tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1381162205109471942024-03-21T22:06:44.445+05:30the original sinignorance was bliss. i chose not to be blissful.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-1391778024748245002010-06-02T16:46:00.001+05:302010-06-02T16:48:45.607+05:30அவலம்<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">நெடுநாள் கழித்து கவிதை வாசித்தேன்.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">நெடுஞ்சாலை இரைச்சலில்</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">நிமிட நேரம் காதடைத்ததால்</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">நிகழும் பேரமைதி.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">வாழ்க்கையிலிருந்து வெளியேறிய உணர்வுகள்</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">வெறும் வரிகளில் மட்டும்.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-13486047167147618212010-02-10T15:41:00.007+05:302010-02-10T16:13:12.691+05:30Sk-vithai<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >காதல் </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >கண்களை </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >பறிப்பதில்லை -<br /></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >வேறாக </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >மாற்றி </span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 0);font-size:130%;" >விடுகிறது.</span><br /><br />பி.கு.<br />சில விளக்கங்கள் இங்கே தேவை என்று </span><span style="font-size:85%;">நினைக்கிறேன்</span><span style="font-size:85%;">. இந்த கவிதை (அ) ஹைக்கூ வேற்று பாலிடம் தோன்றும் காதலை மட்டும் குறித்து அல்ல. காதலிக்கப்படுவது ஆணாகவோ இல்லை பெண்ணாகவோ தான் இருக்க வேண்டுமென்பதில்லை. ஒரு பொருளாகவோ, கருத்தாகவோ இருப்பினும் இது பொருந்தும். பொதுவாக, காதலுக்கு கண் இல்லை என்பார்கள். என்னை பொறுத்த வரை, அது பார்வை மாற்றம் மட்டுமே. அநேகமாக, இது இன்னும் விரிவாக அடுத்த பதிவில் தொடரும் என்று நினைக்கிறேன்.<br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-48688357502449508062010-01-24T09:24:00.001+05:302010-01-24T09:26:54.141+05:30Sk-vithaiஉறவுகளின் உரம் -<br /> உணர்வுகளின் நிர்வாணம்.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-86184671329831717422009-07-17T16:48:00.001+05:302009-07-17T16:57:49.384+05:30EKSI!!!!<span style="font-size:85%;">காணாமல் போனவர் பற்றிய அறிவிப்பில் என் முகம்!!!<br />உன் கண்களில் நான் தொலைந்து போனதை யார் அறிவார்? ;)<br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-76259677633345638882009-07-12T15:23:00.011+05:302009-07-22T17:37:00.897+05:30Aging gracefully<span style="font-family:arial;">Beauty might not be as objective (size zero) as it is made to sound. It is defined as the quality of a person or thing that gives pleasure to the mind or senses. (</span><a style="font-family: arial;" href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/beauty">link</a><span style="font-family:arial;">) This essentially points to excitation of senses: more of a sudden spurt in energy. Well, that part is pretty is easy to understand and relate to. Particularly because we feel it quite often as we have too many things to make hormones run like mad across our bodies. There is a obvious bias in such a view as this confines beauty to pleasurability. Is beauty just a matter of titillation?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">Beauty, IMHO, could be much more just that. Apart from the mass marketed carnal aspect of beauty, there is still more significant spiritual face to it. Well, that aspect which lifts your spirits</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">up rather than just your you-know-what. It is that which you makes you feel calm/at peace rather than jumping around. It is that which leaves you feeling more energetic rather than drained. It is that which makes you feel relaxed rather than tense.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">We see such beauty in a child's smile. Where do we lose our sense of such beauty as one grows up? </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >While losing the innocence is essential part of growing up, it seems more often we lose our capacity for life/happiness along with that. </span><span style="font-family:arial;">Certainly, the spark of hope in our eyes continues to lose its brightness as we come across the dryness of reality. For most of us, it flickers now and then, leaving us shortly with a sense of disappointment. For few, it dies too early. However, quite a few of people around us manage to keep it alive.</span><br /><br />You can see such souls around you in more numbers than you can imagine. That is, if you care to. If you can keep your open and see through the blinds of your own 'linked list' of problems. Yesterday, I met one such at Sankara Netralaya. A successful<span style="font-size:130%;"> <span style="font-size:100%;">manager</span> <span style="font-size:100%;"><s><span style=";font-family:Arial;" lang="EN-GB">doctor<o:p></o:p></span></s> </span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">,</span> a doting mother and a caring grandmom. She was one of the few I have seen who have aged gracefully.<br /><br />And aging gracefully is not about botox or any anti-aging miracle drug. It is about keeping the light of life alive despite all the hardships that drain your hope. She might have added a few wrinkles after all those hardships, but have managed to keep the spark alive. Not surprisingly, it seems the spark gets clearer, stronger, with each hardship.<br /><br />Being young at heart is nothing but keeping the spark alive in your eyes. There are two things that make them stand apart from the rest: 1) Intelligence - to see ahead and not get bogged down by problems, and 2) Love - to spread life/hope to others. And, it really helps to borrow a little light from such beautiful souls. Better search for those eyes' twinkle among the wrinkles! ;)<br /><br />Possibly related post:<br />On mom (<a href="http://sk-ism.blogspot.com/2007/05/naanaaga-naanillai.html">link</a>)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-82370906311805390902009-06-16T22:15:00.002+05:302009-06-16T22:20:40.885+05:30Matter of choice ;)What is maturity? <strong>Intelligence overcoming instinct?</strong> It essentially implies exercise of your choice as opposed to just being a victim of circumstances. Well, yeh, maturity sounds like that for the major part. But, what constitutes intelligence? Does making a choice necessarily imply the existence of intelligence? I am afraid it is not the case.<br /><br />The choice <em>per se</em> is fluid: it changes with the information that comes in. It is responsive to the stimuli. That said, the processing of the stimuli for generating a response depends on the system. The response can be just one out out of a fixed set of responses, which has been handed over to you. With this option, you have the safety of doing something that has been already tested and approved, even though you may not totally agree with it. In this case, the process of making the choice is more mechanical than intelligent. One may argue that even though the response set is already fixed, there is indeed a certain level of intelligence that is required to select the appropriate one (or the appropriate as you think). Well, I am talking about the making of those very responses in the first place.<br /><br />Instead of the previous ‘mechanical’ option, you can make your own rules. But (and that is a big BUT), if you do so, you have to bear the responsibility for your choice. And that is not easy, if you have to satisfy too many people. Even if you are trying to satisfy just a few, it is going to be hard, given that people are unpredictable. Not unpredictable because they are so by nature, but their responses to same stimuli might be mightily different than you can guess. So, if it is so hard to make your own choices, why make it at all? The answer for that is – simple. <strong>Just to know how it feels to live your life your way instead of living it the others’ way</strong>. And of course, it takes a lot of brains to make your choices and guts to stick to them.<br /><br />In sum, choice is good. Letting the others make the choice for you is easy; may very well earn you respect. ;) But making your choice by yourself is hard on your brains as well as guts. That said, you may feel <strong>it is practical to not overwork your brains and better keep your guts in.</strong> Well, you bet!!!<br /><br /><strong>P.S.</strong><br /><em>Intha mokka matteruku ivlo periya post konjam overa thaan irukku. But, mokka poda yaarum illathappa, you dont have a better choice, u see.</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-90304961868210385582009-03-19T13:39:00.002+05:302009-03-22T12:17:33.717+05:30SK-a-vithaiஅடுத்த சில நிமிடங்களில்,<br /> அந்த பொம்மை எனக்கு அலுத்திருக்கும்.<br />அவசரமாய் நீ பறித்ததனால்,<br />அடிமனதில் ஆறாக் காயம்.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-591761293216564182009-02-08T15:50:00.007+05:302009-02-10T10:03:19.169+05:30Culturally bankrupt<p class="MsoNormal">After all the cries about the “rich culture” of India from the “self-declared watchmen” like Rama Sena’s Mutalik and in equal measure, from those against him, I really wonder what that creature is all about. I believe <span style="font-weight: bold;">culture is, at its roots, attitude towards life, and towards fellow men and in particular, women</span>. It reflects what do we, as a bunch of people, value in our lives most of the time. And all I can think of that thing called “Indian culture” is that it is decaying (not in the sense the cultural watchmen use) and at best, messy: decaying, because there is no one to inject little new life/thoughts into it. No one bothers to, at least in the mainstream media. One might argue that there are quite a few who bother to talk sense and you got to keep your eyes and ears open. But voices of those few who bother to think are hard to be in the deafening noise of the advertisements. The absence of such dialogue/ discussion is alarming. And the state of such 'apparently well-meaning' social discussions more often like <span style="font-style: italic;">Arattai Arangams</span>, which are emotional, tear-jerking kind or mud-slinging. <span style="font-weight: bold;">When intelligence is on the fringes, it seems really hard to have hope.</span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">As a nation, we might have been culturally bankrupt for much longer than we think. We have been carrying the ‘cultural symbols’ for too long after they became useless. And to carry them without knowing or even attempting to know what they were really meant for is sheer foolishness. While the watchmen live in a time warp, hailing Ram and Sita as the “Perfect Symbols of India” conveniently forgetting the pranks of <st1:place st="on">Krishna</st1:place>, the dickheads of MTV generation are not any better. <b style="">They just pass off arrogance as intelligence.