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| "Mumbai at Night" (c) under Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike by Cidity Hat |
Spend at least 20 minutes thinking about the question below, and write a substantive answer to post in the comment section below. Then, read your colleague's answers and respond to one of them.
Your answer to the question is due by Friday at midnight; respond to a colleague by Sunday at midnight.
Type your answers in a word processing program first, so that you don't lose your answer if there's a glitch in publishing your comment. A good response will be at the very least 3/4-page, double-spaced in a word processing program.
In your response to your colleague, try to drive the conversation forward in some way. Press the person (politely) on their response; ask a question to try to examine the idea; disagree (politely); examine the premises the person is relying on - that is, try to add to the original post with your response. Don't just say you agree with the person and repeat what they said in slightly different wording.
Here's a link to watch the movie online if you missed a day: Salaam Bombay!
Question
In one sense, Krishna's life is extremely free - there's almost no supervision of anything he does (except for the short time he spends in state custody), and therefore very little restriction on his behavior. In another sense, though, his life is incredibly constricted - it's very difficult for him to pursue the things he genuinely desires or to develop his human faculties.
Think about the lives depicted in the movie (especially in terms of what people can and can't do), and about your own life and take some considerable time to answer the question: what activities in your life are so central to the way you experience yourself and the world that they define what it means to have a truly human life?
Janet S.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie the lives of most of the characters is limited in the sense of what they can and cannot do. There is also not much reinforcement of how they should be behaving. The one thing that they all have in common is the fact that they all want to live a better life and have what they have always wanted. For Krishna it is to return to his family once again and for Manju’s mother it is to get out of the prostitution life and to give Manju a better life. To have a truly human life to me is to be happy with the life one lives without guilt or having to always struggle to get by. It is difficult, though to define a true human life because to some it may be one thing but to others it’s something completely different. For myself having restrictions on my behavior so that I know who I need to respect and with whom I can joke around with and not have to be so serious and also having someone to guide you through the toughest moments of your life. The actual supervision and restrictions are what shaped me to be myself and to have the experience of life that I have now. Having a true human life is being able to express our individuality how J.S. Mill puts it that by making a choice on the way one lives their life, then ones human faculties are strengthened. Also being able to make mistakes and learning from them allow us to have new experiences. Being able to develop ones human faculties allows one to genuinely pursue our desires, for Krishna the intrinsic good he had through his friendship meant more to him that the instrumental good he would receive through collecting the rupees. Manju’s mother also valued her relationship with her daughter and her daughter’s return more than living with Baba, which is why she finally escaped the life of prostitution. Krishna valuing the intrinsic goods in his life shows that he was trying to reach that truly human life because he valued what had no value most.
Nayeli MC
DeleteThe characters in the film were trying to find happiness even though others thought the way they were doing it was wrong. JS Mill says (paraphrase) that we should listen to that one different idea because they could be right. Finding happiness varies from person to person making us express our individuality unconsciously.
Letonya D.
DeleteI absolutely agree with you on how supervision and restrictions is what shapes a person. And I also concur that a true human life is having the ability to freely express our distinctiveness by making our own choices and following our own reasoning instead of overall society. I think learning from our mistakes does allow us to have new experiences, but it mostly can show a person their faults and allows them to have the opportunity to correct those faults and choice to never behave or commit a certain action. By doing that I believe humans can live highest good of man, according to Socrates, in which a person knows oneself through self-examination. The very moment that a person examines their own life they can establish a solid foundation for their actions due to acquired knowledge which is very necessary. The only way a person can do something to improve themselves is by knowing that there is something they need to improve. This seemed to be why Socrates claimed that knowledge was important to a person. Do you think that when the basic needs people have are satisfied that there is else people still need?
Letonya D.
DeleteI absolutely agree with you on how supervision and restrictions is what shapes a person. And I also concur that a true human life is having the ability to freely express our distinctiveness by making our own choices and following our own reasoning instead of overall society. I think learning from our mistakes does allow us to have new experiences, but it mostly can show a person their faults and allows them to have the opportunity to correct those faults and choice to never behave or commit a certain action. By doing that I believe humans can live highest good of man, according to Socrates, in which a person knows oneself through self-examination. The very moment that a person examines their own life they can establish a solid foundation for their actions due to acquired knowledge which is very necessary. The only way a person can do something to improve themselves is by knowing that there is something they need to improve. This seemed to be why Socrates claimed that knowledge was important to a person. Do you think that when the basic needs people have are satisfied that there is else people still need?
For anyone who missed the viewing in class, here's a link to watch it in two segments. Best regards to everyone. <3
ReplyDeletept1
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xztjon_salaam-bombay-1988-pt-1_creation
pt2
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xzum51_salaam-bombay-1988-pt-2_creation
Francisco A.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, many of the characters, such as Krishna, faced many challenges that limited their abilities to do what they desired. For example, in Krishna’s case, he simply wanted to return to his mother at his village, but ended up staying in Bombay living the life of captivity in the slums of the city. Krishna ended up trying to meet ends way by taking multiple jobs (such as tea delivery or chicken thawing) to gain enough money to go back to his village, and end up meeting some friends along the way, such as Manju and Chillum, even choosing to befriend some thugs so as to have a chance of living in Bombay. However, things do not go well for Krishna, for he meets many obstacles to come, such as Baba and helping others get a better life, such as Manju and Chillum. In the end, Krishna loses all of his friends and is back to where he started, but is still determined to go back to his mother. Much like Krishna, I too face some challenges in my life that prevent me from doing some things from others. For me, I generally live a conservative and consistent lifestyle, meaning that there are some things in my life I will do because of my own ethical and moral standpoint and try to maintain what I do on a daily basis. For example, I have a belief in trusting others based on the many expressions and words they give out to me when telling me something, so I use this principle to my life to know who to trust as a friend and who to stay away as a potential hazard. This creates restrictions on me because it makes it harder for me to being able to interact and socialize with certain people, so in a way, I am partially cut off from society. Though this belief is my own to deal with and I could change it, at the same time, this principle of mine is based largely off my own personal experience of interacting with others and observing how others are treated when they interact with others, and in today’s day and age, it is hard to trust others. Despite this, my own principle allows me to live a lifestyle I am comfortable with because, in a sense, I can create my own unique lifestyle based on whom I allow to come into my life. Now, this does not explain what it means to live a truly human lifestyle, for in my own personal opinion, I believe a truly human lifestyle is one without fear of mistrust, corruption, and violence in which people can live together peacefully knowing that we all can get along with others without having to worry of being stabbed in the back. My own example demonstrates a part of this belief I have, but everyone is different on how they see what it means to live a truly human life. Much like Krishna in “Salaam Bombay”, we all will continue to wait and try to find a way to knowing how to reach that point where everyone agrees to live a truly human life. Because everyone is different, people believe in different views on a human lifestyle, but for me, my personal beliefs allow me to live my own lifestyle, and I believe that to live a truly human lifestyle is for people to live the way we each want ot live our own lives while finding a way to live together and get along.
Letonya D.
ReplyDeleteThe activities and valuables in my life that are so central to the way I experience myself and the world would definitely be my religion, my family, along with my education. The boundaries my religion places on my life, highly influence how I react or behave. I think that my family is also so central to the way I experience myself and other. My family has influenced me through love, respect and religion to help mold the person I am today. All these actions have influenced all my desires I have had and will possess in life. These actions of my family also have influenced the decisions I have made and will make. I think that in defining a true human life, a person would display the many characteristics that make them an individual. Aside from being an individual is a person who would just conform to their social environment or surrounding social norms. An individual is a person who makes choices for himself and uses reason while doing so. If a person simply goes through life without questioning any of the decisions he makes then I’m not sure if that is a life worth living. It is important to question yourself simply because it brings about better understanding of yourself, in which one can use as an opportunity to expand on their facilities. I think that a truly human life is a person’s capacity for understanding themself as a free individual who also possess reason.
Oluwatomi Aji
DeleteI completely agree with you and wrote something similar. On the other hand,do you ever feel that you are you? or do you feel like you are a robot that blank when you were first born and your parents and family simply wired you to be who you are. In more simple terms do you ever feel like you are too much under control, because as extreme as Karishna's situation was so can yours be. One can be in complete control of his or her life with no rules and one can also always follow what they are told and still not have the quality of life.
Troy W.
DeleteLatonya, in a sense I understand where you’re coming from, from your experience and how you was raised and molded. But you never mentioned anything about the characters in the movie or incidents pertaining to it. What if you didn’t have that in your life like the characters in the movie? There has to be a time in your life where you had to make a decision in your life which was the wrong one and learn from it.
Nayeli MC
ReplyDeleteHelping others, feeling loved and loving, and pursuing happiness are central to the way I experience myself and the world. Helping others, feeling loved and loving, and pursuing happiness define what it means to have a truly human life. Helping others is part of what it means to have a truly human life because we are social, and we are able to help strangers just for our moral duty. Feeling love and loving (loving someone/something and having that love in return) is part of what it means to have a human life because although we can help complete strangers, there is a special and deeper feeling when helping people we love and being helped by we love. The love can be in any form, family, marriage, pets, career, etc. I think that the reasoning and lack of reasoning behind love is what separates humans from others creatures. Lastly, pursuing happiness is part of what it means to have a truly human life. Ultimately, everything has a purpose to bring about happiness in humans.
