As I was watching Mira Nair's The Namesake (2006) this weekend, there was one particular scene which struck me and is haunting me since then. I'll tell you why but before that, here's the scene.
It's where young Gogol and his father, Ashoke (Irrfan Khan), are on the stone walk at the Cape Cod beach and Ashima (Tabu) is watching them from a distance, standing near the car with her young daughter.
She says, "Don't go so far that I cannot see you! He is too little."
When Ashoke reaches near the end of the stone walk with Gogol, he's disappointed after realizing that he has forgotten the camera in the car. He says something like, "We forgot the camera. Now you will have to remember that we came here."
"How long do I have to remember?" asks Gogol.
"We will have to remember it, then." He tells Gogol, "Try to remember it always... remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go."
- The Last Nomad
It's where young Gogol and his father, Ashoke (Irrfan Khan), are on the stone walk at the Cape Cod beach and Ashima (Tabu) is watching them from a distance, standing near the car with her young daughter.
She says, "Don't go so far that I cannot see you! He is too little."
When Ashoke reaches near the end of the stone walk with Gogol, he's disappointed after realizing that he has forgotten the camera in the car. He says something like, "We forgot the camera. Now you will have to remember that we came here."
"How long do I have to remember?" asks Gogol.
"We will have to remember it, then." He tells Gogol, "Try to remember it always... remember that you and I made this journey, that we went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go."
So, on the last day of my trip, 6000+ miles away from home, as I am walking down the street which was cloudy until now suddenly I see spring arrive in its true sense. The street and trees which were all grey and dry are suddenly blooming and the sky is shining deep blue with sparse clouds.
I, the shutterbug, don't have a camera with me and the mobile phone is unable to capture the scale of the scene.
And then this dialogue from The Namesake starts in my head. Yes, it's true, the deep beautiful experiences we have will always go unrecorded.
We will have to remember them always, like Gogol.
The best tales haven't been told yet. They are the ones we all must live.
- The Last Nomad
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