The past three weeks have been quite a journey. If I am passionate about something, after reading, the second in that sequence is cinemas. When I look back, I remember two factors influencing my passion for cinema --Doordarshan and the compulsory visit to the theatre with my brother on the same evening that my examinations would be over. I think I waited for my exams to end more for the opportunity to watch the cinema with my brother rather than just the exasperation with exams. Otherwise, I would wait eagerly for Sunday afternoons as DD aired National Award Winning Indian cinemas from different languages. Oh, that was a treat--Malayalam, Odissi, Telugu and of course, Kannada. So much for the nostalgic flashback. Jump Cut to the present-- it's my go-to haven; any day, any time, any reason or no reason.
With such noble intentions am I an avid cine-goer. But for the past decade, this passion has fuelled my professional space. The syllabus is offered as part of literary studies in Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses, and films as texts are built into the course structure. Apart from some of my colleagues, at home too, my family thinks and says I am being paid to screen films!! This is one space I really enjoy with my learners. It opens up limitless and no-boundary conversations with my young learners.
Now, the lockdown has changed this. But I continue my addiction and have progressed to OTTs--web series is the latest addition to this list. I was talking with my young learners today about how they manage themselves during this lockdown duration. This is traumatic for all of us because, along with other aspects of life, our social and cultural life has come to a standstill. It's a digital relationship now-all the way, phone calls, skype calls, WhatsApp, video chatting and academically, just as we were gearing up for digital humanities, webinars have taken over seminars. The visual medium is ruling.
While taking an online class today after a break of almost three weeks, I was only too happy to see them--online, of course. Curious about how the youngsters are managing to stay floating, I asked them what they do. From learning cooking to embroidering to giving tuitions to sketching and sharing it on Instagram, it was an array of personalised engagements to be ourselves, hopeful that the 'old normal' would return.
I realise that what was a simple, unconscious passion some years ago, today it is one of my support systems. It took some time for me to root for this passion. Unlike many creative hobbies like knitting, cooking, embroidering, and trekking, this was an 'unproductive' hobby. It got me no financial aid and some ridicule as we introduced cinemas as texts--both from my colleagues and parents who were angry with their children when they told them films were texts that were prescribed for study. Slowly, but steadily, the strength grew in me.
I think many of you would say that this is true for any or most hobbies. The common objection to turning passion into a profession is overwhelming doubt--"After all, it is a hobby and it can't be a Profession from which you earn a livelihood, achieve material success?!" This is one attitude that this lockdown has forced many doubters have had to rethink and accept defeat as well. The past four months have questioned this traditional thinking. I just hope we won't give up on pursuing our path to happiness. On this note, "Three cheers!👍👍
Dear Reader, do share your opinions on this 👇
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