Purpose and publish..

Why can't one's purpose in life be, simply, to be happy...
Why does one have to forcefully write papers and publish them in journals and attend conferences and do all the associated b.s. that follows...
Why can't one simply be happy....enjoy the small pleasures in life and leave it at that..
If I genuinely have something to say, I'll write.....I don't want to publish for the sake of it..

My rules for a relaxed vacation!

Lol! I remember my family vacations with trepidation. These used to be elaborately planned pilgrimage tours that spanned over a week or so and covered an entire geography or state in the subcontinent. The whole bunch of aunties, uncles, cousins and other assorted relatives would cram into a Swaraj Mazda or a Ford Traveller mini-van and scourge the countryside for temples and shrines to visit. When we hit the road, the Gods had no place to run and no place to hide.

We kids used to suffer the most. We were trapped amongst a bunch of edgy adults, who ran the vacation on a military regime. We were forced to wake up at some ungodly hour, get ready and hit the road. Finish so many temples in so much time. Uh, uh...you can't keep staring at that stone wall for so long, how do you expect to cover the rest on the same day. During the day everyone would get so tense and harried that what should have been an idyllic vacation often turned out to be a melodramatic, high-tension episode of "Who dares wins".

Looking back at those days, they were not as bad as I make them sound. But, the point I'm trying to drive home is that vacations ought to be easy paced and stress free. For me at least vacations are meant to rejuvinate the body and soul. Nerve-wracking family soap operas do not fit the bill.

Ahem...if you are still with me...after all that hamming, I'll finally get to the point. I've been travelling a fair bit off late. I've been on one vacation beyond Indian shores, the rest have been short trips to holiday destinations within the country. Through my travels, I've developed a few rules to ensure that my vacation remains a pleasurable one:

1. The objective is to relax. So, relax.
Corollary 1: The objective is not to cover maximum destinations in minimum time. It is not a history exam, where the more you write, the more you score. Instead, begin by taking it for granted that you won't be able cover all the spots in the tourist location. That'll help you to decided which places are must-see and which places are to be reserved for spare time, if any. When faced with the dilemma of visiting another place versus heading back to the hotel, take a step back and ask yourself whether it is going to stress you out. If the answer is yes, then head back to the hotel for a relaxed hot meal and a comfortable bed.....there is no end to stone relics and broken bridges...in most cases, a relaxed hot meal is a wiser decision than seeing the extra neighbourhood ruin.
Corollary 2: Don't keep a packed and punishing schedule. Instead leave a lot of buffer time for a relaxed drink or a snack. Avoid waking up and sleeping at unearthly hours. But then don't get too slothful, you don't want sleep away your vacation, you could've done that at home. Keep a reasonable schedule and try to stick by it.

2. Do your research before heading out for the place. Read up on the internet, buy travel books, speak to people who have visited the place. These inputs will ensure that you don't have nasty surprises in store when you reach the location. Also, a lot of time and effort can be saved if you know how to go about things in advance.

3. While travelling in a group, try to accomodate the group's interests, but if it gets too stiffling, break out in a smaller group and do your own thing. As a group leader or member, you should not see this as an act of treachery. There are some things that are fun when done together, but close proximity can take its toll over a period of time. Tensions and poliitics of democracy can cause unnecessary unpleasantness. Having breakfast together, splitting into smaller teams and then catching up in the night for a drink sounds like a good programme when you are in a large group.

4. Eat and drink regularly. While you are on the road you don't know when you'll get your next good meal, so, eat well. Nibble on something everytime you get a chance to, however don't stuff yourself to the extent of feeling heavy and sluggish.

5. Pack light. Carry the essentials - a complete toilet kit, a few extra pairs of undergarments. Be wary of carrying too many clothes. If you do fall short of clothes, you can always pick-up a t-shirt at a local store, it'll serve as a good memento later.

6. Carry loads of cash. Carry at least twice the amount budgeted. Carry a debit card and a credit card, because there is nothing more frustrating than being forced to cut corners while you are on a vacation. Be ready to spend a little extra for a little extra comfort. Take a cab or an auto instead of sanding in line for a bus. You are here on a break, remember. Try to avoid the struggle as much as possible.

7. Don't compromise on the hotel. Get a good place to sleep, even if it costs a little extra. A bad night will put to ruin all the fun you had during the day.

8. Carry a good book. But not more than one. I often get tempted to stuff my bag with all the books that are pending to be read and it turns out to be a big mistake everytime.

9. Be friendly with the locals. Some are out to cheat you. Some are genuinely nice. Learn to judge the good from the bad. Be wary of fraudsters. Be prepared to be charged slightly more than the locals, it is their show. Tip your cab driver generously, it's usually worth it.

