Dasavatharam...

Dasavatharam, the much awaited and hyped up movie, proclaimed to make it to the oscars, turned out to be a decent movie with USP of 10 Kamal's. People who have seen the movie would agree with me to just bury the script in reams of cynicism and accept that Dasavatharam with all its flawless flaws, is a decent spectacle to watch and that kamal has re-affirmed his talent. Although it seems to me as a normal movie with overtones of typical filmi masala, no one can take the credit away from kamal for donning the 10 roles he has done. The story starts of with kamal explaining chaos theory and how that is related to his story and then to the fight between shaivaites and vaishnavites in the 12th century over the idol of Lord Vishnu.An ardent Vishnu devotee loses his life to save the idol of Lord Ranganatha. Kamal plays this devotee Rangaraja Nambi. I would like to add here that for all the hype and anxiety they created they could have given us better graphics, although the camera work was fantastic. The graphics were not upto the international standards but then the hype makes us expect to that level. This has been the problem with movie-watchers like us who watch movies made all around the globe.If we accept the simple fact that this was a movie made for Indians, especially south Indians, we would start seeing the positive aspects in the movie more rather than criticising it. But then again, there is nothing wrong in speaking about the negative aspects too.After the 12th century show, the story revolves around the protagonist Govind Ramasamy(kamal) who is an upright scientist at U.S. From the labs at the firm he is working, a virus vial which was safely guarded, traverses a part of USA before reaching chidambaram in south India. The frantic car and bike chases really stole the show as they were a feast to the eyes and made with pulsating zeal. Christian Fletcher was played with ferocity and without any pity. Although, at times i felt that the chase was way too long and it resembled tom and jerry chases where finally jerry evades tom always. Certain stunts were breath taking and I admired them. Andal played by Asin was like a cantankerous mule. She was very irritating and her screenplay was done with crassitude. She was glutinously holding onto the Idol, whole of the movie and did not feel remorse even after making a huge accident. She showed too much naiveness and there were certain filmi gimmicks too. When she was about to be sexually assaulted she pleads them respectfully to leave her. That was not funny although it was intended to be. The obstinate Iyengar paati krishnaveni, who still beleived that her son was alive created sympathy. Again hats off to kamal for his voice intonation and accent for all his roles, esp to this one. Vincent Poovaraghan who speaks malayalam mixed tamil ( actually that is original tamil) was awesome in dialogue delivery and expressions. The kamal i loved and enjoyed the most was Balram Naidu, the telugu-loving RAW Officer. Kamal did a fantastic job in speaking tamil the way a real telugu guy would have spoken. His spontaneity was cheerful and enjoyable, one of the reasons you should watch this movie. Other characters were the seven foot tall Khalifulla Khan, President George Bush, the japanese sama Shingen Narahasi, and the Daler Mehndi types, Avtaar Singh. One of the commendable efforts was erecting a large set at the Taramani Film City in India which was a Replica of the White House, with Kamal Haasan’s makeup for the role lasting six whole hours to obtain the desired outcome. For the climax scenes of the film, a tsunami effect was created in Mahabalipuram. The scene was shot at a 50,000 sq. ft. area land in which a 100-ft. wall was created near Muttukadu. Six machines, which generated 20 ft. high waves, was imported from the US, for a total cost of 3.5 crore rupees. For the climax, another scene was shot dramatically above the Nehru Stadium with the permission of the chief minister, Karunanidhi. Himesh Reshammiyas music was decent, although i feel Rahman would have done wonders. And I also feel shankar could have directed this venture rather than K S Ravikumar. It suits him better. Now We all know that though the movie had 10 roles of kamal, all the roles were not interconnected properly. It looked like Kamal did those 10 roles just for the record sake and that any body could have done those roles. I personally felt the same until i started reading certain articles and blogs regarding why 10 roles were casted and why it was given the name of Lord Vishnu's dasavatharam. Apparently there were certain similarities in those 10 avatars and these 10 avatars and here it goes... The following analysis was done just to understand certain aspects of characterisation by certain people and is not to hurt any person's feelings regarding Lord Vishnu and his avatars.

