Parzania

I happened to have seen Parzania today, and am still reeling from it. The last film that disturbed me to such an extent was Osama, and even that had the rosy envelope of a story-that-happened-to-someone-else-far-far-away.
When the Godhra riots and its aftershocks occured, i was a school student in the very neighbouring state, concerned only during the 9'o clock news, and indifferent soon after. It must have lasted in my memory for what? One month? Two at most.
What i have seen today, i know i can never forget. Films based on communal violence is not an exceptionally new idea, tried and tested infact. What shook me most was the picture of the real boy, the lesser know Mody, at the end. It sort of drags you by the noose into a reality not too far from your own, even though it may seem worlds apart.

I think we have lost the right to call ourselves secular. Violence is not new in this country. But state-sanctioned violence of this sort, its definitely a first for me.
For the first time in my life i was ashamed to call myself an Indian.

Rajdeep Sardesai's article asks some extremely pertinent questions. But i think its a long time before he, or any of us will get any answers.

Azhar, wherever he is, i hope he is okay. For the sake of his family, i hope he is found. Though, if he has found his way into Parzania (where mountains are of ice-cream, and cricket comes before everything) I'd rather he stayed there.
This isn't a nice world for kids to be in.