My Left Leg - Inside Out

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My Days in Loho

LOHO stands for Loyola hostel. To be a complete slave of Loyola you should live in the hostel. If the college was a sub jail then Loho was a central prison.

My Loho experience was a mixture of both freedom and restrictions. Being PG students me and my friends never was taken too seriously. We were a minority who enjoyed a certain amount of special rights.

This blog is about my life in LOHO. It is exactly ten years now. I joined the hostel in 1998 and left it in 2000. To get academic admission in Loyola College is much easier when compared to act of entering the hostel. Dad tried his best bringing out all known methods of persuasion to get me a room in the hostel. Even today he talks with an adventurous spirit about this Loho admission episode. I had to stay outside in a hotel till I got my Loho berth. If I remember correctly the name of the hotel was – Vishram. It was located near the central station in wall tax road. So every day I ate from hotel, traveled by suburban train and saw the city a lot. If I am to narrate my outside Loho experiences then I will have to add a sub blog to this main blog.

With Dad’s help I finally kept my feet inside a Loho room. My room number was 417 which was in the 14^th block which was near the railway line. Initial days were spend setting up the room. Frequent visits to Choolaimedu (Choolz) were made. Dad went back leaving me to explore the world known as Loho. Dad had introduced me to some ‘mallu’ students and advised me to stick with them. Most of them were seniors. Some were priests. There was nothing exciting about these ‘mallu’ friends. They were highly biased and they thought that the ‘other’ (locals) were nothing but a bunch of ‘cinema crazy buffoons’. I had two other friends – Pallavan and Sankar. Pallavan was my classmate and Sankar was his Be.d mate. I found these two quite different from what I had heard from the ‘mallu’ circle. This and many other reasons made me quit the M Circle who were growing self-centered and quarrelsome day by day. One more friend who joined our gang was Sundar. We four – (Pallavan, Sankar, Prem, and Sundar) were always found together. We also had two visiting members – Sundaramoorthy and Br Rufus. Both were always busy or at least they feigned that they were. Anyway it was a joy to have them with us especially Br Rufus who was also an assistant warden and member of the Jesuit community who ran Loyola. When he was round we used to enjoy special rights in the mess like getting hot Dosas and some extra eggs like that. He was quite popular in the campus as he was in charge of the choir and campus ministry service. it was true that I was little jealous at Br Rufus SJ.

back to gayl-ash-shibool

after 45 days of resident experience I am back in sohar. looking forward to an interesting academic year.

My State of Stillness

I thought about it for a great deal. Why this strange pause in my life. Suddenly things have come to a standstill. I feel two factors are quite new to me. The first one is- restricted mobility and the second one is the dependence on other's for even the basic human activities. It is not just me who thought and felt seriously about the misfortune but there was also my mother. She blamed it on the evil eye. She even blamed me for flaunting my material possessions including x1 before the world. Now the last line in this line of thought is - things have happened with some divine purpose. My mind strongly suggests that all events happening in my life has got an undying connection with my creator. He sees it all whether it is good or bad. As Philip Yancey summarizes it in his thought triggering book “Where is God When it Hurts”? Human beings tend to criticize the creator for the painful life not really grasping the plan behind it. They are so blinded by the pain factor that they seldom see or think beyond the usual. Most of them are so angry with Him that they spend time cursing and denying Him. It is as if their conscious/reasoning mind is clouded by hatred and a tint of amount of self-denial. To a certain extent it is difficult for people to accept pain and sadness.
Calamity destroys the perfect balance in their lives. It takes lots of time to get back the balance.

My own state of stillness which was due to a fall and fractured leg created lots of unpleasant ripples among my near and dear ones. The central figure
In this whole drama is myself. I am the reason behind my own fall and I am the one who underwent the operation for the insertion of steel nail. Since I am the reason for creating these unpleasant ripples in the family circle I should be the one who should take the necessary steps to mitigate the after effects. I prepared myself with the help of these thoughts

1. It is God’s plan that I lie in a bed for some time. He is either punishing me or testing me. I am happy both the ways. His plan for me will always be good.
2. I am so blessed that I have a fracture only in my left leg. Doctor told me that it is one of the less dangerous fractures that can happen.
3. I remember the scenes in the ICU where I lived for 2 nights. Especially the face of that young boy who was in a state of coma. Tubes running through every hole in his body. He has been lying like that for more than 1 month. God save him and console his family members.
4. I thought about the worst situation that can happen to me and how will I live if something like that happens.
5. God gave me a chance to rediscover the boon of marital bond. She was my strength and support all these days. The person who was gifted to me on Oct 2008.

DEMOCRACY - an essay worth blogging

Democracy’s failing light - (Outlook Mag July 13)
Arundhati Roy

Is democracy a hit with humans because it mirrors our myopia?

While we’re still arguing about whether there’s life after death, can we add another question to the cart? Is there life after democracy? What sort of life will it be? By democracy I don’t mean democracy as an ideal or an aspiration. I mean the working model: Western democracy, and its variants, such as they are.

So, is there life after democracy?

Attempts to answer this question often turn into a comparison of different systems of governance, and end with a somewhere prickly, comabative defense of democracy. Its flawed, we say. It isn’t perfect, but it’s better than everything else that’s an offer. Inevitably someone in the room will say. “Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia…is that what you would prefer?

Whether democracy should be the utopia that all developing societies aspire to is a separate question altogether (I think it should. The early idealistic phase can be quite heady) the question about life after democracy is addressed to those of us who already live in democracies or in countries that pretend to be democracies. It isn’t meant to suggest that we lapse into older, discredited models of totalitarian or authoritarian governance. It’s meant to suggest that the system of representative democracy – too much representation, too little democracy – needs some structural adjustment.

