Regrets ...

Life is full of compromises. This is something I have heard many say, when they argue about sutaining a relationship. It is a known fact that no relationship is perfect and we do have to make adjustments to sustain one, but how much is too much ???? That's the million dollar question in most people's mind,

I happen to watch a famous chat show in a private channel recently, where they had people supporting breakup/divorcee on one side and the opposite on the other side. Funny fact is few divorces had the most cheap and mean reasons behind it, like disputes that raised while naming the kid, decision on which religion to be followed by the kid in case of a inter-catse marriage. But the alarming fact was the reason given by the people who were on the opposing side. The most popular reason given was they had to live together because they had kids. Agreed it is one of the important factor that influences the couple to work out the differences and be together but can that be the only reason for a couple to be together ! ! ! Personally I would say NO. Two people should stay together only when they want to spend their lives together in peace and harmony. Infact staying toggether wheh they dont want will only ruin the kid's life instead of having any positive influence on them.

I find too many people these days stuck in a marriage just because they have got kids out of it. They no longer love each other and to them , the kid is the whole world. Forget loving , they don't even respect each other and stay together just to raise the kid and in the process ruin their own lives. The expectation they have on the kid is too high that they want the kid to make up for all that is lost in their personal lives and this leads to possesiveness and later to obsession. To me personally it is always better to end a relationship than to sustain it just for the sake of it. But that does not mean we should ignore a friend just becoz they broke our trust once or get a divorce from your partner just because he/she has grown fat than they were at the time of marriage :) :) :) Just make sure that you have done all that is possible from your side for the relationship to work, and if it does not just shake hands and separate on mutual terms. It would be highly emabrassing to want a relationship after breaking it :) :) :)  Last but the most important thing is we need to correct our mistakes in the next relationship.

There is no point in regretting, for a life that you haven't led and for the life you have led....

Why I am a Hindu ....

A Hindu was flying from JFK New York Airport to SFO San Francisco Airport CA to attend a meeting at Monterey, CA.

An American girl was sitting on the right side, near window seat. It indeed was a long journey - it would take nearly seven hours.

He was surprised to see the young girl reading a Bible unusual of young Americans. After some time she smiled and we had few acquaintances talk.He told her that I am from India

Then suddenly the girl asked: 'What's your faith?' 'What?' He didn't understand the question.

'I mean, what's your religion? Are you a Christian? Or a Muslim?'

'No!' He replied, 'He am neither Christian nor Muslim'.

Apparently she appeared shocked to listen to that. 'Then who are you?' “I am a Hindu”, He said.

She looked at him as if she was seeing a caged animal. She could not understand what He was talking about.

A common man in Europe or US knows about Christianity and Islam, as they are the leading religions of the world today.

But a Hindu, what?

He explained to her - I am born to a Hindu father and Hindu mother. Therefore, I am a Hindu by birth.

'Who is your prophet?' she asked.

'We don't have a prophet,' He replied.

'What's your Holy Book?'

'We don't have a single Holy Book, but we have hundreds and thousands of philosophical and sacred scriptures,'
He replied.

'Oh, come on at least tell me who is your God?'

'What do you mean by that?'

'Like we have Jesus and Muslims have Allah - don't you have a God?'

He thought for a moment. Muslims and Christians believe one God (Male God) who created the world and takes an interest in the humans who inhabit it. Her mind is conditioned with that kind of belief.

According to her (or anybody who doesn't know about Hinduism), a religion needs to have one Prophet, one Holy book and one God. The mind is so conditioned and rigidly narrowed down to such a notion that anything else is not acceptable. He understood her perception and concept about faith. You can't compare Hinduism with any of the present leading religions where you have to believe in one concept of God.

He tried to explain to her: 'You can believe in one God and he can be a Hindu. You may believe in multiple deities and still you can be a Hindu. What's more - you may not believe in God at all, still you can be a Hindu. An Atheist can also be a Hindu.'

This sounded very crazy to her. She couldn't imagine a religion so unorganized, still surviving for thousands of years, even after onslaught from foreign forces.

