Rising above our difficulties

Love. What a beautiful, timeless concept. And yet one we most often forget in life, either because we misunderstand it, or due to the state of affairs today. But few films illustrate the meaning of love more than Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, a Bollywood film in the language of Hindi, which in the month of October this year completes 30 years since its release in 1995.

Quite unsurprising that the 30th anniversary closely coincides with the festival of Diwali, don't you think? For those of us who have grown up around this timeless film (myself included), particularly in the Indian/South Asian diaspora worldwide, it's no accident that DDLJ captures the imagination and aspirations of many. It was a time of optimism, and a balance of the old and new. A sense that righteousness could still conquer.

We only lament that the same spirit doesn't hold in the world today. Yet even in these trying times, films like DDLJ make us remember the pureness of dreams and the importance of following our heart, allowing us to manage difficulties along the way by making them feel smaller. After all, “Bade bade deshon mein aisi chotti chotti baatein hoti rehti hai” (Hindi saying from the movie which means “In very big countries, such small things always happen”).

Long may that continue.

Jay Deshpande

Buffalo Grove