</b> They are just as, if not more, arrogant as the watchmen. If you look at it, their arrogance is much more dangerous than that of the watchmen. They proudly wear their arrogance as crown of intelligence. Just wearing a Che t-shirt, they think they are revolutionaries/men of action. Well, let’s not get into whether all that is just a little muscle flexing to get a few brownie points from the fairer sex.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">What is most frightening is that as a nation we probably are thinking less and less, despite the intelligence we claim to have. This is not surprising as we have let much of our time to be ruled by idiot boxes or silver screens. Well, what follows is just based on anecdotal evidence and not any statistics. Nonetheless, the trends are obvious almost everywhere to for us see. Going by what is on the mainstream TV, dancing your way to the top is made out to be sexiest thing to do. “Want to be happening? Want girls over you? Put on your shoes and dance. Leave the thinking stuff to out-of-the-world, irreparable nerds, who often are stupid in the ‘worldly’ matters.”<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">While this might seem like a petty issue of just mindless entertainment to relax after a hard day, the massive scale at which it is happening is alarming. There is not much time left to think after you drain your energy dancing to tunes of Simbu or Vijay (that $%&(@&^& donned Bharathiyar makeup and mouthed the most intelligent piece of dialogue of the year “Villu, power… Fullu!!” Etho milli adicha rangeku dialogue, @#@$#$%). Many of us had reservations against Slumdog Millionaire making money showing the ugly underbelly of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>. As if the body-show in Bollywood trash is more Indian! <span style="font-weight: bold;">Seems more like it is we who are in denial.</span> There is a difference between sincerity and sinisterness. Probably Danny Boyle was <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sincere</span> in his attempts to show things as he saw. But, can we be sure that things are the same when we talk about our movies? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">When you sell sleaze knowing well what it is, you are not sincere but sinister. </span>Better we boycotted our movies! Let the Vijays/ Simbus/ Ajiths/ Dhanushs/ Rajnis/ Kamals go bankrupt. Teach ourselves to think a little. Spend it on books.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">But the literary scene in Tamil Nadu is in a pitiable state. Landmark in <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Spencers</st1:placename> <st1:placename st="on">Plaza</st1:placename></st1:place> has at most four racks for Tamil books, of which most of the space is taken by Sivagami and Ponniyin Selvan. Of course, with Tamil being the family property of Kalaingar MK, it is no wonder that not many people prefer to play there. Or rather the few rare trespassers who dare to jump over the fence can’t claim any ownership to Tamil. If the state of Tam novels is such, better do not think about the social commentaries. News channels are nothing but ways for pulling cover over our eyes and mongering votes 24x7. And more importantly, slinging mud at each other. There is apparently no voice other than those loudspeakers of parties. They used to have news service on Vijay TV. God... oopppss forgot I am in rationalist state! MK only knows what happened.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Our movies are full of depressingly ugly stereotypes and falsities. Novels of even some passable quality have stopped long ago. Such bankruptcy in literature/arts, though apparently harmless, can do more harm in the long run. It is not that such ‘entertaining’ dreams are by themselves harmful. But the enormous scale they fill our lives is overwhelming that we are easily blinded to reality. I don’t mean that all of this trash should be changed into some moral preacher stuff. Definitely not. But all this trash invisibly repeated over time has de-sensitized us to life at large. But we can change the way our cultural output reflects our lives. At least in our personal lives. How? We better switched our TVs off and did a little thinking about it.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Possibly related posts:</p><a href="http://sk-ism.blogspot.com/2007/05/kids.html">Kids???</a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://sk-ism.blogspot.com/2007/04/is-rama-godly.html">Is Rama Godly?</a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://dreamz-unltd.blogspot.com/2007/02/original-sin.html">The Original Sin</a><br /></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-66331652229511623292008-12-26T10:12:00.005+05:302008-12-29T12:46:26.808+05:30ஜே.ஜே. சில குறிப்புகள்<p class="MsoNormal">I fell in love with this book right away when my friend read a few random passages from the second part, which is structured like the protagonist’s diary. To fall in love with it was more like falling in love with my self. Don’t know how many times you have felt that beautiful smile of delight spreading across your face when you read something that so much close to your heart that it could very well have been said by you. A smile that is out of happiness from recognizing that there is another who is just like you. Like the happiness that you get on seeing a long-lost friend. Well, yeah, this is not something you get too often. But, when my friend read this book to me, the delight was so much so that we both had quite a few good laughs. By the way, till now I haven’t read more than twenty pages of this book. But, what I had read in those few has pushed me so far into writing this post.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Leap of faith</span><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">I have this hate for the advice against what they call ‘Leap of faith’ in writing. They say you should put yourself in the readers’ shoes and make it easier for them to get what you say. In short, don't put faith in the reader, put everything on the platter: peeled and if possible, masticated. However noble-intentioned it may sound to be, IMHO, you can ask a writer to do that when the idea is to just inform. Not when he tries to make the reader THINK. Then, the process reverses: the reader has to get into writer’s shoes. Indeed, the writer on his faith: faith in the reader and his intelligence. Here, the writer has respect for the reader and puts him on the same platform as he is. Even if the reader is not, the writer knows he can jump on if poked properly. Spoon feeding here is an insult to the reader that he just can’t commit.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">That said, we obviously can’t equate the level of incorrigibility with the author’s intelligence. Language is a fine sword. You can use it to poke, to cut, to cure and to kill. Or you can just feign all this with the sword still in its sheath. Most of the writers just have the sheath, and the rest of those with the sword, still have trouble using it. They are so much weak under the weight of the sword that they almost always cut, kill others and at times, themselves too. There are very few who have a strong intelligent arm to handle the sword. JJSK is one such show of fine swordsmanship.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">அவன் பாஷை சவரக் கத்தி. சொல்முறை, நீண்ட படிக்கட்டில் ஒரு படி விட்டு ஒரு படி தாண்டிச் செல்வது.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'-webkit-sans-serif';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">(JJSK, pg 16)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">It is a masochistic pleasure to be cut, to be bled by such swordplay. And at times, I agree, it is indeed frightening. Still, it is worth it. But, no need to plunge headlong. Probably it might be too much for us. Just take a jab from JJ now and then. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ஜே.ஜே.யைப் படித்த போது பயம் ஏற்பட்டது என்றேன். என்ன பயம்? பயம் ஏற்பட என்ன இருக்கிறது? ஆனால் பயம் தான். நான் நம்பும் உலகத்தை இல்லாமல் ஆக்கிவிடுவானோ என்ற பயம். நான் நம்பும் உலகத்தை இல்லாமலாக்கி அதன் மூலம் என்னை இல்லாமல் ஆக்கி விடுவானோ என்ற பயம். </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">கனவுகளுக்கு அவன் எதிரி. எனக்கோ அவை தின்பண்டம். </span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">(JJSK, pg 16)</span></span> </span><br /></p><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tailpiece:</span></span></div><div>Sometimes, I wonder all this “elitist” cry for the ‘real literature’ is all just out of helplessness and economics? Are such writers just among the high-ranking masochists and more often, sadists? On that, probably some time later.<br /></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-48190165998772640202008-12-22T13:35:00.001+05:302008-12-22T13:43:26.173+05:30Thus spake SkWhen all that is required of you is to explain yourself to the other, know that you are in the autumn of the relationship.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-56260579261371725022008-12-05T09:20:00.001+05:302008-12-05T09:22:50.752+05:30Thus Spake SkLove is God. Yeh, you can find them both no<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >w</span>here.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-23624552345461621432008-11-28T23:58:00.014+05:302008-11-30T07:07:42.649+05:30நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன்<p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">A rather long prelude to even longer post</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">This post is probably first of its kind in this blog. Now that I have got your attention or rather lost it like the dud tam channels when they say “ulaga thollai kaatchi varalaatril muthal muraiyaaga…”, let me go on with the background of this post, which I believe is very essential to relish this post. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">This post was written listening to “Ninai Charanadaindhen” by Bombay Jayashri and Illayaraja for the film Bharathi. </span>You would find sentences from Bharathi’s song interlaced with the post, to add “weight”. ;) This is broadly about the concept of surrender. Of course, there are bits, here and there, of things that man can’t live without: sex, philosophy and traces of doubts about himself, the world and life at large. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Mind you, you might find a few too mushy statements that might cause envy in even Karan Johar. </span>A lot said here are debatable; but before you argue, make sure you read and understand. The description of certain qualities and states of mind like love in this post might seem to suggest that the author had indeed been under heavy intoxication of love for too long. The author would just like to point out that it is not exactly true. That said, he would love to get intoxicated if it is possible, and for forever. ;) And this post might seem to be an anti-thesis of <a href="http://dreamz-unltd.blogspot.com/2007/03/poguthe-poguthe.html">my old post (here)</a>. But, it certainly is not. Try surrender ;) to the author of this post! Now, let's begin.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">பொன்னை உயர்வை புகழை விரும்பிடும் </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">என்னை கவலைகள் தின்ன தகாதென்று </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் கண்ணம்மா நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் </span></span></span></p><div>Being in love is being blinded (note it is not blind, for the other sensors of a blind are extra sensitive), to reality, how much ever badly constructed by the mind. Being blinded makes you lose your capacity to doubt and makes you do things that you wouldn’t ‘normally’ do. And that makes you beautiful/dumb, depends on where you see it from. It is beautiful/dumb, because it is out of the ordinary. So freshly different from the mundane that you feel like you ARE LIVING.<br /></div> <p class="MsoNormal">Then, there is sex. I make no moral judgments about it, premarital or even extra, if all the other partners agree. The question is whether it is out of an urge to relieve, just like the one you feel when your bladder is full, or an urge to share the probably the most intimate of your moments with someone out of love. Again, nothing moral or otherwise about it. Just that, if it is an urge to relieve, you are blinded and would not care about where/with whom you get it done. The focus is on the act and not the person. Or rather the focus is on the ‘best’ person you can ‘buy’. This, IMHO, is likely to slowly weaken your capacity to value another human. And, most likely, leave a vacuum inside over time. Apparently, Gandhi was just doing exactly that, when his father was on deathbed. I say this not to point out the need for discipline or any such stuff that Gandhi had spoken about, but just that how sex can so easily blind you to things around you. No wonder, in Mira Nair’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kama_Sutra:_A_Tale_of_Love">Kamasutra,</a> towards the end, Maya chose to make love to Jai, her lover, and ask him indulge himself in the memories of their lovemaking to help himself not feel the torture.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">That said, sex can make you ugly. Not in the physical sense. When sex blinds you so much that you don’t care for the other, not even the one whom you are doing it with, you are obviously ugly. Am I being sissy/prudish here? I think I am not. I would say the litmus test for the beauty of an act of sex would be the q<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">uantum of solace</span> that both feel after sex. Well, this measure is a lot dicy one than the Bang Brothers’ kind of hard measures such as how long and how many etc. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">But, there is a high likelihood that you might stay with a person IF and till you feel peace after sex with him/her.</span> It is about the awareness in sex: about not being blinded by the urge. This is probably what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantra">Vigyan Bairav Tantra</a> and Kama Sutra try to do. While Tantra does it by focusing on breathing, like yoga, KS makes you explore many possibilities, at the end of which it fondly hopes you would realize the peace. And this, I believe, would probably increase your capacity for happiness, which just hopping across organs cannot give you. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Ask me why? Simple. Man is weak for emotions. Or rather, the thoughts that bring emotions, for that exactly is what makes him unique. Yeah, each one has one’s own bin of garbage, which is full of such ‘personal emotional thoughts’. And it is exactly this garbage that makes your life unique and beautiful, if you <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>chose to call it that. Or else, if man is rational, life will be more of theorems than one of tears, whose beauty we seldom understand. ;) More on that sometime later. Probably after I get to shed them a lot, hopefully out of love and joy. ;)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">தன் செயல் எண்ணி தவிப்பது தீங்கென்று </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நின் செயல் செய்து நிறைவு பெரும் வண்ணம் </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"></span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் கண்ணம்மா நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன்</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> </span></span><p class="MsoNormal">Now, on a slightly different note, a bit of symbols. When does a guy feel at peace with his lover? Holding her after great sex? When making her sit and cocoons her with himself, protecting her like his little daughter? Or when he rests his head on her lap, holding as much of her as possible with his hands? So much in love with her so that he wants to be part of her? To be as deep inside her as possible? <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">To be born out of her? To be her son? </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Well, if that appears hard to digest, just know that the last one, IMHO, is probably the most loving/respectful statement that she might hear from him. It is all about surrender, a complete one. Bharathi did that to Krishna: he considered <st1:place st="on">Krishna</st1:place> to be his lover, his consort and at times, his son. (I don’t know about the songs where he considers him to be his parent.) </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">மிடிமையும் அச்சமும் மேவி என் நெஞ்சில் குடிமை புகுந்தன கொன்றவை போக்கென்று </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் கண்ணம்மா நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் </span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now, a lot of subtleness here, so much so that you might miss the point. So (t)read carefully. How often have you experienced the feeling of total surrender? Not in the sense of an act out of fear or force, but out of love. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Mind you, surrender is not an act for the weak. It is the act of beheading oneself. If a weakling does it, it is suicide not surrender. </span>The surrender I mean is out of love. Again, surrender is not about being a slave. Rather, it is the opposite. It is about liberation. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">The one who you surrender should be so that he/she liberates you.</span> Surrender is so dangerous that you better carefully chose a better person to surrender to. It will help to contrast with the ‘religious surrender’: more often, it is out of fear rather than love. The ‘object of love’ there is god, who is perfect. I know absolute is an illusion. ;) Rather than fearing/doubting the absolute, I would better love the imperfect. Love dissolves your doubt and makes surrender very much natural. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Philosopher’s stone is nothing but love. ;)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">துன்பம் இனியில்லை சோர்வில்லை, தோற்பில்லை </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நல்லது தீயது நாமறியோம் அன்பு நெறியில் அறங்கள் வளர்த்திட </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நல்லது நாட்டுக தீமையை ஒட்டுக </span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:-webkit-sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன் கண்ணம்மா நின்னை சரணடைந்தேன்</span></span></span></p></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-19272133485299287222008-11-24T14:12:00.007+05:302008-12-02T14:09:08.477+05:30Varutham Aayiram<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">Well, the title says it all. Still, I know you have too much time at your disposal and would be happy to spend it on some rehashed crap rather than something worthwhile (which is almost non-existent). And don't worry, i won't list all the thousand worries here. And I guarantee you that this will be a lot less terrible experience than the film itself. Read on.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">Surya, I hope, developed some brains while he is sculpting his bod. Well he is hot, though. All you girls out there have more than one reason to smile. Six, to be precise. He manages to look terrific throughout the film and at times, manages to act well too. Especially, that scene in Hotel Samco in the song <span style="font-style: italic;">“Ava enna thedi vantha anjala…” </span>But, and that is a big BUT, he miraculously manages to do a scene <i style="">à la</i> Vijay in Police uniform in the great <i style="">Pokkiri</i>. Yeh, that’s when Surya is in that uniform of a Major with that Ray-Ban. Man!!! What a sight!!! And there is one more hilarious scene towards the end when Surya bares his bod. Well, NO!!! Not for any fight and all, you dumbos! How can you expect a <i style="">so-piss-ticated</i> creator like Mr. Gautam Vasudev Menon (GVM) to have a mindless scene like what they have in local Simbu/Dhanush films? It is just that Surya bares his packs, oh yeh six of them, when is packing for a mission. And God! You must see his moustache then… ROTFL. <span style="font-style: italic;">Me think, developing six packs sucks your brains out just like what happened with poor old Vishal in Satyam!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">While VA is definitely much easier on your stomach than <span style="font-style: italic;">Jillunu Oru Kaadhal</span>, it still is a dud. That said, VA had the makings of what-could-have-been-a-wonderful experience, but Mr. GVM managed to botch it all up in his inimitable style. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">“Dear Sir, please tell me why you had to have that sequence in <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Delhi</st1:place></st1:city> so long and at the end of it, Surya supposedly realizes what his calling is. Well not enlightening though! In fact, I lost whatever little light I had till then. I can understand if you were kind of clueless in <span style="font-style: italic;">Vettaiyadu Vilaiyaadu</span>, probably because of that dumb Daniel Balaji who just cant get what a psycho is (Me think, all nutrients from his brains probably had been drained into his locks) and that other dimwit for whom Your Highness yourself had to lend your so soulful voice. But, this, VA is supposedly a take from your own life, if the tabloids are to be believed. </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style=""></span>All we know is Surya loves his Dad and we know not why, but just that he mourns all through the film “Daddy, you did this…. Daddy you did that for me… Daddy I love you... Daddy!!!”