Of Chris Nolan and Kulasekara AzhwAr

I was watching Inception yesterday.

Easily the most affecting love-story I have watched in a while, is that of Mal-Cobb.
A love, whose intensity excludes the whole world, which is fraught with fickle uncertainties. A love that instead builds an infinite and eternal universe, so as to do justice to the demands of togetherness.

The defining moment in the film pits the wholesome, but elusive, 'reality' of one's lover against a one's perception ('projection' to use the film's vocabulary) of the lover.

Note: a projection is NOT a comfortable assemblage of attributes from a wishlist (right mix of traditional and modern, clean habits). It is a much more complex and earnest representation of all that one has taken the other person to be. Indeed, it  is borne out of the depths of one's understanding of the other person. So, if a 'projection' is everything one understands the other to be, then why would it be lesser than what 'is'? Does 'what is' have a value independent of what one can perceive and understand it to be?

Sure, it would be selfish to claim otherwise.

But would we really really care? Does it make any difference at all to us? One can live a lifetime with a 'projection', without understanding what one has failed to capture. Particularly when perpetuation of perceptions dominates relationships more than we like to admit. And, as if it were not confusing enough, people - consciously or otherwise- gradually try and fit into the impressions that their loved ones have of them.

Can we ever just be? Or are we always apparitions of ourselves for others, particularly, for those we care a lot about:

குலசேகராழ்வார் அன்றே சொன்னார்:

பேயரே எனக்கு யாவரும் யானும் ஒர்
பேயனே எவர்க்கும் இது பேசி என்?
ஆயனே அரங்கா என்று அழைக்கின்றேன்
பேயனாய் ஒழிந்தேன் எம்பிரானுக்கே

Comments

  1. I don't think 'objectivity' is ever possible, as we need to wear 'glasses' to make meaning out of anything. And our upbringing, culture, DNA and lots of other ingredients go into making these glasses which gives us a UNIQUE view of the world that exists.

    Since wearing a glass is a precondition, our perception becomes our version of the reality. To limit the chasm we can use the genetic endowment of sixth-sense and become aware that everyone of us wear those glasses and consciously work towards changing our glass to align towards 'objective' view, if there exists one.

    idhaithaan valluvar solli irukkiraar...
    kakka kaaaghavena...kok kokka ko gho vena...

    ReplyDelete

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