Once upon 'A Wednesday'

I just happened to watch Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher starrer ‘A Wednesday’. It was just couple of weeks ago serial blasts took off in New Delhi, and given the pattern of the blasts in various cities and the terror in the air… the movie leaves everyone with a zeal and does trigger a thought to get sensible. Especially, the part when the actor chooses not to give a name to the ‘common man’ in the movie, it registers the impact.

I would not rate the movie very good or good nor satisfactory. I’d just say what my friend had said while sharing it with me: It’s a must see. Not for its entertainment value, but for the idea it presents, and the thought it leaves behind.

At the same time, I’m reminded of one ‘Cow Theory’ of Arindam Chaudhuri published in his book ‘Count your chicken before they hatch’. Indians, he goes about to compare with the cows which are found much in abundance across India especially on the roads blocking our ways. Constrained by his experiences, he shares the metro experience where a cow is resistant in moving an inch even if a bus is heading towards it in full speed. You hit the cow and then, lethargically, it gets up, goes a little ahead and down it goes to rest once again!

Relating this Cow Theory to human beings, these days of our lives when terror shadows every hour, we ought not to be so ignorant like the cow which doesn’t understand the reason why it’s being pushed by various attacks, nor so lethargic and complacent to not take appropriate action. Though the movie takes a violence-based solution, what’s to be captured and retained is the spirit of it rather than the way it was act upon.