Marina F.
DeleteHi Nayely I completely agree with you when you say that happiness is what makes a human being live life. However, I would like to hear more about what are the things in your life that makes that happiness possible. Because if you think about it, the two kids in the movie had love from their mother, but it was the certain circumstances that made it impossible for the mother to show them how much she really loves them. I believe that it takes a very strong person to find happiness in the situations that we viewed in the film for the young man was not always happy, in fact no one really seemed to be happy with how they had to live. D o you think that cultures have a big role in how limited someone can be when it comes to their happiness? Of course all of these intended actions lead to the main outcome which is happiness but there may be such thing as limited happiness, I believe these kids were not happy when I apply their lifestyle to mine. I believe we have so much more than they did and that is why you and me are both happy, because we have the right to an equal education, a right to love who we want and share the rest of our lives with hem, we have the power to turn down a disrespectful man or women and have them put into jail if any harm was caused. These are the very important rules we had to build in order to live the way we do today in this society. I cannot even imagine living in a world like the one in the film, all of these rules to our liberty are very important to our happiness, unfortunately we cant just be happy.
Veronica Ponce
DeleteHappiness is what makes you live a good life. You can have everything in the world but if you don't have happiness, then all that is pointless. I agree with you. This is how we, in this country are. However, in the movie it is really different. On thing that makes us happy is our aspiration to become better people, and people in the movie didn't have that. I'll take Chillium as a very good example. He seemed fine with the way he was living. He was getting hooked up with drugs and that's what made HIM happy. He worked for them. Anything he would get paid he's spend it on drugs. He was not like Krishna who did actually aspire to do something (go back home). For Chillium that was life, he was living the life. He didn't know any better though, had he known that he was capable of being better, and had he had some motivation, his perspective might have changed. In my post I talk about how family gives you that extra motivation, and the people in the movie didn't really have that. all they had was themselves and they set low goals for themselves. That is not what a good human life is.
In the movie salaam Bombay almost every character were shown poor and lived a hard life. They were working hard to make their life better. It was hard for them to survive in that place still they were struggling. Krishna one of the main protagonists was working as little boy who would go around and serve tea to people. With the money he earned he wanted to go back home and live with his family unfortunately, he couldn’t. Krishna’s truly definition of human life was to live with his parents and be happy. Similarly, Manju’s mother wanted to get rid of working as prostitute she was tired of living that life she was not living happy life she had no choice in order to have a better life for her Manju .Krishna and Manju’s mother wanted to live a better life like everyone did. In the movie true definition of human life was freedom. From my personal experience to have a truly human life means happiness. Happiness has truly shaped into what am I now, I was person who would never be happy but when I learned happiness is the key to have a truly human life. In addition, to that at the end of the movie Manju’s mother got freedom from her hard life and Krishna tried to find happiness in what he already that although he didn’t get to live with his parents.
ReplyDeleteMadhuri D.
DeleteI agree with you in that happiness is key to a human life, but is that the only key? We learned earlier this semester that happiness is "the only thing we value only for itself, and for which we value everything else", so in order to be happy, there needs to be something that makes us happy, therefore there needs to be other components of life that provide us with happiness. Do you think that one can still be happy without components like a strong family bond, education, or good nutrition? Because the characters in the movie lacked some of these factors and though they may have exhibited freedom, they didn't seem so happy to me. However, I like the point you made about Manju's mother; she appeared to have more stability and therefore more freedom than others in the movie, however she was constrained by her husband which was causing unhappiness in her life. When he was killed by Krishna, she was both happy and free.
DeleteSavanah F.
Kiran k
DeleteI totally agree with you that happiness is the truly human life. Happiness is what everyone’s wait for in their lives. It’s something that makes a life more worth able. Every person is this world truly deserves happiness because it’s something that everyone should get in their lives. Some people don’t recognize the value of happiness until it’s gone and some people crave for happiness and still it doesn’t come to them easily. I really like how happiness changed your life because it also changed mine once. Before I didn’t use to appreciate the happiness I used to get from anything but now I realize the value and importance of it and now I never let any happiness go easily.
Carla P.
DeleteI agree with you that happiness is a key to a truly human life. I believe there is more to it, I feel like in order to understand and appreciate the enjoyments of life you need to go through the tragedy, just like Krishna did. Going through the experiences shows you what happiness is, making a person understand where exactly they want to be in the world. Krishna was kicked out of his home, which left him homeless, he was going through a horrible stage of his life. But because he went through that he knew that he wanted his family. Krishna’s family was the key to happiness in his life. So I feel as though going through the experiences to get to your happiness is as equal importance as actually being there. Because if it weren’t for the experiences, how would you actually know if you are truly happy?
Giovanni Prado
ReplyDeleteIn the movie “Salam Bombay” it showed us how the people’s lives were. In their lives they had the ability to do what they wanted to, but not the money or resources to do so, so in theory they had all they freedom, but nothing to do with it. In our lives it is seen as the same we have these entire freedoms of what we can do, but each thing takes either money, recourses or you have to think how others would react to our actions. So in essence we too have a lot of freedom, but we really do not have freedom to do everything we want. The kids who were picked up on the other hand had their freedoms taken away, but this was so the government could train them to be the type of people who would be obedient enough to get better jobs so they could make use of these freedoms.
In life, there is a constant struggle between what we want in life and what we need. In order to live a comfortable life, one needs to find a balanced medium between the two. However, finding that balance tends to be more difficult for some in countries with lesser economic advantages, like for those in the movie Salaam Bombay! Throughout the movie we continually see the characters go throw making the tough decision between what’s wanted and what’s needed. The movie also showed that sometimes these decisions are a matter of survival. In India, to those that don’t belong to the higher caste, lives are severely limited and the want for possessions and/or lifestyles are replaced with the desire for the essentials: food, water, and shelter. However, even those three items are few and far between. To me, the main components of my life that are fundamental and give it meaning include my family and friends, my education, my health, and my work. What these components offer me is the capability to accomplish my goals and lead a happily functioning life; and it’s this exact capability that was not offered to those in movie. Each facet of my life has influenced me in many different ways, offering me guidance and structure which has helped me grow into a fully functioning young adult. As we see in the movie, the main characters lack this guidance and structure in their lives; while this provides them with seemingly exciting freedom, what it really bestows is a life that is constantly in a cycle of struggle. In considering what it means to have a truly human life, it is important to consider what we are capable of and what we deserve in order to experience life in a positive way. For me, my family and friends, my schooling, my work, and my health have all allowed me to experience life and connect to those around me; interactions with which keep me sane, and most often times, endows happiness. A truly human life consists of this happiness and is only possible if one is brought into this world with a loving familial foundation, an upbringing complete with good health and proper education, and the affirmation that anything can be accomplished.
ReplyDeleteSavanah F.
Janet S.
DeleteSavannah, I agree with you for the most part but then when you bring up the fact about structure it makes me think that maybe having that structure is also part of a truly human life, because if you think about your life it is the way it is because you had structure in it. When you look at Krishna’s life and those who lived in Bombay you can see that they lacked some sort of structure in their life. Do you really think that the only way that a truly human life consists of happiness is by being brought up with a loving familial foundation? What about those who were brought into this world but did not have that, does that mean that they do not have a truly human life or that happiness can only be reached if one is brought up with a loving familial foundation?
John S
ReplyDeleteKrishna's life in a sense was never really free. Although he didnt really have anybody
monitoring what he was doing until he went into jail, he still had social rules that he had to follow whether they were enforced by babba or his friends. He was away from his family and his ultimate desire was to build up enough money to make it back home to his family. I believe that his efforts in trying to get hoe is truly a testament to who Krishna really is, he was a good kid who loved his family and cared for the people who were close to him. But in the end, he was alone, separated from Manju, no money, and a friend who passed away. Krishna had a goal in mind and everything he did was calculated to help him get back home so he could live what he felt was a good human life. In my life, the way I experience myself is through traveling. I love visiting new places and experiencing new cultures and being able to look back on all the places Ive been and the people Ive met. But like Krishna, in order for me to get to where I want to be, there are things I have to do. I need to work, hard. We all have things we can and cannot do and rules we need to abide by. For example, we are all in school working towards a goal of a degree or were in school for self enrichment. However, in working towards our goals we have to abide by certain codes, we make time to be in class, we sacrifice going out with our friends and being with family because we have homework or class the next morning. Being able to do the things that we truly enjoy is having a great human life, but if we never had to work or sacrifice to attain our goals would it feel so good? I think the struggle or obstacles put in front of us and overcoming them is also a part of having a good human life. Living and knowing the essence of joy and fulfillment in my opinion, is truly having a good human life.
John,
DeleteI completely agree with you. In reality, nothing is ever free. In order to get accomplish a goal; there will be obstacles you have to face and rules to abide by. I think that if no one put effort into something, it would not feel as good. For example, I feel like the culture and my generation just gets things handed down and we don’t appreciate it as much. This movie should make us realize that some of us haven’t hit rock bottom. Just like India, when I go to Mexico, I appreciate my things more because I see how much they struggle. When I compare my life in America to people who live in Mexico, I can’t even compare because nothing is handed down to them. I also agree that the obstacles put in front of us should be enjoyed because by the time someone get what they desire, they will enjoy it more.
