The White of the Swan

 

I'm sharing a particularly moving and poetic sequence from the critically acclaimed Hindi film Gangubai  (link of the scene:  Instagram). The heroine's beauty and the description of the various white hues captivate the hero, who is a tailor who brings various white outfits for the heroine to select from. When the heroine requests that he display all of the white sarees and provide a recommendation, he responds that since they are all white, she can choose from any of them. But then the heroine responds in a very artistic and lyrical manner:

“ kon sa wala safed?

Chaand wala ya baadal wala safed?

Kaagaz wala safed ya

Gulaab wala safed?

Barf wala safed

Namak wala safed

Doodh wala safed ya

Shankh wala safed?”

 

After a moment of pause, the smitten hero replies,” hans wala safed.”

(Image of Heroine after she hears reply of the actor)

I also did the English translation that is:

Heroine:

“which hue of white?

The white of the moon or the cloud?

Or is it white of the paper, or

 the rose?

The white of the ice

The white of the salt

The white of the milk or

The white of the conch?

 

Hero replies, “The white of the swan.”

 

Interestingly, the heroine describes all different hues of white (which are not necessarily pure white) while the hero replies to a completely different answer which captures the true purity of white- the white of the swan. The fact that he had a mind and heart of his own which only saw the purity of the heroine and thus likens the white to the white of the swan symbolizing her purity, although in that movie the heroine played the role of a prostitute.

What I find so captivating about this scene is not only its poetry and depth and the purity of love the actors shared in their roles on screen, but the fact that in life, sometimes, we are limited to the colors or shades of something based on our limited perception of it, and what appears may not be a true reflection of the real, but a hue or a shade. Sometimes, it may take the eyes of another artist to see the truth of the color and the true purity of it...and in this case, those eyes are the eyes of love, and not lust...

    Indeed, the purity of love is symbolized by the white of the swan and the swan itself, check this beautifully poignant video reunion #love #birds #birdslover#swans #nature, I found on the web, where one of the swans is reunited with the other swan after a period of separation, and the moment of reunion is truly magical. Indeed, the two swans are a symbol of purity of love worldwide..