1.Krishna avatar - Vincent Poovaraghavan Lord krishna is dark-skinned [shyamalam]. He saved draupadi when she was being violated and he was the actual diplomat in mahabharatham. Lord krishna dies of an arrow striking his lower leg. Now look at how vincent was introduced. He appears when asin is about to be molested and he saves her like draupadi. Vincent is the dalit diplomat, fights for land issue [soil issue to be exact] and dies from the metal rod striking his leg. Oh even five of vincent’s men are drugged at P. Vasu’s Place. Sounds familiar?

2. Balarama avatar - Balarama naidu This is an easy asumption as the name suggests.

3. Mathsya avatar - Ranagaraja nambi Nambi is thrown into water in an act of trying to save lord from being thrown.

4. Varaha avatar - Krishnaveni paatti During the mukunda song, krishnaveni paatti does varaha avatar in the shadow puppetry. Moreover, in varaha avatar lord actually hides earth so as to protect life forms. Here too krishnaveni hides the VIRUS vial inside the statue so as to protect life forms.

5. Vamana avatar - Kalifulla khan In vamana avatar, lord vishnu takes the vishvaroopa, that is the giant form! Hence the giant kalifulla symbolises vamana avatar.

6. Parasurama avatar - Christian Fletcher Parasurama is actually on an angry killing spree and killed 21 generations of the particular kshatriya vamsa.He comes around with the gun [modern upgrade for axe] and kills everyone around.

7. Narasimha avatar - Shingen Narahashi First of all the name itself is a play on the words singam [means lion in tamil] and narasimha [the avatar being symbolised]. Lord Narasimha manifests himelf to kill the bad guy Hiranya-kashyap and he also teaches prahaladha. In the movie, he shows up to kill the killer fletcher! and is also a teacher(sama). Lord Narasimha had to kill the asura with bare hands and hence the martial arts exponent here.

8. Rama avatar - Avatar Singh Lord Rama stands for the one man one woman maxim, kind of symbolizing true love.. Here Avatar portrays that spirit by saying that he loves his woman more than anything and wants to live for her.

9. Kalki avatar - Govindaraj Ramasamy As you know, the hero in kaliyug can be none other than the Kalki avatar!!!

10. Koorma avatar - Bush This is considered to be the most loose adaptation by many movie-lovers. But if you look at the real koorma avatar, the lord is the turtle/tortoise that helps in stirring the ksheera sagara and bringing out the amruth. This essentially creates war among the devas and asuras. Similarly today Bush facilitates war between you know whom..May be Kamal also indicates that this avatar is a bit dumb like the tortoise…not knowing what is Na Cl.

I would like to add on one more view regarding this movie. After all the hurry-burry scenes, it all comes down to the basic question of- Is God there?
Lastly when Asin asks Kamal not to say that God is not there, he replies- " i am not telling god is not there, i am saying it would be good if he (chauvinism not intended) is there". This clearly explains what Kamal was intending. It was a conceited reply and kamal has spoken about God in many a movies now. He has tried to incorporate his ideologies regarding God, being a self confessed rationalist, the way he is. And if u ask me why that 12th century story then i would say 2 reasons
1. Its kamal for you!
2. Maybe u can draw parallels between what happened in 12th century and what happened in dec 2004, both these times they were fighting for a God's Idol but for a different reason, making the so called god omni present even over different era's.
In my perspective Kamal has stopped being an atheist and started beleiving that all is one and one is all! Thats why in the end he shows people thanking their respective gods for saving their lives from the tsunami, if there is God, that is!
On the whole the movie is entertaining and a treat to watch if you go without any expectations.

My travel with the tide-Phase 1-Nagpur

When I wrote my previous post i was sitting on my couch at home, but now i am at a net cafe in the busy streets of bangalore pretty close to the all famous mall The Forum! How I got here? is a question I need to answer to all, but i can't do so in one post because it would become too long and my friends hari and gman do not like long posts by me. I have been wanting to complete this blog post for quite some time now. Not only because I needed to blog (its been quite a while since i did) but also for the simple fact that too many events happened in this one month. I will take you all on a small roller coaster ride as to what I was up to when I went to Nagpur in this post.