'I don't understand but it seems very interesting. Are you religious?'

What can He tell to this American girl?

He said: 'I do not go to Temple regularly. I do not make any regular rituals. I have learned some of the rituals in my younger days. I still enjoy doing it sometimes'.

'Enjoy? Are you not afraid of God?'

'God is a friend. No- I am not afraid of God. Nobody has made any compulsions on me to perform these rituals regularly.'

She thought for a while and then asked: 'Have you ever thought of converting to any other religion?'

'Why should I? Even if I challenge some of the rituals and faith in Hinduism, nobody can convert me from Hinduism. Because, being a Hindu allows me to think independently and objectively, without conditioning. I remain as a Hindu never by force, but choice.' He told her that Hinduism is not a religion, but a set of beliefs and practices. It is not a religion like Christianity or Islam because it is not founded by any one person or does not have an organized controlling body like the Church or the Order, I added. There is no institution or authority..

'So, you don't believe in God?' she wanted everything in black and white.

'I didn't say that. I do not discard the divine reality. Our scripture, or Sruthis or Smrithis - Vedas and Upanishads or the Gita - say God might be there or he might not be there. But we pray to that supreme abstract authority (Para Brahma) that is the creator of this universe.'

'Why can't you believe in one personal God?'

'We have a concept - abstract - not a personal god. The concept or notion of a personal God, hiding behind the clouds of secrecy, telling us irrational stories through few men whom he sends as messengers, demanding us to worship him or punish us, does not make sense. I don't think that God is as silly as an autocratic emperor who wants others to respect him or fear him.' He told her that such notions are just fancies of less educated human imagination and fallacies, adding that generally ethnic religious practitioners in Hinduism believe in personal Gods. The entry level Hinduism has over-whelming superstitions too. The philosophical side of Hinduism negates all superstitions.

'Good that you agree God might exist. You told that you pray. What is your prayer then?'

'Loka Samastha Sukino Bhavantu. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti,'
लोका समस्ता सुखिनो भवन्तु !!! ॐ शान्तिः शान्तिः शान्तिः !!!

'Funny,' she laughed, 'What does it mean?'

'May all the beings in all the worlds be happy. Let there be Peace, Peace,and Peace every where.'

'Hmm ..very interesting. I want to learn more about this religion. It is so democratic, broad-minded and free' she exclaimed.

'The fact is Hinduism is a religion of the individual, for the individual and by the individual with its roots in the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita. It is all about an individual approaching a personal God in an individual way according to his temperament and inner evolution - it is as simple as that.'

'How does anybody convert to Hinduism?'

'Nobody can convert you to Hinduism, because it is not a religion, but it is a Culture, a way of leaving life, a set of beliefs and practices. Everything is acceptable in Hinduism because there is no single Authority or Organization either to accept you or to reject you or to oppose you on behalf of Hinduism.'

He told her - if you look for meaning in life, don't look for it in religions; don't go from one cult to another or from one Guru to the next.

For a real seeker, He told her, the Bible itself gives guidelines when it says ' Kingdom of God is within you.' I reminded her of Christ's teaching about the love that we have for each other. That is where you can find the meaning of life.

Loving each and every creation of the God is absolute and real. 'Isavasyam idam sarvam' Isam (the God) is present (inhabits) here everywhere - nothing exists separate from the God, because God is present everywhere. Respect every living being and non-living things as God. That's what Hinduism teaches you.

Hinduism is referred to as Sanathana Dharma, the eternal faith. It is based on the practice of Dharma, the code of life. The most important aspect of Hinduism is being truthful to oneself. Hinduism has no monopoly on ideas. It is open to all. Hindus believe in one God (not a personal one) expressed in different forms. For them, God is timeless and formless entity.

Ancestors of today's Hindus believe in eternal truths and cosmic laws and these truths are opened to anyone who seeks them. But there is a section of Hindus who are either superstitious or turned fanatic to make this an organized religion like others. The British coin the word 'Hindu' and considered it as a religion.

