Teaspoon

This short is a frighteningly real depiction of how such a typical Indian situation can end up.

It is the norm in India for disabled or bedridden elders to be looked after at home by their kith and kin. In Teaspoon it is the daughter in law stuck at home alone all the time because of her paralysed bedridden father in law. She works from home while her husband goes out of the house to work every day.

Teaspoon shows that as in most such situations, she is not intentionally cruel. It is just that she is frustrated being stuck in the house all the time and having to forego her desire for a holiday break because of her father in law's plight. Though she does try to do her best for him, the old man's habit of tapping a teaspoon on the side of the bed to draw her attention, causes acute irritation - or rather the sound does. Not at all unusual as most people in such a situation could testify. The husband who is not around most of the time, fails to appreciate his wife's frustration.

Eventually one of these tapping bouts sends her off her rocker and she suffocates the old man to death with a pillow.

The film ends depicting the shock when she realises what she has done. An even greater shock awaits her at the sound of her husband tapping his teaspoon on his cup, something she had never noticed earlier.

This short is shockingly real rather than a very interesting story. Anyone who is stuck in the house caring for an elderly relative will find something in there that resonates with their own feelings, no matter how harsh. That is the truth.