My thoughts on Water, Bhopal Express and Flightplan

Flightplan turned out to be a bit disappointing. The movie is well directed, however, the plot derails itself and is very unconvincing. At the end of it all, one is left with a sore feeling.

Deepa Mehta's Water does a wonderful job highlighting the plight of widows resigned to a widow house. The surprising fact is that these widow houses exist even today. Set in the timeframe of 1938, melodious songs, lyrics and music add to the lovely treatment of a subject which seems pretty off-beat but sinks in as you glide through the movie. Although both, Lisa Ray and John Abraham have done justice to their roles, their glamorous legacy makes you wonder if it really is 1938. Its a viewer's bias after all. Seema Biswas gives a marvellous performance and so does Sarala, the little widow.

Deepa Mehta ignites the debate on the pertinence of our interpreations of the scriptures while also pointing to the fact that good traditions and customs should be upheld. When is the time that we challenge the customs and scriptural interpretations that have been so deeply entrenched into the fabric of our collective psyche. Seema Biswas portrays a superb conflict between adhering to your faith and listening to the voice of your conscience.

And finally, Gandhiji's words answer it all. Gandhiji has said that up until now he believed that God is Truth. However, now he realizes that it is the other way round - Truth is God. All in all, a fabulous movie. Definitely a must watch. On very similar lines, Diksha is a must watch as well.

Bhopal Express by Mahesh Mathai is another brilliant example of what movies as an art form can do to present the reality, the truth and the injustice that plague our worlds. Bhopal express is about the Union Carbide tragedy - the worst industrial tragedy ever. Led by Kay kay and Naseeruddin Shah, the movie delivers a punch. The film presents the trauma, the neglect & mis-management that led to this gas tragedy and the shameless cover up by the Union Carbide. Bhopal Express highlights the following facts - 15000 people died and 500,000 are suffering from exposure implications. 10-15 people of those exposed succumb to death every month, even today! For more, check the facts from Bhopal Express's official website.

In pain and pleasure

Hate to start on a rough note. Last few days have been painful. Something's gone wrong with my lower back and its been excrutiatingly painful. Literally speaking, something has been on my nerves! Being able to stand more than 5 minutes is beyond question. However lying down and sitting in certain positions helps escape the trauma. Its fascinating to recollect how your body speaks to you and how when you dont listen, it just screams! I have been feeling the beginning of this pain from last week. An optimistic and an equally avid procrastinator that I am, I paid no heed to what was being told to me. And now, there are these funny postures I find myself in.

But, as with any pain, there IS pleasure. My forced confinement to my home did help me get a few long-pending things done. One of them is the completion of my Goods to follow list before we embark on our landing procedure in Canada. Resolved a few vital US & Canada Customs and Border questions related to my move. And thats not all. In fact, the best part was I got to see quite some movies !!!

I watched some very lovely movies. Water by Deepa Mehta, Iqbal by Nagesh Kukunoor and Bhopal Express are simply a different league. Excellent choice of subject and brilliant execution. Dosti and Soch are good pass times in the masala genre of Bollywood. Jigyasa is a no-no. I also partially watched a documentary on Prophet Mohammed. Learned quite a few interesting things on the life of Muhammad. However, the fact that the contributors to the documentary were only US-based Islamic researchers or muslims, left me with a bit of distaste.

Whatever little I learned from the documentary:

1. Prophet Muhammad married a 40 year old widow whose name was Khadija. At the time of his wedding, the prophet was 24. Khadija was a working woman!

2. The prophet was a merchant before he was enlightened.

3. Kabba (in Mecca) existed even before Prophet Muhammad was born.

4. Jewish and Christian religion existed way before Islam was founded by Prophet Muhammad.

5. Islam is the fastest growing religion in United States.

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of this information.

I hope to write in more detail on these movies and the documentary. For now, my eyelids are drooping.

Currently reading - Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

Movies in pipeline: Flightplan, Being Cyrus.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Wishing you a very very very Happy Birthday! I love you!

A Good book. A Bad reader.

