What lies within?

Man is grappled with existential crisis every now and then. The very nature of conflict between what we are and what we want, what we think and what we do, what goes on in our mind and what our heart seeks leaves us always questioning our action and the choices.

‘Tamasha’ is an attempt to address this conflict from which we often seek to escape. There comes a point when the lead of the movie, Ved, gets so disturbed by the action of his beloved that he feels his real self is somewhere lost. All his attempts to behave normally are perceived as an erratic personality flaw. He starts questioning his own self and thus pushing him further on the verge of existential crisis. It is then when he recites the following poem in the movie –

“Tara.
Kaunsa Tara?
Kis manzil ka?
Kya chakkar hai?
Kahan chala hai dil ka rasta bin kadmon ke?
Door khadi sapnon ki malika, hai thodi na yaar,
Mirage hai, jo desert mein dikhta hai?
Hoti ret hai, lagta paani.

Uske liye main paapad beloon?
Do kaudi ki hasti hai par us sey kheloon?
Phenk bikheroon apna sab kuch, kiski khatir?

Kise chahiye mann ka sona, aankh ki moti?
Kise padi hai, andar kya hai?
Hoti ret hai, lagta paani.”

The helplessness with which the first four lines are being said reflects how the person has lost control over the person he loves and wants to ignore the existence of the person. He wants his minds to believe that the feelings that his heart has for the person are not real. The feelings were developed not for a real person but for someone who was standing in pretense in front of him like a mirage. He realizes how people change with time – “Hoti ret hai lagta pani.”

It is the struggle to find things more worthy to chase in life than the strong urge to love someone. He wants his heart to believe that he was born for bigger things in life than spending his time on futility of love. The lines have beautifully captured the situation of a dejected person who seeks to do something so great that will overpower his helplessness of the moment and will give him a reason to live.