Now again, I have these movies that I mentally make a note of, to see sometime when I get a chance. I have often noted with 99% success, that years later also I tend to like these movies and then feel why I never saw it earlier. It happens with books too. Any how, when I saw Le Papillon, I was completely floored by the "Pourquoi Les Poules Pondent De Oefus?" song.
I could not help feeling a wee bit of similarity between Le Papillon and Pixar's Up especially when both had these elderly men on a mission with a stowaway and how they converse, react and later tend to be friends for life.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Women of the Raj
Women of the Raj by Margaret Macmillan was one of the books that I read recently. It was based on her research on these British families of the Raj and authentic supporting documents. It gave an interesting insight on the life of these women who left their country and got settled in India of the Raj. Yet somehow I was not really satisfied after reading the book - I think the Indian in me just wouldn't let me.
Being an Indian and of a generation that never saw the Raj or the struggle that went into it - it was surprising the indignation or rage that one felt in certain parts of the book. Now don't get me wrong, the rage was not against the actual subject or the perspective of the book / author and surprisingly it was neither against the Raj. It was more of a realization as one read through a book that slowly got me.
Our generation of the 80's that was born far from struggle and wars that our country has seen is far removed from the sentiments that comes with such a new born nation. Ours was the first that saw TV and cars in the homes of the masses, cable and internet and mobiles becoming available to all. But ours was also the generation that did NOT want to know what was happening at the Center of the Government. We did NOT want to know how the country was being run or in the first place how did it even come to the stage when we first saw it. All we knew was that it was too messy.
We had all our facts in place as far as history books were concerned and all those national holidays but none of us and I mean none of us ever got far enough to question any of that. Independence was the greatest achievement in the history of modern India and it was simply sacrilegious to raise any doubts on the process of that. Again, I do not mean, that India should never have got liberated in the first place. Contrary to that, I think all of us wish nothing more than East India Company being kicked in its rear-side the first time they set foot on our soil. And they did not get kicked and surely I cannot say that any other country could have helped us on that front. And here lies my resentment.
As a country or rather a group of people stuck on the sub-continent we did not have a choice. And we also did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together - which of course we could not at the time (there were too many kings / kingdoms to let that happen). And the kings themselves never could support anyone who had the sense come early (it would undermine their own sense / power / importance / need). So in a way we let a force capture us, kingdom by kingdom, to show us what problem we were in !
Then finally as it always happens in every aspect of Indian life, we found a man who had an idea and since no one had a better one and also because this one showed that how it worked - we accepted one person to deliver us from the trouble. The mediocre were content to hang around him. Once the deliverance was at hand, this man was cooly discarded by many at the eleventh hour to ensure that things turned out how those 'many' wanted it to be. And again, we did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together at least. The whole Independence saga towards the end smells of a scandal. And we realize with some reluctance that our nation was born into a set of problems that all of us want to forget - for the time till it does not loom over our head so big that we cannot ignore things any further!
My rage is directed towards the masses of my country who do not retaliate till the threshold is crossed, that they prefer their well being over the nation's, that they always look for someone to come and save them, that everyman secretly knows in his heart that there is no point in being saviour of many, that every leader of some significance was betrayed by his own men in the face of a larger challenge and that this country will somehow manage to go on, in spite of knowing everything.
I think our generation was the one that did not even want to know what could have been. They preferred to stay away from anything that smelt remotely of problems. They had new toys to play with and new countries to explore. They did not want to waste a single precious second on being a part of the problem, they were born in.
Being an Indian and of a generation that never saw the Raj or the struggle that went into it - it was surprising the indignation or rage that one felt in certain parts of the book. Now don't get me wrong, the rage was not against the actual subject or the perspective of the book / author and surprisingly it was neither against the Raj. It was more of a realization as one read through a book that slowly got me.
