Nothing to write

Once in a blue moon something comes up,confuses me and makes the question marks,bulbs etc dance over my head. The period in between- I just wait to be confused.The question marks go to sleep frequently. I pretend to know all the answers. Sometimes I hate growing old. What used to enlighten me before, now only boringly reinforces. What must be done to stop age tainting the mind with 'answers'? Why are there so many 'answers' out there to put the mind to peace?

Crowley vs Crichton

It is impressive to read someone criticize a most popular and bestseller novelist with simple, logical and convincing arguments. 

I liked this one : http://www.tnr.com/article/michael-crichtons-scariest-creation?page=0,0 and this one even more : http://www.tnr.com/article/cock-and-bull

I thought I'd read all of MC's novels until I chanced upon Micro and Pirate latitudes - published posthumously. After Micro (about a bunch of Harvard Ph.D. (Biotech) students - nice to read how EXOTIC Ph.D. life can be in a novel), it once again reinforced in me admiration for him - MC is a novelist with tremendous imagination and presentation skills. 'Gripping' would suffice to describe his books. He takes up an issue that intrigues him; after quite a bit of research, he picks up facts favoring his stand on the issue (ignoring the rest) and gives them to the reader in the most palatable fashion - in an absolutely amazing plot. I must admit, though, that I can see through his knack for biased selection of facts only in his 'biotech' plots (Next, Micro). It is amusing but not surprising that people (Politicians!!) quote from his novels and imagine that they are making a scientific argument - as Crowley puts, it is scary.

Quest for Simplicity

For a year and a half, I have been fooling myself into believing that I have developed my aesthetic sense and that is the reason why I drown myself in music and movies when I'm supposed to be delving deeper into the Ph.D.

A boring mathematical concept - that was introduced to me atleast 5 years back but has never made any sense to me - was turned into something more fascinating by merely an hour of lecture by a Prof who is passionate about what he does. Start with the philosophy, make the applications clear and then show me the equations in the last ten minutes - otherwise everything looks unintelligible to me. You need to have mastered the concept to make it simple. I'm falling in love with his way of teaching.

I do fall...rarely, oh-so-rarely into a feverish 'research-mood' - I actually enjoy it. Problem is it comes in sporadic bursts. The complexity baffles my brains and soon I slip into a 'coma room'  - furnished by music, movies, airtel super singer and neeya naana. It is a simple, no-nonsense room which soothes the frayed nerves. But how will I ever reach the simplicity level that the Prof revels in and is able to make others revel in it too, if I keep escaping the complexities? I want to get through the maze and out. And hopefully remember my way through and show the others a simpler,straighter path. It seems like a dream. Don't slip away, Time!!!

2012

Another year gone. Is it worth a review? Other than learning to 'fearless-swim' in the deep end of the pool, everything else feels incomplete or half-done from 2011. Peehechdee had few highs, some lows but mostly lifeless. Trips to Cameron Highlands and Tioman were refreshing. Many decent movies that kept me alive in Sg. I did take a huge step towards the end of the year - a nod to get married. The post-engagement/pre-marriage period is dreamy - you get all the attention in the world. And a welcome change in a lifeless Peehechdee. To discuss biology with an engineer fiance and hear his suggestions stimulates my half-dead brain cells - sometimes it is hilarious.

The year began with the chimes at the Bishan Buddhist Temple - the sound made me feel so positive. Watching a movie in the gorgeous Cinema Europa and a good one that - 'My week with Marilyn' ; reading and liking 'Revolution 2020' by Chetan Bhagat; falling in love with a couple of songs from Mayakkam enna looped endlessly in the ipod  - in the first week of the year-  hopefully herald that I have a lot of good 'movie-music-and-book-moments' this year.

The Road ahead looks filled- with the marriage fiesta, dressing-up, lot of good food ;), more frequent trips to India, a lot more skype-hours; hopefully & fingers-crossed for more experiments that work.....come whatever - a handsome, funny, young man near me to share every moment with.

