What is Comfort?

What is comfort? The textbook definition would say something along the lines of it, being the state of content and satisfaction, one has. But what if this feeling was a show, a movie, a song, a person, or a dish? That is what this word meant for me. After racking our brains over a year for exams that lasted a few days, crawling towards these very comfortable cocoons is the only apt option.

Dil Dosti Duniyadari is the literal definition of comfort; a story about six friends having their own share of problems, that unite under one roof and get through life together. Healing each other’s “Dils,” setting examples of exceptional “Dosti” and learning together, the way of life, the world’s way, “Duniyadari.” Comfort is listening to the title track and going almost a decade back, back when I had just started singing, mum and dad had made me sing the track; we even made a video out of it! Me in my little black floral dress and my mother instructing me to smile more from behind the camera. Back when, growing older felt like a dream; back when Student of the Year was the standard for a perfect college life.

Growing up, content in Marathi never really interested me. Dad would have all sorts of stories from when he first dabbled into the world of Marathi literature, theatre, and cinema. This show was my first step into that world; I’d taken to watching comedy shows, I could understand the language better, I could conversate better. It had brought me closer to my mother tongue, which I was once even ashamed of speaking in public. The show is a tutorial on all things script writing and characterisation. Kaivalya, the grumpy music composer; Reshma, the latest yet quite a timid addition to the bunch; Sujay, the disciplined landlord; Anna, with her childlike innocence; Ashutosh, the messy guy and finally; Minal, the raging feminist. Each one of them is so well fleshed out, you at a point start believing they’re actual people! Not only them, but, special appearances like Pragalbha, who constantly falls in love with any and every person on the show; Nagaokar, the badgering secretary; and my personal favourite, the sweet old neighbour, Nikkam Aaji. All have a personality of their own and their existence in the show is much more than adding to the already beautiful main characters. The humour, the references always hit the spot. I mean who even thinks of the two dumb characters having an influx of grey hair on their head and feeling as if they’re being discriminated because of it.

Shaandaar, another silly movie about an even sillier family. A quintessential Bollywood movie that is so bad it’s good. Shaandaar for me is a Sunday afternoon, post-lunch, that is spent lying around, trying to sleep, and failing horribly at it because it’s the only day you can have fun; that too guilt-free. The movie might have failed at the box office and it might not make sense at some points, but it’s the way Bipin loves his daughters, it’s the banter that Bipin and Jagjinder Joginder share, it’s the collective hate the family has for Mummy Ji (I’d beg to differ though she’s the most hilarious out of them) that ties it together. The chemistry among the entire cast brings it together. Sanjay Kapoor’s character as an over the top and rich Sindhi man that thinks being Sindhi is the only interesting thing about his personality steals the show. It is the chaos and comfort it exudes, much like a family. No matter how many ‘Spencers’ I watch, the climax of Shaandaar will always be in my top 10 movie-ends.

Summer is Aamras, Puri and Papadum, but it’s also Watermelon Mojito and Lemonade. It is the ever so painful heat but also the joy of showering under the cold water. Summer is trying to make different dishes but also the pleasure of having a nice, warm plate of raw mango infused dal and rice at your grandmother’s house. It is a constant prayer for no power cuts but also the freedom of roaming late at night. It is a bowl full of ice-cream but also a glass full of lassi. It’s untimely rains that go on for days. Now, how much ever complaints I might have about the weather, it’s these three months that allow us to take a necessary break even if it’s just for a few days.