The question here really is what have we done to democracy? What have we turned it into? What happens once democracy has been used up? When it has been hallowed out and emptied of meaning? What happens when each of its institution has metastasized into something dangerous? What happens now that democracy and the Free market have fused into a single predatory organism with a thin constricted imagination that revolves almost entirely around the idea of maximizing the profit? Is it possible to reverse this process? Can something that has mutated go back into what ii used to be?

What we need today for the sake if the survival of this planet is long term vision. Can governments whose very survival depends on immediate, extractive, short term gain provide this? Could it be that democracy, the sacred answer to our short-term hopes and prayers, the protector of our individual freedoms and nurturer of our avaricious dreams, will turn out to be the endgame for the human race? Could it be that democracy is such a hit with modern humans precisely because it mirrors our greatest folly – our nearsteadfastness? Our inability to live entirely in the present (like most animals do) combined with our inability to see very far into the future makes us strange in-between creatures, neither beast nor prophet. Our amazing intelligence seems to have outstripped our instinct for survival. We plunder the earth hoping that accumulating material surplus will make up for the profound, unfathomable thing that we have lost.

It would be conceit to pretend that the essays in this book provide answers to any of these questions. They only demonstrate, in some detail, the fact that it looks as though the beacon could be failing and the democracy can perhaps no longer be relied upon to deliver the justice and stability we once dreamed it would. All the essays were written as urgent public interventions at critical moments in India during the state-backed genocide of Muslims in Gujarat, just before the date set for the hanging of Mohammed Afzal, the accused in the December 13, 2001, Parliament attack; during US President George Bush’s visit to India; during the mass uprising in Kashmir in the summer of 2008; after the November 26, 2008, Mumbai attacks. Often they were not just response to events; they were responses to the responses.

Though many of them were written in anger, at moments when keeping quiet became harder than saying something, the essays do have a common thread. They’re not about unfortunate anomalies or aberration in the democratic process. They’re about the consequences of and the corollaries to democracy; they’re about the fire in the ducts. I should also say that they do not provide a panoramic overview. They’re a detailed under view of specific events that I hoped would reveal some of the ways in which democracy is practiced in the world’s largest democracy. (or the world’s largest ‘demon-crazy’, as a Kashmiri protestor on the streets of Srinagar once put it. His placard said: ‘Democracy without Justice = Demon Crazy’)

As a writer, a fiction writer, I have often wondered whether the attempt to always be precise, to try and get it all factually right somehow reduces the epic scale of what is really going on. Does it eventually mask a larger truth? I worry that I am following myself to be railroaded into offering prosaic, factual precision when maybe what we need is a feral howl or the transformative power and real precision of poetry. Some thing about the cunning Brahminical, intricate, bureaucratic, file bound, apply through proper channel’ nature of governance and subjugation in India seems to have made a clerk out of me.

Art Lives Artist Dies - Obituary- MJ and Lohitadaas

As I write this blog the question that I am asking myself at this moment is this -What is the connection between MJ and my life. It was in 1990's that I started liking him. The good old days at home watching the 2 hour free MTV broadcast in DD Metro. That was the time when his History album came out and the song that shook me was – The Earth Song. It had a noble cause. When I became a teacher I used his 'We are the World' and 'Heal the World' in my theatrical productions and class room presentations. Through his music he sensitized the world about poverty, violence and environment.

Lohitadaas captured my attention through Mrigaya. I even wrote an article about the script. At that time I was interested in the area of cultural studies and film studies. My article was based on the topic of the hunter and the hunted. How cleverly Lohi used the universal motif in the movie even reversing it at the end when the hunter becomes the hunted. Even as an actor I liked him in Udyananu Tharam. In the movie his conversation style was filled with honesty and simplicity.
The artists are gone. But the art remains. MJ had a load of allegations against him. Lohi's life was also riddled with some hot rumors. Both were addicted to drugs and alcohol. As a fan of both these artists, I have to admit the fact that it is easy to identify with the art than the artist.

The artist sacrifices his life so that his art will live forever.

Long live the art

Let the artist rest in peace

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First blog

Wow

First blog posted from x1

Way to go.......

The Taking of Pelham 123

I befriended this movie when I heard about the sudden demise of John Travolta's teenage son which resulted in John not attending the promos of the movie. The movie which is a remake of the 1973 flick of the same name strikes a special chord with the audience right from the first scene. Denzel is shown seated in his Console in the New York Subway control centre. A calm figure as opposed to the would be hijackers who are shown entering the tube station to capture Pelham 123 with disturbed faces. The movie moves forward based on the conversation between Travolta and Denzel Washington. They talk about life, death and fate. Through these conversations they both discover each other and they sense kind of similarity in their life patterns. They hate the system and they want to have their revenge. Denzel is already is charged with charges of bribe.

It was a treat watching Travolta and Denzel on the screen. Their acting chemistry is great between them.

My Outlook

The most important thing in life is to be calm and composed. Most of the time we are in a hurry and we tend to forget the basics of life. When we are calm we tend to listen to more voices not just from outside but even from inside. When we are engaged in the rat race called life, then we will miss upon the beauty of life. It is always better to live breathing the tranquillity of life than inhaling the poisoning fumes of restlessness. I am reminded about a poem which I taught in MCC. All that I remember is that the poem deals with the concept of 'rest'. God bestowed all types of gifts except 'rest'. He wanted mankind to turn towards Him for getting rest. The advancements that mankind is making today can be compared to the 'antics of a madman’. The comforts and luxurious life style that defines the modern life is just a flash in the pan. There is little or no time to halt and think about the consequences of the actions. Some of us do try to make a difference. Good thing.

There is only one little snag about that-we are too conscious about the act itself.