He said: 'Religions have become an MLM (multi-level- marketing) industry that has been trying to expand the market share by conversion. The biggest business in today's world is Spirituality. Hinduism is no exception'

He said "I am a Hindu primarily because it professes Non-violence - 'Ahimsa Paramo Dharma' means - Non violence is the highest duty. I am a Hindu because it doesn't condition my mind with any faith system.

A man/woman who changes his/her birth religion to another religion is a fake and does not value his/her morals, culture and values in life.

Hinduism is the original rather a natural yet a logical and satisfying spiritual, personal and a scientific way of leaving a life..

Paradesi

Yet another classic from Bala ... At least that's how I perceive this movie "Paradesi" from him ...

It is a raw period film depicting 3 major things
1. Pathetic lifestyle of Tamils and their inability to fight power
2. Cruel British and selfish Indians exploiting common for their well being
3. Cunning missionaries exploiting homeless/brainless people to spread their religion

All three were convincingly depicted by the director, and the cast has done a great job portraying the roles they were asked to do with great perfection.The Tea Estate supervisor and Vedika to me was exceptional. The music to me was not a master piece and may be, just may be Bala lacked his favourite music director for this film. I am sure he is growing too big for Ilayaraja to compose for his movies :) I even believe the choice of Gangai Amaran for a song was because the maestro refused to sing for GV. The songs were pretty ordinary and nothing seems to rhyme in our minds after leaving the screens. The visuals though makes up for everything lost in music and it even makes up for more than that was lost. Though the colour tone was not pleasing to the eyes it did a great justice to the script and bring the rural Tamil Nadu in 1930s to our view. The dialogues were good from what I could understand and I am pretty much sure I would have to watch it few times to get each and every dialogue. It was hilarious in the beginning and makes u feel still in the later part of the movie. It will be very difficult though for A center viewers to appreciate the movie with such difficult dialect ! ! ! But I am sure Bala doesn't give a crap about them :) :) :) More importance could have been given to the looks and I feel there was no continuity when it comes to the hair do of the cast in the movie spanning for more than 5 to 7 years.

The final portion about forcing Christianity was too good and people who claim that they are doing something that has not been done in 75 yrs of Tamil cinema should look at this and stop boasting about what they do. The director has managed to convey exactly what he wanted to in a most simplest and effective way. "Rotti thundukku Alleluia pota kuutam thana" :)  Authenticity on this is always debatable ! ! !
It would even make some staunch followers to sit back and have a hard look at what their beliefs are today and what it was originally few decades back and where they stand because of their inability to question and reason.

Having said all this, I wonder if this is really a good feature film. The contents make a excellent documentary film. There wasn't great deal of effort from the director towards the screenplay and it lacked the punch required to tie all three together. The movie lacked a binding factor and that made it a a little boring.Had the director found a way to make the transition smooth without any hick up he would have scored an absolute winner by a far distance.

In conclusion this movie is completely a director's and it needs or rather demands appreciation from all quarters, No matter if they agree with the content or not ...  :) :) :) Hats off to Balu Mahendra for his students are taking Tamil cinema to the next level literally. He should be a real proud father of his kids like Bala. Only he can make such a Movie.

Nee Thaanae En Ponvasantham

It has been long since I went for a movie on the first day and when I got a chance to watch one I was glad that it was NEPV at Satyam, thanks to Hari for the tickets. This guy GVM can make 10 more romantic movies and still come up with a good script for a romantic movie yet again. Having watched him portray how confused a girl can be in a relationship in VTV  I was wondering what could he do in his next flick, he has impressed coming up with a different approach to relationships in this one. 

I just loved the script for the way it was handled to convey the differences that a relationship can end up in, just because of the high intensity of love that a girl can have and because of the Ego a guy possess. The male ego was conveyed beautifully is a subtle way through the length of the movie. All along it has been the guys going through the pain of love in the screen and it was refreshing to see a girl's perceptive this time around. Samantha has given a commendable performance, one that we will cherish for sometime. I loved her performance in each and every scene of the movie more than her looks and I was damn impressed with her performance in the scene where she gets into her car with a heavy heart in the wee hours after having spent best times of her life with the one she loves.She has portrayed emotions just from her eyes and body language and words seem worthless.

