The Solitary Reaper
Rudrapur, Saturday Night: The word “dignity” traces its
origin to medieval times, when the royal subjects were supposed to conduct
themselves with character and nobility- thus dignity. I have a strong affiliation
to this particular word, as on the personal front I aim to live life with
dignity. Little did I know that a particular movie experience will change the
way I understood this particular word and life in general.
So we, (flat mates, friends, better halves of friends) were
out for a movie, on a typical weekend in the foothills of the Himalayan city of
Rudrapur. The movie, a misogynistic guy one, (“ban gaya kutta” for heaven’s sake!)
was on, with our group commenting about the various comparisons of the opposite
sexes shown in the movie. Fortuitously I
notice a middle aged man on our adjacent seats, looking down on the seat
adjacent to him. Curious, I cram my neck, to see a small boy (I believe 8-9
years old), fidgeting around in the chair. The man, presumably his father, was
lovingly watching over the young surd kid play with the popcorn, the cold
drink, the chair and stuff. The child was restless, presumably bored with
having to sit in a closed area for so long.
So let’s look at the weirdly strange scenario here: a father
with his young child, alone at the theatre in the middle of the night, watching
an adult comedy movie, which dishes out slurs and slangs and all sorts of
misogynistic comments through out! To top it all, the man is sitting next a
group of hooligans (us), commenting and clapping! I was trying to imagine the
state of mind of the man, trying to “dignify” his presence in that particular moment.
So the movie comes to an end- the child is asleep, tired
from all the hither thither done. As we are making an exit, I glance at the
man, gracefully picking up the kid in his arms checking for anything left
behind. He picked up a small bracelet- stared at it for a second and walked on.
I was right behind the man when he help up the bracelet again- a middle aged
lady looked back- with the words (“Maa”) scrolled on the bottom. The man
glanced at me- I understood.
I carried on, smiling,
with dignity...
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