Aghini Kunju

மரம் சொன்ன சாட்சி

2013-03-08T12:02:00.002-08:00

ஆறிலிருந்து ஆயுள் வரை

Image courtesy TT Balaji

2.
அன்னை மடியாய் அலைந்து கிடந்த
மரம் சாட்சி, மனம் தருவாயா?
அவன் கேட்க, அவள் தந்தாள்

காதல் தருவேன் காலமெல்லாம்
கரம் சேர்க்க கரம் தருவாயா ?
அவன் பற்ற அவள் தந்தாள்

இலைகளால் கரவொலித்து
பூக்களாய்ப் புன்னைகைதேன்

3.
முத்தம் விளைத்த வேள்வி இது
முயக்கம் மணக்கும் வெப்பம் இது
தென்றலாய்த் துவட்டுவேன்
என் கிளைகளால் போர்த்துவேன்
உங்கள் முத்தம் பட்ட சிறு விதை மீட்டு
காதலுக்குச் சாட்சியாய் காலமெல்லாங் காத்திடுவேன்

5.
மூச்சுக் காற்றை இவனுக்கு மிச்சம் தந்து
முன்னே தான் சென்றாயோ?

புதைக்கவில்லை பெண்ணே உன்னை இவன்,
பெட்டகத்தில் போக்கிஷித்து
நித்தமுன் நினைவுகளால் அர்சித்தே அலங்கரித்தான்

6.
மீண்டும் சேர்ந்திட்டான் உன்னோடு;
மீண்டு சேர்ந்திட்டான் உன்னோடு
தாளாத் துரயத்தில் நான் மட்டும் தளர்ந்திட்டேன்

நீங்கள் ,
பிழைத்தேழுந்தால், கிளைத்தெழுந்தால்
உங்கள் முத்தம் பட்ட விதையொன்று வைத்துள்ளேன்
அதை விதைத்திடுங்கள்; காதலாய் எழுவேன் நானும்

Vishwaroopam: There is plenty to like beyond action sequences

2013-01-26T09:32:00.003-08:00

Now that enough of my friends at US have seen the movie and I am not sure when, if ever, the folks at Tamilnadu will get to see it, here is what I have been bursting to say since I saw the movie FDFS. This blog is intended for people who have seen the movie already. Enough spoilers ahead if you want to preserve your innocence going to the movie

First of, I am not a big action movie fan - so, let's get past the fact that this is a great attempt to play at the big league. The CGI and make-up does not make you cringe and THAT is huge redemption from Dasavatharam for many followers of Kamal movies like me.

The central question that keeps coming to me is where do the lies start in this story? The movie opens with the Pooja telling it was a marriage of convenience for her. Was it actually a marriage of convenience for him? Did he CHOOSE to be an effeminate Kathak dancer? Is he living that lie to protect his religious identity from his wife?

When did Kashmiri turn a double agent? After he met Omar or before he met Omar? Was the bounty on Kashmiri's head a lie too? Did Kashmiri and the Indian government take a chance that Omar MIGHT like a Tamil speaking Jihadi?

Did the kid Mamu get on the swing because he was just a kid at heart or did he know he was going to die the next week and was trying to enjoy the nice things in life for one last time?

These are left as questions, because the director wants you to discover and answer for yourself if you please - if you don't want to - there is always enough action sequence for you to enjoy. Kamal's screen play always play these mind games with you. You understand more about a situation in retrospect (Dasavatharam, Hey Ram!) but it is more subtle in Vishwaroopam and that makes the film more interesting.

I heard a lot that the screen play pace could have been tighter. I felt the same at least in two places, (Dance teacher has a secret to hide, and Kashmiri training Jihadis). Was it really slow or did we not like it because the screen play does not give enough hints about where it is headed? Feels more like a directorial choice to reveal where it is headed at a later point and we get listless in the mean time. [By the way, for all ye suspense movie fans, what you like is not pure suspense, it has to be suspense with enough hints to make you comfortable]

There are at least two world class scenes where all the elements come together to tell the story. Kamal, the director can be very proud of these scenes.

The scene with the brick wall, an over-grown child in a swing and the yellow lighting has a melancholy that tugs at your heart for the innocence lost and all the mayhem that is round the corner. Composition reflects the emptiness with more empty space in that scene than elements filling it.

The scene at the park where their colleague lies dead - Frigid air, gray sky, still water of the lake, leafless, barkless trees with gray trunks, distant police sirens... That is the death of some one close and its helplessness. Sekar Kapur taking a tablet to not have a heart-attack is only a bonus. Last time I felt so moved by a Kamal scene is in Anbe Shivam at the Madhavan, Kamal exchange in the rainy railway station.

