Saturday, September 29, 2007

Resituating the context of Death-9


Rise of apocalyptic visions

It is quite shocking to see an entirely anti-life image receiving a great acknowledgement in the public thinking. i.e. the idea of a frozen city, the idea of a city attacked by aliens, the idea of a world governed by machines. The films like ‘Dark City’ by Alex Proyas, ‘The Matrix’ by Wachowski Brothers, ‘War of the Worlds’ by Steven Spielberg and many more are in the making. People imagine collective and horrifying death in a sudden apocalypse triggered by strange factors. The hysteria and mass delusions built around the cases of a serial killer, monkey-man and strange diseases entering humans through animals have already uncovered the superficial peace of urban comforts. The auto-immune system of a city is so weak that it transforms even a smallest danger into an unprecedented crisis. Ghosts and witches were always present throughout the human history but their image makeover in an urban mental make-up is strangely beyond any fun. An imagined destruction is more shattering than an actual destruction.
Perhaps, it is time to imagine a J. Krishnamurthy working in waste-recycling plant, a Vivekanand teaching in a slum school, a C.V. Raman experimenting in a glass factory, a Chanakya working as a police constable or a Ramakrisna Paramhans selling oranges in streets. It will definitely look a demeaning, idiotic or even blasphemous approach but if an urban mind is to reconnect with the tradition, it must start somewhere even if they are such foolish imaginations. If we can imagine a monkey-killer killing thousands, we should also be capable of imagining Sri Raman Mahrishi working as night watchman saving us from the aliens. Actually, the fundamental question is that an urban system is fast turning into a closed system as far as a creative relationship built around death is concerned. A beginning must be made through religious, scientific or political means.

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