I finished reading the five people you meet in heaven in a hooked-on mode today noon. The explicit mention of the mode invites itself because of two things. I made a desperate yet unsuccessful attempt to complete the book battling my heavy eye-lids and eventually falling short of the last 30 pages at 1:00 am. This late morning, I picked up from where I left as I walked to work. Determined to complete it before starting my work day (which ironically began at 12:06 pm), I was hanging around my office building as I read through the final pages of the book. And yes, it was all worth it.

However, I committed absolute injustice reading this book. For one, I think there are these books that lose their charm if you pull through with a lot of small breaks. The continuity, the feel and the ambience are lost. You are at a point where you find yourself in the skin of the character(s) or are just done visualizing the situation and picture the author has sketched. And then, you take a break. The next time you pick up, it is not the same train.

Books like these theorize the unknown and abstract and then conjure a story to present the message. The five people you meet in heaven touches upon a subject very dear to me - death and beyond. As a matter of fact, it is a story of the beyond based on what one has lived in the here and now. It is a well written book. A nonjudgmental note, nevertheless - certain parts of the book do lend the feel of a self-help motive. On the other hand, the author has done a brilliant job addressing some challenges that most of us brood on at some stage or the other in life.

Parallely reading - Ishavasya Upanishad (text, translation, commentary)

Books in the pipeline - Tipping Point, Ishmael, Blink, The World is Flat

Movies looking forward to - Being Cyrus

Teen Deewarein and more

Over the period I have read books and watched movies, one thing I have learnt is this. It is not you who choose the books; its the books who choose you. I have had this feeling umpteen number of times and I can, with undoubted surety say that it is true for my movies as well. Often times, I have brought movies home and have returned without watching them. And then, one fine day, you bring the movie back, it is the perfect mood setting for the movie you still dont know about, and you stick it in. A few hours later, the movie ends and you begin! You are swept by the thoughts you never imagined could have been there.

I love to read books and watch movies that are both, optimistic and thought-provoking. I flinch from depressing, pessimistic movies. True, some of those can be thought-provoking as well. But at the end of it, i want my mind running, thoughts gushing and my self, charged up!

That was precisely my bias for my delay in picking up Hotel Rwanda. But it turned out to be thankfully different. The movie is a riveting story of the courage and humanity of a moderate Hutu man married to a Tutsi woman set in the times of Rwandan genocide. The ruling Hutus are avenging the previous Tutsi rule by cleansing the Tutsis and the moderate Hutus. Don Cheadle, the protagonist, gives a stupendous performance showcasing how his character evolves from being self-centered to someone who is ready to sacrifice for the sake of his fellow beings in the midst of adversity. The film is a poignant sketch of an infamous historical occurence; something called Rwanda, that to many of us may have crossed our minds as a mere news headline or a blip on our memory's radar.

Yesterday, I watched Teen Deewarein by Nagesh Kukunoor. It is one of those movies that choose you. I remember renting it a few months back and returning without watching it. The success of Iqbal (what a shame, I have yet to see it) and hence Nagesh Kukunoor shows what this guy is made up of. Teen Deewarein is about brilliant story, direction and performances. To me, it appeared as a movie portraying how our lives intersect with that of others without us knowing it and how those few moments leave an indelible mark on all of us. It is cinema very well done with excellent performances by Naseeruddin Shah, Jackie Shroff, Nagesh Kukunoor himself and Juhi Chawla. No wonder it may not have minted big bucks at the box office for the sheer overuse of English. However, that by no means goes against the movie. Go watch it!

Following Teen Deewarein, the first thought that struck me was how two movies and a book had recently crossed paths with me giving the very same message. One of those movies was ofcourse, Teen Deewarein.

A few months back, I watched Crash! Until Teen Deewarein I could not realize its essence although it was so evident. Maybe it was because of the lack of my attention or the simple fact that I didnt have the English sub-titles on. Yeah, I still need them! But now, its all falling into place. I'll probably watch Crash again.

The book. I am reading Five people you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom - the brilliant author behind Tuesdays with Morrie. I wont be a spoiler for those of you who havent read either of the books. But I will surely come back to share my thought once I am done reading Five people ... As for those who haven't read Tuesdays with Morrie its a lovely read. You cant go wrong picking up this book.