Our generation of the 80's that was born far from struggle and wars that our country has seen is far removed from the sentiments that comes with such a new born nation. Ours was the first that saw TV and cars in the homes of the masses, cable and internet and mobiles becoming available to all. But ours was also the generation that did NOT want to know what was happening at the Center of the Government. We did NOT want to know how the country was being run or in the first place how did it even come to the stage when we first saw it. All we knew was that it was too messy.
We had all our facts in place as far as history books were concerned and all those national holidays but none of us and I mean none of us ever got far enough to question any of that. Independence was the greatest achievement in the history of modern India and it was simply sacrilegious to raise any doubts on the process of that. Again, I do not mean, that India should never have got liberated in the first place. Contrary to that, I think all of us wish nothing more than East India Company being kicked in its rear-side the first time they set foot on our soil. And they did not get kicked and surely I cannot say that any other country could have helped us on that front. And here lies my resentment.
As a country or rather a group of people stuck on the sub-continent we did not have a choice. And we also did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together - which of course we could not at the time (there were too many kings / kingdoms to let that happen). And the kings themselves never could support anyone who had the sense come early (it would undermine their own sense / power / importance / need). So in a way we let a force capture us, kingdom by kingdom, to show us what problem we were in !
Then finally as it always happens in every aspect of Indian life, we found a man who had an idea and since no one had a better one and also because this one showed that how it worked - we accepted one person to deliver us from the trouble. The mediocre were content to hang around him. Once the deliverance was at hand, this man was cooly discarded by many at the eleventh hour to ensure that things turned out how those 'many' wanted it to be. And again, we did not have the sense to understand that all we could have ever done was to stay put together at least. The whole Independence saga towards the end smells of a scandal. And we realize with some reluctance that our nation was born into a set of problems that all of us want to forget - for the time till it does not loom over our head so big that we cannot ignore things any further!
My rage is directed towards the masses of my country who do not retaliate till the threshold is crossed, that they prefer their well being over the nation's, that they always look for someone to come and save them, that everyman secretly knows in his heart that there is no point in being saviour of many, that every leader of some significance was betrayed by his own men in the face of a larger challenge and that this country will somehow manage to go on, in spite of knowing everything.
I think our generation was the one that did not even want to know what could have been. They preferred to stay away from anything that smelt remotely of problems. They had new toys to play with and new countries to explore. They did not want to waste a single precious second on being a part of the problem, they were born in.
Friday, August 28, 2009
All Those Interviews
All the interviews that I have seen of Mr. Hugh Laurie makes me realize that even after all these days, he still has that humility about him that is absolutely must for long lived success. He is very modest and a self-proclaimed 'worrier' and a 'fretter' as far as his work goes. Where we find Stephen or Rowan very relaxed and in control as far as their work goes, we see Hugh being not so like that. It still genuinely feels that he is not sure why people adore him !
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Room with a View
I have not read the book by the same name written by Mr. E.M. Forster. In fact, I have not read a single book written by him though I can name a couple of them - Passage to India being one of them. Three of his books have been converted into very successful movies by Merchant Ivory productions and two others by equally renowned directors.
I remember watching the trailer of this movie back when it was released or few years after that - can't say exactly when but yes, a long time ago back in India. I vaguely remember noting mentally that I need to watch this film.
Anyways, so finally when I saw the movie I found it very endearing. I liked the set up, the characters and the story. The protagonist is a girl called Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter)and we follow her as she figures out what she really wants. In the start she is this character who seems all sweet and quite till she starts playing Beethoven. It is the first glimpse of her being someone who has yet not discovered who she really is. In the second half when she is suddenly discovers herself, it is quite fun to watch her actions, words and face ! She is a very lovable character for sure. And Oh ! I should mention Maggie Smith's character who is very silly and believable.
I remember watching the trailer of this movie back when it was released or few years after that - can't say exactly when but yes, a long time ago back in India. I vaguely remember noting mentally that I need to watch this film.