-Michelle Padilla Lopez ^
DeleteJaewoo K.
DeleteHello, John.
I really got touched in my heart by your word, saying that having struggle or obstacles in front of us and overcoming it are also part of a good human life. I respect your positive way of view that makes you happy even in front of a big stress. I believe you are a great man, and also that you will surely achieve what you really want no matter hard it is. I was feeling blue during this movie, our small kid, Krishna was such a good boy, loving his family and friends, but his life situations didn't allow him to stay how he is. He joined to a group that planned and committed rubbery, all because he needed money to go back home to meet his family. It was sad to see him lying down on the ground crying and missing his mother. We just learned about Mill and Utilitarianism, but there was no possibility to find that sort of philosophy among people in the movie. No one cares others, all just cared about their own profit or advantages. In that certain life environment, Krishna’s life was simply struggling and fighting on every single day. I am not sure what he would learn from his life experiences, and how he would grow up in constant sufferings and pains. He also had no chance to improve his human faculties. No educations were available for him, so only job he could get was to deliver some glasses of teas. Even though we did not see his future, we can easily imagine his life would be one of the street lives. Where is his lifelong well-being? Human welfare? How could we give people like Krishna a chance to change their future lives? These were questions coming up in my mind during this movie.
Maria I.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie most characters seem to be living a life of freedom. They really didn't have many rules to follow or anyone trying to teach they how to behave. For instance Krishna really didn't have an adult to obey. Although they seem to be living a carefree life it really wasn't the live they wanted to live. Krishna really didn't have anyone to turn to for help or confide in and when he did he ended up being betrayed by the one person he trusted who also ends up dying. Salaam Bombay was a harsh place to live in. Everyone seem to live day by day in the hopes that tomorrow would be the day things changed. When I see the way others less fortune live their life makes me appreciate more what I have and makes me a more grateful person. I think it's hard to have one definition for having a truly human life. Each person has an individual definition of having a truly human life. For instance Krishna, all he wanted was to safe enough money to be able to go back to his village and be with his family. In a way I think we all need some type of structure and reinforcement on how to behave. For me a to have a truly human life it would all be if I have a happy life. If all my goals are achieve and I am doing what makes me happy. To achieve that happiness I would have to finish my schooling and receive my degree and get a job in my field of study. Also, I would create my own family and start a new chapter in my life. And to get there I need to follow certain steps which my defer from others. Each individual has their own path in life that would lead them to their ultimate happiness. Thats why I believe each individual has a different definition of having a truly human life.
Sandra Gonzalez
DeleteMaria,
I agree with you that each individual has a different definition of what it is to have a truly human life. You mention that most of the characters in the movie, seem to be living a life of freedom. Would you agree that sometimes people with too much freedom don't necessarily seem to have a true human life? I think that sometimes we forget to appreciate the simple things that can make us happy and we go through life, trying to figure out what makes us happy or just try to find happiness when in reality can find happiness in our own home, with our own family with nature, etc. you also mentioned that for you having a truly human life, would be to have a happy life. I also agree with you on that but even when we are happy, we still have things in our life's that are central like being able to write, read, etc. In reality this makes us happy but we just don't realize It because it so essential for us. If we compare it to the life of chaipu, we realize that it is something essential for us that would not make us happy, if we did not have it, but because we have it , it makes us happy. My point is that sometimes trying to find happiness is not the most essential aspect to have a fully human life.
Dave K.
ReplyDeleteIf there were a defining feature in my life that truly means that I am human, it would have to be having the freedom to make my own choices. This freedom is something the characters in the movie didn’t have. They didn’t have a choice of what to have for dinner; they ate what they could scrounge up. They didn’t have a choice of what cloths to put on; they wore the only close they had. They didn’t have a choice of where they wanted to live; they lived on the streets. I/we have the choice to eat what we want, to live where we want, and to wear the cloths we want to wear. Ok, so our food choice may be limited to McDonalds or fried chicken and we may not live in a nice house in a good neighborhood, but it is still a choice we have the freedom to make for ourselves. This freedom to choose has brought us to school to hopefully better our lives and give us more choices later on. For the characters in the movie, going to school wasn’t even an option. In some ways the only choice they had was to give up and die or to fight and keep living the way they were living.
The freedom of choice isn’t always free. It comes with the responsibility to accept the outcome of our choices and sometimes these choices come with consequences (both positive and negative). In the movie, one of the characters was addicted to drugs. It was his choice to take drugs for the first time and then the addiction took over and he had no other choice but to do what he had do to get the drugs. Having this freedom means that we can choose to skip school, drink too much, or drive faster than it is safe to drive but each of these choices has consequences. It may be lower grades, a hangover, or getting into an accident but the choice was one that we had the freedom to make for ourselves. If all goes wrong we will pay the price and accept the punishment. If the outcome is good then we should be able to reap the rewards and be happy that we succeeded. Either way, the freedom that we have to make choices for ourselves is something we all should be happy to have and the characters in this movie definitely didn’t.
Cassandra D.
DeleteI like your idea that having the freedom to make your own choice is a defining feature to having a truly human life. One thing I got a lost in your response is when you said that freedom of choice isn't always free. I think I quite understand what you mean, but with that logic couldn't we say that Krishna does have that liberty? Because you mentioned that it comes with responsibilities and with the rest of your argument I take it to mean that we can choose to fail class but sometimes we don't, can't I argue that Krishna has chosen to take responsibility for his wrongdoing by trying so hard to earn the money back?
Or, perhaps, what I didn’t quite understand is that there is some implication in your argument that says we can exert our “freedom of choice” only when we know for sure that the outcome will benefit us.
In my case some activities in my life that are so central that makes it seem that is necessary in order to have a truly human life is work and caring for younger siblings. I’ve been working not stop since I was 16 and that has affected me greatly in what I wanted to do and couldn’t do. Like in the movie the mother of the little girl couldn’t take care of her daughter properly because she had to work. Krishna couldn’t enjoy being a kid because he had to work or find a means to acquire some food in order to survive. Work seems to interfere with what they truly want to do. In my case because of my work I had to give up many things school wise and socially, but I knew I had to help out my family with some money. For me work is very essential to live a human truly human life. It seems half of our life’s is going to school and the other half is to work. The kids in the movie are made to grow up fast. The young ones were taking care of the older ones and looking out for them. They had no restriction and did as the pleased. Living in such hard conditions kids had to care for each other. Caring for others is to be truly human. In the movie children of 7 years had to take care of the elders and of one another. They only had each other; even if they have a lot of freedom they are still kids and need restriction and some protection from adults. In my case I knew I had to take care of my younger siblings because my mom had to go to work. I didn’t want my younger siblings to grow up without restrictions or boundaries. In my opinion to care for hers is what truly means to be human.
ReplyDeleteEvelin Palacios
DeleteJessica F.
DeleteI agree with you that we do spend half of our time at school and the other half at work. I too started working at a young age and helped my mother raise my younger siblings. I too feel that I had to give up a lot of things because of work and school. I feel that by working and going to school I have become very responsible, and it has also helped me value things more. I also think that it is very important to care about other people. I also agree with you that the children in the movie had to grow up at a very young age and take care of one another. I also strongly agree with you that all children should have the guidance of an adult in their lives. I think that by an adult showing children what is right and what is wrong they are showing them the right way to live.
Troy W.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie all the characters were free and free to do what they wanted, with the restrictions of harming others. But all were restricted and held back by someone or something to have a truly human life. The sense that holds applicable to Krishna’s was Chillum. Even though Chillum portrayed to be his friend he held him back from saving the money he needed to get back to his mother and village, becoming an obstacle to pursue his goal. Chillum manipulated him to think that he was going to help him save the money needed to get home. By Krishna helping him with his drug habit, made him stagnated and lose money. Krishna realized and caught on that he finally had to cut him off in order to get back and focus on his goal. We all know how hard it is cut off friends and a lifestyle you’re used to being around and living in. This was my problem and what stopped me from living the life I wanted and the person to be. It had me stagnated for so long and took me awhile to get out the trenches and pursue a truly human life. Until I finally let those friends and lifestyle alone I started seeing results within myself and goals. Now I have restrictions and boundaries in which I let into my life so that the life I live now isn’t jeopardized. I believe everyone goes through their own trials and tribulations to learn from. Some get stuck in them for their own selfish pleasures not realizing the harm they’re doing to self and those that love them. The individuals that come out and learn from it have the experience and strength to build on and distinguish situations as they arise for the greater good as a whole!
