Break the monotony....

I would like to write about a simple but a revealing moment in my life...

About 12 years ago, I used to live and work in Bangalore, used to commute between Shivaji Nagar and a certain place beyond Brigade road, I used to live on one side and work on the other, so I used to see the same road and surroundings everyday, maybe if somebody asked I would say I knew every stone on that way. I never had any vehicle, by far maybe I would be sitting behind on my friends scooter.

One day, we were moving, I mean changing home from Shivaji Nagar to somewhere else, so we hired a small truck, which we loaded with our things and were also sitting in the front side of that truck...we traversed the same road, which I mentioned above.

What I was seeing out of the window was completely different from what I used to see for last each time I walked on that street! It was beyond recognition. The reason, I was sitting at a much higher position from the ground and I could view beyond the compound walls next to the road, which I could not see earlier when I used to walk or ride on a scooter.

This is a very pedestrian thought, but I felt more philosophical at that time and that is the reason I still remember. If we break the monotony and view things around us from a different point of view, maybe there are some interesting results.

Pain and Suffering...

I have most of the times used the above words interchangeably...but I think they are different words with different meanings...Pain is more of a cause and Suffering an mental and psychological effect of it. When I put it that way, then there appears there is a chance to eliminate suffering, right? Let me see...

That is the whole idea of this article...explore thought processes which cause sufferings and try and eliminate those.
I fell down and broke my feet; I failed in my exams; My wife beat me today; I missed my lottery by a single digit...all these can be pains...how our mind perceives these pains and processes will confirm whether I am in suffering or no.

Let us take each example separately and examine; if I broke my feet, there is physical pain associated with it, there is some other issues like, you possibly were in the middle of nowhere, had to find help and get to a nearby medical facility, needed to organize money for repair, blah, blah! All these are actually the add-ons to the actual pain...that is where crisis management comes into scene. Look, falling down was not in your control and the physical pain associated with is not...if we first come to an understanding that this pain will be there, cant help, we need to do what needs to be done 'unemotionally' and in a non self sympathizing mode...then all those things like getting to the hospital and home will happen smoothly...the pain doesn't go away, but it does not become a mental suffering! There are people who can look at breaking the leg as a positive thing, you can simply lay down and watch tv! how many times we get such opportunity...

Failed in an exam again could be your own not studying and writing properly or that dumb professor couldn't understand your handwriting...whatever it is, you cannot do anything about that 'now'...as an add on, there are these problems...you loose your year of growth, your friends go ahead, you have to study the same and write again, etc...well again taking an unsentimental approach...whatever bad had to happen happened...what needs to be done is make up the mind and prepare for the exams, you have lot of time with you, because you are not going to college or work, so here is an opportunity...if best used can turn out to be a gold mine! Look all of us who kept passing the exams, how much of a difference did a year make or for that matter...most of these folks who went to school, college, work, get married, children, one after the other...think that they are in a rat race and never got an opportunity to do anything differently! Here is the opportunity given to somebody who failed. By thinking like this instead of suffering it became a moment of victory!

Similarly..wife beating; guys nothing can be done with this...just lie down and wait for the pain to subside and go and ask sorry because you possibly did something very wrong (which you are not even aware) and things will be normal in a few days! Look we possibly avoided 'n' number of World Wars! This is indeed a positive thing!

So, Boy...it is all in the mind to how to perceive pain and not make it into a suffering!

Now there are another interesting set of sufferings, for which the pain is unfounded!

Today My Boss scolded me in front of everybody else; When my friend came from abroad, he brought a gift for all others but nothing for me!; Me and my son were very close and we got him married and after that he is a very different person, doesn't talk to me all that well!;

In all these the pain and suffering are both created by the mind! Again in all these, the reason for our state is because of somebodyelse's behaviour, which we absolutely don't have any control!

Let us take multiple steps back...who is the most important person in this world? Is it parents? Is it a friend? Is it your child? Is it your life partner?...Who is the most important person to you in this world?

I would say all the above mentioned relationships are very important, but the most important relationship is 'SELF', 'I' This is not a selfish statement, this is the truth! From the beginning to the end if anybody is with you, that is you yourself! and you have to be very compassionate to that person. What do we do with a most important thing in our life, we take care of it with love, we don't want it to get hurt, we don't want it to suffer! That's how we should take care of us.

So leave alone what anybody else does and says to you...because it is their life...you have to only ensure that you will remain happy and undisturbed.

Boss shouted at me...look if there was anything wrong you did, if yes...then that is a valid punishment; you can fix that and go back to your boss, you are better than all the other colleagues who didn't get an opportunity to go from negative to positive, you all know graph measures more when it travels from -1 to + 1 when compared to 0 to +1.