Lowered defenses

A lazy, quiet morning with nothing to distract the random trains of thought that start from someplace and meander through the remote, lost feelings deep inside. A fleeting vision of the hibiscus shrubs that we had in our terrace at home in Madurai a decade ago (I am growing old). The  small tank-like structure in the terrace had the parapet wall as one side and was filled with soil. The hibiscus shrubs were there ever since I was a baby. Ayamma (grandmother) tended to them and then when she could climb to the terrace no more, mom took over and added more plants nearby. A house in the packed streets of Madurai - we can peep into the neighbours' houses on either side, they are too close to have any space left for plants outside the house- the small tank in the terrace was our garden. Photographs taken on occasions at home often had the shrubs in the background - our only nature patch at home. A quick slideshow of those frozen moments passed through the mind. The joint family days - running behind the big cousins, not wanting to be left out of any fun - the gang-leader-cousin digging the soil with a stick and showing me the earthworms underneath. Picking the longest and the most unfortunate one out of the soil, captivating it inside a box filled with leaves and a tiny water container. Adding natural fertilizer(goat dung)  to the soil and checking on the plants every hour, expecting them to shoot up like the beanstalk in the fairytale. Watering the plants was a herculean task - had to fill the pot with water to the brim from a tap 5 meters away and carry it on my hip to the plants, lift it up to the tank and pour the water in. 9 out of 10 times I'd drench myself when pouring it in and get bashed by mom for not being careful. Breaking away branches to have a stick-fight with the little sis. Plucking and grinding the leaves into paste, applying it on my face - impersonating the beautician on tv. The huge hive that built up under the tank - just when I had convinced my mom to get someone who would chase the bees away and get us the dripping honey - the bees seemed to have sensed our intentions - they left an empty honeycomb and shifted to the nearby tree branch. Many years ago our garden was removed from the terrace as the water seeped into the building and seemed to cause damage to its structure. Back then, it was a welcome change for me as it meant less work and more space in the terrace - I could peep down on the street from the parapet wall which was not possible earlier with the tank in place. More time spent gazing down at people on the street. Forgotten shrubs. 

It was with a little jolt that I remembered them in the morning. Memories that tend to slip away and get lost forever. I don't want the shrubs to die that way. 

Bondhu and I ran 20 minutes late to 'Mayakkam enna' yesterday evening. We kept chattering away in the theatre till the marriage scene, after which I got totally engrossed in the movie - thanks to the amazing editing. The first half was entertaining. The second half was gripping. I liked it enough to overlook all the flaws.  <3 Especially 'Kanna thorandhu paaruda,mundam', 'Poove poochooda vaa', 'life-ayum restart panna nalla irukkum', his shock near the pool of blood, the serendipitous passing of kumudam, 'idhu sundar pona maasam vaangina award' and the final chasing of  Madesh - the quiet  'Thanks' to him - Unexpectedly amazing - Selvaraghavan, Dhanush, Richa and the whole crew. 

Mokkai Movie Week

Sunday:
After a weekend at Indonesia devouring 2 KFC chicken buckets, a quart kilo of honeycomb cake and 2 extra large cokes since morning, it was my bad that I took the first row in the movie hall to watch 'Tree of Life'. Biblical verses, abstract art, dinosaurs, bacteria, embryo, big bang and finally the white dwarf - people sitting on either side of me were either sleeping or swearing. I couldn't sit through it - not even for Brad Pitt's occasional appearance. It was the height of my tolerance that I didn't give up on the movie till the end and kept expecting something good from it (blame the reviews GRRRR..). The first row and the nauseating feel of honeycomb-to-be-puked-out made it my worst experience ever in a theatre. I wasn't ready for such soora mokkai - didn't have enough strength to withstand the onslaught.

Thursday:
It was a perfect day for a mokkai movie - I felt enough cheerful, strong and even eager to ogle at Shahid in the supposedly-crappy 'Mausam'. It was NOT a romantic movie. Better labelled a comedy flick. Shahid and Sonam were the riot couple - literally! I wonder how it'd feel to be affected by every damn terrorist activity that goes on in any part of the world.

யாம் பெற்ற இன்பம் பெறுக இவ்வையகம்:  Shahid's mom was killed in a riot. Sonam loses her home in Kashmir and meets Shahid in Punjab. She leaves Punjab with her Uncle's family during the Babri Masjid demolition (I wonder why that affected this family in Punjab) - they go to Mumbai and her uncle gets killed in the Mumbai blast. Some Scotland scenes where girl-boy meet. Thank Heavens that there were no riots in the Scottish history from 1992-1999 (I'm pretty sure there wasn't any. Else why would Pankaj Kapur have not included it in his amazingly stupid script?!). Shahid, an Air Force Army officer gets called for duty from Scotland to India for Kargil war where his left arm gets paralyzed. Some mind boggling, complicated, pointless happenings as Sonam tries to contact Shahid - she comes to Punjab, goes back to Scotland and then to America! Attack on the twin towers by Al Quaeda - innocent Muslims are suspected in America and hence returnth the family to India via switzerland ('cos it's safe'). Some foolish scenes in Switzerland, where boy meets girl but not the other way round cos girl was sleeping just then. Ahmedabad riots - this pair has to be there and has to meet (impromptu again for the umpteenth time) when running away from the rioters (Mind voice : Better stay together, you idiots! I want to go home, for crying out loud!). They did stay together - but they still killed me - Shahid rescues a horse from a raging fire in the riots and a helpless kid from a giantwheel (which he scales with one hand - his paralysed hand activated when the kid had to fall and he holds her mid-air and yeah - kisses the kid while hanging for his dear life with the other hand).
Then cometh the dialogue that I savored for long - :
" You lost something and are incomplete. I lost something and am incomplete. The kid lost something and is incomplete. Come,let's start a family together."
The nearly empty theatre resounded with laughter as this one was uttered by Shahid to Sonam, with the kid and the white horse in the bg.
And yes, it's a Bollywood movie na - made with high hopes of being a runaway hit (A feeble mind voice : Pankaj Kapur, நீ நெஜமாவே லூஸா இல்ல லூஸு மாதிரி நடிக்கிறியா) - it had to end with a disco song.

