Nostalgia

Warning: This post is like an idle river - it meanders, digresses and aimlessly wanders reflecting little more than the blue sky above.

The other day Orange was complaining about not finding love. When I read his post I was reminded of my twenties - my grad school days! Yeah, all my friends were getting married left, right and center, climbing the corporate ladder - and there was I, slogging away in my lab - nay, finding refuge in my work because nothing else made sense.

I went through an identity crisis and in order to resolve it (as all good engineers should) I resorted to a systematic deconstruction and reconstruction of my identity. And one thing that came off this process was, that my brand sparkling new-age identity had not only retained, but rediscovered with vigor my Bengali identity - specifically defined by the works of thinkers and poets who laid the foundation of liberal modern thought in Bengal back between 1800-1940. My exciting discovery of that history can be left for another blog post. And my love for the expression of universalism in Tagore's poetry and music was renewed. I rediscovered him as an universalist, rather than as obligatory listening because I was born Bengali!

But anyway, going back to Orange's post it reminded me of one of Tagore's songs (now you see why I had to explain the identity business) that has always been very close to my heart and during those cold nights back in grad school, it often cheered me up. The song is -



I am no good at translating - but long and short of it is that the poet wonders, what is love? is it indeed the pain and longing that defines it? or is it not the freedom and joy it affords us?

I was quite surprised to find this video - its from a movie that dates back to the 60s, based on a story set in the late 19th century (I think!). Growing up this scene was one of my favorite movie scenes.

Soon after watching this You Tube video I quickly went through a whole bunch of my favorites that I had not seen in a long time and had no clue were available on You Tube ... as I reveled in the black and white glory of old Bengali movies - I felt a sense of nostalgia - nostalgia for a time gone by, a time of relative innocence! Do I want us to go back there - no! But it reminds me of a time in my own life back when I was in Calcutta and life was simpler - much simpler. And maybe I associate these tunes with the innocence of my childhood and the memory of a city that has changed her name and her character since.

Then again, may be things haven't changed so much after all. After all the songs are still relevant, if a wee bit different.

Consider the following:



and:



Also as I wallowed in the music and the poetry, I couldn't help noticing the three different attires in the three videos - ranging between the late 19th century to the early twenty first century.

So much has changed and we still hum the same tunes our grandparents took solace in.

... or maybe I'm just plain old-fashioned!