“With a man it is otherwise. /Heroisms on horseback,/Outstripping his desk-diary at a broad desk,/Carving at a tiny ivory ornament/For years: his act worships itself - while for him,/Though he bends to be bent in the prayer, how loud and/above what/Furious spaces of fire do the distracting devils/Orgy and hosanna, under what wilderness /Of black silent waters weep.”

(Thrushes by Ted Hughes)

Symbol 3 in Delhi 6

Last night we watched Delhi 6. It took almost 2 months for the original print to reach here. It took more than 3 years for Rakesh Om Mehara to make a movie after RDB. First, we fell in love with the songs (that was two months back)  especially ‘Masakali’. Then Dish TV provided free 5 minute preview of the movie in the MOD mode. It was enough to make us impatient and restless until we could get the copy from our favourite CD shop in Lulu. 

The movie can be divided based on the three symbols used. The first one is the mad man with the mirror. He goes around thrusting the mirror on each one’s face. At the end Roshan ( AB)  does the same. Tired of the scorching heat of the communal fire, he asks the both the parties to have a look at themselves.The concept of looking within is hinted at in a vey subtle way. When the mirror is broken by the communally blind mob, the question that creeps into our mind is – What is the use of a mirror to a blind society.

Then we have the much talked about dove – Masakali. The dove became something like the Zoozoo characters in the  Vodafone ad. It represents everything that a white bird is supposed to represent – Purity/Freedom. The beauty of Delhi 6 is that the Ram Prakash Mehara has connected the bird with the character Bittu ( SK). She hates to get tied up like Masakali. She is yearning for an exit from her father played brilliantly by Om Puri. she also represents the new face of India and it is also interesting that she is the pivotal figure around which the lovely Masakali song revolves. The dove is a contrast to the Black/Dark Monkey man.

The third and most powerful symbol in the movie is the monkey man whose antics runs throughout the movie. Media is after the monkey man. Police is after the monkey man.                      BUT

The monkey man remains elusive. Nobody till the end realises that the dark/black monkey is actually living inside the human mind.  The attempts to make the monkey man a Muslim and a Hindu is quite funny.

Responsible Tourism – An Introduction

There is an African proverb which says, ‘Treat your guest as a guest for two days - then on the third day give him a hoe’. This proverb achieves greater significance when applied in the context of the topic which I have selected for my project work – ‘Relevance of Responsible Tourism in Kerala’. The concept of Tourism has come out of the happy-go-lucky days and is all set to move towards a more serious participative, issue based model. In simpler terms the guest cannot remain as a guest for a long time. Active participation is demanded from him to make his stay and the well being of others a success.

This project explores the concept of tourism in the light of the newly developed practice which is termed as responsible tourism. The project gains much relevance when done against the backdrop of Kerala – an exotic destination much sought after by both national and international tourists. The need for a study like this will create awareness about the concept of responsible tourism and will certainly help in creating a better eco-sphere where the natural bounties are preserved for the use of generations to come.

Responsible tourism and sustainable tourism have an identical goal, that of sustainable development. The issues that are taken into consideration in both responsible tourism are environmental integrity, social justice and maximising local economic benefit. In responsible tourism individuals, organisations and businesses are asked to take responsibility for their actions and the impacts of their actions. The need for responsible tourism stems from the fact that very little progress has been made on realising sustainable tourism since the Earth Summit in Rio. The emphasis on the word ‘responsibility’ in responsible tourism means that everyone involved in tourism – Government, product owners ,transport owners, community services, NGO’s, tourists ,local communities, industry associations are responsible for achieving the goals of responsible tourism.

The 2002 Cape Town declaration on responsible tourism in destinations defines it as a type of eco-tourism which minimises negative, environmental and social impacts. It should generate greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the well being of host communities. It must make positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural heritage embracing diversity. Responsible tourism is mainly conceived with three kinds of responsibilities which are termed as the ‘triple bottom-line’ – economic responsibility, social responsibility and environmental Responsibility. Responsible tourism strives to be culturally sensitive, to encourage respect between tourists and hosts and to build local pride and confidence. Tourism industries in South Africa, the United Kingdom, United States, the Gambia, India, and Sri Lanka are already practicing Responsible tourism and this list is growing. Recognising the global significance of Responsible Tourism World Travel Market one of the world’s largest travel exhibitions had created World Responsible Tourism day to be celebrated annually on November 12. World Responsible Tourism Day is endorsed by the World Tourism Organisation and World Travel and Tourism Council.

There are different factors that prompt the tourism industry to explore the possibilities of practicing responsible tourism. Some of the main factors are the concern about global warming, destruction of the environment, erosion of cultures and lifestyles and the issue of poverty. The number of initiatives aimed at saving some part of the environment, or improving the living conditions is increasing day by day. To a certain extent this awareness has affected the mindset of the people especially the tourists. They have become keener in getting maximum value for the money they invest in their annual holidays. A significant and growing number of tourists are looking for a better experience, a better quality product. They are looking for experiences which enable them to get closer to the ‘real’ living culture of countries and to experience the diverse and natural and cultural heritage. For example in India, after the success of the movie Slumdog Millionaire, an increasing number of westerners are shunning the beaches of Goa and palaces of Rajasthan. There is an increasing demand to see the slum life in Mumbai and other cities. This type of tourism goes by the name of slum tourism or poverty tourism. Slum tourism is promoted by travel companies to reduce poverty and enable local people to participate more effectively in tourism development.

Today there is an increased awareness in the tourism industry with regards to preservation of natural resources especially water. Some of the steps that are being widely practiced to encourage travellers to be economical with their use of water in areas where there is a scarcity and to support local initiatives to improve access for poor to water.

