{"id":5723,"date":"2020-06-13T08:34:09","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T03:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/?p=5723"},"modified":"2020-06-13T10:50:19","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T05:20:19","slug":"rays-scientiphilia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/learningandcreativity.com\/silhouette\/rays-scientiphilia\/","title":{"rendered":"Ray\u2019s Scientiphilia"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Aparajito\"

Apu tries out a siphon at home<\/p><\/div>\n

In Satyajit Ray\u2019s second film Aparajito, we witness a young Apu doing science experiments at home with great enthusiasm. He siphons water from a bucket and he explains to his mother how the shadow of the earth falls on the moon during total lunar eclipse. One of the first impacts of formal education on Apu was initiation into the world of science, into understanding the mechanism behind celestial and terrestrial phenomena; an initiation into the mechanistic worldview driven by a cause and effect chain. This was something distinctly different from the scriptural learning he had inherited from his father. Empowered by this new knowledge and understanding of the world, Apu chose to shelve the legacy of classical learning and pursue higher education in science in the big city Calcutta. In other words, western science catapulted Apu into the realm of modernity, just the way, in the mid 19th<\/sup> Century, scientific knowledge had catalysed a medieval society to transform into a modern nation \u2013 a nation that would soon emerge from its superstition filled cesspool and be connected to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

\"Aparajito

Apu examines the globe in the train on way to Calcutta<\/p><\/div>\n

A small globe forms the leitmotif of Aparajito. <\/em>Apu had acquired it as a child \u2013 most probably a gift from the school headmaster. The globe becomes a constant companion of the teenager Apu on the threshold of adulthood. It is a toy \u2013 a talisman that Apu refuses to let go of. When Apu runs out of the house after being slapped by mother, the globe and a lamp are there on the porch of their mud hut. Apu runs out of frame in indignation, but the camera lingers on the globe and the lamp. After a while \u2013 may be 10 minutes, may be 15, Apu\u2019s mother Sarbajaya slowly emerges out of the darkness of the house and stands on the threshold. The light of the lamp makes her countenance softly radiant. After her initial resentment at Apu\u2019s decision, she has emerged into the faint but steady glow of \u2018enlightenment\u2019. We know, she will make her sacrifice \u2013 a sacrifice not half as dramatic as that of Radha in Mother India<\/em> (released one year later), but a quiet sacrifice to allow her son to take the path of modernity \u2013 and by extension, to take India towards modernity.<\/p>\n

After Sarbajaya pours out her meagre savings to make Apu\u2019s journey to modernity smoother, the jubilant Apu shows the globe to his mother and points at Calcutta on the globe. Next morning, before catching the train to Calcutta, he sees the time in the sundial and asks his mother to hurry up.<\/p>\n