Udaan—Flying Higher-some hiccups!!

Let there be no doubt about this. Udaan is a magnificent film. In fact it is perhaps the most important direction—finder of Hindi films for a long long time. With a spate of crisp stoytelling like Aamir, A Wednesday, Mumbai Meri Jaan, in recent times, our appetites were being whetted. Udaan shows how Hindi films are maturing.Directors are now writing and filming their stories—and they are not being pressurised to take stars, include dances, stage violent ‘Ackshun!!’, and incorporate unnecessary songs and unrealistic costumes.

There is a story here of a teenager growing up with an autocratic and mentally depraved father. The father’s Hitlerian approach and his conception of a mard smacks of mental deficiencies, and in an effort to bolster up the story, Ronit Roy is made larger than life, though stopping short of a caricature. Jamshedpur men, as we would believe from this film assault their wives and children, drink, and do not care for the Arts, even if they study in the best schools of India. And the one man who betrays some humanity from the older generation is the one who is impotent.

This tinkering with the script would have us believe that the best way of having a good time, is to sneakily take the family car, steal money from your father’s wallet, go to a bar, drink, deliberately get into fights, stick out your body from a car, wave your arms and curse repeatedly at the top of your voice. And a father will  consider his son as a Macho Mard only if they smoke, drink and have sex by the age of 17!!!!!!!

Is it mandatory for films (Three Idiots etc) to deliberately ignore the millions of hard working parents who sacrifice all their lives so that their children can have a better, financially assured life, and who do not curse, drink, smoke, marry repeatedly,and beat up their children. Flying (Udaan) requires training, knowledge and skill which a boy of 17 does not have.And persons who do badly at school. will NOT get into a decent college. Certainly not in premier Arts Courses of premier Colleges. So, there is a necessity for the children also to assume some responsibility and accountability to their parents.I cannot imagine a parent not visiting his son for e-i-g-h-t years!!!! Another cinematic licence to bolster up the need for Rohan(the protagonist) to break rules deliberately and get expelled.

However, these are aberrations in a film of sublime directorial touches—the recurring barbed wire in front of Ronit Roy’s(Rohan’s Father) house is a case in point. The daily ritualistic race to the house, and Rohan’s final winning run away from his father’s clutches.—is another. The failure of the car to start at one go is wisely used in the climax seen. Jamshedpur has never been portrayed so well.The mix of hard work, hard drinkers, hard disciplinarians, in a palpably small town setting is sometimes frighteningly accurate. The high point of the boy smashing his father’s old irritating car could have come better as an apex of a vertex of small frustrations piling up till something broke at the top. Again , one is left wondering, whether the director believes that smashing your father’s car is a valid option of protest—because there is a distinct possibility, after this film, of a number of teenagers  subjecting their parent's vehicles to the scrapheap.

Vikramaditya Motwane, the director and class friend of Abhisekh Bacchan(really!!!!) scores full marks in the casting department. Rohan( Rajat Barmeccha) is disarmingly innocent faced who switches from his rebel behaviour to a talented wannabee writer with consummate ease. When he is on the receiving end of his father’s ire—his demeanour brings lumps to the throats of the middle aged Moms in the audience. The child actor ( Aayan Boradia) who plays Arjun , Rohan’s stepbrother is one of the finest selections in Indian films with touches of  Shekhar Kapoor’s Masoom boy Jugal Hansraj. But the acting honours are taken away by Ronit Roy in a role of a lifetime. Undertoned voice, lurking danger in his eyes and demeanour, supremely fit at his age, restless, intense, one track mind, obsessed with male macho image, and yet in his own misguided way trying his best for his sons and yet feeling defeated by them in a competition to get attention from their mothers.Ronit treads the swaying wire between a caricature and a believable oversized ,larger than life character with aplomb. His brother’s role is enacted with  great skill by Ram Kumar who shows remarkable sensitivity and underplays to form a perfect foil to the hyper reacting Ronit.What a wonderful talent pool of actors are being wasted by Bollywood and their masala films with their terrible masala recipe….

The greatest achievement of the Director was that never, even once did he let the film drift. That is why, there  are no female actors except in absentia –no dances, no lipped songs, no distractions or deviations.

Music Director Amit Trivedi  did not create any memorable songs. Cinematographer Mahendra Shetty was competent and did capture the essence of Jamshedpur. However shots sometimes were ill lit and very stock shottish.The print at INOX Swabhumi Kolkata had as much as 6 black screens!!! If this is also in the best prints, then the Editor, Dipika Kalra has done a bad job.  These type of shoddy prints could have ruined this film. But it flies too high—albeit with a few hiccups—a magnificent lighthouse to millions of viewers and budding directors and scriptwriters.

Inscrutable smiles

What is common to The Sphinx, Mona Lisa, Buddha, and Manmohan Singh? This quiz question could stump a few, but the answer of all things, is the title above.

