Suraj C S' Blurty
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Below are the 19 most recent journal entries recorded in
Suraj C S' Blurty:
| Sunday, July 24th, 2005 | | 9:10 am |
Raapagal Yesterday I went with family to see Raapagal, a new malayalam movie directed by Kamal. The story is by T A Rasakh and music is by Mohan Sithara. Mammootty plays the lead role and supporting cast include Balachandra menon, Janardhanan, Vijayaraghavan, Nayan Thara, "Urvasi" Sarada and a whole bunch of new malayalam actors.
Even though I was not expecting to see a ultra modern late-2000 malayalam cinema with lots of masala songs, dialogue deliveries, magniied pesonalities and the like, I was not at all prepared for what I experienced from this movie.
After a long long time, I saw a malayalam movie made ***naturally*** after the the 1980-90s era (Which was the era when mammootty classics like Valsalyam, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha etc released). Kamal made a wonderfully poignant mammootty movie, producing a natural story, with one of the best ever acting performances from the ever green star of malayalam cinema after Prem Nazir.
It was exciting to see a movie made wonderfully, so poignant in showing virtues like unselfish love, sincerity, faiththfulness, truthfulness and related virtues which are almost faded in this modern times.
Now let me get into the story a little. The movie is built around Eeswaramangalam Tharavadu, which has survived into the modern era. Saraswathy Amma(Played well by Sarada) is the current owner of the house and Krishnan (Mammootty) is the overall caretaker of this tharavadu. Krishnan is needed for everything in the house, including cooking(Even though there is a cook), taking care of the Cows in the "Thozuthu"(Even though there is a milkman), take care of the elephant(Even though there is a Mahout, played well by Salimkumar), cleaning the house, taking care of the numerous "Ottu" pathrams, "Uruli", "Nilavilakkus" etc. Krishnan is truly shown as a all-in-all person in the house and his relationship with Saraswathy amma is that of a natural mother-son relationship(more than a master-servant relationship) , with unadulterated love shown in a most faithful manner
Nayanthara comes to the house as a housemaid brought there by Janardhanan who is a acquaintence of Saraswathy Amma. She looks natural even though she cannot fully let go of the fact that she is a top star now
The story proceeds beautifully by showing Krishnan's devotion to Saraswathy amma, his devotion to the house, its inmates who come from far away places for vacation, his silent sufferings of ill treatments by several high-tech people who comes there, his sad and helpless situation as a servant when it is decided to bring down the tharavadu and his final explosion in the climax
Mammootty magic fills the movie, he is everywhere in the movie. He has given a 200% performance as an actor in a role which has started suiting him very well after Vaalsalyam, Arayannangalude Veedu, Kaazcha and the like
It was with a rich and satisfying mood that I left the theatre. The story and the beautifully captured images and dialogues, situations shown in the movie still lingers in my mind, which clearly shows the brilliant work done by Kamal in directing the movie, Rasakh in conceptualizing the theme and Mammootty in showing that good natural easy acting can still be done in this era
I am not writing more, because its a movie to be seen, to be experienced, to be remembered often. It is a movie which will linger in my nostalgic memory always. | | Saturday, November 29th, 2003 | | 10:28 am |
Life Sometimes, life can become dull and void. There are moments when you feel why you were born amidst all the chaos, treacheries, ego-complexes and rat race that you see around you.
But then, you can take solace from the fact that a unknown power known as god exists somewhere inside you and everywhere outside, which can help cross all the hurdles
I take solace from the fact that ultimately I will go back to this force which created my physical being. To me, this reunion will be one of the happy moments of life | | Tuesday, September 23rd, 2003 | | 4:11 am |
Evening with Lal Myself and my wife Anu met with Mohanlal and spoke to him for about a hour yesterday evening at my friends(Colleague at NeST) house. Shooting for his next film "hariharan pilla happy annu" was going on there He is a very down-to-earth, no-jada type person and talks very well. Initially he was bit shy(In his familiar style in films) but then became talkative and we talked abt his kids schooling at a international school in Ooty where children from several countries study and live/play together, his interest in thayambaka, perumanam temple, the wood based big size nataraja statue he bought from a carpenter("Aana" menon) in cherpu(My Grand Fathers place) and transported it to chennai, my workplace, Anus family background, his idea abt doing a film abt Shatkala Govinda Marar giving importance to classical music,his film Naran coming up next, his business interests like restaurants in dubai, director board member in Marine exports company in Kozhikode etc etc
I told him he needs to reduce more weight and act in stories with values and also produce some nice simple comedy and classical music-based movies(Like Sanmanassulavarku samadhanam, TP Balagopalan MA, Gandhi nagar 2nd street, Varavelpu, His Highness Abdulla,Sadayam, Kilikkam,Chitram etc)
I also told him that if 2 TV channels show Narasimham and Sanmanassu at the same time, most people still pick sanmanassu only and he liked the comment.
I have taken one photo and also got his autograph. Will scan the photo and send soon
Ambili Devi was also there and since Anu has studied dancing, she and Anu talked a lot. She also looks a normal girl and at the same time is good at sugar beating(Not a direct experience! but for some bachelor boys who had come there)
I also asked lalettan how he easily portrays tough situations on screen and he is telling he does not take effort but just acts as any normal person will do in real life(Donno if its a number jada, but he sounded sincere).
He said he liked roles in Kireedam, Manichitrathazhu and Karnabharam he said he learnt sanskrit for that
Overall a unforgettable evening for both me and Anu
But shooting for the song scene was very repetitive and we wanted to leave by 8.30
My friends house is a beautiful Naalukettu with about 1 acre parambu in Kangarapady (About 12 kms from Ekm in route to perumbavoor)and I got some info abt how it looked, various rooms,areas etc. I will go there again on day time on a sunday. His parents are very nice and simple people and overall we had a nice experience from 6-8PM yest evening | | Monday, September 22nd, 2003 | | 4:02 pm |
Excerpt from Gods Debris I had the good fortune to read "Gods Debris" a book by Scott Adams(Creator of Dilbert Comic Cartoons) recently. It was a very absorbing writeup and I am just pasting a section providing insights into Men and Women.