Then there is the juxtaposition of New York cold and Afghani heat. Is that a reflection of the loud machine gun chattering, Black hawk flying Afghanistan terror and lone student in an apartment and warehouse full of dying Jihadis American terror?

There is a lot of directorial restraint in the movie that is not common in the 'in your face' style of Indian story telling. This is about how terrorists get taken out one at a time in a painful, methodical way. This hero (thankfully) is not one who defies CBI, FBI, KBI, RBI(!) and God himself to save New York, nor is the climax a gravity and logic defying chase sequence. If you like that genre.. well... there is always 'Thupakki' and 'Matraan' for you.

The 'loudest' scene for me was Kamal praying - but it does the trick - especially at the exchange,
"God almighty! That's exactly what he is doing in his own way". What god you pray to does not define who you are. The person who wants to kill and the person who wants to protect can pray to the same god at the same time; and the people on the same side need not agree on what god to pray to, but that is besides the point. Kamal, the creator is very clear about this, I only wish the folks at Tamilnadu and every where else, understand this too.

There a lot of vignettes that make you smile - the subtle friction between Andrea and Pooja after Pooja's new found love for her husband and how nuclear oncology goes from a proud "she is a doctor", to "she is just a doctor in nuclear oncology, what does she know?" to "you better listen to her mister. She seems to know what she is talking about"

And there are the commentaries on American way of life that make you ask "You don't live here. How do you know that?" case in point... "My god has four hands... What ? How do you crucify him then?"

My conclusion: Kamal's success with Vishwaroopam is in the fact that he fooled us into thinking this is a commercial flick. There is a lot to discover and appreciate for nuanced viewers and if you don't want to go there, there is enough action for you. Do watch it one more time... Looks like we have to make up for a lot of people who won't get to watch this movie.

I no run

2010-09-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

My facebook profile pic is a huge me, eating a 'huger' piece of cake - and that pretty much sums up 'Bala'. So, this is exactly where this blog and everything I had to say about running should have ended. Of course not. right? My wife Priya is discussing her post-partum weight gain and I am doing the requisite nods at right intervals, and boom out of the blue...

"Bala, looks like you have not lost your pregnancy weight yet".

I go to the 'pretend & pray' mode (pretend - I did not hear; Pray - No one else did) till

" Oh, he's got time, his baby is not out of the tummy yet!"

That pierced the layers of blubber and hurt my ego. I immediately went to what I am best at - sitting on a couch and searching the web - and found " 100 ways to lose weight in 30 days".

After filtering out any idea that contains diet, gym or moderation, I was left with Psychotherapy, tummy tuck or running a marathon. Priya said no tummy tuck; I don't know what all I will tell the shrink; so, marathon it was...

By no stretch of imagination
For all ye uninitiated, running does not just mean running - you got to warm, stretch, run, stretch again, cool, and then run again after two days to recover from the previous run . There is also lactic acid, water, sugar, salt, ice and kneading involved. If you take out just the run part, it sounds more like a baked good recipe.

It all starts simple,

"Touch your toes"
"Sure!"
"With your fingers, dummy!"
"ok... there you go!"
"No! stand up!..."
"whatever!"
"knees STRAIGHT!"
"what the eff!..."
"AND don't arch your back!"
"alright, I give up!"

AND THIS is only the start, next came the quad stretch where you stand in one leg and the other leg is supposed to hurt and then the trainer went down on the floor; tied himself into a knot a navy seal would be proud of. And, looked at me tauntingly to match that. All I could think was, 'It will be really funny if I tickled you now'.

Dressed to kill
After two sessions, I find out I totally suck - and that is not my fault!All I needed was the right gear.

Of course one needs good shoes (the guy at the sports shoe shop made me run before he gave me the shoe - how sadistic!) running shirts and running shorts, a jacket and a track suit , a hat for the sun and gloves for the cold, sun screen and running goggles, reflective strips in case I ever run in the dark (why would I?), a fuel belt (this I like, if filled properly this is kind of your very own mobile vending machine), a smart phone to listen music to, when running, an arm band to carry the phone and vaseline (No! Not making up that one. that is to prevent chaffing).

That's the hardware part. In the software section, download a handful of apps to measure your speed, elevation, acceleration, azimuth coordinate, and gyroscopic momentum (yeah. made that up) and you are all set - just that you have added considerable overhead to the already unconsiderable weight.