Troy,
DeleteI absolutely agree with you. I feel that sometimes people dont realize the harm theyre doing to themselves and to the people around them. And it is hard to cut friends off, because of the bonds and time that were used to spending with them. Sometimes we need to take a step back and actually ask ourselves what can be done to improve or change our situation or feeling of happiness. Cleaning your life and getting rid of people and things that dont allow you to grow. Maybe Chillums death was something good for Krishna? Its always hard to lose a friend but now Krishna would be able to focus and realize Chillum wasnt his friend when he found out he'd stolen his money to get high. I agree that everyone goes through their trials and tribulations and it is those obstacles that make us who we are. People sometimes share the same goal, but their paths there are different. The amazing thing about life is being able to share your story and also be able to learn something from someone elses. I think maintaining respect and appreciation for yourself is essential to being happy, without that we can never move on in life. That same appreciation and respect also gives us as indivivuals the strength to make changes in our lives and place ourselves in environments where we grow, and succeed.
John S
Sandra Gonzalez
ReplyDeleteFrom the moment we are born we recognize within our selfs and our body's the necessity of hunger. We try to grasp on every experience, enjoy every moment and try to live life to the fullest. Yet, as we try to maximize our life's with happiness we are never fully satisfy with what we have and what we do.
If we compare this with the life's of the children in the movie, we notice that they are just doing the best they can for themselves and do the best to find happiness and have a fully human life with what they have.
As a human with what I consider a fully human life, I have the ability to read, write, smell, taste and enjoy the things that others like chaipau struggle to obtain and do on a daily life.. In the movie, the life of the 11 year old boy chaipau cannot read or write and pays someone to do a letter for his mother that he himself is not sure where his village is.For myself reading and writing is very central and essential to my life and not being able to do it would make it seem to me as if I were living a less than fully human life. Also, in the film the boys do not wear shoes, obviously because they don't have the money to buy them. For me, wearing shoes is central to my life, probably because society has shown that just the simple fact of having shoes makes us have a little bit more of a normal life . But, we can all have different opinions as to what seems central in our life's, but I think that we all have one goal in common, and it is to do what makes us happy and doing the things that are essential to us.
Carla P.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Krishna does live a life in which he makes his own decisions without anyone having authority over him. He desires to live with his family again, but can’t because he set fire to his brothers bike and isn’t allowed home until he has 500 rupees. Krishna has a crush on a young prostitute whom they call sweet sixteen but can’t be with her because she is a prostitute who is needed to be bought off. Although Krishna makes his own decisions he still ends up with restrictions and conflict. Krishna goes through a lot of bad situations that can be solved with money, but his only true want is to have the ones who he loves around him, and finally being able to go home. In the movie Krishna’s meaning to living a truly human life, is just being with his family. For Manju’s mother, she wants to get out of being a prostitute so that she can be around her daughter to give her a better life. In my eyes, the meaning of living a truly human life is to have those experiences of life. Krishna experiences love, tragedy, and selflessness; which is the experiences of life that make it a truly human life. Love; having his first crush on a girl, sweet sixteen, selflessness; his first time thinking about others, for example when he goes back to save Manju from the police after the wedding, and tragedy; living on the streets, trying to earn money in poverty and not being able to have a place to call home; around those he loves. Growing up, I experienced the first time I felt loved, the first time I felt selfless, the first time I felt sadness. I feel as though in order to live life you have to experience these things to truly understand what it means to feel alive.
Evelin p.
DeleteI think you have a great point. The things that the characters went through in this movie are some essential parts of being truly human. Love is very important because everyone at one point feels love in their life either for friends, family, or a special someone. That love may lead to pain and suffering Krishna felt pain by being left by the people he loved. Manjus mother felt pain and suffering for losing her most precious thing, her daughter. Tragedy happens to everyone at some point in life. The kids in the movie faced great tragedy at an early age which made them view their life differently. They had to grow up very fast and deal with the tragedies life threw at them. No one has a perfect life and everyone goes through stages that affect their life’s in some way either god or bad.
I totally agree with your argument about the experiences of an individual as the true meaning of a human life. I believe that the we need these experiences to learn a lesson, to get benefits from it emotionally and physically, and have strength and motivation to decide and stand on our own. We, as human, need to understand the importance of each actions we do and for each decision we make as we affect others in a good way or harm others. The experiences of Krishna as illustrated in the movie showed me how fortunate I am to have all the things I have in my life. His determination to collect money to get home, his concern and love to other people around him, and his motivation of going through his life despite of his situation and environment just define the true definition of a human life. There is no way you can define a human life or your life as it is true and complete if you have never experienced struggles and pleasures of human life.
DeleteGerald M
Kiran k
ReplyDeleteThe lives that people were living in the movie " Salam Bombay" was very hard to live because they didn't have any facilities they wanted to have. Krishna who was the main character in that movie, was a hard worker. He went around and served tea to people and get money. He was working honestly to get 500 rupees so he could go back and live with his mother, that was the truly human life for Krishna. He couldn't just run to his family he had to earn some money to go back. The kids in the movie had freedom to do anything but they didn't have money which is the most necessary thing in this world, that's why they didn't have good health, education basically a good life, that they didn't have. There were women in that movie who were prostitude, some of them didn't want to be on that place but they couldn't run because that was their job even if they weren't happy they had to be there and do their jobs. Such as Manju's mother who wasn't happy at all being a prostitude, and wanted a better life with her husband and daughter. That movies showed freedom too that at the end Manju's mother and Krishna got succeed in escaped but Krishna didn't get to see his parents. For me, the truly human life means from my personal experience is my family, health and education. Each of them showed me the importance and values that I never knew before. They mean a truly human life to me because family is what thought me to be brave and never give up on anything, health is what I am truly thank for because without being a good health shape I wouldn't do definitely anything I want to do in my life and the education is what I will accomplish later on future and it will make me a successful person. These are the things that weren't in the movie that's why they were having hard time living their lives happy.
Madhuri D
DeleteI like how you compared truly human life with your personal life It's actually a good things that you learned the importance of true human life. You made a good point about three things 1. family 2.health and 3. education as being a human being these three things plays huge role in each individuals. The most important thing in our life is our family without them we couldn't have good health or future. In addition, to that these three things that was lacking in the movie they didn't have a perfect family, they lived a poverty life they the place where they lived was really small and unorganized. Education is key to bright future for children but every kids shown in the movie was illiterate when they should be getting education they had to work and earn money for their living. I agree that everyone in the movie had freedom but not happiness what's the point of having a freedom when you're not happy?
David B.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, people were limited to what they can do by how much money they had. People lived in slums (and children lived on the streets on the slums), were prostitutes (manju’s mom) or drug dealers (baba, chillum, and chillum 2), and had to steal (often to survive). There were very limited opportunities for people with no money and had to resort to less-than-legal ways of making that money. After all, this world is driven by profit. A person’s usefulness (at least from the perspective of the movie) is often proved by how much profit they can generate for the organization, when that usefulness is over or isn’t bringing in that much anymore, they are simply done away with. As demonstrated by the brothel owner and sweet sixteen, the brothel owner was more concerned about how much a virgin can bring in as opposed to someone that isn’t, and ultimately sent sweet sixteen with another man. What happens to her is unknown, as she is just taken away in a car. Krishna only wanted to return home after doing what he needed to do, but in the end he ended up with nothing.
In my life, the driving force behind my life is helping as many people I can. Service over self, or as Spock from star trek would say “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”. I know, I know, it sounds corny, but really though, I don’t view the patients that I work with as a nurse aide, or transport as an EMT as just bodies, they’re still human. Just because they’ve got some sort of medical issue doesn’t make them any less human. I get frustrated when I encounter people who want to go into nursing school to be RN’s because it seems to me they lack the basic principle of nursing, which is caring and compassion. Maybe its me just getting on my soapbox again. I view money as a added benefit to it all. You can’t function in this world without money, because you need them to buy the necessities of every day life (food, clothing, shelter, etc). I like to be able to go home at the end of my shift and say “yeah, I did make a difference in someone’s life today. I know that we only see them for an hour, maybe two if that, but at least I made them feel that someone does care, a total stranger, if that.” without any regret. I feel I’m doing the right thing, and finding that happy place in my life, just as how ultimately, Manju’s mother wanted to leave the life of prostitution behind because she felt an obligation to her daughter to show that prostitution isn’t the only way to make a living, even if it meant leaving the comfortable life they had behind.
Unfortunately, like Krisha, she lost everything (her daughter, her home) when she was able to exercise her newfound freedom. Krishna wasn’t able to return home, and had lost all his money as a result, and the only comfort he had left was the toy that he had. As a result of us humans having the ability to decide for ourselves, sometimes those choices get us into more than we bargain for, or let other people control us. Weighing the options that are presented to us or decisions that need to be made can often define a us in a good way or a bad way. How we deal with it depends on a person’s on inner strength and faith.