My new Xperience

James Bond (Daniel Craig) uses the brand in both the Bond movies. My  Principal showed it to me. A thought that struck me that the Apple I Phone is just a fancy item. I felt the Paulo Coelho’s SIGNS floating around me. I finally inched towards the mobile shop to own the cute and fascinating X1. X1- is the tech-pet name of Sony Ericsson Windows based pocket PC. It is equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and flash. It has got Mobile Office ( Word,Excel,PowerPoint) and an excellent connection zone ( Bluetooth,WLAN,Wi Fi and GPS) The phone can be configured for sending and receiving emails through Microsoft Object Push Service. I can stay online through Gmail, Windows Live messenger and Facebook. It has got a Opera Mini browser.  another feature that is worth mentioning are the Panels .Now any you own gadget should become part of our life and it all depends on how we use it to suit our personal needs. Here are some of the ways that i use my X1

• CNN panel to read news (Sports/Entertainment/Current Affairs)
• Mobipocket reader to read EBooks ( the auto scroll function is amazing)
• To check my mails and listen to music and sometimes watch movies
• To put reminders for my work related tasks.
• To browse the net.
• To know the weather in the places that matter to me.
• To play games or to watch other play games
• To get the meaning of words
• To know my location in the world using Google maps

Necks and Shoulders

• Photo taken on 1-06-09
• Place – Oman oil gas station – Sohar,Oman

Madhavi,Kamala,Suraiyya

She passed away yesterday. The writer in her died some years ago. The Hindu in her died before that. The traces of a Malayali disappeared in her  even before that.she had the penchant for changing identities. If a name or a religion can give you a different identity she yearned for it. The above mentioned labels are nothing when compared to the list below. English writer/ political activist/ poet/mystic/liberated soul…

May her soul???? rest in peace

Some Tips to Study Abroad

Let me confess to the fact that I am not an expert in this field. My only experience lies in the fact that I have tried (still trying) for getting admission in a foreign university for my doctoral program. Hope my little experience will be of some use to you and will assist you in getting admitted in a reputed university.

There are two basic rules that matters if you want to study outside India:

• If you have somebody in the target country (not a friend preferably a blood relation) then the task becomes much easier.
• Money is also important factor in studying abroad.

The first thing I did was to narrow down my search to two countries – UK, Australia. I got the list of best 100 universities/colleges in UK and Australia to make my search more focussed. Once this is decided it is easy to proceed with your search for a College or University.

This is can be done in three ways:

1) Through laborious browsing of the Web.

2) Meeting officials at British council and IDB (Australia).

3) The best and the expensive option is to register yourself with some reputed educational consultancies (There are many consultancies’ in Chennai and Bangalore) some of the famous ones are

· Study Abroad

· Edwise

· Chopra’s.

Please note that they may charge you for the services but they will help you a lot. When you approach them be clear about your future plans. They are pukka business people. It is better to do some research of your own before approaching them. Writing a SOP (Statement of Purpose) is also an important step in getting admission in a foreign university.

I did explore the possibility of getting a scholarship for funding my studies. You may get more information regarding scholarships from British Council and IDB. (Chevening Scholarships and Commonwealth Scholarships)

Some of the universities that gave a favourable response to my queries were:

1) La Trobe university – Melbourne

2) University of Southampton - UK

3) University of Adelaide - Australia

4) University of Manchester - UK

5) University of New Castle – Australia

You can also extent your research to get some info about Academy City in Dubai. Most of the foreign and some of the Indian universities have opened their shops in Dubai.

Hope the above information will help you in your re-search.

All the best

Ye college hai meri jaan…

 

6:45 am – 2:00 pm – VTC – Shinas

I think this is the first time that I have given a Hindi title to a blog. The reason – I felt that this will suit the contents. There is a need to make the title reflect the reality. At this point I have a question to myself. Can money cover the hard academic realties that surrounds me? Maybe my dear and near ones thinks it can.

My academic day starts at 7:30 am. I usually is engaged till 10:30am. Here the class is divided into 45 minutes hours. so I handle one hour and thirty minutes. The first session is with RAC department and the second one is with Mechatronics. The first group is a nightmare on the elm street and the second group is a midsummer night’s dream. Once the classes are over, I eat my breakfast that will be around 10:30 am.

To give a better picture about my classes – it is less of TTT and more of STT. even i was stunned by these letters in the beginning of the academic year. Later on i discovered that TTT stood for TEACHER TALK TIME and STT stood for STUDENT TALK TIME. my classroom work is a combination of PPT’s, textbooks and sometimes even the Internet.

Morning Roadie

6:00 am – 6:45 am/ Sohar – Shinas

Early morning taxi ride is not a bad idea. The taxi comes at 5:55am. I will be the first one to get in. The ‘it’ will enter after some considerable time. That time (3-5 minutes) is enough for Abdu to get all worked up. He sometimes wakes up all the inmates of the expat block by honking his horn. He is quite impatient like the Airtel kids. We start at 6am. The roads will be pretty much deserted. When we reach Lulu roundabout I will give a missed call to HDD.’it’ will make the backseat of the car a bed and will be in deep sleep. It takes 10 minutes from Gayl-Ash-Shibool to Falaj where HHD resides. On the way, I usually check out whether the S car is ahead of us. I know that even Abdu is interested in knowing the GPS of the S car. Sometimes we get a chance to engage in a NFS with the S car. I also have the habit of looking at the ad-banners at Safeer Mall and the checking out the construction progress of the new Centerpoint near Safeer roundabout. HHD will be waiting near her flat. ‘It’ n me wishes her good morning. She responds to both of us. Abdu will now hit the Dubai road without wasting any time. HDD takes out the Green, red, white prayer books and will begin her spiritual journey. ‘It’ will go back to her sleep and I will sit in the front looking at the road ahead.From Falaj to Liwa is again another ten minutes. We reach Liwa around 6:20. Liwa roundabout is something which fascinates me. I used to see one of my student standing there waiting for the taxi. His name is also Abdu. I have heard from his friends that he is living in a faraway place surrounded by mountains. Anyway he is a punctual student.

Most of the days the journey is eventless. Certain days we engage in a conversation but those days are few. Each one will be pre-occupied by some thought or the other. If he is in good mood Abdu will joke with me. He likes to listen to the Holy Koran and he seeks my help to fine tune the Abu Dhabi FM station on the radio.

We do see some police cars in the morning and Abdu will ask me to wear the seat belt. Abdu’s normal speed is 120. One he spots the S car then he is pushes it to 140. Anyway he has to reduce his speed when he sees the Speed Radars. Police cars are also seen at accident sites. During rainy season police monitor the Wadi’s and gives the necessary information regarding the water level.

ONE DAY IN MY LIFE

5:00 – 6:00 am/ Gayl-ash-shibool/ Sohar, Oman

The beginning of my day depends a lot on how the previous night ended. Especially if my sleep was a disturbed one then my morning hour will be without energy. I get up from my bed at 5am listening to the mobile phone alarm. I snooze the alarm two times. Each snooze is for 9 minutes. So I leave the comfort of my bed around 5:20am. I switch on the bathroom lights before entering the bathroom and I approach the commode and sit there waiting for the XXXXX to  come out. Once that is done, I XXXXXXXXXX and will move towards the wash tub. I apply paste on my brush and will start the process of brushing. As I brush my teeth I move towards the kitchen and switch on the gas stove. I will wait for the water to boil. I will go to toilet again to wash my mouth and face. Once that is done I am back in kitchen again. I will pour the boiled water into a tea cup, add some sugar and drop a tea bag into it. My morning tea is ready. Sometimes I eat some snacks also. Most of the days I don’t finish my tea because of lack of time. The next step is to enter the bath room. I will move towards the wash tub again to have a hair wash. This is something which I enjoy. After wards I enter the bedroom to change my dress which includes wearing shirt, putting on the trousers, wearing the belt and tie and finally socks and shoes. After that I stand before the mirror to adjust my tie and to button my shirt. I apply perfume and place the rosary in my pocket. I stand before him and make the cross sign. I come to the living room, take my bag and mobile and will leave the home to enter the waiting taxi.

Bryan Adams - Eleven - We Found What We Were Looking For

secret window

this is a wonderful experience as such

hope to use this to the full extent possible

My portable

Understanding

I don’t believe in crying over spilt milk. ‘Jo beet gaya so baat gaya’. A frightening four months gap between my last blog and this one. Since the exercise of writing a blog is purely a personal event, I am not accountable to anybody. In many ways I was indeed involved in a much more personal adventure, the initial days of my marital life. The act of living together in a strange land was something sweet. Now the summer season is here acting on the thermometer in a harsh way. In these four months many things occurred,

One more year has started its journey towards yet an another year
It rained Oscars in India especially on Panchathan Inn – Kodambakam, Chennai.
Celebrated Valentine’s Day in a special way (did something to kill eco killing, maybe meat for another blog)
Bomb blasts in Bombay
Army mutiny in Bangladesh
Kuthiravattam Pappu passed away

This blog is based on a word which is very easy to understand but the process of understanding itself will be a tedious one. The word becomes meaningful when it is used in the following contexts, Religious fundamentalism, protecting our world and Human relationships.

To understand is a virtue
For a better, bright future
Let us open our eyes and ears
And bury our baseless fears
A understanding life is fine
Sans this life is gonna be filled with pain

Cinematic Dichotomy - Part 2

In this blog which is a continuation of the previous one I will discuss the word dichotomy in relation to three movies. The detailed definition of the word is something like this - a separation into two divisions that differ widely from or contradict each other (Text courtesy- Microsoft® Encarta® 2006) In all the movies that will be discussed in this blog, there is a predominantly visible dichotomy which really captured my attention. I think every good or bad movie contains some patterns and it is for the intelligent viewer to find it. To do this, he should disengage himself from the colors and sounds of a movie. Look at it from a distance with a critical stand and then note the designs within the movie.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose
The movies, is based on the life of Anneliesse Michel, a young catholic woman from Germany who died in 1976 after unsuccessful attempts to cure her from the alleged state of demonic possession with the use of psychotropic drugs. A church approved exorcism was performed on her, according to her wish. According to the court, her death was caused by medical neglect of the priest watching over her (Movie trivia courtesy – Wikepedia)

The above information clearly explains the inherent dichotomy between facts and faith. The Hollywood machinery has got a strong leniency towards the spiritual and the unknown because that’s what sells. Even an ordinary story of a peasant girl form Orleans was converted into a spiritual façade. (Reference to Joan of Arc) the same applies to a certain extent to Emily Rose. In this case the dichotomy helps and the movie grips the attention of the viewer for the slow but effective building of the arguments in the court. That’s the beauty of the dichotomy. It creates an opposition which is quite meaningful and elegant. The priest (supernatural, divine) on one side and the public prosecutor on the other side with his facts, figures, and logic. It is a clash between man of facts and man of faith.

The Devil wears Prada
An easy to watch movie with lots of beautiful faces and colorful dresses. Anne Hathaway is a feast to human eyes. Meryl Streep is old but plays the perfect foil and she knows what acting is. No wonder she got her 14th Oscar nomination for her role as Miranda Priestly – the editor of the fashion magazine Runway. The dichotomy here is between the characters of Streep and Anne Hathaway. The former is one is quite demanding and domineering. She is not concerned about human bonds and invests her time and energy in building the magazine. People don’t matter but the circulation of the magazine matters. Anne initially is fascinated by this world but when she sees that her own little world filled with love is crumbling under this pressure she takes her own decision. The final act of throwing the mobile into the street fountain is something which I liked. An act which can be compared to Ibsen’s Nora who shuts the door on her husband’s face.

Spiderman 3
The movie poster itself celebrated the dichotomy. The inner conflict inside Spiderman is amplified and magnified in this third installment from Marvel comics. The usual, red jacket is pitted against the black one. It is not just the ‘uniform’ that changes even the character of Spidy. He becomes more flirtatious and destructive. It looks as if the creators of Spiderman 3 is bored of the same goodie goodie image of Spidy. They want to show him in sinister way and by doing so they make the ardent fans of Spidy ask a stupid question – Oh what has happened to our Spiderman?

Cinematic Dichotomy - Part One

This blog is about a bunch of movies, which I watched in the recent past. Movies are the best anti-dote for loneliness (I am so blessed that my better half endorses the same view) this statement has been proved true many times in my own life. Now, seated in this classroom at Vocational Training College, Shinas which is 140 km away from Dubai, I am ready to write my first blog for the last month of this year. (Pretty long sentence eh! Strunk and E.B White will reprimand me for this gross of violation of style)
I don’t want to write an ordinary review of the movies. It is not the way. It is a big mistake and will go against my philosophy of writing – i.e. Writing is Creating. So through this blog I am trying to inject some new life and freshness into the whole process of writing and by extension to my life also. Before I attempt to write I would also like to document the different stages in creation of a blog.
The first thing that is necessary is a fine and active mood. Greek literaryscape contains the muse which I think is nothing but the inspiration to write. This inspiration doesn’t come everyday. It is rare and when it comes, I should be able to tap it and use it. This morning it came when I needed it the most. I was waiting in my classroom for my students (which is against the Koan saying – if the student is ready the teacher will appear) I appeared but no students. The reason is as clear as the morning sunrays that are peeping into this classroom – Bakrid celebrations. So the time was perfect and the mood was very much in me.

The next step is finding an answer to the big question – what to write about? This is indeed a difficult phase because most of the time there is never a straight answer to this. I have to look around and inside me to find the solution. Most of the time the answer comes from my heart and today was no different. Movies and their magical worked once again beckoned me and I readily took the plunge. Again there was a problem which I have mentioned earlier in this blog. The yearning to be different came like gushing waters and I meekly succumbed to it. Again the mind started working and finally decided that instead of writing a clichéd review let me find something common in all the movies and luckily I did find something common which I am very good in finding. It all started when I got introduced to the world of African American literature and along with it I got the word – Dichotomy. The word, at first appealed to my research topic i.e. Roots by Alex Haley. It means the differences between something or in other words – opposing things. Since my M.phil research was a continuation of my MA dissertation I was deeply influenced and I started discovering the significance of this in different contexts. I even wrote an article titled – The Beauty and the Beast keeping this idea in mind. So I connected this word with the movies that I have watched recently and thus I got the topic.

One the idea is formed then it is a matter of putting the initial thoughts into a piece of paper and the next step follows soon – use the MS word to type it and after adding the necessary images and put it here….
(To be continued)

Revolution over a cup of Coffee

Picture Courtesy - Jyothy Karat

This blog has got a nostalgic past and yummy present and a thoughtful future. The common ingredient in all these time frames is a hot cup of coffee. I, imagine myself as a boy with a heavy bag at the gates of my school waiting for dad to come and take me home. Not that everyday he is used to come to pick me up but on certain days and he made those days all the more special by taking me to the nearest Indian Coffee House. For those of you whom don’t what is that, I will cough up some words. It is a restaurant to begin with and it is run by a co-operative employees union which has got strong Communist routes. Anyway the food they serve is not Marxist in taste or appearance. Indian coffee house serves you the best samosas, cutlets, and off course delicious coffee. They have branches all over Kerala and I was surprised to see one here in Muscat too. Long live – Indian Coffee Houses. Going back to that day when my dad mixed coffee with love and served me, I felt hungrier and used to try different dishes from the coffee house. Obviously, the coffee house jaunts always ended with a hot cup of coffee.

These days, coffee has become more popular. Commercialization has taken this common drink of the common man to glassed houses and polished seats. Café Coffee day, Quikwy’s, Starbucks, Costa, Barrista you got exciting names everywhere. With captions like – ‘A lot can happen over a cup of coffee’, these new coffee vendors invite customers and make things happen over a cup of coffee. As a student in Loyola, I was excited to watch the inside activities at Quikwy’s, where they had a bell installed so that the satisfied customers can ring it. Most of them, they did that irrespective of how the coffee tasted. Only once I had the opportunity to enter that ‘coffee pub’ and but not to drink coffee but to discuss my failed international teaching opportunity. Incidentally that offer was from Colombia which is famous for its coffee rich countryside. I have seen boys and girls huddled together over a cup of coffee discussing ‘serious’ issues like – Why you love me? , What is love? , and how to put an end to this love affair?

In the days to come I foresee a great demand for this drink, life is becoming difficult and the best way to ‘cool’ our heels is to drink a ‘hot’ cup of coffee and talk to either yourself or a trusted friend. I am sure that it will make a hell lot of difference. There are proof for this in almost cultures where coffee is a national drink. Italy, Mexico, Ireland, there have been social changes and coffee acted as a catalyst. So if we desire for a change within ourselves and the world in general, the best thing to do is to sit across a coffee table and simply talk. Coffee can, indeed be a life savior.

Barrack Obama and Me

The US presidential elections this time was more popular than the Olympics games. Thanks to the strong media support the racial clout that surrounded it. Me too was drawn into this political whirlpool knowingly or unknowingly. I am happy to recollect that when I was working in Tumkur, near Bangalore in the media department of SSIT, I used to have this intense and extensive discussion with my director Dr Suchetana Swaroop. He supported the republicans and I supported Obama. I did the same not because of any political connection as such. It was because I liked Obama right from the day one I saw him in the paper as the US presidential candidate. He face grabbed my attention and it was devotion and respect at the first sight. There was something special on that face. Now, if try to define what exactly is on his face, the only word that I can think about is the word – FOCUS. It looks as if he knows where he is going. If the caption for his campaigning was something fascinating. Change – What we can believe in. In these present days when, the whole world is burning I found Obama a perfect person standing tall with some hope. I have given some quotes by Obama here, that makes my eulogy for him complete.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
This is the moment when we must come together to save this planet. Let us resolve that we will not leave our children a world where the oceans rise and famine spreads and terrible storms devastate our lands.
We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated.
You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt.

Thoughts on Marriage

Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing." - Goethe

They say that marriages are made in heaven. It is such a stupid saying that doesn't take into account the hard realities of life. I have a friend who is more worried about making life a romantic affair. He tells me that I take like too seriously and as a distant fan of 'Chetan Bhagat' I should not take life seriously. Marriage means (according to me) two people living together for a considerable amount of time (if they are lucky) with the 'support',' help' and 'blessings' of the elders and most important the society.
I think that there is a three stage development in any marriage. The initial days of discovering each other. Some may hurry in this phase and things may get entangled in unnecessary emotional/physical traps. In the second stage, there is a reduction of speed from 120 km/hr to 40 km/ hr. This is the real stage of enlightenment. Both will open their eyes and they will start looking at each other from an angle that can be filled with love or despair. For the first time they realize that there is a world outside the 'cocoon' of marital bonds. In the third stage and the final stage, the entry of a cherubic little boy or girl will bring them together. For me this is the real and true stage in marriage. Two lives struggling for one life. There will be lots of meaning and sacrifice in this stage. This is also the stage when marriage becomes a truly gratifying experience.
Reader, you may wonder what made me write this particular blog, the reason is I got married few days back and my soul mate's name is Shincy, She is a math teacher by profession. We have just started our life together so if you are in a mood to pray for us do that NOW. This blog I dedicate for her and I also express my heartfelt thanks to God for blessing us in the holy matrimony.

Bus ride -First time

From Muscat to Sohar,distance 300kms,time taken 3hrs,service-Oman National Transort Corporation,ONTC,Bus model-MAN

Rules to blog by

The following rules appeared in the TOI - Mumbai edition on September 28, 2008. It is kind of interesting for young and old bloggers...
1. You shall not put your blog before your integrity
2. You shall not make an idol of your blog
3. You shall not misuse your screen name by using your anonymity to sin
4. Remember the Sabbath day by taking one day off a week from your blog
5. Honour your fellow-bloggers above yourselves and do not give undue significance to their mistakes
6. You shall not murder someone else’s honour, reputation, or feelings
7. You shall not use the web to commit or permit adultery in your mind
8. You shall not steal another person’s content
9. You shall not give false testimony against your fellow bloggers
10. You shall not covet your neighbour’s blog ranking. Be content with your own content.

Speaking through Pics

The kind of liquid that not just runs automobiles but even the economy

Hard rocks surround the capital city of Muscat

Away from Literature

I completed my Master's in Language and Literature from Loyola in the year 2000. It’s been 8 years and when I look back the former part of the degree seems to have helped me rather than the latter one. I became aware of this academic dichotomy the moment I started wearing the teacher’s garb. Language is for livelihood and literature is for your intellectual curiosity. I was swimming around the vast ocean literariness till my M.phil days; my thesis was related to the structuralist (psychoanalysis) French critic Jacques Lacan. I dabbled with the toughest theories of Lacan and the outcome was I realised that my research was nothing compared to the vast amount of studies that is been already done in psychoanalysis.
My teaching made me come in touch with the real problems of students. They were not interested in Lacan or Shakespeare. They were more focussed that I was, they wanted to speak and write faultless English to earn a livelihood. So my classrooms made me more practical and took me away from the fictional world of literature. Letters, words, sentences and paragraphs became my world. These days it has become more hardcore with different types of ESP’s – English for Specific purposes. If I remember correctly till date I have familiarised with more that five types of ESP’s

English for Media
English for Management
English for Fashion Designing
English through the Internet
English for Business
English through Literature,

After my arrival here in Oman, I have entered the world of Technical English.
It is not that I am totally cut off from the world of make believe. Movies fill this fictional gap and it is quite interactive and richer than literature.

An Elegy on Music...

Death note of the Lebanese singer Sussaine Thameem who was ‘murdered’ recently in Dubai.
(Translated from Malayalam)
Marriage or Murder
(In the name of the most compassionate and merciful God. We come from Him and we return to Him)
My real estate property, ornaments, and other valuable items should go to my mother and brother. Nobody else should get a share of the same. The orphans and homeless ones should be protected and should be fed. Virtuous acts should be carried out and care should be taken to tread on the path of righteousness.

I sincerely apologize to those who had suffered because of me. You should pray for me so that I receive mercy from Almighty. Forgive me for all those mistakes that I have committed.

Please show some respect towards me after my death. My mother should be given extra love and care. Special time should be found to take care of her.

You should never do things that will bring upon the wrath of God.

My Libyan episode made me fell in love with singers from the world of Arab music. One of the first things I did after my arrival here is to sync my iPod to the latest in Arabic Pop music. My all time favourite is Nancy Agram – Lebanese by birth but settled in Dubai. When I read the above quoted news item in the Dubai edition of Malayala Manorama, at least for sometime I got a glimpse of the rotten underbelly of the Arab music industry. One of the USP’s of these singers is the deadly combination of beauty and voice. Both these accelerate them to instant stardom status. Their popularity is limited to the Gulf but it is deep rooted and filled with glitz. The lucky ones gets settled in Dubai and this the place where they go around doing their musical harvesting. They sing at parties (private) and clubs, sometimes they are flown into distant places like Libya and Morocco. Money is never a constraint and compared to their male counterparts they have a better ‘salability’.

The Old Face of Oman

Again it is been a long time since I penned a few lines in this space. I am kind of busy these days knowing a new culture and going back to the basic philosophy of this blog, I write only for my pleasure. I do have some readers and I thank them for their occasional tidbit of wisdom and suggestions.
Earlier, writing had been a much easier exercise. As soon as I got into my work place i.e. language lab I had the time and space to scribble my thoughts. Those days are gone I think. Life is harder when it comes to blogging. I have to come to an internet café and key in these words. Language lab was the beginning – easy and cool and it gave me enough space to get started. I would have written more than 100 blogs seated inside language lab. So, the honeymoon is over and now is the time to actually get into the act of real blogging. There are challenges everywhere and I am stirred by the actual need to write something. This time I am investing a small amount to write my blogs (surfing charges).
Being in a land away from home is a definitely new experience and the little writer in me is constantly haunted by scenes and sights which translate itself into words and sentences. Since I go out for evening walks everyday (sometimes alone, sometimes with some company) I feel the writer in me coming to life.
One of the things which really grabbed my attention is about the plight of the older or elderly generation of this country. I see them in street corners, in expensive cars staring outside with a enigmatic expression on their face, and sometimes in the company of other oldies. I feel that this elderly group, the so called senior citizens of this country will have a story to tell. About the changes in all walks of life. From the mode of transportation to the change in food habits, they have witnessed it all. They are silent, and they move like shadows in the streets. I feel that the changes have made them muted forever. When I look into their faces I feel that they have stories to tell but who is there to listen to them.
(The inspiration to write this blog came from the sight of an old man seated in the front seat of an expensive car who was looking at me in an earnest way. I found him to be aloof towards what was happening around him. He was just drifting in the heavy flow of life and i am sure that one day he will disappear, unnoticed)

Welcoming a New Culture

Once again life has taken me to a new place, away from home and it is quite surprising that it took such a long time for me to write something about the new culture. I arrived in Muscat on the 1st of September. The airport was pretty deserted because I was one of the early birds to land. After getting the visa stamped in my passport I had to wait for some time for the vehicle which was supposed to take me to work place. In one way the waiting proved to be a blessing in disguise. I got enough time to observe and learn from the people as the life around me was slowly 'waking up'. It also gave me enough time to get for currency exchange and buying the mobile card. In Oman we have two service providers once is Oman mobile and the other one is Nawras. The former managed by the government and the other is a private one.

Once the vehicle arrived, it was time to see the outside world. The first thing which struck me and my body was the heat. It was bad and I was eager to get into the waiting car. It was like stepping from a desert into a hill station. The roads are smooth as silk here and the vehicle just glides on it as the speedometer steadily climbs into a 130-140 figure. The sights and sounds are almost similar to the ones that I had experienced in Libya. I stayed at the guest house for 3-4 days to complete my formalities which included Resident Card (I dare not compare this with the my experience in Libya which was an excruciating one)
I hope to write more about my life in the coming days and I hope once I get back to India or when I change my place once again I will be able to at least munch the memories through this virtual space.

My classroom or my new learning space - Time will tell

One strange shaped car - captured from the streets of Muscat.

The Road now taken

Chetan Effect

I rarely read all the books written by an author. I have not read the complete works of Shakespeare (I do not want to) nor any of the literary giants living or dead. Strangely enough, I have read all the books written by best selling Indian author - Chetan Bhagat. It all started with ‘FPS’ then ‘One nite @ the call Center’ and the recent one ‘The Three Mistakes of My Life’. A strange occurrence indeed. I did something which is stranger than this - writing a review to Chetan on his number 3. The strangeness came to a full circle when i received a reply from him. Almost the whole of last week of my classroom time was spend discussing the speech given by Chetan at Symbiosis Pune. It is a good one (We i.e. me and my students agreed) in this speech he talks about the need to have the spark within us to live our lives in a lovely way. He also warns against the factors that may act against this spark. The full text can be accessed at www.chetanbhagat.com. Given below is my review and the reply which I received from him.

Hi Chetan
Thanks for giving all of us one more chance to forget this world and its trivialities (at least for some hours) 3 was good. To be frank with you i had enjoyed the neha love episode in FPS but somehow this vidya one didn't strike a chord in me. i felt it was too immature and unrealistic. Maybe i am getting old or you are becoming younger. Anyway hope you will give us one more chance to forget this world ASAP....wishes – Prem


Will definitely do.
Thank you so much for being my support

God bless
Chetan

Getting to know Cuil

Riding the Time Capsule...

It’s been a while since I wrote a post. Was kind of busy with the ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ of life. I was rather lucky to be blessed with more 'ups' and few 'downs'. My time was spent in traveling, reading, sleeping, and immersed in Need for Speed. In short these activities sum up my vacation. I traveled once again in my 'darling' to Pune and Bombay with a pit stop at Lonawala. I finished reading two books - 'Motorcycle Dairies by Che Guevara and ‘Three mistakes of my Life’ by Chetan Bhagat. I slept like a log at my home and surprisingly my parents didn't complain much about that nor did they say anything when I spend laborious hours on the PC playing NFS Hot Pursuit. They just had the peace of understanding on their faces. This was also the time for me to do many household chores. In a way I enjoyed it. The future is as usual unknown and kind of like the feeling that I am moving towards the unknown once again. Hope there will be only ‘ups’ and few ‘downs’ this time.

Caste

You should never be in haste
To ask somebody’s caste
Th real value of a human being
Exists not in caste but heart to heart feeling

I hate them, who hanker after caste
I wish that they don’t last
The world will be a better place
With everybody living in peace

Is that an impossible dream?
Yes it is – They want to scream
Hatred, Violence, Blood shed
The agenda is already fixed

Disturbed minds and obnoxious behavior
The only hope is in death – the great leveler