Somewhere at this point thanks to the world cup, I saw Joachim Lowe wearing lucky blue V neck and decided I need a lucky unwashed shirt too. I will just say, the subtitle for this section came from that idea.

Calling a spade a spade
After a couple of months into this you are wiser and more technical.. in jargons. You give a nice name for everything you do. If you are breathing, your resting heart rate is up/low/does not exist; just chilling becomes 'resting the leg', and drinking water becomes 'hydrating'. Hurting somewhere is a double whammy - you get to use words like 'IT Band tear' and have a valid excuse for a massage. It might get too complicated at times though. I think the only reason I have not complained of foot pain yet is, I can't pronounce 'plantar fasciitis'.

Fund raising
I should have mentioned marathon training make me do two things that I hate doing. Running, and asking people to do things for me. The deal is I get trained for marathon and raise funds that goes towards education in India. A very noble cause - just that a wrong person signed up to do it. My side of the story is, I tremble, my palms get sweaty and I start stuttering when I go to the bank to draw MY OWN money.

I have done/considered doing all of the below.

- Start walking with a limp and if people ask, go "Oh I got injured training for a marathon, would you like to donate btw?"
- Car wash
- Intersection, card board & marker (you get the idea)

and the net result is I have $21 and a half eaten cookie on my marathon fund. $20 was mine; I stole a dollar from Priya's wallet and my 16 month old dropped the cookie in the collection jar seeing my very forlorn look.

This again pierced the layers of blubber and hurt my ego. So, I decided to do the next best thing I am good at, sitting on a couch, opening my laptop and writing up my experience...

So, if you laughed, go donate. It is not as hard as running or asking for money.

Bala (0.22568 pounds lighter now)

PS1: Team Asha is a very committed group. I have worked with a lot of folks at Team Asha, Silicon Valley and the money you donate goes towards improving education in India. Asha is a zero overhead organization, run by folks like us volunteering (more like you, than me) and they are very passionate about the cause of education. The $2K I will raise will take care of the education and living expenses of about 8 children for an year. Yup... basic education does not cost much in India and yet there are millions of kids who could not afford it. More details here.

PS2: Jokes apart, my running is coming along well. I completed San Francisco Half Marathon and am training for the Oct 31st Silicon Valley full marathon. I have logged close to 250miles this season and finished a 17 miler over the weekend. I have seen a good change in my health and life style. Reach out to Team Asha from where ever you are. If they can make me run, you will be a much easier job.

Musing on Raavanan

2010-06-25T11:19:00.000-07:00

If you keep thinking about the movie a week after you are out of the movie hall, it is worth writing about it. Lets just call this the extended process of enjoying the movie. Yes, I did say I enjoyed the movie. It is an enjoyable movie ... not your normal 'enjoyable' movies but a rare work of art in Indian cinema.

Lets start with the well known story... or is it really that well-known? Is the story really Ramayanam or is it just a facade or an allegory? The story has much more parallels to Veerapan vs Devaram, LTTE vs IPKF, Kashmiris vs Indian army or Al-Queda vs US. It is almost the fourth edition of the Roja, Bombay, Dil Se sequence, only that this time the director gets more into the head of the villain and asks the question is he really the villain or more aptly, is he the real villain?

This movie is all about exploring the thin gray line between virtues and vices and how in YOUR eyes, a virtue in one person is a vice in another... again in YOUR eyes - the characters themselves do not seem to have any moral qualms.

Is Rahini falling for Veera a vice or a virtue? Is it a virtue because we know Veera is a "good person"? Can a hero lust another person's wife? Is it ok to gamble away your wife to kill a terrorist? If that is not wrong, why is abducting the half-sister wrong? Is it ok to denude a person and humiliate him? what if it is the adorable half-sister?? If a man hunt and a shoot-out at your home is wrong why does ransacking the tent in the forest feel right?

It is not just the big three characters that have these contradictions built in. A lot of characters Step outside the good vs evil stereotype. Kattapanchayathu brother, police deputy with below the belt tactics, An aanjaneyar with the worst record in the department. Speaking of characters and characterization a special kudos for having a transvestite character with not a single reference to his/her sexuality.

In the Tamil version I saw, the casting is perfect. Aishwarya is the perfect mettu kudi girl and the story actually pivots around her. She has handled it really well - with equal proportions of pride and rage. Vikram seems to be a natural and Prithviraj sufficiently underplays to let only the dark side of his character come to the forefront.