Jacob T
DeleteHey David, I completely agree with you and had a similar reaction in my response. We as a well-developed society fail to remember that not everyone has access to the same opportunities exposed to us in the United States. Within many countries, human life is solely based on survival that is panhandling, stealing, prostitution, etc. I feel that human life to them is simply to stay alive which is condoned by the society and government in which they come from. I talked a little about the government suppressing civilians to live in slums and it is sad because many people are famished, have diseases, no shelter, and will most likely live like that till the day we die. Our government is FAR from perfect, but we offer homing, welfare, food stamps, grants, and financial aid, allowing even the poor to rise in their society instead of slumming in the streets. It is such things that make it very difficult to define what human life essentially is because many people’s traditions, cultures, and views of the world differ and counteract what I would value as a human life. Human life to me as I described within my response is being able to make choices and have access to opportunities and to choose the path you wish to ride on. Being your own driver of the car we call life and essentially being in control of our own destiny, now that is what human life is all about. I spoke on human life being able to express and announce how an individual feels and potentially setting a standard for them; and as you said you yours was helping people and being an EMT. It is not because anyone told you to be an EMT, or forced, you were given an option, and you chose what you wanted based how you felt as an individual, not anyone else. And I feel it is very important to have that as a human being. Another factor of life that you necessarily didn’t talk about, but I did a little in mine, was the concept of sociality and support. Having friends and family I feel is crucial in living a life as a human because they comfort us and push us towards the direction we need to be in. Experiences with different people in your lifetime can shape your character and be the foundation where you build your own beliefs and viewpoints on the world.
David B
DeleteSocial support is very important, and I agree that I didn't touch on that in my response, but even social support has its limits. I know our government is far from perfect, but too many people fall through the cracks and end up in the same situation as Krishna did. very frequently, I transport veterans to the VA from other psych units, and they fought for this country, did their time, but now they're struggling with mental illness. They did what they had to do for this country, and they deserve to be taken care of, not end up on the streets having to panhandle, abusing drugs, and etc because the help that they needed is so out of reach for them.
Benefits are always being cut for the lower end, and those in the higher brackets of society often wants to keep things the way they are for their own benefit,
Yes, it is true that Krishna's life was extremely free but yet it was not a good life. Krishna was kicked out if his home at such a young age so he has to learn on his own how to survive. Salaam Bombay was the place he lives in but it was but it was not his home. He worked to save up money so that he could go back home to his family. There were many kids out on the streets that lived day by day trying to find a way to food and shelter. They didn't have much and they were not offered education like we were. The activities in my life that are central to the way I experience life would be education, family and religion it has made me the person I am. The kids from Salaam Bombay lived a life literally not knowing if they will be able to live tomorrow. They didn't really have a choice of going to school to get an education an have a career so that they wouldn't have to live poorly. My education is my future, my family is my support system and my motivation to keep going, my religion is what teaches me moral respect and peace. The kids of Salaam Bombay live in such a different world that we do or should I say others so. Some of the kids couldn't even live a normal childhood because they had to work at a young age so that they can survive. We are offered education, yes it is our choice to either take it or leave it but they didn't have that opportunity to choose. Even with all the "freedom" they needed that care and protection of a parent. Personally I believe to have a truly human life would be to have family, happiness, health, and the opportunity to live the life you want to live. -Lorena P
ReplyDeleteTheron R.
ReplyDeleteOur dear Krishna’s experience in living in the streets was forced upon him by his mother’s ultimatum. He had set fire to his brother’s motorbike in a fit of anger or jealousy and as a result his mother cast him out of the home in order to earn 500 rupees, the amount needed to replace the destroyed property. We may assume this was the only transportation available to his rural dwelling family, thus doing his entire family at a disservice. In this sense, Krishna was not free, but instead bound by his obligation to his family before he could return to them. Sure he possessed the meager freedom to run, play, and get into childhood mischief without hindrance, but how would he eat? I myself have been homeless as a youth and it is not as free as one might think. I was always worried, preoccupied by my most basic needs. Finding food was a gamble, maybe a passer-by would give me enough change to buy a burger from the dollar menu at some fast-food franchise, maybe I’d go through the garbage of that same fast food franchise for scraps, or maybe I would decide not to eat at all that day. The idea that worried me the most was obtaining a safe place to sleep that was at least somewhat guarded from the elements. In Krishna’s case he had a band of kids he could sleep near, if trouble came around, someone would wake and rouse the others. I had no one. I slept in alleys and loading docks, usually sitting up, always on guard against any threat that may assail me. The freedom to sleep safely within four walls was not mine to enjoy.
Krishna could have decided to forget about his family and be independent from them, but as we saw, he was painfully bond up by his desire to return home. Every time he got closer and circumstance came around and snatched it from his grasp, you could see the excruciation of his disappointment and despair, thus he was not free.
Angad Singh
DeleteTheron R. you have a very good point. Krishna could have definitely decided to forget about his family and become independent from them, but he did not. He wanted nothing more than to make 500 rupee so that he could return to his home. He was painfully bound up by his desire to return home to his mother and rest of his family because at such a young age that is what a child needs and wants most. Yes, he was physically free to play, smoke and drink anytime he wanted but he was also bound because no matter how hard he tried he could make no progress. He could not get out of that horrible city and dead end job. Without the love and support of a family he did not have the guidance, support and or courage to make his own decisions and develop mentally so that he could enjoy a true human life. I don't know if he even had the choice to gain an education or not but, I am a strong believer that it plays a huge role in having the confidence, resources, and knowledge to make good decisions for oneself. Many young children in India grow up in the streets without guidance and support. Without anyone to show them right from wrong or give them the love and courage they need in order to make better decisions for themselves. Many waste there lives away serving tea there whole lives. Watching movies like this makes me sad and also makes me feel blessed more and more for what I have.
Hey TR. You hit upon something that so far nobody else has. You mentioned that he was cast out of his family to repay the 500 rupees and could not return until he had the money. I just have one question, WTF!? Okay, I know that it is a different culture and that he was very poor. And I get that he must have shamed his family but who throws their 11-year-old son out to live in the streets to repay the money? We have all done stupid things as kids but isn’t being thrown out of your family a bit of a harsh punishment? How about not being able to play with your friends or cleaning up extra bear poop for a month, wouldn’t that be more appropriate? One of the things that I value most in this life is the relationship that I have with family and friends. Life wouldn’t be worth living without them. Although Krishna may not of had much freedom working and living with the circus, he did have some food and was able to be around others who hopefully loved him. When his mother sent him away she didn’t set him free, she enslaved him to a worse life than he had before. This was not an act of freedom.
DeleteDave K.
The lives depicted in the movie showed us great interpretation of life struggle and challenges we face daily in our lives. Having the opportunity of seeing this movie just made me appreciate more of the things I have in my life. I have a very supportive family, great company of friends and the opportunity of getting my education. In the essence of life survival you need these things for you to utilize in your daily struggles and challenges. Krishna did not have all of these things to guide him, but he have his strength and determination of getting through his daily struggles. He did not have his family to support him, to teach him the essence of right and wrong, and to lead him the right way. He did not the good influence of his friends and an opportunity of getting his education. Despite of not having all these things, he still made a way to show us the true meaning of human life. That is in order to survive the human life you have to have the strength to face through your daily challenges. The determination to accomplish your goals. And the motivation of not giving up and value life as you owe it to someone else. For me, the true meaning of human life, as interpreted to Krishna’s life experiences, is to value life in itself and find happiness within itself.
ReplyDeleteGerald M.
Hey Gerald,
DeleteI like what you said about Krishna’s life and how you incorporated with your definition of a true human life. I agree with what you said and I feel like we are really on the same page when we think of things like this. After watching this movie I started to look around and noticed myself appreciating the things and people that surrounded me. I feel that Krishna showed us a prime example of what it means to have a true human life. He showed us the things that we should value more. Would you agree? I think you did an excellent job explaining your part. I don’t really have anything to as you.
-Siriphone R.
Angad SIngh
ReplyDeleteKrishna’s life is absolutely free. He has no supervision on what he does or anyone to tell him anything. That can be considered a good thing but it can also be a bad thing. The reason he is free with no supervision is because he has no real family that cares about him. He has no one to guide him and tell him what is right and wrong. He is also extremely constricted because he has no education, no way of making more than pennies a day. He lives a simple and poor life; he can’t do better because he has no one around him to show him how. It is a never-ending circle. This movie shows a very dark side of my country, which is sad, but it is also a real part of life in a third world country and could possibly even be happening in India right now.
The activities and people in my life that help me experience a truly human life are my family, my friends, and my culture or religion. I come from a family of college graduates and they all push me to accomplish college and acquire a degree. Through their success I can see the benefits of an education. My friends push me to do better and be a better person. They also give me the chance to make my own decisions through debates or experiments and that helps me formulate reasons for holding certain opinions instead of just following the crowd. That makes it easier for me to develop and understand the reasons for my beliefs. My parents instill religion and culture in me since I was a child. They have showed me the difference between right and wrong and have showed me reasons for my beliefs. The decisions that I make are the ones that mold me into the person I am today and am proud of each and every one.
Jaewoo K.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the lives in our movie, “Salaam Bombay” are totally against Utilitarianism. As we learned, Basic utilitarian principle was “Act so as to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number, and to minimize suffering or pain for all concerned, and, so far as possible, for all sentient beings.” However, people in the movie act just for themselves, or maybe their own families. They never concern others’ lives; just try to figure out how to take advantages from others. There were only a few relationships without concerning any profit. As in a relationship between Krishna, Manju, and her mother, I hardly found an ingredient of true human’s life, which we all call “LOVE”. I strongly believe that the primal basic of Utilitarianism is love for all human beings. So I would say making relationships with our loved ones is one of the activities that truly define human life.
