Maybe, like what Schopenhauer said, every life history is the history of suffering. Life has no intrinsic worth but is kept in motion loosely by desire and illusion. We hopelessly fall in love, to marry to do everything possible to become an object of disgust to each other. The 'will to live' for continuity of progeny has hijacked our will power. He further went on to say that our inborn error is to think that we exist to be happy. But at every turn, we soon realise the contradiction that the world and life have to offer. It seems that is why the face of the elderly intrinsically appear deeply frowned and depressed, realising the futility of life and death that will ensue.
From the moment of the first cry, life is just a barrage of tests, tragedy and turmoil. We somehow are geniuses in creating troubles for ourselves. Rational people make rash decisions under the influence of emotion, giving intellect a rest. We think we are wiser with time and will not make the same mistake twice. Once bitten twice shy, we tell ourselves. But hell no! At the most crucial moment, our hormones and heart dominate over our intellect. Like Sisyphus, within the cycles of seeming joy of achievement and agony of defeat, we have to find contentment.
Aristotle believed that the final goal of mankind is happiness, and this is achieved with virtue and knowledge. The Greek thought we needed tragedy in life, through art and culture, to remind us of the hopelessness of life. It is a catharsis of sorts for us to purify our minds and souls to understand truths about suffering, loss, misery, adversity, and redemption.
This 2016 film is not the usual Bollywood fare. Done in a not so melodramatic fashion, it showcases the issues an average middle-class family encounters as the husband-and-wife couple is married too long to each other and their children have all grown up with a mind of their own. The husband and wife cannot stand the sight of each other. Their every action seems like an annoyance. Sometimes they ponder where love disappeared to. Trying to make the most politically correct response and trying to pacify warring factions between offspring proof stressful. Celebrations come and go. Everybody puts a brave front, putting fake smiles to display of portrait of happiness. Simmering beneath the cover are the frustrations, anger and disappointments of broken dreams just waiting to explode. The display of emotion does not always end in resolution. The end result can sometimes be quite devastating, and we wallow in melancholy. Hindsight vision is 20/20. We had seen it all along. We tell ourselves that we will be wiser the next around. But we will never learn, just waiting to plunge on head-on to the speeding trailer all over again.
From the moment of the first cry, life is just a barrage of tests, tragedy and turmoil. We somehow are geniuses in creating troubles for ourselves. Rational people make rash decisions under the influence of emotion, giving intellect a rest. We think we are wiser with time and will not make the same mistake twice. Once bitten twice shy, we tell ourselves. But hell no! At the most crucial moment, our hormones and heart dominate over our intellect. Like Sisyphus, within the cycles of seeming joy of achievement and agony of defeat, we have to find contentment.
Aristotle believed that the final goal of mankind is happiness, and this is achieved with virtue and knowledge. The Greek thought we needed tragedy in life, through art and culture, to remind us of the hopelessness of life. It is a catharsis of sorts for us to purify our minds and souls to understand truths about suffering, loss, misery, adversity, and redemption.
This 2016 film is not the usual Bollywood fare. Done in a not so melodramatic fashion, it showcases the issues an average middle-class family encounters as the husband-and-wife couple is married too long to each other and their children have all grown up with a mind of their own. The husband and wife cannot stand the sight of each other. Their every action seems like an annoyance. Sometimes they ponder where love disappeared to. Trying to make the most politically correct response and trying to pacify warring factions between offspring proof stressful. Celebrations come and go. Everybody puts a brave front, putting fake smiles to display of portrait of happiness. Simmering beneath the cover are the frustrations, anger and disappointments of broken dreams just waiting to explode. The display of emotion does not always end in resolution. The end result can sometimes be quite devastating, and we wallow in melancholy. Hindsight vision is 20/20. We had seen it all along. We tell ourselves that we will be wiser the next around. But we will never learn, just waiting to plunge on head-on to the speeding trailer all over again.