Going back to Ramayanam as the facade - it is not as blatant a reproduction of Ramayanam nor or there mindless parallels in the movie. If you really think about it, you can count the no. of paralles in your hand. (14 days, 10 heads, Soorpanakai, Anjaneyar, Anumaar meeting Seetha, and a cleverly concealed Jadayu) - but they are so strategically placed that the creator fools you into thinking it is Ramayanam and that gives him the liberty to tell his story without compromising for karunanidhis (Iruvar) or Bal Thakreys (Bombay).

" Un pondattikkaghavae unna kollalaaam... aana athae pondatikkaghavae unna uyirodavum vidalaam' , "kadavulae, enakku kovatha kudu, ivanghala en kitta anbha irukkka vaikkathae", "Aval kannula bayamae illainnae, aprom eppadinnae avalai kolrathu" - I bet if I said these were by Vairamuthu, you would have said those are the greatest words written. The one place where the dialogs are plastic is in the train sequence. But, if your intention is to make your wife leave you, that's exactly how you would talk.. and yes you will talk about polygraph too.

The director challenges you to sit up and pay attention to every frame of the movie. A single reference to Dev being an encounter specialist or Veera being the menace of the society, Indirect references to Veera being well-read, The subtle difference btwn love at first sight and love by sight.

By the way, Veera's falling in love with Aishwarya is one of the most beautiful sequences pictured in Indian cinema. Veera does not fall for her when Aishwarya jumps off the cliff or when he jumps after her trying to rescue her. But he falls for her the instance he sees Aishwarya falling from the branch of the tree and surface from the water choked up. The vulnerability of the character in that moment affects him in a deep way. His desperation to protect her manifests itself as love and he does not like that. This immediate moral struggle is captured well by Vairamuthu in "Aghini Pazhamendru therinthirinthum, adikkadi naaku thudikkarathae".

This is not a screen play strong movie and the strongest manifestation of this is that the final duel seems to erupt out of nowhere. Many Manirathnam movies off late have this issue (Iruvar, Guru) where the gravity of the climax feel out of proportion to the scenes that build up to it. It may be because all these movies are more character-centric that the director eats up too much time in establishing the characters and there is no more room for a solid screen play string. Also, unlike a lot of other international movies, the director does not get the benefit of the flow of a good story handed to him. Indian creators mostly operate in a silo, ignoring the good works from the literary field and end up carrying the extra burden of creating the story too. May be that is something our production houses should consider - Get the stories from literary field and just build a screen version of that story.

Another aspect that is distracting to me is the movie is trying hard to dazzle you - with cinematography, locations or art direction. In a more authentic work, the bridge or the huge stone idol would have been introduced earlier and you will be familiar with the props when they eventually take the center stage, allowing you to focus on the proceedings. By trying hard to impress, the director has distracted us enough to locus focus on the script.

In the end, it is not often that you get to think about an Indian movie in these aspects and I think that is the proof that this is great piece of work. It is completely ok if you do not like Raavanan, But please do not claim you are a connoisseur of quality cinema or pretend you understand cinema and tear up the movie in your 'reviews'.

The joke called Ramar Sethu

2007-10-23T20:53:00.000-07:00

If you are not aware of the controversy in India about the Ramar Bridge, (or Ramar bandan or adam bridge or sethu samudhra project as different parties want to call it), please go back to sleep and I will wake you after the rest of the winter is over.

There is enough serious debate with people's tongues and heads at stake. I just want to compile here some of the acute observations from our esteemed politicians.

Subramaniam Swami: If at all Karunanidhi is supporting someone, he should be supporting Rama and not Ravana. Because Ravana is Brahmin and Rama is Kshatriya!
Dude, If I understand Karunanidhi right, he is telling there is no Rama or Ravana, if a person does not exist, his caste does not matter.

Karunanidhi: People claim Rama build this bridge. I want to know which engineering school he went to.
Ramagopalan: Karunanidhi is going around telling people he built 18 over head bridges in Chennai. Which engineering school did he go to?

Tirumavalavan - (in a meeting reiterating Rama is fiction): Rama killed Ravana who is a Tamil king. We should destroy the bridge because it is a mark of shame for us Tamils.
Dude, Whose side are you on? You are supposed to be telling people Rama did not exist. How did a fictional character kill a Tamil king.

BJP is planning nationwide stir on Ramar Sethu
What is so funny about it? They approved parts of the project in 2001-2002!!!

Vishwa

2007-10-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Vishwanathan is the center of attraction these days. It is incredible how soon he has earned the love and respect of our gang and has become a part of our plans.

