Arangetram (1973) - My thoughts

 Talking about a movie that released way back in 1973, and 30 years later, I still think this is one of the best movies offered by Tamil Cinema. The sheer depth in  categorization and bold theme chosen by the director are the major reasons why this movie stands out in comparison to other scripts that have been offered ever since. K Balachander is one of the pillars of the industry who offered variety of scripts and showed the courage to portray strong female protagonists. To sculpt such characters, one needs to fall in love with them, and KB must have been deeply in love with Lalita (actress prameela), to have etched out a masterpiece. 

I happen to see a video, where the blogger mentioned this movie as one his all time favorites and this provoked me to revisit this movie and observe the sheer intent to make the audience think and decide for themselves (deciding for yourself is a topic we never like to think about).

The first thing that struck me was the title, and how there are tacit mentions sprayed throughout this 150 minute masterpiece. How the friend is consoled by telling that till you reach the stage, you will be nervous and once you start your Arangetram you would never know that you were once nervous (Arangetram medai erum varail thaan kashtam). One of KB's favorite topics is maintaining the balance between authenticity of a ritual and the repercussions of modernization; How Ramu Sasthri feels humiliated and squirms at the way society is performing the acts unauthentically. The social messages that are tacitly touched upon by KB just leaves me spellbound; be it flesh trade and how male escapes scot-free, family planning or societal impressions on a call-girl. 

There are various scenes where you can find KB's stamp on his characters, Kamal's opportunism, Lalitha's histrionics due to frustration towards men or be is the usual, not-a-brahmin-do-gooder. This movie, tends to push you towards thinking about the outlook of a middle class indian family and the parochial view on a woman we once lived with. 

Portraying Lalitha as an intelligent, subversive young woman is a master-stroke and makes you sit up and take notice of the emotional intelligence she possesses. This is a movie, that i think helped Tamil cinema hold its head high and commercial success only encourages you to choose scripts such as these. 

It is tough to imagine the 70s and 80s without KB and makes me uncomfortable thinking of the movies that might have ruled in his absence. We would have had KR Vijaya as the obedient daughter-in-law and preached to house wives how to follow the 26423498 rules to keep you husband happy and not question him. I am proud to have seen KB's movies and still salute him for the sheer intent in making movies with unusual characterization. Characters in the movie make-or-break the experience and KB had that spot on. 

To other people who might have not watched this, I highly recommend it to understand the quality of cinema then, and how surprisingly we never found another KB ( there might be a mani, shankar or Bala), though Bhagyaraj was pretty close in terms of characterization.

 (You can find the movie here)http://www.einthusan.com/movies/watch.php?lang=tamil&id=351

Thats how much i travel everyday

View Journey to Office in a larger map

I know I must have been crazy to trace this on a map. But voila it was fun doing it. Atleast more fun that riding on a bike this long(I dont want you guys to see the irritated side of me by talking about the car drive this long.)

If you guys have noticed I have a better insight on the roads and areas in bangalore then the accolades must reach my company !

Emancipation

I am ready to give anything to feel this free again. Just that time's moved on and i haven't. From a person who always wanted to be ahead of time to this position, lot has changed

(PS: I tried mobile blogging this and it got directed to the wrong place :D)

The Me 4years back and NOW

Times change and so do we along with it.
Either i am aging pretty fast or my expectations from movies are changing dynamically.

ME NOW AND 4 Years ago

Flashback
I got up at 7 and finish up all the duties i do for myself and the society and then rush to Natraj Theatre to see if i am able to sneak in 6 tickets to a vijay's movie FDFS (i might forget the abbreviation next year)
And the odds are high that i wont get the ticket. So i would have to call up the useless friends(who let me jump into this and not help me out with this) if they are ok with the ticket price (black ....)I organize this whole entourage and then we have a time of our life watching the movie and then talking about it ..

NOW
Things now have changed so much to my dismay. I have not called my friends to see if they are available to go watch the movie.
I have reported to office earlier than normal days.
I dont browse the websites to see what they think of the movie.
And above all assuming i do go watch the movie today, i am pretty sure what the reaction would be among my friends - Just put the heads down and not talk about this movie for a while and then get on with something more interesting to talk about.

Be who you are

If you ever hear the cliche about living life the way you are and never lie even when cornered to do so? its just a matter of time before they go through this.
Last week i visited the saloon and for a haircut.
Being the lazy chap i was i even decided to trim the facial hair.
This chap had a TV in the saloon and like most barbers in bangalore this chap was also a Gult.

