Transition From Armchair Idealism

Recently I had a conversation with my uncle Suresh when I shared with him my ideas about the ills of capitalism. After listening to what I said he pointed out to me that I am enjoying the benefits of capitalism. For me it was an eye-opener especially coming from a family member. While I subconsciously knew this anyway it was something that no one else has confronted me with. There are a lot of contradictions in my life. I am used to a certain lifestyle and maybe that is why I am not considering being a full time journalist for the time being, as it is not likely to be as remunerative as other options. The other reason being that I want to be financially independent. And yet while accepting this reality I will never work for companies like Pepsi or Nike, which are monsters created by capitalism. What I hope to lead is a balanced and sustainable life with as minimal contradictions and compromises as possible. The call center industry is an irresistible proposition to start this with. Look at it. It brings in money into our economy, while also denying employment to people in the U.S.A, for instance. But I can tolerate such an industry for just a few years utmost, and eventually I am sure I will muster the guts to do journalism or even the rather more unrealistic movie direction for my bread and butter. Yesterday I had gone for a movie with a friend. I was very thirsty and bought Pepsi. My friend remarked that I was being hypocratical. My response to such a comment is simple-if I see both Pepsi and Bovonto(an Indian brand), I choose the latter. I still prefer fruit juices to softdrinks. But I think I will be far more hypocritical if I pretentiously boycott the multinational colas, while not wanting to give up so many of the other benefits of capitalism. But I do draw a line somewhere.I will not for instance ever buy a Nike product. For those of you who don’t know Nike shoes are manufactured in sweatshops with appalling work conditions and obscenely low wages. I have started taking small steps in the right direction. Starting to write is one such step as it forces you to examine yourself closely. Invaluable feedback like what I get from people like my uncle often plagues me with a sense of guilt. For other than a frugal contribution to the Tsunami fund (which made me feel good) in what way have I contributed in fighting the selfish system I so detest (capitalism)? Will I be able to make the transition from armchair idealism to proactive action?

Justice?

The chemicals released following an explosion at Union Carbide, Bhopal on December 3, 1984 killed around 20000 people and injured 200,000 others. This is common knowledge.What is not so universally known is that Warren Anderson who was the head of the company during this event is a fugitive living blissfully. Where else? The United States of course which believes in protecting its citizens even if they are wanted criminals in other countries. Mr. Anderson did not comply with warrants issued by the Indian authorities. Union Carbide has repeatedly refused in the past to disclose his whereabouts. The U.S authorities required him to appear before a court in that country. He went into hiding almost immediately after the summons was issued and the U.S authorities have conveniently not been able to find him. He is reported to be living in luxury in the state of New York. Despite of knowing about the potential hazards through a 1982 safety audit the plant was not sanitized into being risk proof. But the company’s plant in the U.S was fixed. After escaping from jail in India and fleeing back to the U.S Anderson has repeatedly absconded from justice.Despite India requesting the U.S in 2003 for his extradition to our country the U.S authorities have done nothing. I suspect our own government has not pursued this strongly enough. So while George.W.Bush is willing to sidestep international laws, spend billions as part of his war on terror, he harbors a rich American wanted for what essentially resulted in genocide due to negligence. Sometimes I feel that America deserves 9/11 and many more such events, to get a taste of its own medicine. In what way is the life of my countrymen lesser than that of the people, mostly American,who died on 9/11?