Two other scenes where the director has worked his magic are, the one just before the interval and other is the argument the lead pair has at the Tsunami school sight. The scene just before the interval was a long one and done in a single shot without much camera movement. The lead pair has done a good job in such a long shot, though it would have been better with some close up shots to reveal the pain they go through. The next one at the school sight takes care of that though. The dialogues were so simple and realistic and as always there is lots of English involved and it suited the characters well. I was able to relate to the scene as I have used literally the very same words during an argument :) :) :) 
Nithya : "Varun, Are you asking me to find something for me to be occupied just because you need not feel guilty for not spending time with me :@"
Had a smile hearing this dialogue(not an exact one but something similar)

I guess GVM is damn intelligent to have few women assistants in his team and I am sure they would have helped him shaping up this script. For people complaining about how many times will the lead pair go away and get together yet gain , it can happen and it does happen and happens more in real life to our disliking.As far Santhanam is concerned he was put to use in an optimum level and has managed to get us laughing whenever he comes on the screen.

Coming to the looks of Samantha , she is just gorgeous all through. The nose ring and eye shades was a magical and we (I) can just keeping staring at her pic for 3 hours leave alone the movie :) Special appreciation to the director for continuing his trend of portraying his women with good intellectual brains starting from Reena to Nithya, instead of a charming chatterbox like in so many other movies. 

"Kala rasigan da Gautam...."

I wish I could watch the movie just as I watch Minnalae often, but that is not to be the case and the major reason for that is the pathetic BGM score by the so called Maestro. For all the respect (luv) GVM had for Ilaiyaraja , he has only managed to let him down , and he has let him down big time. Even the songs were not impressive in the movie and the director has failed in choosing the music director for this flick. Had it been ARR the movie would be in a whole different level and he would have got repeat audience for sure. The next big led down is the cinematography. I found it to lack continuity throughout the movie. Somehow the visuals didn't seem to stick to our minds and I found to hard to link the visuals. Too bad the director had to use three different cinematographers and I believe that has spoiled the visuals for him. The other thing that irked me was the voice of the father character. It was a complete mismatch to the Ravi and the audience having heard him before in many movies will find it difficult to connect to character. Having decided to have him to be the decisive factor for the climax of the movie, GVM could have gone with Ravi's original voice or even he himself could have done a far better job. In short GVM has go the execution completely wrong for this wonderful script. 

I personally just loved the movie to the core despite of all this crap .... You will or might feel like hugging your partner when you watch the movie, at least I felt like :) :)  I feel so sad that I will not be able to watch the movie again and I Hope he continues to stick to this genre in the future as well and get the execution right the next time around.

Sundara Pandian

It has been quite a while since I went for a second show, thanks to my age and marriages to most of my friends.... :) The last night's decision to go for one was totally vindicated by the quality of the movie. It is a must watch for someone who can relate to the Madurai life style, others can refrain from the theaters. I am not sure if you guys can really enjoy the movie much. There has been umpteen number of movie based out of Madurai and the list seems to be growing with no halt.


This one starts just like all others with few montage shots of villages and people's lifestyle at a gentle pace with someone narrating about them in a bold heavy voice. And just like any other movie of this genre, we have a happy go lucky protagonist who is a spoilt brat at home and few friends with him always living their life to the fullest ignoring any responsibilities for their age. The characters have you in spilts for almost the entire first half and it has been a while since I laughed this loud hurting my stomach. The last time was when I was watching the great Joey and this time it is the Soori. I hope he gets more opportunities where he travels along with the story and does not get into the idea of doing a track separately. The interesting fact is that most part of the first half is shot in a dabba bus and it somehow does not bore you. I was quite surprised that the director was able to keep his audience occupied throughout the first half which eds with an unusual twist to the story.