Anyways, so finally when I saw the movie I found it very endearing. I liked the set up, the characters and the story. The protagonist is a girl called Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter)and we follow her as she figures out what she really wants. In the start she is this character who seems all sweet and quite till she starts playing Beethoven. It is the first glimpse of her being someone who has yet not discovered who she really is. In the second half when she is suddenly discovers herself, it is quite fun to watch her actions, words and face ! She is a very lovable character for sure. And Oh ! I should mention Maggie Smith's character who is very silly and believable.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Michael O'toole: Mediterranean-Gold
The above painting gives a very basic and accurate sensibility of a seaside town set in Mediterranean Europe. It catches our attention with bright colors of the windows and walls - all lit up with the sun that is casting a spotlight on this little street by the sea.
To Kill a Mocking Bird
"Remember, it's sin to kill a mockingbird." That was the only time Atticus ever said that it was sin to do something. Mockingbirds do nothing but make music for us; that's why it's sin to kill a mockingbird.
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Ms. Harper Lee is an amazing tale of innocence, childhood and growing up. It starts with Scout Finch, who narrates this particular phase in the life of the Finches, when Jem and herself were young. They did not have a mother and their house was run by their cook Calpurnia. Their father was a lawyer and he preferred reading to football - this was a matter of much concern among the young male Finches of the house. Though he was loved, Atticus could have done much better if he was like other dads - he was old, nearly fifty and no fun at all. Living in that old (literally) neighborhood of Maycomb County, the world of these two kids changes in the throes of this particular case that their dad takes up. That's when Scout and Jem, together with their summertime playmate Dill and his wild plans of making Boo Radley come out of his house, learn a lesson in friendship, integrity and life.
Atticus Finch got that particular case only because there was no other lawyer who could have let that case last that long in the court. Mayella Ewell had been allegedly raped by Tom Robinson, a crippled negro. Ewells were the lowest of the low white people in the county who had no money education or breeding. Yet as the book said. " Tom Robinson was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." It was word of a white woman against a black man. It was a case of long standing prejudice and broken man-made laws against what really happened. It was a case where an example had to be set and the guilty punished. And Atticus was Tom's lawyer in court - when in the secret court of men's heart, Atticus had no case.
Two worlds under the same roof, where childhood meets maturity and understands life. A masterpiece. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Ms. Harper Lee is a gift to American Literature.
To Kill a Mocking Bird by Ms. Harper Lee is an amazing tale of innocence, childhood and growing up. It starts with Scout Finch, who narrates this particular phase in the life of the Finches, when Jem and herself were young. They did not have a mother and their house was run by their cook Calpurnia. Their father was a lawyer and he preferred reading to football - this was a matter of much concern among the young male Finches of the house. Though he was loved, Atticus could have done much better if he was like other dads - he was old, nearly fifty and no fun at all. Living in that old (literally) neighborhood of Maycomb County, the world of these two kids changes in the throes of this particular case that their dad takes up. That's when Scout and Jem, together with their summertime playmate Dill and his wild plans of making Boo Radley come out of his house, learn a lesson in friendship, integrity and life.
Atticus Finch got that particular case only because there was no other lawyer who could have let that case last that long in the court. Mayella Ewell had been allegedly raped by Tom Robinson, a crippled negro. Ewells were the lowest of the low white people in the county who had no money education or breeding. Yet as the book said. " Tom Robinson was a dead man the minute Mayella Ewell opened her mouth and screamed." It was word of a white woman against a black man. It was a case of long standing prejudice and broken man-made laws against what really happened. It was a case where an example had to be set and the guilty punished. And Atticus was Tom's lawyer in court - when in the secret court of men's heart, Atticus had no case.
Two worlds under the same roof, where childhood meets maturity and understands life. A masterpiece. This Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Ms. Harper Lee is a gift to American Literature.
Absolutely Amazing
Rowan Atkinson
How often one makes a mistake of taking Rowan Atkinson to be only Mr. Bean. Being what he truly is- a rare package of good looks, great mind and talent - he has my absolute respect.