. Well, Asin’s <span style="font-style: italic;">“Aiyoo… En perumala kudungo” </span>probably was much bearable I guess (well no gender bias here!). And what is that with narrative, Dear Sir. Yeh, when we heard it Kaakka Kaakka, we did like it. But, don’t have to have that in all your films.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">I would rather have relished some strong scenes between the father and the son, giving us a little glimpse over why the hell did Surya happen to love his father so much. Was it just because the “cool” dad proposed his love no holds barred and drove that lorry or that he gave his son a free ticket to pick up fight and bring girls home? Well, probably, I am just being too harsh here… Not many of us really remember what our parents really did for us. Yeh, I am guilty as charged. But I would still say, for all that 'ode to father' as you call this film of yours, the daddy was very much absent. And mere filling up screen is not what I meant.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">And that big big treason to male audience. You haven’t been kind to Man here. You have had about one and a half bombs as your heroines. And what a criminal waste you have made out of them! God wouldn’t forgive you for this! (Remember the big G is Mr./He!) Well, I don’t mean a raw exhibitionism here as I very well know your taste is so so above the carnal sensitivity of us, mere mortals. FYI, even the God-like Mani has a sensual song in almost all his films, save <span style="font-style: italic;">Kannathil Muthamittal</span>. While all the girls were dehydrating over Surya, we guys had to visit the restroom quite often to relieve ourselves, after all that Pepsi that Maayajal gave us after fleecing some 220 bucks for a @#$@$%@<span style=""> </span>experience. Sameera wasn’t great, IMHO, in most of the scenes. Of course, there was one frame in <span style="font-style: italic;">Nenjukkul peithidum</span> song, where she walks in like a breeze, befitting her name, in a dark green sari. Absolute stunner. But the next frame, someone drains all the color and light out of the screen and all looks pale. Btw, Divya SPANdana said you had asked her to <span style="font-style: italic;">expand herself </span>to fit in her role. You could very well have had <span style="font-style: italic;">Shakila chechi </span>for that role. At least then, God's own country would have had a reason to be proud of its son and we, tams, too would have joined our mallu brothers in hailing you! Why all this hate towards us, poor guys? <span style="font-style: italic;">Appdi ungalukku enna paavam pannom naanga? </span>And just the last one question, why the hell did Simran had to spout that <span style="font-style: italic;">Andaal Paasuram </span>so 'beautifully' with probably a punju accent at the climax? Btw, by having this title, did u mean that it takes the strength of thousand elephants to bear all this? </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">All that said, a BIG THANKS to you dear sir, for COVERING YOUR FACE when you appear that fight towards the end and say "Jai Hind" and also for NOT HAVING LENT YOUR VOICE TO ANY OF THE CHARACTERS!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-style: italic;">Tailpiece:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">Sorry folks for such a long post. Of course, i know you would realize when one has so much of grief, thousand worries to be precise, one can't help but cry one's heart out. Kind of Catharsis u know... and thanks for listening! And if any of you have the same pheelings, i am ready to hear you out.<br /></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-67199351006879964682008-10-08T18:22:00.001+05:302008-10-08T18:27:12.444+05:30Boiled Frog<p class="MsoNormal">Well, this post is not about some exotic East Asian recipe. Rather, it is about economics. Yeh, you are right. Of late, it is only Economics books that have come up with really hot (literally!) titles. How about <a href="http://www.amazon.com/More-Sex-Safer-Unconventional-Economics/dp/1416532226/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223470522&sr=1-1">‘More Sex Is Safer Sex’</a>?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now, the blood bath on Wall Street and its first-cousin Streets in <st1:place st="on">Europe</st1:place> and second- and third-cousin Streets all around the globe is grabbing much of the TV minutes. So much so that even Headlines Today had to dump poor Koel and her couch to have a story on the mean money makers on the streets. Sex sells. But, it seems the smell of death sells even more. And while the governments in US/UK/Europe rushed over to put money into the banks, the Streets are not satisfied yet. Their ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">dils</span>’ maange more! <span style=""> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Man is seldom rational. Or probably, he is, when alone. Markets, it seems, are even worse. It is more like the parable of the boiled frog in which a frog that is thrown into boiling water will promptly jump out, but a frog that is put into a pot of room temperature water which is slowly boiled will not ‘notice’ the small increases in temperature of the water and eventually, will boil to death. While the toxic excesses have been regularly pointed out by few wise like Buffett (“Derivatives: ticking time bombs”), the markets’ assumption seemed to be “It is different, this time!” </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Much of this has its roots in hope (euphemism for greed). And hope, by definition, is divorced from reality. Too much of that apparently good thing called hope in realty led to subprime mess. But why banks lent to those who have low willingness/ability to repay? And how did they get so much money? MAGIC! Enter financial engineering. Probably, it was here that realty and reality parted ways. Thanks to loads of bright MBAs, banks were able to put their existing loans into new packages (MBS: mortgage backed securites) and sell them and get more money. With more money to lend and Wall Street demanding more profits, they needed to find more people to lend to. When they could not find trust-worthy ones, they T-I-G-ed like true Americans and lent to other American who too had T-I-G. All was well as long as the house prices kept rising. When the house prices started heading south, banks found the worth of their collateral was much below what they had loaned. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And there’s an even more bigger bomb called Credit Default Swaps (CDS), which are essentially bets on whether a company will fail to pay its debt obligations. Simply put, CDS is insurance on corporate bonds. And you can have the bond and go on to buy the insurance just to make sure that you are safe in case the company defaults, which is called hedging. Also, you can bet on the company’s staying power and sell/buy the insurance without owning the bond, which is called speculation. When the company, which you bet would keep its promise on repaying debt, breaks its promise, you are caught naked. When you don’t have the papers to cover your vitals, you panic. AIG might know better how scary these bets might get! You sell off your other assets to cover as much as your skin as possible. If you are big enough in the trade, rest assured it sends a jolt down the spines of other smaller rats in the market. End of faith. And everyone starts eyeing each other with heavy suspicion. With nobody to LEND a helping hand, the biggies drown, pulling as many others as possible with them. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">Essentially, this is crisis of confidence, which results in choking credit, particularly the short-term money. With no money to pay now, trust falls further and the cycle goes on till those who have money get bored with its smell and decide to have some fresh air. So, can the bail-out funds from governments save the confidence and keep lenders from hoarding money? </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic;">Remember Red, hope is good thing, may be the best of things, and no good thing ever dies. </span>Yeh, Andy, better it shouldn't. At the least, not until we all are dead.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-32957792920576921912008-10-05T20:45:00.008+05:302008-10-06T08:26:04.897+05:30Perumal, prasadham, poiA breezy, beautiful evening in the garden of The Sk-ool. Master Sk and Mura-Lee are sitting on the low hanging branches of a hundred year old banyan tree watching the golden rays of the dying sun filtering through the foliage. Mura-Lee lets out a sigh and says<br /><br />"Perumal koil... perumal koil thaan. Enna prasaadham! Enna dharisanam! Chancey illa."<br /><br />Sk: "Can't agree more. Particularly about the dharisanam, given his huge fan base."<br /><br />M: "Btw, inniku romba specialaa irunthuthu. Krishnar bday pola. Wish panna neraya per vanthurunthaanga. Semma treat vera. Aaanaa oru vishayam puriala. Avar vaalkaila unmai sonnatha vida poi thaan jaasthi sollittu irunthaar. Eppdi ippdi oru dubaakkur aasaamiya saami nu othukkaraanga?"<br /><br />Sk: "Simple and straight. Just answer this question. When do you think you need to be creative? When you are telling the truth or lying?"<br /><br />M: "Hmmm... lying obviously."<br /><br />Sk: "So, basically lying is about creativity. How well you can lie depends on how much creative you are. And by their definition, God is the ultimate creator. Right? So, the more you lie, the more you are creative and by implication, the more godly you are."<br /><br />M: "What!!! Becoming a God is so easy as lying, is it?"<br /><br />Sk: "Who said lying is easy? You got to be skilled enough to make others believe and at the same time, not fall for your own lies. And the latter part is pretty much tricky one you see. You got to be really really careful here. Illa you might trick yourself into believing in your genius and end up doing a <em>Sathyam</em> or <em>Dasavatharam</em>."<br /><br />M: "Poi sonnaa thaan saamiyaaga mudiyumaa. Athunaala thaan Shivan petha pulla, kattuna pondaatti kittayae avlo poi sollirukkaar?"<br /><br />Sk: "Exactly."