serenity in my eyes
beat of my heart
smile on my face
chill in my nerves
spark in my speed
that... is You
sound of a sigh in a silence
rhythm of my feet when i dance
warmth of a hug in a chilly night
energy in the vacuum
that... is You
the first sip of water when i'm thirsty
the moment of relief in my pain
the first ray of light i see in the dawn
the first idea evoked in complete chaos
that... is You
the subtle calmness i see on a face of a child
the sentiment of a wife when she holds hubby's face in palms
the warmth and affection in the mother's eyes
the smile that sets on my lips when i see you no matter where and how i am
that... is You
the extra 32 bits in my 64 bit OS
the extra processor on my Graphic card
the style and elegance of android OS over my old Symbian phone
the extra cache on my quad-core processor
the value of epsilon and k, in my CFD solution that gets me faster convergence...
that... is You
the bridge between living and breathing
the door between reality and spirituality
the abyss of love for me to dive
the gap in my moments of bliss
the void i feel when i look into myself
As Shakta Advaita, our ancient epicquotes, the Divine Mother took form and bestowed her healing touch in the wombs of females of all species. It’s also believed that femininity of woman can not exist without her power or Shakti which is considered as a metaphor for the womanhood. She is also called Prakriti, as she balances out the male aspect of God or Purusha. Since ancient times, our literature and cultural beliefs had been using these pious expressions for women. But the legend of womanhood remained faded until recent past. Concept of a woman our grand parents possess completely contravenes the way we perceive her today. A woman in the past was a subset of her husband’s life, subdued with almost no individuality. Expenditure in her wedding and then her inability to be dependable later in their old age made her parents consider her a liability. She mutely accepted her ruin enslaving herself first of her father, then her husband and later on her son. But in the recent times, to the displeasure of social hypocrites, women have started objectifying this Shakti in a way never seen before.
Today’s woman is unwilling to relinquish her career which she tends to keep ahead of having kids. But it’ll be wrong to render this tendency as selfish because somewhere, it’s at the back of her mind that today, when world is more competitive and expensive than ever, continuous flow of money is needed to raise a child. That’s why; often she doesn’t budge while making uncomfortable decisions that bars her from having quality time with her loved ones. She is ambitious today and dreams big, and yet is conscious that men become insecure and don’t like it if she becomes too demanding, or if she learns faster than them. As mother, as wife, as daughter; she always tries to understand what is expected of her and endeavors to give her best. Even at work, I find stark difference when I work with women as compared to men. I find them more tolerant, considerate, patient and at times more organized.
Cooking had always been the domain of women. But when the passion for cooking rather than the love for the family becomes the driving reason for experimentation with food, then it becomes cumbersome for men to eat “the things” and still appreciate them. Said that, it becomes still more cumbersome when they have to tolerate “the aftermath” of such meals. Be that as it may, women love to cook and watch their beloved slurp new dishes. That’s why today, at the end of their day which is full of fight and struggle; even though women expect that their husbands should help them out, they never hesitate cooking for a family. Partly because of their unending love for them. Partly because of their far-sighted understanding that if a member is naturally better than the other in something, it’s wise to lead rather than to have an argument.
Of course they overdo few things. Being unmarried, I’m not very closely aware of the dynamic behavior of women who are at times more complex than quantum mechanics which even the likes of Niels Bohr once feared. But going by my experience with my mother, cousins; women are very very particular about the orderliness at home. They may occasionally shout at men for being messy and ask them to co-operate, but they take ownership of household duties. Perhaps that’s why there are housewives and no househusbands.
Shopping is something that a lot of women can’t do without. I mean, it’s not very unusual for them to feel that they can’t do without a dress/sandals/crockery etc they saw the earlier day. When I asked many women on this, they politely refused this and few even quoted Warren Buffet and his “spend-only-for-your-needs” philosophy. My respect for this lord of money has shot up like never before. If he keeps influencing these big-time shopaholics, I’ll certainly save on my pocket in the future. Said all, if you carefully analyze, you’ll find that very few items actually belong to our enthusiastic shoppers and most are for family and house. Be it renovation, furniture or utilities for family members; they never leave any stone unturned to translate a house bounded by walls into a home bounded by a thread of love and happiness. No wonder they are called homemakers.
