The Reality on the Footpath

MAJMA is a documentary film based on male sexuality and gender relations. This film, made by documentary film maker, Rahul Roy, runs for 54 minutes. Screened at Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, the following is how it runs through.

Competition is not only between the ShahRukh and Hrithik in Bollywood or Infosys and Wipro in the Electronic city; it is also between the two men who sell medicines for sexual problems on the pavement of Meena Bazaar near Jama Masjid in Delhi. One old man shouts at his loudest voice that, these days youth is getting spoilt; his words include: romance, love, erection, masturbation, and failure in sex. He has medicine for problems of erection and likewise. His counterpart, Aslam, at the other end of the pavement is no less in his volume. He lectures to the gathering crowds that, love comes from heart. His words involve: heart, blood, testicles, erection and satisfying the woman. He gives medicine to improve blood-circulation.
Aslam is explored personally, where he reveals that, he never wanted to be on the footpath. But situations made him compromise and choose it. He doesn’t like his work. When asked how much he earns daily, his reply was, ‘100-150 rupees’. That answer made it seem that he wasn’t very poor. But when he is asked how many children he has, the reply ‘6’ makes everyone realize the extremity of his poverty. He doesn’t want his children to follow his path. He wants his trade to end with him. But he doesn’t trust future. Even he never wanted to become what he is.
At another corner, there lived Khalif, who is a retired policeman. He trains young guys with wrestling. He feels that, guys now-a-days are not really strong. It is all in the food. He is more authoritative. His wife considers him a ‘king’. When asked about his feelings on his wife, he hesitates to praise her more than the formal lines like, ‘usne mera saath diya hai’, ‘ghar sab saaf hai, uski vajah se; agar who ghar par nahin hain tho, uski kami mehsoos hoti hai’, etc.
On the street, there are many men who pass their jobless time with ‘shayaris’. The ‘shayaris’ literally speak volumes of thick philosophies on life. It seems, for a while, that there is hardly any difference between men on the streets and the ones working in AC rooms.
Just try to imagine how you feel if your very existence in this world is not recognized. The best shot of the film comes when the words from a man’s heart are narrated. The man lives on the footpath. He sleeps on the footpath; he has no one to greet when he wakes up; he doesn’t know where to go and what to do; he just stares at nowhere and yearns in inaudible words: Someone please realize that I exist in this world…... The yearning is left incomplete, but a normal man with minimum sensibilities can guess how deep this yearning goes. Incidentally, the director did not spell out this man’s name anywhere in the film, leaving the audience realize the contrast between being known and not being known of one’s existence.

The director was very shrewd in selecting his shots with precision. Every frame looked useful to the flow of the film. The script chosen is very akin to the milieu involved, especially, the way the men on street talk with ‘appun’-kind-of attitude: the attitude that is very far from the educated working class.
I am not sure, but probably, the director wanted to tell that the basic male sexuality (wanting to be a king, live relaxed, ogle at every curve of the damsel walking past them, express sexual desires without hesitation) lies more on the streets and footpath than among the educated working class. Though unsaid in this documentary, educated class includes mostly men who compromise their basic instincts for their interdependencies. The man on the street is more independent and so, the extremities of basic instincts are more obvious in his daily routines.

Towards the end of the film, Aslam is asked on what he expects out of this documentary, which he is a part of. Out of the 100 odd seconds dedicated to his answer, the very few words he spoke out exposed his uncertainty of his future. He expects nothing from life. He thinks no one will come to his rescue to take him and his family away from the footpath. Some doctor, who may see this documentary, will approach him to enquire how he makes his medicines.
Beyond his words, there was silence. And the silence exposed his pain.