We were watching an "interesting" telugu movie on gemini.
I enjoy hanging conversations that had no start and dont know where it will end , or for that matter i may not even remember what we talked.
Right when i had the foam on the face and he began the shave, he asked
MAGADHEERA NODDRA Sir, I had seen it and wasn't extremely happy to have seen it.
But the position i was in, and considering the stakes involved with it, a small lie or hiding you real opinion never seemed so tough.

So when you go through self help materials, write back to the author about what happened to me and would he have spoken the frank truth if he were in such a particular situation?

How the new Timings is killing me.

Get up
Bath
Missed call
Run
Sleep
Office

Well to sum it all up this is my daily routine for the last month.
I wouldn't be harsh enough to say that it is mundane but just sweet enough to say that it is killing my personality.
For a person who would travel for an hour and a half either ways and can sleep through the journey one may feel it just wouldn't matter when the work timings are placed.
Well, on paper it doesn't matter.
Thats how i planned my day when the announcement of the 8 30 AM work arrival was announced. I convinced myself, " Dude just get up an hour earlier and sleep through the journey"
I just hope it was that easy.

Things i really miss -

Talking awesomely to mom about her dream
Sipping through coffee alongside watching (not reading) BT (Bangalore Times)
Watching NDTV in the morning to catch up with all that happened last night (my dreams don't come on TV, cuz i don't make it public)
relax walk to the cab stop.

Back to School

 

We just happened to pass the school coincidentally and all of a sudden the guard out there recognized my face and called us in. So after like 8 years, i stepped into school and all i could feel was "Those were the days i can never get out of my head." Not everyday u feel this way :)

This moved me

Powered by this Free Wordpress Templates website!

Tuesdays with morrie

Morrie Schwartz was a college professor in philosophy at Brandeis University for many years. One of his students in the 1970's was Mitch Albom. Morrie, "Coach," and Mitch became good friends over those years. Then Mitch graduated and went on with his life, too busy to keep in contact with his professor.

Almost twenty years later, Mitch is now a sports newscaster and writer. He and his wife are part of America's fast lane of life, doing well and striving for yet more. Then he watches Nightline one night. Ted Koppel is interviewing Morrie. And Mitch is surprised to discover Morrie is dying. He has ALS, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Morrie is delighted to hear from Mitch again, and immediately invites him to visit. Thus begins a fourteen week, every Tuesday, visit and life lesson. It is also a funny and poignant life lesson. Morrie is able to take a look at life not only from the philisophical view he has taught over the years, but now also from the "end of life" viewpoint. He is a peace with himself and can share that peace and knowledge with Mitch and the others around him.

This book is a collaberation between Morrie and Mitch. They taped their visits each time Mitch visited. They discussed the big questions of life (what is love, living, death, marriage, a relationship) to the small ones (what's for lunch, how's your wife, how's your son, and the war in Bosnia). Mitch rediscovered the relationship that had never been broken. Morrie rediscovered his old friend. Also, Morrie was able to use this time to do what he loved, teach. The last line of the book is the perfect epitaph "A teacher until the end."

The book hits the right note - not too depressing because it deals with death, yet not irreverent or lighthearted to cover up death. Instead it is a wonderful chronicling of friendship and life questions. It is a short read, and worth it. Mitch is able to portray Morrie so that the professor once again is alive (and dying) for the reader.

I'd been putting off reading this because, as you know, there are too many books and too little time. I'm glad I finally made the time. This one will be worth a revisit as well. Morrie Schwartz' life philosophies help keep a person's perspective and keeps him grounded .
It also gets you pensive as to what our priorities are ?

BILL 's Realization

" Bill u r the best thing that could have happened to me " said his mom

Oh was i ever so important to others and having done nothing big to her , mulled Bill
Is it mothers that are so self contended of their offsprings or is it anything by them seems good.
Bill got into the pensive mode.
' There have been relations in my life where i have seemed to give more than what i could expecting i'd get them back someday and i kept expecting , and here my mom ( she may have been this matured and a level headed CAT ) seems to be more than happy with even the negligence i provided.
And this day i bent over backwards for a small work which was pretty trivial of wat i was capable of , and she seems to be elated.
Just imagine if i were to give my maximum to her. '
The very thought , gave impetus to B I L L ! ! ! !

Ephemeral life!!!

