Indian Science Fiction

I just realised today, why Indian art/movies does not have good/original science fiction. The entire basis of science fiction, especially the alien invasion variety is based on acute xenophobia. India has never been xenophobic. Come to think of it, we are part of the great alien invasion Hollywood is so scared of. We are the invaders they cant fight with their weapons, rendering their missile silos impotent by non-confrontation. Non violence is the greatest emasculator, as it removes all possibility of displayed Machismo. We were always like the sea, absorbing all foreign elements, integrating them and eventually subsuming them into our culture. In fact we are xenophilic by nature.

The inherent assumption is that foreign things must be better followed by the surprise when they dont match up to our expectations. It is not a surprising emotion for a country, perpetually disappointed by those we believe in. While it engendered a paralysing passivity, it also enables us to be hopeful that anything new can only better. Maybe this is the true reason that India is shining when the world undergoes monumental change. When you accept change whilst othere reject it, it automatically gives you a upper hand.

The irony is that as we succeed as a nation, each new generation will be less open to change, more conventional in its life choices. This will enable some other nation, another underdog to be the rising star of the future..

Aah!!! Change, she is a bitch :)

A new word for a new state of mind

There is a poignant german word, called "Torschlusspanik", the rough translation of which is "the fear of closing doors". It is the emotion conjured up when we ponder the various avenues that are permanently closed to us as individuals.

While this word describes an essential part of the human condition, I would like to propose another unique, albeit less satisfactorily morbid linguistic exercise. The aim of this exercise would be to devise a word which would be the the polar opposite of "Torschlusspanik"; in the same way that a gentle cynic relates to a fanatic.

In brief terms, this word would mean "The complacence of partially open avenues/doors". According to me this is the feeling that all is not wrong yet and some small effort on my part will correct the situation. It is a temporaray state of mind, gradually metamorphosing either into "Torschlusspanik" or resolving itself through action leading to a better future.

While I did come up with "Doorpartiallyopencomplacence", I think it lacks the pizazz that the german words do. On a side note, germans have some very nice words to describe whole sentences. For example Weltanschaunng, Schadenfreude etc (look it up, you lazy bums). Coming back to the topic at hand, if you think of any words, do suggest them

Signing out

KM

Inner Silence

We read, we talk, we consume prepackaged humour.

In my case, I do it to drown the silence inside.

Why do you?

Photoshop Strikes Again

The idle mind is the devils workshop, they say...For once "they" are correct :P

Hunger

Breaking news, Three men shot
Their lives changed; from alive to not.

As they lay dying, thoughts ran through their head
One yelled "Ram", one "Allah" and the third yelled "Bread"

Their post mortem report, this way it read,
the third one was hungry, the other two well fed.

Death of a Blog

Someone once said " People die and pass into a state of inaction". A blog dies when it passes into this state. Thus I proclaim my blog dead or very near it. Only time can tell if I will resurrect it, or would the death knell be justified.

Alone in company

This is "Luncheon of the boating party" by Renoir and I fell in love with it. The woman in the center (highlighted) is a perfect representation of the loneliness that can be experienced even in a crowd.

Two Warriors

I wrote this poem based on a dream I had, about two spears crossing each others path while in flight. It is a bit on the long side, but please show the patience to read it in its entirety. Do let me know your honest views about it.

Two warriors

At the borders of two nations
Stood two armies of great ambition

Two warrior kings on either side…..
Battle joined royal, woe betide

Both strong, both conquerors
Both in the ways of the world wise

Both the spear did choose
To wreak havoc, panic let loose

Far away they let fly
The spears towards a place seen by neither eye

Though the mortal form before the fight
Each was a god in his own right

To kill, not maim, was the final goal
To pierce the mortal shell, with a sharpened pole

The time I speak of, the weapons were wise
Though they were launched, they saw with their eyes

Before they maim or kill, think they must
No innocent killed, no execution unjust

