"ONCE" Upon a Time!

“Once” , within the first five minutes, makes you forget whether you have an extra pair of clean socks for tomorrow’s work or whether you should leave the vessels in sink postponing dishwasher duty. 

It transports you into the streets of Dublin making you a part of struggling guitarist life playing for money as well as testing his skill in music. You smell the streets he is playing in and you feel the pain in his songs. The movie is shot in handheld camera which adds to the power of this extraordinary storytelling. 

The protagonist is not given a name, neither his love interest and you realize that you don’t care as you understand them at a deeper level in your heart. The story of “Once” is about a struggling guitarist’s friendship with a Czech woman who plays the piano and helps him with his lyrics. This friendship starts with the mutual admiration of talent with the guitarist asking at the end of first date if he could sleep with her. It is in this scene that you realize the depth of the characters, the awkwardness, elegance and our choices in times of loneliness.  The Czech lady rejects him without angry outbursts or sad storming out from his room. She tells him a simple, firmest, NO. The character of Czech lady is that of a simple, extremely straight forward, self contained,honest hardworking,realistic woman.  Marketa Irglova, the lady who plays the Czech woman, transcends beyond her nationality and reminds you why we watch movies. 

Having removed sex from the equation, the guitarist makes up for his lapse wanting a true friendship, learning she has a daughter and mother living with her. She helps him with his lyrics and they develop their unpretentious love for each other. 

Is it Love ?a shoulder to lean on each other ? creative energy  and mutual admiration of each other ? or just plain companionship in the lonely world ? Perhaps its a mixture of all those things that makes this movie GREAT! And every mood is captured in the songs they sing whose lyrics make you pause, reflect and quietly stirs your melancholy. 

Perhaps the Greatness of this movie lies in the fact that it is so strongly rooted in reality with the Guitarist still pining for his lost girlfriend and the Czech lady knowing she has a husband back in her home country,yet, you see this rare, connected, untarnished friendship that can be called nothing short of love develop between these two artists who has portrayed it so honestly that you are right there with them in every scene. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova truly lives their characters making you believe them every moment on screen and making you yearn for them to be together. 

The Guitarist records his album and goes to London for better opportunities. The Czech lady’s husband comes to Dublin. Their love lingers in their music through the piano the Guitarist gifted the Czech lady and you are left with a lump in your throat at the end yet you are happy for having been a part of their lives. 

Art is best when it imitates life! Life is empty without Art!

“Once” is pure art reflecting hard Life, hard choices, capturing tender moments that sink deep into our hearts long after the movie has ended! 

It is a rare gem that happens only “once” in a very long time!

 

Nodding Chair!

Nodding Chair! I used this phrase for first time, trying to explain the 20 members in the meeting room that it was not the sound of cuckoo being strangled by its neck but my chair scratching its butt..more precisely its leg on the floor!

For the rest of Hanuman tail meeting which is basically a meeting to talk about what we will do in future meetings, which is scheduled after three hours from this meeting, i wondered about “Nodding Chair” phrases. “Sleepy couch” sounds appropriate. It doesn’t belong to “Nodding Chair” oddity in its sound. I remember when my proficiency of the english language was less sophisticated than it is at present, my favourite used to be “Rotating Head” whenever i gotta migraine. 

While the Director was fudging the numbers and showing profit, i wondered about “Piss me off”. Sometimes when u got too much time and you have no access to caffeine, the strong, often times knowing reassuring phrases doesn’t make sense. How can u piss ME off ? and why would it be an irritating utterance ? If at all, it should be Piss me ON- so there is a threat that I might unzip and piss on him. But off ? that just doesn’t sound right. I think it must just  “Piss off” asking him to hold his piss. Now..that is one filling up..torture. Cheney, forget about waterboarding. Try “Water holding”. Serves them right for “pissing you ON”!

The English language ofcourse has other enticing, aesthetic, soul filling phrases. 

“O Thou invisible spirit of Wine,if thou hast no name,let us call thee devil” (written when Shakespeare tasted a cocktail of Martini mixed with two shots of rum, one shot of vodka and three shots of tequila, which Daniel Craig borrowed in Casino Royale). The Thou..hast..thee..lines are the best cure of insomnia. I recommend reading Doctor Faustus by Marlowe if Shakespeare can’t shake your eyes. People who spoke in those times must have been very polite. Although if you go through history, more people were killed during those times. I mean they carried their weapons in their hips..and rode horses. Imagine then..jumping up and down...without automatic secure lock for their guns. Riding their horses with lashes on the back of poor animal screaming “Hyah...! Hyah.....!” and then suddenly when the pissed ON horse jumps up “Dishooom....!”.