Why do awe about life's capricious nature? Why is that no-one ever came up with a mathematical formula on how to live life ? Because it would be like the whodunit with the murderer's name in the prologue. Life is also kinda movie and u know the hero would turn out smiling but the sting in the story is u don't know who the hero is . I would have to laud the risk analysts who try to predict the unpredictable life and negate the evanescence of it.
There is nothing in life thats going to come all the way with you to ur graveyard and even if something does,you would never know what it is , you can just speculate what it is . So why think expect something to come all the way in this whimsical life?
Ur comp stays faithful to u for a while and becomes laggard and so does ur automobile . There is wear and tear in the vehicle and so will it be in ur relations .Expecting a lot of things to stay till u do , is wee bit immature.
So being prepared to lose the best we presently have is the next to that best thing , that a mature mind can have and knowing this u would appreciate my blog name .
Like this is would probably be Tendulkar's last world cup , every good thing in life has a termination and asking it not to would make the good thing otherwise . Giving due respect to good things would help u have the best of good memories .

PS: This is one of the few things i wrote as and when i felt and this is very much visible in the scattered content in the text

Ring Road

Ring road epitomises more than just one thing.For some it may be one of the few roads in bangalore where you can drive your vehicle at speeds you can seldom imagine. For some its the hub of all the crime. And for a few its the road that is close to a desert where you have equal volumes of sand blowing at you .But recently i got to view another of its facets when i went to a movie through it. I, being an ardent movie buff was starving cuz of the sanctions that the karnataka rakshana vedike had put forward to retaliate the tribunal's verdict to release the water to TN. Well i thought i would put a halt to this(my starving for movies) and reached the multiplex well in time for the show . I had 2 other friends with me who would have not less than cursed me to have taken them along .Well i would prefer not to mention the name of the movie cuz i wouldn't like to rub them (Kar) on the wrong side. Well the movie apart, lemme continue to tell u what i set out to tell, the ring road.What could have lifted my sagging spirits after the movie better than the drive back on the ring road at 1 in the night .The 15 km stretch from PVR to marathalli was one of the few drives that I would cherish in bangalore.I by no means try to compare this to the best roads we have in the state(hinting at the bangalore mysore highway).But the metamorphosis of the road from the time we went to the movie and the whole facade of the road when we came back reiterated to us the capricious nature of the city life.The same street where traffic trickled slower than Jeffry Archer's books is now close to if not pacier than rajnikanath's movies.My bike for once seems to have enjoyed the speed.For people anywhere else other than bangalore ,can't appreciate this beautiful feeling cuz u havent experienced the sheer pleasure of the 9th wonder (bangalore's traffic).For many in bangalore may feel this is getting a bit more web space and attention than it requires ....
LIFE IS A GREAT EQUALISER .
While going for the movie >> My spirit and traffic was high
:( While back my spirit was low but my bike can FLY!!!

Never knew the other side

A first-grade teacher, Ms Neelam (Age 28) was having
trouble with one
of her students


The teacher asked,"Boy. what is your problem?"

Boy. answered, "I'm too smart for the first-grade.My
sister is in
the third-grade and I'm smarter than she is! I think
I should be in
the third-grade too!"

Ms Neelam had enough. She took Boy. to the
principal's office.
While Boy. waited in the outer office, the teacher
explained to the
principal what the situation was. The principal told
Ms Neelam he
would give the boy a test and if he failed to answer
any of his
questions he was to go back to the first-grade and
behave.She agreed.

Boy. was brought in and the conditions were
explained to him and he
agreed to take the test.

Principal: "What is 3 x 3?"

Boy.: "9".

Principal: "What is 6 x 6?"

Boy.: "36".

And so it went with every question the principal
thought a third-
grade should know. The principal looks at Ms Neelam
and tells her, "I
think Boy. can go to the third-grade."


Ms Neelam says to the principal, "I have some of my
own questions.

Can I ask him ?" The principal and Boy. both agree.

Ms Neelam asks, "What does a cow have four of that I
have only two
of?

Boy., after a moment "Legs."

Ms Nee lam: "What is in your pants that you have but
I do not have?"

Boy.: "Pockets."

Ms Neelam: What starts with a C and ends with a T,
is hairy,

oval, delicious and contains thin whitish liquid?

Boy.: Coconut

Ms Neelam: What goes in hard and pink then comes out
soft And

sticky? The principal's eyes open really wide and
before he could

stop the answer, Boy. was taking charge.

Boy.: Bubblegum

Ms Neelam: What does a man do standing up, a woman
does sitting

down and a dog does on three legs? The principal's
eyes open

really wide and before he could stop the answer...

