Nolan's Oppenheimer on the 78th Hiroshima Day - Rahul Sankalpa

 On this day, ie on 6th August, 1945, the US dropped the Uranium 235 nightmare called the 'Little Boy'- over Hiroshima city and the dreadful memories still haunt the world. Well, Christopher Nolan's OPPENHEIMER based on the biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer is stealing the theaters right now with a lot of buzz across the globe.

Apart from the normal non-linear storytelling pattern, Nolan brings about certain relevant piece of thoughts through his movie. The film is shot brilliantly on i Max and there you see killing and convincing performances from Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. and others. What makes OPPENHEIMER relevant in today's world? It discusses the superimposition of politics over scientific temperament. It shows the life of a scientist who gets entrapped within the clutches of petty bureaucracy and corrupt politics. It shows how far man can go with his disastrous inventions. It proves how dangerous knowledge can be. It shows how far the Human wisdom can traverse on a negative quadrant. Whatever part the fiction could be, one cannot deny the Hiroshima and Nagasaki days from the history of modern world as it was never a fiction at all!

The movie was made based on the book called "The American Prometheus :The Triumph and Fall of J Robert Oppenheimer". The movie holds no pre conceived notions. It just shows Oppenheimer, his scientific experiments, his possible introspective mindsets, set backs, hallucinations in the backdrop of the US, Soviet, German and the Japanese politics amidst World War II. The movie is left open where Nolan makes the audience think about the realistic aspects of misused technology. It shows the repercussions of human brains that traverse on egoistic politics. Here, it takes reference from Bhagvad Gita, where Oppenheimer is found quoting : 'Now I become death, the destroyer of worlds'. As Indian mythology says, here it discusses the 'samhaara' bhava of the human mind as a whole. The vast perspective of creation and destruction is found here.

"They won't fear it until they understand it and they won't understand it until they use it":- could be an extended interception from Mahabharata. One can easily draw parallels from a Nuke Bomb to that of 'Brahmastra' in the Mahabharata. It's shouldn't be read as if the ancient people had the idea of splitting U-235. But, it should be deciphered in such a way that human imagination were always seeking the lines of diabolic schemes as that of today since inception! This is where Oppenheimer becomes relevant today. The movie is recommended for future kids! The movie becomes relevant in today's world of AI, which could become the next man made blade with an infinite potential. Nolan, depicts Oppenheimer with least CGI and maximum effort, throwing light into the issue of overused technology, and the movie takes no sides and one can think over this philosophy for the future years for sure.

Oppenheimer, shows that human beings are just victims of their own previous survival acts and they are just afraid of their own strengths to make themselves extinct!

- ©Rahul Sankalpa

PC: IMDB

A visit to the Roerich Museum in Naggar, Himachal Pradesh and its significance in the current world- Rahul Sankalpa

Rather the museum, it's the concept behind that the modern world should adhere to. 'Roerich Pact' is the Treaty for the protection of artistic and scientific institutions and historical monuments. The idea was initiated by the famous Russian scholar, philosopher,  artist and scientist- Mr. Nicholas Roerich who struggled for the preservation of cultural monuments and scientific institutions after his travels through the Russian cities during 1903-'04. He had this thought much before the advent of the UN. Roerich Pact was formed after the WorldWar II. In the 21st Century, the issue of irretrievable loss of cultural heritage is still just relevant. 

In 1920s, Nicholas Roerich, with his wife Elena came to India, fell in love with the Himalayas and settled his life in Naggar, in the valleys of Kullu, Himachal Pradesh. Whatever wreck happens to the world, historical monuments and scientific institutions are to be left unharmed, is a policy for which he had struggled for at an international level. A visit to the Roerich's family home- (the museum) and the art gallery in Naggar is a feast for any history enthusiast out there. One can take a different shift from a Wilde's perspective and here an artist can become a critic of the world in its entirety! It is introspective and retrospective at the same time. Apart from history, it manifests a deep philosophy to a peace seeking artist say any! "Cultural values beautify and elevate life for people in all ages. That's why everyone has to take care of them in the most active way"- : wrote Nicholas Roerich.

In today's world, as far as India is concerned, especially when it is politically attempting to repaint histories, one can find the significance of his ideas. Preservation of cultural and historical monuments are not just a mere political action. Rather, it's necessary for mankind.

 

 

 

- © Rahul Sankalpa