women.
When he was four, a little boy began working on a painting. Over the years, amidst projected illusions of kitsch, cabaret, mush, Mumbai’s underworld, kung-fu action, khushi and gham, he worked on his painting bit by bit. When he finally completed it, he thought it was perfect. When he looked skywards and asked God for a reward for completing his ‘perfect painting’, God simply smiled and said, “My child, I completed this painting 288 days before you were even born. Your only reward then, is that in your lifetime, you shall see this painting that I have made, and you shall see Me in it.” When I was 21, I saw that painting.
And then there was one. Little did I know that the most charming face I’ve ever seen, actually hid a tiny little bit of dynamite! That’s the Third Woman and perhaps the one most responsible for me chasing my dream. She has singularly played the part of every single relation I have known, in the time that I spent with her. She was a friend, a parent, an elder sister, a kid sister, a teacher, and a whole lot more. Every time I get around to describing her, I keep coming back to that same word - dynamite! An effortless worker, a kind heart, a genuine soul and most of all, an energetic personality, she can charm the grumpiest person in the world with her demeanour, and destroy the worst of enemies with her fury. She personifies the phrases, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!’ and ‘Heaven hath no beauty like a woman pleased’. (I came up with the last one. Please forgive me!) She is also perhaps the only person who can truly intimidate me, no matter what the circumstance. When I need advice, she is the only person I can think of. Again, the only thing I can do when it comes to her is pray to God that she is always happy, always smiling and always spreading her charm. Ask me to describe her using a Hindi song, and the only one that comes to my mind is ‘Kaise mujhe tu mil gayi...’
For me, the one thing that binds all Three is trust. I trust all of them blindly. They can do no wrong. I’ve heard beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Does that mean that if the beholder is blind, beauty is absolute?
She wasn’t a woman when I first met her, but she now stands tall (quite literally!) as a singularly striking person who has worked amazingly hard, deserving every bit of success that she has achieved in life so far. All of six when her path first intersected with mine, I have pretty much seen her grow up. While the people most responsible for me wanting to be a filmmaker are my parents, third on the list is undoubtedly she. For me, it all started with Hindi film music and the countless videos that I made in my head on my favourite songs. She is, hands down, the ‘star’ of most of these videos. For the longest time, she was the only girl who I thought of or cared about, and so is pretty much one third of the image that I have of the ‘perfect girl’. This amazing woman often underestimates her own strength, and I have long stopped trying to convince her to not do so. I’ve realized that she seems to work best when she thinks she cannot do something, later going on to pull it off with aplomb. There are days when I wish I could just sit her down and tell her just how much she means to me, but words have long dried up in my heart. Nearly all of my ideals about love, hope, happiness and friendship were formed during her presence in my life, and for that I can only pray that she is always happy. ‘Tum paas aaye... Yun muskuraye...’ will always be about her, and no one else.
Here, then, I must make a confession. There exist two separate lists of people who have had a hand in me following my dream of wanting to be a filmmaker. The first list is of those people who are responsible for me wanting to be a filmmaker – my parents, and the girl mentioned above. The second list, on the other hand, is of those people who actually inspired me to go ahead and chase my dream. This list consists of just two people. Two Women.
When he was four, a little boy began working on a painting. Over the years, amidst projected illusions of kitsch, cabaret, mush, Mumbai’s underworld, kung-fu action, khushi and gham, he worked on his painting bit by bit. When he finally completed it, he thought it was perfect. When he looked skywards and asked God for a reward for completing his ‘perfect painting’, God simply smiled and said, “My child, I completed this painting 288 days before you were even born. Your only reward then, is that in your lifetime, you shall see this painting that I have made, and you shall see Me in it.” When I was 21, I saw that painting.
And then there was one. Little did I know that the most charming face I’ve ever seen, actually hid a tiny little bit of dynamite! That’s the Third Woman and perhaps the one most responsible for me chasing my dream. She has singularly played the part of every single relation I have known, in the time that I spent with her. She was a friend, a parent, an elder sister, a kid sister, a teacher, and a whole lot more. Every time I get around to describing her, I keep coming back to that same word - dynamite! An effortless worker, a kind heart, a genuine soul and most of all, an energetic personality, she can charm the grumpiest person in the world with her demeanour, and destroy the worst of enemies with her fury. She personifies the phrases, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!’ and ‘Heaven hath no beauty like a woman pleased’. (I came up with the last one. Please forgive me!) She is also perhaps the only person who can truly intimidate me, no matter what the circumstance. When I need advice, she is the only person I can think of. Again, the only thing I can do when it comes to her is pray to God that she is always happy, always smiling and always spreading her charm. Ask me to describe her using a Hindi song, and the only one that comes to my mind is ‘Kaise mujhe tu mil gayi...’
For me, the one thing that binds all Three is trust. I trust all of them blindly. They can do no wrong. I’ve heard beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Does that mean that if the beholder is blind, beauty is absolute?
2 comments:
I knew about one (easy as pie). I thought I knew about the other two, but the posts makes me wonder if you are mentioning someone else. Or rather, I don't know them that well.
Pradeep, another impressive piece of writing. And I could think of 1 girl that fits the bill of the first 'Woman'..
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