<br /><br />M: "But, poi sonnaa ummaachi kanna kuthidum nu solraangalae? Poi sonna vaai ku bojanam kedaikkaathu nu solraangalae?"<br /><br />Sk: "Pinna? Competition jaasthiyaana paavam avanga enna pannuvaanga? Ithellaam game theory. Avangala maathiri ellaarum poi solla aarambichuttaa aprom avanga business eppdi odum, buvvaa ku enna pannuvaanga? Athaan poi sonnaa, saappaadu kedaikkaathu nu establish pannittaanga."<br /><br />M: "Appa oru vela avanga solrathu poi thaan nu therinjuruchunaa, aprom ellaarum koil ku poratha niruthittaa?"<br /><br />Sk: "Athukku thaan kailaasam, vaigundam nu sollittu market pannirukkaangalae. Nee pannrathukku yethaa mathiri 2-tier AC illa Sleeper kedaikkum, illa gumbaloda unreserved la thaan finalaa poganum nu sollittaa aprom namma makkal seat reserve pannrathukkaaga eppdi irunthaalum varuvaanga la? Aanaa mostly waiting list illa RAC la thaan odittu irukkum, seat confirm panna maattaanga. Confirm pannitaa business gaali aagidum la."<br /><br />M: "Aanaa, Ramanujar thaan ellaathukkum vaigundathukku porathukku season ticket kuduthuttaare."<br /><br />Sk: "Ennathu?"<br /><br />M: "Athaan Thirukottiyur la koil suvar mela yeri ninnu "Om Namo Narayanaya" nu Vaigundathukku travel passcode kuduthaare."<br /><br />Sk: "Oh, athuvaa... but on a serious note, what do you think about it? Did he do the right thing or not?"<br /><br />M: "I think he must have been too compassionate to tell that to public despite his guru's warnings. What's your take?"<br /><br />Sk: "I would say he must have been a big fool to have done that."<br /><br />M: "Why?"<br /><br />Sk: "Religion is about transformation and there is no magic to it."<br /><br />M: "Then what about so many mantras? You mean there is no meaning in that?"<br /><br />Sk: "Exactly. But in the sense that they by themselves mean nothing. To define, "<strong>உணர்ந்த ஒரு சொல் - மந்திரம்.</strong>" There is no magic in it. It will help only at the Tipping Point. It will work only when the travel has already been done and when the traveler is on the brink."<br /><br />M: "But, then any word would do. Right?"<br /><br />Sk: "Bingo. Any word can do the trick. Om. Dum. Sk. Rajni. Anything is fine, if and only if he is at the tipping point."<br /><br />M: "So this is what Osho means when he says "drop" it?"<br /><br />Sk: "Could be."<br /><br />M: "Aanaa, neenga avara vida periyaa gnaani naa!!!"<br /><br />Sk: "Nejammaavaaa solra??!!!!"<br /><br />M: "Hahahaa, haiyo haiyo EKSI. I just tried to be Godly, Master!"<br /><br />Sk: "@@#$@!$!@$#!@$#!@$%@!%!@%"<br /><br /><em>Tailpiece</em><br />Here is <a href="http://dreamz-unltd.blogspot.com/2007/02/lies-sweet-lies.html">another post </a>on Lies and what we stand to lose by not lying.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-27314525165864064492008-09-10T17:20:00.004+05:302008-10-09T08:43:32.481+05:30Sathya(m) Sothanai!<p class="MsoNormal">This was supposed to be a post on deeper philosophical musings about The Joker, Into the wild, and life at large. But sloth does take its toll! However, watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Satyam</span> (starring Vishal and Nayan) fills me with so much of hopelessness and hate (even after that steamy song of Nayan!) that I better let it out. </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">They say the best form of flattery is imitation.</span> Here, Vishal has tried hard to flatter far too many people that I lost count almost within first half hour of the film. You feel a heavy, sustained sense of déjà vu all through the film. <span style="font-style: italic;">Home alone, Indian, Kaakka Kaakka, Saamy, Casino Royale </span>(Yeh!! The chase at Airport!), ummhhh… and loads of <span style="font-style: italic;">tam </span>and <span style="font-style: italic;">golti </span>films. Heard <span style="font-style: italic;">Satyam </span>is running to empty halls. How about a contest to identify as many films as possible that have “inspired” <span style="font-style: italic;">Satyam</span>? <span style=""> </span>And at the climax, Vishal shouts <span style="font-style: italic;">“Ithu thaanda Police!” </span>Believe me, am not kidding! </p> <p class="MsoNormal">After a point, which you get to too soon, you feel a sense of the calmness of a monk inside. You realise that nothing can be worse and in fact, start enjoying this comedy of (t)errors. Vishal takes himself so seriously that you cannot but help feeling loads of pity for that poor guy. But, of course, <span style="font-style: italic;">ovvovoru manushanukkum oru breaking point irukku!</span> I found so much of inner peace that I watched this film in just three instalments. Great, right? After this, even Gautam Menon appears God! Vishal could have spent at least some of the time that he spent working out on his six-pack for thinking through this story, if you dare call it that.<br /></p><p style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 255, 51);" class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Mothathula, Vishal-a on-screen mottai adichuttaanga, off-screen mukkaadu pottutaanga! Enna panrathu, aalu valarntha alavu arivu valarala pola!</span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b style="">A Spicy, Mallu note:<o:p></o:p></b></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Now, to add a bit of spice to this insipid post, just a reco. Well, this might not be as spicy as you might have wished for seeing the title. If you are a non-veggie, the next time you go to <span style="font-style: italic;">Kumarakom</span>, order <span style="font-style: italic;">Kozhi Varutharaichathu (KV)</span> and kerala parottta. KV is so rich in flavor, with oodles of coconut oil and pepper, that it just bowls you over. Forget those loads of calories you need to burn, just relish the moment. <span style="font-style: italic;">Carpe diem fellas!</span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-68943775442965274222008-08-29T17:01:00.006+05:302008-10-09T08:43:32.481+05:30Killing Joke<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxqU9ZsPXbRaTZ-C25bzRkmFyf_uVZk0ruWchPh7UojnlJja9pobduUFuy_zy6O5_bALa-SOQKeFt9n3-OVx3TrXCoWWumDjQgtZzVj31t3xngDyogeW85u4ZoWT04o303kWVkSNOWIE/s1600-h/dark_knight_ver4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239906129836240898" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; cursor: pointer; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNxqU9ZsPXbRaTZ-C25bzRkmFyf_uVZk0ruWchPh7UojnlJja9pobduUFuy_zy6O5_bALa-SOQKeFt9n3-OVx3TrXCoWWumDjQgtZzVj31t3xngDyogeW85u4ZoWT04o303kWVkSNOWIE/s400/dark_knight_ver4.jpg" border="0" /></a>Finally after almost the whole world had seen The Dark Knight, I saw it at Satyam yesterday. With much of cyberspace filled with more DK stuff-than-you-could-possibly-read, nothing I am going to say here is new. That said, this is more of my exultation on seeing my all time fav comic book hero, the Batman, being returned to Where He Belongs – Darkness! Kudos to Chris Nolan, Batman finally found his soul! The previous attempts at bringing Batman to cinema by Tim Burton etc had merely made a mockery of the Caped Crusader. <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-weight: bold;">To me, the appeal of Batman lies in the basic, simple fact: choice vs chance.</span> Unlike other superheroes, who become what they are by some highly improbable freaky accident, Batman is what he is because of his choice. He has the brains of Sherlock Holmes (IMHO the DK is the only superhero with brains ;) ), the toys of James Bond, the mask from Zorro and the moves of Rambo. All that: by choice. He is human, yet rises above through sheer efforts, which is what really excites. Thanks to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Miller_%28comics%29">Frank Miller</a> (the creator of Sin City), Batman grew from a freaky boy to a menacing mask.<o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">My love affair with the Dark Knight began in my schooldays with the திகில் comics. If ever there was a passion in my life at that point in my life, it was comics. Even among the typical comic book heroes, I preferred to read heroes with different shades of characters. In fact, apart of from Batman, my next fav was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Prince">Prince team </a>(Bernard Prince, Barney Jordan and little Djinn) that runs a small cargo boat called Cormoran (கழுகு in tamil comics). </p><p class="MsoNormal">Of all the Batman comics I read, the one I could never forget was titled “சிரிக்கும் மரணம்” (“Laughing Death”), which had the origins of The Joker. Many of the pages of that book were filled with frames with no dialogue bubbles. In fact, the last page, there would be no single utterance. All that you find is a series of images of rain splashing on the ground and slowly the lights of the Batmobile withdrawing. There were so many silent images, atypical of comics books, that spoke so much. I never got the Batman I wanted till <i>Batman Begins</i>. Never before Batman was a Real Man. In fact, in <i>Batman and Robin</i>, Clooney was more clowny. There is much more depth, philosophically/ psychologically, to Batman, which Nolan had portrayed beautifully. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Unlike the previous Batman films which were more like a circus with people wearing all weirdly colors possible and glistening unearthly buildings, the DK is set in the streets of Chicago, making it much more real now. It is more like a classic action film where a intelligent hero fights a maniac who wants nothing except chaos. That… is the beauty of The Joker. He is much more of an enigma than the DK himself. “You… complete me.” <span style="font-weight: bold;">It is hard to deal with someone who wants nothing. </span>At least nothing that you could possible think of. </p><p class="MsoNormal">Just as a ritual: Heath Ledger steals the show with his electrifying performance as The Joker, the arch nemesis of the Dark Knight. (I know this is the zillionth sentence in cyberspace saying this.) I just have not got enough of the movie yet. <i>Yeh dil maange more!</i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p>Few one liners from the movie that I loved: </p><p class="MsoNormal">“Why so Serious?” ;)</p><p class="MsoNormal">“This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.”</p><p class="MsoNormal">“If you're good at something, never do it for free.”</p><p class="MsoNormal">“See, I'm not a monster...I'm just ahead of the curve.” (To Harvey Dent at the hospital)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-weight: bold;">“Insanity is like gravity, all it needs is a little... push!"