He definitely looks intelligent. I have asked Sai to to teach him MS Excel and take some load off us. It does sound selfish of me if you put it that way. But he is a cool guy like me and I like bonding with him. I am planning to take him to the city when he visits the Bay area and we are going to wear neon blue jerseys and metal chains and go bar hopping. Either that or spend some quality time together in Napa.

Sai told me Tabrez is planning to ask Vishwa to go with him on the European tour and not to be left out, Ramki is calling him the V-dog and promising him some interesting night life.

What is cool about Vishwa is, all this does not get to his head. He always has this sweet smile and does not respond much to all this worship. I know this is a combination girls will die for. Priya says his lips are like a cowboy hat and that is so cute. (Some one explain me how hat-like lips are cute) and she wants to go for long strolls with him holding his hands.

Of course, not all response is positive. Ramya thinks he is too clumsy and messy and is too dependent on on others. But that is nothing unusual coming from Ramya - I personally think she is a orderliness freak. Can't blame her too. She is the one changing diapers for Vishwa all day.

Pleasure of beep beep beep...

2007-10-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

I spent half a day scanning. No - not the progressive scanning of data sets or the body scan in airports- just plain simple scanning of barcode. You know the beep beep beeps.

This job is incredibly satisfying. It does not involve coordinating the calendars of eight people, I do not have to drill down the pros and cons of scanning or get the buy-in before scanning the next item, (and before scanning the item after that) and I dont have to agonize myself about telling people how rotten their idea is, and where they should shove it - without using the word rotten or shove... and with the word like:) Just the pure simple pleasure of hearing the beep beep beep.

As jobs go, this one is incredibly rewarding and feedback cycle is unbelieavable. All I need is a reassuring beep to say, 'Yes. That is another task executed well... now lets move on to the next one.

A couple of hours of this and I would have applied for a position in Wal-Mart. But it was too good to last. I was fired from the job for being too slow :(

Prathiba Patel... Hinduism in American and Taveleen's Singh brand of journalism

2007-07-07T14:04:00.000-07:00

A friend forwarded me an article by Tavleen Singh titled A dark distorted hinduism. Was never a big fan of Tavleen Singh ever since she started referring to Jayalalitha only as "the big lady down south". A responsible journalist does not do that to a Chief Minister, even an unpopular one.

My problems with this article.

a. Tavleen thinks Pratibha Patil should not talk to dead men.
b. Taveleen feels the predominant brand of Hinduism taught in American Universities is Brahmins drinking menstrual blood.
c. Tavleen thinks Amartya Sen is wrong in telling Hindu brand of extremism is more dangerous for India than Islamic brand of extremism.

Tavleen can think true Hindus do not speak (or do not believe in) speaking to dead men. But the true beauty of Hinduism is it is all pervasive and has no problems accepting animal sacrifices, ellai theivam, ' pei adicha ponukku manthiruchu vidurathu' and widows shaving their head. Yeah! you can quote Vedas and Upanishads and say, this is not the way Hinduism is meant to be. But millions follow that and if you want to question these in the name of superstition, there is no difference between you and Periyaar and I am pretty sure you don't want to tread that path.

I do have problems with Pratibha Patil, but not being a true Hindu is not one of that and I don't think that is a qualification for the first citizen of India. Yes! Abdul Kalaam would have made a better president. But the majority party does not like him and there is no way around it.

Unlike Tavleen, I googled a bit on drinking menstrual blood and found a couple of articles on the tantric practice of Yoni Chakra Puja or Swadhistana Sattva. That begs the question is this main stream and how many people follow it. That is exactly the question Tavleen and Rajiv Malhotra should have asked in the first place. Are the American universities teaching these the 'go-to places' for learning Hinduism in America. In his article stereotyping Hindisum in American Education, Rajiv Malhotra quotes, University of Evansville, Toronto University, Princeton university press (in a very innocuous reference) and a 'prestigious US university'. Unless these are the top choices for people wanting to learn Hinduism, this is as inconsequential as Sati in Hinduism now.

To Rajiv Malhotra's credit, his problem "with such portrayals is not that they mention false things, but that the context (and quantity) in which students understand them makes them appear as standard for Hinduism" It is a laudable mission and can be better accomplished without the likes of Tavleen rabble-rousing.

I fully support Amartya Sen's view and he nailed why India's secularism should be a bit pro-minority. Amartya Sen is talking about the difference in magnitude between the damage a majority can inflict on the minority and the damage minority can inflict. Case in point: death- toll in
- 9/11 - 2752
- Holocaust: 6,000,000
- 1993 Bombay blasts: 257
- Godhra riots: upto 2,000
- Anti-sikh riots: 2,733

You don't need a Nobel laurette in macro economics to point this out. But even when they do, we refuse to believe it and rush to the first defense: He is a communist!