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"Women believe that men are, in a sense, defective versions of women," he began. "Men believe that women are defective versions of men. Both genders are trapped in a delusion that their personal viewpoints are universal. That viewpoint -- that each gender is a defective version of the other -- is the root of all misunderstandings."
"How does that help me?" I asked.
"Women define themselves by their relationships and men define themselves by who they are helping. Women believe value is created by sacrifice. If you are willing to give up your favorite activities to be with her, she will trust you. If being with her is too easy for you, she will not trust you. You can accomplish your sacrifices symbolically at first, by leaving work early to buy flowers, cancelling your softball game to make a date, that sort of thing."
"Why does it seem like the rich and famous guys get all the women?" I asked.
"Partly because the rich and famous are capable of making larger sacrifices. The average man might be sacrificing a night of television to be with a woman. The rich and famous man could be sacrificing a week in Tahiti. There is much to be said about the attraction of power and confidence exuded by a rich and powerful man, but capacity for sacrifice is the most important thing."
"What do men value?" I asked.
"Men believe value is created by accomplishment and they have objectives for the women in their lives. If a woman meets the objectives, he assumes she loves him. If she fails to meet the objectives, he will assume she does not love him. The man assumes that if the woman loved him she would have tried harder and he always believes his objectives for her are reasonable."
"What objectives?"
"The objectives are different for each man. Men rarely share these objectives because doing so is a recipe for disaster. No woman would tolerate being given a set of goals."
"So what should a guy do if the woman in his life doesn't meet these secret objectives? How can he get her to change?"
"He can't," he replied. "People don't change to meet the objectives of other people. Men can be molded in small ways -- clothing and haircuts and manners -- because those things are not important to most men. Women can't be changed at all."
"I'm not hearing anything helpful here."
"The best you can hope for in a relationship is to find someone whose flaws are the sort you don't mind. It is futile to look for someone who has no flaws, or someone who is capable of significant change; that sort of person exists only in our imaginations."
"Let's say I find the person whose flaws I don't mind," I said. "The hard part is keeping her. I haven't had much luck in that department."
"A woman needs to be told that you would sacrifice anything for her. A man needs to be told he is being useful. When the man or woman strays from that formula the other loses trust. When trust is lost, communication falls apart."
"I don't think you need to trust someone to communicate. I can talk to someone I distrust as easily as someone I trust."
"Without trust, you can only communicate trivial things. If you try to communicate something important without a foundation of trust, you will be suspected of having a secret agenda. Your words will be analyzed for hidden meaning and your simple message will be clouded by suspicions."
"I guess I can see that. How can I be more trusted?"
"Lie."
"Now you're kidding, right?" I asked.
"You should lie about your talents and accomplishments, describing your victories in dismissive terms as if they were the result of luck. And you should exaggerate your flaws."
"Why in the world would I want to tell people I was a failure and an idiot? Isn't it better to be honest?"
"Honesty is like food. Both are necessary, but too much of either creates discomfort. When you downplay your accomplishments, you make people feel better about their own accomplishments. It is dishonest, but it is kind."
"This is good stuff. What other tips do you have?"
"You think casual conversation is a waste of time."
"Sure, unless I have something to say. I don't know how people can blab about nothing."
"You problem is that you view conversation as a way to exchange information," he said.
"That's what it is," I said, thinking I was pointing out the obvious.
"Conversation is more than the sum of the words. It is also a way of signaling the importance of another person by showing your willingness to give that person your rarest resource: time. It is a way of conveying respect. Conversation reminds us that we are part of a greater whole, connected in some way that transcends duty or bloodline or commerce. Conversation can be many things, but it can never be useless."
For the next few hours the old man revealed more of his ingredients for successful social living. Express gratitude. Give more than is expected. Speak optimistically. Touch people. Remember names. Don't confuse flexibility with weakness. Don't judge people by their mistakes; rather, judge them by how they respond to their mistakes. Remember that your physical appearance is for the benefit of others. Attend to your own basic needs first, otherwise you will not be useful to anyone else.
**************************
I didn't know if I could incorporate his ingredients into my life, but it seemed possible. | | Tuesday, September 16th, 2003 | | 5:12 pm |
Minnaminunginte Nurunguvattom - A Review I had a chance to see the movie "Minnaminunginte Nurunguvattom" directed by Bharathan recently. It striked me sad that such simple-minded movies are no longer a part of malayalam cinema!
I wondered on how touchingly this master director has portrayed the story and the characters in this movie. And I wonder if such movies will ever come out in malayalam cinema ever again
Infact I do remember that my grandparents(Mother's parents) used to live a life similar to the Simpleton Mashu and his Teacher wife in the movie, enacted brilliantly by Nedumudi Venu and Sarada. I remember my grandparents taking me for this movie in 1988 at a local theatre at their native place Cherpu (nearto Thrissur in Kerala) and they discussing deeply with each other after the movie. They were so touched by it and I am sure anyone with some simplicity and humbleness inside him/her will love this movie and will be touched by the storyline and its enactment
A brief outline for the movie goes like this:
Nedumudi Venu("Mashu") and Sarada("Teacher") are happily retired after a successful teaching life in a village school for several years. They are happily retired in their vast house on the banks of a river(I guess Periyar) with lots of "Parambu"(Land) and Pets like Lovebirds,Doves,"Thattamas"(Parrots), "Pasukuttis"(Cows). Its very interesting to see how naturally both actors act out the characteristics and lifestyle of a retired couple in a kerala "nattimburam"(Village).
They live a very simple and keral-istic lifestyle with a old-pensioner friends group for mashu and his unique habits like requiring hot water in uruli(Big pot used in kerala) for taking bath etc. Also its very interesting to see the ayurvedic medicinal habits(Kashayam, kuzhambu, pachamarunnu etc) for Sarada teacher
Their only sorrow in life has been the lack of a child and the director beautifully shows their intimate relationship grown over their years together, that too with very simple expectations from each other.
