Monday Musings 231 - Proudly Provincial

Monday Musings 231 - Proudly Provincial

I am in love with Datto. Now that I have said it publically putting my neck on the line by proclaiming the likely unrequited love for the haryani character in the 100 cr grosser 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' I ask myself what is it that draws me to her. 

Datto is proudly provincial. She comes from the badlands of Jhajjar, a place which is in the news for reasons which are more notorious than nice. She speaks with a heavy accent unapologetically even though she studies in the elite Delhi University. She is aspirational and wants to excel in the chosen one thing that she knows how to do well rather than fret over the many things that she might not. She is proud but not vain. She is fired with ambition but rooted to reality. She wants to negotiate with her context to seek what she wants rather than desert it without an attempt to influence it. She is gutsy. She knows what she is not - which is the other Kangana but is not flustered by it. She is in love and goes about dealing with this emotion matter of factly - a job that must be done like running the next race. No fuss, no hyperbole, no heavy duty drama! The underlying supreme self confidence of a small town youth that fires a million hearts every day - to want to play with the city slickers and compete with them despite an uneven playing level. Datto does not denies her provinciality but wears it on her sleeve with pride. I am in love with  Datto - its final. 

Datto has one thing that all small towners have aplenty - dreams in the eyes, spring in the steps and confidence in the souls. Just a look around and it is not difficult to fathom that it is the small towners who are calling the shots or soon will be. The cricket team is no longer ruled by the Bombay club - it is the mofussils who dominate. The new breed in practically all the sports is not emerging from the Gymkhanas but the dusty roads of Bharat. The feet on street of all corporate hierarchy is populated by the small towners. A few decade down the line they will be dominating the cubicles and cabins. The last decade in the civil services is already dominated by the provincial prodigies. Another few decades and all senior bureaucrats in the steel frame of the government will be dominated by the  sons and daughters of mohallas rather than the skyscrappers. The story goes on. 

I write this because Datto appeals to my small town sensibilities. She reminds me where i come from. She is comfortable in her skin and finds no reason to conform. She does not want to fit in because she finds no reason to do so. She is not living two lives because she does not need to. She is who she is  - take it or leave it. There is nothing more tragic than the sacrifice of a square who wants to fit in a circle. 

Datto is an iconic character or at least has the potential to be. Let a million Datto bloom. And just for the record - i am definitely in love with her. 

Guru