Kagaz Ke Phool

Kagaz Ke Phool was a film from 1959. Today it remains one of Hindi cinema’s classics. The film’s highlight was some really gifted actors of the time and the music too complimented the story very effectively. Poignant lyrics by Kaifi Azmi and the haunting melodies of S. D. Burman echoed the melancholy of the protagonist. Despite the film being made much before I was born, several of its songs are still etched in my memory and create nostalgia when I remember them from time to time.

It is the story of a film director whose craft was not recognized by those close to him and the failure to make his viewpoint understood by this inner circle sank him irrevocably, both personally and professionally. Life was mired by struggles on all fronts and death was lonely for him. Even the rare person who wanted to help him could not do so because the distance between them had grown too much. Things were broken beyond repair.

When a brain like mine which delves into spiritual truths comes across such a remarkable film and poignant poetry, it knows it has accidentally stumbled into a large field of treasures. From the title of the movie to the tragic tale of the protagonist, for my brain it is reflective of the cautionary wisdom of spiritual masters. I am reminded of Adi Shankaracharya’s Bhaja Govindam.

Compare “ matlab ki duniya hai saari” with 

यावद्-वित्तोपार्जन सक्तः
तावन्-निजपरिवारो रक्तः |
पश्चाज्जीवति जर्जर देहे
वार्तां कोऽपि न पृच्छति गेहे ‖ 5 ‖

“So long as a man is able to support his family by earning wealth, his family will show love. No one will spare time to talk to him once he is debilitated by age.”

Bha Ra Tambe, the Marathi poet expressed the lament similarly:

उपकाराची कुणा आठवण ?
'शिते तोवरी भूते' अशी म्हण;
जगात भरले तोंडपूजेपण,
धरी पाठिवर शरा !

Who remembers favors for much long. Crowds gather as long as there is food on the table. People lavish praise on the face and hold a dagger behind your back.

Bichhade sabhi baari baari…people desert you one by one, when you have nothing to offer.

Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam
Tum rahe na tum ham rahe na ham
Waqt ne kiya…

In close relationships it is harder when people change with time. The intensity of their emotions for each other fades and all that remains is a memory of better times. It is even harder when one out of a pair retains the old intensity and the other does not.

Beqaraar dil is tarha mile
Jis tarha kabhi ham juda na the
Tum bhi kho gaye, ham bhi kho gaye
Ek raah par chalke do qadam
Waqt ne kiya…

In present day society the sentiment to consider marriage as a sacred vow, a lifetime commitment, is dwindling. Young people fall in love madly and believe they want to spend rest of their lives together. The hopes are genuine and intentions sincere and noble at the start. However life tosses them around in a brutal way and unless there is a lasting commitment, whether from religious or social upbringing, often they become different persons from what they used to be and can no longer find common ground to live together.

Jaayenge kaha sujhta nahi
Chal pade magar raasta nahi
Kya talaash hai kuchh pata nahi
Bun rahe hain dil khaab dam-ba-dam
Waqt ne kiya…

Divorce is no longer as condemned a word as it used to be a few generations back. “Irreconcilable differences” is a fairly common phrase used to seek a divorce. Yet most of these young people feel lost once they are single again. They are often not sure of what they really want in life or in a relationship after the initial shock. They lack a direction, a goal, a purpose. Each one floats around like a rudderless ship without a captain. 

Sometimes even if a marriage doesn’t fall apart legally, one partner or both may feel loss of direction or loss of a team spirit. 

This situation holds true even in friendships, not just romantic relationships. When friendships that were strong at one time begin to fall apart there is a void that can’t be filled.

Disillusionment! That’s the common theme of what humans go through in varying degrees and at various stages in life. 

That’s where spirituality scores a point. That’s the reason why the spiritual masters repeatedly caution unsuspecting travelers on the road of life to not take a fall. Only a few people heed their warnings. Most people tend to learn the hard way. And some never learn in one lifetime. Like the protagonist in the film. He dies lonely and disillusioned. 

The entire philosophy of the spiritual life is about separating real from unreal. Truth from untruth. Constant from variable. You can’t know one without recognizing its opposite. 

Despite knowing that our physical appearance, thoughts, beliefs, emotions are in a state of perpetual change we link our identity with these variables. Even when we have no control over these changes within ourselves, we expect that people who we care for will not change! 

Disillusion is possible only where there is illusion to begin with. The saints keep proclaiming that the physical world is illusory. In Hindu philosophy it is termed Maya. Yet we refuse to consider that as even a possibility. We are hardly keen to disprove them in a rational way. We simply disregard them. That is not the same as disprove. Disproving needs effort. Disregard is a passive attitude and hence much easier and convenient. Our lives go on mostly in an automatic mode. We grow up believing that the physical world we see is real and we learn to seek happiness from this world. Yet change is an inevitable feature of the universe and it is not factored into our idea of happiness. 

That’s where our troubles begin. Distancing or drama in relationships, divorce, disability, disease, damage to assets, decline in popularity, downward turn of fortunes are not things we ever factor into our calculations. Therefore despondency, disillusionment and defeat become our destiny. 

It doesn’t have to be that way!

The wise men’s words may appear dark and depressing at face value. But they are not if you understand with good attention. 

When Tambe says

 उपकाराची कुणा आठवण ?

'शिते तोवरी भूते' अशी म्हण;

he is not at all saying don’t help others or do good to others. All he is telling you is when you extend your generosity to the people around you don’t expect anything in return. It is the expectation that will bring disappointment and hurt. 

When Adi Shankaracharya teaches through Bhaja Govindam he is not saying kick out your family because they are not going to care for you in your old age. He is telling you to find strength and joy from a source that is eternal, changeless and outside the realm of the physical world. Don’t pin your hopes on your family.

The film’s title: Kagaz Ke Phool literally means Paper Flowers!! They may look attractive and as beautiful as real ones. But you can’t get fragrance from them. Whose fault is it if you buy paper flowers with the expectation of fragrance? 

Lead life in sincere pursuit of truth. It takes a while to find it. Until you find truth you can’t decisively distinguish untruth from it. Putting it in another way, until you question your pre-existing beliefs you cannot ascertain if they are indeed the truth.

As a human being with basic sensitivities I find it difficult to see when fellow humans are hurt or when they endure any kind of suffering. I can only imagine how saints,who are said to have hearts as soft as butter ( mridu sabahya navaneet, taise sajjanaache chitta) must feel when they see such pain in others. Yet as time goes by I am beginning to realize that even pain, hurt, fall, loss, loneliness, helplessness, disappointment and such negative experiences serve a purpose for humans to seek answers and sooner or later to find their way towards redemption, light, lasting peace and happiness. 

The film I discussed in this post ends on a grim note. Some real life stories may resemble this narrative. But from the perspective of the journey of the spirit that’s just an intermission. Or a bump in the midst of a long journey where the protagonist takes a hard hit. When the curtain is raised again( in the next lifecycle) he will have a chance to change course. He could learn not just to pick himself up but to help more people to rise from the dust.