Cauvery and the tragedy of commons

2007-02-24T08:08:00.001-08:00

I was listening to a lecture on strategic modeling when I thught tragedy of commons is a good way to look at the Cauvery dispute and there is a strategic modelings perspective to solving the dispute.

Tragedy of Commons happens when two or more parties over exploit a common resource to maximize their individual benefit. In the end this overexploitation reaches a level where the common resource is not useful or is inadequate for all the parties. In the case of Cauvery dispute, both Tamil Nadu (TN) and Karnataka have greatly expanded the land under irrigation. This became a growth loop - Expansion yields prosperity and prosperity facilitates more expansion. The flip side is they used a common resource - the cauvery water - to do that and we have come to a point, where the water left in the basin and the table is no longer enough to sustain the areas under irrigation. We can fight for years on who has more rights to use the water but the bottomline is there is not enough water.

This is not the first time, the world has come across this problem. All the issues related to pollution, global warming, or exploiation of natural resources can be captured in this same frame work and there are some good solutions out there.

The problem is that the growth loop gets stronger and stronger using up the common resource. The solution is to create a balancing loop that after a point will disincentivize the uncontrolled growth and limit it.

The Solutions are very controversial. We can try the US style 'pay-not- to-grow' programs. If the incentives are strong enough, farmers will opt out. But the problem with this aproach is, that it is counter to a capitalist economy. We can also try to remove the free farm electricity program or tax the agricultural income. These create the balancing loops that limit the benefits of expansion.

Another aproach is to limit productivity by outlawing certain fertilizers or outlawing triple cropping. The effect is the same - by reducing the benefits of expansion, we control unfettered growth and preserve the river and the water table for future use. This last aproach is sucessfully used to rejuvenate the fishing industry in Newfoundland.

Often in public policy, the problem is not in finding a solution, but in implementing it. It will be interesting to discuss if any of these solutions are implementable in India and if all the parties will have the political will to implement measures like this.

Guru - Definitely in Mani Rathnam's class

2007-02-24T05:23:00.000-08:00

In Tamil, we use the same word 'Nugharthal' to refer to ' enjoying a refined sensual experience' or 'to smell'. Mani Rathnam's Guru is one those experiences that should be smelled and breathed in like a 'pavazha malli', the smell of moisture on a long bus journey in the night or a baby after shower - very subtle yet overpowering.

You don't normally talk about a biopic of an industrial tycoon in these delicate terms. But that is what sets apart Mani Rathnam from others. I do not want to write about the storyline. Just want to talk about my interpretation of some of what I saw that made this experience 'Nugarthal'.

There is no mistaking which real life industrialist the movie is about when the protagonist is called Gurubhai. We get a feel for Guru's character early in the movie when he says to his manager, "If you think I am good and the 'phiranghi' thinks I am good, why should I work for you? I might as well work for myself and make all the money for myself". And how is he going to do this in the 'Lincense Rajjed' India? The tone is set early in the movie too. Guru is begging for a licence to trade yarn. The person who has the power to grant him the license is in a golf club and challenges him to hit the ball to the hole to get a license - a game Guru is not in comfortable in. Guru does not even try to use a club. He picks the ball, walks to the hole and drops it. For the first time in the movie, he has rewritten the rules of the game.

This in a nutshell is Guru. He played a lot of games that he did not know, and always had a different interpretation of the rules. As he says, "I opened the doors either with a 'salaam' or with a kick". Of course, the problem is people felt he is doing 'salaams' too often or kicking doors too often.

The movie transcends to a totally different level when we realize this movie is more about three different people's very conflicting definition of right and wrong, than about one Guru. There is the khadi-clad, corruption-fighting newspaper editor who thinks his quest for truth (and his newspaper that drove the Britishers out of India) is holier than God; a young journalist who is not above using wrong means to the right end of fighting corruption; and the industrialist who does not mind kicking or 'salaam'ing to create prosperity - for himself and for his three lack shareholders. There is no one right answer to who is right and who is wrong and the movie just revolves around this question.

... and there is an emotional cynosure for these three people - a girl full of life, afflicted with multiple sclerosis and counting her days. Mani Rathnam uses her as a great balancing act whenever the conflict between the three characters escalates to an uncontrollable level. Only their common love for this character makes the decency in their confrontation realistic.