All those involved in the conceptualization of the K-series soaps where those wealthy, dumb, cruel and lame creatures wear unearned expensive clothes and paint everything over their head and pass all the leisure time in dirty games, should be sued for portraying women so unjustifiably awful. Women are very much cost and time conscious. Many working women feel empowered enough to be able to support or even run the family.And most married women prefer to utilize their time for constructive activities and also own up the financial responsibilities in their own capacities. At home I’d never seen my mom resting for a jiffy after having a dreadful and tiring day. Our family had seen some tough financial times in the past, though dad never let those worries passed on to us. Today everything is well-off and kids are settled, still she refuses to spend for comfort and handles all the household duties, though maids can be afforded. Even today, there are swaying bargains while purchasing vegetables for a week and persistence advices passed on to children on saving.
Women are funny! In my company, while guys can be often seen fuddling with engineering tool box on shop floor, women can be seen carrying “colorful tool box” that they use very artistically in front of mirror! They need umbrellas to shed themselves from pitiless sun, which they often throw away in the rain. They follow Egyptian tradition of mummying themselves when they go out in the wind. The subjects like kaamvali bai, some girl seen somewhere with someone, recipes, clothes etc are enough for their discussions for hours.The wardrobe full of clothes is never enough for them. And they are convinced that God has created hair for experimentation only. In all, they are extremely conscious of the way they exhibit themselves. At the same time, they think that their endeavor of refurbishing themselves deserves unconditional acceptance and admiration. While we men laugh it out at their excessive insistence on appearance, we forget that cleanliness and beauty are nothing but the physical forms of purity.
There are few Masakkalis too. They appear very animated, conversational, untested and frantically expressive. They do away with facade, are completely genuine and natural in their behavior and hence at times easy to deal with. They mumble a song while working and celebrate tiny accomplishments. Many times I get a feeling that rationality in their thought process reaches only up to a point and from there, prejudices and emotions take over. But when I start unearthing their minds, the intellectual facets start blurring which eventually get clearer and clearer. Then I think: Is this innocence because of the fact that they never got a raw deal? But then I’ve seen many grown-up and mature women who’ve been at highly responsible positions in corporate world where one is consistently assessed and tested. Still they are so calm and balanced. Then I realize, women stay unaffected in most of uncomfortable situations because they don’t fall prey to the terrible evil called ego. Moreover, obligingly, with their soothing and gallant existence, they fill the emotional emptiness and gaps created by hardheaded and egoistic ideologies of men. Sometimes I think that as rationalists and lords of diplomacy, men might be good in describing what life is or how to live it. But in many ways these Masakkalis teach them how to be life.
What can one be fond of passionately? Exercise, cricket, WWE, movies, Video Games? Na! Here also women stump me by their amusing choices. They like gardening. They like sharing quality time with parents/friends. Many of them like painting or even dancing!
Women do reserve some time for themselves and their hobbies. But unlike their mad and crazy spouses, they do it in full knowledge of the fact that unless they are satisfied and contented as an individual they can’t give a quality time to the family.
This is the prodigy of a woman. A woman who tries hard to be a part of happiness of her husband. Who strives hard to nurture the relationship she regards the most. Who is cultured, prudent and in the attempts to give her best becomes sloppy and vulnerable at times; but acts tough against all odds to take care of her husband. All this and in return, seeks only his understanding, his concern and just wants him to care for her sensitivities. Can’t he afford this for so much?
Be that as it may, it’s because of women that the world has become interesting, beautiful and better place to live in.
Independence! By and large, this word implies self-government of an autonomous nation by representatives of its population. But in this article, I note my observations on relevance of independence today for an adult as he balances his work life and personal life so that he can resolve conflicts early by recognizing the opposite forces he experiences in his thoughts and actions. This tricky sentence will definitely make sense if you reach the end by reading thoroughly!
Detachment:
Some wise head has said, “To be detached is wisdom. To be attached is folly.” Detachment is actually independence from the need to hold onto possessions, family, people. This is a very subtle but important concept.
We want to be right and always have strong opinions and beliefs about what’s fair in various situations and feel the need to correct people not realizing that perceptions differ and people feel differently about the same thing. At any given point of time, we can have opinions; but we should be independent of need for their acceptance by others. You can continue to be Mr. Right who can’t be understood by anyone. Or, by developing a little empathy, you can convey your understanding and appreciation of someone’s point of view. There is a better chance that he may listen to your point and you can progress to a consensus by finding some common ground. Else, you can always disagree in peace and still enjoy his uniqueness.
Of course there are more dimensions to a firm position one takes in an argument. I’ve had an experience of being pulled down and ridiculed many times by influential people who didn’t budge from their opinions. But on retrospection, I realized that those were the efforts to see that when I’m pushed to the edge, whether I get immediately give in or stay firm on my point. Whether I provide more data or repeat the same things in loud voice. When it comes to bigheads, while it’s important not to get overawed by their position; with open mind we can always listen to their viewpoints, analyze new data, consider their experience and then stay firm or modify our opinions. After all, change is fundamental to growth and without growth we are dead in terms of generation of ideas and fair judgment.
The attachment with family is very delicate subject and it arises from the need to own people we care for. Kahlil Gibran guides us on this in The Prophet:
Your children are not your children…
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you…
And though they are with you, they belong not to you.
Metaphorically, children here refers to all the people we care for... parents, friends, relatives, colleagues etc. The last line of poem is intuitive and suggests that you can always enjoy bonding in your relationships with people but you should be independent of need of others reciprocating it. I’m from a typical Marathi middle class family where people are conditioned to “keep investing” in relationships. That was right yesterday. Not today. At times my mom finds it difficult to accept the fact that modern souls are overloaded and she may not see the same concern from nephews and nieces she has seen growing since they were babies. Then I try to counsel her to invest in relationships unconditionally and smartly, until she points out that I’m full of emotional emptiness(!).
You also can’t expect same degree of maturity and understanding from people. It happened with me. I thought I had a good rapport with someone I knew since we used to get along well. But few tough talks didn’t go down well with that person and I received the feedback from somewhere else. Gosh! Being an engineer, I can say that equations are easier to manage than people. They are predictable and have solution!
We all have our own views of achievement. And when our loved ones have to make important decisions, we can always help them by sharing our thoughts and making the facts more visible. But it’s wise to let them choose. This way, not only will they welcome your involvement again but also will feel content and more responsible for their choices. By putting a certain degree of autonomy on them, we not only are detached from need of love and affection from our loved ones but also give them room to grow as individuals and not the copies of us. Love and affection then thrives on mutual respect thus generated.
In the rat race of modern world, most of us want to be perfect to get approval from others. Very few want to be perfect because of the high standards they set for themselves. Either way, people thrive to improve their self image. Few are so desperate with their ambitious careers that they compromise with their family time or even on having kids. They are in fact conditioned to win over themselves! Here, we should appreciate that winning and losing are merely life experiences to learn from. You blow your horns on your victories or sulk in failures, either way you isolate yourself. It’s the need to be perfect that makes you put a lot at stake on winning. After toiling hard, if you can’t relax and feel content, then the battle is really not worth it.
I always idolize Roger Federer for the way he carries himself on the court. Nothing ever bugs this guy’s smile. A true performer is not unconcerned with results but is detached from them. He sets high standards which are way beyond anyone’s expectations; but he is flexible, relaxed, thinks on his feet and concentrates on the current moment to give his best. His natural charm and candor finds an expression in his performance. He learns from his mistakes but always is at peace with himself. Useless emotions are thus replaced by constructive thoughts and actions. Only detachment gives this power!
Power of Knowledge:
Pursuit of power had long since seen the battles fought at the cost of countless lives. Today, knowledge is at par with power in deciding one’s position. For relatively young people like me, pursuit for knowledge is driven by sheer joy of discovery and unalloyed pleasure I find in making contribution to the organization. But you shouldn’t be plagued by Analysis Paralysis where you are driven by the need to feed the intellect continuously with data and analysis. Actions and thoughts should go in parallel. Finally, knowledge has to transform into a saleable technology so that not only people grow but organization also generates revenue.
It’s a pity if a sole purpose of acquisition of knowledge is to gain power over others and to feed one’s vanity. I happened to ask a very senior person once why we have lot of documents on “know-how” but not on “know-why.” He said though there are many organizations that ensure that knowledge gets documented, people are insecure in sharing it for the fear of losing an edge over others. Of course, I’m not pointing at professional consultants and intellectual property cells of organizations. There, knowledge itself is revenue than a means to generate revenue.Point is, position and prestige will naturally come to you as people realize your worth and ability. But if you are always driven by the need of position and prestige that comes with knowledge and not help others with it, you soon loose people. At the end, position is ephemeral and doesn’t remain always. What remains is a bunch of people who grew with you and the contribution they have made because of you!
Emotions and feelings:
In the modern world, as we are progressing, our actions are governed by intellect and not by emotions and instincts as they were earlier. In fact today, people who are driven by emotions are rather considered weak. Warren Bennis sums it up in On becoming a leader very nicely: “Nothing is truly yours until you understand it. Not even yourself. Emotions are raw, unadulterated truth. But if you don’t know why you are happy or anxious, the truth is useless.” Technically, mind generates emotions and feelings as a collective response based on past memories and fulfillment of desires. It’ll be interesting to note that all your negative responses like anger, happiness, and pain actually stem from immature qualities like greed, envy, ego making you weak. Said all, for whatever its worth, it’s not wise to suppress mind. A mind free from need to satisfy clouding emotions can do wonders in guiding intellect.I wish I knew this when I was fighting with my vulnerability in my initial period of work life while handling few of my tough assignments. Negative emotions are your path to be stronger because they arise when you are hit badly at your weaknesses. Once you understand that, you can always work on these weaknesses objectively. Nevertheless, for all the difficult situations, your intellect can still decide rational response based on discrimination, analysis and fair judgment. And that’s why you should put intellect on a driving seat instead of mind.
Emotions are often demanding but add richness and meaning to life. Once in a while, in the full knowledge of your actions, it’s fair to fall for their demands without reservations. Little insanity always spices up life. It’s okay to freak out in malls on whole weekends; though you don’t have anything to shop but so much to see (Hail bachelors!). Or to get lost in that piece of heavenly music you adore, forgetting everything else. Or to buy an ipod you loved though wallet says there is gonna be a drought. Even highly intellectual and successful people are surprisingly warm and even childlike (not childish) in their enthusiasm towards living life to the full. Finally, emotions are not good or bad. It’s the way you allow them to feel their need is the key in deciding their usefulness.
A modern adult is contended, free from pretensions of inferiority or superiority. He meets situations head-on without offending people, understanding feelings and limitations realistically. He is secure; neither seeks power over others nor is threatened by it. He appreciates others’ success and is patient for his rewards. He listens to people but draws his own conclusions. He doesn’t suppress spontaneity, fear change or repeat mistakes. He is independent of anything that weakens him.
He is ready to exploit his full potential and yet to live life…fully!
In 1997, Arundhati Roy won Booker prize for her first novel "The God Of Small Things." In 2004, she was awarded the Sydney Peace Prize.
More I learn of her, more I see the signs of an Indian version of Ayn Rand in making! Ayn Rand slashed the communist dictatorship of Russia. Arundhati Roy lashes out the capitalistic dictatorship of America.
Significantly, both women have the same initials!
Below is given the gist of her ever famous documentary: "We" (http://www.weroy.org/)
Fiction and non-fiction are only different techniques of story telling. Fiction dances out of you and the non-fiction is wrenched out by the broken aching road I wake up to, every morning. My writing is not about nations or histories. It’s about the paranoia and ruthlessness of power. About the physics of power that foresees the genocide when too much power is concentrated at the hands of a nation, a corporation or an individual.
Anti Americanism is into the process of being consented into an ideology. But to call some one an anti-American or for that matter, anti -Indian or anti-Timbaktooan is not just racist. It’s a failure of imagination. An inability to see the world in terms, other than those the establishments have set out for you. I’m taken aback by the fact that how many people think that opposing the war in Afghanistan amounts to supporting terrorism or voting for Taliban. If you can be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you can be told what to say or think.
Each person who has lost his loved ones surely knows deeply that no war, no active revenge, no bombs dropped on loved ones of others can blunt the edges of their pain. A war can’t avenge for those who have died. War is only a brute of desecration of their memories.
Yet another war, this time on Iraq, by scenically manipulating people’s grief by packaging it for TV serials sponsored by corporations selling detergents and shoes is to cheapen and devalue the grief. This is a vulgar dismay of the business of grief. The commerce of grief. The pillaging of most private human feelings for political purpose. It’s not clever enough a subject to speak of from public platform. But what I want you to see is a loss, grief, failure, brokenness, numbness, uncertainty, fear, the death of feeling, the death of dreaming and the absolutely relentless, endless, habitual unfairness of the world.
On September 1973 in Chile, General Pinochet overthrew a democratically elected government into CIA backed crew. Thousands and many more were killed in public executions, torture chambers and concentration camps. The dead were buried in mine shafts and unmarked graves. “In United States, we are sympathetic to what you are doing in Chile. We wish your government well” US conveyed, knowing the involvement of CIA in massacre. For 17 years, people lived in the dread of sudden knock on the door in midnight. Those of us who’d known a life in democracy can hardly imagine what an absolute loss of freedom in dictatorship means. It’s not only those who General Pinochet murdered but also the lives he stole from the living must be accounted for.
Winston Churchill said of the Palestinians: “I do not agree that a dog in a palace has a final right to the palace even he may have remained there for very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit there is a great wrong done to Palestinians by the fact that a stronger, higher grade, worldly wise race has come and taken their place.” Palestine ceased to exist except in the minds and hearts of its natives, who became refugees. It is still considered illegally occupied. People never know when their homes will be demolished, when their children will be shot, when they’ll be allowed to go the market to buy medicine and food.
Donald Rumsfield said that his mission in the war against the terrorism is to persuade the world that Americans must be allowed to continue their way of life. When the maddened king stamps his foot, slaves tremble in their quarters. So standing here to death, it’s hard for me to say this that the American way of life is simply not sustainable. Because it doesn’t acknowledge that there is a world beyond America.
Fortunately, power has a shelf life. When the time comes, may be this mighty empire will, like others before, overreach itself and implode from within. It looks as though the structural cracks have already appeared. As the war on terror casts its net wider and wider, America’s corporate heart is hemorrhaging. Given all this endless, empty chatter of officials about democracy, freedom of speech and transparency, today the world is run by the three most secretive institutions in the word:
1) The International Monitory Fund (IMF) 2) The World Bank 3) The World Trade Organization (WTO)
All three in turn are dominated by US. The decisions are made in secret. The people who head them are appointed behind the closed doors. Nobody really knows anything about them; their politics, their beliefs, their intentions. Nobody said they can make decisions on our behalf. A world run by a handful of greedy bankers and CEOs who nobody elected. Soviet style communism (Russia) failed not because it was intrinsically evil, but because it was flawed. It allowed too few people to use up too much power. American capitalism will fail for the same reason. Both are edifices constructed by human intelligence, undone by human nature. Perhaps the things will become worse and then better.
We’d been loving and worshiping Lord Krishna all our lives but this affection has borne more out of religious aspects than practical ones. And at the same time, our unconditional fondness for this Lord places him at such a height that we deny any opportunity to learn from him by having a stand like “He is Lord Krishna, invincible”. I used word him and not Him, because in this writ, I’m going to explore all the qualities of this magnificent personality that epics have gifted us as a normal person. A man, unlike his fellow Karna, looked at each problem as an opportunity, moving past any scars left by past demonstrating us an enlightening life. It’s this life if we could understand at our level; we can learn a lot in order to become a better person, not only spiritually but also practically.
Leadership:
Krishna epitomizes today’s objectivistic view that says “Value can’t enslave you if it’s acceptable by choice”. All the choices he made had Plan-Act-Improvise process at their core. He always employed his foresight to plan things, his assertive aggression to act on it and the analysis of useful information that he gathered from his sources to improvise. His administrative skills, flexibility, foresight and a positive approach to face the challenges being vulnerable at times- all qualities are indicative of a good leader. At the same time, if we have a close look at his life, we’ll realize that he also followed the phases of a successful leadership by being an achiever in his young days, gathering a wisdom that he shared later in the form of Gita, and later as mentor to Pandavas, devising strategies to defy the depraved criminals being a kingmaker. He guided them not only on their path but also on thoughts. While he was powerful, he was humble. While he was aggressive, he wasn’t impatient. He was ideologist but at the same time was a good diplomat. But more than anything else, while working in teams, he always had a vision: “Leadership is not how much you ‘weigh’ against others. It’s about how much you are making a positive difference.”
Empowerment:
Who mentored Krishna? Who was his guardian? No answers will come from even the religious barons as Krishna knew the significance of the word Empowerment. In all situations, roles and while dealing with people, he always employed his own carefully invented strategies and tricks that have over the period of time he validated by experiment and thoughts. He had his independent thought process that weighed choices and once he had decided on a choice, he would go ahead employing aggression at one time or diplomacy at other as needed and hence he couldn’t be influenced by powerful people. In Jack Welch’s language (Former CEO, GE), he was a leader for all time, all situations, all objectives and all people with a Link-Listen-Learn-Lead strategy. His habit of appreciating a good work and his presenting the same before the crowd with same fervor always helped his fellow men to elevate and empower themselves to accept more responsibilities. From these strivers were borne some of leaders that made a difference.
Balance:
His skills in interpersonal relationships were absolutely impeccable. In today’s life, where in the peer pressure, everyone runs the rat-race being another unwanted rat in the race. Mind is floored with silence when one thinks, really how much he is loved by people in even a circle of close relationships. We keep fighting with the four evils-Ego, envy, anger and fear- created by our own mind from which Krishna seemed far distant and hence he was always ready to savor life. He never knew of depression. He always balanced these two states of mind-Materialism and asceticism with equal ease and agility. He floated big responsibilities but never forgot to enjoy very small pleasures in his mates, food, solving puzzles and playing flute. At the same time, he never was controlled by these pleasures; presenting the world a new definition of spirituality. Krishna balanced a triangle of social time, professional time and his own individual time. He never broke his brain into pieces over time, relationships and demanding mind. He knew that diamond is just a piece of coal that did better under pressure. He always entered roles and situation effortlessly, enacted his role with calm mind and deserted the plot at right time with agility leaving all concerned an opportunity to learn. It’s this compartmentalization in his life that had always helped him balance his work and life really well.
Efficacy:
The reason why he was convincing and invincible was mostly because he had been clear in his objectives knowing exactly what he wanted. At the same time he used the right blend of confidence and self-esteem to uplift himself from emotional calamities. And he always employed sense and logic instead of power and fear to influence people which made him more acceptable and effective. While he enjoyed his life fully, his mind would always work subconsciously on future and challenges.
Krishna asked the same question as the Joker asked in “The Dark Knight”, “Why so serious?” Because he understood that seriousness is only a shade of ego and ignorance from which wise men are far distant. Wise men are always joyous, celebrating life. In fact, all the religious groups are coming up with new definition of worship which is: “Celebration is a form of worship”. Ritual is not needed. But celebration is. Dance itself is enough; it need not be offered to God. Song itself is enough; it need not be offered to a God. Pouring of heart is important for the communion than the rituals!
History has proved that with a man, “Reach exceeds the Grasp”. In today’s fast, demanding and uninterrupted world, if everyone tries to become Krishna at individual level, the happiness and content that was a characteristic of Ayodhya would never desert our nation.
Yeah, I see your giggling face with a right blend of sarcasm and humor in that smile, after seeing this title. By and large, though I never approve of any comparison as I believe when you compare something you are insulting its uniqueness, at few occasions comparisons are handy at setting benchmarks. Here, I use word “versus” to render how differently these two worlds function as well as how they can learn from each other.
Bollywood as we all know had always found its opulence in emotions. From art of RK to sensitive intellection of Ray. From ahead-of-times valor of Shantaram to romantic world of Ghai. From glamorous tadka of Johars and Yashraj to poetic world of Bhansali. Everywhere you’ll see emotions being practiced over and again. Revenge, humor, patriotism, courage, sacrifice and yes, how can one forget that? Love! You’ll see some of all of these used sparingly everywhere.
India had long been bestowed with many gifted actors. RK, Devanand, Dharamendra, Rajesh, Rishi, Bacchan, Dilip and a few new-fangled like Aamir, Akshay, Kamal all portray a mammoth talent that had never let their takers starve of towering performances. I mean I loved the way Dharm Paaji and Amitabh made us laugh through practical jokes in Chupke Chupke. While the same duo defined a new era of thrillers through Sholay which was later blatantly disparaged by RGV’s AAG as people said it was a sequel of the former. Then came the crazy uncertainty of Amol Palekar in Golmal and the pragmatic Rajesh in the Bawarchi who philosophized the life though his simplistic existence. The women like Hema, Rekha, Dimple were no less in having their own portfolio of acting skills as well as splendor steal breath of the audience. And when I adjust the lens of my telescope to make it a binocular for time, I see the burning Aamir of Sarfarosh, Lagan, RDB, Taare. The conviction with which this guy goes in any role is just stupendous. I heard for Ghajini, he has shaved his head. The bottom-line is not to act like a character. But to feel being it, breathe like it, live like it in front of camera. Ahshay had been good as a flamboyant khiladi earlier. But later on, films like Namaste London are making him more convincing. Ajay Devgan and Akshaye Khanna are also the able inclusions for our list. I mean Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Vijaypath, Company, Zakhm… Really the remarkable films, having the talented Ajay glowing. While DCH and recent Aaja Nachle had me believe strongly that in Akshaye, we have the most underrated actor in the film fraternity. Few omissions for the sake of space to be pardoned. But as expiation for all those die hard SRK fans, whom I excluded knowingly, I’m ready to have him in the list too just if they take pains to read the writ through to the end! I think save Swades and Chakde, SRK had always been SRK in all his movies, with merely his name changed to that of character. He hardly had been a character he needed to be. Darsheel Safary, the hugely talented cutie from Taare.., though it’s too early to judge him on one film, I believe has everything in him to join the list. It was shocking and hard to believe when I saw the naughty, confident and sharp Darsheel in his interviews as against patient hardworking and poised Ishan in Taare. God, this kid has guts and he knows it. But thanks to the award ceremonies, he has to wait for a while to get the recognition he is due.
When it comes to films, Andaz Apna Apna, Swades, Lagaan, Chak Dey and the recent Taare Zameen Par are my favorite, with Taare being the most riveting film I’d ever seen.
The list and the explanations can go on and on. But if one goes deeper in analyzing things, many frail links can be surfaced. While the music has been one of the most integral and beautiful facet of Hindi Cinema, the overuse of the same has really been annoying to the serious and intellectual viewer. Those love songs, for instance, contributing nothing to the plot, gave a breakthrough to all those trees and foreign locales hanging in the background when our hero and heroine wandered singing and dancing. I heard of story of an NRI who saw a typical Hindi movie for the first time. He wondered after seeing the movie that the last moment the couple was in their house somehow trying to make the both ends touch, if not meet (I mean they were very poor. Explanation is necessary seeing at the supposed absurdity suggested by the phrase used!) , and suddenly they are at different picturesque places with their clothes changing every half minute and the music pouring in from the sky helping them sing and dance at a smooth pace. I mean it was difficult for that rational and intellectual poor fellow to digest the fact that to enjoy a Hindi cinema, you’ve to assume, forget and forgive lot many things unlike Hollywood flicks where each scene and move has a very carefully crafted strategy and reasons. Said all, the elixir of the melody made available to a common man by veterans like RD Burman and A R Rehman had always made the lives and moments of billions more enlightened and happy. The harvest of the good Indian music is really like a national treasure for us. Believe it or not, only as a tribute to all those music architects, I decided to buy my brand new N70 Music Edition, though the price had been taxing. Eventually I possess it by my side every time and everywhere so that after a hectic time, I always have asylum in the harmony of the music that helps me connect to my inner self and nature. Ultimately, if you can connect to these two, He is not far away.
Variety is there. But you have to search for it. Really, it’s very hard to find a “different” film these days. The film with vulgar and aphrodisiac contents replaced by a sound script and riveting story and an unfeigned character going at his own pace. Now here Hollywood comes handy. I happened to saw few small-scale movies like Election, Crossroads, Bring it on… where the stories were really simple but the characters really honest. They all had their own realistic fights in life. They had to step ahead in the face of uncertainty being vulnerable. Few of them were larger-than-lifely brave for their mammoth tasks. Few were not as brave. But they understood that the bravest thing you do when you don’t “feel” brave is to profess courage and act accordingly. It was really touching to see even school kids shown confronting their own problems and making their own decisions, having support of their pure friendship.
Few of the films that I really liked reckon Click, The Independence Day, In pursuit of happiness, Jurrasic Park, The Abyss, Forest Gump, Troy and yes, all movies starring Elisha Cuthbert! Why? You know, one has to make exceptions for special people no? So I say all her movies are unconditionally beautiful. Jokes apart, to tell you the truth, I’m not a very regular viewer of the English movies. So few of the finest movies in Hollywood would have escaped me. But being a descent observer that I believe I am, I can share my thoughts on account of whatever I could absorb. Actually I started viewing English movies seriously at the twilight of my college days. Much of the blame can be of the reputation the English movies have created in the minds of people in India. I mean, a child spotted seeing movies on English channel is supposed to be looking for “something” that was not “ethical” according to parents. I hope you understood the meanings of these two highlighted words. And often, this “something” was really embarrassing while enjoying movie with family or even when you are enjoying the good plot and suddenly “it” starts and your dad props up from somewhere. I also was having no different prejudice until I started seeing some really quality stuff in Hollywood. But now I hunt for it. Seriously.
English movies are all giant. In terms of their budget, concept and portrayal. You just look at Titanic and wonder how they would have managed all that disaster that looked so obvious. You see Matrix Trilogy and exclaim “Wow” at the whole concept. The hugeness of Lord of the Rings literally blinded us. And the best part of it is that it looked all real. The power of silence was explained by The Abyss of John Cameron. I shivered when I saw the actor going down, down in the dark abyss of an ocean. And then, rested on back with the support of rock, he sees the alien. He shakes hand with him and then travels to the kingdom of aliens. Gosh! What a dizzying feeling it was! It was shown with such intensity that I had to switch the channel. Any receptive viewer will never forget it. Michael Clayton appealed me after I saw the originality in the character portrayed by George Clooney. I never had seen Brad Pitt in action. But his Achilles in Troy left me astounded with his conviction and ease with which he was under the skin of the warrior.
In all, the Hollywood presents the stuff that can be savored after deep and sincere involvement. Whilst, relatively, Bollywood movies had been easy and slow and often superficial. Well the reason is not that we don’t have people who can do more intense and serious stuff. But the fact that there are very few who’ll really appreciate and accept such different project. So they’re obviously skewed to produce what sells. Complicated but good movies like 16 December, Chocolate and Khoya Khoya Chand can rarely find any audience. Because people don’t understand, rather don’t wish to understand the stuff. After a hectic week and at a price of Rs. 180 a ticket in multiplex, people prefer to invest their time with family in some masala movie which can cater to all members as moderate comprehension is required. Even at times, I’d like to see some gorgeous actress performing at her best instead of the tense horrifying action of Hollywood that leaves you out of breath. It’s natural.
If you take a dig at the psychology of west and India, one cultural difference stands out. I’ve observed that western people find pleasure in adrenalin out rush like in loud music concerts, partying or adventures. Whilst Indians have long since found Shastria Sangeet, Bhajans, cultural festivals and social gatherings as stress busters. They prefer being calm and peaceful and getting excited for them is like loosing balance. This might be the reason that most of the characters in our movies are more human. I’ve always found a liveliness and freshness in our actors commendable as against the expressionless inhuman and complicated Hollyhood heroes.
Whatever it may be, lemme tell you, after seeing two intense Hollywood films in a row in a day, I can not digest third. I get fed up. But then instead of saying they are bad, I’ll say I’m not an audience for such movies.
Few thoughts worth mentioning: Am a curious soul. I like to explore things in depth, reason everything I see, and believe that nothing is truely yours untill you understand it. Not even yourself!
Emotion without expression is lame.
Expression without emotion is meaningless. Your words are effective only when they understand this.
Humour is indispensible. Nothing shows a man's character
better than what he laughs at. And nothing is nobler than bringing smile to someone's face.
Magic is not in the surprise of the moment. It's in the passion of the journey that preceded it.
-Moment of Omism