Well, all that said - Shahid did look most charming ;).

ஆரண்ய காண்டம் (Anima and Persona)

Aaranya kaandam was released in June this year - a nightmarish time for me, before the QE. I didn't notice the movie - it came and went. I never read or bothered to know more about it. It just came and went. Wish I'd noticed it - I feel raving guilty about watching the good movies online - that's my two cents against video piracy ;). It's funny how I chanced upon watching the movie now. This is the hyperlink chain that led me to the movie : Supersinger (distracting flash headlines on that website)--> SPB.Charan and actress Sona filing cases against each other (what! is that Charan in that picture!!WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM!)--> Secret behind SPB.Charan's weight loss (??!!? did he suffer any financial loss??) --> SPB.Charan speaks about Aaranya kaandam (neraya solraaney..enna padam idhu..) --> Aaranya kaandam (as Anima and Persona won the Grand jury award at the SAIFF,NY). That hooked me on to it and minutes later I got absorbed in the movie.

It is not just another gangster movie. Every scene, every line of dialogue is there for a reason - in building up the brilliant screenplay- that is proof by itself that the movie is simply perfect. No unnecessary masala - just enough to make it toothsome. To mention a few of the many things I liked about the movie : most of the actors - esp Jackie Shroff (as Singamperumal), Guru Somasundaram (as Kaalayan - what a characterization!), Master Vasanth(as Kodukkapuli) and Ajay Raj (the Chennai 28 guy) as well ; the comedy element blends in smoothly - Jackie's English (:-D) tickled me to pieces. Ravikrishna's voice and dialogue delivery fit the bill for the second time in a movie (Ponniyin selvan was the first).

Some thoughts to while away the Time (I'm going to capitalize It from now on. Let me respect It this way at least ;) )... why was the movie named so? Aaranya kaandam - the chapter in Ramayana when Rama and family live on exile in the forest and Sita is kidnapped by Raavana. It literally means 'Forest chapter'. Thank goodness that except for 'Kasthuri' (another name for Sita) and her abduction,  nothing else has been picked up as such from Ramayana (Mani Ratnam having exhausted it already!). In the director's words : "The film deals with the animal instincts of man and traits that erase the boundaries separating man from beast. In the Jungle called life, man continues to draw from the animal within".... (Acc to me -- enna 'animal within'?? we are always animals...Not possible to classify man and beast - we are animals - we just have some traits that make us different from the OTHER animals. In nerdy terms, 'human' is a subset within 'animal')...

Singamperumal is a cranky but dangerous,old beast when he desperately tries to prove that he is still very much in possession of all his youthful endowments. Pasupathi(Sampath) - when care for his wife and presence of mind in the face of death overcome everything else. Kaalayan reminds me (in some ways) of Ed, one of the hyenas in Lion King. Kodukkapuli's animal trait is summarized in the dialogue exchange - the Timing of which I loved:
Pasupathi :"Unga appa-na romba pidikkuma?"
Kodukkapuli :“Appidi ille – aana avar engappa.”
Another notable dialogue is from Subbu(newcomer Yasmin Ponnappa: the climax left me satisfied with her performance, of which till then I was doubtful) as the femme fatale: “The best thing about being a woman is that it’s a man’s world.”  

And what makes all these animals human? Their immense love for money and the extremity/stupidity it drives them to? The director thinks along similar lines : Gajendran is 'humanly'/less angry when it is about money issues but when his brother dies, it is a 'mad elephant's rage'.The human trait is 'love for money'. The rest is the beast in us. Let the beast survive ;).
Looking forward to the next movie from Thiagarajan Kumararaja.