Forever Nagesh

The very mention of the name Nagesh is enough to bring a smile and more. This unassuming veteran has entertained generation after generation of Tamils. Of course all of this may sound very clichéd. But as a quote I read in Reader’s Digest goes, there is a reason certain thing are cliché-it is because they are true. As a child in the pre-cable T.V. era (i.e, before 1992 when we got cable at home for the Cricket World Cup) I used to look forward to the movies they played on Doordarshan.Whenever there was a movie with Nagesh in it the whole household would come to a standstill .Everyone from my attai(father’s sister) to my short tempered chitappa(father’s younger brother) to kids like my cousin Indu and myself simply loved Nagesh. Several of his roles be it in a Sivaji tragedy(offering much needed comic relief) or in one of M.G.R’s movies(whose sole saving grace was Nagesh’s presence)are unforgettable. How can anyone forget his role in Kadalikka Neramillai(No Time for Romance) with his ‘Oho Productions’ and the ideas he gets? The scene with Ballaiah in which he narrates a ghost story with which he scares the latter is the stuff of legends. Everyone from Mehmood to Mr.Rajni-cant-act has imitated it. My favorite Nagesh roles are all from K.B movies. Maddi Padi Maadu(Under the Staircase Maadu),the role he essays in the bittersweet Yadir Neechal(Swimming Against the Current/Tide) is one such role which comes to mind. He plays an orphan living in a mansion where several families live. His struggles to study and come up in life. His eternal optimism even when faced with dire circumstances is so touching. He short of begs for alms and yet is so dignified going from door to door saying “nan Maadu vandriken”(I, Maadu have come). There is a sense of detachment to this character. The Malayali neighbour(portrayed by Mutturaman) brings out the turncoat nature of people when he announces that Maadu is the only heir of a millionaire.Maadu with amusement notices his neighbours ploys to gain his attention and their subsequent disinterest when they find out that the whole thing of Maadu being a millionaire’s son is a hoax. In Navagrahangal(The Nine Planets)a satire of a dysfunctional family Nagesh is the adopted son of the family’s head trying to sort out their differences. In reality he is the illegitimate son of the head of the family. He goes all out to bring his family together, even going to the extent of pretending to be an opportunist who is after the family wealth, which unites the family, but results in his abandonment. Server Sundaram is my favorite Nagesh role/film. He plays a hotel server who goes on to become a famous film actor. Can anyone forget the scene where the producers of a film production company patronizingly consent to let him audition for a role? Nagesh tells them exactly what he thinks about them, that they are hypocrites who know nothing about the travails of life.The producers are shocked, angered and their ego is hurt. Then Nagesh promptly claims that he was only acting. Somehow, my favorite Nagesh roles have been his tragic ones (maybe because of my preference for this genre). In more recent times whether it is as Avinsashi Maama(Uncle Avinash) in Michael Madana… or as the father in Vasool Raja(his most recent role)he still manages to more than please the audience. In Vasool Raja, which is far inferior to the original, the interaction between Nagesh and Kamal(father and son) is far better than the original. Nagesh has nothing left to prove to anyone. After the passing of Sivaji he is the father figure of the Tamil film industry along with K.Balachander.In the multi coloured pageant that is Tamil Cinema Nagesh marches a few steps behind Sivaji Ganeshan but way, way ahead of everyone else. We all preserve our favorite images based on our likes and biases. My favorite image of Nagesh is that of the forlorn lover in Server Sundaram.

Have You Ever Wondered That Jewelry Ads Promote Dowry?

Just switch on any regional Indian Channel at home. I am sure within a few minutes you will see a jewelry add. Before a movie starts at a cinema hall or during the interval you are literally thrust with adds from competing jewel houses trying to outwit each other. You will notice a common strain running through all these ads-all of them are addressed to the bride's parents. These ads are produced by a group of ‘emancipated’ men and women working for the likes of Mudra, Lintas or Ogilvy.Yet they use their creative minds to promote an illegal and culturally chauvinistic system-the dowry. Ingenious ways are devised by these geniuses to put the message across. For the western mind the whole concept of dowry may sound absurd. I am quite curious about what Christian who lives in Germany thinks about the existence and indirect promotion of such a system. If you have seen any of the western diamond ads the man (whether husband, fiancé or lover),is seen winning the woman’s heart by gifting her a ring or whatever. Imagine the impact on would be mother-in-laws watching these ads, which are judiciously splashed in between their mega serials. They start wondering how much gold their would be daughter-in-laws would bring in. The parents of the bride on their turn feel that they owe it to their in laws who of course would diplomatically claim that “It is all for your daughter.” I am not claiming that without these ads dowry would vanish. Far from it. But we can most certainly do without these ads, which indirectly celebrate the dowry system. Personally these ads have helped me affirm what I have for long believed-advertisers are among the most socially irresponsible people.