My Favourite Show
To say that I discovered a treasure last year while I was looking for some comic relief on internet is least that I can say about Blackadder.
My love for Bristish humor and comedy goes back to the days of reading PG Wodehouse or watchingYes Minister. But living in a nation and a place in that nation where exposure to everything that was coming on British TV - was to say the least - rare !! We still had our window to some of the good shows late night or weekends on our national television and that was all our input on International shows. And all this was surely before the days of the cable TV that hit our national market in the early nineties.
Hence I can safely attribute my ignorance on everything Blackadder to me being born in a country that did not produce the show ! (We had our share of national treasures but more of that later !)
Last year I was bored to death at home. My staple diet of Jeeves and Wooster series was complete. I was completely satisfied to see my PG Wodehouse heroes come to life on youtube screen and did not once think that what I had imagined while reading was different from any of them ! A sign of good conversion of a book to a show.
So I was rummaging around looking for something to satisfy my hunger for more BritSitCom. And as I wanted to see more of Fry and Laurie, I stumbled on this crazy serial called Blackadder starring Rowan Atkinson. Never being a Bean Fan, one was struggling with the dilemma of starting from episode 1 and then somehow managed to go till the Spanish Infanta ! And it made me sit up and notice Rowan Atkinson. Boy o Boy - rest as they is history.
My respect for the man went notches up as I came towards the end of the show - by then my personal research on the show and the man was complete. The absolute perfect star cast of the show has my respect for life !
My love for Bristish humor and comedy goes back to the days of reading PG Wodehouse or watchingYes Minister. But living in a nation and a place in that nation where exposure to everything that was coming on British TV - was to say the least - rare !! We still had our window to some of the good shows late night or weekends on our national television and that was all our input on International shows. And all this was surely before the days of the cable TV that hit our national market in the early nineties.
Hence I can safely attribute my ignorance on everything Blackadder to me being born in a country that did not produce the show ! (We had our share of national treasures but more of that later !)
Last year I was bored to death at home. My staple diet of Jeeves and Wooster series was complete. I was completely satisfied to see my PG Wodehouse heroes come to life on youtube screen and did not once think that what I had imagined while reading was different from any of them ! A sign of good conversion of a book to a show.
So I was rummaging around looking for something to satisfy my hunger for more BritSitCom. And as I wanted to see more of Fry and Laurie, I stumbled on this crazy serial called Blackadder starring Rowan Atkinson. Never being a Bean Fan, one was struggling with the dilemma of starting from episode 1 and then somehow managed to go till the Spanish Infanta ! And it made me sit up and notice Rowan Atkinson. Boy o Boy - rest as they is history.
My respect for the man went notches up as I came towards the end of the show - by then my personal research on the show and the man was complete. The absolute perfect star cast of the show has my respect for life !
Days that Were
I like the days gone by, described in their glory and grandeur or even in the simplest of lifestyles. To get a glimpse of how it was gives me a kind of nostalgia to dwell in. It's strange because I have never been a part of such a life ever. Just that I prefer the simple, 'rustic' settings (by today's standards) but very contemporary ideas and situations of all the classics. It is a pleasure to read and then sometimes see a very aptly done cinematic portrayal of the same.
Places and Countries and Time do not matter for I have noticed that the basic fabric of Human Thoughts have been the same every where and every time. The essence does not get lost in the coating of time and space.
Places and Countries and Time do not matter for I have noticed that the basic fabric of Human Thoughts have been the same every where and every time. The essence does not get lost in the coating of time and space.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
Albert Einstein
If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.
Max Mueller
The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.
Mark Twain
When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.
Albert Einstein
India - The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas.
Wheeler Wilcox
If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India !
Romaine Rolland
In India, I found a race of mortals living upon the Earth, but not adhering to it, inhabiting cities, but not being fixed to them, possessing everything, but possessed by nothing.
