Mitra tu..

Mitra tu kasahes? Kovla hasnara. Khande aat odhun. Tujhi majhi maitrichi ti suruvat athavte - toh pahila greeting card, toh khulya maidanat basun script lihlela, mag na sampnare gappe. Ani aple gappe mhanje kashe! 80% tuch bolnaar. 90% hi. Mhanje suruvatichya kaalat te ajun proportionate asaycha. Pan aata? Mi fone kela, kinva tu kela, ki tu suruvat kasrshil varshaav sa. An mag paus-rajachi iccha hoin tevha varshaav thambven. Mi matr ek spectator sarkha hokar nakar, uttara, denar, thode prashn (tujhya badbadit jaaga urli tar) vicharnar. Ekhadi train sarkha tu yetos mitra ani jatos. Gammat watate tujhi!

Kay mahit. Aaj kaal gappe ashe honya maghe doshi mihi asnar - khup tatasth jhaley ayushyat. Ani aapan hi duravla nahi ka? 2013 madhe javal aalo hoto. Majhya vaeet kaalat tu saath dilelis. Mag punha sagla sukhavla ani apan aap-aplya ayushyat guntalo.  Apli maitri aplya doghyanchya ayushyachya taalavar naachat ani roop ghet aste.
Kahi prashn manat umathtat. Garaj bhaste, titkich ka maitri? Sukhi ayushyat maitri kholwar jaun jagta yeta kaama nahi?

Prashn kithihi aso, ani maitri kuthlyahi taalavar aso, aapan adhun madhun tar bolto. Gelyaveli bollo tevha tu tujhya prayatnabaddal kalavla. Khup chhaan watala ki majha mitra itka dhadshi kaam kartoy, swatahchi ani samajachi sakhali todu baghtoy. Tula urja dyayla mi tujhya pathishich ahe. Ani fakt hya nhave tar ashya pratyek kaamala ahe.

Maala aata baghaychay aapan mhatare kashe hoto. Maitri tevha paryant tar asen he nakkich. Kadachit tevha pan aapan asech rahu. Kinva, kay mahit, mansa mhanu khup badlun hi jau.
Pan je hi aso. Bhetayla hava. Khup diwas jhale, tujhi majhi mehfil jamli nahi.

Binta and the Great Idea

This is a short film that has won many awards. The film-makers definitely do not want to hide this fact - the names of awards keep zooming in your face for more than 1.5 minutes; and in you in your position can't help feeling irritated.

The documentary starts and maintains throughout great picturization of African nature and people. And it portrays the strengths of education and the issue of girls' education very interestingly - through Binta's narration of her school experiences and the story of her cousin Soda who is deprived of the same. A group of kids enact Soda's story and by the end of the skit the whole crowd pressurises Soda's father to send her to school. Meanwhile, Binta's father is enamoured by an idea which he takes to the Lt. Governor, who refers him to his senior, the Civil Governor, who again refers to his senior, the Governor himself - for the idea is so great! And what is the idea? To adopt a tubab (European descent) child. Why? According to Binta's father's knowledge of the First World, the latter has set an example of how the desire to acquire wealth has led to the mentality of extracting the maximum from nature and the tendency to take to destruction. To prevent this among African children, he wants to bring a tubab child who will grow up in the humble environment of Africa and acquire the knowledge to be happy. "This way when he grows up to be a man, he contribute to humanity, which is of concern to us all".

I now understand why this film got so many awards. Just one glitch - while there was so much focus on girls' education in the film, why is it so easily assumed that the tubab child would be a 'he', not 'he/she' or better still a 'she'?
Do watch the film.