"Life of Pi" is the story about the life of a Indian boy named PI. He embarks a journey in life which a lot of people would find very hard or boring to take. He wants to find answers to everything and yes, he is determined to find god. The Universe agress with him and takes him through an unlikely journey of life.So,after going through a lot of drama and trauma in the path , the middle aged "Pi" is contended with the god he has found. It is a story that unfolds from his experience and it is actually an attempt to explain what is the god he found to us. So, what is this god that PI finds in his jounrney? Is this the hindu god that was taught by his mother or is it god that is described in the Christian and Islamic scriptures?
"What is God?".The young boy Pi is not contended with answers he got for that question. He tries all the religions he comes across. He quietly listens to the story of Vishnu from his mother and later he becomes curious about the Christ. But when the priest explains him the story of Christ , he replies "That makes no sense". He tries to explore Islam and offers Namaaz at his home. He also gets into a nasty dinner table spiritual debate with his rational thinking father.
Then he grows up into a nice teenage boy and his interests change a bit after seeing a beautiful girl. He falls in love with this beautiful big eyed girl and at the moment when everything looks "happily ever after together", the universe rolls the dice and throws him in the middle of an ocean in a life boat. He looses everything and floats in the seemingly infinite ocean in the company of a tiger. He is panicked, traumatized and surprised.After the first few days of jumping around he finally realizes and shouts out to the vast empty open space "God, thank you for giving me my life. I am ready now.". So, the god obliges and takes him to through a fantastic, breath taking and heavenly journey of his life.
It is not a journey without trouble since he is having a hungry tiger around. But he invariably gets something to hold on. It could be fishes or flying fishes or meerkats. He and the tiger get something. He even gets to enjoy a nice bath in the carnivorous island,the symbolism of which i could not understand. And finally when everything seems exhausted ,when he and the tiger are on the brink of death by hunger, the boat hits shore and the tiger disappears into the forest.
But then later we are told that , while the ending is the same, the path in reality is very very different. In reality, he implies that he had seen his mother being killed by the filthy cook. And he inturn becomes a beast and kill him. The beast which then never sleeps and the beast which he has to stay safe from. But it is the beast that keeps him motivated and saves his life.
So, everything falls together , isn't it? The message that "no matter which path you take, the end is going to be the same" is conveyed. Pi is also now seemed to have definition of god and even asks us "Which version of the story your would prefer?". And we all prefer the grand, beautiful and magical story with fun, joy and victory. So, he tells us with a grin "And so it is by God". The story is over and we are all happy with the beautiful visuals we saw. We even had tears in a few scenes. And finally we are all happy with happy ending.
But hang on a second. Doesn't than make the entire story defeat its own purpose? It talks about exploring the truth and understanding god. But it finally tells us , in plain words to hallucinate and imagine things? Well, considering the trauma he goes through , honestly hallucinating is a not a bad option at all. You just need to survive in the end, thats all. Truth does not matter but survival is. Only if you survive you can tell the story. But what if you want to just want to face the truth head on and search for the definition of god there. Then i suggest you to watch "Naan Kadavul (I am God)" sometime.
"What is God?".The young boy Pi is not contended with answers he got for that question. He tries all the religions he comes across. He quietly listens to the story of Vishnu from his mother and later he becomes curious about the Christ. But when the priest explains him the story of Christ , he replies "That makes no sense". He tries to explore Islam and offers Namaaz at his home. He also gets into a nasty dinner table spiritual debate with his rational thinking father.
Then he grows up into a nice teenage boy and his interests change a bit after seeing a beautiful girl. He falls in love with this beautiful big eyed girl and at the moment when everything looks "happily ever after together", the universe rolls the dice and throws him in the middle of an ocean in a life boat. He looses everything and floats in the seemingly infinite ocean in the company of a tiger. He is panicked, traumatized and surprised.After the first few days of jumping around he finally realizes and shouts out to the vast empty open space "God, thank you for giving me my life. I am ready now.". So, the god obliges and takes him to through a fantastic, breath taking and heavenly journey of his life.
It is not a journey without trouble since he is having a hungry tiger around. But he invariably gets something to hold on. It could be fishes or flying fishes or meerkats. He and the tiger get something. He even gets to enjoy a nice bath in the carnivorous island,the symbolism of which i could not understand. And finally when everything seems exhausted ,when he and the tiger are on the brink of death by hunger, the boat hits shore and the tiger disappears into the forest.
But then later we are told that , while the ending is the same, the path in reality is very very different. In reality, he implies that he had seen his mother being killed by the filthy cook. And he inturn becomes a beast and kill him. The beast which then never sleeps and the beast which he has to stay safe from. But it is the beast that keeps him motivated and saves his life.
So, everything falls together , isn't it? The message that "no matter which path you take, the end is going to be the same" is conveyed. Pi is also now seemed to have definition of god and even asks us "Which version of the story your would prefer?". And we all prefer the grand, beautiful and magical story with fun, joy and victory. So, he tells us with a grin "And so it is by God". The story is over and we are all happy with the beautiful visuals we saw. We even had tears in a few scenes. And finally we are all happy with happy ending.
But hang on a second. Doesn't than make the entire story defeat its own purpose? It talks about exploring the truth and understanding god. But it finally tells us , in plain words to hallucinate and imagine things? Well, considering the trauma he goes through , honestly hallucinating is a not a bad option at all. You just need to survive in the end, thats all. Truth does not matter but survival is. Only if you survive you can tell the story. But what if you want to just want to face the truth head on and search for the definition of god there. Then i suggest you to watch "Naan Kadavul (I am God)" sometime.
Well written, Siva.
ReplyDeleteThanks sir..
DeleteHey Siva,
ReplyDeleteNice to see your blog.
Have you read Life of Pi? If you had read the book - sans the visual splendor of the movie of course - I am sure you would have loved it more. I am not stirring up the eternal argument of whether the book is better or the movie. For me, the book played with my mind more than the movie. What if I had seen the movie first, I might not have appreciated the book as I do now or rather I would not have read the book :)
Well anyway, read this nice interview of Yann Mortal http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=124838&page=1
There are some symbolisms which he explains including that of cornivorous island
Anantha.. Thanks for checking in.. Long time.. How are you doing? Still in Accenture?
DeleteComing to "Life of Pi", what i actually wanted to point out is, most Westerners will never get Eastern Religions. This includes Yann Mortal also. Because as per the Advaitha, you dont have to imagine or hallucinate to see god. Infact, it talks about the opposite. You need to kill Maya or illusion to realize God. While the "Life of Pi's" beautiful story is Yann Mortal's view of God, i want to point out that "Life of Pi's" realistic story is the Eastern view of God and i prefer that one. Do i have the balls to actually hear it out? I dont know.