Hidalgo The Beautiful Horse

I saw the movie Hidalgo yesterday- a friend of mine privy to my ardent appreciation of Mr. Vigo Mortensen and also of horses was nice enough to lend the DVD.

I liked the movie. The details about the actual race were okay. But I loved the horse. I loved the part where in the end, the cowboy comes back and buys all the Indian's horses and frees them all. There's something about an unbridled wild horse that to me embodies the spirit of freedom (both mental and physical), and beauty. Maybe it represents a life I want to have but don't. Maybe it's just a myth and none of us really live a life of truly being free of our demons, vices, inhibitions and fears. And then I see these beautiful animals running free - mostly on screen but once in real - and that's what they represents to me. That something that beautiful actually exists.

While watching the movie it brought to mind two things -
One being my agenda of having Suhaana learn horse riding maybe when she's three (have to check minimum required age). This is the part where I thrust all my unfulfilled aspirations on Suhaana. And I need to do that before she's old enough I have a voice and say no! Well, she is already there in some ways. But I actually think she'll enjoy it as well. She loves the outdoors. She likes the animals she's known so far - dogs, ducks, cats. She was curious about the giraffe we saw at zoo last week. So I'm hopeful she'll like it.

The other thought was a moving target. I started wondering how do we want to bring up Suhaana. Should she grow up closer to nature than to TV. Should she grow up closer to amenities and interactions or some place more serene and slower - so she has time to know herself before getting on any group bandwagon. But what are the skills she needs to have to live in the world today and or tomorrow. Is it love of nature or is it the ability to network in an ever inter-connected web of social life? I wonder..