JOIN USMovies playing on TV can be labelled as one of the best forms of entertainment for old people – especially aged women constrained to stay at home. Sweet nostalgia sweeps over them as they view the old familiar films of their younger days. And, of course, those charming actors – their heroes – now probably in a graveyard or an old age home. Whatever it be, the loneliness gripping them evaporates for a while as the years roll back as though under the spell of a magic wand.
What an endearing picture they present then, with that childish pleasure etched on their lined faces! Not just that. For those who like to keep pace with the outside world, and its events, what better medium than the TV? But the violence that is invariably manifested through all the programmes, including films, insidiously spreads a gruesome atmosphere disrupting the innate moral courage of the older generation. Is it any wonder then that today’s youngsters, unknown to themselves, develop traits of cruelty along with perverted values of success?
Coming back to the entertainment factor of movies in the daily lives of old people, I for one enjoy good English movies. There were times when old classics would be shown often, along with good, new ones that enlarged our general knowledge and stimulated our senses. But nowadays alas, that medium is also perceptibly undergoing changes, unearthing the sadistic streak prevalent in human beings. Of late, it seems to have become a norm to show films of aliens from other planets. The subject had held a sort of fascination for me, maybe because of the various books I had read about superior beings coming down in chariots during the days of Mayas, and their fascinating teachings.
Our puranas, and the Bible too, had nurtured those exciting pleasant visions of resplendent angels, dazzling devas with divine message, thus setting forth a mesmerising chain of fantasies. But instead of the alluring devatas with their enthralling music, divine dance and benevolent guidance, fearsome, ferocious, peculiar tadpole-like creatures are swooping down upon the helpless earthlings and terrorising everyone!
Appalled, I veer away from the TV, completely disillusioned. My heart twists with anguish visualising the bewilderment of the new generation. Our rishis of yore traversed easily between the planets, and much more. For us, Chandra and Surya have been living gods, and the saptarshi mandala high up in the sky something to revere. Each has a message to impart. As such, it is beyond human comprehension to associate them with those abnormal creatures portrayed with such gruesomeness in films! Alas, an enticing castle of fantasy has been ripped apart by morbid imaginative minds.