更新时间:2012-12-25

Swarup • 少年派的奇幻漂流:Life of Pi –is it a happy ending love story ?

Life of Pi –is it a happy ending love story ?

The movie - Life of Pi – Is it a different story than what we think – is it a happy ending love story ?

There are so many explanations of the metaphors of Li of Pi. There is a normal perception about the story but in our pursuit of complexities are we missing a love story ?
Let’s start from the beginning- the widely accepted concept and find out the anomalies.

Each character in the boat represents a character /person in the ship. There are 5 characters on the boat :

Zebra - the sailor - a believer in God but amending the norms to suit his needs. It is evident from the fact that he is vegetarian but accepts to eat gravy with meat juice.

Hyena - the Cook - with complete disbelief on God and no respect at all towards sufferings of other human. An uncaring, brutal, materialistic person with a metaphor of Hyena.

Ourang Outan - the mother of Pi – A person who believes in God but mostly in the form she has been taught to believe as true. She cares a lot about her son. At night she tells “stories” to his son Pi about God in human form like us.

Now who is the tiger ?
Most will say its Pi himself but that brings confusion all along the film.
Why is it trying to frighten Pi ? Is it just the frightened soul of Pi afraid of himself ? Is it the twin personality of a person where one is trying to solve problems and the other one is trying to stop all and leave all hopes and efforts – just frightening the positive entity? There should not be so much conflict in the mind of a person who is able to realise concepts of 3 religions at a young age, a person who can memorise the non-repetitive sequence of Pi ! Then who or what else can be the Tiger ?

Next , there are some unexplained or difficult to explain events.
The scene of explanation of the dance: Pi thinks the gesture of Anandi means that the Goddess of love is hiding in the forest. Unusual but can still make a spiritual sense. Anandi says that the gesture can also mean lotus. Pi is confused. Why should a Lotus go to the forest to hide?

(Note: In many cultures of India, heart is also referred as Lotus. Lotus is born in muddy dirt but it is beautiful, pure - just like a pure love-full heart which can always stay clean & pure despite evil efforts to make it tainted, unclean. Love is divine and so is Lotus.)
There is a scene under the dock structure just before the ship left. Anandi ties the thread of protection to Pi but that tying of knot also means staying together, not leaving apart. Pi keeps repeating that he remembers everything what happened on that day with her but he doesn’t remember that they ever said goodbye to each other.
A simple logical explanation is that we never want to say goodbye to our love, to our loved ones. True love lives in our heart, in our soul, all our life. True love is not something that starts today and ends tomorrow with a goodbye. Still, while parting away, even with the love in heart, we use the parting words of "see you" to keep hopes of meeting back alive. In India people often pray for safe journey as parting wish. Pi could have used one. Why he keeps repeating that they never said goodbye– never used a parting wish ? Then was there some event that didn't require them to say parting wishes?

What is a floating island on the sea with thousands of Meerkat moving around ? Something that gives food in the day but at night it kills life ? What is a tooth inside a fruit? After seeing the tooth how can Pi know the secret activities of the Island– killing life?
On reaching the Island, why Pi opens the thread given by his dear love Anandi & ties it with a tree root of the Island ?
Why there is no story since Pi left the floating island and reached the Mexican coast ? Pi was pretty close to the shore and with food as he was strong enough to push the boat ashore. How?
Why the tiger went inside the forest when Pi remained at the beach?

Lastly, the most difficult question. How come Pi agree with the writer that his life has a happy ending? How can he have a happy ending when he has lost his dear lover Anandi?
Even today, a major cause of suicide in India, for both men & women, is rejection in love / failed love / social impositions conflicting with love. Although not justified, so many people in India take their own life for problems related to love. How come Pi, an Indian, believing in God, emotional, kind, caring, having a heart & soul full of love, define his life as with a happy ending when he has lost his love- his Anandi ? He is not a materialistic machine – he is a loving caring human being. Then, why ?

Too many Questions ???

