Do the Puranas have an angry, young man?

Zanjeer

Curated by Jane Borges, Sucheta Chakraborty and Anju Maskeri

The ‘angry young man' has fired up our cinema screens for years. But what exactly does he have in common with our mythological heroes? Is he a mythological hero himself? These were some of the questions raised in a recent session of Cine-Mythic, an ongoing series of discussions on the intersection of cinema and mythology. These are conducted by The Mythology Project, an online platform for the study of myths, legends, folktales and ancient belief systems, and Breakfast@Cinema, a team that deals with cinema as a tool for teaching and development.

Shibangi Das and Abhinav Kandarp

"We were always sure that mythology has a far larger arc of influence than what we usually associate it with. It is not just stories of the past [or] religious tales. Mythology is a huge influencer of popular culture and cinema is popular culture. Hence there were a lot of common themes that emerged in our discussions," say Utkarsh Patel and Arundhuti Dasgupta Singhal of The Mythology Project.

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Utkarsh Patel and Arundhuti Dasgupta Singhal

The opening series of talks are on the archetypes that figure both in our myths and cinema, their first session focusing on the angry young man, exploring his presence and function and looking critically at anger in our legends and films, and their second on the figure of the trickster. "We realised that cinema, and especially Hindi cinema, utilises not just stories of mythology directly and indirectly, but also explores tropes, emotions, themes, opinions, and ideas universal to both media since they are essential to human existence," say the Breakfast@Cinema team, Shibangi Das and Abhinav Kandarp. Popular cinema's own mythic status in India only adds to the relevance of these discussions.

Also Read: Mythology of Bengali Pirs

themythologyproject.com
breakfastatcinema.com

To the Monica Geller in you
Seeing your home neat gives a high of a different kind. And we mean the Friends' self-proclaimed neat freak Monica Geller standard of clean. To cater to your OCD tic, entrepreneur Gaurav Agarwal has launched Tidy Up!, a venture that offers a range of innovative products to help declutter. The brand is centred around organisation, cleanliness and sanitation.

Sparkle Ultra Sonic Cleaner helps clean your jewellery and spectacles. It uses ultrasonic waves to break down the dirt particles on and under the surface of your jewellery (right) Wire Bin with snug fit 4-socket power strip to keep the wires hidden

While wire bins can help hide wires, the smart bin is an auto-close sensor dustbin which doesn't require touching the dirty lid. Even the trash bag is hidden from sight. "With two sizes, 9L and 30L, we cover the rooms from the bedroom and office to your kitchen and hallways. We have a new version now coming out this month, which also opens if you simply kick it along with the hand gesture," says Agarwal, who started the venture with the goal of managing messy wires.

Gaurav Agarwal

"I realised that there has to be a way to hide those spike busters that make my otherwise good-looking desk really ugly. Moreover, I noticed that India lacks quality products that solve everyday problems."

Add to your cart
Tissue box: Dispenses facial tissues and has a compartment to hold your phone, remote, reading glasses and pens
Wire bin jumbo: Just like the original Wire Bin but much bigger to hold more kinds of plugs
Side kick: The desk and bedside organiser that ends all clutter.
Smart bins line in 14L and 50L sizes: They are planning a more premium version of it in the future made of stainless steel

What: Tidy Up!
Where: tidyup.com
Price: Rs 599 onwards

Tales from history
It's always heart-warming to see youth come forward to make a difference in how we understand our history. Samyak Raj Nema, 18, started @thehistorynama on Instagram "to curb all kinds of hatred that was floating around about the historical characters and their stories". What began with posts analysing Kalidasa's Shakuntala, has since then taken a life of its own.

In a series of posts, we learn about the 1,125-kg Peacock throne commissioned by Shah Jahan in 1628 that took seven years to make, an amusing anecdote about Mirza Ghalib, and the expansive history of the Deccan, among others. "People who never lived in our age will always be different from us. Their ideas will differ, their world will differ, their stories will differ and no matter how much you try to make them relatable, they will always retain their other-worldly appearance. I want people to understand history and mythology metaphorically rather than figuratively," says Nema.
@thehistorynama

Also Read: Listen to a timeless tale