Monday, March 07, 2005

Insensitive audience

Sometimes, I feel we are losing sensitivity to whats happening around us. I came across a similar display of insensitivity while watching Black. In the movie, Michelle is deaf, blind and dumb (see previous posting). And her teacher, Debraj Sahai, is everything for her. In fact, she is the only man she knows, apart from her father.
When her younger sister gets married, Sahai gives a running commentary of the ritual to Michelle. When the couple kiss, he describes it also.
Here, the only kiss Michelle knows is on the cheek. She feels her cheek. Sahai corrects her, "Not in the cheek... in the lips". Michelle is surprised. She has never heard such a thing!
Later at home, Michelle expresses her fears to Sahai. She says she is afraid she will never get married and she will never be able to receive such a kiss because she knows no other male than Debraj Sahai. She gathers courage and asks him to kiss her in her lips. Sahai is stunned. He refuses. But later, he gives in and kisses her. He then leaves Michelle for good.
When Sahai kissed her, a guy in the audience yelled, "Lucky old man!". May be he wanted to have some fun. But understandably, he knew little about human emotions. No one in the audience was amused. But they (including me) kept quiet.

But an old woman in the audience got wild. "If you cant understand get out," she yelled back.