Recent movies and books

Movies:

Cinderalla Man is a delight. Flawless movie-making, brilliant performances and a stimulating story of courage in the midst of adversity.

Finding Neverland is thoroughly enjoyable. It took me this movie to appreciate the brilliance of Johny Depp's performance. Kate Winslet is commendable.

Next in line: Hotel Rwanda

Books:

one night @ the call center: a page turner, simplistic, easy, enjoyable read. witty humour. stay patient to go past the prologue and you will be rewarded.

the monk who sold his ferrari: pathetic, outrageous, shamelessly superficial. all thumbs down!

Current: The Five people you meet in heaven

Indian blogosphere

In the past couple days, I have been blog-hopping some Indian bloggers I found references of, either from the Yahoo 360 community or while googling for a book review (my memory has mostly done quite opposite of what it was meant for). And boy, was I in for a pleasant surprise. I rushed through a range of emotions as I jumped from one to another, reading their blogs, skimming the feedback, hopping onto someone I found in the blogroll or those from the comments. It is one remarkable exposition of talent that I have found. So far, to my sheer ignorance, I was always under the impression that Indian bloggers mostly belonged to the US, were inherently techies and hence followed that genre, and that those who were from India were only a celebrated few that adorned the likes of rediff and indiatimes. Am I glad to be proven uninformed!

These blogs that I am talking about are not one of those 84000-a-day creations, neither come today gone tomorrow. I came across these as stupendously varied in interests, exuding amazing clarity of thought and presentation, blog entries that were very well categorized, displaying brilliant command over language and very vocal.

For those curious, here are some pointers. How far you hop, well, thats another thing.

Jabberwock, A writer and his web-blahg, Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax, k'uvvat-e-guftaar.

For a while, I wondered at the concentration of bloggers only in specific regions of India. But then, I came across Baghdad Burning. If someone could blog from here, its only a matter of time!

Parking place

Feel sorry for using this blog as a parking place. Looks like its going to be that way for sometime. However, if I do come back, am pretty sure, i would be back with something worthwhile. For now, parking this thought I found somewhere:

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent upon it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do".

Shall be parking a few poems for future reference.

Timeless beauties by Robert Frost

Do they need an introduction.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.


Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it's queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there's some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep

Quotes de resistance

Here are a few of my favourite quotes.

This one by Martin Luther King Jr., always amazes me at the strength of thought and elegance these few words have captured.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

By Winston Churchill, found from my Grandfather's diaries and always etched in my not-so-brilliant memory.

A fanatic is a person who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

Believe me, I hate as much as anyone else posting poems and calling it a blog. To do justice, I am calling this my parking place for the sheer want of a web-site.

I never knew of what follows, as a poem when I wrote down two of its lines (bolded) on a post-it and stuck it in front of my desk. Now that I do, here it goes in its entirety.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

I don't know about tomorrow,
I just live from day to day;
I don't borrow from its sunshine,
For its skies may turn to gray.

I don't worry o'er the future,
For I know what Jesus said;
And today I'll walk beside Him,
For He knows what lies ahead.

Many things about tomorrow,
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,
It may bring me poverty.
But the one who feeds the sparrow
Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that be my portion
May be through the flame or flood,
But His presence goes before me
And I'm covered with His blood.

Many things about tomorrow
I don't seem to understand;
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.

Ira Stanphill

The Pulley - George Herbert

Though I didn't take away much from my school, the few things that I have, I treasure. This poem, for instance, yes, my love for literature and, the knowledge of how education systems shouldn't be!

The Pulley

When God at first made man,
Having a glass of blessings standing by -
“Let us,” said he, “pour on him all we can;
Let the world’s riches, which dispersed lie,
Contract into a span.”

So strength first made a way,
Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honor, pleasure
When almost all was out, God made a stay,
Perceiving that, alone of all his treasure,
Rest in the bottom lay.

“For if I should,” said he,
“Bestow this jewel also on my creature,
He would adore my gifts instead of me,
And rest in nature, not the God of nature:
So both should losers be.

“Yet let him keep the rest,
But keep them with repining restlessness;
Let him be rich and weary, that at least,
If goodness lead him not, yet weariness
May toss him to my breast.”

George Herbert 1593-1633