Same with gift...there are n reasons why your friend didn't bring a gift...he could be simply having some grudge against you...then he is not a friend in the first place...or he forgot, even then you cannot do much, but if you truly believe he is your friend you need to forgive and forget!

Since time immemorial, this parents, son, marriage pain and suffering is going on...I think the last time all of them smile and laugh is for that marriage photograph...after that it is all 'no-pain' but suffering!
This is my point of view - parents take care of children all life, they actually start making lot of adjustments in their lives from the time the child comes into their lives...no doubt all these adjustments are done with lot of love and satisfaction. But if you look at it, in a man and woman's life the peak age - 25 to 40 has been spent primarily facilitating the child! They have not seen too many movies, because of home work...not theirs, their children's!! And a lot more such sacrifices. So like the western community...however towards the age of 16-17 the children start the 'hate parents movement'...so let them go and lead their life and we/ you parents resume our/your life! So with this view...if you think 'son got married and doesn't care'...fuck the son for a change...who cares! This is such a self empowering statement...I am not suggesting stop caring for relationships, I am only saying care for yourself more, more than anything else!
Even our mythology says, God resides in all of us; for that firstly we should identify God is within us and we have to take care of him with utmost care and love...each time you suffer, God also suffers!

Eating and not eating Meat...

One more core question to me...I am a glutton when it comes to eating food, I can even say I live because I like eating!!...but I have not eaten meat...that is may be because of my upbringing, family or whatever during early days...but even after I became independent in thought, I couldn't cross over...

...I crossed over many times in my life, I mean I used to do/ say a certain thing in the past and later point of life I said or did the exact opposite...this was because I realized those subjects differently, life made me realize that. In this meat case...my core value to not eat meat is that...normally we don't cause pain or suffering to anybody in our life leave alone killing...or at least try not to, am I right? I need to answer this question 'oppositely' for me to start eating meat.

Now why I am so much talking about myself is to present a question...

There are some comfort giving postulates by meat eaters...basically those animals are there to be eaten; if you don't eat those animals, then there will be imbalance in the ecosystem; are not plants having life, if yes then even that is as good as eating meat; blah blah! (These dont come near to satisfy my above 'core value'. if it did possibly I would have eaten meat and satisfied my eating pleasures further).
Now the question -
Just talking about this ecosystem...the human population is growing alarmingly...so will it happen in 100 or 200 years, to maintain the eco-balance...man will start eating human meat?!

Dont tell me this is happening in Amazon jungles...I am saying will Mc Donald start serving Human finger fries along with french fries :-)

God is a Super Director and our world is his Story!

While answering a question to someone, I hit upon a view point on my favorite subject - God

If one doesn't believe in God! My question is why he/ she doesn't, how can there be no super power, which is making this whole world go around...simple fact which we should agree is nothing can go round, without somebody putting it into an orbit and pressing the start button.

…In this view point, I see God is a Director, like the movie directors on this earth, who are executing their ideas as drama's for us to present case studies of behaviors of a particular character in a particular situation…God is a super director, who is doing something similar…but at a very large scale!!

To lead a good practical life and to be successful at that, it is good that we draw the line between our playground and God's playground and we should not trespass, there is quite a bit to achieve in our playground itself and that is enough...however it gets challenged where ever both the worlds meet – like death of a very close person, whom you don't want to die. What do you do when such a thing happens…For most of the people, when their loved ones are on the death bed and the Doctor says nothing much can be done…they try praying to God! They don't know, if God helps, that is why they don't even re-question God when their prayer fails…common man needs God to live those moments of uncertainty, sorrow!

I do not subscribe to prayers – as I don't know how a character within a drama pray to the director – not to kill another character, because that is what he is intending to do, that is what is his story!

Subhash Nagre cannot pray to Ramgopal Varma, not to kill Shankar in Sarkar Raj! Can he…??

More About Movies

Ramu - Continuing my monologue on a concept called movies (in my own limited knowledge perspective)...

A movie as I discussed earlier, then it all again starts with a thought or a series of thoughts in ones mind...incase we have like minded people around us we will narate and discuss those thoughts and one thing leads to another and we would have conversed for considerable amount of time and dwelt into so many dimensions of a hypothetical situation, at the end of it one derives a certain kind of kick ...it gives the pleasure of becoming aware of certain new dimensions of life

we used to be 5 friends and two of them were always wonder what a terrible waste of time guys we were...when nights are passed and ash trays are filled over conversations...but that is them for them and we for we or each I for an I...

mind and bar table...While this is where it end with most of us, there will be some people, who will have extra passion (kujli) to go further, make a story - either in a form of writing or more popularly an audio visual medium (because writing is more tedious, people talk about grammar, writing ethics, etc...who the hell have read wrenin martin!)...intention of furthering the communication is not that there was a great moral in the story and want to let the world know about it...interest is only in the process of communication; you see what happened on the bar table was a thrill, imagine what could be the thrill factor to make a full 9 yards movie out of it!! immense!!...but leave it, most of us don't get there, at least not me!...

