The Hurt Locker (2009)

Winner of six Academy Awards in 2009 including the Best Director, Original screenplay and Editing...

This was the hype that actually made me watch the movie...

It is high thrill drama, action packed with enough suspense, I agree. But the praises for this movies is simply overrated.
the rest were just crap... I did like the last part of the movie - that had some meaning.. 'Son, now you like everything.. everything you see around you..'
'But when you grow... you seem to love only one thing...'
Thats a punch.. a real punch..

Did you got 30 seconds

Missing artists... missing colours...

His strokes were great, his colour mix was unmatched, his art conveyed a message. This was one of my friend from the school days - M.P (name hidden). He was a brilliant artist and he was known throughout the school for his artistic abilities. Silhoulitees were his favourites. And, to the envy of other competitors, he was often the one who bags the first prize in our school's art competition. This was in late 1990s and 2000, nearly a decade before.
Fast forward to the present. 2010. M.P. is an engineer, a mechanical engineer to be more precise. He recently got married in 2009(I came to know this from our school Chemistry teacher). He works at a '-----' company.
I just wonder whether he draws now or not. I need to explore a bit more of his story the engineer M.P now and compare it with the artist M.P. once.
What if he were still the old artistic friend, whom we envied off? What if he took up art as his career? Will the society be ready enough to appreciate the young man? Will the society be able to accept him if he choose the artistic career?
May be not..
May be that was the reason why he took the other path, as an engineer.
So, how many artists we have lost to the IT boom? How many singers and actors, writers and poets, atheletes and sportstars, we have lost, to make a professional - an engineer or a doctor, out of them?
More importantly, how far was extent of the damage done? First, are we ready to accept there ever was a damage done?
I am reminded of the story of my childhood friend S.M., an IT professional in US - he spoke to me for an hour from US on that fine Sunday afternoon. That Sunday, henceafter, was no more fine to me. I remember of TVN, a wonderful singer, and V.R., another artist-friend, and VC, the scientist-who-was-never-made. As I last heard of them, TVN recently got an appointment from a noted bank as a Customer Relationship Manager. I do not know what happed to V.R.. And VC, he was working in Chennai as content writer for an education website.
How colourful this world would have been with all these people? What great works of art, music and drama would have been produced? What glories and honours, would the world have been soaked with? What wonderful creations would this world have witnessed? If only, their talents were unleashed!!
I miss those artists, and I miss their colours.

The Common chord of Happening: Review of two movies 'I am Legend' and 'Signs'

There is an invisible hand that seems to create situations and make things happen. There is this intricate thread of unknown divinity that reveals a reason for why things have happened or not happened. It takes a while for human intelligence to recognize the pattern, the deeper algorithm of things thus happening. Wasn't there a moment in life when one, in a very subtle manner, comes to realise, 'Oh! That was the reason why it happened.' The very consciousness of such happening seems to come out of blue.
When Dr.Rober Neville (Will Smith) in the movie 'I am Legend' says, 'This is the reason why you came here!' in the climax, one seems to recognize something so familiar, but very distant as well.
When the Reverend (Mel Gibson) in the movie 'Signs' as in the climax, finds the meaning in the last words of his dead wife, it rejuvenates his very belief in God - an expression of agreement that the Director makes in the movie for the rationality for 'a happening'.
I do realise it stuck my very chord of nerves as it did with you.
As the wise tortoise (in the movie 'Kung fu Panda') says, 'There are no accidents.'
May be there is a reason why you are reading this blog. May be there is reason why I wrote this in the first place.
I hope our puny human intelligence will be able to comprehend at least a portion of the vastness held secret in the universe's conscious makings.

Seven Pounds (2008)

moI just couldnt write about this film. You have to see it to believe it!
I just wanna make this point. Today's system - either economic or social system, considers a human being as starkingly selfish, driven by animal instincts...
This film tells me otherwise, 'We are something more than animals.' 'We are something more than reminants of the Darwinian evolution'. 'We are something beyond the definition of this world'. Something overarching, something deeper, something Godly! There is something more than that meets the eye!
The potrayal of Mr.Tim Thomas in this film shows one man's journey to cleanse himself of his guilt within. He doesn't goes for a dip in the waters of Ganga or takes a trip to Mecca nor does he tries to find solution in the superficial systems created by society. He repents for his guilt - that is for sure. But he does something extraordinary.
'I am going to give you a gift' says Tim Thomas at the ending of the movie to Ezra, the blind meat salesman.
And Tim makes sure that the gift is delivered.
Must watch movie. Reinforces one's belief on Humanity.

‘We are natives’ – a show on National Geographic Channel

A set of tribals from the heartland of Africa from a place called Tanna comes to visit the city of London, UK. These are the set of men who lived naked in their homes, who are now taken on a journey to the one of the biggest cities of the world. Imagine their excitement.
One fine day, in visiting the great streets of Manchester, with their host, the host purchases a magazine. She says, ‘It is a very special magazine, for the money will go to help the homeless.’
At the mentioning of the word ‘homeless’, the face of the tribes showed puzzlement. How can there be homeless, where there are such great big buildings? Why are they homeless? Asks the native. The host lady tries to answer them and says that ‘there is no one for them’. ‘No one’, again a puzzle. ‘Don’t these people have their father and mother to take care’, they ask very innocently. The host seems not able to answer them.
‘In our village, there is no homeless,’ they say. ‘If someone wants a house, everyone in the village help that family to build a new house of their own.’ Here they question in amazement, like how and why people are homeless.
Then they were taken to salon for dogs. They were again amazed at two ladies dedicating their entire day time to cut the hair of the dogs. They ask, ‘Why cut the hair of the animal?’ ‘It keeps them warm.’ ‘We cut the dog’s hair, so to keep them clean,’ comes the answer.
Then one man say, ‘Here we have to learn a lesson to love animals like you do. But you also remember to help the humans who are homeless.’
A lesson worth learning – won’t you agree with the natives?