I'll stop here...this has got too lengthy and preachy...

Sweet potato!

I sampled the sweet potato chaat served by the street vendor at HUDA market, the other day. Quite splendid I must say. I've always had a weakness for boiled sweet potato, but the way this chaat was presented raised my approval ratings for this humble tuber to near fanaticism. Try this recipe at home.....boiled sweet potato choped into large cubes + chaat masala + squirted liberally with fresh lemon juice + garnished with slices of star fruit (Averrhoa carambola, more commonly referred to as Karambola Apple, Chinese Gooseberry)

Jammu Notings

Date: Mid July, 2007

• North Indian weddings are full of fun and frolic.


• Aditya's family is very warm, especially his brother Atul, his sister Manisha and his cousin Sachin. His friend Amit is a fine chap.
  
• Jammu is a quaint city. It has small gulleys with shops loaded with dry fruits, clothes, woollens and cricket bats. Thinks work at a languorous pace.
• Jammu has a lot of temples. The legacy of the Hindu kings - Hari Singh, Charan Singh, etc...is present all over. Though Jammu is the summer capital of J&K, it hardly feels like a capital city. Instead, today it survives as the stop-over junction for pilgrims headed to Vaishno Devi and Amarnath.
  
• I understand why Aditya wanted to leave Jammu. It is a small temple town with petty trade. Not the place for one with Aditya's talents and ambition. It is like Vitla or Mangalore.
• Nice place for shopping, it's cheaper than the metros. Apples cost Rs. 25 a kg!!
• Lots of greenery like in Bangalore.
  
• Shop keepers ae not nice, you feel they are out to cheat you. Mean petty traders.
  
• Women are very beautiful. Sharp features and fair complexions. Demure and conservatively dressed. They are nice to look at.
  
• Sigh... Jammu is a city under siege. Every vantage point is occupied by a gun-totting army jawan. Every street corner has an army SUV with the trademark green camouflage. The army presence intrudes into daily life. They are there everywhere.
  

The Bourne Utlimatum - whoa!

what a movie!!!!
12/10 ..... stunning ensemble of art, narration, action-sequences....and the pace of the movie....mind-blowing...this is what action stories are meant to be...this is one 3 DVD set i'm buying as soon as it hits the shelves..

Manorama - six feet under!....hmm..ho....so, so..

Now, don't get me wrong. MSFU is a good movie. It has good production values, a taut story line, good performances - all in all, a well made film. I would give it 9/10 on any scale of movie-making. But, after enduring all those twists and turns for two hours in the dark hall, you walk out feeling....hmm....ho....so, so...

I felt really let down by the ending. Such a dark and macabre film deserved a more shocking ending, not the benign and preachy "sabka katega" ending that it has. The moralising about how the smaller fish sometimes escapes because it's small enough, or the bigger fish gets gobbled up by an even bigger fish, didn't go down well with me. A nice end would've been the bad guy getting away with everything and our man the novelist-detective leaving the city in disgust, or, the novelist guy decides its time to buy land and co-opts with the baddy. Worst case, if you had to show the baddy being punished, then our detective friend should've used his novelist dimaak to come up with a hideous counter plan to entrap maharajah saab and bury him in the rubble of his misdeeds.

Watch Johnny Gaddar to get a drift of what I'm saying. In the end, the scheming protagonist meets his end, but, it is done in style. There's no preachy sermon about good versus evil. Instead, our alec smart gets out smarted one last time...

My recommendation: Both movies are a good watch....ideal weekend DVD flicks...will keep you hooked....welcome to nouveau noir bollywood style..

The importance of "doing" - Gandhi vs. Tolstoy

I visited the Gandhi memorial in the Birla House, a few weeks back. The garden outside the memorial is lined with photographs with captions that narrate Gandhiji's life's story. Walking through the exhibit was a moving experience, the nuggets from Gandhiji's life touched me deeply.

One such nugget recalls Gandhiji's interaction with the famed Russian philosopher and writer, Leo Tolstoy. Tolstoy's work, "The Kingdom of God is Within You", in which he advocates his views about non-violent resistance, left a lasting impression on young Gandhi's mind when he read it during his barrister days in South Africa. The ideas espoused in the book became Gandhiji's core guiding principles in the days to come. Gandhiji regarded Tolstoy to be his friend, guide and philosopher and wrote to him several times seeking advice and approval.

