Last week, I met one more mamma of T's friend. That friend is 2 years younger to him, but they get along well with each other and often play together in the Kindergarten. 3 weeks back I met his mom in the Kindergarten and we exchanged phone numbers to decide about a play date. It was easy as we stay close-by. But she cancelled twice due to family emergencies and we finally met last week. As we chatted along, I got to know that she is from Kazakhstan and in Germany since 28 years now. I told here that I am from India. And the next sentence blew me off, she was a great fan of Mithun Chakraborty and has watched all his movies when she was in college in Kazakhstan. I was pleasantly surprised! Mithun had a fan base in Kazakhstan!? What!? Really!?
Kazakhstan was the last of Soviet Republics to declare independence during the dissolution of Soviet Union. And the popularity of the movie Disco Dancer spread beyond India to Russia also! It had quite a few dancing numbers which were quite famous. She mentioned that Bollywood movies were often screened in her home town and that she loved Mithun for his grooves and looks. She and her friends went berserk at the moment he appeared on screen and they loved all the songs and his dance moves in that movie. After she shifted to Germany, she lost touch with the Indian movies, especially with Mithun and she doesn't consider Bollywood movies to be worth watching now as it lacked the enigma and innocence of those times. I agree with her. Movies are nowadays made just to make business and profit, not for educating or entertainment!
I am not a fan of Mithun at all, but I liked him in a few movies. I liked him in Prem Pratigyaa with Madhuri in which he played a wronged man turned into a local goon and drunkard and upon the entry of demure Madhuri, he undergoes a change of heart and character. They both looked lovable and convincing and I like a song in that movie and it is sung by non other than Mr. Bappi Lahiri, the great! I didn't watch any action movies of Mithun which usually lacked brains and were made only for masses. I loved him in the movie Guru where he played a newspaper tycoon who supports the hero to find justice. He played comic character in Golmaal 3 opposite Ratna Pathak Shah which I found good too. He was a head judge of a dance program called Dance India Dance and it was extremely popular among the young crowd.
Coming back to Kazakhstan, my friend told me that her country is not in a great condition and that she will never go back. She is here since many years and considers this country as her own now. She has social security, a job, a house, 3 children, many friends and a safe environment. She would just go once to see what is the state of the town she stayed initially, but just as a tourist. Her parents were no more when she shifted to Germany. She came here with her grandparents and her sisters are in and around this town. So she has basically no one to go back to Kazakhstan. There might be some distant relatives, but with time they are not in touch anymore.
How does it feel to be uprooted from a country and be displaced to another country with totally different culture and language? A place where we were born and have first memories of the environment, food, culture and friends, family, relatives around. Suddenly it ceases to be and we have to move to something totally new and different and call it our home. Because it offers better prospects, better opportunities and better life, we chose to stay on and not return. We try to create our own world here, our own space, our own identity here and call it our home. That's the best we can do to ourselves and our kids.
So after a very long and interesting conversation, we both promised to meet again and went our ways!
Kazakhstan and India bonding in Germany!
What a surprise!
Kazakhstan was the last of Soviet Republics to declare independence during the dissolution of Soviet Union. And the popularity of the movie Disco Dancer spread beyond India to Russia also! It had quite a few dancing numbers which were quite famous. She mentioned that Bollywood movies were often screened in her home town and that she loved Mithun for his grooves and looks. She and her friends went berserk at the moment he appeared on screen and they loved all the songs and his dance moves in that movie. After she shifted to Germany, she lost touch with the Indian movies, especially with Mithun and she doesn't consider Bollywood movies to be worth watching now as it lacked the enigma and innocence of those times. I agree with her. Movies are nowadays made just to make business and profit, not for educating or entertainment!
I am not a fan of Mithun at all, but I liked him in a few movies. I liked him in Prem Pratigyaa with Madhuri in which he played a wronged man turned into a local goon and drunkard and upon the entry of demure Madhuri, he undergoes a change of heart and character. They both looked lovable and convincing and I like a song in that movie and it is sung by non other than Mr. Bappi Lahiri, the great! I didn't watch any action movies of Mithun which usually lacked brains and were made only for masses. I loved him in the movie Guru where he played a newspaper tycoon who supports the hero to find justice. He played comic character in Golmaal 3 opposite Ratna Pathak Shah which I found good too. He was a head judge of a dance program called Dance India Dance and it was extremely popular among the young crowd.
Coming back to Kazakhstan, my friend told me that her country is not in a great condition and that she will never go back. She is here since many years and considers this country as her own now. She has social security, a job, a house, 3 children, many friends and a safe environment. She would just go once to see what is the state of the town she stayed initially, but just as a tourist. Her parents were no more when she shifted to Germany. She came here with her grandparents and her sisters are in and around this town. So she has basically no one to go back to Kazakhstan. There might be some distant relatives, but with time they are not in touch anymore.
How does it feel to be uprooted from a country and be displaced to another country with totally different culture and language? A place where we were born and have first memories of the environment, food, culture and friends, family, relatives around. Suddenly it ceases to be and we have to move to something totally new and different and call it our home. Because it offers better prospects, better opportunities and better life, we chose to stay on and not return. We try to create our own world here, our own space, our own identity here and call it our home. That's the best we can do to ourselves and our kids.
So after a very long and interesting conversation, we both promised to meet again and went our ways!
Kazakhstan and India bonding in Germany!
What a surprise!
It's interesting when people of two different countries meet in a third country and discover similarities and connections in their background and culture. In this case it's the popularity of Bollywood movies and Mithun da. Globalisation brings about much interesting interactions... one of the reasons that I love being here.
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