</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p><span style="font-size:100%;">After the movie, was zipping through Chennai which was <st1:place st="on">Gotham</st1:place> to me then. Too bad, my Discover is no BatPod!</span></p><span style="font-size:85%;">P.S:<br />After posting, I came to know that my favorite Batman comic that I mentioned in the post seems to be translation of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman:_The_Killing_Joke">Killing Joke </a>that is among the most popular stories in Batman franchise. Apparently, The Killing Joke was used as reference by Heath Ledger and Chris Nolan for The Dark Knight.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-29103653163747264562008-08-26T18:49:00.005+05:302008-08-26T18:57:17.397+05:30Filler<span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Note: </span><br />Wrote this for a friend's wedding invite. I know i will not write anything that even remotely resembles a poem. So, just published this hoping to make do for that.</span><br /><br /> <p class="MsoNormal">Life is beautiful with a little madness<br />And that madness we call love<br />Mad we are, for each other<br />Time it is, to take it further<br />Our wedding is not farther<br />Without fail, be there.<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Or soon you’ll have to meet your great great grandfather.</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-34095739884615601832008-06-12T12:05:00.005+05:302008-10-09T08:43:32.482+05:30டப்பாவதாரம்<p class="MsoNormal">OC-car producer is watching Sivaji on thiruttu vcd. On the TV screen, like a +2 tutorial teacher (Neengal +2 thervil failaa? Kavalai vendaam, engalidam vaarungal!!), Rajni explains how a black economy works and the evils of it. And a little later, he demos his ingenious plans to wash the black money white. This gets our producer to start thinking.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">“Kai la karuppu panam vera jaasthiyaagiduchu… hmm enna pannalaam… Sivaji rangeku periya plan ellaam pottaa velaikaavathu… Odaatha padam eduthaa? Aaanaa... Anthaala vechu eduthaa epdi irunthaalum odidum… Vijay vechu eduthaa<span style=""> </span>kooda rasigar mandrathula vasool panni ottiduvaanunga… enna pannarathu…” He calls his PA “Antha kolaignaniya konjam koopdu… vela iruku”.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Vaappaa… eppdi irukka. <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Unna</st1:place></st1:city> vechu oru padam edukkalaam nu paakkuren.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Mikka magilchi. Aanaa budget Sivajiya vida perusa irukkanum. Appa thaan naan othukkuven.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Athellaam approm paakkalam. Un sambalam evlo sollu.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: XXXX</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Yeiii… ennappaa nee… nithaanathula thaan irukkiyaa… enna Avar rangeku kekkura… Etho irukka konjam karuppa vellai aakkalaam nu paathaa… nee enna mothathukkum mukkaadu poda vechuruva pola irukkae…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Enna koduma sir ithu… vitha vithamaa naalu wig maatitu nadanthu varrathukkae avlo kaasu vaangaraaru… naan ennoda pechu, moochu, mmm aprom en jatti baniyan nu ellaathayum kalaikkunnae vechu vaalkaiya nadathittu varren… naan kekkarathula enna thappu…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Oora yemaathara mathiri enna yemaatha nenaikkaatha… free madi… irunthaalum nee kekkarathu romba athigam…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Sir, venumnaa naan 10 role la nadikkaren.. mathavangalukku kudukkara kaasu koraiyum la… oru role ku ivlo nu neengala oru amount pottu kudunga…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Hmmm… ennappa nee ippdi kodairiyae… ethukku theva illaama 10 role pannanum…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Sir, ithu sonnaa ungalukku puriyaathu… oru kalaignaa irunthu paarunga… Anthaalu summaa wig-a maattitu vanthu nadanthaale atha paakkarathukku neeyaa naanaa nu adichukkaraanunga muttaa pasanga… naan nadanthaa paakkarathukku oru naai illa… ippdi naalu balti adichaaa thaan super actor nu othukkuvaanga… </p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Appaa saami…. Aala vudu… sari 10 role pannra… eppdi vithiyaasam kaatuva… paathaa kandu pudichuda maattangalaa? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Athellaam enakku ithu maathiri sir…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Yeii… ennappaaa nee.. mariyatha illaama hair mathiri nu sollitta… un kalai avlo thaana? </p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Athu appdi illa, Sir. Different permutation, combination pottu hair-a mathuna pothum.. 10 enna 100 role pannuven… kudumi vechu oru vesham, mottai adichu onnu, mottai adichu mukkaadu pottu onnu, karuppu wig vechu onnu… white wig vechu onnu… btw neenga inum konjam periya budgetaa pottu English padam edukkaren nu sollunga… red, pink, gold, green nu wig maathi maathiyae pala role panniduven…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Illa illa, naan tamil padamae pannren… <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">unna</st1:place></st1:city> vechu tamil naattula otta mudiyuthaa nu paathuttu apromaa mathathellaam try pannalaam… aamaa white wig vechu thaan neraya pannitiyae…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Inga thaan periya twist. Intha thadava white wig vechu, coat suit pottu Bush rangela varra poren… appdiyae namma mallikava romance pannren… Iyer kudumi vechuttu apdi pannaa tensionaagiduvaanga makkal…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: yaaru Autograph la varumae… antha ponnaa? Avala kooda vittu vekka maatiyaa nee?</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Sir, illa sir. Naan sonnathu Mallika Sherawat.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Athu irukka rangeku athu vera overaa kekkumae… <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">unna</st1:place></st1:city> vida jaasthiya avalukku kudukkanumae</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Appdinaa venaa ennoda 10 role la 8 role ku mattum pay pannunga… 2 role free… Antha ponnu full padathukku kooda venaam sir… chinna Bit role pottruvom… </p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Bit roleaa? Un kalai aarvatha nenachaa romba perumaiyaa irukku…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">Mid way through the shooting…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Ennappa eppa thaan mudippa… ippa odittu irukkarathu ellaaam kadan vaangi potta kaasu… konjamaavathu padam odanum… illa naan gaali…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Enna Sir neenga… kavala padaatheenga.. ungalukku technique-ae puriya maattenguthu… 10 role pannrom nu solittom… satttu puttu nu wig-a maathi seekiram eduthu mudichuttom naa sandhegam varaathu? Athaan, varusha kanakkula kashtappattu eduthurukkom nu buildup kudukkanum la</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Athukku nu evlo naal thaan buildup layae ottitu irukkarathu…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Mudichuduvom Sir…<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: ippa vera IPL season odittu irukku… atha nenachaale allu vuduthu… Atleast athu mudinja udanae release panniduvom… illa Kuselan vanthudum…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Athunaala enna…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Athu vanthuchunnaa aprom namma padam odrathu kashtam.. oothikuchunaa avlo thaan… Manithanai manithan nesi.. anbae sivam nu dialogue vittutu padam ellaam edutha… athellaam summaavaa? Ivlo kaasu potta enakkaaga konjam kooda kavala pada maattengara?<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Hahahaahahhaahaha…. Pazhamozhi sonna anubavikkanum… aaraya koodaathu..</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Hmm… en thalai ezhuthu… yaar yaar kitta ellam anubavikkanum nu irukku... btw athu ennayaa paattu... kaari thupparaanga... ivlo kaasu pottu eduthu yen nalla music director kitta kudukkala nu kekkaraanga...</p><p class="MsoNormal">K: Neenga kudukkara kaasu wig vaangarathulayum, climax-kaaga thanni vaangiyumae mudinju pochu... nalla music director kitta ponaa neraya kaasu keppaanungalae.. ippa kooda onnum illa... innum konjam kaasu kudunga... nalla musicaa pottruvom...</p><p class="MsoNormal">O: Oru padathukku ethana thadava kaasu vaanguveenga... Naan enna manushanaa.. illa machineaa...</p><p class="MsoNormal">K: Hahhaha... Comedy pannaatheenga Sir... en pada dialogue enaake solreengala... athula vera situation la varum athu...</p><p class="MsoNormal">O: Ingayum athu thaane nadakkuthu...<br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Aprom release date June 13, Friday vechuduvom..</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Aiyooo…. Raasi illatha naal ache Sir… </p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: Enakku theriyaathaa? Naan yerkanavae Black shirtkaaran nu oru image maintain panni vechrukken.. so atha maintain pannanum… neenga romba kavala padaaatheenga… padathukku perae perumal edutha avatharamaa vechurukkom.. pathaa koraikku, padathula vera perumaalayae naan thaan kaappaathurengaraengara mathiri scene vechurukkom… ellaam naan kumbudura perumal paathuppaar… neenga poi nimmathiyaa thoongunga…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: Perumaalae.. perumaalae…</p> <p class="MsoNormal">K: One sec Sir. Hello… Make up man, ayyaakku nethila perusaa 111 podu… illa illa en kitta kudu… naanae pottu viduren.. Ippdiyae sollittae ponga Sir… Padathukku nalla velambaram kedaikkum.</p> <p class="MsoNormal">O: ……</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">P.S:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="">Ivar nalla padam nadikkiraar endraal atharkkaga sandhosappadubavargalil naanum oruvan. Athae samayam, ivar mokka padathil nadikkiraar endraal atharkkaga kaduppaabavargalilum naan oruvan. Engeyoo kettaa maathiri irukku la.. ;)<br /></span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-20026263614276756792008-04-30T16:55:00.003+05:302008-10-09T08:43:32.482+05:30Ha.. ha.. Haasini!<strong>Bommarillu</strong> – a beautiful dream.<br /><br />A dream so beautiful that it is so hard to believe. A boy fed up of/choked by his dad’s overbearing love falls in love with a gal who lives for herself. Again it might be because I might have read too much into Ha Ha Haasini’s character and whatever she utters. For, I would love to think of her apparent asininity as something out of choice rather than by design. I would like to think of that as a choice to retain the child in her, which requires brains as well as lots of guts. Well, to put it shortly, not a dumb blonde. Half way into the movie, Sid asks Geni how come she believes things like “you’ll get horns if get your head butted on just one side”. She just says something like “Aren’t they beautiful?” <em>Kaathaa?! ;)<br /></em><br />Film buffs might trash this film as just another piece of totally mindless cinema. Well, I find even such lighter films equally interesting, though in a different way, as those of the serious “critically acclaimed” genre. It is the simple difference between carefully constructed logic and a simple dream. <strong>What was and what could have been.