Guru's relationship with the father figures is also very subtle. His dad and the news paper editor mean well, patronize him and want to protect him. But Guru fast outgrows both of them and ends up antagonizing them. May be it his ambition and drive, or it could also be their inability to accept an alternate way of doing things.

The movie is full of Mani Rathnam's little gems. Guru can't find a better phrase to praise his wife than sheepishly say, you are as shiny as a polyester. Or when Guru says, I dream of the day when I will clothe everyone in this country, his wife crash lands to reality telling "let me go dry your clothes - else you wont have anything to wear tomorrow".

Of course I do not like everything about Guru. The civility in the confrontations are way too idealistic. May be there are people out there who can be decent when disagreeing. But having grown in the era of Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha, I am not aware of it.

May be the reason Nayagan is a great movie is because it ends with a question and not try to offer a solution. But, Mani Rathnam as in Ayutha Ezhuthu, falls prey to offering a fit-all solution. and over-dramatizes the climax to do that. I cannot believe Mani Rathnam does not know a rousing monologue is not sufficient to sway a judicial enquiry panel and I flinch when the hero who was barely audible the day before, delivers a sermon the next day. (Though Guru says, "main Baniya hun saab! Have to conserve even the speech for a better day"). And why is there so much stress on Guru being middle class? Is Mani Rathnam afraid a truly elitist movie will not resonate with the public?

Guru does have a few weak spots, but it is definitely one of the best Indian movies I have seen. When a movie makes you stop and think about the subtleties of life, it transcends the level of box office flick and becomes a work of art. Guru definitely is one!

Post script: I cannot believe how awfully bad the English subtitles are. Subtitles are there for a reason - for people like me who do not understand the language. When I am able to enjoy the movie better without the subtitles that definitely screams "Quality control please!"

"You can't take what I say seriously!"

2006-10-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

I have a big problem with the interview mechanishm here in US. You guys take what I say seriously! Well... that is not a common thing to say... I do want to be taken seriously at least when not in interviews.

My problem is there is no in-depth probing. The very reason I am in that interview is because I want that job. I am going to lie and cheat to get that job. (dont tell me others don't) and of course I am going to tell you this is my dream job, ever since I was two and mommy has been changing diapers I have been thinking about this industry and the only thing that makes my life worth living is to create more spreadsheets and presentations for you.

I am surprised the interviewers are not laughing out loud when they come to this part.

What's even worse is when you lost a job because you didn't say the right thing and of course that is why I started writing this blog in the first place. Did I not get the job because I am stupid enough to not even get the standard drill about passion right?

Frida

2006-10-23T07:52:00.000-07:00

Watched a movie some two or three weeks back.. the very fact that I still want to talk about it (or blog about it ) speaks about the impression the movie the made on me.

The movie is frida... a Latin American movie. Very diffferent from the holywood pieces we get to see. They do not dumb it down to make it easy on you. The lead character is a painter and the pictures she draws become a very important part of story telling.

True to a Latino movie, there is enough sex... the first love scene is very refreshing and leaves a strong impression even weeks after. The female lead and her boy friend are 'stealing' sex in the girl's parents house. The dominant sound is the two of them trying to stop the other person from making any sounds and shusshing each other.

The innocence in that stolen moment is totally preserved. That scene does not make you feel guilty and it does not broadcast lust or passion. The predominant feeling is that of exploration and the thrill in doing things without getting caught than about passion or any kind of higher feelings. There is always a thrill and satisfaction in stolen moments. This scene captures that moment well and its success is because it makes you realize that thrill is the primary emotion in this scene and not any other emotion associated with sex.

Brings back a lot of memories from those younger days...

That was clever...

2006-10-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Spent the weekend with some friends and was having some real fun.... IHOP breakfast, wine, chicken and Seinfeld... you know what I mean right??

Got some great quotes ... trying to capture them for posterity here

"Irrespective of how old I get, I will always be younger than you"

On a national marine science institute "Oh they study for sea food festivals!"

On a disclaimer board in Fort Mason that said "This place is built for war and not safety - so please watch your step" - "Dude! if you are building a place for war you better make it safe... the only reason I am in a fort during a war is to be safe"

If you are with the right company ... you don't really have to try hard to be funny or for that matter try hard to be anything.

Stock options - do they work?... or more precisely can it make THEM work?

2006-10-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was in another corporoate presenation. This time it does not even matter who the company is. My eyes were glazing over and I was thinking fondly of more pleasurable experiences like a dentist visit or a long que to use the restroom.