May 7th to May 13th- Nagpur trip

I came back from my college on May 5th and went to nagpur on May 7th to help my bro get back to chennai. I went there so that I can help mahen(my bro) and his local guardians who are shifting to chennai permanently.The train reached nagpur in the afternoon at 2.00 PM. The climate over there doing summer makes Chennai look Kodaikanal. The next day morning we both got up late and mahen left me to sleep while he had some unfinished work at the Administrative Block and then went to bring a mechanic to repair his bike. I remember I was lying down when his friend ravi came and informed me that mahen had met with an accident. We both ran to the place of accident. He was dripping blood all over his body, legs, hands and thighs. I was so shocked that it had to happen now. Although he was in pain he did not show it on his face. We went to the nearby dispensary and got his wounds cleaned and medicated. Although it was not a major accident it still got us all depressed. Mahen forced us all to go to a place called choker dhani in spite of being injured, simply because he did not want to spoil my holiday. And so with all my rebuke and accusations we were at this place called choker dhani, 20 km away from his college, which was rich in rajasthani culture. People were dressed in typical rajasthani clothing and called us "sethji". There was a....

Hi folks!I am in chennai now and the date is June 22, 2008.Exactly one week back ,I had written this post and is incomplete for the simple reason- I was so B-U-S-Y that I could not bring myself to blog! B-Bored U-useless S-slothful Y-yearning to be lazier. Before I complete that i will briefly describe what i did this one week- (Sleep, eat, play) *100 , went online at times but otherwise totally 'vetti'(jobless). Guys the date now is 30th june 2008 and i am really pissed off with myself for not completing this post. I have loads to blog on and like hari says
Time time everywhere.... but not a second to spare..
Okay no point crying over spilled milk, I am going to finish this post today.
Choker Dhani was very capacious and had the ambience of a traditional Rajasthani village.In the evenings, a village fair was recreated on the huge sprawling ground where folk dancers and magicians performed. We also enjoyed mouth watering welcome drink and sumptuous snacks and dishes. We had great fun over there despite mahen writhing in pain at times.
After that day we did not have many outings because we had got down to the business of vacating mahens room, and mind you that’s the toughest job ever! But meanwhile we did not compromise on the places that I ought to visit in Nagpur. We went to Fountain Sizzlers, where we got amazing continental food, Ten Downing Street(TDS), which was a pub cum restaurant, and to many such places. We also went shopping and got us both a sherwani each. That is pretty much it from Nagpur. I personally felt that this Nagpur trip was one of the most wonderful trips I have ever had. At last I seemed to have found out the subject that truly arouses my characteristic choler and fills me with zest.
Meeting new people and making friends.
Traveling.
This trip sure was a harbinger of more trips I had during this month and a fun filled one too.

MAHEN'S FRIENDS
AT CHOKER DHANI!

Reached Or Left?

