I Smoke

Today when I called home somehow the talks surfaced about my being a follower of my own wishes. Well yes I agree I am like that. But I also like to make sure I don't hurt people because of that. Some days back my boss told me about this something called Landmark forum and how it brings about changes is people's lives. How people get so influenced by it that they get associated with it for the whole life. And that I should do it. They talk of the concept of being someone to be doing something. ( it is one of the to do is to be or to be is to do thingy).

And when I declined, the first defense (as they say) my boss told me I have are my thoughts that why should I change at the first place. Let me mention other defences now.

1) Why should I pay money to get transformed into someone among thousands of those who do the landmark forum course. Who talk the same language and follow the same rules of leading life. Nature made us all different. We all are like different sculptures admired for our unique existence. Why should we smoothen all the corners in us to become similar looking piece of rock. Smooth, harmless but also useless. Why do I need to undergo this transformation.

2) My religion (and for that matter I think any religion) tells me:
Either be spiritual or follow the spiritual
Well let me choose to be spiritual here. Let me myself decide the way I want to lead my life. Let me myself choose to be happy and sad whenever I want. Let me enjoy the power I regained after a long time.... or perhaps for the first time.

No smoking is a movie which leaves us different, not because it changes us but because it gives us reasons why we should not change. Why we should value our antaratma (soul). The moment we surrender, there are lots of other forces which try their best to leave us first deaf and then soulless... Inerestingly, I am not the only one who drew analogy between landmark forum and no smoking's prayogshala. I have one more friend who thinks the same. When my boss saw the movie he even wondered if Anurag Kashyap was influenced by Landmark forum's way of functioning. Well let me add a disclaimer here:
The thoughts expressed are completely personal and may not apply to every individual. Please don't use this text as a reason/way to judge the credibility of Landmark forum.

Now coming to 'No Smoking'. I read a lot of reviews on the movie, some were pathetic. All this guy did was making a fool of himself. Let me not get into reviewing his review. I wish I had seen black friday. Then I would have seen this movie in theatre at the time it released. The first impression I had about movie was that it is against smoking and about spreading public message. Well the messages indeed are good but movies end up as a tele serial or public interest message more than movies. Good part about standard public interest messages is that they are short and effective. I am also amazed why did John Abraham say what he said in this interview. I
can only derive two possible meanings out of it. Either Anurag is much more intelligent than I thought after watching No Smoking or John Abraham is also very intelligent. Second part is hard to believe looking at the kind of statements he gave in this interview.

For those who haven't watched the movie, I'd say if you can make sense of what I have written here, then go watch the movie. It has hundred times more to offer than what I have written here. If you think its a remake of Quitter's Inc. and Cat's Eye then you are wrong. I haven't read the story or watched the movie but No Smoking can't be written down within a shot story. It needs a full fledged book written in autobiographical style. Its much more than that. The story is for viewers who need it. But the movie is way above its story. I read somewhere that John Abraham is not so influential at acting. And I thought oh is it... I didn't notice. All I saw in the movie was 'K'. 'K' as in 'anurag Kashyap'.

I felt sad that movie failed even in multiplexes. And thats because people like me didn't go to watch the movie perhaps because of getting deceived by such interviews. I wish I had read the review. Even then I would have watched the movie.

And by the way... I am a non-smoker.