So one few like Ramu will go ahead and create a screenplay...that itself will give another huge kick...and then devices the scenes and sets and actors and locations and heroines and what not...whooww..all this is definitely more than a kick it is an orgasm! Well he obviously needs to find his own money to finance or find a bakara (by bakara I don't mean he will be duped, just used that word for low value necessary attachment), he will be fully aware of what he is funding and he can do whatever he wants to sell this product...even if that means hanging a mannequin in front of theaters...! who cares! at least Ramu shouldn't care even if they are using his face for the mannequin!

In all this narration, in the mind of story communicator or director or movie maker whatever you call...spectators are not discussed, need not be because it is not about them it is all about the story teller and the story! spectators have only discovered that they can have certain kick by watching what they enjoy...it could be a shakeela movie or steven speilberg master piece or multiple any others'...

Sachin Tendulkar plays cricket with certain expertise...he hits a beautiful six, his thrill and pleasure is from the way he could effect that stroke so successfully; spectators 'millions in number' will jump at that; India wins a match; surprisingly I am able to see all these as disparate worldly happenings.

So to sum it up in any particular worldly cause and effect situation...everybody have their own interests...nobody is doing anything for anybody else...or if we break it down that way - there is nothing in this world which anybody does anything for anybody other than themselves!

Movie Reviews: What the hell is that - first of all it is not a gold or a diamond or steel which have some tangible properties which can be certified and verified...so this drama of review is all bullshit, Let us retrace the basic premise - I as a movie maker will make what I want to make...I don't care about public; the same ' I' as a spectator, will have deep inside me defining my pleasure points (known only to me) and will watch what I want to watch, I don't care about the movie maker...so it is such a joke that somebody inbetwen these both want to have his stake.

Infact just now thinking I will say there can be a purpose - in a way they can outline the story (in the best of their abilities, not with high funda english but by simply telling what they saw), not making opinions, because that doesn't have any meaning...and I will then watch a movie to see the journey of the story, to experience it; this is true even with suspense themes...what the hell, I can watch Sixth Sense again even though I know Bruce Wills is a ghost...!

Sachin hit 6 sixes in a match is story telling, explaining all the nuances which Ravi Shastri does is bullshit...that should be best left to public, they will enjoy if they have that defined in them as thrill ! can Ravi Shashtri affect Sachin playing cricket, does he enhance public enjoying that stroke above and beyond what Sachin has done??

Amma Cheppindhi & Aakashamantha

There are 2 movies, I want to pour upon - Amma Cheppindhi and Aakashamantha...First Amma Cheppindhi - This is a story about a family, where there are mother father and 2 boy children...one of the boy is kind of childish in life, the other one is smart like rest of the kids. Father is sort of a scientist and mother is her usual role model mother types. Father detests this lagging child, who though in teens is the under developed. (However he sings songs and all that so I kind of think, he just wanted to have fun in life rather becoming serious!!)

Towards the climax, there is a bomb scare and apparently the flag post has bomb set in it and everybody is scared to take the flag along with the post and run far...actually they need a suicide de-bomber...and one thing leads to another and the 'role model' mother coxes this fun son to take the flag and run (not telling there is bomb in it) the son, knows knowingly runs with it and dies! because his mother has told, that is Amma Cheppindhi (Mother told)

That was a shocking experience for me...forget role model, she is not even the worst mother...but on a mother's day any year there are at least 2 channels playing this movie...as a tribute to motherhood! Please care to explain to me what am I missing or I short skilled like the hero of the movie!!
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And Aakashamantha...I think these days everybody is making this over loving father and daughter movies...and for some reason most of them find Prakash Rai as an ideal father (in real life he couldn't keep up with his wife...! that can only mean he is one hell-of-a actor another thing about his last name - he comes from a Rai family in Mangalore...but because people in his adopted land cannot comfortably pronounce Rai, he changed it to Raj! how shallow! He should have atleast thought about the other popular Rai, who even after marriage retains it as her middle name and even she works in his adopted land!!). Well now...here there is a father mother and a daughter...the journey begins from the birth of this baby girl. Mother is normal, but father Prakash Rai is obsessively loving his daughter...well I can relate this very well, I can be that! (That is the reason I have been waiting and ultimately saw this movie) Now being so obsessed is very romantic...so the movie provides that beautiful ride through their life and the daughter growing up into beautiful Trisha! The movie has some eye wetting moments like - On Prakash's birthday at midnight Trisha takes the father on a boat to the middle of lake with moon shining and says happy birthday with a cake...I would not mind dying for such a moment with my boy! and the other where baby Trisha gets a street side beggar home, because he has not eaten and fainted and not just asks father for feeding but forces them to accept him living with them...parents accept! such a golden heart!