Tolstoy and Gandhiji offer an interesting study in contrast in terms of how they practised their life's beliefs. Tolstoy was a man who restricted his ideas to the realms of thought. This bred within him a deep sense of frustration and dejection at the general state of affairs in the world. He was pained to see his people suffer at the hands of the Tsar when there were so many better alternatives that he had preached in his books. This dejection led him to a deep state of depression from which he could never recover. His health deteriorated rapidly and he lost the will to survive. He writes about these things in his letters to Gandhi. In these letters, he also expresses his appreciation for Gandhiji's actions. He talks about the joy that he felt when he saw someone actually practise what he preached in his books. This leads us to the point that I want to make about Gandhiji's life.

Ghandiji was a "doer". He actually practised what he read in Tolstoy's works. He was a person who lived in the realm of action, not just thought. This is what made him such a great man. The principles of non-violence and passive resistance had been preached for ages, but for someone to actually practise them in the way that he did, took a lot of guts and courage. In fact, this is what helped a sensitive soul like Gandhiji keep his sanity intact as opposed to Tolstoy, who disintegrated beneath the burden of his conscience.

This story, shook me up like no other. In a simple way it explains the power of "doing". It explains why Gandhiji commands the respect that he has. It explains why the world celebrates Gandhiji the way it does. Due to over-exposure to Gandhi, we Indians tend to forget the reason for his greatness. Modern day spindoctors often tend to nitpick on the man's human failings in a bid to malign his memory and serve their personal agendas. Gandhiji was a "doer", if for nothing else, at least respect him for that.



Epilogue: A wonderful nugget from the Birla House exhibit.
Gandhiji never felt constrained by imprisonment. In fact he looked forward to it as a welcome vacation break from his hectic lifestyle. The walls of the prison actually sheltered him from the outside world and gave him time to read, write, pray and do things that he didn't find time for otherwise. Menial labour did not deter him, in fact he voluntarily enrolled for scavanging duty. I suspect that he actually looked forward to an imprisonment break once in every few years!
Learning: Relish every situation in life. There is something to learn from every experience.

Delhi!

“God willing we shall see the metro on Saturday”, exclaimed Kamal Sekhon.

Sekhon is one helluva character…..Punjab da puttar, he’s the most jovial bloke I’ve ever met in my life. His dad is an army colonel serving in Pune. Sekhon had the option of joining the NDA but he chose to do the engineering-work-MBA jig instead and today he is my partner in crime while palming off expensive software to gullible enterprise customers.

Tired with our daily routine in Gurgaon, we hatched a plan to explore new territories and beyond….we dared to seek the alluring and magnificient Delhi!!

The Delhi metro miracle!!

Sekhon’s cool-retro-classic-macho Enfield Bullet transported us from Gurgaon to Dwaraka (15 km) in under 30 mins. Dwaraka is the closest metro station to Gurgaon. If the spacious parking lot beside the metro station was a pleasant surprise, what we saw inside the station blew our mind. The Delhi metro is truly world-class. I’ve travelled by the tube all over Europe and I must say the Delhi metro is right up there with the best in terms of efficiency, cleanliness and safety. Trains run every five minutes and GPS systems that track train movement announce train arrivals on giant LCD boards on the platform. The metro experience makes one feel proud, but it also makes one wonder what kept the metro so long? Why didn’t the town planners of the 70s include metros in their blueprints?

Long-time Delhi resident friends of mine say that the Delhi metro has altered Delhi for the better. It has removed loads of traffic of the roads. Wherever the Delhi metro passed, land was acquired to make the roads wider and more beautiful. The average Delhiite swears by the metro and so do I.


Connaught Place

Our first haunt of the day was Connaught Place. We hoped off at the metro at the Rajiv Chowk station. "CP", as Connaught Place is commonly referred to, is bang in the center of Delhi and houses a sprawling up-market shopping district. CP is made up of three concentric roads that are lined with old-fashioned white-washed buildings, that give the area a European feel. Housed within these quaint buildings are flashy modern shops, filled with the latest designer brands. The charming mix of old architecture and new shops, makes CP an ideal destination for relaxed holiday shopping. In any case, it is a welcome break from the garish malls of Gurgaon.

We hit CP at noon and we were hungry. While sauntering aimlessly along the promenade in the inner-most circle, Khon spotted a kulcha-channa man on the pavement. Khon had vowed to introduce me to Delhi cuisine, and pavement ka kulcha, he said, was a good place to start. And so we stood beneath the Anti-Malaria Operations wing of the Delhi Muncipal Corporataion and munched delicious kulcha-channa off the pavement! Delhi's baked kulcha deserves a whole blog for itself. Amazing stuff - tasty, light and filling, don't miss it if you are in these parts of the country.