Things take a turn when Parvathy, a young college girl enters their life as she comes to stay with them as a paying guest for her college studies. Her father (M S Thripunithura) is a priest and has a terrible temper and a foul mouth. Inspite of this Mashu and Teacher agrees to her stay with them, since she looks a very innocent and poor girl and they see theier missing child in her.
Slowly she too becomes a part of their life (As they see her as a god given child for them) and she continues her studies calmly with them. Now as fate would have it, she meets and falls in love with Devan. However she is very scared of her father(M S Thripunithura) and when he comes to know of their love, he tries to take her back to his home.
She is very scared and sorrow stricken and doesnt want to go back to her father and cries to mashu and teacher for help. They decide to adopt her and ask her to stay with them permanently. They also supervise and conduct the marriage of her with Devan.
She gets pregnant as time passes and all goes well until Devan leaves them to goto America on a new job. Now the pregnant lady gets all the love and attention of the old and graceful couple. Hwer husband comes back on time for her delivery. The tension suffered by the old mashu and teacher(Who themselves dont have any kid) at the time of her sisserian operation is very well shown. Unfortunately, Parvathy dies giving birth to the child, Unnikuttan. Devan has to return to America for his job and now the young child becomes the sole solace for the old couple and they again see Unnikuttan as their lost child Parvathy
It is heaven for them to nurture Unnikuttan! and they rejoice in simple pleasures such as seeing the first step of the child, hearing the first word from the childs mouth etc. They conduct all religious functions such as "Chorunnu"(Rice-giving to the child when he is 1 year old), Sradham(Death Anniversary) of Parvathy performed by unnikuttan etc all in a very traditional manner. Bharathan has captured minute details of all such festivities and Unnikuttans simple mischiefs and the old couples enjoyment in bringing unnikuttan up, all in a magically natural manner.
There are beautiful acting sequences given by Nedumudi venu when the child falls into the river(Due to a momentary ignorance by him and Sarada) and he takes him on foot to the hospital inspite of his old-age and he and Sarada pleading with the doctor to save unnikuttan
Now fate shows irony again as Mashu gets a letter from Devan pleading with him to take Unnikuttan with him to America as he cannot live without his boy. Its terrible mental pain for mashu and teacher to give away unnikuttan but at the same time they realize the plight of Devan as a loving father and are helpless. The final sequence when they part with Unnikuttan is shown in a very touching and sentimental style and this parting sequence is the highlight of this overall magically simple movie.
I wish and hope todays directors have the sense to make such simple cinema. I am sure more of such movies in future will appeal to me and my friends group well as many of us still keep that "Guhathurathwam"(Homeliness) within ourself.
And I salute the late Mr Bharathan and wish that he be remembered with due respect and reverence. | | Monday, September 15th, 2003 | | 2:39 pm |
Swapnakoodu I think its safer that I use this as a Random-Thourhgts journal rather than a Live journal as I know I am not going to regularly update this. Anyways today I wanted to write the review for Swapnakoodu, Director kamal's Onam release
Director Kamal
Music Mohan Sitara
Cast Kunchakko Boban, Pritviraj, Jayasurya, Meera Jasmine, Bhavana.
Kamal is a director who is now trying to specialise in picture-perfect, colourful designer films in Malayalam to suit the taste of the young audience of Kerala brought up on a diet of Bollywood films. Swapnakoodu, his latest Onam offering is another profusion of colours heavily inspired by Dil Chahta Hai.
The story is about three final year students at the Pondicherry Institute of Hotel Management and Catering in search of their identities and their encounters with two sisters.
The three guys are- Kunjukunju (Pritviraj), the Kanjirapally achayan who is a swaggering thick shinned Casanova who makes a pass at every girl whom he meets, Deepu (Kunchakko Boban), the calm and cool guy who is never able to express his true feelings and Ashtamoorthy (Jayasurya), a playful, jolly good fellow who flips over every second girl who crosses his path.
Enter the two sisters Kamala (Meera Jasmine) and Padma (Bhavana). The three guys come to stay in their house as paying guests. Initially all three have a soft corner for Kamala who is a florist and is strikingly sweet and subdued. Deepu buys flowers from her almost everyday and is madly in love with her, but does not express it. Astamoorthy makes a fool out of himself and ends up as her “rakhi” brother! Meanwhile Kunjukunju who starts on the wrong foot with her finds himself bowled over by her charms.
But Kamala thinks that Kunjukunju is a ‘compulsive flirt and a creep’ but slowly gets attracted to him and the rest of the story is quite predictable as Kunjukunju and Deepu have a fall out and a drunken Asthamoorthy brings them back. Finally there are no losers, and Deepu even gets a beautiful girl (Laila in a special appearance). On the downside the plot is much too precarious a peg for a nearly three-hour account of buddy-buddy-yuppy trio and their girls. All the three guys are shown always romancing and having fun but never attending classes. The narrative is interspersed with sumptuous song ‘n’ dance numbers as Kamal tries to pass off Vienna as part of Pondicherry!
Pritviraj as Kunjukunju tries to let his hair down and even tries to copy his father Sukumaran’s style of dialogue delivery. Kunchakko Boban has a very insipid role while it is Jayasurya who is the surprise packet. He has proved his natural flair for comedy and outbeats the other two in most of the scenes. Meera Jasmine as Kamala has given a comparatively better performance, than Bhavana has nothing much to do.
Mohan Sitara’s music is very average, as he has tried lifting some Hindi tunes. On the whole Kamal has dished out an artificial visual bubblegum movie for those who crave for sugarcoated entertainment. | | Monday, August 25th, 2003 | | 9:55 am |
Kaaka Kaaka Yesterday evening I went for a movie called "Kaaka Kaaka". It was a well-made action thriller directed by Gautham Menon. Overall I felt I could rate it alongwith Kamal hassan's "Kuruthi Punal".