Being Politically Incorrect

What is wrong in calling a disputed territory exactly that? According to the United Nations and the rest of the international community this region (Jammu and Kashmir) landlocked between Tibet (sorry I don’t recognize that region as part of China), Pakistan, India and Afghanistan is a disputed territory. For calling an axe an axe I would be branded unpatriotic. People talk of the havoc caused by the terrorists in the valley (their activities are well known). While they are the primary cause of violence and bloodshed in the valley the Indian armed forces have been known to commit several atrocities. According to a Human Rights Watch report our security forces in Kashmir have deliberately executed hundreds of suspected terrorists in custody without trial. Rape, torture and opening fire in crowded markets and residential areas are some of the other excesses indulged by our sacred armed forces. These are seldom talked about within India and there is virtually no tolerance to anyone who dares point this out. Kashmir is a fashionable topic to display jingo patriotism. Our authorities and media make sure it remains that way. One of our family friends, who wishes not to be named, mentioned an incident once when he received a map from a friend working in German Radio, which shows Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. It was confiscated by our airport authorities,and the relavant area was defaced before it was given to him. I do not see a solution to the Kashmiri problem within my lifetime. I wonder when the time will come when we start recognizing Azad Kashmir as Pakistan and they start considering the region currently under Indian control as legitimately Indian. Maybe never. The Kashmiri people are sick of both India and Pakistan.Tanushree who was my classmate in school has a Kashmiri mother who is a pandit. She used to mention how her mother had fled the valley along with her family as a young girl. She said that whenever the Kashmiri pundits got together they would inevitably talk with great heartache and longing about their homeland. Let us not compare ourselves to Barbarian government’s like most of the Pakistani rulers post partition. As a responsible and more mature country we need to take the initiative to ensure that the Kashmiri people’s peace and not games of one-upmanship with our neighbor are our primary concern. My own belief is that granting nationhood to Kashmir is the best possible solution. This would ensure that the region would not get divided like Punjab between India and Pakistan.Tagore in Gitanjali aches for a utopia “Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”. Let us begin with Kashmir. We owe it to the Kashmiri people. Our People.

Vote Before You Criticize

The educated classes in our metros are fond of bashing the Indian government machinery for its numerous failings. They speak of their discontent so vociferously that it may seem that they know the workings and goings on in the Indian political scene by the tip of their fingures. Ironically one of the lowest voter turnouts in the national elections in 2004 was in the nations capital New Delhi where the voter turnout was lesser than 50%* of those who were eligible to vote. The number of women voters in urban areas is substantially lower than their male counterparts. And yet it is these very same people who lounge and pass judgment over what ails Indian politics. When I turned 18 I made sure that I registered myself as a voter at the earliest possible and voted with great pride in the last Assembly Elections in Tamil Nadu.To me voting is not just my right but a sacred duty. I was rabid when I found out that my name was missing from the list of voters in last year’s national elections. I am ashamed to say that very few people of my age that I know have even bothered to get themselves registered. What is even more incomprehensible for me is that for several of the registered voters in upwardly mobile areas the simple effort of going to a polling station, waiting in line and casting the ballot is an ordeal they blissfully evade. To hit the bull’s eye the point I am trying to make is simple-if you choose not to exercise your franchise then don’t loll and make sweeping comments of what is wrong with the system. By not voting you have made an unstated statement-I don’t care. In that case you abdicate yourself of your right to voice your political opinion. * The statistic about the voter turnout in New Delhi is from a Press Trust of India release.

Let It Not Be Greg, Please!