I am back at home now. I guess, by now, everybody (from NITC) will be under their home ceiling. Just sitting on my couch and thinking about all these 4 years creates a medley of emotions in me. It brings about that part in me who is very consciously trying to fight the repercussions of separation. The feeling of getting separated from the ones you love and have lived with leaves a big void in your life, which will take time filling. The moment I left the college I knew it was going to be difficult, nevertheless inevitable. I was wondering why this feeling of total separation doesn’t come if we are getting separated from our parents or relatives? Why alone that friendship be given this treatment? Why can’t we take it as the way it is when we separate our relatives? That is, having a hope that we are going to reunite no matter what. I was trying to be foolishly practical when it came to bidding farewell to my near and dear ones at the college. I kept on reassuring myself that no matter what I am not going to lose touch with these friends of mine. But then another part of me asked, “This is what you told me when you left 10^th and 12^th?, how can you be so sure that you will be in touch with all of them no matter what?”. I just thought for a second and asked one of my other parts, have I been true to my conscience? Have I kept the similar promise I made during my 10^th and 12^th? I got a very prompt answer- NO! I am neither in touch with many of my old friends nor do I feel guilty or sad about it. Of course I am not speaking about my immediate circle of friends I had in my past, I do feel guilty that I cannot keep in touch with them. I am talking about those friends whom I did not spend much time with but still had a significant role in my life back then. Anyway no matter how much I reassure myself it’s a bare naked truth that i can’t keep in touch with everybody. I can only think of being in touch with the close ones who were there through thick and thin. But that also looks bleak, considering the fact that I might end up any where in the globe 5 years from now. It’s very human to adapt to situations. No matter how big a loss, our human brain is programmed to adapt to changes, simply people change. The things that matter to us now will be just a long forgotten dream later. I am desperately fighting against developing that feeling when it comes to my friends at NITC. I want to do my best to remember them and cherish the memories we had. I have started to accept that if I have a feeling I necessarily do not need to act on it. I have a feeling of separation now, if I start telling myself that this is it, it is going to be difficult to meet again, even if we meet again after a long time that bonding won’t be there and our love will diminish, I am doing great injustice to my friends and their feelings. So I decided to be brave and face it. When the Tata Sumo came to pick me up and I had all my friends, (barring a few) who mattered beside me, warrier vvs, britto, joseph, bijoy, sridhar, nithin and hari.I did not want to cry. I did not cry too. I felt depressed at leaving them, but hoping that we will meet soon again ( I am planning to go to ernakulum and meet them on may 15th I really cant wait for that day now). I was going to the city in the car, me lakshmi, hari and nithin were supposed to meet up for probably the last lunch we could have together at mezban calicut. They both were coming in a different car while me and nithin in one car. These people are one of the closest friends I have in my college. On the way to mezban I was profusely apologizing for the mistakes I did to all. We finally ended up in mezban. An air of silence seemed to fill us and we were not speaking to each other the way we used to. For some reason me and nithin did not feel it and were being normal while the other two were showing mixed emotions. I did not want this feeling to encompass me. I did not want to perish under this. I was determined not to show a teary face. I somehow managed for quite a while, actually I knew that there is no point in crying but whenever lakshmi cried, hari used to let her cry. Somehow I couldn’t see the two persons I love the most, my best friends and my best critics, crying. I kept on reassuring myself that time is a better healer (although I never believed that, I believe doing certain things is a better healer). At the entrance of the hotel when we were about to part I couldn’t stand it. I had to leave now. I bid farewell to both and went into the car. The car left and as I saw their faces zooming out I looked at myself into the mirror and saw a small tear rolling out. Then everything came as a flash, all my friends faces when I left the hostel, my NITC campus and every single thing associated with it. I was resisting myself from crying because I hate crying. I hate myself weeping over the inevitable. It was one of those times where your heart rules over your mind. And now I am here on my couch with laptop on my lap, not knowing how to express my feelings to all those I loved. I don’t know if I have left my home or just reached it!

True Indian!