The story revolves around Asst Commisioner of Police Mr Anbu Selvan(Surya) who has trained and lived as a hard-hitting,sincere police officer and without any family. Infact his attitude is against having any family or relationship for him as he considers that as a danger and additional burden for him amidst his busy,adventurous and dangerous professional life. However Love is blind and he meets Maya(Jyothika) who is a school teacher. He doesnt allow his mind to be faltered by her friendly advances towards him. However she is a bold and well educated(IIT Madras Msc Mathematics!) woman who finally gets him to approve his love towards her.
Ofcourse he has 3 other good friends who are with him for anything he does, whether its bustling the terorist racket in the city, or whether its crime prevention activities. They plan and execute their actions together and their friendship and commitment is highlighted well in the movie.
They track and kill a gang-leader Sethu and many of his members in a encounter in Chengelpet Railway station, however they are unaware that Sethu's Brother Pandya(Jeevan) who is a big goon in Mumbai has seen Sethu's killing by their hands. Pandya is a ruthless criminal and has escaped Mumbai Jail and police and come to Chennai to be with his Brother.
Now the mainline of the story becoms the encounter,plot planning,revenge and violence that is shown between the TN police led by Anbuselvan(Surya) and the criminal gangsters led by Pandya(Jeevan). Parallel things like Jyothika and Surya marriage take place. One of the police friends of Surya is made to succumb to the villain, another friend Surya is wounded and Jyothika is taken by the villain in plain cinematic fashion.
Surya has built up his physique well to fit his ACP role. Jeevan is also good as the ruthless, cruel and no-consideration-to-ladies type villain. Best part is the music by Harris Jayaraj, background score(Especially during the encounter between Suryas and Jeevan's groups).
The woodhouse surrounded by the lake( shown as a holiday house of Jyothikas family, where Surya/Jyothika spend their wedding night together and Ondra--rendra song is picturised) is very nice and the photography is excellent showing it in the early morning. Also the opening song in Andamans(Uyirin Uyire) is well photographed
However Suryas English dialogue delivery and climax scenes where he blabbers something similar to Kamal's performance in Nayakan could have been avoided. Also the violence shown in the climax leading to the death of Jyothika, Surya police friend and his wife etc and the length of the last fight between Surya and Jeevan could have been shortened. There is a waste song featuring Remya Krishnan which could have been totally avoided from the movie. Maybe that was just a gap-filler :-)
Overall the director has done a fine job with his cast and story and its a fast paced movie worth watching once. If you have nothing else better to do, go for this one | | Saturday, August 23rd, 2003 | | 4:42 pm |
I am very tired today after the strenous effort on CMM Level 3 preperation. Surprisingly, I actively answered and participated in the interview discussion with a panel of CMM experts in the company today. The audit was conducted by the SEPG and QE members of the company headed by Dr Jathavedan and Mr Parthasarathy Ramachandran from Quality Point, Chennai was the prime observer.
There were team representatives picked from the company to represent Project Leadership, Middle Management, SEPG/SQA, Analysis/Design and Coding/Testing/Configuration Management. I was part of the 4 member Coding/Testing/CM team. Wow, my luck!
All in the company are now eagerly waiting for the results
Well why does it matter to any employee. Its for the company's marketing purpose.. and still cannot digest the fact that people are made to strain day/night for it
Have a nice weekend and will be back monday | | Thursday, August 21st, 2003 | | 5:05 pm |
Sorry A very simple word to use. But Sorry is now becoming a excuse for any inconvenient things we do in our daily life. Everyone while delivering it is aware of the true underlying meaning of the usage of Sorry, but they have taken that word for granted for each and every inexplicable action they perform. I can tell volumes of examples of such sorry usage, but I dont want to bore you further. Anyways, Sorry for the big gap (once again) in writing this live journal on a dailybasis
I have been busy with "Saaftware Praaagraaming"(Typical Tamilian Accent). There exists jargons called Quality, Process , CMM, ISO, Level 5, KPAs etc in any typical software company. A technocrat(By this word I mean any common engineer who knows the language/database/technology/programming logic only) will surely be made to go through the above jargons one day or other while working for his software employer.
I have been lucky(Or Unlucky) to be part of such a "Awareness Study campaign" in all my previous companies(In India only) and now the chance comes for me to be a interviewee to a CMM Level 3 quality assessment for my present employer
If you ask me why quality is needed, I , being a technocrat myself, will answer: For getting more projects, more customers and inturn more money for the company. Thats it. Fullstop
A quality analyst might answer it as a support and enhancing activity for all work products in the company and support it vehemently. He/She might argue that it is for ensuring highest quality with very less bugs in deliverables etc etc. Dont mind, the underlying answer is: MONEY and MONEY only
All these CMM and ISO Levels of quality are mainly for making money for the company, market the company well for the customers and setting up a initial contact with the client.
For established clients of the company, QUALITY DOES NOT MATTER as long as the Code performs its functions in production in the required manner without bugs and the customer is happy and gives more projects. Ofcourse COST and TIME are important and client deadlines only matter for such projects. Again, QUALITY of code does not matter for such projects. I think a good quality process is needed only for starting up contacts with a new customer, not for existing customers. Many wont agree, but its my viewpoint, my esperience till now
I have seen in CMM level 5 companies like US Software, Technopark Trivandrum(My previous employer) where a bunch of people virtually live for quality and are ready to die supporting it. For them, defect finding and sticking to gruesome procedures,formats,checklists,conventions and ensuring quality of documents sent to clients are of utmost priority. For them bug free code is of LESSER priority and they have the false belief that writing a superb optimised code(not following any standards) is not a good solution at all!