Beer Hunt

After the kulcha, Khon and me were thirsty. Hot sultry afternoon, spicy meal, parched throats, the best possible remedy is fermented ambrosia that goes by the name - cold beer! But, the cheap skates that we are, we decided to skip the pubs in the locality and instead buy ourselves beer cans at the ubiquitous "Theka" aka liquor shops that you would find everywhere in the NCR region.

Like determined boy scouts on a trail, we scurried along every nook and conner of CP in search for the promised "Theka". And just as awe were getting tired of the hunt, Sekhon gave a yelp! To my bewilderment he stood transfixed in front of a crockery and cutlery store! Now what on earth did Khon spot in the crockery store!

"I want to buy a wallet from here", announced Sekhon. I stared at the shop in disbelief, crockery store and leather wallet didn't sound right...But then as I followed Sekhon into the store, I couldn't help smiling. Here was a store that was different from everything else in CP. It was not a new flashy designer store like the rest. Instead, it was an old ramshackle place run by an old ramshackle shopkeeper housing a curious mix of antiquated items of all kinds. It was a survivor from a bygone era and Sekhon wanted to buy his wallet from this very shop!

While buying the wallet from the old shopkeeper, Sekhon knew he was stepping into connoisseur zone. Khon put his best manners and best language skills on display. He spoke chaste Hindi and threw in a few Urdu phrases for effect. Instead of haggling over price, he admired the features and the fine craftsmanship that went
into the wallet. He inquired about its lineage and was satisfied when he heard that it came straight from Agra - the land of the Taj! After all that, there was no scope for negotiating, Khon compensated the shopkeeper generously and took possession of his fine wallet.

After that small distraction of the wallet purchase, we refocused our energies on the quest for the liquor shop. After circumambulating the three circles three more times we finally discovered a line of liquor shops embedded deep in the second circle of the CP maze. However, beer wasn't going to come easy. Now we had a fresh problem on hand. None of these guys sold cans! They were all wholesalers who doled out crates of beer; a request for two cans brought us scorn and a frown and the occasional gali, which Khon returned with glee.

But then, there was light at the end of the tunnel, the last shop didn't have cans but agreed to sell us a bottle. Aah....redemption at last. Khon bought the bottle and the two of us sipped some chilled Bauer by the road-side while admiring the latest Sx4 car on display at the Maruti show room across the road. Thoroughly refreshed, we were now ready to conquer Delhi.

Palika Bazaar

One of the sections of CP, houses Palika Bazaar, a favourite haunt for those looking for pirated CDs, cheap computer accessories and electronic knick knacks. Every city has one of these shady areas, Bangalore has its SP Road and Mumbai its Lamington road. For gaming enthusiasts, movie addicts and gizmo freaks, this is the place to be. I recently picked up an 8 GB Transcend thumb drive from Palika Bazaar for a thousand ruppes....pretty cool, huh?

After the alcoholic refreshments Sekhon and me sauntered into Palika Bazaar. There we bumped into Vaishnav, a colleague at work and my roomie at home. He's another character. He's getting married this November, and ever since his wedding date has been fixed he's been on a ladki gumane ki spree. Not surprisingly, he was in Palika Bazaar helping a female friend with her weekend shopping!













Sarvana Bhavan - yoohoo!
Now, fellow South Indians would understand my excitement. For a southie foodie stranded in Delhi, Sarvana Bhavan is the equivalent of El Dorado. The exertions of the afternoon had left us famished and both of us agreed to raid the legendary Sarvana Bhavan. Finding Sarvana Bhavan was not half as difficult as procuring beer. A few questions for directions led us to the revered spot. Savor the sight.


Well, we glided into the restaurant like awestruck teenagers. We plonked ourselves into a cozy corner on the mezzanine floor and started drooling at the culinary sights in the vicinity. While chatting up with the floor manager we learnt that he had started his career as superstar Rajnikanth's cook! We were in esteemed company!


The evening-tiffin-combo on the menu card sounded perfect and we ordered. It's one helluva of a preparation, it has a miniature masala dosa, kutti idlis, accompanied by scoops of khara bath and kesari bath, served with generous doses of chutney and sambhar...wow....the best of south indian cooking in a plate!!...have a look..

We washed down the combo with classic filter coffee and couldn't help sporting a goofy grin of supreme satisfaction on a job well done :)

Having seen the best of New Delhi, next on the agenda was Old Delhi. Lal Quila beckoned!

Shahjahanabad - home of the Mughals

to be continued..

