'Mere Paas Maa Hai !

The dialogue 'Mere Paas Maa Hai' (I have the Mother) would be immortalised we could not assess in 1975 when the film 'Deewar' was released and made waves on account of its hard hitting dialogues and performance by Amitabh Bachhan who plays the gangster.

- HIMANSHU DHULIYA

The elder brother played by Amitabh Bachhan had asked his younger brother Shashi Kapoor who is a Police officer to meet under the bridge from where they had started their childhood journey and to advise him to take transfer to another city as his life was in danger from his gang. The younger brother refuses and says that his ‘Usool’ ( rules) and ‘Adarsh’ ( principles ) do not allow him to take such a step. Amitabh Bachhan is anguished with the reply and tries to run him down by saying that his principles and rules give him hardly any economic sustenance – a four to five hundred rupee pay, a rented house, a jeep on duty and two sets of uniform. And then he compares his economic status with him by saying “ Mere paas Building hai,property hai, Bank balance hai, Bangla hai, Gaadi hai, Kya hai tumhare paas?”. It is at this juncture that Shashi Kapoor makes the iconic statement “Mere paas maa hai”. At the same time there is sound of a train whistle and two compartments softly colliding. ‘Maa’ ‘ means the ‘rules and principles’, idealism , integrity, Truth and morality. And much more.

It put an end to the conversation between brothers. There was no reply to the statement. It was because he spoke the Truth. He had their mother with him physically and emotionally. He had the legitimacy, he had the ‘Zameer’ with him, he had the power, he had the ‘veto power’ .He had no money but he had the ‘ideology’ he had the ‘Sanskars’ he had the ‘Brahmastra’ against which all weapons were ineffective. He hit the proverbial ‘nail on the head’ . Mother gives ‘protection’ both emotional and physical. When denied justice or fair play or hurt or hit children rush to convey and to the loving arms of the mother who consoles them and Shields them from the enemies and the opponents. Here too the younger brother had the protective shield. He wanted no other ‘economic support’ of which his elder brother was boasting :

“ Choo sakti nahin maut aasaani se isko