Second, it seems that all children including Krishna have free lives. They have no one supervising their lives. They can eat and sleep whenever, wherever they want. Is it really a value we can call “Freedom”? I would rather say their lives are all abandoned, or ignored. No one cares about their lives. They are treated just like animals on the street. As we saw when Krishna’s old friend died of smoking overdose, no one would cry for their death at the end. Krishna and his young fellows don’t have any chance to develop their human faculties, which means that there is no possibility for them to have a better life in their futures. They have been living on the street and they will end up on where they spent life times on. Their lives are full of pain and suffering, and it is absolutely bad, according to Utilitarians. Therefore, I believe another activity that defines human life is to develop one’s human faculty and capture the bigger pleasure, that Mill often talked about and we also seek, human “WELFARE”. In addition, pursue this great value is indeed real freedom that all of human beings must be guaranteed, so everyone can develop themselves for the better future.
For Krishna, the thing that was so central to the way he lives was his goal to getting back home to his village and his mother. For me, it is to get a degree in something that I love and hopefully find a career that I really enjoy. In my eyes there is no real definition to having a true human life. I believe everyone has their own path and their own goals in which they would like to fulfill. Some individuals believe that a true human life would be to find a career and raise a family. Meanwhile, others believe that just finding a career that allows them to live life freely is the definition of a true human life. I consider my life, as a true human life, being surrounded by those that I love and makes me happy. I also believe in my life that there is a road that I must follow to find my true human life. I also agree with Mill when he said to express our thoughts.
ReplyDelete-Siriphone R.
Maria I
DeleteHey Siriphone, I do agree with you that everyone has their own path. Also, that by following what makes us happy would be consider living the human life. But although we are all individuals and we all have different goals and paths in life I also think that we all need to follow the same structure. We all need the same necessities. For instance we all need basic skills like reading and writing something Krishna didn’t receive. I don’t believe that being able to go back home so he can be happy would really be consider living the human life. He will still be oppress in the fact that he doesn’t really have the basic skills to do anything to better his life. He has been living in a place were life is chosen for them. They don’t really have the opportunity to better themselves or choose their own life path. He doesn’t know anything better and believes that by going back home he would be happy. So although be all have different paths I think we all follow the same structure that would help us get there.
Maria i think that your right about Krishna happiness on going home isn't true human life. Knowing he'll go back to a life where his mother seems to favor the other brother & not being able to accomplish what he wants. Unless he's seen that its possible to go and create this amazing life for himself. Then, he would feel as if theres more out there for him. Plus Krishna was pretty much the only kid that really worked hard to save up for a purpose. He was always willing to do whatever it took to gain more rupees. I feel that if krishna sees an opportunity to better his life. He would take it. Which would include some form of schooling to learn how to read and write. Giving him the basic skills to carry on with his life. Being so young gives him an advantage to really focus on what he wants to do. Therefore finding what defines true human life to himself.
Delete-Ami Melara .
Nhu T
ReplyDeleteThrough the movie I think Krishna is extremely free with his unsupervised life, but he doesn’t have free will to choose the way he lives. There is a time he has to live in the custody, and he chooses to escape from there to have freedom. However, with my opinion, freedom in life doesn’t define as human desire or develop the human faculties. His freedom on living on the street doesn’t provide him any happiness in the way he chooses to live. It’s very difficult for him to pursue things he genuinely desires for. Even though he doesn’t want to leave his family and the village to come to Bombay, he still has to come there because he get kicked out from the house, and he has to earn money to go back. Although he desires to live with his family, he has to go to Bombay and work to make money. Also, though he doesn’t want to steal the chick to gift for the Sweet Sixteen girl, he still has to do it. He doesn’t want to kill Baba, but he end up to stab that man with his anger. He can obviously acknowledge that his actions are wrong for all things he does, but he has reasons to do so. He doesn’t want to act like an evil, but he still has to do it. He has his reasons and chooses to act like that because of his desire and others welfare, not because he wants to do that. In Kant’s project, he starts with the idea that the only thing good without qualification is the good will. The will is the faculty that allows you do make decisions about your behavior rather than being governed entirely by impulse or physical force. A good will is one in which your decisions are determined by moral demands as duty. Krishna’s duty has to come with his reasons, a will (because it’s the rule that his will should follow), and whatever his decisions he makes, it is a rule that holds over all rational agents of his action. Krishna is not able to have his autonomy because he has to make decisions and actions based on his reason, rule and duty. He doesn’t want to do it, but he has to follow his reason, rule and his duty to come with actions. Moreover, Krishna’s life isn’t a happy life. He always struggles with finding jobs, earning money and people surround him. He doesn’t have his happiness and his desire to live the life he wants. I think the most important for people to have a truly human life is that person has got to have happiness in life. As my experience in Aristotle’s project, he states that if you pursue your happiness, it is the time to have your own freedom of will. My life is so central to the way I experience myself, and the world that they define what it means to have a truly human life is my happiness. To have my happiness, I have to be able to get my freedom of good will and live the life I want to live. Krishna’s action doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have strong good will, but he doesn’t have freedom of pursue things he genuinely desires or to develop his human faculty. He fights with his region of liberty, and he strongly desires to earn money to go back to his family and live a happy life. However, he ends up doing his guilty actions that don’t allow him to have chance to reach his goals and potential. I believe that if Krishna could live the life he wanted to pursue his happiness and the things he desired, he wouldn’t do all his guilty actions. It’s not about being free, but it’s about having freedom of will and happiness to have a truly human in life.
Antwan J.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie Krishna's lived a very free life, but only to a certain extent. Krishna was left by the circus he was working for. He had to find away to make money so that he could return to his family., He was trying to save up 500 rubes so that he could began his journey back home. He ended up living on the streets doing odd jobs just to make some money. Even though he lived on the street and was free he still had to obey somebody s rules or laws to a certain extent. he ended up in Bombay because his mother kicked him out of the house, because he had damaged one of his brothers customers motorcycle he was working own by setting it on fire. In the movie he ended stabbing Baba through anger that had built up inside of him. We can acknowledge that what he did was wrong, but had the right reasons for what he did. Everyone has the right to act in a certain way, but you have to live with that action whether its results are good or bad. A lot of people in the movie only cared about their well being, and wasn't concerned at all about others well being. The basic utilitarian principles is to "Act so as to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number, and to minimize suffering/pain for all concerned, and,so far as possible, for all sentient beings." Krishna isn't really living a good life though, because he feels guilty for all the wrong doing that he has been doing since he arrived in Bombay. I believe to have a happy life you must have the right support from family, friends, and your community. I didn't grow up in a wealthy house hold, but i still gained and learned the necessities i needed to pursue a happy life. People have to understand that sometimes you do have to make a bad decision even if you don't want to, but long as you know that it is for a greater reason and outcome in the end. So to be truly happy you must have the right support group, and a good understanding of what is right, and what is wrong.
Jessica F.
DeleteI agree with you that family is very important in our lives and they help us live a happy life. I think that we need our families to support us when times get hard and to guide us. I think that if the characters would have had their families they would have lived different lives and maybe would have been guided to the right path instead of the wrong path. I also agree with you that the people in the film were mostly only thinking about themselves. For example Babaa, he would only think about making his money, he didn’t care about his own family and the suffering he was causing them. He had no type of consideration for his own daughter because he would make her sleep outside. I think that if the people in the film had their families as a support system then they would have lived different lives and bettered themselves. I also think that if the people in the film would have had freedom then they would have had better choices. I agree with you that they had some freedom but I think that they did not have the freedom to better their lives, and make good choices.
Theron R.
DeleteYou're right, Antwan, many of the characters in the story only cared about their own well being, and weren't concerned for other's well being and thus restricted themselves into prisons of selfishness. When one's outlook is that narrow, everything that occurs and affects you in the slightest is taken personally, which only increases your suffering many fold. Yet, if one turns one's gaze outward one can see that not every event around us directly involves and concerns us, and that other people may suffer from the same event, not just oneself. one also must consider that when one undertakes an action, that action may have direct or indirect effects toward or against other's well being. We should therefore consider everyone's well being, not just our own. When Krishna set fire to Sweet Sixteen's bed as a distraction in order to sneak her out of the brothel, that action could have easily taken the lives of many people in the building were the fire to spread out of control. His seemingly heroic act in saving Sweet Sixteen was really a manifestation of his desire for Sweet Sixteen to be his.
Jessica F.
ReplyDeleteIn my life freedom is central to the way I live my life. I feel that freedom is very important in my life because it allows me to make the choices that I want. I can pick what to wear, eat, and buy. While people in other countries do not get to choose what they get to eat, wear or buy. I do have more freedom than other people in other coutries and I feel that my freedom makes me the person I am. I get to choose what school I can go to, what car to drive, and what career I want to persue. All of the people in the film had no such freedom rights. They did not get to choose where they wanted to go to school or what they wanted to eat. Education in this film was not even taken into consideration by any of the characters in the film. Also most of the characters in the film had to work out of necessity so they really had no choice to pick what kind of job they could do.
