Strange thing to miss...still...;)

So, I brought a new mobile...a Samsung galaxy ace, thanks to my wife and parents for their continuous nagging, which I believe, is stretched over years.

An android phone, I installed certain games, especially card games which I love. A day in office, when I had no work at all, I started playing the games and suddenly I was reminded of the past where my aunt and cousins would come over to my home and we play.

It would be usually for Onam, Vishu, or may be for some marriages. My dad's sister, Janu Attai (as we call her), and her kids (Sreeram and Ramya) would come over to our place. We all would be anxiously waiting for her arrival from the day she would have announced her trip:) And never will the vacation be complete, if it was not for them. If it was Onam, we did the flower carpet everyday, if it was Vishu, we had loads and loads of crackers. Then there was kallanum policum, hide and seek, and many more... :)

Whatever occasion it was, one thing which was almost a routine was the card games. We used to play kazhutha (Ass/Ace), thuruppu (28 card game), and bluff. It was a lot of fun, especially, when another of my cousin, Vinuanna ( as we call him) joins us. He gets angry very easily and sometimes the sole purpose of playing the game would be to irritate him. Even if the rest of us don't explicitly form a "gang", there was a sort of mutual understanding between us, and Vinuanna would get angry so easily. Even if we played our normal game, he gets bugged, irritated, throws away the cards and walks off. We used to love it so much and got us stomach aches almost everytime, laughing our head off.

And playing the game itself involved lot of preparation. The playground was the car parking area and the cars there had to be parked outside. After that, the pitch needs to be prepared by neatly lying newspapers. Then 1-2 deck of cards has to be brought and shuffled. And then, the game would kick off, and would continue till late evenings. It was a lot and lot of fun, and those days would never come back again.

How much ever the technology advances, there are always things that the technology can never replace. One can have a great phone, work in Singapore, make cash, but none of these makes a life complete. None of the card games in the phone brings the happiness and laughter that the childhood game used to bring in me.
But still, I sincerely thank my phone which made my day , helping me remind the fun I used to have, and establishing that the robot in me has atleast some human feelings left, after all. :)

Johnson maashu...

Malayalam film industry has lost yet another genius and this time none other than the great composer Johnson master. To quite a few, he might be just “another” celebrity guest in Idea Star Singer who plays guitar. But for those who love the soothing music when Malayalam film industry was in its peak in 1980’s and 1990’s, he is their beloved Johnson maashu.

What distinguished Johnson master from other composers, was his ability to adapt completely with the situation of the movie and deliver his composition. His music reached the common man easily as it was melodious, as opposed to the semi classical / classical rendering by Raveendran master, another legend. His earlier compositions consist of very few instruments, and the way music blends with the song and how he manages to sooth the audience is amazing.

He has really been a master of melodies, and I love almost all of them. The songs which come to my mind first whenever I think of Johnson master includes 

Devankanangal (Njaan Gandharvan)
Anuraagini itha (Oru kudakeezhil)
Melle Melle Mugapadam (Minnaminunginu Nurunguvettom)
Mandaracheppundo (Dasaratham)
Neelaraavil (Kudumbasametham)
Aarodum Mindathe (Chinthavishtayaaya Shyamala)
Chaitra Nilavinte (Oraal mathram)
Aakashamaake (Namukku Paarkkan Munthiri Thoppukal)
Devakanyaka Suryathamburu (Ee Puzhayum Kadannu)
Kaneer Poovinte (Kireedam)
Madhuram Jeevamritha (Chenkol)
Kunnimani Cheppu (Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu)
Mounathinn Idanazhiyil (Malooti)
Oonjalurangi (Kudumbasametham)
Pathimey marenjathenthey (Paavam Paavam Raajakumaran)

His contributions in the semi-classical genre is also worth mentioning and the songs which I immediately think of includes

PaalaPoove (Njaan Gandharvan)
Devi (Njaan Gandharvan)
Ponnil kulichu (Sallapam)
Bhramakamalam (Savidham)
Maunasarovaram (Savidham)
Rajahamsame (Chamayam)
Gopike Nin Viral ( Kaatathe Kilikoodu) (My mom used to sing this to me when I was a kid, and I would sleep only after that )

The variety of music he rendered was quite amazing and it is hard to believe that it was Johnson master himself behind Anuraagini, Ponnil kulichu and Anthikadapurathu (Chamayam). Songs of 3 different genres, different mood and what not!