Their last words must have been “Thou..shalt fucked ye hast no balls but gunpowder smelleth..Amen!” 

Coming back to “Nodding Chairs”, “Scrotching Underwear” comes real close to perfect phrase to explain the scratching itch! All Superheroes have that problem..except the one true hero who showed how to avoid that problem....a la..Clark Kent...Superman..who eliminated the scrotch itch by shamelessly showing off his undies in front which made for in both speed and performance(lucky Lois Lane). If ever there was a running race err...flying race between Spider Man, Superman, Han-cock(maybe there is no hyphen there) and  Batman, the winner is scrotchless itchless underwear less(but Underwear front) Superman, hands down!

The next one is “Shaken but stirred”! Made famous by Mr.Bond..himself but more appropriate for California dwellers due to the constant earth quakes. Am sure the electronic retailers can borrow that and coin “Retuned but restocking fee’d”. I am sure the married brigade would re-phrase it as “Married but screwed!”. 

Perhaps the one phrase that still rings in my head to hold on and stare at my director who still thinks i am ACTUALLY intently listening inspite of my Mungerilal expression is, “Yes I CAN, TWO MORE MINUTES for Lunch!”

Rahmaniac Moments!

And the Golden Globe for Best Original Music Score goes to AR Ruumen!

They might have bungled the name. They might have been as surprised as everyone else knowing Clint Eastwood was in the nomination ballot. In the end, it was hindi music that resonated in Beverly Hilton last evening. AR Rahman representing over billion people accepted the award for his individual genius! A Rahmaniac moment that is now part of another proud Indian moment!

No! It is not an approval from west that we seek. It is more of an acceptance of talent at global level!

For 16yrs, Rahman has engulfed us with his music and strangely each one of us has our very own life moments entwined with Rahman’s music. At the end of day, it is not the awards that one remembers but how his music intersperse our very own life moments. Nostalgia wouldn’t exist without them.

I remember my first “Rahmaniac” moment.

It was 1992. For the first time in the history of my hostel, Eighty kids ranging from 7 to 17, are completely silent and transfixed at the TV screen for four minutes and twenty seconds. The song that was playing on screen was “Chinna Chinna Aasai(yeh hain chota sa)” song from Roja. A new kind of sound. A new kind of rhythm. A unique interlude. At the end of it, we were all smiling at each other. We knew we were transported into a new realm that we had not experienced before.

Every fun moment from there on with friends involved his beats, rhythms and mesmerizing tunes. There was water bottle throws with “Humma Humma”(Bombay) during India losing their world cup matches.  The blaring “Urvashi…Take it Easy”(Kaadhalan,Hum Se Hain Muqabla) from the corner tea shop directed at girls walking into college. Mindless Dancing on top of the theatre seat to “Tanha Tanha” (Rangeela) feasting on Urmila Matondkar running on the beach (a la desi Baywatch moment)! Whistling non stop to jiving girls in "Usilampatti PenKutty" in college festival! And finally, our very own “slumdog” moment with “Pettai Rap” in dorm room! College wouldn’t have been so memorable without Rahman!

When you are in love, Rahman’s melodies have a way of exploring deep into your own emotions that seems to move with the waves of his keyboard. The stillness and depth in “Nahi Saamne” (Taal), the sereneness in “Swasame”(Thenali) , the high notes mixed with aching voice in “Khamoshi Raat”(Thakshak) forms a perfect background to your own love story.

The summer of 2006 was unusually hotter in Atlanta than the previous summers. Taking refuge in the mall theatre, we settled on a heist movie, "Inside Man". There was a bunch of desi college kids who sat on the side row and wouldn't shut up even after the trailers started. However, as the movie started, there was a surreal, out-of-body experience for both of us. The sound and image on screen did not match each other. The sound was "Chaiyya Chaiyya" song going full blast in Dolby surround sound but the images are that of a van moving in Brookyl bridge with Clive Owen in it! As we looked at each other, the common indian bond stood up with pride as we clapped together, as if to tell everyone, "THAT'S OUR SONG"! 

A quintessential memorable moment made possible by Rahman! 

Perhaps the most profound Rahmaniac moment is how Rahman leaves you with a lump in your throat every time you listen to “Maa Tujhe Salaam”(thai manne vanakkam-Tamil)! After 22 years, I was displaced from my India to US . Without Rahman soothing this displaced soul with "Yeh Jo Des Hain Mera"(Swades), "Tamizha Tamizha"(Bharath Humko-Roja) and many others,life outside India wouldn’t be same!  

There are few indians who transcend and transport you by their sheer skill, patriotism and above all, weaving art from "heart"!

Tendulkar, Manirathnam and Rahman are those individuals for me! 

