Reflection: Three Idiots

Reflection: Three Idiots

Carl Angelo Mateo Caluag

            I had an initial reaction when I first heard about the movie Three Idiots. I thought it was a story of three Indian guys just being wild and having fun in their college life. But I was wrong when I watched it. Three Idiots is a story of three Indian guys being wild, having fun, and learning things in their college life. I have learned three new ideas in life from of this film.

            First, life is a constant struggle. I mean to say that life is composed of everyday choices that would affect everything either in a beneficial or adverse way. Some people take it as a challenge, and therefore, they do every means to succeed. Professor Viru is such the man. He believes and practices a strong principle that one should fight for resources to win every day struggles, a mirror of Charles Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest principle. Regardless of what happens to anyone around him, he will just leave them if they don’t keep on going forward. On the other hand, Rancho is the opposite of Professor Viru. He helps not just himself, but others also. He wants others to share his success in life, like when he used his foster brother’s name to get the College title for him, because he needs the education more than the degree. The good thing about his principle is that it puts consideration on the lives of others.

            Since life is a constant struggle, hardships may come every once in a while. It’s the second idea. Farhan’s dilemma of either to acquiesce to his father’s insistence to make him study engineering or to go on his favored path of being a professional wildlife photographer is the struggle that brought hardship. Raju’s challenge of working hard to get an engineering title and a job to earn money for his wretched family is another struggle that also brought hardship. It’s either they go with flow or divert from what is customary. Like them, we each have our own struggles that may bring suffering if not solved wisely.

            Because hardships may come since life is a struggle, we should always think that “all is well”, not “all was well” nor “all will be well.” It’s the third and the most important idea.  It is not of itself the solution to all life’s problems; rather, it serves as a motivator and a catalyst. Farhan made a decision to follow his heart because he believed that all is well. Raju did his best to become a good engineer because he believed the same. Rancho overcame his struggles in college because he also believed the same.  It is rest assured that a positive outlook in life can lift us up when we are down. The hardest “multiple choice” can be answered by it.

            In the end, Three Idiots doesn’t just made me laugh; it also inspired me to simplify the meaning of everything when people complicates it. It inspired me to keep moving forward when sometimes the end can hardly be seen. It taught me that under pleasurable or unwanted circumstances, hope can always solve anything. Hope goes beyond the limits of practicality, but only when we take action; it won’t do its work alone. The rest is up to us. Since struggles can make or break us, the choice is up to us. The kicking of the baby’s foot is the signal of success, and that success only happened because Rancho and his friends believed that all is well. For ‘when life goes out of control,’