Customers(In reality) DONT CARE for such numerous checklists,guidelines,reviews etc, they want the modified code and environment to run in their daily production without bugs and continue their business in a normal manner. And they look only at COST and TIME as other factors and they dont unduly worry about the numerous "Quality Management" activities and gimmick/thantras performed by software companies in India going after each and every release, level and version of SEI-CMM and ISO standards of quality
Dont think this will change in near future, but a good project leader/manager and SBU head should recognize these facts and leave the project developer to his/her own intuition and sensibility in coding for a project. Ofcourse for this, they have to think like the customer and then work can be heaven. Unfortunately many indian companies(Like US Software above) can never come out of this "Quality Mania" :-(
Whatever they say about support of quality inside their company, customer satisfaction is of prime importance and the project team should work independently without quality pressures towards meeting the bugfree implementation of projects within the Cost and Timeline. Thats my viewpoint with 7 years "Saafware Praagraaming" in "Maainfraaaimes" including companies like AT&T and Merrill Lynch(Where thankfully project team is not very much concerned about quality and is rightfully and skillfully managed by Americans with TIME/COST in mind only) | | Thursday, August 14th, 2003 | | 12:30 pm |
Today Sorry again for the brief hiatus in writing . My amnesia and laziness is catching up :-)
Today I am going to my home at Thrissur for a 3 day short vacation. Will be back Sunday evening. I hope it gives me a good break from the usual routine. Its a nice feeling :-)
Tommorow is 56th Independence day of India, my motherland.
I remember Jawaharlal Nehru's words in his speech on the night of August 14th,1947
"Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long supressed, finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of Inida and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity."
I also remember a message so much significant to the general state of current India:
"The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman.
We have hard work ahead. There is no resting for any one of us till we redeem our pledge in full, till we make all the people of India what destiny intended them to be. We are citizens of a great country on the verge of bold advance, and we have to live up to that high standard. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action."
I think its time every Indian starts aftresh with such noble houghts in mind and helps in building up the country into a fully-developed, world-leading nation by eradicating poverty, helping with education, development of various industries and infrastructure, and doing good for others emotionally and economically. | | Saturday, August 9th, 2003 | | 4:37 pm |
Life Today, as I was working hard and also reading Malgudi Days hard, I stumbled across this Desiderata Poem somewhere in the big internet and dropped everything else.
It is said to be written in the walls of St Basilica Church in Vatican. I was awestruck by it.
Here is the poem:
"Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy." | | Friday, August 8th, 2003 | | 1:48 pm |
Working in a Software Company Some general things I have noted for the past 7 years in software companies. Sadly I am also a part of this community
1. You can never relax in such a office unless you are about to finish one phase of your work and beginning the rest. All other times you keep on working and talk as if its the only thing in the world. Once you begin to relax, you are made to think about the upcoming issues in the project :-)
2. People around you keeps on talking technology and work only. NOTHING ELSE in the world matter for them. Other uncommonly talked topics include life abroad or lifestyles of the rich. Software engineers are very good at making critical opinion of the world and the lesser beings in it, as if they are masters of everything
3. Software engineers are very difficult to impress. Only big technology achievers and multi millionares buying the best things on earth impress them.
4. Very easy going people once you hardwork and show them you have the upper hand. If you prove it, you can bully these people very easily and make them agree to whatever you say
5. Some exceptions include music lovers, movie lovers,literature-lovers,food-lovers and family lovers. But then, they never discuss this among colleagues. You can find very few people in this community having interest in other areas.
6. They could be great friends and would help for anything in their area of technology or work. However if you start seeking help on something totally new, they go into their shell of comfort
7. Most good software engineers are like machines and expect precision and quality in everything they see and do. They expect this from their colleagues and friends ALL THE TIME and never allow human considerations
8. They all miss to enjoy the simpler things in life. They might make screensavers,programs, or wallpaper desktops of birds, babies, sceneries and such good things in life. But they never trouble to carelessly enjoy these things of life out in the open, without minding the time and schedule.
9. They never mind looking at the monitor(Work or nowork) say 12 hours a day!
Atleast these things are on the high side in India. Many young people are coming into this industry domain after a professional course in India and start earning very good salaries at a young age. Maybe they have this sense of machine-like perfectionism and non-attachment due to their tough life and demands in this industry
I am part of this community also. Maybe sometime in future I might think of a different career, but since I know nothing other than this technology, I maybe forced to stick on to this for my bread butter. | | Thursday, August 7th, 2003 | | 10:48 am |
Current Books I have started reading Malgudi days by R K Narayan and almost in the finishing stage of Ormakalude Album by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan.
I liked malayattoors simple and touching writing style and his quiet humour sense and shrewd observations in his official and personal life. He has written sincerely about the various power struggles, incidents and characters of his family, friends and other people whom he had come to interact. I guess he was a simple, straight forward, shrewd-thiking, and above all sincere person with a good heart. He might have had some habits like smoking, non-vegetarianism etc which might be regarded as not fitting a orthodox brahmin, but those can be excused for the huge natural talent he had
I wish I had written such a book :-)
Malgudi Days which I have just started, is one of the classic books which I always wanted to read. I used to follow it as a tele-serial quite some years back. These stories written with narayan's simple style and characteristic gentle irony portray the variety and colour of indian life. In his introduction, Narayan says "I have named this book MALGUDI DAYS in order to give it a plausibly gfeographical status. I am often asked "where is malgudi?". All I can say is that it is imaginary and not to be found in any map... if I explain that Malgudi is a small town in south india I shall only be expressing a half truth,for the characteristics of Malgudi seem to me as Universal." We can surely agree to all this | | Wednesday, August 6th, 2003 | | 3:32 pm |
Pleasure and Pain Sorry for the short delay. I just found some time to think and write about a interesting topic of pleasure and pain we experience in Life
We don't wish to answer things in a point by point way. Because there exists no answers to any questions. What looks like an answer is merely a point of view, which will be contested and re-contested, and consequently become an argument, or fight, or friendship, or enmity - depending on the intensity and other factors.
So, what remain then are questions. Mere QUESTIONS. We urge to answer them and finish them off, because questions are uncomfortable when remained unanswered. In fact the most simple questions are UNANSWERED, while we feel we have got the "answers", or busy fighting over with ourselves or others with what we perceive as answers.
what is "happiness"???