</strong> While ‘serious, real’ films deal with the complexities/nuances of human nature such as pre/extra marital affairs and violence, those like Bommarillu are about what could have been. <strong>It is about expression of oneself.</strong> That might seem too much for a light film like Bommarillu. That said, Bommarillu scores by keeping its narration simple, and its dialogues, crisp. Especially, the exchange between Sid and Prakashraj at the end is so beautiful because of its sheer simplicity. In sum, a dream that I would like watch over and over.<br /><br /><em>Santosh Subramaniam</em> – <em>Bommarillu</em> botched up.<br /><br /><strong>Raja and Ravi</strong> - <strong><span style="color:#ffffff;">Born to remake</span></strong> successful <em>golti</em> films that have Siddarth. And successfully make an unthinkably dumb imitation. The telugu tunes don’t fit well and songs sound so un-Tamil. Ravi can’t emote for nuts. His voice is also a sore point. Santhaanam’s comedy was kinda enjoyable. But somehow, I started finding Premji irritating right in his second film. <em>Enna koduma sir ithu!<br /></em><br /><em>Aside</em><br /><em>Dasavatharam</em> audio cd release function was a foolishly big ego-fest. The speakers had no other job other than blow up egos of Kamal and Kalaingar. I just don't get why Jackie Chan and Amitabh were needed in the first place. Kamal's speech was totally unpalatable even for the few minutes that I watched. Kamal again proved he has a dumb side to himself by choosing the monkey-cap music director. Why the hell did he have to do that when he had all the time and money to get ARR or at least, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy? Just beats me. With the music already declared disappointing, I hope the film doesn’t turn out to be another unprofitable extravaganza like <em>Aalavandhaan.</em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-25338131426407330932008-03-19T09:50:00.001+05:302008-03-19T13:37:38.590+05:30Thus spake SkMore often than not, beauty, it seems, is something that is almost always in short supply.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-10400123211511116022008-03-14T14:11:00.004+05:302008-11-13T15:43:01.025+05:30Anjaathe<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TfmO65JMNXY0SJorKrqJfAm1Vx43NurLIBspk_3ie7XYjQDBs9kJFhfAI0Vq54AQ9Rc0LxzqUzEcf37WeVGaPDf-rXSjx9qVcE9jLs6rk5F9dI187xayx8rtlKcMhbryNCYKOVbOclc/s1600-h/900.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TfmO65JMNXY0SJorKrqJfAm1Vx43NurLIBspk_3ie7XYjQDBs9kJFhfAI0Vq54AQ9Rc0LxzqUzEcf37WeVGaPDf-rXSjx9qVcE9jLs6rk5F9dI187xayx8rtlKcMhbryNCYKOVbOclc/s400/900.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5177517260313056178" border="0" /></a>It’s been long since I saw <i style="">Anjaathe</i> and decided to write about it. So I have forgotten a lot of what I initially had planned to write. Even after hearing raving reviews of the film, I wasn’t expecting too much from the movie and it turned out to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience overall. It has been quite a while I really enjoyed watching a movie. Despite few glaringly stupid moments (like the one where a cop explains to his team that they have been fooled by the villains by leading the police away from them in a totally opposite direction by letting the police “track” them via their mobile signal), the movie had quite a few ORIGINAL scenes which were kind of totally unexpected. Well, at least not something that you would normally expect in a Tamil movie. While the story, admittedly, is not entirely different, the treatment is quite refreshingly new for a tam film. In particular, the scene where all you see on the screen is just the legs of the actors. Well, this movie does it really, unlike Billa, which according to many "has taken tam cinema to Hollywood level".<br /> <p class="MsoNormal">The film as a whole packs a lot of surprises in terms of scenes as well as the actors chosen for the different roles. Especially Prasanna’s performance was pleasantly surprising, his terrible wig notwithstanding. One look at that horrible wig, it dawns upon you this is a film is a damn low budget one! While all that he does almost throughout the first half of the film is to just stand, head hanging down and those odd strands of that eccentric wig falling all over his face, you see him slowly transform into a totally convincing villain in the later half. That too, without raising the decibel levels and without any punch dialogues. I wonder whether Naren really “acted”, because he was bumbling in a program on Sun Music, just as he was in the movie. </p> <p class="MsoNormal">And it seems <span style="font-style: italic;">Mysskin </span>has a penchant for yellow sari: Malavika was in yellow in <span style="font-style: italic;">Vaala</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">meenukkum </span>and the girl in <span style="font-style: italic;">Kathaazha kannaala</span> also is decked up in the same color. The climax was a real thriller… cat-mouse game set in a sugarcane field. A lot lot better than the supposedly “the most thrilling cop flick of 2007” – <span style="font-style: italic;">Vettaiyadu Vilayadu</span>, which was absolute crap. That said, the film could have done without the portion that extends for really longgg after Prasanna is killed. Again, unlike VV, which had possibly the worst ever BGM for a thriller, the background music of <span style="font-style: italic;">Anjaathe </span>was a lot intelligent and interesting. The songs weren’t bad either; at least you feel that way once you see the movie.</p>Equally entertaining was the crowd at Mayajaal with lots of hilarious comments all through the movie. Here’s few that I remember: When Naren washes his hands on receiving a call while eating (as we typically see in a lot of movies) “Deii… yenda enthiruchu poi kai kaluva maatiyaa? Antha saapada vera yaaravathu saapduvaangalla..” And when Ponvannan tells Naren that they will go to his house and change clothes and then go… “Appavae sonnen shirt romba gabbadikuthu… thovaichu podu nu… paaru ippa ivanum athaae thaan solraan…” And finally, my dear roommate’s gem for the opening scene where the camera is almost on the ground focusing on the clouds above for a long time… “Windows XP!!!”Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-63103101979152464762008-02-20T14:09:00.011+05:302008-11-13T15:43:01.309+05:30Ecce Homo!<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuQXZR-Fgulb6cc9Nt_9yBCrRVBf-ryBwdehLt1f187TJHFTwmGM5bfvEpWU_L-C8kggrwaAtSW-cPaMHIINnJudOFJKE-tESm2tz03Q1fpidS6R7sUV4qj-RfWGAg0r-y6wbCLVoYzs/s1600-h/Ecce+Home.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikuQXZR-Fgulb6cc9Nt_9yBCrRVBf-ryBwdehLt1f187TJHFTwmGM5bfvEpWU_L-C8kggrwaAtSW-cPaMHIINnJudOFJKE-tESm2tz03Q1fpidS6R7sUV4qj-RfWGAg0r-y6wbCLVoYzs/s400/Ecce+Home.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168979498202720322" border="0" /></a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:85%;" >Note</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-size:85%;">This post is better left unread. This article might appear to be full of snobbery, dropping names all over and everything that can apparently provide evidence for my "refined artistic tastes". So be warned. This is just about my observations and not meant to be any study/guide for appreciating art.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" ><o:p></o:p></span> <p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">February 9, 2008</span>.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Probably today was the best day in my trip here to <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">London</st1:place></st1:city> I guess. I visited The National Gallery near <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Trafalgar Square</st1:address></st1:street>. Spent about 4 hours over there gazing at quite a few paintings from different eras. After the first half hour, I had a slight doubt whether I had taken too bad a decision, in a vain effort to just to prove, if not to others at least to myself, that I have "refined artistic" tastes and "unlike the masses" I can appreciate art. Which anyway is just BS, I know. Except for Da Vinci's most revered "Madonna on the Rocks" and another of Da Vinci's pencil sketches, I did not find anything quite interesting. In fact, I was kind of put off by most of the paintings especially because of their painstaking detail and bright colors that you find in calendar pictures. Most of the paintings were about Christ - different variations of Virgin Mary, Adoration of the Kings and Lamentation of dead Christ. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">And that was until I reached the room 16, a pretty small room which had Early Rembrandt and other Dutch Landscapes. After a distasteful garishness of the previous paintings I saw, it was a delightful relief to see a few early Rembrandts. And the work that I fell in love at first sight and for which my awe is still growing, was <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG1400"><i>Ecce Homo</i></a> (Behold the Man), which is supposedly Rembrandt's full-scale study for an etching. Again, <i style="">Ecce Home</i> is also based on a scene from Bible, where Christ is presented to the public before his crucifixion. I couldn’t have enough of the painting even after gazing at it for about 20-25 minutes from different angles.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">The striking difference between the others and Rembrandt is the amazingly sensible use of 1. Lighting 2. Space/composition 3. Subtle harmony of colors. You can see that in <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG45">The Woman Taken in Adultery</a>, <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG54">A Woman bathing in a stream</a>, <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG4189">Anna and the Blind Hobbit </a>and <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG43">The Lamentation over the Dead Christ</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">One of the few things I wanted to do in life was to see some Van Gogh masterpieces for real. AND I HAVE DONE THAT! It was so terribly unfortunate that The National Gallery didn’t have all the pieces that I wanted to see. But, anyway... Gosh! I had goose bumps just entering hall 45 which had the Van Goghs! Among them, there were a few of his famous works – Van Gogh’s chair, Sunflowers and <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/cgi-bin/WebObjects.dll/CollectionPublisher.woa/wa/work?workNumber=NG3861">A wheat field, with Cypresses</a>. It was terribly sad that I couldn’t see Cafe on Terrace or Wheatfield with crows. <b style="">To me, Van Gogh is The Artist. </b>Somehow I seem to have irretrievably fallen in love with his works - particularly because of the way he uses his brush strokes to create a sense of flow/life into his paintings like Wheatfield with crows or A wheat field with cypresses. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">So what is that art does other than literally add colors to the bland walls of our houses? And given that so much subjectivity goes into creation of art, in the first place, and that we all tend to see ‘the truth’ through our colored lenses, appreciating art is, not surprisingly, even more subjective.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">So, how does one say one artist is better than the other? I know I am not equipped enough to answer that. But when I just try to understand why I love one painting over another, it appears to be largely dependent on how much the viewer understands or rather identifies with the work, which I think is a better word to use here, given that almost all artists, genuine or otherwise, have always been asked “So, what do you intend to communicate in this painting?” by stupid viewers, most often in an effort just to “intelligently” tackle the artist and make him uncomfortable instead of a real wish to understand. All in the name of “understanding art”! As if the artist’s answer to their “intelligent” question would make their understanding of the painting any better.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:100%;">To me, it is all about your experience. What you experience when you happen to see the work. It may appear to be too simple or plain stupid to say this. But, most often, in our efforts to “understand”, we miss the real experience. For me, art is a key. A key that opens the doors to your own experience. It is all about increasing your sensitivity or awareness. And all this might make it sound too complex, but, it is not.</span></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;">P.S.</span></p><p style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Couldn't think of a better title than what it is now. Even Nietzsche named his autobiography- <span style="font-style: italic;">Ecce Homo</span>! Btw, the zoom function in the National Gallery website links that you would find in this post is pretty good to have a close look at the paintings...</span></span></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-8680169091747783012008-02-19T10:12:00.000+05:302008-02-19T10:13:42.503+05:30Thus spake SkFaith is something that you have before you start thinking.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-138116220510947194.post-79286360892339342932008-02-14T18:36:00.003+05:302008-02-15T15:52:16.565+05:30Happy Val's day!<span style="font-size:85%;">Note: Was too tired to think of anything new to post about. So just doing something that am used to do.... ctrl c +ctrl v <a href="http://dreamz-unltd.blogspot.com/2007/02/valentines-day-special.html">my post for Val's day </a>I wrote last year. This is one post that I had real fun writing.. ;) Happy Val's day! ;)</span><br /><br />Valentine's day a munnittu namma blog-la oru VIP guestoda interview.... Vazhakkamaa ellaa thinathukkum, be it, Independence day, Republic Day, Diwali, Pongal.. ellaathukkum ella channel-layum ethavathu marketae illaatha oru actor/actress interview thaan irukkum. This highly esteemed blog and its even more highly respected author, in line with their tradition of thinking different and intelligent, bring you, the most-intelligent souls on Mother Earth, a totally different experience for this fateful day!!!<br /><br />Sari, program-ukku polaamaa? neenga ivlo neram kashtappattu yosichu vecha list-la irukkavanga yaarum illa. As we told you, this blog is Different!!! antha VIP vera yaarum illa... the balloon seller on the street...<br /><em></em><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Vaanga vaanga, vanakkam!!!</em><br />Interview-va Konjam seekiram mudichutteengannaa naan kelambuven. Time is wealthunga. Seekkiram ponaa 4 balloon serthu vithuduven. Apdiyae, innum neraya theru mudichuttu... beachukku poganum...<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Unga business-a valathukka enna enna puthusaa seireenga?</em><br />Actuallaa paatheengannaa national level-la oru in-the-film promos thodarnthu pannittu irukkom. Enga promo la Shah Rukh la irunthu Jeyam Ravi varaikkum use pannirukkom.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Wow!! Shah Rukh Khan balloon vithaaraa? Nambavae mudiyalayae? Konjam puriyara maathiri sollreengalaa?</em><br />Athu illeenga. Main Hoon Na padathula paatheengannaa "Gori... Gori...", athaanga antha party song, athula paatheenganna fullaa white and red balloon use panni setting pottruppanga. Atha paathu Prabhu Deva-vum Nuvvosthanante Nenodhantanaa (happaa saami, padathukku peru vekkaaranga paaru... 7 mile neelathukku!!!) la athae maathiri pannaru. Aprom, Jeyam Raviyum avanga annan Remake Raja-vum Something Something padathulayum balloon-a use pannaanga.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Wow!! great!! Ellaa kadailayum thaan balloon kedaikuthu, avanga avangalae vaangi oothikka maattaangala? Appo unga business adi padaathaa?</em><br />Illeenga... athukku chancea illeenga.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Athu yepdi avlo sure-aa solreenga? Ethana padathula lover-oda moochu kathu irukkunnu hero kadaisi varaikkum antha balloon-a bathiramaa vechuruppaar?</em><br />Naan business nallaa pogum nu solrathukku kaaranam intha kaalathu pasangaloda intelligence thaanga kaaranam. Munna maathiri illa pasanga, neraya per MBA padichuttu thelivaayittanga. At least oru vishayathulayavathu, avanga padicha diversification principle-a apply pannraanga. Munna maathiri orey ponnukku mattum balloon kudukkarathu illa. Periya portfolio-vae vechurukkaanga. So engaloda regular customer segment la irunthu nalla demand irukkum.<br /><br />In fact, we expect the number and size of such portfolios to grow manifold. We further plan to promote this with "<em>Hearts Highness</em>", a popular crush contest wherein we ask "how many hearts do you have?" at the end of the day and the boy/gal with the highest number of hearts, i mean heart-shaped balloons, win exciting prizes including a year's supply of balloons!!!<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Aamaa, entha maathiri balloonukku neraya demand irukkum?</em><br />Heart shape la irukka balloonukku thaanga yegappatta giraakki. Athuvum red colorla irunthaa thaan vaanguvaanga. Vera colorla irunthaa vaanga maattanga.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Sari, athu yen eppovum heart shapela balloon vikkireenga? Brain shape la vikka koodaathaa?</em><br />Athaavathu, kandippa irukkunnu therinja onna kudukkalaam. Neraya perukku irukkaa, illiyaa nu theriyaatha onna epdi gift-aa kudukkarathu... Brain shape balloon kudukkarathula neraya problem... The receiver might say "Why are you giving me brains? Don't you think I have one?" or (s)he might ask "unakku thaan yerkanave athu illaennu theriyum, aprom yenga irunthu itha pudicha? enakku venaam, neeyae vechukko. unakku thaan romba useful-laa irukkum..."<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Exactly!! Vera enna enna plan vechurukkeenga...unga business-a improve panna?</em><br />Enga product positioning-a konjam maathi neraya different target segments-ku cater pannra maathiri promotion pannalaamnu irukkom.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Epdi? Can you please explain?</em><br />Of course, you know who the biggest target customer segment is - the easy-to-fool young softies and their "equally intelligent" relatives in ITES sectors.We also try to target the loners with a philosophical bent with the mantra "<em>kaayamae ithu poiyadaa, verum kaatradaitha paiyyadaa</em>". Balloon exemplifies this important truth.<br /><em></em><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Ya, quite true. So how about people without gf/bf-s? How do you plan to cater ot their needs?</em><br />Some of what i am going to say now, i mean the positioning content, won't be suitable for children. [So the "good" people among the readers of this blog are advised to exercise their discretion and skip this answer and move on to the next question. <em>Aprom vanthu enna paathu "ivlo kettavanaa nee?" apdinnu kekkaatheenga.</em> Athaan sonnam la adutha questionukku pongannu... All this is the balloon seller's views.]<br /><br />Of course, we plan to sell more to the winners, by highlighting the dual-purpose utility of our special balloons. For the losers, who have no gf/bf-s, we have the "Yeh <em>dil do </em>more" range of products. Made from imported wear and tear resistant rubber. Available in "<em>exciting</em>" forms. We believe this product range is going to be a rage among the Indian majority - i mean, the intelligent people who understand that a relationship with the opposite gender is essentially economic-loss making proposal and look out for smarter means to the end.<br /><br />And more than that, unlike the heart-shaped balloons which are seasonally driven, we expect the "Yeh <em>dil do </em>more" range to a be a major stable revenue source, for we see strong demand all through the year. So you will see a lot of innovation happening here on the material technology front and design forms in the coming years.<br /><br /><em style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Just one more question. You seem to know a lot of marketing stuff? How come?</em><br />Well I am a marketing prof in a MBA institute. Money i get from selling balloons is much more than what i get for a year. And more over, I get free workforce: i meant the "intelligent" people who spend lakhs and lakhs, apart from their energy for preparing for the entrance exams, to get into MBA courses, especially marketing disciplines. I just design this as part of the on-the-field experience for the marketing "studs" among my students. Btw, however hard i try, finance guys are too intelligent!!!<br /><br /><em><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);">Ok, thanks for your valuable time, Mr.Prof!!!</span> </em>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10819356415845133895noreply@blogger.com1