Film : Shree 420
Year of release : 1955
Spoken by : Seth Sonachand Dharmanand (Nemo)
Spoken to : Raj Kumar (Raj Kapoor)
This comes during Raj's interaction with Sonachand just before the MuD muD ke song. Vidya (which means knowledge) is Nargis' name in this film. Maya (which means illusion) is Nadira's name. Raj Kapoor had a fetish for this silly symbolism. You can see that in Sangam when the three people are reading Time, Life and Fortune. Here the symbolism is closer home. Maya has insulted Vidya at a party to which Raj had invited her. She runs out with Raj in hot pursuit. As Vidya goes out of the revolving door, Seth Sonachand comes in and sees Raj calling after Vidya. He pauses and says,
"आज की रात तुम्हे विद्या की ज़रूरत नहीं, माया की ज़रूरत है"
"Aaj kee raat tumhe vidya kee zaroorat naheeN, maya kee zaroorat hai"
which is a none-too-veiled reference to the fact that the party would involve a bit of gambling and in such a milieu, it is not knowledge but the illusive and elusive 'maayaa' that would be required.
Four decades of post-independence education in India were devoted to rote learning and 'collecting' knowledge for the heck of it. Vocational education or training was looked down upon. Though this trend is changing of late. Though there are still heavy school bags and school teachers focussing on learning by rote, the entire education system is slowly realising the fact that
'tumhe vidya kee zaroorat nahee maayaa kee zaroorat hai'
Immediately after the famous song 'eechak daanaa', Raj rings the bell and all kids run away. Vidya is very angry. Raj is dresssed as a tramp and Vidya is making no secret of her disdain for him. She calls him an illiterate bumpkin and wonders if Raj would want that the kids also end up like him. Raj protests.
This is the exchange between them
Raj : Main graduate hooN...BA pass मैं ग्रॅजुएट हूं ...बी ए पास
Vidya : BA pass ...huh. ek aur jhooTh. zaraa apanaa huliyaa to dekho. college ke paDhe likhe graduates kee yeh soorat hotee hai?
बी ए पास...हह...एक और झूठ. ज़रा अपना हुलिया तो देखो. कॉलिज के पढे लिखे ग्रॅजुएट्स की ये सूरत होती है?
Raj : khaa gayee naa aap bhee kapDoN se dhokha!
खा गयीं ना आप भी कपडों से धोखा!
Agar aaj main ek badhiyaa suit pehne, shaandaar gaadee me baiThkar yahaan aataa to shaayad aap mujhe badtameez, jaahil ganwaar na kehteeN…aur isme aapkaa koee dosh nahee hai…jis duniyaa me aap rehtee hain wahaan insaan ke dil aur dimaag kee naheeN, uske kapdo kee izzat hotee hai. Sharkskin ke suit, silk kee kameezen aur georgette kee saaRiyon kee izzat hotee hai.
अगर आज मैं बढिया सूट पहने, शानदार गाडी में बैठकर यहां आता तो शायद आप मुझे बदतमीज़, जाहिल गंवार न कह्तीं ...और इसमे आपका कोई दोष नहीं है...जिस दुनिया में आप रहतीं हैं, वहां इंसान के दिल और दिमाग़ की नहीं, उसके कपडों की इज़्ज़त होती है. शार्कस्किन के सूट, सिल्क की कमीज़ें और जॉर्जॅट की साड़ियों की इज़्ज़त होती है".
Great socialistic monologue which worked very well in that era. But the message in that one line is still relevant. It happens all the time. So either you can keep complaining about it - as Raj does. Or make it work to your advantage. As Raj himself does in the later half of the movie.