Go Rahman! 

Grab the Oscar for us! 

And even if you don't, A BIG Thank You for being part of our very own moments!

Tagged to Tell!

I am finally getting to a tag by Priyamvada. I apologize for the delay but I hope this makes up for it!

The most enticing part of this tag is that you really don’t have to think, “again”!

It is a link to post five of your previously written blogs relating to the keyword “5 people who you have already met on earth”...or is it five people who irritate you the most….umm...i think it is…five people you love to hate…lets just settle with five groups of folks...you are stuck with...some with choice...some without your choice. (Alrite...the keywords are Friends (your choice), Family (not your choice), yourself (stuck with it), your love (she is stuck with u) and anything you love (your escape pods)).

You always start with Family and Friends just to make them feel good for putting up with your bullshit!

The one that gives a window into my life is the one I wrote when I reached my big 30.

After watching the great many “last rites” scenes from “Gandhi”, “Indira Gandhi”, “Rajiv Gandhi” and “MGR” funeral, and also feeling morbid when I was admitted for Kidney stones (two jugs of beer apparently for the cure), I wrote “How many would attend your Funeral ?. Apart from these two, I rarely write about family or friends unless a tag from respected blogger forces me to oblige, like this one .

I don’t think I have written anything about me in a blog but the intelligent reader can always figure out who I am from all of my blogs and you all hope I become too famous so you can write a biography and make some money off it! (ohh...i love being narcissistic).

Blogs about love! Now, who can escape not aching in love, not wanting a certain kind of love, not cherishing the polarities in your love, not pining for your lost love, not pondering why certain triggers makes you breakdown in pain!

Love is a paradox with simple solution of accepting your self, loving your self and above all forgiving your self!

I am a pure Gemini which means you never know which twin you are going to meet at any given point of time!
Like any true desi, I love Cricket and I love Cinema!

The milestones in my life is remembered by the movies I watched in those years. I love to share my thoughts on movies that have been satisfying and not so satisfying!

I enjoy writing on things that are not so significant but they fill up our daily life!

I am also a passionate patriot (maybe Obama will borrow this line ;) )! I wonder about Desi and Un-desiness, the immigrant vacuum, the search for home, the search for Utopia, the root cause of racism. It is these epiphanies in your life that makes you move on with wonder and hope inspite of all the cynicism surrounding you!

Hope you enjoy these blogs as much as i have enjoyed sharing them!

I am supposed to tag 5 more people for this topic! All my old blogger friends rarely blog nowadays (like me)! Nevertheless, i will tag them to see if they come out of hibernation.
Pincushion,
Jessica,
Lotus Reads,
Purple Breeze,
Phantasmagoria.

Blindness of Color! Part One

It’s a poignant moment in the movie. You are enthralled and wondering who will be revealed as the traitor. And suddenly, you hear a huge laughter behind your seat. You turn to find three South-Asian college kids talking so loud that you wish you had your baseball bat with you. You tell them to be quiet which they don’t listen but the incident remains with you.

You are at a restaurant where the African-American waitress doesn’t give you the service you deserve. In fact, she is not only giving you a poor service but also condescending. You realize your evening with the family has just been ruined.

You enter the best retail store for suits. Three Caucasian men pass by without offering to help you but you notice they are attending to people who have entered the store after you.

You are standing on a red light and an illegal Hispanic driver halts to a screech and hits your bumper. He has no insurance and your insurance company raised your monthly rates for no fault of yours.

Every instance above has nothing to do with race but somehow they end up being everything to do with race.

When you live in a multi-cultural environment, there seems to be an invisible scorecard against each race. Our lenses are filled with collective prejudices and stereotypes which seem to make a constant impression on our psyche no matter how much we try.

For long I have wondered,
What is defined as racism?
Who should be called as racist?
Why do we judge people?
Is it Narrow mindedness?
Or is it harsh truth?

As you dig through the layers of your psyche, you reach the core of your existence and analyze how you judge people. What is the key factor that determines your judgment? What makes you trust someone and loathe someone else?

Like a man who didn’t turn back and realized he had a tail all along, it hits you!

Patterns!

Patterns of behaviors.
Patterns of faces.
Patterns of experience.

It is patterns that make you like certain faces instinctively. It is patterns that make you wary about certain others. Instincts are developed by past patterns.

Every experience deposits goodwill or ill will. You soak the person’s color, origin, height, weight and his “energy meter” with you with each experience. As you grow, this pattern database grows building your internal “prejudices/stereotypes” based on your “limited” experience. Among these interactions with other race (even your own), some are people you know and some you don’t. When you don’t know the person, the only attributes that gets into your database are his/her physical features including color.