Ok, let's talk about a new story - A Love Story. Let's forget the justification, let's forget what everyone say, let's just enjoy a happy ending love story to cheer up our heart & soul.

The Life of Pi - A Divine Love Story

Pi is deeply in love with Anandi when his father decides to move out to Canada with some animals of their zoo.
Like the Goddess of Love going in forest , like the lotus, the pure clean loving heart going inside a forest, Pi decides to take his love his heart Anandi with him by hiding her among the animals- like hiding her in a forest full of animals. But why he needs to hide her ?
Even now, in India, in many societies, people prefer to impose marriages on couples by means of many aspects of marriage matching. Those actually has no relation with real Hindu religion but more with later culture. Pi was also under-aged. Their family was leaving India in a hurry. So Pi and Anandi would have surely faced many problems if they had tried to get married. Hence, they decided to leave India together, secretly. Pi planned to hide Anandi in the animal section of ship. They were aware that this is also illegal immigration activity but they wanted to save their love. True lovers can do all to save their love – so did Pi & Anandi.

Pi meets Anandi under the dock near the ship. Anandi ties knot with Pi- a symbolism of protection and being together. They never parted, hence, Pi never told goodbye to Anandi. Then Pi hid her in the animal section of the ship. He keeps visiting the Animal section both to help his father, but more so to pass food to Anandi hiding somewhere within the Animals. A lotus-heart hiding in the forest. We shall have another occasion where the lotus, the loving heart goes inside a forest.

At night, when all are asleep in the ship, Pi is sleepless. His love, his Anandi, is having a painful journey with the animals. So he wants to go to the animal compartment to meet and care about his love.
Then the storm began.

Let us deviate from this love story to tell about Indian culture and Indian ladies.

In India, each and every God and Goddess is associated with one or more animals. Goddess Durga in her various forms is associated with Lion and Tiger. An Indian lady is often regarded as Goddess Durga or Parvati. It will be easy to relate her to a Tiger or Tigress as a metaphor.

Before marriage, many conservative Indian ladies prefer to protect her virginity. Before marriage they even refuse to stay in the same room with their years old lover. Love is more a love of soul. I think, may be it is better to say that these rules are not exactly part of any Hindu religious rules. In various ancient and very religious Hindu stories we find respected ladies having Babies even without marriage. But in past thousand years, since the Muslim invasion in India, the Hindu society has changed itself from one with a liberal religion to a Hindu culture with many protectionism and conservatism regarding women. Things are changing back now to be more liberal like ancient times but this story is of the 50s when such conservative approach was much more predominant among the ladies.

Now let’s go back to the story.

So, Anandi was travelling in the ship, going out of her country, as an illegal passenger, leaving all for the sake of saving her love with Pi. En-route, near Philippines, a thunder storm and some rogue waves started to sink their ship.

As the ship started to sink, a life boat left with only 3 persons.

Pi, as himself.

The Cook - who disbelieve in God and care nothing about the sufferings of others, as often the case. Initial story of Pi disguise him as a Hyena– dirty, uncaring, meat eating, heartless, greedy animal.
The sailor – a “vegetarian” and believer in God –disguised in the story as a plant eating Zebra.

Soon after, Anandi- the tiger, jumped to catch up with boat of Pi. Pi was in dilemma whether to keep her in the same boat with the savage cook. Pi was also scared of her anger of going through all the turmoil for the sake of their love. But he can never let her die too. So Pi risked his life to rescue her. She went to hide somewhere inside the boat, away from the Cook and others.

In the morning Pi found his mother (the Ourang Outan) floating with some “Bananas”. At the last stage of the story, the Japanese investigation team is uncertain whether Banana can float on water or not. In normal water, some Bananas float, some don't. Bananas grown in salty soil is often found to float more. Sea water being denser than normal water, most bananas can float. Banana have the food for us inside its skin and so are many canned foods. Many of those food cans do float. So Pi's mother was floating with some vegetarian food pile and brought food for all in the boat, including her dear son.