Consider this. There is a young prince. Had everything he could imagine- money, fame, pleasure, wife, children, knowledge, anything the mind can imagine. (Perhaps, even the cable TV). But this prince one-day walks out of all this. OF ALL THIS to become a beggar and spends 12 years to find out what is happiness. His name, we remember, is Gautama. And spends rest of his life enjoying and sharing what he has found.
And, Buddha finds out precisely one thing. THERE IS MISERY IN LIFE. Any form of life. Be it the life led in India or the USA. Or be it the life led with money. With enough bank balance. Or not with enough bank balance. Whether your son, daughter, wife leave you alone. Or not leave you alone.
Whether you have 2 bed rooms in the house. Or the entire palace. Whether you are a CEO or a sweeper. All forms of lives are full of misery.
And given our usual tendency to find answers for any question, we FALSLY identify that OUR PRESENT STATE AND POSITION is the cause for the misery. And, therefore there arises the arguments for or against leading a certain pattern of life. And, we MISTAKINGLY strive for the opposites of the current "status and position" to come out of misery. So, what you see is Indians coming to the US. And all those come here want to go back. And a whole list of pair of opposites.
We can continue to oscillate this way until we have the energy to do so. And we don't mind doing it because we are busy doing them. And as with anything, even the energy depletes one day and then we can no longer find the way put of this misery and we find ourselves in big soup.
Or there is another way to put this. WE WANT TO LEAD A NORMAL LIFE. The moment we encounter any uncomfortable question that threatens our current inertia, we immediately CONSOLE ourselves, that "we are normal and the question does not concern us". So, we get the license to continue the way we do until we loose the energy to continue and at which point we lament. So, either we ignore. Or we oppose the questions. Or in a hurry to answer and finish them off.
IS THERE NO WAY OUT of this? The same gentleman, Buddha, says one more thing. THERE IS A WAY OUT OF THIS MISERY.
Now, wow! What is it?
He says, first find the cause for this MISERY. And for those of us, whom we think we lack the capacity to find, he tells, "TRISHNA or TANKA" (=craving) is the root cause.
Hell, what does he mean? WE KNOW WE DON'T CRAVE. We have always done things for others. We always lead a noble life. We have never touched meat or liquor or a lady or anything immoral. So, what the heck do “craving” mean?
Precisely. The very busy oscillation to opposites is called craving. The more we observe, the more clearly we see the pattern. If, ever, there is an impulse in us which says, this is all rubbish, then in that instant, the self is curiously craving for the opposite.
OK Sir, we agree. We have craving, WHAT DO WE DO THEN? "Welcome to the club", says Mr.Buddha. We are one step towards finding the solution. We have half-found the solution, the moment we have acknowledged the question.
There is a definite way to understand this. First of all, he says, we need "samma dishti". Equal view. Or the "Correct view". This is the first thing. We need to take stock of the questions that we face. We take stock of the patterns in our life. Oscillations. And he follows this with seven other steps.
Fantastic. We are used to look outwards, because 1) it is easy 2) we don’t know any other way.
There is one more place to look to. Inside.
A beautiful story of Ramakrishna is the ideal way to tell this.
A merchant was deep in a jungle to cut the trees to sell them. He saw a monk. And the monk out of compassion said, "Go further into the jungle, you will find a pot of silver coins". He went. Found that there. And became rich.
Sometime later, he came and started cutting the trees (as he exhausted the silver coins), the same monk says out of love, "Go some more distance further, you will find the gold coins". He went and found again.
After some time, he came again and to cut the trees for the same reason. And the same monk out of infinite compassion says,"Go inside yourself you can find everything".
And, then and there the merchant realizes the truth | | Monday, August 4th, 2003 | | 10:38 am |
Cinema & Life For an average household in kerala, cinema and silver stars and western lifestyle/music is always something on the higher side. Since they see things in these they themselves can never do in real life, they admire the stars and the silver screen and the western music as something supernatural and they get some kind of satisfaction talking about gossips, stories and lifehistory of the actors and about their life. If some of these people get to meet a star actor or actress or musician, it becomes a life achievement for them!
Infact in some households the only time they seem to be naturally happy is only when they talk about cinema and stars and such music! There will never be intellectual talks there!
And worse case, they start imitating such fancy fashions in a blind manner in their life.
They do talk about other normal things in life asif they know everything well enough. But unfortunately such people truly know nothing other than such fancy things
Worse thing is, they start expecting the people around them also to behave in a supernatural cinematic way, always cracking jokes, always smartly talking, and always providing entertainment to them. They fail to see the reality of life and if you look at them say some 20 years later in their life, they would have achieved NOTHING, NOTHING AT ALL.
So who wins in life? There are 5 essential points one need:
1. Planning with the future in mind 2. Praying for Luck and right oppurtunities in life 3. Living life strictly according to your Plan and ignoring everything else. 4. Recognizing the changes and oppurtunities life offers and doing things the right way everytime. 5. Thinking well ahead for the future and making plans for future also.
Only a person having the essential 5 points above as a Natural habit can be in a win-win situation with Life
It becomes tougher and tougher to do this when your dependency grows, so you haveto start living like this from your young age. Otherwise you can never truly win in life. You may still find respect and love from near and dear ones, but society wont recognize you and you yourself will be basically unhappy always
So shred off imaginary things from life and start living acording to a plan! :-) | | Saturday, August 2nd, 2003 | | 10:34 am |
Self Why does someone hold grudge against someone? Why do we have small and big fights within friends and family or with someone?
