The movie Oppenheimer landed in a bit of controversy in India. In one of the scenes, Oppenheimer during an intimate moment with his love interest, reads her a line from a book “The Gita”, a sacred text for Hindus.

As the scene played, my friend chuckled — “Indians may get offended”. Right on cue the girl on my right, visibly angry stated — “How could they show this ? It is so inappropriate, and so on”. 

The backdrop of Gita in Mahabharata is a battlefield, possibly one of the most violent places. The controversy is about the backdrop where Gita is used in the movie — an intimate moment between two individuals. A far cry, from the death and destruction of the atomic bomb or any battlefield. A quote from Gita is also used when the explosion occurs. I found it interesting, that a verse from a sacred text is deemed offensive when portrayed during a personal moment but acceptable as a harbinger of death. 

I came back from the movie, to find that this fleeting scene was bigger news than the continued violence, pillage, and rapes in the state of Manipur. Ironically, even for media channels, killings and rape of our fellow countrymen did not outrage us as much as an intimate moment did. 

In Mahabharata, when Arjuna reaches the battlefield, he is overwhelmed with the realization that the enemies were his cousins and elders, and of the bloodshed that lay ahead. It was then that his charioteer, Lord Krishna, guided him through his dilemma with the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita, that as a warrior it was Arjuan’s duty to fight for Dharma.

Oppenheimer had succeeded in unleashing the power of the atom but could not control how it was used. Japan was completely devastated, its cities ruined, and millions dead. The ones that survived were plagued with deformities. The impact of the radiation can still be felt today after decades. 

 The second world war was a war to end all wars, but so was the idea behind the first world war. The introduction of the atomic bomb changed the world. As Japan was reeling from the aftermath of its effects, more countries raced to create a deadlier version of it. 

Oppenheimer grappled not only with the devastating human toll of his creation but how it had pushed the world to nuclear armament race. I think somewhere he tried to find solace in the message of Gita, that he was fulfilling his duty as a man of Science to give his country an advantage by creating a deadly weapon. 

 It is interesting that the director chose to focus on the dillema of a tortured genius, than the pain, hopes and dreams of millions of innocent lives that were wiped from the face of the earth by his creation. As a filmmaker it is his perogative to pick the subject he likes, and as ordinary citizens it is our choice to focus on topics that matter. As our fellow countrymen are humiliated, lynched and raped in name of religion, we can make a better choice to be outraged by these sundry news that a scene in a movie. Oppenheimer could not escape the guilt of unleashing the power of atom of the world and tried to find solace in message of Gita. We too would not be able to escape the guilt and mayhem that awaits if we refuse to control the monster of hate growing all around us.