During this period, when cook- the hyena was pro-active, Anandi- the Tiger lay hidden . If she had come out then first she would have had to fight with the selfish, greedy, faithless cook. Secondly, with mother of Pi on board, it will be shameful for her to reveal herself- to reveal what they have planned all in secret– a secret is almost like a lie, at least in Indian culture. So Anandi stay hidden from Pi's mother. The Tiger was never seen when the Ourang Outan was alive in the boat.

In spite of abundance of food in the boat, the Hyena is too greedy to share anything. He is faithless, hence un-caring to others suffering. Rather than keeping the Zebra- the sailor alive and let the septic injury make his meat useless, he preferred to kill him and used his meat to catch fish and even to cannibalise him.

Being short tempered, ignorant to all sufferings, the Cook started arguing with mother of Pi. During the argument, he hit her head. That resulted in her death. This made Pi furious and forget his religious teachings of non-violence, love, care and mercy. He attacked the Cook. As the Cook fought back Pi, Anandi- the Tiger comes out of the hiding. Anandi somehow managed to kill the evil, savage Cook. Later on, during investigation, Pi takes the blame of killing the Cook on him to save his love, his Anandi.

Now there is something interesting. From now on, with Anandi & Pi on board, why the Tiger, Anandi, was continuously attacking Pi ? Bengal tigers are good swimmers. Why it never attacked and ate Pi floating close by ? Again we need to understand the mind of a lady grown in an Indian family which is having traditional values and conservatism, yet opening up to the present world, bringing back the golden era of Hindu culture from thousands of years ago.

Here is a lady, suffering immensely just because she could not refuse her love. Passing through turmoil of having left a country illegally, can never enter a country legally, left her family and all for love- for few words of a guy, for dreams of a guy, dreams of a life full of love & hopes … and now they two are just floating in the middle of the Pacific ocean, no hope of survival, everything gone, nothing else to get from life other than a slow painful death… What is her fate with this guy, Pi ? Has she doomed herself by having faith on this guy ?

She is conservative. Yet to be married with this guy who gave her hope of life, who gave her dreams - but all are gone. So she doesn't want him to share her space, doesn't want him to touch her, doesn't want him share the sleeping/ bed room - the boat. So she is continuously arguing with Pi, blaming him for all, criticising him for everything – isn't that angry Anandi like the Tiger frightening Pi ?

Pi is scared of losing his love, his heart. He obeys the demand of his Anandi and spend time being physically away from her. But for her unreasonable and stressful demands, he tries to reason with her, tries to convince her. Ultimately when she becomes sea-sick, his care make her calm down and finally they agree to share the boat space. Sufferings let them forget culture imposed rules and care each other as human beings.

When all hopes are lost, when both Pi and Anandi are senseless and on the verge of sure death, their boat was seen by a large warship. An warship is large- like a small island. It is always with thousands of soldiers who behave just like Meerkats - move in groups and act similarly. Warships often venture in areas outside regular merchant navy routes. Pi ties his knot with a section of the ship- a tree of the Island. So the warship becomes the protector of Pi and Anandi. At night Pi was sleeping with the soldiers in their bunkers but being a lady, Anandi preferred to sleep in a separate place. Being a lady she was faster to know the purpose of the warship which Pi got to know much later with the tooth inside a fruit !!

What is a tooth. Let's think. How about a wisdom tooth – the last 4 molar teeth – the tooth of knowledge ?

The warship was conducting weapons test in the Ocean, the pollution was killing sea life. Such tests are often done with secrecy- in dark- at night. They may rescue ship-wreck persons but would prefer to keep their activities a secret. One night Pi found information on the activities of the ship. A document that the ship is doing some kind of weapons testing- that knowledge is a wisdom tooth.

To maintain secrecy, Pi & Anandi take oath and they are dropped by the warship near Mexican coast in their Life raft with enough food. Having reached land, intelligent Pi knew that when it is revealed that Anandi was accompanying him illegally in the ship, they will have problems with shipping company and also with the insurance.
Anandi , the Tiger, went to hide inside the forest when Pi was taken by the People from the beach. Once more there is no goodbye, no looking back – the lotus , the Goddess of Love went inside the forest.

