Shiuli the fulcrum of The Movie October- A Tale of a Highly Sensitive Person

Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, the night-flowering jasmine or parijat
Shiuli Flowers

The night-flowering jasmine is named in biology as Nyctanthes Arbor-Tritis, known in different names across the regions of South Asia and Southeast Asia. 

We are considering here it's bengali name Shiuli to take it forward. Shiuli flowers have five to eight white petals arranged above a vibrant orange tube like a pinwheel. Shiuli is highly fragrant, open at night, and the surrounding area become smoothly and intensely aromatic. These flowers drop down from the branches at the first rays of sunlight.
Often the Shiuli Tree is called as Tree of Sorrow because of its extra-ordinary character, the scientific name Arbor-Tritis also means 'Sad-Tree'.

Middle month of the season of Shiuli blossoming is October, gives the birth of a story about Shiuli and Dan.

October


We prefer pleasure over pain, happiness over sadness, positive experiences over negative ones, so and so forth. Often we also face a dilemma that is negative experience actually make us happier in the long run ? The movie October says a lot, without saying lot.

Varun Dhawan in October
Varun Dhawan as Danish Walia aka Dan

The movie suggests that yes, we can use those tough experiences to build ourselves up instead letting them control and  tear us down. In fact any experience like a fight with a romantic partner or losing a loved one - has the potential for helping us gain a greater sense of meaning in our life.
Primarily, yes it can be marked that October is the story about love constructed from Dan's simple and innocent world-view and Shiuli's silent , stoic stares.
But calling October only a love story, we will miss to its resilient tone. It is the battle of life from various angles, it's about how far we can go for the things we believe in. It is about main character's endless search of one thing that define himself.
Hotel management intern Dan is very careless in his attitude, he does not like his job, and has a strained relationship with most of his colleagues, seniors. Dan's story is heart wrenching and nursed notions that no one expects anything from him including his parents.
Dan's life takes a giant leap when his fellow trainee Shiuli Iyer accidentally falls from the Hotel's roof

Banita Sandhu played as Shiuli Iyer in October
Banita Sandhu as Shiuli

on New Year's Eve and eventually when Dan knows that Shiuli's last words before falling was
"Where is Dan ?"
This words actually make a twist into Dan's mind.
Dan and Shiuli forge an unlikely bond in the most trying of circumstances . The plot is gentle unfolding of love and loss and longing, and takes its time to getting to where it's headed. In slow rhythm of Dan's life, romance opens up in low-key and unusual speaking glances rather than high pitched words and drama.
              

Dan the Highly Sensitive Person


It is not until much later that we see in the very first appearance of Dan's character and his reactions after Shiuli's accident that he is a highly sensitive person and then things finally make sense.

A slower, simpler pace of life

Highly Sensitive persons (HSP) process information deeply, and may move little slower than others and also experience the world little differently than others. Images of violence or stories of heartbreak can be excruciating to them. Sudden impact of any thing like loud noises, news or busy schedules have the power to rattle HSP's profoundly.
They may need time to do certain tasks, like getting out of the house in the morning. They may take a little longer time to make decisions, such as which item to buy at the grocery store, because they are taking in not just the mountain of choices, but also nutrition information, price and how they feel about chicken noodle soup. Suddenly their mind flashes to chickens being cooped up in tiny cages and then slaughtered ... and they must take a few beats to ponder if they can live with this reality on their dinner plate . All of this take time.
Dan, the young man is trying to figure out stuff too. Dan is fairly a trying fellow, always reluctant to buckle down and do the back-breaking scutwork that comes with his territory, always trying to cut corners.
His realization that he may have meant something more than just an irritating colleague to limpid eyed Shiuli is a bit sudden.      
     

Space to get emotional

Not only are HSPs extra sensitive to environmental situation, they are also sensitive emotionally.

Extra sensitive to emotions
Dan after the trauma of Shiuli's fall

According to Dr Elaine Aron, author of The Highly Sensitive Person, sensitive people tend to cry more easily than others. She told the Huffington Post 
Sensitive people can't help but express what they're feeling. They show their anger, they show their happiness. Appreciating that is really important.
In our case Dan have not cried on screen but tries very hard to establish the meaning of Shiuli's last words before her fall
"Where is Dan ?"

Intimate and meaningful relationship

HSPs crave deep connections with others. In fact, according to Aron, they may get bored or restless in relationships that lack meaningful interaction. However, this does not mean they're prone to relationship hoping, Rather, they may actually work harder to strike up a meaningful conversation with their partner, create intimacy.
This also means HSPs tend to be selective about the people they let into their lives. A surface-level and give-and-take relationship will simply not cut it. An HSP wants to dive deep into the soul his/her selection and connect with him/her in a profound way.
Knowingly the fate of Shiuli after her accident Dan dives deep into her soul, to know her more and more in a profound way and act as a pillar for her survival mechanism.

Extra-Sensitive to Subtleties


Little rearrangement in room, remote talk in a gathering by a relative or colleagues, HSPs can sense many subtle shifts, whether they are tangible item or emotional talk. Aron says
"There's just this intuition they have about their environment that other people generally aren't aware of"
That intuition also guides them in their own relationships as well.
While haunting for the answer of the question
"Where is Dan?"
Dan finally took an extra ordinary step to offer Shiuli's love, the flower Shiuli -  Nyctanthes Arbor-Tritis. He places a handful of Shiuli in a manner that its aroma reaches to Shiuli who is sleeping deep in coma.
And it works Shiuli senses Shiuli and probably the heart of Dan.