Boy.: Shake hands

Ms Neelam: Now I will ask some "Who am I" sort of
questions, okay?

Boy.: Yep.


Ms Neelam: You stick your poles inside me. You tie
me down to get me
up. I get wet before you do.

Boy.: Tent

Ms Neelam: A finger goes in me. You fiddle with me
when you're

bored. The best man always has me first.The
Principal was

looking restless, a bit tense and took one large
Patiala Vodka peg.

Boy.: Wedding Ring



Ms Neelam: I come in many sizes. When I'm not well,
I drip. When you
blow me, you feel good.

Boy.: Nose



Ms Neelam: I have a stiff shaft. My tip penetrates.
I come with a
quiver.

Boy.: Arrow



Ms Neelam: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in
'K' that means lot
of heat and excitement?

Boy.: Firetruck



Ms Neelam: What word starts with a 'F' and ends in
'K' & if u dont
get
it u have to use ur hand.

Boy.: Fork



Ms Neelam: What is it that all men have one of it's
longer on some
men
than on others, the pope doesn't use his and a man
gives it to his
wife
after they're married?

Boy.: SURNAME



Ms Neelam: What part of the man has no bone but has
muscles, has lots
of veins, like pumping, & is responsible for making
love ?

Boy.: HEART.



The principal breathed a sigh of relief and said to
the teacher,

"Send this Boy. to STANFORD University, I got the last
ten questions
wrong myself!

paradox of life

Life has always been an oxymoron to me . But offlate it seems to be peaking . I just saw a packaged tour on CNN IBN about the adventure tourism of New Zealand organizing a couple of amazing tour iterinaries. Went online and checked the price and the plan came upto 40k , so was already contemplating it . Life had just taked me to the helm of imagination when this foto u see , slapped me hard .

I at one end am think of splurging upto half a lakh when that money can just feed a lakh children for a day . This is something thats been in my mind for quite some time as to where do i draw a line b/n the 2 .

I strongly feel that poverty during the youth is cruicification. Ur mind cant accept ur inabilties of being under normal . U see hedonistic life style on one side and on the other u struggle for a meal per day . Its like the mirror which u can see but cant have a solid form .

All u can do is curse God for having made this big a bias on different people, and claiming that all are his children. Its only the disbelief in God that would get better of u .

i think we should have reservations

I think we should have job reservations in all the fields. I
completely support the PM and all the politicians for promoting this.
Let's
start the reservation with our cricket team. We should have 10 percent
reservation for muslims. 30 percent for OBC, SC/ST like that. Cricket
rules
should be modified accordingly. The boundary circle should be reduced
for an SC/ST player. The four hit by an OBC player should be considered
as a six and a six hit by a OBC player should be counted as 8 runs. An
OBC player scoring 60 runs should be declared as a century.

We should influence ICC and make rules so that the pace bowlers like
Shoaib Akhtar should not bowl fast balls to our OBC player. Bowlers
should bowl maximum speed of 80 kilometer per hour to an OBC player.
Any
delivery above this speed should be made illegal.

Also we should have reservation in Olympics. In the 100 meters race, an
OBC player should be given a gold medal if he runs 80 meters.

There can be reservation in Government jobs also. Let's recruit" - MITR 

Believe in " SPIRITS" ???

Look at the photo. See different faces before and after reflection

ISN'T THAT SCARY !!!!

Life at an appliacation layer

Have been getting feedbacks about not writing anything phylosophical in the blogs. So i'll jus start away with one. A major inspiration to my post would be my prof at college who just cant teach the subject without a real life mapping about the topic. If u havent got what i said ,just go ahead and read the post, u ll understand it urself.

Life when looked from the uppermost layer would be enjoyable and easy to understand, something like the application layer in the network layers.Like it doesnt take a lot of ur grey energy to understand the email that is in plain english and needs just a prior knowledge of english. But similar to the analogy as u go deep and deep into either life or the layers , obscurity slaps you ruthlessly.

The more u try to know about life , the more u feel u dont know. Just imagine if u were in the bottommost layer of the network layers and u just see the 1's and 0's passing across , how many of us can actually decode the meaning . The same holds good even for life , when u try to go the root, the more obscure it gets. Yes there are people who understand that , but the number is miniscule compared the ones who dont make sense of it.

Stayin at the upper surface may not satisfy ur quest to know more about life, but will make ur stay on earth enjoyable.

Think i have kept this post SUCCINT (so as to not bore the readers)