Pi gives the explanation to the Japanese investigation team and ultimately receives the Insurance claim. Finally he managed to take Anandi with him to Canada. Money can solve immigration problems although not problems of love !

After all the turmoil and test of love & faith, Pi and Anandi began their happy life – their survival of love –their survival of life with their children, all in a foreign land - Canada.

That my view of this story.

Does it mean that this story of Pi is a realistic story which do not need belief in God ? I don't think so. Why - let me describe :

We have the father of Pi who believes in science - explaining all with our limited and poor base of knowledge that we are so proud of. As the ship sinks his fate is similar to the scientifically and statistically most predicted fate - he dies. But there is nothing wrong to have a different belief in life. He is survived in the evolution of life by his son, Pi. His life is not totally wasted but he failed to know the fate of his family, the fate of his son - the one to continue his genes in the struggle of life.

Elder brother of Pi is like any other common person of the society. Following a life most expected by the society from a commoner. He dies just like a common person- without any story, without any individuality. He fails to survive, fails in the test of evolution of life.

The sailor, had casual faith on God. Adjusting all with the need of life. He survived the sinking but was too fragile to fight on with the evil - the greedy heinous uncaring faithless Cook who killed him.

Mother of Pi was devoted & caring. She believed in the normal concept of God that we learn from our family, from our society. She was able to see her son surviving the incidence. Before her death she had the pleasure of seeing her son still surviving against all odds.

The cook- an ignorant, heartless strong guy, devoid of humanity - a power mongering God defying person, he could harm others and lived on but not too long. He was conquered by the force of divinity & love - Pi and Anandi.

Pi devoted his life in search of true concept of God. Like Hindus, he believes that there is a part of God among us all, among all living beings, a power in this chaotic world that ensures justice, honesty & truth to prevail over all. Pi was trying to discover God in various forms. He was separating the true concept of God hiding behind the rituals. We were also taught that we should not believe anything unless we see the proof of it. Similarly at peak of sufferings Pi was questioning the justice of God who is bringing him so much pain but he kept on his belief.

Here's a guy floating on a raft in the middle of the ocean with his heart- his love. When he is exhausted of food- he is getting some; when he is exhausted of water & praying- at the end its raining. A ship drowned in a storm but they encountered the eye of a storm in their raft and still survived.

When food, water and even hopes were exhausted- the warship found them drifting in the ocean and rescued them. At the end, in spite of the immense pain & sufferings, in spite of Anandi being an illegal passenger & immigrant- with their efforts they managed to solve all problems - he gets his desired happy life with his Anandi. They even have a boy & a girl - the romance of life culminating to a picture perfect happy family. What are the odds that all will happen co-incidentally in proper sequence? May be its easier to explain those with belief of God than using statistical figures for co-incidence.

But why did Anandi survived ? Because love is divine and she left all she had only to follow her love. Without Anandi the life of Pi would have become a water-less lifeless desert. Anandi survives for their divine love.

To believe in God, we tend to look for mysteries, magic and miraculous material gains, whereas, we should see the presence of God in the daily affairs of life - when justice prevails, when we make others smile, when we wipe-off tears of others, when our little help change a painful life to a happy, spiritual, divine life.

Let's not believe in God only to make windfall profits in stock market or make huge gains from real-estate market when many do not have any bed to sleep.

Let's believe in God if we want to be a better person. Let's believe in God if we want to be a human being- not just a money machine of someone else. Let's believe in God if we want to live a life of truth caring about others pain, sharing their tears, extending our hands to wipe their tears and bring smile to their lips, joy in their face. Let's believe in God if we want to see the power of the divine acts of mercy, care & love ...

My weibo ID is : swarup
You can ask me any question or send any comment is you so desire @swarup

Hope @访客V will be able to help me to translate this to Chinese
S:-T

God bless all