"Black".....Pearl Jam

My fav. piece of lyrics...."Black"....by Pearl Jam

Sheets of empty canvas, untouched sheets of clay
Were laid spread out before me as her body once did.
All five horizons revolved around her soul
As the earth to the sun
Now the air I tasted and breathed has taken a turn

Ooh, and all I taught her was everything
Ooh, I know she gave me all that she wore
And now my bitter hands chafe beneath the clouds
Of what was everything.
Oh, the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

I take a walk outside
I'm surrounded by some kids at play
I can feel their laughter, so why do I sear?
Oh, and twisted thoughts that spin round my head
I'm spinning, oh, I'm spinning
How quick the sun can drop away

And now my bitter hands cradle broken glass
Of what was everything?
All the pictures have all been washed in black, tattooed everything...

All the love gone bad turned my world to black
Tattooed all I see, all that I am, all I'll be... yeah...
Uh huh... uh huh... ooh...

I know someday you'll have a beautiful life,
I know you'll be a sun in somebody else's sky, but why
Why, why can't it be, why can't it be mine

Thanks SS for introducing me to this song..

The truth about hard work...

Reproduced below is an excerpt from a Will Smith interview in the March 2007 issue of Reader's Digest.

Reader's Digest: So getting to where you are is all about running hard?
Will Smith: Most people you are going to be in competition with are not gonna give 100 percent. If you catch a bad day, you are going to run up against someboy willing to do 87 percent. You're still going to win............................When I say I am going to run five kilometers, I run eight. With that mentality, it is actually difficult to lose.

RD: You work harder than the next guy?
Smith: I consider myself to be basically average talent, right? What I have that other people do not have is a sick, obsessive, raw animal drive.

RD: Do you get tired of pushing?
Smith: Not yet. There is no pain worse than not achieving a dream when it is your fault. If God did not want you to have it, that is one thing. But if you do not get what you desire because you are lazy, there is no pain worse than that.

Reader's Digest, March 2007

I can strongly relate to the highlighted portion in the excerpt. In my case trying harder is not about showing-off or currying favors, it is my only hope for survival in the face of more talented competition.

Triple Whammy! Two fights and a movie!

The other Friday, I wrapped up my work, cleaned my desk and sat and pondered as to what to do. I asked around if any of my colleagues had plans that could accommodate a lone ranger at the last minute. Not surprisingly, everyone was busy taking their girlfriends out for dinner, watching movies with college friends, so on and so forth. I decided to watch a movie, coz that’s one activity that I don’t mind doing alone. I usually soak myself totally in the movie, and so, lesser the distraction the better. I looked up the movie listings and realized that there was “Harry Potter and Order of the Phoenix” running this week! That’s a movie I had to watch!

I landed up at the PVR multiplex in Sahara Mall at 6.20 pm for the 6.30 show. Just as I was slipping into a reverie about sitting in the hall and watching the teen wizard prodigy kicking some voodoo butt, the ticket counter guy woke me up with a rude jolt –

“Sir, your bag is not allowed inside the theater.”

“Ok fine, I’ll drop it at your security counter.”

“Sorry sir, that won’t be possible, we don’t have a baggage counter.”

“Whoa!” “What do you mean I can’t take my bag inside and you don’t have a baggage counter, what on earth am I supposed to do with my bag?”

“Sorry sir, there’s nothing I can do, yaada, yaada, yaada”

I lost my mind at the absurdity of the situation and yelled at the counter guy to get his manager along. The manager came and repeated what his ward had just said. I yelled some more about the silliness of the rule – they are located in a bloody shopping mall for Christ’s sake! People carry bags in malls, where are they supposed to leave their bags if you don’t provide for storage? Totally miffed, I asked to be referred to someone who could do something about the situation. I had quit work early today to catch a movie, there was no way I was letting a silly rule to come in the way. All I got in return for all the ranting was a feedback form! I was miffed that I missed the movie, but at the same time I was happy that I had yelled at the manager and everyone else in sight, I had atleast fought back, it made me happy.

Mulling on what to do next, I sauntered upto the next mall a 100 meters away. It too had a PVR, my eyes lit up! With the glee of a lion that had tasted blood, I strode upto the ticket counter and started my routine all over again, knowing fully well that the baggage issue would crop up. And when the issue came up, boy, was I ready! I started my yelling sequence all over again, the lines were well rehearsed by now, they flowed out with stinging venom, creating quite a stir and drawing the manager our of his lair to engage in damage control. This time though, the manager was a pleasant Sikh, who seemed to be the people-friendly type. The type that knew all about customer relationship managament, the type that knew that going out of the way to help a customer is a sure-fire way to create customer lock-in that will exist for a long, long time. Most importantly, the type that knew that every customer who walks into the theater counts, because a theater is after all built to serve the single small customer who walks in, they don’t have an enterprise sales channel, every small end-consumer is as relevant to the business as the next one.