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Most people smile most of the time , which is a tribute to their goodness. Some smile incessantly, which makes them look silly and recognised as a permanent asker-for-favours person.

Some never smile at all—because they considered smiling as a letting down of the guard. But EVERYBODY gives the inscrutable smile at some time or other—when they smile but that smile has nothing to do with their inner feelings.

When do we give the inscrutable smiles? Mostly when you are not listening to what the other person is saying. Yet you are too polite to turn your face away. So you smile (some may say that is a vacuous smile) and think about more important things.

(see the central lady in black)

The other time is when you are in a crowd and hardly know anyone. Your smile can change instantly when someone recognises you and become a welcoming grin—or if not recognised, quickly change into a neutral expression. Most people in a crowd are actually in this mode and it is quite revealing to see the variety of these inscrutable smiles in these gatherings.

(See the lady in red behind the man in the bandana)

The inscrutable smile is very much in display in group photos of famous personalities among the background persons. Knowing fully well that the focus is on the star , others smile without interest but smile they do, otherwise they may fall into the bad books of the star.

(Note the lady in blue at the back)

Obviously the most inscrutable smiles come from actors when they are confronted by photographers at a social gathering.  In a photo shoot they do everything that the photographer requires, but in these “free-shoot” situations, they give these inscrutable smiles and nothing else (i.e. when they are not arguing with or hitting them).

The law enforcers like policemen smile like that when they cop you on a blank morning for something which you  have not done. the bank official gives that smile when you start arguing with them over their faulty services, and the doctor has to do so for most of his clinical patients, because he is not sure what news the XRay or blood count may give.

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The animals of course are past masters at these. See the picture below.

In brief, do perfect the inscrutable smile. It will stand you in good stead!!!!!!

The Issue of Disresponsibility

Many times we dither between taking responsibility for an action. If it is work that we have done directly and solely, then we have to take responsibility and face the consequences –beneficial or harmful. If we have not done the work properly, we are deemed to be irresponsible. We are not good enough to have taken up the job. We have failed to perform according to certain standards.

Being responsible is a terrific burden on a person. Superiors just love them. Many persons therefore try and avoid it by showing disinterest or nonavailability.

However there are certain areas in which we should have taken responsibility, but we did not—either due to passivity or laziness or because we did not feel like it. There are also certain areas, where we have no choice but to step in and take responsibility. For example, how can we avoid being a parent or a son or a daughter?? How can we stop being a doctor or an engineer or a Minister or an economist? Can we be a professional for 16 hours and unprofessional and nonprofessional (another debatable word) for 8 hours??

When we do not take responsibility and evade or avoid it, I propose the word “Disresponsible”. I also toyed with the word “Unresponsible”.

However, I immediately ran into a roadblock. Many dictionaries (Oxford and Cambridge et al) do not have these words. The Urban Dictionary however recognises one. Unresponsible is defined as :-

An entity which denies responsibility simply by the act of claiming they are not responsible, whereas from other logical reasonings they would take responsibility. Unresponsible is not responsible, but still should be.

Disresponsible isn't defined yet.

So what is disresponsible?

It is basically being disinterested in taking responsibility or in some cases disowning responsibility. It is a slinking away. Unresponsible  is a positive action of walking away from taking responsibility and not merely avoiding it.

You are walking down the road and see two people being killed by a group of murderers. You know that taking responsibility for intervention will be dangerous, time consuming and counterproductive. Besides it is the job of the authorities to enforce law and order. So you become disresponsible and walk away.

You see the neighbour’s teenaged son taking drugs, and do not tell his parents. You avoid responsibility for being a good social person because you are not sure what the reaction would be.

You see your best friend being corrupt and avoid informing any one. Your friend gives enough indication  of his irritation as you indirectly broach the topic. You do not want to break a friendship and yet you act disresponsibly as a friend.

You see your associate cheating his family by carrying out an illicit relationship. Do you inform his wife? You do not reason with him for he will simply deny it and accuse you of being nosy. You let things drift. You are acting disresponsibly.

If you look at the big scenario, then you are acting disresponsibly for a significant part of your life. Yet this disresponsible part is an integral part of  your life.

How can you ignore it in real life, and not put it in the language that we use? 

On Rental

Have you ever got a feeling, specially as you age that you are on rental?

Your life is of limited tenure, your professional skills may  change gradually, your relationships grow beyond and away from you, your thinking capabilities show diminished multitasking abilities, and you look at your journey having slipped over the midway line.

It makes sense that we are on rental. We cannot buy life forever, simply because there is no offer from the landlord. As we grow older, the value of life depreciates. Insurance premiums are raised, and many schemes are denied.  All employers seek those who are below 40. Air hostesses instinctively keep a hand outstretched to prevent a fall. Even on the roads, Kaku changes to Jethu and then onto Dadu. And the media reports with a horrendous glee of so many mishaps during the day. Life is getting cheaper.  Economists feel that rental is the way to go in the future. There is a wide variety of choices.

