Hometown Baghdad

Courtesy: chat the planet. Ausama, Saif and Adel (from L to R)

Few weeks ago I watched “Hometown Baghdad” on the NGC. It was a very moving documentary about the plight of modern higher middle class youth from Baghdad. The three protagonists are Saif, Ausama and Adel. They are easy going hedonistic people who are clearly battered emotionally by the strife and anarchy prevailing in their country at the moment.

The documentary starts with gory details of missile attack on college campus. The first part is sarcastically named “Brains on Campus” because a student’s brain is buried on the campus. Adel says how dangerous it is for the students to go to schools or colleges. The threat of attack by either US forces or Iraqi militants looms large. Still exams remain a tension, perhaps a welcome headache. Ausama plans to do higher study perhaps a doctorate from abroad and then come back to Iraq after the nation stabilizes. Saif is a dentist who again plans to leave Iraq but is crippled by Iraqi government’s policy of compulsory 3 years practice in Iraq before giving certificates. Adel too, has similar plans.

Power cut is very common in Baghdad. People live on generators. But if you think it is easy in an oil rich country like Iraq, you cannot be far from reality. Actually, they wait fro 9-10 hours in queue before they get any fuel for their cars. The only silver lining is that drivers befriend each other in this long arduous wait.

Songs of pain reflects the mental state of our protagonists. They use heavy metal to give vent to their feelings about the atmosphere surrounding them that of death, destruction, darkness and despair. The webisode on Symphony of bullets shows the dark humor. Adel listens to this exchange of fire and choppers hovering while reclining in his home as if he is listening to a melodious song. Ausama is a step ahead and he can identify Iraqi or the US bullets. He can identify a sniper’s bullet or the omnipresent AK bullets. Whenever there is gun battle they have nothing to do except remain at home.

Everyday life is pretty dull, depressing and intimidating. Adel and his friends go to an abandoned swimming pool in a resort whose owner has left Baghdad. These are some of the last places of entertainment left for the residents of Baghdad. Younger brothers of Adel are so much affected by the sanguinary scenes on street that their favorite game is playing with the toy gun pretending as snipers on street. Ausama’s mother is very worried about his safety. This is the situation in whole of Iraq. Death can come any moment and from any direction. The barbwires in every house point to the gravity of situation. Saif satirically comments that soon people of Baghdad will have tanks on their gates to protect themselves.

Hatred for the US forces pervades whole of Baghdad. Ausama shows his grandmother’s home that has been targeted by the US forces suspecting it as terrorist hideout. The scars of war are visible in that home. The glass panes ridden with bullet holes, desecrated paintings, broken locks and disappearance of family valuables indicate the amount of destruction done. Ausama’s uncle had been shot dead by the US forces. The frustration and anger due to this incident still rankles them. One of the ways used to release this anger is by graffiti which Adel demonstrates. They are particularly incensed with American forces calling themselves liberators.

Pessimism can be felt throughout the documentary. They advise their friends abroad not to come back to Iraq. They want to leave Iraq as soon as possible. Saif has no certificates proving his education in dentistry but still he wants to get away from din of Baghdad. His feelings become clear when he says forcefully, “I want to live”. Shia-Sunni conflict is very saddening for Adel and he does not want to talk about it. He is pretty aghast with professional killers abounding in Iraq.

The opinion about troops is divergent in Saif, Adel and Ausama. While Adel believes American troops maintain law and order and keep them safe from Shia militants (Adel is a Sunni but calls himself secular as do the other protagonists), Ausama is more critical of excesses of troops when they go about arresting people opposing American presence. Saif is sort of neutral about the presence of troops but will prefer Americans leaving Iraq. In the end Adel, the free-spirited guy endorses Jim Hendrix when he says, "I cannot choose my death but I can choose the way I live".

This documentary is an eye-opener for anyone not from places like Kashmir, Palestine, Iraq, Chechenya and others. However, it features only educated higher middle class youths fed on Western music. It would have been great if someone from lower strata of the society would have been included in the documentary. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter and this makes war against terror difficult. Perhaps Ausama’s uncle was killed due to paranoia in the US troops due to suicide bombers but for his family this is an irreparable damage.

World peace is a coward’s dream but sometimes dreams of cowards are preferable to braveheart’s.

P.S. The webisodes can be found at Chat the Planet.