The Sikh gentleman explained the rules to me but said that he’ll make an exception this time and let me store the bag in the employees’ storeroom. I joyfully accepted the kind gesture and grabbed the ticket. Whew! I finally was watching Harry Potter. The Sikh guy had just saved my weekend from becoming moody and depressing.

After all that had happened, the movie could not be disappointing. I enjoyed it to the hilt, the movie had very little sentimental balderdash, it was an action-packed fast paced one and half hour delectable treat for Potter fans. The Dumbledore and Voldermot duel at the end was my favourite moment. The grand battle between the masters was so vivid - Voldermot spinning a vortex of shattered glass, only to be countered by Dumbledore’s water cyclone! The day’s struggles were truly well rewarded.

I smugly congratulated myself on the triple whammy - two good fights and a mind-blowing movie, what more can one ask for on a Friday evening! :)

Lessons from Life

In the last couple of months, I've had more lows than highs and that has prompted this piece of writing....


It is obvious that Life deals out different cards to different people at different stages of their lives.
I got a bad draw this time and in hindsight, the last time too.
I had my share of good draws in the past, I didn't exactly excel, but I didn't fritter them away either. Hopefully, they would count some day.
When you get a bad set of cards, Life is a tough master to have.
He makes you kneel and rub your nose to the ground.
And then he places his foot on your head and crushes your face and disfigures you.
When you finally rise from this torment you are ugly and humiliated, your beliefs are shattered, your pride is lost and YOU ARE ONE WITH THE REST.
That's what Life sets out to teach you. You are not f*****g special. You are f*****g one with the rest.
It seems that all you can do is accept things as they are and walk in the crowd, walk faster hoping that you would be in the right place to receive a good draw of cards the next time around.

Amen.

Apocalypto - brilliant stuff!

Apocalypto is the kind of movie you want to watch when it is your birthday and you are feeling low. It is the kind of movie that captures your senses and transports you to a different age, a different era. If movies were ever a means of escape from the drudgery of daily existence, then this is it.

When I stepped into the movie hall the other day, I did so with trepidation; with a wariness caused by a "300" hangover. That movie was such a big let down. After months of anticipation one doesn't go to the theater to realize that all the best parts of the movie ended in the trailer itself. The movie though graphically brilliant, failed to touch its viewers. True to its word, it was an authentic adaptation of a comic book - something to be watched over the weekend and disposed till the next issue comes along. My take is that the script was too processed. Come on, it's an adaptation of a comic book that was based on a work derived from legend! The director took his adaptation to comic book funda too seriously and ended up missing the wood for the trees (sic).

On the other hand, Apocalypto is sheer art. Art of the guttural, brutal and unapologetic kind. The movie is a multi-layered master piece that excels in every aspect of movie making. At one level it is a typical underdog story of the struggle of a free willed Mayan to survive against the odds, at the grander level it is an epic tale that depicts the decay of a 1000 year old civilization. It narrates the universal themes of hubris, exploitation and corruption that have weakened the soul of every great society that man kind has built, right from the Mayans, to the Aryans, the Romans and as some would say, the modern day Americans.

Artistically the movie is top notch. The vivid colors, Mayan art, the pyramids, the recreation of the Mayan lifestyle are all stunning. Like in his previous movie, Passion of the Christ, here too Mel Gibson's treatment of the subject is gritty and brutal. There's no room for candy floss and the story is told in your face in an unapologetic manner. For those who can stomach such gore, the blatant violence of the narrative adds to the believability of the story and its setting.

The whole idea of making the movie in Spanish and using sub titles works brilliantly. The dialogue is obviously customized to suit this style of movie making, but nevertheless, it works well, adding a touch of extra authenticity to the proceedings. In conclusion, what really makes the movie special is its message. Weeks, months and years after you've watched this movie, its message will keep returning to you whenever you bear witness to societies involved in self-destruction.


Quotes from the movie

"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within." - W. Durant

"I am Jaguaur Paw, I am a hunter. I hunt this forest. I hunted this forest with my father and he did so with his father. My son and his sons, shall hunt here after I am gone. I am Jaguar Paw and I know no fear."

Don Reloaded

[This write up too was written a long time ago, when Don had just hit the theaters.]

I watched Don today afternoon and I must say I’m totally blown. I can’t figure out why the movie got such bad reviews in the popular press. I guess the pre-release hype blinded our holier-than-though movie reviewers from appreciating Farhan Akhtar’s Don for what it is.

