5 takeaways from Naseeruddin Shah, Kalki Koechlin-starrer 'Waiting'

What happens when your perfectly blissful life gives you a reality check and you are on the brink of losing your beloved? Or may be worse, you don't even know whether you are going to lose them. Or even if you do, you don't know whether your loved one will be back to his/her normal, healthy lifestyle? Waiting makes you brood and ask these questions, to yourself and to friends and family around you. It urges you to live your life with no regrets and no secrets from you loved ones. So here are my five takeaways this flick: Your friends may not be there when you need them the most Sad, but true! Remember the scene when Tara (Kalki) lashes out in frustration saying that she has 'five thousand eight hundred' followers on Twitter but none of them are there with her when she needs them. This happens with all of us. You may feel that you have always given your 100% in every relationship, always stood by your friends when they needed you but when the time comes and you are in desperate need to have some kind of moral and emotional support, you may not have anyone beside you. It's easier said than done! We always try to console our friends by saying routine stuff like, "Everything will be alright," "You don't need to bear the entire burden all by yourself" or "I can understand what you are going through." I hate to burst that bubble, but you don't. Nobody can even imagine what another person is going through unless they are sailing in the exact same boat. Remember when Tara's friend drops her outside the hospital and tries to give her gyan? Tara asks her if she would still keep her peace had her husband or child been in the ICU. Who gets to decide whether your beloved deserves a continuing chance at life? We see paradox at its best here. On one hand, there is Shiv (Naseerudin Shah) whose wife has been in coma for the past eight months. Her Dr. Nirupam (Rajat Kapoor) opines that she cannot be revived because "she has been on a steady decline" and hence, it's futile to give her a second chance. Yet we see Shiv, trying every possible thing to bring his companion back. On the other hand, there is Tara, who is ready to let go of her husband if he can't go back to his previous adventurous lifestyle. This time, the very same doctor opines that he should be given a second chance at life since he is young and healthy. The movie very subtly portrays two strangers, who are poles apart in the strictest meaning of the term, in the same boat, seeking answers to the same question, i.e. who decides whether their loved ones deserve a second chance? There are times we are too scared to accept and face changes in life Yes! There are times when we think we are doing something because we don't want to lose our dear ones. Whereas, in reality, we may just be scared of the changes that our own lives will undergo if the other person is not around. This is very poignantly brought out in the heated discussion that Shiv has with the doctor, who then tells him the truth and Shiv is not ready to accept it. He is so accustomed to the ways of his '40-year-old marriage' that he denies even the slightest possibility of living without his wife. The five stages of being 'zen' Remember when Tara asks Shiv how can he be so 'zen' (read cool) about his wife's condition? This is when Shiv gives us all life lessons wrapping them up in 5 stages: 1: Denial- This can't be happening to me! 2: Anger- Why me? 3: Bribe- Atheists suddenly become firms believers in the Almighty. 4: Depression- The most dangerous of all. 5: Acceptance- It is only after one goes through the above four that one finally accepts reality and becomes 'zen'! So, accept changes, incorporate them in your life, move forward and be 'zen.' -CREDIT : DNA