Alas the two spears were let fly
Each one just and right in the throwers eye

As the one from the west flew,
He saw the land from up in the sky, so blue

Verdant and fertile was the land
That ruled under the western kings hand

Though feed his people from the land he could
Does not mean that he really would

To want more, not need more
To possess the land, from shore to shore

Thus was the western king desire
That most glorious of greedy fire

Thus far, the western spears way
Is all that I could describe today

What of the eastern kings spear
Would of his journey, you not hear

He too flew from his masters hand
He too surveyed his masters land

As he flew over the hill
Oh! So charged with his masters will

He too judged, his masters lands
The green oases and the dry, dry sands

He saw the peoples pleasure and their pain
The close juxtaposition of the twain

Of the same greed, guilty his master, the king
For the land, that the glorious war could bring

He too craved to rule from shore to shore
And if humanly possible, so much more

Now the two spears, in mid air did meet
As two warriors should, each other they did greet

The eastern spear first spoke his mind,
To the circumstances we must not be blind

Do I fly ahead and kill your master
Or is it JUST to kill mine faster

The wise western spear, spoke of his master now
The greed of conquest, does my masters judgment cloud

The land we live in can satisfy our wants
Tis not want but greed, that my master haunts

Though his subjects, his nation, his soldiers, he holds his heart near
But the glory of never ending conquest, is that which he holds dear

On hearing this, could no longer hold his tongue
The eastern spear, so fresh and young


Of greed and gluttony its tool
Is guilty too, my master the fool

Only the mention of lands so lush and verdant
Springs a thought, so discordant

Though the oases may be green
From the rest of the land the pickings are lean

In the wide deserts, our people do hunger
And it is unwise for my king to slumber

On such points the wise weapons debated
While on the ground the forces waited

To see the end, of which they saw the start
To know the judgment of the wise dart

The clouds cleared, the spears alighted
One struck the land, the other a kingdom benighted

As for the end we wait, why must I judge
Why not the decisions from their places be budged?

So where do you feel the wise spears landed
Whom did they kill and whom with victory garlanded?

This question I leave unsolved,
Like many of life’s mysteries, its better left unresolved

Now your leave, I must take
While you judge the twisted fate

Of the two warriors who in battle met
And by the laws of justice, one was in the others debt!!!!!!

Strife

As I prepare to embark on the MBA boat, I decided to put all the worry I have into this picture........Do tell me if you guys like it....

"Windmills of your mind" by Noel Harrison

Amazing lyrics. this is part of the soundtrack of a movie called"The thomas crown affair"(not the Brosnan version but an older one)

Round
Like a circle in a spiral, Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning, On an ever-spinning reel
Like a snowball down a mountain, Or a carnival balloon
Like a carousel thats turning
Running rings around the moon

Like a clock whose hands are sweeping, Past the minutes of its face
And the world is like an apple, Whirling silently in space

Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind
Like a tunnel that you follow
To a tunnel of its own
Down a hollow to a cavern
Where the sun has never shone

Like a door that keeps revolving, In a half-forgotten dream
Or the ripples from a pebble, Someone tosses in a stream
Like a clock whose hands are sweeping, Past the minutes of its face

And the world is like an apple, Whirling silently in space

Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

Keys that jingle in your pocket
Words that jangle in your head,
Why did summer go so quickly?
Was it something that you said?

Lovers walk along a shore
And leave their footprints in the sand

Is the sound of distant drumming
Just the fingers of your hand?
Pictures hanging in a hallway
And the fragment of a song
Half-remembered names and faces
But to whom do they belong?

