The Song of Sparrows

"You bought them to let them free" - this line ran across my mind until the end titles of The Song of Sparrows rolled up. I treated myself to this classic film recently only to discover the traces of middle east cinema. 

The opening line takes me back to that scene where a school of goldfish is bought by the protagonist's 8 year old son to cultivate his dream fishery so that they can be "millionaires" - the term the boy dreams  of with sparkling eyes, quite often in the film. 

Ill fate comes in to break the drum carrying the purchased horde of goldfish. When that drum is finally brought onto the ground from the vehicle to think of Plan B, no Plan B is apparent. The fishes are on the ground suffocating due to lack of water. The kids get onto their knees with watery eyes & with no resort around, they will sway away the fishes into a passing drainage canal nearby. Goldfish from fresh water into sewage water. 

I can't remember the lines that follow except I remember our hero singing tunes of hope to his son on their way back home; because that self-coined opening line was ringing in my ears. I found myself huskily saying that line to myself. 

When I look back at it after 24 hours, it's a great metaphor I realize. Assimilating it to our existence, we all acquire things to let them elude us. Don't we?

We buy education & let it elude us while we keep ourselves busy complaining how lame our education is. We acquire freedom at the cost of people & relationships only to let that freedom crush us due to its unsolicited exploitation. It leaves us behind in desperation & ruckus and eludes away. 

The movie finely depicted human greed at the cost of our feet rising above the ground beneath; which my friend is potent enough to challenge our existence. 

2000 Iranian Tomans. That's what it took for our hero in the movie to forget where he belonged to. And to run behind the flashiness of fast money. Tehran played the stage for all the drama. While ostrich eggs that he brought home from the ostrich farm he earlier worked at, made good omelettes, Tomans won over the deliciousness of the ostrich egg omelettes. 

Many of you may argue that he was just advancing in his life. Although he was a walking example of an under-privileged lower middle class man, he had his ideals to walk on. None beats this film in gradually shaping his character to walk away towards money & that walk, I say, is on the broken rose petals we call Morals. 

If that's what it takes to be rich, do you want the riches? If it costs you your soul, wouldn't you bother being sold out?