Whenever I watched "My fair Lady", I always contemplated on the platonic relationship between Professor Higgins and Elijah. For those who have not seen the movie let me provide a brief description of what the movie is about. Basically this movie is based on a story by the Literary giant George Bernard Shaw called "Pygmalion". A 1938 motion picture adaptation of this story already had won an Academy Award including one for Bernard Shaw himself. But the most popular rendition was the Broadway musical "My fair lady" which was later made into a movie by the same name.
The story is about a flower girl Elijah. She speaks the typical cockney accent of English spoken by the lower order of the society in England. One rainy day, by chance she runs into Professor Higgins, an expert in Phonetics, who amazes one and all by making out which part and strata of society a person is from by merely listening to their pronunciation of the English language. Professor Higgins happens to meet Colonel Pickering another linguist and author of "Spoken Sanskrit". The two strike a friendly conversation and Professor Higgins claims that he could train the flower girl to speak like a lady and could pass her off as a Dutches at a ball. He claims she could employ herself at a stationers or get such a decent job that befits a lady. Elijah who dreams big, and wants a life of a lady takes Professor Higgin's words seriously and goes to him to get lessons to speak like a lady. Pickering challenges Higgins, if he could really live up to his words and convert Elijah into a lady. Higgins accepts. Elijah meets a young man, who is smitten by her beauty. In the meantime Professor Higgins succeeds in his task. But finally Elijah leaves him to go marry the young man. Professor Higgins asks her to stay with him, not as a wife or not to be romantically involved or anything. He just wants her presence, because he is so used to teaching her and being in her company. It is a sort of platonic attachment. It is not love. It is something above and beyond. Something that we call friendship? Probably! I do not know what to call it.
I have had similar experiences in my life. Some people have come into my life and become so close to me, I do not know how. They were there alongside me when I needed them the most. When I was ill, they were there to help me out. When I was depressed, they were there to cheer me up. Their presence made me forget all miseries in life. And as nothing good lasts forever, there are times in life when one is forced to part with such people. And the separation is painful indeed. One finds himself/herself attached to the other person, but in a platonic way. I stress on platonic because the persons I am talking about belong to the fair sex. One feels, oh why can't we be like the kids we were? Young and being friends, without responsibilities.But when I think about the wonderful times I shared with these people, they cheer me up. The memories are so precious. I do not like to live in the past..but remembering them when I am feeling down sure helps me pass through a rainy day.
Sometimes when I contemplate on this, it makes me realize how lonely one is in life. One comes alone and goes alone. We are like tourists traveling from one city to another. We stay at a hotel in each and every new city. We meet and get acquainted with fellow travelers in these hotels. Some of them become close friends. But after a point of time, we all travel to different destinations and we all part ways no matter what.
This is what makes life so beautiful. One can say, it is sad that we are so lonely. And yet, each of us, goes through a million things in life. Each is a story in itself. I think Bernard Shaw saw this common theme in life and wrote "Pygmalion". He being a celibate, would never think of love or romance, but thought of something beyond that! A platonic attachment which is so beautiful and pure. Many in fact, are said to have written to Bernard Shaw, asking him to change the story at the end. They wanted Elijah to stay with Professor Higgins. They wanted them to be romantically linked. But Bernard Shaw strongly disagreed. And thank god for that. He wrote about something much more beautiful and that was something that I realized only recently.
The reasons that brought some of my friends close to me are manifold. In some cases it was music. Certain times it was science. Some other times it was spirituality. Sometimes it was common interests. Sometimes it was common friends. Sometimes I think these reasons are just a tip of the iceberg. One never knows how in this journey, only some people befriend some select group of other people.
Some day, I would probably record these beautiful memories that are there in my mind. They bring so much joy. Whenever life looks like it is full of darkness and despair, they give me hope.
I therefore wish to thank all my friends who gave me such great memories and some of whom are continuing to do so and will give me many more in the future. But as we grow older, the rift between us gets bigger, as we become involved in our own family responsibilities and lives. But I know that as I continue to travel to other destinations, I will meet other travelers. Some who turn out to be friends and some who turn out to be bitter enemies. But both give rise to memories each of which is a story in itself.
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