Karwaan (Hindi, Caravan, 2018)
Just to recapitulate what Jordan Peterson mentioned in his book 'The 12 Rules of Life', we tend to assume all social ailments or individual problems that one faces in the process of growing up must be solved with a radical restructuring of one's culture. The call for social revolution is heard loud and clear amongst the young chicklings in every generation. The oft-quoted complain among the youth is that adults are not in tune with reality or are living in the past. Names like fossils and dinosaurs have been heard. On the part of the elders, it is pejorative as well. Their offsprings have been referred to as the generation that would bring down civilisation.
What we often forget is that revolution by nature is destructive. Look back at history. Revolutions have always been of chaos, destruction and re-setting or jump-starting a failing system. If every generation feels that the generation before them had wronged them, there must be something wrong somewhere. Aeons of living together as a community, and we are still struggling to pave the best way from childhood to adulthood. Surely this cannot be true. The parents cannot be wishing ill of their downlines. This is contradictory to the theory of the selfish gene and maternal reflex of walking into a hopelessly burning building to save her young. Logically, after going through various challenges over the centuries, the human race would have surely come up with a blueprint on how to tackle teenage and growing pain issues. But then childhood, adolescence and teenage is a new construct of the 20th century. Before that, children were just little adults, beaming with desires to grow up and fill into the shoes of the adults. The priority was the community, not personal liberty.
Time is an excellent teacher. Hopefully, before the young gets all her life muddled up, they would realise that all the ranting and whining were indeed well-intended.
So, it was told...
A 5-year-old child would think that his father was the strongest, bravest or the fastest than any of his mate's father. At 10, he would not think too much of him. At 15, he cannot see eye-to-eye with him. At 20, he likes to avoid his father altogether. He only communicates with his mother (to pass the message). Then life goes on. At 40, now with children of his own, he understands that it is a Herculean task to be a parent. At 50, he appreciates his father's deeds. At 60, with his father dead and gone, it is all full circle again - his father is the strongest, smartest and most patient man.
This movie tells the story of three people who go on a journey of self-discovery when one of the protagonist's parent's remains was accidentally couriered to the wrong address. Avinash is living in daze working in an unsatisfying job, forever regretting of not pursuing his passion for photography. He has a bone to pick with his father, who had died recently during his pilgrimage, for making his childhood a living hell. His father had unilaterally decided what was best for his future.
When Avinash received his father's coffin, he realised that the sender had mixed up the package. He had to send the box to the rightful owner and reclaim his father's body. He got the help of a friend, Shaukat, with his van to travel from Bengaluru to Kochi. On the way, they had to pick a young girl, Tanya, the granddaughter of the other deceased.
The three characters all have 'daddy issues'. Avinash had a father who objected to his choice of carrier. Shaukat had a drunkard and abusive father. What puzzled him was why his mother took all the abuses and chased Shaukat out of the house instead when he raised up to question his father. Tanya grew up without a father from the age of eight. He had succumbed to cancer.
Looking at Tanya's rebellious behaviour opposing all the values that Avinash holds dear to his heart, he realises that that was how his father would have felt. With the benefit of being grilled in the School of Hard Knocks of Life, Avinash can see more things than what the young Tanya just simply fail to realise.
The cinematography is quite breathtaking as the characters drive through the country road to God's own country. Watching the film just reignited our cycling team's earlier plan to cycle in India. Before the COVID pandemic brought all travels to a grinding halt, we were interested in a 950+ kilometres cycling tour through Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Just to recapitulate what Jordan Peterson mentioned in his book 'The 12 Rules of Life', we tend to assume all social ailments or individual problems that one faces in the process of growing up must be solved with a radical restructuring of one's culture. The call for social revolution is heard loud and clear amongst the young chicklings in every generation. The oft-quoted complain among the youth is that adults are not in tune with reality or are living in the past. Names like fossils and dinosaurs have been heard. On the part of the elders, it is pejorative as well. Their offsprings have been referred to as the generation that would bring down civilisation.
What we often forget is that revolution by nature is destructive. Look back at history. Revolutions have always been of chaos, destruction and re-setting or jump-starting a failing system. If every generation feels that the generation before them had wronged them, there must be something wrong somewhere. Aeons of living together as a community, and we are still struggling to pave the best way from childhood to adulthood. Surely this cannot be true. The parents cannot be wishing ill of their downlines. This is contradictory to the theory of the selfish gene and maternal reflex of walking into a hopelessly burning building to save her young. Logically, after going through various challenges over the centuries, the human race would have surely come up with a blueprint on how to tackle teenage and growing pain issues. But then childhood, adolescence and teenage is a new construct of the 20th century. Before that, children were just little adults, beaming with desires to grow up and fill into the shoes of the adults. The priority was the community, not personal liberty.
Time is an excellent teacher. Hopefully, before the young gets all her life muddled up, they would realise that all the ranting and whining were indeed well-intended.
So, it was told...
A 5-year-old child would think that his father was the strongest, bravest or the fastest than any of his mate's father. At 10, he would not think too much of him. At 15, he cannot see eye-to-eye with him. At 20, he likes to avoid his father altogether. He only communicates with his mother (to pass the message). Then life goes on. At 40, now with children of his own, he understands that it is a Herculean task to be a parent. At 50, he appreciates his father's deeds. At 60, with his father dead and gone, it is all full circle again - his father is the strongest, smartest and most patient man. 
This movie tells the story of three people who go on a journey of self-discovery when one of the protagonist's parent's remains was accidentally couriered to the wrong address. Avinash is living in daze working in an unsatisfying job, forever regretting of not pursuing his passion for photography. He has a bone to pick with his father, who had died recently during his pilgrimage, for making his childhood a living hell. His father had unilaterally decided what was best for his future.
When Avinash received his father's coffin, he realised that the sender had mixed up the package. He had to send the box to the rightful owner and reclaim his father's body. He got the help of a friend, Shaukat, with his van to travel from Bengaluru to Kochi. On the way, they had to pick a young girl, Tanya, the granddaughter of the other deceased.
The three characters all have 'daddy issues'. Avinash had a father who objected to his choice of carrier. Shaukat had a drunkard and abusive father. What puzzled him was why his mother took all the abuses and chased Shaukat out of the house instead when he raised up to question his father. Tanya grew up without a father from the age of eight. He had succumbed to cancer.
Looking at Tanya's rebellious behaviour opposing all the values that Avinash holds dear to his heart, he realises that that was how his father would have felt. With the benefit of being grilled in the School of Hard Knocks of Life, Avinash can see more things than what the young Tanya just simply fail to realise.The cinematography is quite breathtaking as the characters drive through the country road to God's own country. Watching the film just reignited our cycling team's earlier plan to cycle in India. Before the COVID pandemic brought all travels to a grinding halt, we were interested in a 950+ kilometres cycling tour through Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
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