alternative friends!
Six wonderfully sketched characters going through their motions
can actually make us feel the warmth we share with our friends.Oh yes u r right !
Am talking about F.RI.E.N.D.S,like home away from home …its friends away from friends.
When sitcoms relate to people in this fashion with moments which make you realise that you embody a certain facet of ceratin charater , u r so at the mercy of your tv then!….When it comes to me i have a JOEY’S APPETITE , a decent amountof grey matter harbouring CHANDLERS sarcasm AND PHOEBISH WHACKO TANTRUMS .See what it had done to me, identify myself with one of the characters and it doesnt end there.It leads to a few moments where in u are left with questions coated with your insecurities and frivilousness and the one below is what i am talking about.
i am sloppy/clumsy …
so is joey
but joey is still lovable….y?
if u take few parallels between us and them,then it gets even more interesting.
american chandler and an indian chandler (or chandrakant) would never be the same.Though chandler is stuck up when around girls ,he still wud have had some 5 in his kitty ,where as chandrakant for all his life must have had a brush or 1 single encounter before his first night.(if u take the average statistics into account w/o considering personalities like shakti kapoor,gautam reddy).
Another night at ohris and as we were getting done with our sundaes so were we with the seasons.My friend trying to explain an incident swayed his hands in a fashion which reminded me somethin quite typical of Mr. CHANANDALER BONG!Thought it was supposedly funny but ppl overlooked it and he continues with his babble.Another occasion ,another ohris night and right in the middle of our babbble i see that “sway” appear again…wts happenin?i asked myself.!Before i could react, there he goes about it again n again which left me smiling at the moment rather than question it and gradually i could see “f.r.i.e.n.d.s” doing their bit by casting their mannerisms and s”language” onto my friends..When american sensiblities are incorportaed into an “ever imbibing” temple of an indian,his gait can get a little stiff or assume a shape!Human emotions are all the same ,no matter where u hail from ,the sensibilities and natural endowments carried by us are different in their very own ways pertaining to the land we owe our birth to .
Lets just imagine these 6 PPL around us and situation gets rather improbable.
Had monica been working in Hyderabad she would have been advised to join some bpo “atleast” for a “better” life.And ross for all his brains and degrees wud have been seen as this society’s threat for getting married thrice and miss phoebe known for her free wheeling attitude would be considered a case , “aaa type” or “loose” forgettin the fiery spirit she rather endowes.Rachel again would have got bitched about by her neighbours for leading such an irresponsible lifestyle and hence proving to be a misfit for not considering M.S or software job as her career option.Joey would be made to realize that he is dumb to an extent that he becomes this mr.”life less” joey who would make up his mind to take up java or .net course @ ameerpet for a “brighter” future.Mr.chandler ie the societal misfit would somehow graze our society with languid ease as there are hordes n hordes of “transponsters” tryin to figure out what they are up to with their lives.
Say these people take a flat in my apartment and they are rest assured to hear whispers sayin”yentandi ee tharam abbayilu amayyilu aradham pardham lekunda raaskuntu pooskuntu thirugutaru…kaliyugam andi !!emi cheyalaem!” and they will be forced to flee with in a day or two.Can we talk about these 6 at one breath when it comes to our society.When we contextualise these people in our society then it kinda gets far-fetched to talk about them in one breath.sadly!!!
Friends ultimately is about 6 people like us going through their daily motions . I guess the fault lies with us when we create stars out of people & not characters .When it comes to friends its these characters that are remenisced but somewhere deep inside we want to associate with the superficial setup created around these portrayals .It is we who place them on a pedestal and in turn feel insecure.No wonder coffee days and mochas are doing this big in the indian markets.Thanks to central park which did help us feel what coffee with friends is all about…(this is chandler’s sarcasm if u r not able to see it).If i get critical about “F.R.I.E.N.D.S”, i do agree the things that they get to do for what they earn for their living is slightly over the top…For instance joey a struggling actor and some1 with a humungous appetite looks slimmer and light as seasons go by.
So what draws us to friends?
is it the distinct nature of each of the characters .Or the fact that we move in herds and stay with ppl who are disciplined to a discipline they have chosen and in the process are not able to do somethin of their own liking.Perhaps its the freedom that “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” experience,freedom in doing those insignificant things and in the process leading a life of their own.It is this inherent nature of this sitcom which makes us yearn about the lifesyle these guys lead.
Ultimately the essence of friends or for that matter any popular sitcom or movie is almost and always forgotten by people as we are more concerned about the superficial nature of “where thhese people hang out” and the “”slang”uage they use to converse”.As of now Americanisims are in ,British have left leaving their mark on our ancestors but its America now invading us with zees and o’s!