What every person belonging to any race doesn’t realize is that, there is a social ripple effect when they behave badly. When they behave badly in public, the ripples are larger. They might be sowing the seeds of discontent for first time in someone’s mind or reassuring someone’s already prejudiced experience with that race. It is not necessary that racial judging happens only with someone from other race. People in the same race loathe at the behaviour of their own kind as they worry they will be branded the same way. Bad public behaviour accelerates racist tendencies more than anything in this world.

Is it possible not to judge someone by their color when you know there is a big reservoir of experiences and opinions from your own life regarding them? Not initially. That someone has to prove beyond doubt that they don’t fit the pattern in your head. You are forced to prove to them that their idea of generalization is wrong. I don’t blame them for assuming “I will also fit a certain pattern according to their experiences or knowledge or lack of it regarding a certain race”. But I will be disappointed if they continue to judge me based on it, inspite of proving otherwise. Now, that person is what I would call a “Racist”. Someone who can’t get beyond his initial prejudices, and see the person for who he really is!

Perhaps that is the challenge. To be open minded inspite of our personal experiences and give every individual a chance they deserve irrespective of where they come from and retain the awareness that every seed has the potential to grow different and bigger and stronger than its previous generation.

We can’t get rid of the patterns but we can be aware of the fact that your patterns and reasoning have holes in them. You don’t have to judge every individual based on it and give everyone a fair chance!

At the end of day, we are all Humans!

Ambivalent Hearts!

Is it staying for others or leaving for oneself?

Is it fear of change or search of dreams?

Is it killing a baby or Right to a woman’s body?

Is it killing for human crimes or crime on human life?

Is it technology for connecting people or tool for disconnecting society?

Is it acting on your instincts or denying with reason?

Is it Love marriage or arranged acceptance?

Is it happy ignorant people or smart unsatisfied Minds?

Is it exhilarating passion or calm daily existence?

Is it achieving a goal or enjoying each moment?

Is it Heart or Mind?

Is it Love or Sex?

Is it People or Money?

Is it Character or Skill?

Is it Past or Future?

Is it Questions or Decisions?

Is it right or wrong?

Is it me or you?

Perhaps, it is not supposed to be clear. Perhaps, the mystery is the ambivalence. Perhaps, life itself means existing in ambivalence, choosing a balance between choices; sometimes left extreme; sometimes right, and in the end, choosing a path which feels right in the moment without regrets.

Tagged - 8 Random facts about me !

When the tagging-cycle continues and reaches you, you always wonder, how did they come up with the number ? 5 things you remember, last 7 times you messed up, 9 places you would visit if you had money. But with this one, i love the number 8. It's an even number. It somehow doesn't sound threatening, almost, takes a backseat. It sure sounds a lot but has a humbleness to it. So, before i digress more, and knowing atleast there is one person who will read this who tagged me (thanks Priya), let me jump into it.

Random Fact 1 - I talk the way i write. I write the way i think. I talk whatever i think which lot of folks around me don't appreciate much ;)

RF2 - I abbreviate wherever possible.
"How's ur day going buddy ?"
"SSDD"
"Mine is MSSDD"
"Good for u..YMFTYT".
For notes, refer below.

Randon Fact 3 - I grew up without my dad and my wife grew up without her mom. That difference is glaring to our friends as they ask her about taxes, how to hook different cables behind the HDTV and directions while they come to me for "Why do u think Tamilians always talk in English with fellow Tamilian ? " kinda stuff.

Random Fact 4 - I have very less BS tolerance. Towards most things in life. Movies, People, and Procedures (except INS, you can't mess up there).

Random Fact 5 - I used to have huge authority problems and blamed it on my rebelliousness but it is slowly vanishing as I am the Boss now and have begun to appreciate even Bush ;)

Random Fact 6 - I hate others judging anybody and feel it is my responsibility to judge others :)
I blame such dichotomies on Linda Goodman's definition of Geminis.

Random Fact 7 - I don't do well with quiet people even though i am extremely attracted to their ability to be quiet which often times i have realized it is because they are stupid and dont have much to contribute(although the exceptions are of the "I am so full ..so i dont have to spill" kinds).

Random Fact 8 - I HATE those who don't laugh at my jokes and think i am not that funny. I can forgive them even if they hide my tv remote but not laughing at my jokes gets me really riled up ;)

Now, since I haven't blogged much this year and not sure who is reading this anymore,i propose the first 8 readers of this blog to continue the tag and not break the holy circle of Third Series Worshippers :)


Here is all the wonderful expansions:
SSDD - Same Shit Different Day
MSSDD - More of the Same Shit Different Day
YMFTYT - You're More Fucked Than You Think
BS - Bull Shit

Ensoy!