The 1st of February 1981 will forever be remembered as one of the darkest days in cricketing history. The setting was the third final of the Benson and Hedges World Series Cup between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG. New Zealand needed to score six runs to tie the match with one ball remaining. The last ball was to be bowled by Trevor Chappell to Kiwi number 10 Brian McKechnie. Australian captain Greg Chappell ordered his brother Trevor to bowl underarm removing any chance New Zealand had to tie the match. Sevaral of the Australian players like Rod Marsh were found shaking their heads in disgust. McKechnie threw his bat down in fury after defending the delivery. Even the most avid Australian supporters booed Chappel. For an entire generation of cricket lovers born after this infamous incident the name Greg Chappell is synonymous with the underarm ball. The shadow of that one incident is so huge that despite of an astounding average of 53.86 in Test cricket Chappell is never mentioned in the same breath as the all time greats of the game. And rightfully so. And now this man who instrumented one of three things, which brought disrepute to the game (the other two being bodyline and match fixing),is tipped to be the most likely candidate to succeed John Wright as India’s coach. The very thought is unthinkable to me as an avid supporter of the game. Do we need this man who brought such infamy to the gentleman’s game to coach us? Of course Greg Chappell should be forgiven for what he did as must people like Azhar or the late Hansie Cronje and others involved in match fixing. If Azhar,Salim Malik or Chappell are itching to serve the cricketing fraternity they can do so as commentators or cricket writers. But somewhere the line MUST be drawn. Letting Chappell become the coach of an international team is sending all the wrong signals-you can do anything in cricket and get away with it. We already have more than our share of woes as a cricketing nation with the likes of Dalmia and A.C.Muthiah treating the game like their family business. Like Rajdeep Sardesai would say I hope somewhere down the line sanity prevails and either Tom Moody or Jimmy Amarnath become the coach (who are the other contenders for the job).The third alternative simply MUST NOT BE.

Film Piracy

This weekend Sridhar and I were planning to get together and watch a movie I had recommended. There was one slight problem-Sridhar does not watch pirated DVDs-and so the plan got cancelled. Being the super movie fanatic that I am, I too have my own moral code of conduct, which I have to satisfy before I watch/buy pirated movies. I watch/buy pirated stuff only if I have seen the movie in the theater already or in the case of movies like Fahrenheit 9/11 which never get released here. When I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 the original was not available here. So am I supposed to wait for two years until the original gets released here? I saw Kakha…Kakha about five times in the theatre, after which my sister Nivi(who also saw the movie several times in the theatre) bought the pirated VCD.I think Michael Moore and Gautam Mennon would be flattered rather than angry with us in this situation. So while I respect Sridhar’s extreme stance (he has configured his DVD player in such a way that pirated movies will not play on it!!!), I don’t see any logic in following it myself. For instance Ray’s Appu Trilogy is not available here. In that case it is perfectly alright to watch a recorded or pirated version rather than not watching the movie at all or waiting for someone from the U.S to send me the movie. There are rare exceptions when I have violated my self styled code of conduct. I never saw Autograph in the theatre, because when it was released I was studying for my university exams, and by the time my exams were over everybody I knew had seen it, and I did not want to go for the movie alone. The bottom line is that I felt very bad about this. Anyone who doubts what an avid supporter of cinema I am can have a look at my movie ticket collection. Like some people collect stamps and coins I have been collecting the tickets of all the movies I have seen in theatres for the last almost one year. And believe me there are a loooooooot of tickets in that collection. So my point is as long as piracy is a last resort moviemakers would be flattered rather than angry. The final motive of every good filmmaker, I am quite certain is that his/her work must be seen and appreciated. And yet why has Sridhar succeeded in making me feel guilty?