HSPs do not mind to go solo


HSP's  functions best when they are in quieter environments - particularly in the workplace. They may also avoid group activities because they feel like their every move is scrutinized.
In several occasions Dan shows this trait in his job environment. After Shiuli's accident Dan is the regular visitor of Shiuli in the Hospital though other friends and colleagues are off. Dan makes and continues his solo presence in a bid to rouse his colleague from her vegetative state, despite ongoing warning to be fired from his job.

              

Outlet of Creativity


Many highly sensitive people have a strong need to create. They channel their poignant observations, insights and emotions into art, poetry, music and more. Deborah Ward, author of Overcoming Low Self-Esteem With Mindfulness writes
"Sensitivity can be overwhelming, but it is also like having extra RAM on my personal hard drive … Creativity is the pressure valve for all that accumulated emotional and sensory data.”              

A strong sense of purpose


Some people seem to drift through life without direction or purpose. For HSPs, this is unthinkable. Rather, they think deeply about the big things in life. Who are they, why are they here and what were they put on this planet to do?  Whether it is writing a novel, traveling the world, or leading the way for a cause they believe in, sensitive people crave meaning.

Loved Shiuli who understand and respect Dan's sensitive nature

Because most people are not highly sensitive, they simply don't understand what it's like to get very

Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu
Shiuli with Dan

stressed out by from a situation. But for HSP Dan need a person who truly understand his sensitivity, certainly Shiuli plays the role till her last breath.Shiuli protects Dan from over-stimulation. And Shiuli observes all the wonderful gifts that come with this rare trait of highly sensitive Dan.

Final Thought


HSP or not, our environment affects us. But for HSPs, the response is even more profound. For them, the way things look really matters. Cluttered, chaotic or just plain ugly environments may unsettle them. Beauty, love, understanding are the balm that rejuvenate and soothes.
The film October demands feeling from the viewers.
With feeling October can be watched several times.                             

When it comes down to it, Aron says the key sensitive people is to embrace their personality trait rather than work against it.
"Highly sensitive people make excellent leaders, friends and partners "
In other words - Keep on  experiencing those emotions HSPs - even if they do make us cry.   
On the film's perspective the overall catch is found on the two reactions :


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What happens When We Make A Wish

When We Make A Wish
We all live under the blessing of our own thought process. We sometime think life is like ice. We should enjoy it before it melts.
Photo by Richard Jaimes on Unsplash
I serendipitously standing in-front a temple wished for a guide. I found it. I desired for food, dreamt of good job, spouse, children, assistance, and all my dreams were fulfilled. One day I feared, what if I loose some of things I got. One day I had to resign from my job. Everything happened as I had willed. Was it my karma (destiny) or my thoughts that made my wishes come true?


Our Wishes and its Stand


We all live under the blessing of our own thought process. We sometime think life is like ice. We should enjoy it before it melts. But most of us seldom feel cheerful and fulfilled because we worry about inconsequential matters and thus sapping peace and pleasure out of our life. Many of us are very discontented and disgruntled, whining about everyone and everything around us. Under fear and worry, incapable of exploring our own immanent potential and savoring the splendor of life, we are busy cribbing about anything and everything. In such occasions, we don't spare even the Almighty, cursing Him for all the mess in our personal and public life. We become indifferent towards the good things around us. Blindly we compare our fate and fail to recognize our pattern of thoughts we carry in different situations.

Template of Our Life


Life actually comes as a package. If there are many pleasant features, there are many hideous and morbid aspects, as well. We will have to accept them cheerfully, just as we need to accept difficulties and problems. All such things together provide the template for testing out mettle for chiselling away our imperfections to enable us to gradually merge with the Supreme Being.
So all the dramatis personae in our life form an inalienable part of the cosmic drama with whom we share the 'Give and Take' account generated through present and past lives as per our karma. It is entirely up to us to make the best of a distressing situation.

Undying Nature of Thoughts


Swami Vivekananda asserted that each thoughts has a life and whatever one thinks even sitting in a Himalayan Cave is bound to happen. Even if a person fails to realize his/her thought in one lifetime, his/her prayers will take shape in some birth. One reads about law of persistence of force, law of conservation of energy, law of indestructibility of matter, so too mental activity, willing, and wishing cannot be destroyed.

Human Actions and Thoughts


Wishes forms samskaras in the mind. These wishes may take several births to come true and some may not bring happiness. Psychologists advise people to think positive and visualize their dreams coming true because positive thoughts help us in realizing our dreams. Sage Vasistha declared in Yoga Vasistha that human actions can overcome destiny. He instructs that by right thinking and discrimination cultivated by self efforts - one can achieve anything , even salvation.

Conclusion


Each human is given a chance to exercise free will to get liberation. With intense will power we can do anything that we dream about.
Have we ever paused to reflect on the bounty that God has blessed us with and how many of our wishes have been granted by him? Despite positive developments in our lives, we are dissatisfied if certain wishes are not fulfilled. We have our plans but the Almighty has His own plans. If things happen our way, we should be happy. But if they don't happen our way, we should be happier because they are happening God's way.

See how a true wish came true, when a mother wished a dream retirement scene in her life, which inspired me to write this article.                        
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