Selfishness...or is it?
Very rarely do I make the mistake of watching a movie without getting a review or 2 from a few people who I trust for their taste on movies ( not because they have some great taste or anything, but just that their taste matches mine). Very recently I did do this mistake watched what they called a 'preview' show of a movie called a 'Dhan Dhana Dhan GOAL'. I guess they had to arrange for a preview show because they were quite certain that once the reviews were out there would hardly be any one interested in watching the movie. Anyway, this post is not meant to criticize the movie(although i can hardly control myself from doing otherwise) or even give a review. Although the movie was utter rubbish with abysmal direction, dialogues and acting I was moved by the movie in atleast 2 ways.
1. The movie really moved me out of the theatre in the interval. It was just the absence of the ride home and the temperature of about 8.5 degree C that made me return to my seat to watch 'Billo Rani' sing out of tune(or was that the thing which made me move out in the first place...dont remember...nor do i care!!!)
2. The other and the more serious part of the movie which made me think was when the team becomes aware of the fact that John Abraham has sold himself out to another club just before an all crucial championship final and will not be playing for the club any longer. Just as the events of the team venting their anger on John develop, we are made aware of the fact that Raj Zutsi had pledged his garage in order to raise funds for the club when they were in dire need of money and now with John Abraham not playing for their club in the final there was no way that they were going to win the final which also meant that Raj Zutsi was going to lose his garage and his only means of livelihood. The instant reaction which the audience has is that of loathing John's character for what he had done and of holding him solely responsible for what was happening. This feeling is heightened by John claiming that what he had done was nothing but professional behaviour and that everyone should stop behaving like children. We all (including me) start to think how selfish can a person be??!...but just stand back for a moment and think of the following:
a) Raj Zutsi had pledged his garage when John was not even a part of the team
b) There was no way for John to know about the same(as even the rest of the team didnt know anything about it)
b) Even if John was aware of the sequence of the events, it was not John who had asked Raj Zutsi to pledge his garage, something which John points out (rightly or not is a matter of debate) to the team.
There are a number of questions which popped up in my mind when I considered the above points:
1. Was John indebted to Raj Zutsi for pledging this garage?
2. Were there any chances of the club even making it to the final if John was not to be a part of the team?
3. Can the first point where Raj Zutsi pledges his garage for the club be really considered an act of selflessness?
4. Was there no personal benefit which he was going to derive from pledging his garage?
5. Was he saving his own ass or was he doing it as a favour to the team or to John?
Thinking about these questions made me think of a bigger questions. Is there anything called as "doing a favour" to someone? Think about the last time you did a favor to someone:
Was it really a favour or was there something to gain for yourself? Was it because you wanted to enter the 'good' books of someone? Was it because you simply liked that person and doing that 'favor' would make that person like you more? Was there any kind of joy derived by doing that act of 'favor'?
Even if the answer to all the above questions is an emphatic NO, are we justified in asking something in return from the person for the favour which the person never even asked us to do?
Given the fact that a person has benefited from our favour and is now acting in a (perceived selfish)manner which is also proving detrimental to you are you justified in asking him to return your favor or stop acting in a self benefiting manner? And in case you do so...who would be the one being selfish...???
1. The movie really moved me out of the theatre in the interval. It was just the absence of the ride home and the temperature of about 8.5 degree C that made me return to my seat to watch 'Billo Rani' sing out of tune(or was that the thing which made me move out in the first place...dont remember...nor do i care!!!)
2. The other and the more serious part of the movie which made me think was when the team becomes aware of the fact that John Abraham has sold himself out to another club just before an all crucial championship final and will not be playing for the club any longer. Just as the events of the team venting their anger on John develop, we are made aware of the fact that Raj Zutsi had pledged his garage in order to raise funds for the club when they were in dire need of money and now with John Abraham not playing for their club in the final there was no way that they were going to win the final which also meant that Raj Zutsi was going to lose his garage and his only means of livelihood. The instant reaction which the audience has is that of loathing John's character for what he had done and of holding him solely responsible for what was happening. This feeling is heightened by John claiming that what he had done was nothing but professional behaviour and that everyone should stop behaving like children. We all (including me) start to think how selfish can a person be??!...but just stand back for a moment and think of the following:
a) Raj Zutsi had pledged his garage when John was not even a part of the team
b) There was no way for John to know about the same(as even the rest of the team didnt know anything about it)
b) Even if John was aware of the sequence of the events, it was not John who had asked Raj Zutsi to pledge his garage, something which John points out (rightly or not is a matter of debate) to the team.
There are a number of questions which popped up in my mind when I considered the above points:
1. Was John indebted to Raj Zutsi for pledging this garage?
2. Were there any chances of the club even making it to the final if John was not to be a part of the team?
3. Can the first point where Raj Zutsi pledges his garage for the club be really considered an act of selflessness?
4. Was there no personal benefit which he was going to derive from pledging his garage?
5. Was he saving his own ass or was he doing it as a favour to the team or to John?
Thinking about these questions made me think of a bigger questions. Is there anything called as "doing a favour" to someone? Think about the last time you did a favor to someone:
Was it really a favour or was there something to gain for yourself? Was it because you wanted to enter the 'good' books of someone? Was it because you simply liked that person and doing that 'favor' would make that person like you more? Was there any kind of joy derived by doing that act of 'favor'?
Even if the answer to all the above questions is an emphatic NO, are we justified in asking something in return from the person for the favour which the person never even asked us to do?
Given the fact that a person has benefited from our favour and is now acting in a (perceived selfish)manner which is also proving detrimental to you are you justified in asking him to return your favor or stop acting in a self benefiting manner? And in case you do so...who would be the one being selfish...???
posted by Sudhanshu at
8:57 AM
2 Comments:
dude u write well... so true.... very well worded blog. felt as if i was listening to u n not reading through.. Keep at it...
At the crux of it we all are ....
its never for someone else...its always for the "me" in us....
A plain sacrifice done for closest of the closest person is somehwere down below not to help him/her ...but to avoid "me" being hurt ..from feeling the toruble/pain to someone you love...
Well written.....
random phil thought frm my side:D
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