I also feel that a very important part of life is my family. I feel that my family is the support system that I need. They have always been there for me and without them I would not be where I am today. My family also has molded me into what I am today. They have taught me how to act, what to do, when to do something, but overall respect. I think that by my family teaching what they have taught me they have helped me become the person I am today. Most of the people in the film did not have any family members to help them get by the hard times that they faced. I also feel that if the characters in the film would have had their family members in their lives then they would have had more respect for other people and for themselves. Also since the people in the film did not have their families they did not have any guidance either.
I feel that in order for someone to have a truly human life it is important that they have freedom. I feel that a person has to have the freedom to make choices in their lives so that they can have a truly human life. If a person has choices then they will be free to do what they want and not what they are forced to do by the circumstances that they live in. When a person is free to make choices, then that person is free to be themselves and show their individuality.
Antwan J.
DeleteI truly agree with you Jessica. Having a good foundation of family, friends, and your community will help you along the way of pursuing a happy and free life. Being able to choose what you want to eat, how you dress, what to wear, what kind of food you would like to eat is one of the perks of having freedom. People in the movie didn't have that choice, they didn't have the foundation they needed to build the happy life that they wanted to have for themselves. They had to fend for themselves couldn't pick what they wanted eat, or just having the choice to do what they want to do. Alot of people take for granite the choices that they have and all of the freedoms to do what they want, just as long as they don't cause anyone else harm in the process.
In the film "Salaam Bombay" the lives of the people show the difficulties they come about when trying to achieve their dreams. They do not have rules they truly have to live by, besides surviving the day. The key to true human life is following what you desire to have the ability to live freely. Krishna's life was extremely free, he didn't have any restrictions besides when he was in jail for a few days. With that free lifestyle he also wasn't able to do what he truly desired. His plan was to save 500 rupees to go back home.
ReplyDeleteUntil then he met a bunch of people that helped him and held him back. For Munju's mother she was promised by Babba a better life once Munju was born. Now Mujnu was 6 or 7 years old and Babba wasn't showing any action to create a better life for his family. Therefore Munju's mother had to leave him in the end. Everyone in this film that wanted a better life were held down by the streets of bombay. The drugs, the prostitution, others that made their problem yours, is what made living in Bombay difficult.
I believe my family, my boyfriend, and what i've experienced in life are what is so central to the way i experience myself and the world. My family has influenced me to have the characteristics they believe will help me in life. My boyfriend has helped me to grow into someone dedicated to work hard now so my future will be everything i've always wanted. As well as giving me the love I never thought i would have. The experiences I've experienced so soon in my life could of really took me down the wrong path in life once I became older. Luckily the way my family influenced me to be and meeting my boyfriend at 15 when High school started. I was able to not let my bad times take over me and just enjoy the time with him, making good memories instead of experimenting with drugs and sex. Therefore for me living a true human life is about making the decisions that i know will benefit me in the long run. & not letting the culture i live in influence me to cope how others would.
Amiri M
Amiri, I agree with you that the characters in the film lived day by day just trying to survive. They were in fact helping each other out and held each other back at times as well. The reason being was that they all needed each other and unlike some people or like we say we have family to be there for us they had each other. For example Chillum was like an older sibling for Krishna but at the same time was so into drugs that he started to steal money from Krishna to buy more drugs. That was an act of him holding Krishna back because Krishna wanted to save up 500 rupees to get back home to his family. He was young and lived in a world that is so much different from the world we live. He had work anyway in order to save up money to basically stay alive. We have an opportunity to go to school and start a career and the kids from the streets of Bombay did not, and so as others don't have that opportunity either. We have our family as a support system and our motivation to keep going for what we want. Manju had both her parents but they were not your ideal parents her father was a pimp and her mother a prostitute. They were not doing anything to maybe try and live a different life. They were comfortable with the way they lived until Manjus mother realized that wasn't the life she wanted to live. Everyone has dreams and we should all be able to accomplish them. -Lorena P
DeleteMarina F.
ReplyDeleteWithin this film was a culture very different to the average American. With this obvious distinction it was easy to realize the kind of actions that were desired by the rest of society. In this culture it showed a strong male dominance over women, with a power so strong it showed to be very destructive to anyone who challenges it. We saw this with the mother who eventually left and only was able to fully escape because of the knife that eventually killed Baba the father. We experience the strength of his power as we observe the difference it makes when you are working for a man like this and what it is like when you no longer work for him, which means no money and eventually death. When the majority of people are living in constant fear it seems almost impossible for someone in America to ever deal with it. Freedom and expression are keys values to any rational being, in the film we see Krishna fighting for exactly that. He wants to be with the girl he loves but instead she is sold to an older man. Krishna tries to avoid this from happening by running away with her. To live a human life means to question everything, when there is a feeling within us that does not feel right due to one personal desires is enough, once it is realized that not only the individual is being mistreated but more being around him is when he is officially living. Where we live and when we live is very important to how we react to certain situations. Power is an essential necessity to be given out as evenly as possible. I believe we are very blessed and advanced when it come to how we have been living and socializing within our communities and sometimes our nation. The knowledge of having the power to achieve something, whatever the individual desires is enough of a standing ground to a peaceful kind of life. Although peaceful or not; moral code still make up the characteristic of a functional society. Krishna valued some kind of happiness he was looking for and he had the freedom to do it and do whatever he had to, to achieve it.
I completely agree that even the ability to ask questions is central to human life. If you go along without questioning what you are told then how are you different from a computer that only knows what it is told and can only do what it is programed to do. My only question is the last part about Krishna and doing whatever he had to do to achieve it. Saying, “he had the freedom to do it and do whatever he had to, to achieve it” makes it sound like he does not have to pay heed to the people he may negatively affect in his pursuit of that happiness. Is that the message you intended to deliver? While I do believe everyone is entitled to their pursuit of happiness, I also believe that you should not, in good conscious, tear down someone else’s happiness in the process. Maybe that’s too idealistic to think that everyone can pursue happiness and no one will inadvertently be made unhappy in the process. Maybe there is only so much happiness that can go around? What do you think?
DeleteMiguel Palermo
Michelle Padilla Lopez
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, “Salaam Bombay,” most characters shown, lived in poverty. They lived a life that faced many challenges and it was incredibly hard to get what they desired. Their lives were extremely limited; however, they were free. For example, Krishna didn’t have to worry about going to school, doing chores, nor abide any house rules. He was working at a young age, serving tea. All he wanted to do was save up enough money to go back home with his parents and be happy. Manju’s mother faced prostitution but she wanted to get out of it to have a better life for Manju and herself. To have a truly human life is difficult for anyone to define. To some people a truly human life can be money, because that is what makes them happy and they are living to the fullest. To others, their definition is a place to live, food to eat, and great health. To me, a truly human life means to have respect for myself, have manners, and to see the good in the bad. My life has been shaped by the guidance of my parents and certain rules that I have to abide by which has helped me as a person. I have a supporting family, a roof over my head, great health, and food on the table, an education, and faith. Of course, everyone faces challenges everyday and I’ve faced challenges I never thought I would. However, I’m living a happy and comfortable with my life despite what I’ve been through. But from those challenges, an individual learns, grows, and tries to get past the wall they’re facing. A definition of a truly human life may mean one thing but to other’s it may mean something completely different.
David B
DeleteI believe this your reasoning also takes in Aristotle's view on human essence. Each person has their own separate view on how the world revolves around them. However, even in this country, people are still faced with extreme poverty. People have to make decisions, but then as a result of those choices, something else gets sacrificed, so the idea of Krishna's freedom (and lack of responsibility as well) can't apply to everyone.
Everyone also faces tests, and its up to them to let it consume them or overcome them, I think at the end of it all, Krishna let desperation consume him after all his money was taken by chillum 2, he murdered baba and having no way to return home, considering it took him so long to save money. By making choices, it all cascaded down and I feel like it did cost him everything.
Oluwatomi Aji
ReplyDeleteIn the film Salaam Bombay, the lives of various characters were portrayed along with the struggles they went through and the standards which they had to overcome. The main character, Krishna was a boy with little supervision and absolute freedom from his family. However, without structure Krishna is deprived of a good education and a system in which he can develop into a successful man. Maju is another character with a prostitute for a mom. However, Maju’s mom is just trying to take care of her in the hopes that Maju never has to do that. In both of these situations both characters have freedom within their situation however they do not have any choice on the situations themselves. In life, situations are always hard to get out of or change. This also determines the way you experience life and how you move through it. Personally my faith in God is an extremely significant factor that plays into how I experience life and the situation of life. I think any type of faith, regardless of religion, is essential to have “trurly human life.” I feel that faith is something can help one to cope with the hardships of life and also give meaning to ones existence. My faith also affects what I can and can’t do in terms of my daily interactions regardless of my situation. At times it may feel like a hinderers but I know it will ultimately lead to something good. Unlike Krishna, this structure is what formed me and how I look at things.
Cassandra D.