The guy in the podium starts talking about how even the receptionist in his office has a stock option and every time she picks up the phone she knows her action will make her richer... OBJETION MY LORD!!!! That's pure Baloney and let me explain how.

Let us assume, I had some Google stocks (God, I wish I did!). Will that make me go to a google every time I want to search some thing? Well... thats a bad example. I search for even the undergarments I can't find, in google and I am pretty sure their next beta version will handle the undergarment issue as well.

Let us take another example - How about if I hold some GM stocks, will I go out and buy GM cars or trucks, so that the company will benefit and so I can benefit also.

I guess the question is when does stock options have meaning and value - my contention is, it is only when one owns a sufficiently higher fraction and when one's action can affect the company directly.

A receptionist picking up a phone will not qualify under both counts. So, OBJECTION SUSTAINED !!!!

Ethics ... are'nt we all on track for being the next Enron?

2006-09-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Was listening to Anil Menon from IBM giving a lecture about his life's lessons. When he was talking about ethics in the business world today, he said the guys from Enron did not start their day thinking they were going to swindle the stock holders. The mistakes just add up. Problem with the Enron culture was that it condoned small ethical mistakes and they just added up. Mr. Menon actually challenged the audience to show how many had totally true resumes.

I owe up. My resume is a homogeneous mixture (that is the language you pick up if you are married to a chemcial engineer) of truth, half truth, half lies and blatant never-even-heard-of-it-but-will-add-it-in-my-resume lies. I do not have the courage to take it out of my resume because I know everyone else has them too and don't want to be penalized for my ethical awakening. (Reminded of a friend who took TCS' interview test without cheating and failed. All the 400+ people, who cleared it cheated.)

I am pretty sure I won't have another chance to correct that. I have to live by my lies. Can add to the lies but can't undo a past lie. (Pretty sure the computer folks have a name for this, like ROM, SROM RRAM, PROM, PERFORM or whatever...)

Of course they will add up and by the time I am fifty I would have added up more of them than stock options. Is this not what happened in the Enrons too? - That you have to live by your lies and there is an escalation of commitment.

Reminded of a good old tamil proverb "oru poiyai maraikka onpathu poi solli..."

Why do we translate old to good?

2006-09-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Was at a presentation of Johnson & Johnson and of course, with in the first two slides came their credo.

For those of you does not what the J&J credo is - I sentence you to be deepfried in J&J baby oil 'ennai kopparai' - here is a crash course on their credo. The credo is like a mission statement for J&J and was written 130 years back by the founder. It is famous for putting their customers - doctors, nurses and patients - before shareholder.

This presenter was talking about how every action they have taken in the last 130 years ties back to the credo and that it has not changed at all. Don't get me wrong, I admire J&J as a company but I can't help thinking is it good bad to follow somethin for 130 years and more so because it is 130 years old and unchanged? Can you live by a document that was written a century back. Has not the world changed since then?

Sure we live by a lot of documents that are written a lonnnnng time back! US Constitution, ten commandments or Baghavat Gita. I do agree the people who wrote them had a lot of wisdom but should we not give to the genearations that came by since then, a chance.

what if the people who wrote them were conditioned by their biases. For workplace discrimination claims in US, 'a communist party member' is still a legal defense. (remnants from the McCarthy era). I am pretty sure a lot of Indians think the founding fathers were wrong about religion based civil codes, reservation systems or property rights in Kashmir.

How do we correct these? I dont want to correct every document that is more than ten years old. But I would be comfortable knowing there is a mechanism to correct this and that historic errors do not have to accumulate and carry over.

Post Script: To J&J's credit they did revisit their credo at least once. They included fathers as one of their customer groups - when talking about baby care - because men's involvement in baby care has become more active since it was written.

What's up with the name?

2006-09-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

I have bitten the bait finally... have started blogging... at least planning to ...

For those of you wondering , 'what's up with the title anyway? I am pretty sure people like Sai are thinking what does he mean 'dick of fire'? or others like Mahesh - my Brother in law - are thinking anything Malayalam is my domain and how can he use a mallu name.

I take a lot of inspiration from Bharathiyar. His dream was to discover an 'embryo of fire - aghini kunju' to burn up everything he does not like in the world and dance the final dance of destruction. My intention is not to burn up the world, or even parts of it. but I do like to throw a small fire ball once in a while... at the least it can illuminate some things ... things that bother me... things that made me wince and things that made me think... or things that made me smile.

As I wrote in one of my kavithai's a long time back...

... 'It's not a guy's thing to cry
but my pen's got no gender
and I like the luxury to cry
and laugh thru my pen...'

Loking forward to the journey