Eagerly Awaiting…

Anniyan The much hyped much talked about film by Shankar.The stills and posters seem captivating. It is all very hush-hush regarding what the movie is about. But recent buzz seems to suggest that Vikram is a Iyengar- lawyer (probably a sociopath like in Gentleman?).Though most cine buffs here are waiting with bated breath for its release, I am keeping my fingers crossed, as all Shankar’s movies after Gentleman have been huge let downs for me(despite of most of them being big hits). Adu Oru Kana Kalam The Balu Mahendra film which has been under production since 2003!This is the movie I am looking forward to most this year. Rumours seem to suggest this is a remake of The Graduate. This year being dry so far, in terms of quality Tamil Cinema, I expect this film to bail out Kollywood from the current lull. Also the question on everybody’s lips is can Dhanush finally deliver without his big brother to lean on? Poi The master (I am referring to K.Balachander of course!) is back after nearly five years. Nobody knows any inside info about this movie but the very fact that a ‘erkunar sigaram’ movie is under production (or will be soon?), has me super exited. Pudupetai- survival of the fittest From the early promos I gather this is a gangster movie. I don’t think Tamil Cinema has had a full-fledged gangster movie (Thalapathi was the closest to one I guess).Coming from the team which gave us Thulluvatho Ilamai,Kadhal Konden and 7g,Rainbow Colony{i.e. Selvaraghavan(Director),Aravind Krishna(Cinematographer),Yuvan Shankar Raja(Music)}expectations are sky high. In typical style, all is quiet from the Selvaraghavan camp, regarding further details of this movie. Vettaiyadu, Vilaiyadu This Kamal starrer has Gautam Menon directing the veteran actor for the first time. Said to be a racy thriller the movie is said to move from Newyork to Chennai and have its climax in a desolate village in Tamil Nadu.After the slick Kakha Kakha it would be interesting to see how Gautam Menon handles a sesoned actor like Kamal Hassan. Thavamai Thavam Irundhu The father son relationship is supposed to be the backbone of this movie directed by (and starring?) Cheran.I am looking forward to this movie with mixed emotions.My instinct tells me that Cheran will try to pull a Autograph again which I bet will not go down well with the audience.If he doesn’t this could turn out to be THE movie to watch out for.

Arthur Miller And The Great Indian Media

Arthur Miller passed away on Feb 11, 2005.The Indian media virtually ignored this. Or there were references such as one of Marilyn Monroe’s ex-husbands having passed away. It was shocking. Even more shocking is the fact that when I mentioned Miller’s passing most of my friends did not even know who Arthur Miller was! And I hold our media directly responsible for this. Miller is one of the most influential Post World War-2 dramatists’ whose plays such as Death of a Salesman and All My Sons were pathbreaking. He defied the U.S establishment in the 1950s by refusing to name suspected leftist and Communist party members he was closely associated with. Miller’s works reflected a profound social consciousness, were anti-establishment without being propagandist. As a student of literature I was bored with the Puritanistic,Elizabethan and Victorian literature(with the exceptions of Jane Austin and Thomas Hardy).Miller’s All My Sons was like an oasis amidst mostly lifeless literature. It helped me shape my social consciousness. It portrays the struggle within its protagonist who puts personal profiteering ahead of public duty claiming that he was doing it for his family. The play’s appeal is eternal through the questions it raises and the ethics or the lack of, that it challenges. Arthur Miller along with persons like Tennessee Williams and J.D.Salinger was the most representative American literary figure of the 1950 s and certainly one of the all time greats. The media here has even stopped pretending that it is decent or responsible. So while news about clowns like Mallika Shekhawat(supposedly sexy…lol)titillate and sell who cares if Arthur Miller is dead or even existed?It is paradoxical that it is exactly this utter lack of decency of money-at-all-cost business establishments (which is what the media has become) that Miller so vehemently questioned through his works.