ReplyDeleteWhat defines a truly human life is much like characterized by what it is to be human; that we are fallible and that we employ our human faculties of critical judgment and choice as J.S. Mill argued (On Liberty). And in that way, it entails originality and individuality. That is to say, that there will be a variety of lifestyles rather than one overarching conception of the good life (Rapaport, xviii-xix). However, an aspect of human life that is worth mentioning is, in this case, liberty of action (9) or freedom of choice. Sure, on the surface, it would seem that Krishna’s life was free because there was very little supervision on his actions and behavior. But for the most part, he isn’t free because his only purpose for struggling through the many hardships in living on the streets of Bombay is fulfilling his mother’s order to earn 500 rupees in order to return home. Krishna’s actions/activities revolve solely on this, which makes it difficult for him to develop his human faculties. In terms of my own experiences, I guess I could say that going to college/university is the activity that is central to the way I live now. I can’t quite say that this defines what it means to have a truly human life. However, if a truly human life means exhibiting your potential as given to you by your (human) essence and employing your human faculties of critical judgment and choice, and if going to college will help me achieve all that, then I am at least a step closer to having a truly human life.
Cassandra D.
Deletecont'd.
On the other hand, I could also say this. Much of our way of thinking, I would say, is influenced by the ideas of consequentialists; that we do what we do based on what the outcome would be. So, perhaps, what could define a truly human life is doing something that would bring about happiness. It wouldn't matter what kind of activity you do, so long as its ultimate goal is happiness. Of course, there will be an issue with the ethics and morals behind the activity, but maybe doing anything that'll make you happy defines what it means to have a truly human life.
Cassandra,
DeleteI like your way of thinking and think that what you are expressing is true. For the most part we do do what makes us happy and try to find the silver lining in the things that don't. I think this is true with Krishna and the others they didn't have a lot of freedom because they were missing consistent adult supervision. They where forced to work and fin for themselves. They seem to find odd jobs and worked the day away. Doing what you have to do to survive is the unspoken truth to a human life and the things we do don't define us however, it does began to paint the picture.
J.Hornesby
Jacob T.
ReplyDeleteI think to really be able to understand and justify what it truly means to live a human life, we must take in to consideration that not all countries or ethnic groups follow the same tradition as ours; what seems like an acceptable definition of human life to one country, might seem taboo in another society. With each cultural identity does in fact come with a different set of norms. For example, in Bombay, dozens of children live on the streets, famished, and are poorly dress; however, the majority of unfortunate children within the United States are in homes foster cares, or shelters. I firmly believe that the issues and activities within a first-world country are simply not up to par considering how dangerous, poor, and unethical some third-world countries are. One major activity in the life I live that strongly shapes my human life is the fact that we have a strong federal government that allows us to express our voice, be whomever we want, with whomever we want, and allows a sense a freedom many countries like some parts of India do not offer. Face it; many people who migrate into the United States (knowing the imperfect conditions and hardships) are seeking a more desirable life with opportunities and an actual chance of moving up in the world. What sets my life different from the people within the movie is that they don’t have the opportunities, the choice, and the power to move up in their own society. Sadly, in many cases in third world countries, if they are born into poverty they are most likely going to stay within that social rank; there is no welfare, food stamps, financial aid, or housing to even try and rise from the slums, which mostly has to do with poor consideration from the government. So taking that into consideration I believe that to the people in Bombay or poor countries, human life to them is to do whatever it takes to stay alive; that is stealing, prostitution, low paying jobs, or drug dealing solely because their government and the economic status in which they come from refuses to let their people rise. However the life I live I think being open to opportunities like education and career; being able to move up in society even if you are not from the richest family in the world, is what it truly means to live a human life. A true human life allows one to follow their own unique way of viewing the world, expressing and announcing how they feel about certain things, and essentially setting a standard that makes them different from everyone else. And through my own experiences and my understanding of human life, I feel it is essential to have other humans who support and teach you like family and friends because the experiences with them shape our identity and self-character. But the fact that we have a choice to guide our lives in the direction WE want it to, that is what I think essentially differentiates the true definition of human life of mine, and the people in the movie. Many, but not all, people in the US do not know what it feels like to be hungry, or alone, or homeless and on the streets, including me, so it is difficult to find a definition of a specific topic if the struggles of one country differs from the other.
note; late, no access to computer.
Nhu T
ReplyDeleteI think your ideas is perfect about it is important for people despite whoever they are to have their own freedom to express thought and their voice to speak up, which doesn’t have in other countries, especially in India in the film. And you are very good at finding yourself a truly human life, so I’m happy for you about that. Also, I like the part of “There is no welfare, food stamps, financial aid, or housing to even try and rise from the slums, which mostly has to do with poor consideration from the government”. You pull out a very good point about their system. But don’t you think those factors are the most important for them to have their truly human life? In my opinion it could be not. The woman who makes money by sleeping with many men and her husband, Baba, have a not bad condition in the town. Baba can choose to leave and built better life for his family; otherwise, he didn’t want to because he wants to hang out with Sweet Sixteen. Even they have money, they still don’t want to change the way they live. They don’t care about their children. I believe it’s about human consciousness, and it is not just all of government false. I mean they have to struggle with making money for a bit except those children, but all adult people they have their acknowledges to choose the way they live and give their children a better horizons. Same as Krishna, he got kicked out of his family instead of being care by his parent. Those welfares could be too much for their government, where is still a developing country, to handle and can’t afford for all crowded population like there place or others poor countries. It is obviously that every country in the world is different in traditional and culture, so those people have to live in the place they were born and accept their condition and making good choice for them and their children. However, all people in India don’t make good decisions to support for their loved one to live a better life and I think they are as an individual should be responsible for their life and children like you says “And through my own experiences and my understanding of human life, I feel it is essential to have other humans who support and teach you like family and friends because the experiences with them shape our identity and self-character”. Nobody wants to live a poor live and no government wants their people to be lack of supports, but they are the way they are and we can’t change everything. Even though people have enough welfare in the US, I think they have to face with many problems in life to achieve their truly human life. Some might not be happy because they have worse relationship with family and friends, some are struggle with their passion and career or some might be extremely lonely even they have a big family. I believe that welfare does help, but I think it is not the important things to determine a truly human life in my opinion. It is about how people live their life.
J. Hornesby
ReplyDeleteThe ghetto is everywhere! Different people doing similar things, some more dangerous then others, and some more unfortunate then others, but it's still the ghetto. Krishna and his cohorts were some dirty ghetto kids trying to make it happen by any means necessary, they didn't have the support of a family unit so they created their own to survive the streets. This is a life one can only truly understand through the experience of living it, and that I know far to well. I too was a youngster with a lot of freedom and adult responsibilities by time I was 7. My family once had a strong religious belief and I had both my parents. At age 7 my parents abandoned me, my sisters, and brothers and I went right into survival mode and took on the roll of protecting my younger siblings. At age 8 my mother returned for us but she was badly hooked on drugs so I stayed in survival mode, adding my mother in as a another responsibility. Tramping threw the streets of West Berkeley dodging drug dealers and gangsters and into West Oakland where we did the same thing only the environment was much more dangerous and we now have to dodge bullets as well. We were a bunch of dirty ghetto kids trying to survive " The Hood". Those things among others shaped the things that define my human life. It shaped my outlook on school and feathering my education to open the doors on my career, being around people with good intention sharing positive energy, the importunate of love, support, and connection with my family biological and created. Also my morals and religious beliefs.
Veronica Ponce
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is very central to my life is family. By family I don’t just mean people who are related to me—by family I mean people whom I trust, whom I love, who I enjoy being around, and people who love me back. Family is central to me because they help me move forward. Whenever I may need help or advice I know that my family will always be there. I feel like if I didn’t have everything I had now (a house, car, clothes, etc.), but I still had my family, I would still be happy. And it is very important to be happy in your life. In being happy, you have a more positive outlook on things and you’re not so negative about your future. The happiness my family brings me, in a way motivates me to do better and achieve my goals. In the movie, however, the sense of family was seen very little. In the streets, Krishna was cheated many times. For example the tea man paid him very little, the little boy ditched him when they were supposed to both run away from state custody, Chilum would steal his money many many times, the circus left him, etc. If you notice these are all people Krishna also built relationships with every day. But because all of these people played him, they still weren’t family—family doesn’t do that. With these type of people around him it’s hard to be optimistic about his life. Krishna had a real family, but his mom still sent him off into the world alone with nothing but the clothes on his back. Being alone like that, I believe, is no way to live. You can’t live if you’re not happy and after everything he went through, Krishna wasn’t happy.
The things that are in my life that truly define are the things that I do out of my own want to do them. Not including more basic things such as food and shelter. If you spend all your time fighting for the necessities of life then that makes leading a human life hard. Humans are defined by the human essence which encompasses your free will, the ability to think and be creative, and to have emotion. People in situations similar to the situations portrayed in Salaam Bombay have tough times leading truly human lives as they are constricted in terms of how much of their human essence they can actually use. This is not to say they are not human. They have the essence, however, due to their economic and social standings it is very hard to say that they are living lives where they get to express their creativity and free will. They spend most of their time fighting for the necessities of life. They do not have the means to practice any skills they wish to acquire and they may not even know what skills are out there for them to think about. A truly human life is a life that has the choice or the mean to be able to exert their human essence. That is what is central to my life. The choice of whether or not I want to use my human faculties and that is something that people in tough economic and social situations may not get.
ReplyDeleteMiguel Palermo