The second half is all about family and the director that way ensures a wider audience for his movie. It is all about how the lead pair gets together after many struggles with few twists and turns. One other interesting fact is that the director has managed to pull the script off without any villain. He has built all the characters beautifully and they have in turn have helped him carry forward the story in an interesting way. Special appreciation for keeping them authentic throughout the movie. The Male lead's Dad and the females lead's chitti deserves a special mention and so does the friend who travels with her throughout the story.As for the music is concerned it just helped through and there was nothing that will keep us humming. The photography was good that it has captured the essence of the village and the people there. The shot were they follow the bike riders on a steep road and then show the accident was good. On the whole it is very good movie for which you can take the entire family without any guilt and can enjoy the movie thoroughly.

Last but not the least, It was refreshing to see a girl holding her end of love and being staunch unlike others movies where they throw the guy under the bus. I loved the female lead character and her expressions with the those big cute eyes. It was nice to see a female lead without much make-up and the decision to leave the scar uncovered, and not bothered about how the thilak on her forehead looks was only making her look even more beautiful. Having said this I dont think she can be successful in any other role in a modern look :P

"Madura kara ponnu madura kara ponu thanya"

Sachin who ?????

It was an wonderful evening and I had just returned from school and there was a commotion at my home all glued to the TV set which my dad had bought after a long struggle. Srinath and Banerjee was struggling to get India across the line against England at the Benson and Hedges world cup but failed eventually. That was the first cricket match I ever watched. Never did I know I would turn into an ardent fan of the same sport few years later. Little did I know about Boundary,Sixer and Out and I never understood LBW back then and I have few doubts on that even today ...... :) :) :)

It was 5 A.M, the winter of 1992 and I could still feel the chill of the cement flooring which is my favourite flooring more than the fancy marble and granite ones these days. The lights were on and my entire family was already watching a match between West Indies and India. That was the first and vivid memory of me watching a little fellow walking to the crease to face the mighty pace attack which comprised the likes of Ambrose. The whole crowd made a roaring voice and I was thrilled at the sight of it and woke up to watch this guy. He just scored very little but somehow took a place in my heart for no reason. The other performance that I got to watch was his bowling against Pakistan and few of his strokes against Brandes and this guy had already occupied a considerable part of my thoughts.

It has been 20 years now and he has given me some of the memorable moments of my life. I have always believed that India had a chance no matter what the situation was in the match and was glued to the TV set just to watch this guy bat. I have prayed for the openers to get out to see him bat and that continued till he was promoted to the openers slot. I even hated Kambli for he stole the lime light from Sachin during England's visit scoring back to back 100's. The way he played those straight drives with such command, the way he ran those quick singles with a unique pads from the rest of the lot, the way he shook his shoulders in his interviews and even the way adjusted his abdomen on the crease was awesome to me. I was completely in love with this guy and he was the first one I loved unconditionally. I was not worried about India loosing as long as he scores good and many of my friends shared a similar view except for few patriots..... :) :) :)

It's been an awesome journey and I consider to be lucky being part of his journey all along. Some of the centuries I have loved watching are
134 against Australia helping India qualify for Coca-Cola Cup finals
143 against Australia helping India lift the Coca-Cola Trophy
141 against Pakistan chasing 300 plus at Rawalpindi
175 against Australia chasing 350 odd at Hyd
137 against Srilanka in 1996 world Cup.
111 against SAF in 2012 World Cup.

There have been umpteen other innings which I have admired and adored and I thank god for giving me an opportunity to enjoy this little fellows game right through his peak and also be part his struggle. For me personally it has never been the numbers which has made Sachin an Epitome. His hunger for success and love for the game that helped him come back after major injuries after sacrificing most of his lethal shots like Golf Swing, Straight Drives that caused him a great pain and his ability to score in heaps even after all this. It was the sheer entertainment that he provided all along for each and everyone who loved Indian cricket made him one.

