From Hindustan to Ottoman

At first, I was not enthusiastic about the weekly movie and dinner gathering chez Joy's. But I became addicted to the gatherings after seeing two movies every Saturday at Joy's roomy home theater with a cheerful group discussion over dinner in January.

We had an add-on movie gathering Tuesday, February 5th, before Toastmaster Joy Chyr flew to India for a 17 days Pilgrimage during the Chinese New Year holidays. We watched two Bollywood movies, both of them, 3 hours in length.

Devdas (2002) is a well-known romance film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, based upon a novel by Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay. It's about two lovers of different castes and financial status. The prevailing societal customs in Bengal in the early 1900s put an end to the happy ending of a genuine love story. The movie was eye candy in leading roles:handsome Devdas Mukherjee (Shahrukh Khan), beautiful Parvati "Paro" Chakraborty (Aishwarya Rai, Miss World 1994 at Sun City, South Africa) and Chandramukhi (Madhuri Dixit), and in sets and costumes. The song "Dola Re Dola" with its dance duet between Paro and Chandramukhi was simply gorgeous and stunning. It reminded me of the Bollywood dance class at True Yoga Taipei two years ago. The fast paced hands, feet, and body movements to the high energy level Indian music were like praying in a spiritual ritual.

Jodhaa Akbar (2008) is a sixteenth century love story directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. It's about a marriage of alliance between two cultures and religions, a great Muslim Mughal Emperor, Akbar and a Hindu Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Two leads are icons of physical beauty, sexuality, and glamour. Akbar (Hrithik Roshan) won the allegiance of the Rajputs, the most belligerent Hindus through a shrewd blend of tolerance, generosity and force. Jodhaa (Aishwariya Rai), the daughter of King Bharmal of Amer, sets conditions for marriage, retains her Hindu Dharam and worships Bhagwan Shri Kishan in the Mughal palace, challenges palace customs.

Both movies opened my eyes to Hindustan and the Mughal Empire. I recalled my fist visit of Pakistan in June 1996. When the Thai Airways landed on the airport of Lahore in late evening, I felt being transcended to an ancient and mysterious world of fantasy in a swift. During a week stay in Lahore, I visited the Mughal Castle and many Pakistani families. Then I gradually knew about the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947. I knew that Hindi in India and Urdu in Pakistan are the similar oral language in different written forms. On my way back to Taipei, I carried an exquisite Persian carpet as a precious token of appreciation from our pharmaceutical agent in Lahore.

I'm interested in human evolution. I'm interested in World Affairs. I've known only recently that movies are best resources to know the world. Movies of thousands of flowing pictures are powerful beyond words. Movie directors are miraculous story tellers to depict the world of imagination into a virtual reality of two to three hours. I hope I can visit India some day to know more about the history, religion, culture and people in the great land of Hindustan. I also hope I can visit Turkey, the old empire of Ottoman.

There is a long journey from Hindustan to Ottoman, I'm taking the first small step in 2013. I look forward to a trial lesson of the Turkish language in March (I'd be just satisfied if I could recognize and pronounce the alphabets in Turkish). I have three Turkish DVDs (Journey to the Sun, A Man's Fear of God, The Road) in hands to watch during the Chinese New Year. And I have three books (Benim Adim Kirmizi and Kar by Orhan Pamuk and The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak) in my suitcase before I head for Chia-yi Saturday morning, the 30th day of the 12th month of Year of Dragon.