A quick answer is maybe because the mind simply refuses to accept people as they are and mostly the opposite party also refuses to accept us as we are. And then our own ego and self-conscience never lets us adjust to the situation naturally. We might still talk to the same person pretending nothing really has happened and we are not at all affected by his actions, but in the back of our minds we still hold the bad feeling that we have towards that person. Its true for that person also. That person also feels the same things about us, and he also pretends and tells as if nothing has happened. That is merely a mental adjustment and we wont truly respect or love that person
Many people will disagree with me on the above point,arguing that if our parents or our own close kith and kin do this to us, then we wont hold a grudge. I agree, but I am sure we actually decide to make mental adjustments quicker in such a case. Well why is that? Its because of the basic ignorance which we ourselves have and our close kith/kin also doesnt know
Let me explain.
We read innumerous books and preachings which tell that meditation, yoga and a healthy lifestyle with someone to love you deeply changes all the above feelings. However, know that no-one, no one but you can help yourself change such a attitude!. If some of you believe in god then you might usually pray to god and get some mental relief.
But the greatest secret is, the god which you pray is inside you!, and you are praying to your own self. And then You realize that NOTHING, nothing except you, yourself can change your feelings and actions. The moment you realize how beautiful your self is, then you see god. You see everything else in this world as part of that self, you will start seeing other people as yourself AND YOUY WONT BE AFFECTED BY THEIR ACTIONS. That is a beautiful feeling!.
The same feeling or vision is called as enlightenment and Buddha, Our own great sages, Ramana Maharshi, and all such great visionaries had.
Now can we get to that same feeling/enlightment which lurks inside us and which these great teachers found?
Its next to impossible, especially when we live a common mans life style in india or anywhere else. In india we are bogged down by the pressures of our own daily life including work and other things. Also our own family and friends, (Obviously not knowing the above mentioned enlightenment factor) behave to you in such a manner that only if you are one among them, they really accept you. The moment you start realizing the self or make an attempt to do so, such self-ignorant people try to pull you away
Again, as married man leading a family in India, you are expected to function in a particular way. You got to be "responsible". And what is responsibility? It means(my version of it) adjusting to various people,situations and taking decisions after consulting with everyone, keeping all in the loop, adjusting to their eccentricities and behaving nice and happy and intelligent ALL THE TIME. Then whatever decisions you take, you are made accountable for that decision. If it goes wrong, you are the target of many embarassing talks, situations and this leads to agony.
All this time what is your self (that is the god within you) doing?. You are moving away from your self(Meaning the god within) in order to satisfy others and attend to such situations/responsibilities. And it is very tough in break out of these situations that arise in a persons life in india
As a married man myself, I am still trying to release from these feelings and realize my self, my own god and goodness.
Because once you realize the self, you realize god and ONLY THEN you can do pious things, and genuinely help others and yourself. Only then you can release the badness in you.
To do this, you need to be in a company of similar thinking people and not with ignorant people busy in the daily grind. And for finding that good company, you need to be lucky! | | Friday, August 1st, 2003 | | 11:18 am |
Mr & Mrs Iyer I saw a movie called "Mr and Mrs Iyer" in Star movies channel yesterday. It had got National Award for Aparna Sen(Best Director) and her daughter Konkana Sen(Best Actress). I loved the movie and believe me its been a sometime since I saw something in this genre in indian movies.
A nice and refreshing storyline, direction, picturisation and acting makes a good difference
The story is about Meenakshi Iyer(Konkana Sen) who is returning from her parents place in the hills back to her Husbands place in Calcutta. She has a small child and her father is very anxious to find someone to help her in the Bus she is taking to some city where she will board a train to calcutta. Raja(Rahul Bose) becomes that someone. By profession, he is a wildlife photographer and he is going back to calcutta too in the same bus/train.
The director shows sheer brilliance in presenting the people travelling in the bus. The old muslim couple, the merrymaking college students, the sikh brothers, and the people cheqing pan, playing cards, newlywed couple always under sheets brings you back memories of numerous such bus journeys anyone of us have had in this great country of ours.
Goutham Ghosh's illuminating lens captures the beauty of the scenery in a very natural manner in the bus
The story and the bus continues its journey and the twist comes. There is a road block and the bus goes into a detour into the jungle. Comes to a local town and there seems to be a curfew imposed there due to violence between muslim and hindu extremists over the killing of some hindu. So the bus has to halt there till curfew is lifted and road is cleared
That night, some hindu extremists come into the bus and asks each and every man if he is a muslim. One person points at the old couple.(Believe me, this could happen in India). The extremists take away the couple and nothing is heard further of them. However when they come to Rahul bose, Konkana Sen who knows he is a muslim by then, tells them that he is her husband Mr Subramaniam Iyer. Everyone believes them and they are eventually lead to being together in a forest bungalow by a local police officer until violence reduces in that town
However, the sequences following the bus ambush need to be tightened. Everyone seems to have survived the trauma of the previous night and are back to the daily grind. This is perhaps the point that the director wishes to make about our insensitivity to communal violence.
Meenakshi's two-tiered awakening as a social animal and a woman experiencing strange stirrings in her conservative heart is achieved with noiseless finality. Her coming of age is shared by us. When in the savagery of Hindu fundamentalists barging into the bus to claim Muslim victims, she quickly introduces her Muslim companion as Mr Iyer, we know it is a turning point for Meenakshi's relationship with her immediate companion and society at large.
In the bungalow at night, Rahul and Konkana share some nice things like Herd of Deers coming to drink water or the dew-drops making nice sounds etc. A moment later we are thrown into reality when they see a person being murdered by muslim extremists as a revenge against hindus. Konkana is at her best when she renders" Ohh its so easy to kill a man" and loses her self control.
Another occasion is when her mind fluctuates a bit and she earnestly thinks about joining him when he goes to Wynad forest to take pictires and live in a treehouse. Then she comes back to real life and thinks about her child and husband. Konkana Sen with her dead-on Tamilian accent and beha hits you with her unspoilt charm.
Rahul Bose's subtle expressions make us wonder constantly whether we are missing something. Bose plays with compassion and sensitivity. His comfort level with the child is perceptible.
The climax where finally they meet Meenakshis husband and their parting sequence gives a perfect ending to whole thing the and keeps us self-introspecting.