It is the cafeteria at the new facility and there was a whole bunch of fellows consisting of guys from fresher batch, managers, admin staff, guys , girls all were uttering the same prayer and that was for Sachin to score in 100th century. After the 111 he scored against SAF in the world cup round robin matches I was hoping that he would score a century at his home ground and lift the cup, but that was not to be and he had to wait for another day for that milestone. The media then started focusing on this milestone contemplating and describing how great it would be if he gets it at the Mecca of cricket and in the boxing day match against Australia. He had scored pretty decent throughout the season though India had failed pathetically.

He was now playing at the wee end of the innings and there was a maiden over played out against a Bangladeshi bowler. At the other end was Raina who was the leather to all arts of the ground. This little rat took all the time in the world to reach to his personal milestone and finally when he did he just pointed out to the BCCI logo as if he had scored it for the team. That was the first time I hated this hypocrite whom we all have worshiped as a hero all these 20 years. He just proved he was after all a human :( ....... And his decision to give a miss to the function felicitating the Great Wall but attend the one organised by his franchise owners and receive all the buttering from all walks of the celebrity world only made it even worse. I just couldn't buy the doctor appointment as a reason. It was just ridiculous. He was being mean and cheap to his fellow compatriot with whom he had shared many wonderful moments. A sudden change from what I have felt about this guy for almost 20 years, but I am not fickle-minded here. People who is ready to be rational will understand for sure and irrational or rather emotional people will continue hero worship arguing he can be selfish for what he has done for team for 2 decades. All I can do is really have pity on these people and wish they could just analyse and leave their emotions when they do it .....

I wish he plays many more of such innings as he had done before instead of playing for his personal interests. I sincerely wish he does that and bows out as a hero and not as someone who misused his unquestionable reputation compromising teams interests for his own enjoyment of playing the game.

Tonsure

The concept had just always been fascinating to me right from my childhood. Men tonsure mainly for 2 reasons, one when their parents are dead and the other as a sacrifice to god. For women the later is the only reason out here in my part of the world. I have never clearly understood how sacrificing locks of hair can be a sacrifice to god. Nevertheless it does help temple generate income. The only benefit for us is we save time and money  taking care of the hair.

The last time I had tonsured was way back in school and that is when I was forced to do it with no respect to how I felt about. If I remember correctly I had my head shaven for almost every 2 years :( .... I had no clue why I had to do it nor did I get any reason except once when I had done it in Tiruchendur, that one was because my dad had become a diabetic patient and my mom somehow felt offering hair might get down the sugar levels. In fact being a baldy right through my school life had been one of the  factors of me being bullied right through my school life. Even today one of my school friend calls me Mottai :) :) :) It has been ages since and I decided to offer my hair to god in return for a favour that I have been asking him for quite a while. This was the first time that I had taken a decision about tonsuring and having got what I had asked for I held my end of the bargain. I went straight to Tirupati and had my head shaved. It felt so nice when the cold breeze caressed my bald head with ample sandal applied on top of it. Looking at the mirror I have only turned even more terrifying than I was already :)

It actually gave me an opportunity to try different styles of hair do which I would have never done before. Few of my friends even suggested that I try for villain role in the silver screen looking at my photos. Another added advantage that I have is, it is a summer now and I sweat a lot lesser than I usually do and that has saved me from catching cold. I was little embarrassed to say the least with the clean shaven head and I wished to get back my hair at the earliest. I didn't like myself with my head shaven clean.......

In retrospect I only realised that what I did was silly and idiotic. Having been any educated one may be I should have given a little more thought to it than I had done. I have no rights to criticize people doing crazy things in the name of god. What I had done was as stupid as what many do in the name of god. This experience had just thought what a human mind can actually do in dire needs and helped me understand that the stunts people do in the name of god like piercing through their body parts,beating themselves up, walking on a bed of fire is only for them to have a peace of mind and religion has nothing to do with it. As for me I am pretty much sure this will be the last time I am going have my head shaved unless and until I go bald :D :D :D