When you knew that it was over
You were suddenly aware
That the autumn leaves were turning
To the colour of her hair

Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel
As the images unwind

Like the circles that you find
In the windmills of your mind

i am back

well i have been really busy these last few days so could not post...will be back from today

Old time Crooners

Here is my attempt at an old crooners song(someone like jim reeves or sinatra).All comments are welcome

Path of love
sing of the summer, those sultry summers
in that lovely way you do\
sing of the daybreak, sing of the lovers
when i said i love you\\

sing of the monsoon, those rainy monsoons
in that lovely way you do\
sing of the noon time,sing of the silence
when i was just looking at you \\

sing of the winter ,the lonely winters
in that lovely way you do\
sing of the starlight,sing of the heart break
when WE became, me and you\ \

Eve leaving eden

Just a little something I cobbled together in photoshop.

small poem

In the absurd he searches for reality
Understanding rhyme and poetic duality
He exists,his time he bides
In my heart, I hope this poet resides

one click love

http://www.fropper.com/ebook/one-click-love.pdf
i found the above link while browsing through( okay I admit it"while registering on") fropper.com!!! This dude gives tips on how to survive in the internet dating jungle and has to be read, to be believed. I mean he has silly advice compounded by an exaggerated self image all wrapped up in a little package of advice giving...
i recommend for a good laugh anyday

my thoughts after reading "Fight club"

“Is tyler my bad dream or am I Tylers”
This signature line from fight club echoes the very duality of our existense. Are we defined by our memories or are our memories defined by us? What makes us real? Can u call a reflection an imaginary thing just because it does not exist in our plane of existence? Are we a reflection of our reflection; our existense defined by the existense of the reflection.
When I walk away from a mirror does my reflection cease to exist or does it shrink away into an alternate universe where left is right?
Are we real and if so define reality without any points of reference. Define reality without referencing it to other events ,creating the snake which swallows its own tail…receding into oblivion…falling into an abyss of multiple consciousnesses and zero consciousness where our existense itself is imperiled…I think therefore I am
What happens when I cease to think…am I not or am I???
If existense is defined by thought, then I could be a figment of someones imagination, my world with all its rules, wars , rapes murders could be some childs nightmare….

unseen thoughts

Some feelings are better left unsaid,
some poems better off unread.

Lets make this post an interactive one. look at the image on the right and try to think of what emotions come when u look at it. then compare it with my view of it.if yours was different i would love to hear about it

I made this "digital painting"(well this is my blog and i can call my pathetic effort a painting if i want to) when I was feeling especially depressed about the condition India is in nowaday's. It was made a day before Independence Day.This was supposed to represent the Indian youth on two levels:-

1>the flag on the upper level symbolises the patriotism we all claim to have.

2>the " desert" in the background was supposed to symbolise the desertion of our own country by the youth of today instead of fighting for it.

So do express your views about it.

In defence of Kjo and all of bollywood

Anywhere you look nowadays you can only see people bashing Karan Johar. I cannot express my feelings on how deeply saddened I am at this. Here is a filmmaker who produces such amazingly complex and artistically satisfying movies like K3G and what do we do??? We go all out and insult him by calling him a stupid, fu***ing prick who cant make good movies.
Er ‘’’’’’’’’’’’Sorry the above views have been expressed by the evil and demented part of my split personality. The true and pure part of me actually hates the bastard. Come on!!! Who the f*ck is he or any of the other crap producer trying to fool , That they really care about artistic integrity ??? Nowadays most hindi movies are made with one and only one object in mind; to rip the consumer off by selling him partially digested hollywood movie’s with a lot of morals inserted into it, like a moral science class gone sour. Now I am not against a little Capitalism with a capital C but seriously dudes; don’t dare compare Bollywood with its international competition…there is none. You only have to watch a movie like Baghban (the original movie in malayalam was awesome by the way) to realise how disconnected from the real world bollywood has become…They seem ready to live up to their name; “H”ollywood with some creative rehashing. The only thing that karan johar movies are good for is to make the ABCD’s(American Born Confused Desi’s: Courtesy “American Desi”) feel good about their home country and make them believe that India is about designer suits, mega weddings and aging stars who dress like pimps(AB).
All I gotta say is please bring back the good old days of amol palekar, naseruddin shah etc. or else improve...ELSE ALL HOPE IS LOST(dire warning made with serious face)
RANT completed…………

Just a thought

I sometimes wonder whether there is an afterlife??? Whether some judgement awaits us in a better world? Does life have a purpose or are we all just moving towards oblivion. Is it the journey that is important or is the final destination all that matters? If only the journey matters then it is useless to be moral, to think of right and wrong, In terms of good and evil………...Morality is only pertinent when what we call the afterlife comes into the picture. If there is no purgatory, no heaven, hell then why must I do right when it may be more comfortable to do what is easier or self pleasing. Does it make any sense to do the good thing when no one is keeping count? How I wish this problem could be solved while I am alive so that I could make some real good lifestyle choices???