God’s Gift to Indian Cinema

I found out to my dismay that our DVD Player does not play the format the Pather Panchali DVD from Cinema Paradiso was configured. Our computer screen was reduced to half its original size due to some picture tube problem. As my mother and I started watching the movie such technological hitches seized to matter. From the first scene when Durga steals guava from her cousin’s orchard I was completely enthralled by the movie. And how it unfolded and in what splendor! My favorite characters were Durga who’s simply the heart and soul of Pather, and the old lady. Durga’s simple and innocent energy and vitality is so infectious. There is something so poignant about the old lady’s dignity despite the utter poverty. I was moved to tears in the scene in which she waters a plant after she drinks some water. Hari the father is a dreamer and a mellow person. Even when his family is in dire straits as his wife constantly reminds him he still dreams of the day he will become a renowned playwright. In the midst of all this is Apu carefree and playful, and yet (as the scene in which he declines to play with his cousins), reserved and circumspect. Sarbajaya, the mother’s love is unstated and yet all pervasive. This movie’s realism lies in the fact that unlike most other movies which claim to show reality, Pather does not scream out loud saying," Look at me, I am real!" It simply is real.Pather Panchali turned my worldview of Indian Cinema upside-down. Until I saw it Barathiraja,Balu Mahendra and Balachander were the benchmarks by which I measured the quality of the films I saw. I still deeply respect these filmmakers, and yet Ray is above them by leaps and bounds-in a class of his own.Pather Panchali is without the slightest doubt the best Indian movie I have seen, and now the measure by which I would rate other movies. Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’s delightful fantasy made me realize the breadth of Ray’s genius. What a contrast it is to the understated realism of Pather. Ghosts, naive kings, manipulative ministers, magicians, all combine with the guileless Goopy and Bagha to form a dreamland even J.K.Rowling could not have imagined. My favorite part of this film was the ghost dance. The shadow puppetry, dances,and the instruments(such as Mridamgam) make it a treat for the sences.It was mesmeric. I saw Charulatha with a teacher and friend, Arun Anna(for those who don’t know,in The School-K.F.I where I studied we call our teachers Anna and Akka respectively).After watching two Ray films I totally adored, I was a little disappointed by the first half of the film. But after watching the movie until its conclusion there was a sense of watching something very fulfilling. As my teacher said the movie was like a painting. Just like a painting may not appeal in a half finished state, and yet may be splendorous when viewed after completion, Charulatha was something, which can be appreciated only in totality. Though the interplay of emotions between Amal and Charulatha is magnificent, it was Bhupati, Charu’s husband and editor and publisher of a political newspaper,whose character I could relate to the most. He feels betrayed by all he trusted and loved. His reaction when he finds that Charu is in love with Amal is a total contrast to the melodramatic way in which a similar situation may have been portrayed in a 60s Tamil movie. The scene in the beginning when Charu views through a binoculars the goings on in the street in front of her house, through window slits, and later at her husband is a visual spectacle. It also shows how Charu feels like a caged bird(in that sense it is like a caged bird's eye view of the world).Both Arun Anna and I really enjoyed hearing a song we used to sing in school(and apparently they still sing it), phole phole,dole dole and the other song Videshini was also lovely(including the way Amal sings it in the movie). After watching three of his movies I state proudly that Ray’s cinematic appeal is universal and he belongs to world cinema. His movies are so Indian yet has vast global appeal. As a cine buff, I feel proud to say that I come from the land of Satyajit Ray. He is God’s gift to Indian Cinema and it’s lovers.

The Stockholm Syndrome

The Stockholm Syndrome is downright creepy. Simply put it describes a situation where kidnap victims over time, become sympathetic to their captors. This name originates from a six-day hostage crisis in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973.The rescue attempts were resisted by the victims who later refused to testify against their captors. Baffling? Scary? You bet! It is a defensive mechanism some captives develop fearing violence from their captors. Minor acts of kindness by the captor are magnified. Since it is likely that the kidnapped may be injured during rescue attempts,these attempts are actually seen as a threat! This is a survival strategy. I always wondered at the absurdity of the female lead in Guna falling in love with her kidnapper. Well that is the Stockholm Syndrome for you! When a friend and a fellow cine buff told me about it I was perplexed. I just finished reading an Arthur Hailey book called The Evening News where this behavioral pattern is mentioned. Me, personally, I am totally spooked by this whole thing!!!