Naari – The Woman

Into the wild….

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Francis Bacon said in The Quotable Book Lover, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some are to be chewed and digested.” I feel the same can be said about movies, too. I recently watched (read was-carried-away-by) the movie , “Into The Wild”. I was so drawn to the story that it was impossible to hold back tears in the end. Based on a true story, ‘Into The Wild’  left me asking myself unanswerable questions.

The story is about a young guy, aged only 24, Christopher McCandless who is fed up of the social facade and complicated relationship with his parents. He leaves for Alaska, in search of happiness and peace within himself. He abandons all his belongings, donates his money and changes his name, so as to disappear from public scrutiny. He embarks his journey, steps away from civilization and its necessary (un)pleasantries, and walks alone , into the wild……

On his journey to Alaska via Mexico, he meets a lot of influential people from whom he learns the lessons of life and ways to happiness. On reaching Alaska, he stumbles upon, what he calls – the Magic bus. For over 40 days, he braves all the hardships, hunts animals for food, maintains his journal and reads his favorites.

However, after thus struggling through a solitary existence, McCandless begins to soften and acknowledges the possibility that human relationships were more of a necessity than he had originally thought. He, then  decides to return to the civilization he had come from, only to find his route blocked by a melted river.

Although McCandless’s behaviour, may seem reckless and drastic and even evoke anger and irritation in some, it teaches a lot to us. We, as humans, need to realize that we need to strike a balance between peace-searching isolation and being a part of society. To quote McCandless “Happiness is real only when shared’”. You can be living in society and still be yourself, not succumbing to the social pressures or obligations.

Forced to live longer in isolation, what does the young spirited guy go through? Does he retreat back into his peaceful solitude? Does he face natural calamities? Is he rescued? Does he seek help? Meet help? Watch / read “Into The Wild” to find out for yourself…

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