Apollonius Tyanaeus
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
This time have got Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad Chaudhuri. Started reading it also - somehow I can still visualize and relate to his environment - may be some people of my generation can picturize it too - villages and it's description. What about our children - how will they know what a village was - a typical Indian Village ?
Friday, August 7, 2009
Le Papillon (The Butterfly) French lyrics
Pourquoi les poules pondent des oeufs?
Pour que les oeufs fassent des poules.
Pourquoi les amoureux s'embrassent?
C'est pour que les pigeons roucoulent.
Pourquoi les jolies fleurs se fanent?
Parce que ça fait partie du charme.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Pourquoi le feu brûle le bois?
C'est pour bien réchauffer nos coeurs.
Pourquoi la mer se retire?
C'est pour qu'on lui dise Encore.
Pourquoi le soleil disparaît?
Pour l'autre partie du décor.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Pourquoi le loup mange l'agneau?
Parce qu'il faut bien se nourrir.
Pourquoi le lièvre et la tortue?
Parce que rien ne sert de courir.
Pourquoi les anges ont-ils des ailes?
Pour nous faire croire au Père Noël.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Ca t'a plu, le petit voyage?
Ah oui beaucoup!
Vous avez vu des belles choses?
J'aurais bien voulu voir des sauterelles
Des sauterelles ? Pourquoi des sauterelles ?
Et des libellules aussi,
A la prochaine fois, d'accord.
D'accord.
Je peux te demander quelque chose?
Quoi encore?
On continue mais cette fois-ci c'est toi qui chantes.
Pas question.
S'il te plait.
Non, mais non.
Allez, c'est le dernier couplet.
Tu ne crois pas que tu pousses un peu le bouchon?
Pourquoi notre coeur fait tic-tac?
Parce que la pluie fait flic flac.
Pourquoi le temps passe si vite?
Parce que le vent lui rend visite.
Pourquoi tu me prends par la main?
Parce qu'avec toi je suis bien.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Pour que les oeufs fassent des poules.
Pourquoi les amoureux s'embrassent?
C'est pour que les pigeons roucoulent.
Pourquoi les jolies fleurs se fanent?
Parce que ça fait partie du charme.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Pourquoi le feu brûle le bois?
C'est pour bien réchauffer nos coeurs.
Pourquoi la mer se retire?
C'est pour qu'on lui dise Encore.
Pourquoi le soleil disparaît?
Pour l'autre partie du décor.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Pourquoi le loup mange l'agneau?
Parce qu'il faut bien se nourrir.
Pourquoi le lièvre et la tortue?
Parce que rien ne sert de courir.
Pourquoi les anges ont-ils des ailes?
Pour nous faire croire au Père Noël.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Ca t'a plu, le petit voyage?
Ah oui beaucoup!
Vous avez vu des belles choses?
J'aurais bien voulu voir des sauterelles
Des sauterelles ? Pourquoi des sauterelles ?
Et des libellules aussi,
A la prochaine fois, d'accord.
D'accord.
Je peux te demander quelque chose?
Quoi encore?
On continue mais cette fois-ci c'est toi qui chantes.
Pas question.
S'il te plait.
Non, mais non.
Allez, c'est le dernier couplet.
Tu ne crois pas que tu pousses un peu le bouchon?
Pourquoi notre coeur fait tic-tac?
Parce que la pluie fait flic flac.
Pourquoi le temps passe si vite?
Parce que le vent lui rend visite.
Pourquoi tu me prends par la main?
Parce qu'avec toi je suis bien.
Pourquoi le diable et le bon Dieu?
C'est pour faire parler les curieux.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
I am to go about this reading spree of mine in a focused manner. God ! I get so lost seeing so many books in the library that I forget what I really want. So I have decided on finishing-off all the Tolstoys first ! Next I really want to do is read Autobiographies of few people that may interest me.
Divine and Human is completed and Resurrection is about to be started.
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