If I give you a 1000 rupee note, will you take it?
Of course, I will.
If I take that note from you, crumple it a few times and then offer it to you, will you take it?
OF COURSE, I will.
Well then, I take the same 1000 rupee note, throw it on the ground, trample it, let my car run over it. Now the rupee is crumpled, battered and soiled. Will you still take it?
Of course I will. No matter how battered it is, a 1000 rupee note is a 1000 rupee note. It's value does not diminish.
Then how come, when we, as human beings, get battered by life, hurt and rejected by people, cheated upon and generally get tossed around, crumpled and soiled in life, believe that at the end of it all, we have no value; that we are worthless; that we have lost all that was good in us; that the spirit of love, fearlessness, adventure , goodness and faith have died in us???
How come we consider ourselves value-less because all that has happened in our lives?
No matter how much we get tossed around, how much we get crumpled or soiled, like the 1000 rupee note, I think we will always be valuable -and our intrinsic values remains; the goodness of heart, the spirit of adventure and fearlessness and the spirit of love will remain forever -making us highly valuable -like the 1000 rupee note.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Is Moral Policing the new cottage industry?
The moral brigade is on the prowl again. This time around they have aimed their guns at actress Shriya (of the Rajnikanth blockbuster Sivaji-the boss-fame). Apparently, she was dressed in an outfit that outraged the modesty of the "Hindu Culture" and which went "against ALL that the Hindu Culture stood for" during the celebration of 150 days (or more) jubliee celebration of the film Sivaji.
My curiosity piqued, I wondered, what sort of a dress was she wearing that outraged the modesty and disrespected a 5000 year old culture. A culture that survived all kinds of invasion from across the face of the earth and yet managed to stand proud and erect and strong till today was felled by a mere chit of a dress???? What sort of an outfit was Shriya wearing? I quickly turned to the newspaper that carried a picture of Shriya in the said outfit. It was a beautiful, dress with sphagetti straps, with just a shadow of her cleavage showing. Mind you her clevage was not seen at all -much to the disappointment of many of my friends.
Is this the dress that disrespected and "was against the Hindu culture"? The guys from the Moral Brigade need a serious brain transplant. Or better still they need to be transplanted to MARS. C'mon guys, Shirya was wearing more than what she was wearing in the film which ran to packed houses and saw men coming of the theatre drooling over their already wet bibs.
How come the Hindu culture is not affected when Shriya or for that matter some of women prance around, in minimal clothing, shaking their booty and more on a 75 mm screen? How is that these men go to the theatres and clap and drool over the heroines who are so skimpily dressed that sometimes even I, with my so called liberated views, wonder why they are even bothering with that scrap of hanky around their waist?
Above all I have just one clarification: Why is Hindu culture selective in its desire to be outraged? How come it does not get outraged or disrespected when 14 and 15 year old girls are raped? When women are pawed in public? When brides are burt for dowry? When women are killed by demented spouses? When men use women for their own sexual gratification? When acid is thrown to disfigure their faces just because she spurns a man?When women die of starvation? When young girls are married out at 10 and 11 to men old enough to be their grandfathers? When women are forced to sell their bodies to feed the family and keep them from dying of starvation? When women die during childbirth due to lack of proper facilities? When girl babies are killed within a few hours of their birth because they are considered to be a burden?
How come Hindu Culture does not get outraged or livid or disrespected by any of these atrocities but it does when Shriya wears a modest spaghetti strapped outfit?
What is the logic behind that? Tell me.
I am not even going into the history of the Hindu culture to prove to you how eons ago women would walk bare-breasted and the men of that era did not blink twice because they did not see anything wrong with it. I am not even going to try and explain to this moral brigade how, once upon a time, the same Hindu culture bestowed upon women great freedom ranging from choosing their spouses, participation in the political process, economic freedom et al. I am not going to go into any of these things because the moral brigade has no use of such arguments.
So, I shall ask them -what is the logic behind your action? Is it like a weekend hobby for you? Or is it part-time employment? Or do you freelance?
Or is it just that unemployment is so rampant in this country that moral policing has become a new found cottage industry in this country? In that case, I can only hold the government responsible....
PS: Ms.Shriya Reddy, you did look nice in that sphagetti strap dress. Can I have the name of the designer please? Would love to have a similar one in my wardrobe
My curiosity piqued, I wondered, what sort of a dress was she wearing that outraged the modesty and disrespected a 5000 year old culture. A culture that survived all kinds of invasion from across the face of the earth and yet managed to stand proud and erect and strong till today was felled by a mere chit of a dress???? What sort of an outfit was Shriya wearing? I quickly turned to the newspaper that carried a picture of Shriya in the said outfit. It was a beautiful, dress with sphagetti straps, with just a shadow of her cleavage showing. Mind you her clevage was not seen at all -much to the disappointment of many of my friends.
Is this the dress that disrespected and "was against the Hindu culture"? The guys from the Moral Brigade need a serious brain transplant. Or better still they need to be transplanted to MARS. C'mon guys, Shirya was wearing more than what she was wearing in the film which ran to packed houses and saw men coming of the theatre drooling over their already wet bibs.
How come the Hindu culture is not affected when Shriya or for that matter some of women prance around, in minimal clothing, shaking their booty and more on a 75 mm screen? How is that these men go to the theatres and clap and drool over the heroines who are so skimpily dressed that sometimes even I, with my so called liberated views, wonder why they are even bothering with that scrap of hanky around their waist?
