October - A Story about Love.

A song by Gulzaar from 1970 film Khamoshi says,

Humne dekhi hain un aankho ki mahakti khushbu
Hath se chhuke ise rishto ka ilzaam na do
Sirf ehsaas hain ye ruh se mahsus karo
Pyar ko pyar hi rahne do koyi naam na do

It raised a question. How to define love? There is no specific answer to this question. A thousand of people have defined it numerous ways from the love of Radha to the love of Meera. We all know the stories of Laila-Majnu, Heer-Ranjha, Romeo-Juliet and Salim-Anarkali, the ultimate symbols of love. Well, the definition not only changed over prospective, but also over time. Modern love is much more complex to understand.

Movies and Web series have a huge impact on all of us, especially me. Within these visual paradises, there are many stories of love. Today, I want to talk one of those love stories or a story of love. Well, it does not have any typical quality of a love story, rather it is an unusual tale of care, compassion, and basic human connect, which has much more love than any other story. I am talking about Shoojit Sarkar’s “October”, written by Juhi Chaturvedi.

The story explores the life of Dan, the protagonist and how it changes after accident of a colleague, Shuili. The flowers of the tree Shuili have a short life and they only blossom in the month of October. They generally grow at night and fall from the tree before the morning, so people notice it when it is detached from the tree. This metaphor was the relationship of Dan and Shuili. When she was right in front of him, but he did not seem to care or even notice. But after the accident, he was so affected that he could not even move on. The fragrance of that flower is delivered through the melancholy of the film.

His interest was initially the result of an inquisitive thought, which gradually changes into an unknown emotion built on care and humanity. He froze in that time, and while others around him moved on, his life became as still as Shuili herself. Everybody around him, including the audience, had only one question to him, why is he so effected? But director nor writer was not at all interested in answering this question. They rather gave us a story of unconditional, unexplained, and pure love, a love beyond any transaction, any expectation in its innate form.

In one of the scenes, Shuili was in the hospital, answering doctor’s questions through her eyes. She was asked if she knows Kaveri or Kunal, to which she responds, but when she is asked if she recognizes Dan, she does not respond. Later, when he himself asks, she does respond. He was angry and upset with her, even complains, and yet, himself refuses to reveal to others that she actually recognizes him. This was the beauty of their relationship. Even though she was lying on a ben, like a corpse, they both are able to develop a life of their own, which they do not want to reveal to the world. They had a chemistry, a bond, and moreover a sense of private life, in the adversity. Their singular monologue, their stagnant life and their deep-rooted love spoke volumes throughout the film.

Through the course of the film, you will understand that the conversation and the action between those two might have a single driver, but their feelings were mutual. She was able to show her affection towards him in this own way. When he was forced by the surrounding to move on, Shuili stopped responding and her health declines. She becomes angry and violent and stops participating in the treatment. He comes back to her and apologizes by saying he will not go now. She again comes back to normal, and her treatment accelerates again. Even though mute and still, she was able to deliver emotions.

The character and story remained with me for days after I had watched the movie. I was wondering how one can love another with so much selflessness. I was wondering if human is even capable of showing an emotion, just for its sake. Even after knowing, that she will never be able to give anything in return, he spent night beside her. Probably he didn’t expect anything.

At last, I would like to quote a sonnet by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, where the poet yearns for unconditional love from its partners.

If thou must love me, let it be for nought

Except for love’s sake only. Do not say

I love her for her smile … her look … her way

Of speaking gently, … for a trick of thought

That falls in well with mine, and certes brought

A sense of pleasant ease on such a day’—

For these things in themselves, Beloved, may

Be changed, or change for thee, —and love, so wrought,

May be unwrought so. Neither love me for

Thine own dear pity’s wiping my cheeks dry, —

A creature might forget to weep, who bore