My take on war

Vive le mort
Vive le guerre
Vive la vie mercenaire!!!

Roughly translated from french it means:-
Salute to death
Salute to war
Salute the way of the soldier!!!

HUMANS LOVE WAR!!!
If you look at our past then you will notice that the above statement is justified. Our great epics are about war(Mahabharata, The Iliad), all our great heroes were mostly soldiers and seriously speaking we define peace as the period between wars. If you only look at the Jewish Holocaust and the terrorism prevalent today then you will notice that its proponents mostly have nothing to do with the ideology. It is the opportunity of waging war on fellow humans that excites them. For an intelligent species we sure are stupid when it comes to self preservation. Or are we so naïve!!!
Maybe we wage war as a way of maintaining the balance of nature. Since we are at the top of the food chain and have no natural enemies, war could be our way of erasing the karmic debt we have accumulated while systematically raping our only home. It could be mans greatest apology to the element’s, a cry for forgiveness whilst we continue to ravage it.
All I know is that one species could not be so hell bent on destroying itself unless it has some other motives. If you can think of any do tell me..........

How stupid do they think people on the net are

The Head Of File Department,African Development Bank A.D.BOuagadougou Burkina-Faso West Africa.
Phone: 00226-7885 75 97.
PLANE CRASH WEB SITE...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm. ("REMITTANCE OF $15 MILLION U.S.A DOLLARS CONFIDENTIAL IS THE CASE")

Compliments Of The Season 2006,
Forgive my indignation if this message comes to you as a surprise and may offend your personality for contacting you without your prior consent and writing through this channel.I got your contact from the proffesional data base found in the internet Yahoo tourist search.When i was searching for a foreign reliable partner.I assured of your capability and reliability to champion this businees opportunity.

After series of prayers/fasting.i was divinely directed to contact you among other names found in the data base Yahoo tourist search.I believe that God has a way of helping who is in need.

I am (Joe Kekabu Esq),the Head of file Department in African developent bank (ADB).
In my department we discovered an abandoned sum of $ 15 million U.S.A dollars ( fifteen million U.S.A dollars) . In an account that belongs to one of our foreign customer who died along with his entire family in (Monday 31st July 2000) in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin to come over and claim his money because we cannot release it unless somebody applies for it as next of kin or relati on to the deceased as indica ted in our banking guidelines, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him at the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I and one official in my department now decided to make this businness proposal to you and release the money to you as the next of kin or relation to the deceased for safety and subsequent disbursement since nobody is coming for it and we donÂ’t want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed bill.The Banking law and guideline here stipulates that if such money remained unclamed after five years, the money will be transfered into the Bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of foreigner as next of kin in this business is occasioned by the fact that the customer was a foreigner, and a Burkinabe cannot stand as next of kin to a foreigner. We agree that 30 % of this money will be for you as foreign partner, in respect to the provision of a foreign account, 10 % will be set aside for expenses incured during the business and 60 % would be for me and my woman colleague. There after i will visit your country for disbursement according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate trnansfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank as relations or next of kin of the deceased indicating your bank name, your bank account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be remitted.Upon receipt of your reply, I will send to you by fax or email the text of the application I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is hitch free and that you should not entertain any atom of fear as all required arrangements have been made for thetransfer. You should contact me on my number 00226-7885 75 97 immediately as soon as you receive this letter. Trusting to hear from you immediately. YourÂ’s faithfully, Joe Kekabu (Esq.)
FROM (ADB) OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.
GOD BLESSINGS,PROTECTIONS AND GUIDIANCE TO YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY.