Destiny... Mr.Destiny

‘If only it happened like this!’ – For those who repent of the way that their life seems to flow, the film ‘Mr. Destiny’ will indeed be an eye-opener.
‘Everything happens for a reason,’ rightly says the Mr.Destiny in the film. And how well it is to explain this point by gifting you that very life you seemed to have missed. This is what exactly, ‘Mr. Destiny’, is about. And in that momentous night in the bar, the hero realises much he misses his old real life. A lesson was taught to him by the Destiny-maker. Hope we will learn from it too.

The Secret of 'Kung-fu Panda'

‘Do you know the secret, son, the secret ingredient in my secret ingredient soup?’, asks the father to his son, Po.
‘What is it, father?’
‘The secret is that there is no secret ingredient,’ tells the father
‘But it tastes so good!’
‘Ah! It is the belief that it tastes good, makes it to tastes good!’
And the revelation is made.
The belief on oneself is the secret to success.
This is the moral that is told so humorously in the film through the character of Po.
As the wise tortoise says, ‘There are no accidents!’
Maybe it is not an accident that you read this blog! I believe so.
So, do you believe?

My First Assignment, My First Story: Kamatchi Amma

It was my first day in Madurai. The atmosphere was octane pumped, given the fact that I am to be transfered to a centre in Madurai. But noone exactly knew where I am to be transfered. That's when this assignment was... well assigned.
I jumped at the opportunity, and made my trip to my familiar pals at Thirumangalam.
Have you seen a farmer? (I hope most specimens in the cities say no..) If so, have you seen a women farmer. Yeah! A women shouldering the responsiblity of farming.
I present to you Ms.Kamatchi of Sengapadai village of Thirumangalam.
Read more about here at http://www.dhan.org/stories/kamatchi_story.php

Love in the Mortar Joints: Building the foundation for 'Habitat for Humanity'

I read the book ‘Love in the Mortar Joints’ by Mr.Millard Fuller, founder of Habitat for Humanity. I was really inspired on reading this, and though should share it with you.
Hope most of us have heard of this organisation. I was in the assumption that they involve volunteers to build houses for poor and then give it to them. It seems that there is a lack of important details in my assumption.
These people organise funds and build houses for poor – this of course is true. But they simply don’t give it to the poor, but they sell it to them. The house thus purchased by the poor has to be paid as loan for 20 years in small monthly instalments. The important think is that they are interest free loans (the Economics of Jesus at work – just as in the teachings of Bible or in any great religions like Hinduism or Islam). The money that comes back is again pooled in to build more houses for poor. Of course, there is inflation. But Fuller seems to be confident of getting enough funds to do this work.
My first enlightenment: I never thought micro-finance has got anything to do with this organisation, but I found mF forms the crux of their organisation. But in a more pure form.
The next enlightenment about the organisation that I got was that they are completely faith-based organisation. The founder Mr.Millard Fuller had literally taken the concepts in Bible as told by Jesus, and has been involved in serving the poor in ‘tangible’ ways. These are bunch of people trying to live a Christain living as in the teachings of Bible in more practical way; and they are not religious fanatics. Great isn’t it!
It was really inspiring for me!

Reading Masanobu Fukuoka's 'One Straw Revolution'... again...

It was after a long time that I got my hands on this revolutionary book. I first read this book in my college days – never realized then that it had transformed the lives of so many.The funny part is that I never got to know the ‘weight’ of the subject, when I first took that book from my college library. The habit I had then was to read those books that had really interesting names – that’s how I came to read ‘Good Work’ by E.F.Schumacher and the like. And that is how I got my hands on ‘One straw revolution.’One of the good things that I did in my life is to read this book, not only that I started noting down some interesting points from that book on to my diary. I still preserve those notes taken in my college. And this habit of taking notes started from Fukuoka’s book. Now, if there is anything at all that I did need appreciation, this is the one – taking notes in my diary.Now here on 2009, I once again got my hands on the book from a friend’s office library. I read through the book again. And it was refreshing.Here, I once again tried to take some quotes from Fukuoka that gave me some views that requires me of re-thinking and re-examination.So, here I present to you those quotes.‘I don’t particularly like the word ‘work’. Of all animals, human beings are the only animals who have to work to live…. And I think this is the most ridiculous thing in the world….’‘It would be good to give up that way of thinking and live an easy, comfortable life with plenty of free time.’‘For human beings, a life of such simplicity would be possible if one worked to produce directly his daily necessities. In such a life, work is not work as people generally think of it, but simply doing what needs to be done.’‘To move things in this direction is my goal.’
The last two sentences, for me, hit a sixer. What do you think of it…!