It is definitely a social movie, truly showing the indian emotions and attitudes in a good manner
If I am allowed a pick for Indian movie @ Oscars, this is the one. And I strongly recommend it to you | | Thursday, July 31st, 2003 | | 11:48 am |
Some Philosophy For a Typical Software Professional In India, one gets a job after tough competition. When he is successful in competition and getting the job, he becomes very happy ( since it is hard-achieved) and enjoys the life. In the course of time, he sees people going abroad ( especially to US) and always hears exaggerated news of this wonderful 'dream land' and the thousand comforts this land offers to them. For one, there is no way to assess things sitting there, since thoughts are always biased. There is no way to get a clear picture of US life as the major sources of information in India are friendsand films. Information getting from the former are always coloured and biased, that from the latter always waste and stupid. Finally he decides flying to US without having a precise idea as to why he is going and for what. Sometimes, he is going since his friends in US inspire him and invite him, sometimes he is going just to make some money in a short period of time, sometimes he is going for better life and style, sometimes just to make his elders happy, sometimes just for the sake of going to US.
The problems start at this point which I try to analyze in following paragraphs.
we don't view our life as a whole. With this statement, I do mean that we don't have a clear cut idea as to what exactly we need in our life. We all need pleasure and comfort, for which we live, but what brings pleasure varies from person to person. It is very difficult to define things that bring pleasure since these are highly subjective and also are determined by your philosophy. Money is widely consided to be the thing that brings pleasure, however, it is not true. Money can solve thousands of problems simultaneously and can offer great many comforts to you, still, it is only an agent. That is, money doesn't make you happy in its own account, instead, it represents comforts indirectly. ( I exclude certain misers and business tycoons, for whom making money is the pleasure, not the comforts that money offers!). If you are longing for comforts of this sort, you must need money, otherwise you don't need money. Nobody will ever say that (at least I hope so) ancient indian ascetics were all unhappy because they had had no bank balance. The incapability of seeing this truth in youth, as well as the incapability to view the life as a whole,I think, are the chief sources of pain and disappointment in later life.
Therefore, I think, we need some training to identify certain things that make us happy in the life. An enlightned few can identify certain things for them clearly and precisely, as depicted in these lines:
Here with a loaf of bread beneath the bough A flask of wine, a book of verse and thou Beside me singing in the wilderness And wilderness is paradise enow
For a poet, these are more than enough, however, for an IT professional, these are hardly enogh. We need credit cards, we need ATM debit cards, we need modern cars, we need all consumer items that our friends purchase,we need at least a six drive CD player in car, we enjoy music in maximum volume, we should dance in parties. We should have to speak endlessly of the new features of our cars and should convince others that ours is the best available model. We should have DVD, music system, cell phone, tripple a membership, lap top and what not. Without these things we may be considered as lesser beings in US. Since we are lesser beings, we run around to get all these things without knowing what we need and what not !
Therefore, once we identify what we need in life, it would become easier to be happy or be unhappy in the sense that if we do have those things we are happy, otherwise we are unhappy. Technology teaches you how to make money, however it doesn't tell you how to derive pleasure out of that; humanities don't teach you how to make money, they tell you how to derive plesure out of that. The ratio of these two determines one's fate.
If you think that great amount of money will make you happy, and if you find it is not possible to make that much amount there, you can leave for US and make money. Since your aim is making money, you can compromise with certain things here. You know with what amount you can be happy ( at least you must have a vaugue idea ) and as soon as you get it, you can go back and start another life that you have been longing for . The period in which you were working to make money contributes much to this life. Also, you can enjoy that period since happiness is not always at the end, but in means as well. If something undesirable happens during this time, you have to face it; such things are beyond your control and will happen irrespective of your presence or absence.
If you think that money doesn't make man happy, and you are not at all pleased with materialistic pleasures, you can lead the ordinary life in India, you will never get worried when seeing people going US since you know very well that US can offer nothing to promote your happiness. If you think that you don't know what is to be done; that is to say, you don't know which is better, then you need the sort of training of which I discussed above.
It is a human tendency to think against the system in which he finds himself. The negative side of the present system always strikes us since we experience it, and so is the positive side of the other system since we don't experience it. There are people who live in utter poverty, still they live. They dream only of a very meagre amount of money with which they can buy roti to supress their hunger. I read in newspapers before a couple of days that in Pakisthan, a father burned his eleven year old daughter alive for the mistake of asking a roti after five days of continuous starving. According to my terminology, I call this situation " really painful' and the situation depicted in your mail "virtually painful'. ( Yes, we have virtual memory, virtual reality, virtual cards and virtual pain).
That is, one should know before leaving his homeland, for what he is doing so- to get an extra bed room or to avoid a bed full of thorns.
Now remains the question 'Was all this worth it?'. For an answer, one needs to look inside; not outside, and if there are hundred persons, there will be hundred and one answers!!! | | Wednesday, July 30th, 2003 | | 4:32 pm |
Starting a Journal Dear Friends,
This is a humble attempt to start off a livejournal from me. I have to fight off chronic amnesia, extreme laziness and find some absolutely peace and quiet time to write.
Hmm. How shall I begin? Maybe a bit by telling about myself. I was born at Thrissur in Kerala State, India and that is still the most beautiful place for me in this earth. My parents are settled there and father is a retired bank manager. I have one sister who is well married and working in chennai with her husband.
My wife Anupama is my companion. And she is from Cochin, the queen of arabian sea.
Right now, I am located in Cochin, working for NeST Information Technologies as a project-lead.
If you ask me whether I am happy with whatever I have earned and why I choose to settle down in kerala. please mail me. You will be surpirsed by my line of reasoning
My pastime activies? Reading is one which I have cultivated recently. I also look at watching movies as a second option. Rest of the time, I work, I help with household things(Who told marriage is a womans guide to suffering??) and ofcourse fight off several unwanted miseries that propup in a tupical married mans life in India
I will write in detail sometime soon about the complications being a software engineer and being a married man in india.
So thats for now and hope you stick on to reading my writings |
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