Now the movie being such a sensitive emotional ride, I was expecting it to head towards a similar ending...but

It continues to proceed...as expected by Trisha falling in love with her MBA friend...(director choose to make this guy so special that even Prime Minister calls him!!) wants to marry and none of this things are discussed with the eternal friend - father...father is sulking in jealous and 'loss of love' status for some time, but all the glory of this groom like PM connection and he being good in nature will make him succumb and let the marriage and everything happen uneventful.

Well maybe most of the viewers didn't feel anything wrong with the happening...this is what happens in zillion homes each time a daughter gets married. But let me tell those zillion fathers, their relationship with their daughters was not as Prakash Rai's and Trisha's relationship was...this was mush more than what Kamal and Sridevi shared in Sadma (well! here I am not differentiating between love between a man and a women and father and daughter...let me write this some other time separately...but I dont believe there are multiple kinds of love if at all there is love it is only one type of love be it parent child or whatever else.); and if in Sadma, Kamal became mad when Sridevi went away, why/ how did Prakash Rai take it that lightly!! How can the director trivialize the agony of father which was anyway shown for sometime when he learns of his daughters love...by just making it look like any father's general daughter's marriage anxiety like - how will the new guy take care of her daughter and all that!!
This is a typical KLPD in the end...It looks like our director found a book in Balchandar's private library but the last few pages were torn and as he liked the story he decided to build the last 10 pages...

Clarity in thinking

Open letter to Ramgopal Varma...

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Ramu,

However much you give a damn about anybody else it would be interesting for you to give a 'practicing clarity of thought' lecture in a certain philosophy school.

Much in my younger days, I had told my friend - If at all one is talking truth, he need not care about memory, because if a same question is asked 10 years apart, he will give the same answer. It is all about ones clarity of thinking and being self truthful. While I possibly said that more theoretically, I have not seen anybody who is that as much closer as you are to attaining clarity of thought.

People flock at your blog or RGV has actually become a phenomenon...much of this is I think incorrectly attributed to the way you present/respond - you write or say the exact unexpected (or in a way only expected from RGV)...like that guy who asked you the question about the Akhri Rastha pirated cd's...in this common altruistic world, most of them would have -1. avoided that question, 2. intelligently answer + don't answer, 3. Lie; but RGV will not do any of this, he will not only accept that but will also accept that there were porn cd's...well you made his day...he got his fill or RGV for his life...... Well! what I am telling is while all this kind of response is pulling crowds, but the real stuff is the core of RGV (I kinda think of you as Frisco in the way you have fun with people at large, never get them know what is the core RGV)...that clarity of thinking which he has achieved and when I say you should lecture to somebody who are learning in school, there cannot be anybody better than you to walk the talk...but why do you care!

Movies - As your definition is most apt - a conversation...you device some of your interesting mental conversations as movies, a conversation can be interesting or not interesting or both based on persons with whom you are having it. A conversation cannot be a hit or a flop, but maybe here is the only difference, where the movies differ from the conventional conversation...but again for the person who is picturing his thoughts it should only bother if he was able to successfully communicate his thoughts or no, as long as he did, he can go and have his vodka. Anyway that reminds me of the Hari Katha lore in villages in India and one of the proponents of that art form - Chaganti Koteswara Rao...is a very successful story teller, in fact you don't even want a visual medium to get the picture in mind. audio is enough! that is the power of some of the effective communicators. So in that sense, only you have the right to give your self an award to either an Agyath or a Aag or Satya based on what you intended to say and what you achieved.

There were 2 movies released around the same year...Kabhi Alvida Nahin...and Nishabd, in that order and there is a dialogue in the former - Maut aur Mohabath...dono bin bulaye mehmaan hai and I felt what took Karan such a large canvas and more than 3 hrs to say was accomplished by you much successfully in Nishabh, kinda straight talk...again it can just me who understood it that way, others might have thought it in a different way and may be even you don't think so...that is possibly corollary benefit of this medium, each one sees what he wants to see.

Coming back to my initial point, I know you are a rare commodity, and even if you damn care about others, must speak at a academic philosophy forum...

regards

mANNAr

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