Innocence and Apu

The following was written a couple of weeks ago on being struck after watching Apur Sansar for the nth time:

Something has struck me about Apu. In the scene where Pulu and Apu discuss the pros and cons of Apu's novel. At that very moment something struck me and for a minute I couldn't put my finger on it. After a while, I realized what it had been. It was Apu's innocence. Even as an adult, he is so innocent! One can see it stamped on his face. By innocence, I don't mean the innocence of the Christian paradigm. I don't even mean sexual innocence. I mean a real all-encompassing innocence; of a different kind. I have been wondering why that scene had struck me so forcefully then. I have realized it is something that can probably never be recaptured. We, of my generation, have no conception of such an innocence. Even as children, we could never have appeared as innocent. I have been wondering why. To a certain extent, I feel, but this again is debatable, that there is a certain inevitability connected with this loss of innocence. I don't think it has anything to do with the moralities of the people of different generations really. I think it's the time. My generation can be as convinced, as enthusiastic about a project as Apu, even as sensitive, but I don't believe we can be as innocent.

It's a matter of conditioning. It's who Apu was and what his world was that made him so innocent. Our world has changed and so have the times. It has had its impact on us too. We are different children, youth, adults from who Apu was at the corresponding periods in his own life. We also have our own standard of innocence.

Also Aparna. Which girl of my generation can truly emulate Aparna? I don't think any. Even a girl from the most backward village in rural India cannot match the innocence of Aparna. It's not a question of virtue or lack thereof. It's a question of cultural conditioning. In my experience, no girl in urban India can ever conceive of surrendering herself to her circumstances in the manner of Aparna. Call it the influence of women's lib., awareness or whatever. No woman, however sweet, can not question her man, however romantic. Frankly, it's even quite unthinkable for men. They cannot even hope to expect it. The power of men over women has obviously decreased( and maybe that's the reason "power-crimes" like rape have increased).

The question really haunting me is, what's with this loss of innocence?? Is it a good thing? Or a bad thing? Or an ambiguous thing? Is it not a certain question of inevitability? Can the blame/credit/ whatever be put on anyone? Hasn't the quality of innocence applicable to my generation changed? Have we lost anything, if at all? We, like Apu, after all, are only products of our own times and circumstances.

What would Apu have done placed in our times? With that kind of innocence about him, would he have been able to cope? What of Aparna? I think Apu would have gone mad! In a sense, is then not Prashanta, of Shakha-Prashakha a figuration of Apu in modern times? We the restless youth of today, can probably find a closer relation with Siddartha of Pratidwandi.

In Apu's place, similarly, someone of my generation would seem hopelessly incongruous, no matter how much he tried. It is by no fault of his, but this innocence, or lack thereof, is stamped on the faces of those from different times.