Above all I have just one clarification: Why is Hindu culture selective in its desire to be outraged? How come it does not get outraged or disrespected when 14 and 15 year old girls are raped? When women are pawed in public? When brides are burt for dowry? When women are killed by demented spouses? When men use women for their own sexual gratification? When acid is thrown to disfigure their faces just because she spurns a man?When women die of starvation? When young girls are married out at 10 and 11 to men old enough to be their grandfathers? When women are forced to sell their bodies to feed the family and keep them from dying of starvation? When women die during childbirth due to lack of proper facilities? When girl babies are killed within a few hours of their birth because they are considered to be a burden?
How come Hindu Culture does not get outraged or livid or disrespected by any of these atrocities but it does when Shriya wears a modest spaghetti strapped outfit?
What is the logic behind that? Tell me.
I am not even going into the history of the Hindu culture to prove to you how eons ago women would walk bare-breasted and the men of that era did not blink twice because they did not see anything wrong with it. I am not even going to try and explain to this moral brigade how, once upon a time, the same Hindu culture bestowed upon women great freedom ranging from choosing their spouses, participation in the political process, economic freedom et al. I am not going to go into any of these things because the moral brigade has no use of such arguments.
So, I shall ask them -what is the logic behind your action? Is it like a weekend hobby for you? Or is it part-time employment? Or do you freelance?
Or is it just that unemployment is so rampant in this country that moral policing has become a new found cottage industry in this country? In that case, I can only hold the government responsible....
PS: Ms.Shriya Reddy, you did look nice in that sphagetti strap dress. Can I have the name of the designer please? Would love to have a similar one in my wardrobe
Road to Destiny
At what age does one get to know one's destiny? After years of listening to life coaches and reading what the pundits had to say on the topic of destiny, this is what I have come to understand of it -destiny is like a car, it does not go any place unless you drive it some place. But my problem is, I have the car, I am in the driver's seat, I also know that I am supposed to drive it -what I don't know is where he heck am I supposed to go! All my life I have been asking myself a single question -I know I am supposed to go somewhere but where?
All through my life, I have embarked on numerous journeys thinking that it would lead me to my ultimate destination -my destiny. But half way through either I would realise that I wasn't driving to the destination that I was supposed to or there would be road blocks and I would have had taken diversions only to find myself back at the starting point. So, righ now I am parked in my car, with the engine running, ready to undertake that all important journey that will take me to my destination -but I am thoroughly confused, it has reached a stage where I don't see any roads no nore, any well-defined paths there are none, just an ocean of empty land is all that is visible. Mistake me not, I am willing to dig my own road to traverse miles upon it to even get a glimpse of my destiny -it's just that I don't know where to begin anymore!
So, I ask again at what age does one get to know their destiny? When do you become sure of your destination that you drive your car confidently, tackle all the obstacles, take all the diversions needed but know for sure that you on the right path towards your destination? Or does one ever get to know one's destination? Or is it the case of the destination not being as important as journey itself? If it is the latter, one does get a wee bit tired of driving on and on and on without actually reaching anywhere or without even actually having a place to reach....Right now, I am TIRED.
I hope to God that I would find it in me to once again embark on a journey that would take me to my destination -my destiny. After all that is why I am here right? It would be awfully embarassing to go back and tell my creator, Sorry Sir, I just couldn't find my stop!
All through my life, I have embarked on numerous journeys thinking that it would lead me to my ultimate destination -my destiny. But half way through either I would realise that I wasn't driving to the destination that I was supposed to or there would be road blocks and I would have had taken diversions only to find myself back at the starting point. So, righ now I am parked in my car, with the engine running, ready to undertake that all important journey that will take me to my destination -but I am thoroughly confused, it has reached a stage where I don't see any roads no nore, any well-defined paths there are none, just an ocean of empty land is all that is visible. Mistake me not, I am willing to dig my own road to traverse miles upon it to even get a glimpse of my destiny -it's just that I don't know where to begin anymore!
So, I ask again at what age does one get to know their destiny? When do you become sure of your destination that you drive your car confidently, tackle all the obstacles, take all the diversions needed but know for sure that you on the right path towards your destination? Or does one ever get to know one's destination? Or is it the case of the destination not being as important as journey itself? If it is the latter, one does get a wee bit tired of driving on and on and on without actually reaching anywhere or without even actually having a place to reach....Right now, I am TIRED.
I hope to God that I would find it in me to once again embark on a journey that would take me to my destination -my destiny. After all that is why I am here right? It would be awfully embarassing to go back and tell my creator, Sorry Sir, I just couldn't find my stop!
Sons & Lovers
Sons and Lovers -By D.H.Lawrence. I picked up the DVD for two reasons. One I saw the name DH Lawrence -I love that man's twisted thinking and the ability to translate the dark void that inhabits human relationships. The second reason is in a way connected to the latter sentiment. `Sons and Lovers' is a passionate drama about the fragility of human relationships, about love, sex and the space between them'. It did not disappoint. I did like what I saw....including the umpteen sex scenes, which certainly does not titillate (anyway I was never fond of the bam-wam types and you see a lot of that in this film) but becomes an integral part of the lives of the characters. And that's what sex is in real life too -though the moral brigade might argue otherwise.
Back to the story -Intellectual Gertrude marries miner Walter and soon grows to resent his hard drinking, inarticulate husband. When eldest son Willaim leaves for a job in London, Gertrude pours all her love and frustrated ambition into her relationship with her younger son Paul. And so when Paul finally falls in love, an unspoken battle begins between mother and son as Paul struggles to make his own way in the world.
The ambitious Gertrude is an ill-fit in the marriage to a miner. