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IFFK 2018

The Twenty-third. My third. The one sans government aid. The one with the hiked delegate fee. Fortunately, our passion was superior to the sense of financial security. Cometh the second week of December. The most memorable days of my Thiruvananthapuram phase. Dec 7 (Friday) : Opening Function - Skipped the function for the first time, as we (the movie crazy lot from work) were exhausted after the team outing. Made plans for an early watch the next day. Dec 8 (Saturday) ********************* 9 AM - Kairali - Manta Ray - we (Sreeram, Deepa, John, Anu, Anoop, Vinnie, Albince, Jijo, Chithira, Sajjad) watched our first movie together. A disappointment. And it was long. Went out right after it ended and had tea. Took coupons for the next movie (Border). Coupons were a new thing. As the case of things new and unknown, I feared it. 12 noon - Tagore - The Debt - canceled Border since Pramitha (who I was meeting for the first time after years of occasional cor

ശബ്ദം നാമജപത്തിന് മാത്രം : ഭാഗം 3

(ആദ്യ ഭാഗങ്ങളും ഇതുമായി പ്രമേയത്തിലുള്ള സാമ്യമെ ഉളളൂ. വായിച്ചിട്ടില്ലെങ്കിൽ ലിങ്ക് താഴെ കുറിക്കുന്നു ശബ്ദം നാമജപത്തിന് മാത്രം : ഭാഗം 1 ശബ്ദം നാമജപത്തിന് മാത്രം : ഭാഗം 2 ) കഴിഞ്ഞ കുറച്ച് നാളുകളായി വലത് കയ്യിലെ നടുവിരലിൽ ഒരു അരിമ്പാറ രൂപപ്പെട്ടിരിന്നു. തനിയെ പോകും എന്ന് കരുതി വെറുതെ ഇരുന്നിട്ടും ആള് ഒഴിഞ്ഞു പോയില്ല. വെളുത്തുള്ളി പ്രയോഗവും നടത്തി നോക്കി. നോ രക്ഷ. കൂടിയ ബാധ തന്നെ. ഒടുവിൽ ചെന്നെത്തിയത് പാറേട്ട് ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിൽ. ആഗ്രഹം അറിയിച്ചപ്പോൾ എടുത്തു കളയേണ്ടി വരുമെന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു. തൊട്ടടുത്ത ശനി (17 നവംബർ) 10 ഇനും മൂന്നരക്കും ഇടയിലുള്ള ശുഭ മുഹൂർത്തത്തിൽ പരിഹാരക്രിയ ചെയ്യാൻ തീരുമാനിച്ചു. ഇന്ന് രാവിലെ  ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിലേക്ക് ഇറങ്ങിയപ്പോൾ പുതുപ്പള്ളി ജംക്ഷനിൽ വെച്ച്‌ ചിലർ കാർ വളഞ്ഞു. അകാരണമായി ഏതോ ടീച്ചറെ പോലീസ് അറസ്റ് ചെയ്തതിനെതിരെ ഉള്ള പ്രതിഷേധ സൂചകമായ ഹർത്താൽ ആണത്രേ. (ശിവ ശിവ! എങ്ങോട്ടാണീ നാടിന്റെ പോക്ക്!! മാതാ പിതാ ഗുരു ദൈവം എന്നൊന്നും ഇവർ കേട്ടിട്ടില്ല്യേ? ) അവർ (അത്യാവശ്യം വലിപ്പമുള്ള ഒരു ദണ്ഡ് ഒക്കെ പിടിച്ചുകൊണ്ട്): എങ്ങോട്ടാ എന്ന മട്ടിൽ ആംഗ്യം. ഞങ്ങ: ഹോസ്പിറ്റലിലേക്ക്. അവർ (കാറിന്റെ അ

Equals

Do you believe in equality? I asked Life. Of course, yes! Life said. You are lying! Said I. For, if you truly did, We would not have been so different. Do you care for equality? I asked the World. Without a doubt! Was the reply. You are lying! Said I. For, if you truly did, Our differences would not have been so stark. Do you stand for equality? It was Humanity’s turn. I am all for it. Came the response. You are lying! Said I. For, if you truly did, We would not be killing our own all the time. Do you value equality? God come next. Why not! I love you all. Stop lying! Said I. For, if you truly did, Bone cancer in infants would have just been a myth. I do. Boomed loud and clear. I turned to face the voice. It was Death who had answered without being asked. Do you? I had to make sure. Good or bad; rich or poor; young or old; When your time comes, I reach out.

Wake Up

Why us? Wow. That’s too generic. Give me some context. Why were we burdened with conscience? This dreary sense of existence is overwhelming. Dreary, is it? I thought otherwise. I felt your lot loved the sense of being. Many of you are in eternal love with the pointless pursuit of the purpose of life. You feel it’s pointless? If you ask me, you would be better off living our life rather than pondering over its meaning. Well, there lies the problem. You see, living the life is not as easy as it sounds. Thanks to the superior intelligence, we are in a state where we have to make informed decisions in every minute of our lives. Some decisions are easy. Most are not. We have to weigh the benefits against the damages and arrive at a trade-off. And that’s the beauty of it. A decision you make has the power of transforming someone’s life entirely. Which is why deciding is difficult. Birds have it easy. They just fly around all day, and go back to their nests w

Why Sairat is a huge failure, and why it should never have been remade!

Well, now that I have got you triggered, let us talk. For the uninitiated, ‘Sairat’ is a Marathi movie that released in April 2016. Sairat has everything you would want in an Indian romantic drama - young lead pair in innocent love, soulful songs, opposition from family,  - and also, most importantly, BIG SPOILER COMING UP SO SKIP THIS LINE IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED BUT WOULD LIKE TO WATCH THE MOVIE - the lead pair gets killed in the climax in a cold blooded manner. The act is not shown on screen, but the gore creeps into your bones through the eyes of the little kid of the couple who escaped the brutality. Killing over caste or religion or class has been recurring in India, despite all the tall claims of modernity and liberalism. The barbarity even got a term - Honor Killing. The name formed since the killings are mostly carried out to ‘protect’ the family's ‘honor’. But I believe that the more apt description is that the families kill their honor by even thinking of committin

Sick

‘One hundred point four. Mercury says you got fever, Ammu.’ ‘Ammu is sick’, said the little Prarthana touching her forehead with her left palm. Tara looked at her seven-year-old daughter, dressed in the white shirt and blue skirt school uniform, and smiled. ‘You would have to take the day off. Rest today, and you would be fine. How unfortunate to fall sick on the day of your math test, isn’t it Ammu?’ ‘Yes, Amma. Very sad.’ replied Prarthana, looking away. ‘Change your uniform, and go to bed. Amma would be back with you shortly.’ ‘Where are you going? What if I need you here?’ ‘Amma has a very important appointment today that I cannot miss. Take a nap, honey. I would be back by your side before you know it.’ Prarthana shrugged her shoulders. ‘A doctor has to save lives, I guess.’ There were no further dialogues. Prarthana went back to her room, changed her clothes, and blissfully embraced the comforting warmth the cozy bed offered. Tara placed