A 'Crash' course on Humanity.

The award for the best film, at the Oscars went to ‘Crash’, directed by Paul Haggis, though there was much expectation that it would be ‘Brokeback Mountain’, for it’s different story and stunning visuals of the landscapes, brilliantly captured by Ang Lee. Why Crash won, was a question that lingered on my mind, and the basic conclusion, that I had come, to was that the jury was pressurized into giving the award to the this film, because it was a goody-goody film which spreads a message against racial discrimination.

So, it was with a rather disinterest and a yet a little curiosity that I sat down yesterday night to see Crash. But once, the film was over, I realized that I had not even shifted in my place. The movie, is not just a film, which shouts aloud messages and forces goodness right in your face and down your throat, rather it was like a poem. The movie is so poetic in the different frames and situations, It was so symbolic and realistic that you don’t feel you are just seeing a movie, because we see in it, life, we see in it, our own emotions and our own understanding of humanity, it’s flaws, deceptions and it’s purity and importance.

Humanity is a strange word, it means different things at different times for different people, but basically the underlying philosophy, is that in times of crisis, we rise above barriers of race, caste, creed, language, colour or religion and become just human beings, a wonderful concept. When we see no differences, when we see that we have the opportunity to make a difference, then we become, in essence humane.

Our heart pains everyday when we hear of loss of lives, bloodshed, treachery, calamities. We sympathize and grieve for those unlucky fellow beings, yet it is not easily that we give care to the small humane acts, we could perform on a day-to-day basis. We donate to the Tsunami Fund, Katrina Relief and what not, but do we take care to see to it that we don’t hurt another human being’s feelings, his emotions. We often forget to put ourselves in our friend’s shoes. We do not take kindly to some delay or some diversion in our routines, and we never bother about helping out.


Like ‘Crash’, I believe there is no meaning in just crying out, and cribbing. To make a long story short, we should change the basic definition of humanity, We need to remove the crisis part of it, thereby we remain humane all the while and the world becomes a better place, not just for you and me, but for us, citizens of planet earth.