Blood Diamond - conflict zones and the economics of precious commodity

While watching Blood Diamond, which is about global forces running Diamond Industry in African backyard and their effect on Diamond trade, I couldn't stop myself from relating how SURAT (and hence India) is an important link in this bloody chain. All of us have heard about sierra-leone and liberia and such other places facing rebellion. Ever wondered how much of this is INTERNAL (and about tribal group fighting the one-up-manship games and aboutattempts to control boundaries) and how much of is EXTERNAL (and about maintaining links for continued trade with outside world even if it means applying illegal means and killing lakhs of innocent people). The film defines what conflict-diamond means, how it represents the ugly face of human race, of colonialism and how macro business interests destroy existence of communities at micro level.

Leonardo Di Caprio has shown tremendous maturity in designing progress of his film career by selecting meaningful roles throughout since Titanic (1996). He is superb again as the Diamond mediator-cum-smuggler who had a troubled life so far and seems to have lost ability to be humane. There is a lady journalist who starts by pursuing him for story (on blood diamond). She so beautifully and subtely falls in love with the smuggler that audience is left with just the emotion and not the fact (that she loved him, and which was reciprocated) when the film comes to an end. Haven't seen many hollywood movies being so expressive without being displayful.

Blood diamond is story of Solomon, the african fisherman who loses touch with his family when diamond rebels attack his village and makes him a captive labour in diamond-mines. He is pursued and later helped by Diamond racketeer (colonel and his mark-man, played to perfection by leonardo) in search of a diamond stone which Solomon had hidden during his work at mines. Everyone is after it beacause it is perhaps the biggest diamond till date. The journalist helps Solomon in his search for his family. Among many twists and turns, there are issues of human tragedy, migration, peace forces, food programs, refugee camps, human emotions, upbringing, greed, faith, love, betrayal, fear, good, evil, economics and power; all of this interwoven in a storyline which is pacy, activity driven, in-the-face, and comprehensive.

When the viewer comes out of the theatres, no doubt is left about what will they ask the next time they go to buy a diamond ring or necklace. "Please tell me/ certify that this piece of diamond doesn't come from a conflict zone". If the film does that on a sustained basis, it would have done much more than what other mediums of advocacy could. A film that I will place alongwith Syriana, a film on Oil Diplomacy which has taken equally nasty and bloody turns in last four decades of our present day world.

NAMESAKE - Uprooted we feel! Canvaas changes, characters too!!

For the fact that she was able to capture and make significant a simple action of naming a child into a story having bearing on how one defines his/her personality and life, I must congratulate Meera Nair. Acknowledgements are due for her sensitive and well controlled portrayal of Gangulies, Gogol and Nikolai Gogol (who as a name itself was a character in the storyline, and had good capacity to define course of movements).

So, what happens when you are born in a surrounding which is perhaps natural to you but your parents had invested their prime in adjusting to it. What happens when a family migrates, settles down and sees their children grow with mixed identities of belonging to both and none.

I think we all who have experience migration in some form or other can understand the above mentioned paradox, albeit in varying degrees. We (professionals) move around the country, contributing to the overall economic development, and in the process realinging-n-expandig our cultural-linguistic-culinary-religious identities to incorporate the local understanding. Do we feel uprooted. Or we belong somewhere? Nature has space and value for all kinds of germplasm - for banyan and grass/ flower alike. Roots may seem important for one specie (Banyan), and not for the other (Grass). Being not able to root oneself can also be seen as feeling uprooted. But there is also a situation wherein the need for finding root dies down, and one is happy being grass. the grass just grows on surface, spreads not deep down the soil but through air and upper soil.

NAMESAKE brought the conflict out, beautifully. Gogol, in reply to her wife's remark (perhaps being bengali was not enough for both of us) says, "Thats not the reason why I love you."

Defining remark found on the book authored by namesake gifted by his father many years ago frees GOGOL's spirit. It reads "To you whose name was modelled on his name, given by someone who brought you with a name." The films is smooth, easy flowing, compact, and touches you with its nuggets - you question the narrator's sensibility and try to understand whether its american or indian. And at times you forget the comparison because it could not be anything but indian. Zoom to the scenes.
1. In a hep hair cutting saloon, Gogol getting his head shaved after his father has died. When, later, tabu replies it wasn't necessary, he says he felt it was.
2. Maxy leaves crying, masima remarks "Don't cry, we all are pained at his (Mr. ganguly's) loss". And Maxy looks blankly.
3. Tabu understands whom her daughter-in-law is talking to even tough she doesn't know french.
4. Mr Ganguly tells gogol the other reason behind him being named such. Gogol asks, is this what he remembers each time he calls his name. Mr. Ganguly replies, "No. It makes me remember everything that took place every day after that. Each day has been a gift since then."

Jhumpa Lahiri must be happy to found a sensibility that is equal in measure, and has an interpretation which is as original as fiction could be. After all, what we feel gets translated. Finding an identity is definitely a worthy endevour for this journey.

Kal Penn(Gogol), you traslate the imagery well. Keep it up.