"Where is your ticket?" , asked the ticket checker at the calicut railway station. He looked like a man in his 40's, with wisdom recondite and abstruse. He had a thick black beard (probably dyed it the previous day) and a scornful look on his face. And when he saw my face twitch he gave me a more contemptuous look that made me timorous.
"I came to drop a friend of mine here”, I replied in a low tone as if accepting a huge defeat.
"Did u check the board at the entrance? You are supposed to buy the so-called platform ticket to get onto the platform?” he retorted back.
"We were very late so we had to hurry, otherwise my friend would have missed the train. So I had to run in and I did not have time to buy the platform ticket”, I answered back cautiously wondering what was going through his mind. How I wished I had the intellectual ability to penetrate into his ideas?
"The usual answer everybody gives. You are no different. Stand-aside while i finish my checking and then I will deal with you" he shouted back.
So as always, when a government official like a traffic policeman or a ticket checker catches anybody, I was also asked to "stand aside". And the immediate thought that occurs to us is -okay now what next? How much cash do you have? How much you should tell him that you have? And finally how much should you give him? What is the maximum he can do? Can he put anyone into prison for not buying a platform ticket... Nah.. Not possible! I believed in the Indian penal code. I somehow felt something was amiss. This guy, for some reason din’t seem to me as a person who is so honest in his work. I feel it’s a rather common feeling that all these government servants are corrupted well from within. These people learn to excel in the three principal ingredients, of insolence, lying, and bribery. But then I just had 50 bucks with me and I had to try all my chances. Coming to think of it not even once have I gone onto a platform without a platform ticket (this was the first time-yes its true!). I felt an inside urge to speak to him about this.
So I approached him and said, "Sir, this is the first time I am getting onto a platform without a ticket. In fact I always advise every one of my friends to take platform ticket whenever they get onto a platform. So I am sorry just forgive me this time alone".
"You don’t have a ticket so you will have to pay the fine" he breathed.
"Sir, I just have 40 bucks with me. How much is the fine?" I asked.
"The fine is Rs 285", he replied. I understood everything that was going on. He too is no different from his cousins. I felt that bribery was a felonious act of extorting money. For a split second I had even thought that not all people are bad and there is still some good left in this world. But then when he said that I just wanted to kill myself for not taking the platform ticket.
Anyway I retorted back, "Rs 285 is too much. For not taking a Rs3 platform ticket i should pay Rs285 is it? I just have Rs 40. I can give only Rs30 because I need 10 Rs to go back."
He had a very thoughtful look and I felt as if he is reading through my mind. But to my disappointment he said," U look like a student, u might have ATM cards and credit cards so go get 285 Rs and come, Meanwhile I will have your mobile phone".
"Sir please I do not have cash in my ATM too. Just take this and leave me", I pleaded.
"What is your name?” he intervened.
"My name is Narendar", I replied promptly.
"Where are you from?", He questioned.
"I am from chennai.", I answered.
"Being a person born and brought up in chennai you are not following the rules and regulations, how will the uneducated people obey the rules?" He asked. I had no reply to it.
"Okay I will forgive you this time but you need to do one thing", he said.
I was expecting for this part of the conversation. I was about to take out my purse when he said-"Go buy 10 platform tickets and come, till then i will keep your mobile."
---------------
I was horror-struck. I felt so guilty for having thought bad about such an honest person. Like all times I thought he too fell into the drainage of corruption. He proved me wrong. I was wondering how cruel life would have been to him. It's like you are a rotten apple in a basket full of good apples, but in reality you are the sole good apple.I immediately saw his name plate on his chest to see his name and there it was a name which could have made history which should have been given recognition of some form. His name was Syriac Varghese. I just felt what would he be getting in return for being honest in his work. Just a lame salary! He deserves more!

At that point a phrase said in the anime Full Metal Alchemist came ringing in my ears.

"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's First Law of Equivalent Exchange.But the world isn't perfect, and the law is incomplete. Equivalent Exchange doesn't encompass everything that goes on here. But I still choose to believe in its principle: that all things do come at a price. That there's an ebb, and a flow, a cycle. That the pain we went through did have a reward and that anyone who's determined and perseveres will get something of value in return, even if it's not what they expected."

Hoping that these words turn out true to that true Indian!

It all comes down to this- my way of life!

Living life is the only common thing we all humans have in this world of rat-race. Every Tom Dick and Harry wants to live life the way he wants. Everybody has their own perceptions about life and people. Some one has rightly said living is like licking honey off a thorn. We all, no matter what, have to live both the pleasant and the agonizing parts of life.We think life as an inexhaustible well. Yet every thing happens only a certain number of times and a very small number really.

I was wondering what to jot down now that I am in my final weeks of college life, which perhaps is one of the most significant moments of everybody’s life. Looking back at these 4 glorious years makes me wonder how these wonderful years have affected the way I think about life, about my perceptions of people and the way I want to lead my life. These 4 years have definitely taught me how to live or at least the way I want to cultivate my priorities in life and give a helping hand in the greater good!

