From Broke to Broker

12.04.2007

Saw The Pursuit of Happyness with my son Srivatsan.

This is a warm, touching and at times wryly humorous movie about the struggles of Chris Gardner, a homeless, penniless scanner salesman and the challenges faced by him on his journey from "Broke" to "Broker".

It is also the story of his extraordinary love and affection for his son "Christopher" and the extraordinary trust placed by Christopher on his father's honesty and ability to bring them out of their hard times.

A few scenes are imprinted in our memory and refuse to leave. The scene where father and son are forced to spend a night in a subway restroom is brilliant because of the underplaying of emotions. The point where Chris finally breaks down and silently sobs with his son's head on his lap while someone bangs on the rest room door must be one of the best twenty scenes in movie history.

Similar is the scene where the five year old boy has to sleep alone in the dark in a charity bed while his father works above in a lighted landing on a scanner that he has to repair and sell to keep them afloat. Chris assures the child that he is near at hand by asking "Do you Trust me?" again and again This is is a classic example of the victory of Love and Trust over Poverty and apparent failure.

Another clear message from the movie that Chris actually articulates is " Happiness is not a goal, it is a Path. You can never achieve happiness, you can only pursue this illusory state that disappears on attaining it!" As Chris says, " Thomas Jefferson had it right when he included the "pursuit" of happiness in the Declaration. No Government can guarantee Happiness and no Government shall deny the right of its citizens to Pursue it in their own way upon their own terms.

I could not help but compare Chris Gardner's Rags to Riches story with the story of Sherman McCoy the white american Wall street bond salesman who is the hero of Tom Wolfe's famous novel The Bonfire of the Vanities. While The Pursuit is a Rags to Riches story, The Bonfire is a portrayal of the Reverse. I am sure Chris Gardner could have met Sherman McCoy on their respective ways up and down the ladder of fortune. Both are set in America. The Pursuit in 'Frisco and the Bonfire in the Big Apple. Both paint starkly contradictory pictures of extravagance and irresponsibility coupled with great determination and dedication to the acquisition of wealth.