The thing with “remakes” is that when made by skillful directors like Farhan they take a life of their own, beyond the original. While watching these movies, the question shouldn’t be, “How does this compare with the original?”, instead it should be, “Given today’s time and period, with a contemporary star cast and state of the art technology, how would have Chandra Barot made Don, if he were given another chance?” Once you grasp this basic idea, things fall into place and you are able to see the movie for what it is and appreciate the director for what he is trying to convey. Chandra Barot in one of his many interviews after the release of the new Don, said that when he set out to make the original Don, the intention was to make a style statement that would redefine "cool" for his era. Farhan set out to do exactly the same when he made his Don. And in this respect I feel he has succeeded. The new "Don" is by far the slickest film that Bollywood has made in a long, long time. It is our version of the Matrix. In this context, perhaps “remake” is not the right word, the movie should’ve been called Farhan’s “adaptation” of “Chandra Barot’s Don”, that would have had all the snotty reviewers singing paeans of the movie – as they did for Vishal Bharadwaj’s “Omkara” (a very fine movie)- his adaptation of Othello.

Another common thread that ran through all those scathing reviews last week was that classics such as “Don” should not be remade. Even attempting such a atrocity is shameful and upstarts such as Farhan should be condemned to Dante’s Inferno for such a travesty. I find this argument totally absurd. It is criticism for the sake of it. The least that such critics should do is acknowledge that in spite of all their alleged failings, new remakes at least serve the purpose of turning the spotlight back on old classics lost in the obscurity of cold storage. For instance, Farhan's venture gave the long forgotten single hit wonder, Chandra Bharot, a second lease of fleeting fame. J P Dutta's Umrao Jan, a disastrous remake, resulted in record sales of DVDs of the old Umrao Jan!

All in all, remakes are experiments that are worth the effort. If they click, voila, we have a great new movie, else at least we have the old classic to fall back upon, this time in new enhanced DVD format!

Critics beware, "Don ke dushman ki sabse bada galti yeh hai ki woh Don ka dushman hai!"

Casino Royale, The Business of Art

[This was a piece I wrote a few months ago, when the latest Bond flick had just hit the screens.]

Well, the consummate businessmen that they are, Warner Bros have pulled it off once again. They’ve made yet another commercially viable James Bond flick by reading the pulse of the market and dressing up Bond in the manner that sells to this grim post 9/11 movie watching generation that seeks the same themes of trauma and soberness that has engulfed international media ever since the incident. The point of this write up is to scoff at the self-righteous Sunday newspaper movie critics whose favorite pass time is to champion the cause of neo-realist, serious, grim, artsy, small budget cinema and lambaste big movie houses for churning unaesthetic obscenely expensive movies that kill the spirit of cinema and blah! The bottom line is that like in any industry, commerce drives movie making too. If there is money to be made by making so-called puritan movies, Warner Bros and Co. will make those movies and laugh their way to the bank. Aesthetics, movie making craft, sensibility and all the associated b.s. that movie critics used throw in your face is not pristine anymore, if plain vanilla is the flavor of the month, so be it; Rich Daddy is going to serve you all the aestheticism you want and rake in the moolah too. Purity of art is a myth; anybody can be co-opted for the right price.

Epilogue: It is no wonder that Martin Scorsese’s recently released, “The Departed”, has proven to be a big hit at the box office. Incidentally, Martin Scorsese belongs to the breed of film makers whose work has always pleased the critics but never fired at the box office. For once, Scorsese has got his timing right, “The Departed”, is his largest commercial success till date.

Socialism and Democracy at the Crossroads in Venzeula

Socialism: (Noun) An economic system based on state ownership of capital and industry

Democracy: (Noun) The political orientation of those who favour government by the people or by their elected representatives

Socialism and democracy don't make good bedfellows. While in theory there appears to be no inconsistency between the two, after all both are meant to protect interests of the masses, on closer observation one would notice that both are simply incompatible due to their fundamentally different prerequisites and operating styles.

Socialism, especially the Simon Bolivar kind that is in vogue in Venezeula, Cuba and Bolivia, demands quick State reforms for the betterment of the masses. To achieve this end, nationalization of large industries, redistribution of land, waving of loans, restructuring of local administrative bodies, and State sponsored universal health care and education are the primary ingredients of the bolivarian cure. These changes are not easy and need swift government action keeping in mind the best interests of the people, and here is where the inconsistencies with democracy begin.