POST SCRITUM:You have to keep everything secret as to enable the transfer to move very smoothly in to the account you will prove to the bank.As you finished reading this letter call me immediately so that we discuss very well over this business.

If the scammers intend to continue in this business atleast think of something new dude's!!! So many people using the same story kind of tends to reduce its believabilty quotient...wat say u???

help me out guys

I took this pic while crossing vashi bridge.I need a good caption to describe it.Help me out and post your suggestions in the comment box.

An anecdote

 An engineer and a scientist are arguing about the merits of their respective callings.
Finally the scientist uses his trump card and says that engineering depends on pure science thus making science superior. Now there is no way the engg. is taking this stuff lightly, not after all the crap he went through to become one.
He tells the scientist lets have a contest. Whoever wins his field is better.
He holds up a paper plane and asks the scientist if he can predict where it is going to land up to a reasonable degree of accuracy. The scientist agrees.
He goes to his computer, inputs the variables, does a little fancy math and finally decides on a landing spot. The plane is launched and it looks as if the scientist is going to win but at the last moment a gust of air hits and the plane lands a little distance away. Now it is the engineers turn. He draws a small circle near his foot then crumples the plane and drops it in the circle.

Moral of the story: Improvise.And please dont mess with engineer's. They have it bad as it is...

Written while watching Hidalgo and dreaming of living in those rough and ready days

An ode to times past
An ode to wonders ceased
A paean to the times lost
A time and people deceased

A cry from a saddened heart
Of joys never felt nor seen
A dirge from a grieving soul
A longing for the things that have been

The all important reservation topic

Before you think of this article as the rant of another higher caste bourgeois writer let me correct your view. I was brought up in a society which did not harbor the feelings of upper and lower classes in the medieval sense. We were brought up to be much more modern and recognize the upper and lower classes in a strictly financial sense. While in the past the distinction was based on birth, now it is more in the bank balance of your pater familias (father to be proper). Now we recognize the ability of money to eradicate the stigma of lower birth. The great characteristic of this system is that once in a while it allows someone to come from the very ditches and rise to the highest peaks of glory
So now coming to the point I was trying to make is that when the current society is financially biased why perform justice on a birth basis. I can point out several instances of Brahmins serving the so called lower castes and also vice versa. Why then the discrimination on the basis of birth. I say let there be reservation but make them on the basis of current financial state rather than what happened a hundred years ago. By visiting the sins of the fathers on the sons you do not erase the sins of the father nor do justice to the sons. Why then I ask a system based on your birth rather than financial standing?
What the people do not seem to realize is that time is in the form of a forward moving line and that changes in the future have no effect on the past but rather ensure the promulgation of the very caste system we are trying to eradicate. Instead of correcting the mistakes committed by our forefathers we are compounding them by repeating them. At least our forefathers had the solace that they had no past history to teach them; What excuse will we use for condoning our actions?

Press and influence on society

(Quis custodiet ipsos custodies)
The above phrase roughly translates as"Who will watch the watchdogs"

Newspapers are the watchdogs of the new government. They are what give the individual power over the government and over the various forces he could never fight on his own. They keep the gangsters in control; they keep the policy makers in control. You can tell about the health of any society by the freedom it gives its press. To muzzle them is to muzzle the very idea of democracy being the government of the and by the masses. They play the part of Cerberus who not only protected Hades but also protected from Hades. It keeps the proverbial wolf in the form of unrestrained government from your door.
The best defense for the press is also the best offence against it as when the press loses its flexibility and serves other masters than the people then true rot of society sets in. It is similar to when the watchdog turns and bites the master. The press controlled by the powers that be, is as safe as a match on a powder keg; you know its not going to blow up now but eventually someone is going to get the bright idea of using the match and then all hell breaks loose. I don’t say that our politicians are a pack of ravening wolves but they are no puppies either and should be kept away from all things by which they can hurt both themselves and more importantly those around them. To have the press under government control would defeat the very purpose of the press i.e. that of an independent and unbiased reporter of government action; because if we don’t kid ourselves we know that any other issue is just gravy around the meat of governance.

