A recent release by the Hindi film industry(1) tackles an interesting subject where the lead protagonists, play a role within a role, and emulate towards the end of the film, character traits of the personalities that they are acting out. These personalities are only a few of the exceptional men and women who committed themselves to the freedom struggle, sacrificing all they had and all they were, laying down their lives at the feet of Mother India. During the course of the film, one sees the change in attitude and the process by which each actor imbibes the strength of spirit and valour of heart, applying it to their own lives albeit in different circumstances. Perhaps we may not all agree to its plot line or the direction which the film takes, but what is relevant is the larger point of freeing the nation from tyranny and corruption by rebelling against the political forces which have us cornered.
The film is admirable because it gives us glimpses of such great and dynamic revolutionaries while simultaneously bringing home the point that such figures are not to be relegated to the past. Like all things which are true in nature and pure in intent, the spirit of a hero can never be extinguished like a fickle flame blowing in the wind. Instead, it would be more appropriate to think of it as a flame which passes on from one to another, lighting the mind with wisdom, infusing the heart with enthusiasm, charging the body with vigour, strengthening the soul with conviction.
Our world is full of such flames changing hands and hearts, crossing boundaries, across the great wide seas and continents. The chain reaction can only come to an end if there is a sudden gap where a lit torch finds itself without any takers, abandoned midway in its journey. And that would be perhaps the most tragic day in the history of man and his ever aspiring ascension to greatness.
Let us then be ready and willing to overcome all obstacles, constantly marching ahead, carrying forth with a steady hand and a strong will, that eternal flame, ensuring that never should a gap arise, never should there be an end to greatness of spirit and form, never should our heads hang down for want of a hero.
1. Rang de Basanti
