Of Royal Wedding and Escapsism..

So did you the see Royal Wedding? I did not understand the pre-wedding hype about it but when I saw the clippings of the wedding on TV, I have to admit I was fascinated. I may be against monarchy but I am a huge fan of Classic English culture ever since I have read Jane Austen (one of my beloved authors - Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey) and the Bronte sisters (Charlotte for Jane Eyre and Emily for Wuthering Heights). English classic culture is extremely beautiful - I love it when they use the word 'countenance'! Anyways, an estimated 2 billion people watched the watching. It was as if it was some sort of fairy tale. A woman finally gets her Prince Charming after waiting for over eight years. How can anybody not be charmed by the stunning ceremony? And you know why people cried because it is something they never will be able to see in their own life. It is perhaps the stuff of dreams. We, especially Indians, are extremely escapist people. We all look forward to something larger than life that can help us escape the monotony and utter pathos of our lives. Can you explain the success of ridiculous films like Dabangg? Salman is perhaps the worst of Khan actors who can just sleepwalk through any role just because he plays himself in all his movies. But everyone wants to be a hero like Salman? Hindi cinema is largely escapist - look at the how much we love Karan Johar styled family dramas, those tear jerker love stories (KKHH) , those funny action movies (Race, Dhoom 3).. We like to believe in something larger than life. Perhaps that explains why Google made a royal wedding for google.in and not for google.com or google.pk! It reminds me of Dil to Pagal Hai? When Rahul is talking about his vision of Maya, he says that she has been waiting for her सपनो का राजकुमार!! 

It is the stuff of dreams! Gives us something to cheer about. And I love tradition. So extra points for that. 

And did you just see the hats? What hats?? I just wanted to go there and click picture of only hats. Each hat a different character. Stunning!!
And here's the quote of the day -
A possible explanation for all of us (Hindi film lovers) - "Why do I love Bollywood movies? To an Indian, that’s like asking why we love our mothers, we don’t have a choice. We were born of them." - Suketu Mehta