Your demise has created a huge vacuum which may never be replaced. We will really miss you Johnson master.

Life is beautiful...Movie Opinion..

Just thought of pouring in my thoughts after watching the movie “Life is Beautiful”, a English remake of an Italian movie by Roberto Benigni.

Rarely do you find a brainy movie, with heart in its right place. It is one movie which explores all the emotions a human could possibly have. There are instances which make you laugh like anything, and there are instances where you find it difficult to control your tears. You pity the characters, sympathize with them, at the same time, you may even thank god that you were not born in that era.

I have never seen a movie taking a humorous attitude on racism slur. No way can a “superior” race be shown more sarcastic than the one in which the hero depicts the superiority of “belly button and ears”, and that too in a classroom. And there is another one involving “Spiders and Visigoths being not allowed in a shop". The way in which the hero’s character is built throughout the first half, and the way he uses his “built” character in the second half is also amazing.

No words about the second half of the movie, especially scenes in the Nazi camp, like the one where he translates German language to English/Italian. Not a single scene involving the mass extermination or the bloody killings, but way better means for anyone to understand it. The cute kid, the beautiful “Aryan” wife, the hero’s uncle, all the characters blend into the movie perfectly.

I would have written more, but I don’t want this to be a spoiler to those who have not watched the movie so far.

Racism???!!!???

When in India, I have always wondered about the huge hue and cry in Australia, about the racist attacks happening to Indians. When some of my friends in Australia told me that, all these are mere personal attacks, I more than believed them. I wondered if something like that could happen in a “foreign” nation, and that too a first world country.

Now, I am in another first world country or a developed nation as more people tend to call it, and have a little more insight on the so called “racism” or “regionalism”. And now, if someone comes and tells me that no “such thing” exists, the maximum courtesy he can expect from me is a tinge of sarcasm.

When I go shopping, more often than not, I never get replies; I get this “Go back to your India” kind of looks from them, and “What the hell does an Indian want from my shop” attitude. I even observe small kids imbibing this anti-Indian culture in them. Even in malls, the sales representatives who distribute the pamphlets, have this in mind, where I see them not distributing their pamphlets or smiling to Indians. And if you think that this is practiced by only “not-so educated” people, read on.

A brief incident that happened at my office here made me think of this issue. We received an e-mail from “one-of the big shot” informing ladies to be careful when they go to washroom during late hours. The mail stated that a lady, on the previous day spotted an Indian guy in their washroom. My initial reaction was of shock, and anger, after which I was ashamed. Then when I read the mail again, I was like “Why was it so necessary to mention that the guy was an Indian, in the mail?” I do not know what he gained by writing and informing all in the office that the guy in the bathroom was an Indian. I am in no support of that particular guy, and I completely understand that it might be those guys who make others think of Indians as people with no sense and culture, but was that “Indian” word in the e-mail necessary? Also mentioning here that, the washroom is outside the office premises, anyone can use it, and there are a number of laborers here, including Indians.

This incident led me to read about the cultural etiquette presentation given here to officials travelling to India. The slide starts with India being a diversified country, with many religions, languages, and concepts of unity in diversity. However, later on, the slides which I saw were deeply insulting and would hurt the sentiment of any Indian for that matter. There was a picture of the infamous Shilpa shetty- Richard Gere kiss, and the slide mentioned “Indians cant get enough drama in their life”, followed by slides which sarcastically depicted the harmony between men and animals in India. This was followed by slides in which Indians were depicted as people with no punctuality, people who don’t give commitment at the first meeting, people who are overly expensive for fear of creating embarrassment when they are handed over gifts, so that they wont open it in the presence of giver, as polychronics, and the list goes on. I still don’t understand why an official travelling to India needs to know all this. And the irony lies in the fact that, this presentation was created by an Indian, after all!!