Your professional status is bought by the client. He determines your value and so your rent. This is true in the Private Sector. Government employees get fixed salaries. They are incapable of  getting higher rent. Their value is fixed by someone who does not know them and in accordance with some archaic directive.

See how cameras are being rented.Photographers need avenues of publication. So the freelancer tries to sell in the market and in a sense , the market or buyers rent him for a while.The professional sportsmen are also rented , even guys like Sachin Tendulkar. All the products he associates with, have in a way rented him and all the logos he exhibits are using him by paying a fee. The amateur exhibits wherever he can. He is trying to be rented for peer appreciation.

Apart from houses, cars, computers, furniture, DVDs and anything you can think of, even uteruses, human blood or parts of human bodies are available for rent. is there any relationship rental?

Do we rent our parents, at least on a timeshare basis? Or are we in a way, renting our children? Though there is a strong emotional level, is there a economic rental also? Or is this only timeshare rental?

Rental has its advantages. No one owns anyone. After a certain time when it suits one partner, they can walk out, leaving a window through which they may or may not come back. Rental rates are lower than outright purchases. It is better to think of relationships on rental basis. Then there will be less of heartaches and emotional baggage. There will be infinitely less recrimination and anger.

Life will be of small segments of rentals—for better or for worse!!!!!

Listen to this saucy, irreverent song from the film RENT!!!!

Take me for for what I am !!!!!!

ENNUI

 

This has been a bad week. One patient in which we had done a pleasing hip replacement, died suddenly of a massive myocardial infarction, a month after his discharge from hospital, and when he had started walking with vigour. Another patient who had Renal failure after surgery elsewhere,, and who had been successfully reoperated by us 2 years ago, and who was working at his profession, died after a fatal attack of pneumonia. Another patient developed a sudden complication which fortunately we rectified with difficulty.

The rains did come but ever so briefly. The weather remained sultry and humid. I missed important meetings. But above all was this terrible tiredness, which was like a winter smog, encompassing, surrounding me throughout  day and night making my movements sluggish and fatigued.

Sylvia Plath –the magnificent Talent

Facetiously, people blamed the weather. But this was deeper, affecting my desire to work and my enthusiasm was forced and artificial. I knew this was ennui.

Wikipedia had this to say.

The original French word Ennui, means general lack of interest, boredom or depression. It may also refer to oppressive boredom. It refers to a state of being rather than a passing mood as is generally the case with "boredom."

The solution was Home made Ilish Maacher Biryani!!!! washed down with gallons of cold water, lime and mango juice……Pluto made a beeline for the door and walking with him was cathartic, because he never lost his enthusiasm for strange new smells!!!

During this time, I ventured into poetry, the natural refuge for a Bengali—but I penned this one in English!!!!Again this ten minute sojourn was invigorating… though I would agree that the morbidity factor was overplayed…

ENNUI

We live our lives in drips and drabs,

Coffee cups and restless nights,

Doing what we did last year,

Facing the same old sights.

We wait for storms to rage and change,

Flower shells should bloom.

No lifting of  our smallest finger,

No effort to shatter gloom. 

Till one day we look and find,

Cobwebs in finger spaces,

The walk has changed to a crawl,

Dust lies in face crevices.

What stops us, I wonder still,

From shedding our outer skin,

And cleave the blue waters

Like a brazen shark fin.

Must we wait for the birds to come,

And the wind and mountain stream,

Summer skies to enroof us,

As we look at dreams.

Or should we change,and clang the Bell,

With vigour new and found,

Eyes bright and sparkling still,

Feet savouring the grassy ground.

Maybe still a galloping steed,

Will stomp upon the fields,

Warriors in shining glory shall,

Defy and will not yield.

Or will ennui win the day,

Arms lie static on the bed,

Air conditioned deaths for all,

Pictures waiting to fade.

Some day then you may find me,

A stretched out silent form,

Arms raised in rigor mortis,

Still welcoming violent storms.

Don’t waste time in grief or tears,

Write this epitaph somewhere friends,

He woke up late, but did his best,

He tried to change the trends.

 

It did not feel this long while writing it—but there it is—what ennui can do to you, if you let it get on top. It is always good to know the opposite of happiness…

Mocambo lunch

We suddenly decided this morning to go for continental food for lunch. Having burnt our fingers at the new joints, we decided to play it safe and go to Park Street. Mocambo was our chosen destination—for no particular reason. Peter Cat is still closed after the Stephen Court Tragedy. Oasis is a little cramped. Trinca seems to have a changed flavour. So Mocambo ,it was.