My look at communism(being a Keralite I should,should'nt I)

The basic premise on which the communist ideology is based Is perceived need for equality in a society. I believe that this is the only major place where communism fails to deliver as total equality negates the drive for excelling that is inherently present in man. For a human to function at his peak he requires an incentive or a goal towards which he can direct his vision. In the capitalistic societies like America it is the lifestyles of the rich and famous towards which the people keep aiming. In a still developing nation like India the rural ideal is the life led by zamindars while the urban man fantasizes about the great Indian dream (good house, good car, pretty wife). Now in communist ideology lack of talent is not considered reason enough for a person to lack the “good life”. This sentiment while ideally perfect ensures that ability is similarly not rewarded for existing. This causes the entire structure to collapse as the common man is not concerned with ideologies and is more interested in how the situation can be used to better his standard of living.
For communist ideology to function it is necessary to incorporate the idea of talent being appreciated. The basic premise of communism “to each according to his need rather his ability” has to be modified to be used only for the basics of life (food, basic housing and clothes). For all the other perks of modern living the citizens should have to prove their excellence which once discovered should not go unrewarded. The problem with this is that till this systems can be in place there is going to be period of strife which the society will have to survive as basically we are opposing the instinctive free market ideology every human is born with. Also required are a strong national identity which has to be developed to allow the people to bear suffering for the sake of the nation. It also helps if the people are allowed to practice religion because as Karl Marx said “Religion is the opiate of the masses” and in some situations an opiate is just what people need. The main benefits are reaped if the religion is one which stresses the inevitability of certain events causing less distress amongst the populace. A religion like Hinduism with its focus on the inability of even the gods to alter fate would help by bringing about a feeling of resignation in the crucial first generation. Christianity or Islam fail in the communist context as these religion promise affirmative action on the part of the almighty on behalf of the populace regardless of their previous action (the concept of divine forgiveness is what I mean).
This is just my rough idea and i plan to write moreon this

Heres another movie review

Just when I start to feel that Indian movies will no longer be able to compete in the international market that a movie like “Hazaron khwahishe Aisi” pops up and brings back hope. Imagine a movie with the poignancy of the period of emergency coupled along with a touching love story; all rounded off with a slight dig on the leftist ambitions of the elite class which exists only to assuage their guilt at living in the lap of luxury.

It showcases the life of the “intellectuals” who populated the halls of academia in the late seventies. Though in the start we are against shiney’s character due to his lack of backbone later on in the movie we see that it is the practical action of an unwilling member of the great lower middle class. In the end it is the cynical character who sacrifices it all for his love while the rich boy slides out to “study medicine”.
The music is extraordinary and it requires a heart of stone to not be melted by the last song “Bavra Mann”. It showcases the extreme hopelessness of the protagonists conditions along with the hope in life which keeps us going in the face of extreme suffering. It is a glorious salute to love that conquers all even disability.

It begins!!!

It is said that the world began with the Omkara"the audible manifestation of Om".So who am i to break with established protocol???

I will start with blog by reviewing Omkara-The movie. Let me start of by congratulating the scriptwriters on the amzing job they have done transferring shakespeare to modern day rural politics. they got the flavour of Othello while staying within the framework of rural India. also hats off to Saif for the amazing potrayal of Langda. You can almost sympathise with the cripple even though he is the antagonist. As usual Konkana Sen shows her ability to potray people of other languages without going overboard with it.
The only complaint I have is in the way movies like this shift our view of bollywood. Just when I had convinced myself that our industry is going down the drain a movie like this or "hazaron khwahishe......." pops up and shakes our preconcieved notions.
Hope many such movies are made and we can then think of competing with what hollywood has to offer.