It is this particular point that I would like to emphasize more than racism. We, Indians believe that other Indians are the most dangerous “species” when we are abroad. And if he/she, is from your own state or place, that’s it! I have more often than not, met people “recommending” me to beware of other Keralites, as they will never want you to progress. There are Indians who go on and say that, “Hey, this place is beautiful. In spite of the beaches and all, the most impressive fact is there are no Indians in the surrounding area”. There might be some bad experiences, which people have had, but to generalize this and mention it in a bigger sphere, with the entire nation involved, is more of stupidity than ignorance. These are some things which I can never understand, may be, because I have got more help from Indians than not. Whenever I have any queries while traveling, or in office, I tend to get help from Indians and I have always been guided properly by them. And, I do believe, even for these people who say illogical things, they would also have had a number of positive experiences, but they just do not want to accept it for whatever reason! I can do nothing else but to pity them.

Why fuss when something nice is imitated?

Heard songs from the movie “Urumi” again yesterday, and thought of writing my view about imitation. There has been a huge fuss recently in social media that most of the songs of Urumi are a copy of other language songs, and many describing Deepak Dev as a copy-cat.

Copying a Spanish song or an English movie and “regionalizing” it is not an easy task. Imitations can go bad, many are bad, I agree. But as it applies to creation, good imitations also need to be appreciated. When “One flew over the cuckoos’ nest “reached Kerala as thalavattom, with Mohanlal replacing Jack Nicholson, was it not beautiful? The same applies to songs when imitated from other languages. Extracting the core theme, be it of the movie or of the song, and presenting it to a completely different audience, needs skill!

What Priyadarshan did with thalavattom or Deepak Dev did with Urumi songs, is completely acceptable, considering the mass appeal each of them received. How many of you would have bothered to watch the original movie or hear the original song? Now that someone found that the song is a copy, it is indeed “fun” sharing the videos blaming the music director for producing a copy. Some act as if they curse their timing and bad circumstance which led Deepak Dev hear the song before them, and compose for the movie. And copying just a single part of the song made him a well renowned “imitator”, and there were so many far-fetched conclusions that all of his songs would have been nothing but a copy.

Why not enjoy and appreciate the beauty of a song or a movie, instead of blatantly criticizing! We are not a part of the jury which decides whether the award needs to be presented to him, but just one among the overwhelming majority, who cannot even think of copying a song, leave alone, creating one!

P.S: I am not mentioning about the lines of code we copy on a daily basis, based on Google searches, and what life would have been to us, without Google!

Food for thought - Independence Day 2011...

Let me start this small note by wishing each and every one of you a Happy Independence Day.

Nowadays, more than one actually meaning to say it, wishing Independence has become more of a formality. Many tend to overlook the fact that they are independent, and freedom has nothing to do with their day to day lives. The nation is engulfed by scams, corruption, governmental inefficiency, in such a way that people find time to discuss only about the nation, than having time to judge what they do.

Being independent means many things. It means that you are allowed to portray Dr. Manmohan Singh as Singham, it means that you are allowed to talk and joke anything about the treasures in Padmanabaswamy temple. It means that, you can criticize the Indian cricket team for a few losses, in spite of them being World Champions. It means that, in spite of Shri Anna Hazare burning the bills, you can continue supporting him. It means that, Dr. Subramanian Swamy can write articles against some religious sentiments, in a leading daily.

Many forget to understand that, it also means that you have the right to choose to vote for one you feel would be the best to govern your place, or for that matter, it means you have the right to vote! Many forget that, promoting videos of corruption in facebook is not the only way of spreading “Patriotism”, but there are other simple and easy ways of doing so. Criticism is good, but would be efficient only if it is constructive. I wonder if at least one of my friend who shared so many videos of corruption and inefficiency of the government, would actually take to the streets fighting for the cause.

As I said earlier, there are other simple and “possible” ways to uphold the values of patriotism. Many of us throw wastes, especially plastic wastes on to the road, spit on the roads. Many of us can’t control our “pissing” temptation once we are outside. It feels so bad to hear others describing our nation as one where people use roads as their toilets, when they describe our country as filthy, muddy and so on. Stopping this might not sound as easy as sharing a video on facebook, but is it not worth a try, at least? Aint this one simple way by which we can keep our country clean, thereby keeping our country’s image clean! Believe it or not, most of the foreigners don’t talk of our nation as one with governmental inefficiency or as a country deep-rooted in corruption, but rather talk of her cleanliness, about her people. Think of it, rather than getting outraged “only” at the moment you watch a corruption/anti-corruption video and stop thinking once you are done sharing that video. You know what, whenever I see my friends sharing such videos, I always think of the people who threw stones at Magdalene Mary.

P.S.: Food for action would have been a more apt title… J