Our work in motion

In this 12 minutes “silent” short film, Satyajit Ray has conveyed a meaningful and profound message which other directors would take hours to do. He shows a sharp contrast between Haves and Have-nots of society. In the film, two boys are shown who live close to each other but in totally different worlds. One, rich, arrogant and spoilt and the other, poor and innocent. The film starts with the rich boy trying to entertain himself with the toys he got for his birthday after his parents left him alone in the house. When he hears a melodious sound he peeps through his window and sees a poor boy from a nearby slum playing a flute. In an arrogant response, he starts playing his toy trumpet which drowns the sound of the flute. When the poor boy starts flying his handmade kite with a big smile on his face, the rich boy is clearly not amused since he is confined in his house while his competitor is out in the open. A classic case of grass is always greener on the other side! In the fit of childish envy he brings his toy airgun and shoots down the kite. He then returns to his toys and feels elated. Until, he hears the sound of the melodious flute once again and realises that he might have won the battle but had lost the war.

Satyajit Ray’s film gives us a basket of messages. It is a “silent” protest against the Vietnam War, with the rich boy representing consumerist America (its ironical that an American firm Esso Theatre asked Ray to make the film) and the poor peasants fighting for Vietnam, symbolised by the poor boy in the film. Most importantly, the fable shows that money cannot buy happiness.