Just a minute away from the Park Street—Free School Street crossing, we entered without having to wait, which is a common occurrence in the evening. The place is old world, with a colonial hangover struggling to keep pace with the brash new generation. Red leathered sofas, hanging red lampshades, long white coated waiters and stewards with black suits—all contributed to this mixed ambience.

There were no cocktails. The drink list is just about adequate, and we settled down to a small Smirnoff with ice and Limca (not very sophisticated!!!). The snacks were a crisp namkeen which went well with the drink. We asked for  Surf and Turf, well done with mushroom sauce. Do not go for the pepper sauce as they will simply pour it out of a bottle. The preparation had a generous mixture of Prawns with Bacon and tasted out of this world. There was a groovy smoothness with the mushroom sauce giving the right tang. The prawns had a slight oriental touch which went well with the firmness of the bacon.

The next dish was Ham Steak sizzler with mushrooms. The meat was a generous chunk, with the usual vegetable accompaniments. Again, the feel of the meat was right and with the accompanying sizzle, enlivened the palate. The vodka was tightening the tongue nicely.

Emboldened we ordered their famous Angels on Horseback. Bacon strips filled with chicken set in a rice setting with a slight gravy. This IS a speciality. The correct blend of the slightly  crisp bacon strip with the soft chicken fillers was amazing. Again a MUST taste.

We then settled for a Fish a la Diana—gravy rich Bhetki Fish Chunks with a Prawn stuffing. Gloriously recommendable. The combination enhanced the taste of each. This was a Bengali dish with Continental overlay and one could almost visualise the sahibs(white or brown) delving into it and smiling.

Dessert was even more enticing. I settled for a Mango Souffle with little soft mango pieces  contrasting well with the  the smoothness of the dish. Vicky took a Meringue topped with Vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate sauce and was ecstatic. As we shared the dishes, we were satiated but did not at all feel greasy and dyspeptic.

The service was  quietly efficient and instantly available. the bill came to Rs 1600.

The next time we plan to try the Devilled Crabs and the Chicken Tetrazinni or Chicken Sicilian with Fish Muniere!!!!!!

The truth is that Old is Gold and we should really delve into them and find out the reasons why instead of following blindly the new innovations.

“Everything New is not an improvement!!!”

MOCAMBO

25B Park Street, Park Street, Kolkata

Phone: 22290095, 22464300, 22291696

WALK OUT

“Both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnessed uproar and an adjournment after members of AIADMK raised the issue of 2G spectrum allocation.”

“The controversial bill that provides for payment of compensation in the event of a nuclear accident was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday amid protests and walkout by opposition NDA and Left parties which termed it as “illegal” and “unconstitutional”.

“The opposition members had forced adjournment of the house earlier after Chidambaram virtually ruled out inclusion of caste in the population count exercise. “

The above are extracts from News Reports in the newspaper for 2 days only.

When the Lok Sabha was discussing the Prevention of Torture Bill  on Thursday (May 6) evening, the penultimate day of the budget session, not more than 25 members were present in a house of 543 - a telling testimony of how productive the 2010 budget session was.

More than 117 hours or over 30 percent of the total scheduled 385 hours were lost during the 2010 budget session of parliament due to frequent disruptions and protests.

Each of the two houses lost 52 percent of crucial question hour time, according to an analysis of the just-concluded session done by PRS Legislative Research, an independent think tank that tracks the functioning of parliament.

There were 620 starred questions listed in the budget session, of which 76 could be answered. Thus, on an average, only about 2.37 questions could be answered per day.

Briefing reporters about the budget session, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal told reporters here that the two houses had 32 sittings. While 70 hours were lost due to adjournments in the Lok Sabha, 45 hours were lost in the Rajya Sabha, he said.

Asked about some bills having been passed without discussion, Bansal said the situation had been created due to proceedings of the houses being disrupted.

He said there was demand for hike in salaries of MPs as salaries of government employees had risen substantially due to recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.

Amazing, isn’t it? If this performance was translated to the daily wage earners ,or any average Private sector company, what would be the reaction of the Employers?

In a way, we ,the people of India are the owners of the Parliament.  What are we doing about it?

So why are walkouts and adjournments legal? Should not the presence of the MPs in the house be made mandatory except for health reasons? Though there are statements of concern, no action has yet been mooted or taken, and in all probability, nothing will be.

Also the conduct of the Members are deplorable. No one is allowed to speak properly. There are interruptions and shouting. The din is worse than the naughtiest classrooms or the fish market. The ones who shout and interrupt are the ones in demand. Every party have their “squads”. No party disciplines it’s MPs. They encourage interruptions, shouting, table thumping and adjournments and walk outs. Can we not think about a way of protest without disruptions, because this has bred a dangerous repercussion in that there will be no action taken unless there are disruptions!!! This has percolated to all levels of management and workers, teachers and students, service providers and consumers.

When are we going to wake up and change the way our Parliament Members behave ????