Mumbai Varanasi Express: The Story of Moksha, Maya, and Mitrata

Last Stage Colon Cancer.  Enjoy Life. Eat in Surat, Die in Kashi.  The city that celebrates death.

What would you do if you suddenly come to know that you have only 2 months to live?

Would you go on a vacation, spend time with your loved ones or try out some experimental drugs?

Short films have the power to convey long stories and large ideas in subtle but nostalgic manner. Available on YouTube, Mumbai Varanasi Express is one of the best short films I even came across. Here is a brief story and subtle ideas portrayed in the film:

A.      Brief Story:

Krishna Kant Jhunjhunwala, a top industrialist is diagnosed with last stage colon cancer with life giving him only 2 months to live.

His friend the doctor has only one advice for him- “Enjoy Life!”

So, far, Krishna Kant feels that he has only survived, but never lived. He decides to give himself time and embarks on a journey. A journey from India’s financial capital and city of dreams: Mumbai to Varanasi, one of the holiest cities, where death is celebrated.

On the train, he meets another businessman returning back to Surat, who has a textile business there. On the backdrop worldly issues like inflation and crimes are featured. While the textile businessman enjoys the “pleasures” of “tea”, “thepla”, and “chatpata”, ulcers prevent Krishna Kant from rejoicing anything.

Just as they are about to part, the textile businessman tells Jhunjhunwala about a reputed Gujrati restaurant “Sasuma Restaurant” and jokes “If he comes to Surat and does not go to Sasuma Restaurant, he will not get Moksha or Mukti.”

This comes to seal Krishna Kant’s fate later on.

As soon as Krishna Kant gets down the train station, he meets Rafique Ansari, who leads him to the “Mukti Bhawan” or “Nirvana Home” and supports him through his Mukti Yatra. As time passes, Krishna Kant does yoga, lives a simple life, cultivates friendship, and gets healed to a point where he and Rafique enjoy “Jalebis” together.

However, his new life gifted by Kashi, takes another turn, when he sees in the newspaper wrapper of the Jalebi that his company is able to bankrupt and his sons are fighting amongst themselves.  He decides to get back to Mumbai, but on the way as the train stops at Surat, he remembers what the textile businessman had told him: “Sasuma Restaurant”.

Unfortunately, on the crossing a truck hits hit and he is dead. The story ends with Kabir Das’s powerful lines:

“ माया मरी न मन मरा, मर मर गये शरीर। ( Maya Mari Na Maan Mara,  Maar Maar Gaye Sareer)

आषा तृष्णा ना मरी, कह गये दास कबीर।“ (Aasha  Trishna Na Maari, Keeh Gaye Daash Kabir)

B.      Subtle but Powerful Ideas Conveyed in the Short Film

1.       Life is Unpredictable and One Should accumulate good deeds like bank balance.

Life is what happens to you, when you are planning for something else. Krishna Kant’s story reminds us that while setting goals is vital, once in a while it is necessary that we reflect and rethink whether we are just existing or living.

There are two important lines Krishna Kant says:

“Until now, I was just existing, now I want to live.”

“One should accumulate good deeds like bank balance.”

2.       Identity is Multidimensional and Friendship Transcends Region, Religion and Class

Rafique Ansari, is another character, who portrays the beauty, the prowess and warmness of Kashi. Rafique is a Muslim, who identifies deeply with the heritage of Kashi from silk saris to the enchanting Ghats and tempting cuisine. He embraces his religious identity, while at the same time recognizing, admiring and embracing the deep connection forged between him and Kashi based on his ancestral heritage, cuisine, Varanasi saris and warm vibes.

In fact, at the end, its Rafique who feels so deeply connected to Kashi that he denies Krishna Kant’s offer to leave the City of Mukti for the City of Dreams. He says: “Kashi Ye Bahar Dill Hi Nahi Lagta Shahab.”

Equally beautiful is the friendship between Krishna Kant, a Gujrati businessman, an industrialist seeking Mukti and Rafique, a Varanasi Muslim, who drives a rickshaw.  The friendship between them is one of the purest ones that transcends the boundaries of region, religion and economic class.

3.       Everything has two sides

The cremation at Kashi, the last spot where life meets death is also not free from the materialistic elements of greed. Mumbai Varanasi Express in a subtle manner shows characters like the nephew of Dom Raja, who has monopoly over the logs for the pyre. The other side of the coin is “Man comes and goes empty handed”, but even until the last point, where one is waiting to be reduced into ashes, money has its part.

Money might not be everything, but it still is the universal tool.

While the most important message articulated by the short film is undoubtedly the spiritual messages that “Life is unpredictable and body is temporary like a thread for a kite”, and Saint Kabir’s Quote: “Hope, Desire and Lust Have No Ending”, the other subtle elements highlighted such as the monopoly over the pyre logs and the hardship a poor man encounters even while performing the last rites can also not be ignored.

In just 30 minutes, Mumbai-Varanasi Express shares a journey of Moksha, Maya, Mitryu and Mitrata. In a subtle, but powerful it touches so many important aspects many of us choose to ignore. It is a film one would never regret watching.