Everybody needs everybody’s help in this world in one way or the other. No one can victoriously proclaim he can travel with the tide in solitude. Likewise u can’t have people always around you though u might need them. I am one such person who needs to have people around me and friends to share. But again there is an alter-ego which prefers solitary confinement. I guess every body has this two-sides-of-a-coin life!

The situations and problems I faced in my college life changed my perceptions about everything in a significant manner ( and I hope in a positive manner too..:).Usually i enjoy talking about my opinion regarding any subject, especially to a person who has an honest interest or even honest skepticism towards the topic.Most of the times i meet a person who is committed to not accepting my answers because he enjoys the role of having me strain to make contact with him while he sits back. I can nearly always see why I'd begun to press so hard.The person either hasn't responded to what I've said or he's been smug or he dint acknowledge that I've answered them. In the beginning i used to argue back if i felt i was right, but then now i have learned to be thankful to the feeling that warns me to stop. I feel that, most cases when you know what you are feeling, you are less likely to act irrationally.

Your thoughts and attitudes are special to you. Some of them are almost universally shared and others which you consider indisputable, are not nearly so obvious to people with different vantage points. I started accepting the fact that I'll hold nearly every attitude at some time, even toward people closest to me.I have faced situations(well.. i feel everyone would have..) where i momentarily feel enraged at anyone and acknowledge the fact that i feeling this way is the best safeguard. Feeling of rage is not wicked, in fact no feeling in itself is wicked. Attempt to deny the existence of such a feeling only has repercussions very harmful to you.

Of nearly any purely personal attitude that we have held for long, we are unknowingly reproducing it, or holding it in place not by a single activity but by a multiplicity of them. I understood this the hard way that we can seldom alter attitudes by adopting single practices or stopping them and not condemning other people is a good step toward relieving the tension of unwanted attitudes.

One of the most significant things this college has taught me is- love and friendships. However, it was very easy for me to understand the latter much better and feel has more significance or reality than the former. Love, like life also seemed an elusive thing to me or at least the so-called love i have been seeing in my college. Is it man's nature to be able to love only what he cant fully possess? I feel there is not much love in the word love. Love when done unconditionally and unquestionably is the true love u can get in any forms of life. But sadly, we are left with the fact that only few love their mates forever and others find it difficult or rather impossible to love or respect those who become accessible. Such people, no matter how much they acquire, feel unrewarded.My experience is that whatever we most esteem and try hardest to attain declines in value the moment we secure it. Probably, most of us have this illness. We perpetuate the belief that easy availability decreases value of what we own. This phenomenon is observable in everyday contacts, where our feelings are not so intense as in the so-called love relationships.If some one has known us for years and has watched us grow and learn, he or she may forever refuse that we have become capable.The philosophy seems to be-"If you are familiar and especially if you have needed me then i cant respect your skills".

How far does a prejudice against familiar influence us? Don't we all tend to treat the dinner guests than people who live with us? We keep our near and dear ones waiting many times but be very prompt in meeting a stranger because we don't want to give a bad first impression. Time you allocate for a stranger(probably a girl... in case of a guy) seems to be more important than the time you devote to your own mother.

Perhaps, the main cause of decline in feeling in love relatively, is that after assuring ourselves we have secured our loved one's affection, we slack in our efforts to treat them as respectfully as we did.When we come to feel relationship is secure, we see no reason to continue that behavior and love diminishes.

The miracle is that each choice we take modifies our subsequent views of ourselves and the world. We must rejoice this miracle though at times it produces tragedies. We must make those choices in life that enable us not to look back but to move forward in the right direction.At this juncture, when the time has come to bid farewell and move on with our own ways it makes me wonder where is the good in goodbye?

Why can't we get all the people together in the world that we really like and then just stay together? I guess that wouldn't work. Someone would leave. Someone always leaves. Then we would have to say good-bye. I hate good-byes. I know what I need. I need more hellos. ~Charles M. Schulz

An episode of my life is over, and perhaps the most important one, but the greatest happiness lies in the fact that it couldn't have been more memorable. And there goes my life in a nutshell...