As Lincoln put it, "Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people". But then the question arises, “Who are these people?” Are they truly the poor marginalized class that forms the majority populace? Most often, they are not. Invariably the political class in question is an elite entity by itself – a concoction of wealth, power and caprice. Hence, the very composition of the political rulers ensures that democratic governments in developing nations fail the first test of socialism, which is to carry the best interests of the masses while making and implementing policy decisions.

The second and more serious failing of democracy is built in its roots itself – ineluctable delay in securing the majority vote. Since democracy serves as a framework within which diverse fragments of the society bring forth their voices, the legislative process invariably degenerates into ceaseless debates, arguments and politicking that impede speedy decision making. Hence, the slow pace of democracy frustrates idealistic and dynamic leaders who envisage revolutionary changes within short time frames. In such circumstances, it is no surprise that many aggressive leaders like Castro and Chavez in their haste to establish idealistic socialist states often transgress democratic principles and tread down the path of totalitarianism. A recent article in "The Hindu" (p18, Jan 31, 2007) about the Venezualan parliament passing a bill to grant President Chavez special powers to rule by decree is a disturbing illustration of the same.

In Chavez's case there is no doubting the fact that most of his reforms so far have been socially productive and have provided succor to the masses of Venezuela. But what is worrying is his seeming hurry to go down the totalitarian path. His demands such as the one to alter the Constitution to let him seek re-election for infinite terms are worrisome. The fact that he nonchalantly operates a dummy parliament which is bereft of opposition members, because they boycotted the previous elections lends serious credibility to his detractors who call him a “dictator”.

The real question to be asked here is whether the price of diluting democracy is worth the benefits reaped through extreme socialism. History is strewn with innumerable examples that demonstrate how the initial fruits of socialism often turn sour when its leaders transmute from being benign trustees of democracy to power hungry despots who would go to any lengths to extend their regimes. Stalin, Gadaffi, Castro and good old Saddam Hussain are but a few famous occupants of this pantheon of shame. After all it is not for nothing that the old adage, “Total power corrupts totally”, has survived till this day.

It is in this context that I hope and pray that Mr. Chavez doesn’t head down the totalitarian dictatorship route and lead his country to distress. So far, he has been a great leader of his people; however, he is a leader in a hurry and at this juncture it would be interesting to see if he can reconcile his socialist ideology with the principles of democracy. My bet is that he won’t be able to. I hope I am wrong.

"The Kite Runner", Khaled Hosseini

The blurb on the cover says it all, "All the great themes of literature and of life are the fabric of this extraordinary novel: love, honor, guilt, fear, redemption."

That's what the book is about really - human relationships, their frailties and their redemption. It is a very touching father and son story that leaves an impression for a long time. For the more discerning reader, however, the book holds more than a mere emotional saga - it also tells the story of modern day Afghanistan - a land ripped apart by civil war.

The story begins in Kabul, the vibrant hometown of twelve year old Amir Jan, and Hassan Ali, his unflinching loyal friend and servant. As our shy and romantic protagonist, Amir, clambers through a bittersweet childhood, his life is gradually torn apart by conflicts from both within and without. Days before his thirteenth birthday, Amir's inner peace is disturbed forever when he betrays his friend Hassan. Soon later, his external peace too is shattered when the Russian invasion forces the father and son to flee from Afghanistan to Pakistan. Overnight, the war reduces them from rich aristocratic Afghans leading a comfortable life to scampering refugees with nothing to live for but their pride. Amir and his dad eventually migrate to America and start a new life as struggling immigrants on the periphery of subsistence.

The second half of the book traces Amir's arduous trek back to normalcy and respectability in his new homeland. Much later in life, a sequence of events forces Amir to return to Afghanistan in a quest for redemption for his past sins. What follows is a haunting description of how extreme fundamentalism, apathy and a senseless war have reduced a once proud and flourishing nation into a heap of rubble. It's not just the land that is broken, but also its people. They've lost their pride and with it their hope.

The entire narrative provides glimpses of the physical, emotional and psychological traumas of being a refugee. It also seeks to sensitize the world to the harsh ground realities of Afghanistan. As the author says in one of the passages, the war has made Massar-e-sharief, Kabul and Bamiyan household names across the world, yet no one really knows anything about these places and its people beyond the images beamed on TV. "The Kite Runner" breathes life into these cities and its people. It narrates the tale of how war has maimed these once bustling centers of culture and life, and converted them into graveyards filled with deprivation, death and hopelessness.

Note on the Author: Khaled Hosseini is a pracitising doctor in the US. His family left Afghanistan in 1976, just before the outbreak of the civil war. Khaled was 11 years old then. Though the novel derives strongly from his experiences, it is not strictly autobiographical. For more on the author you may refer to the following link, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khaled_Hosseini.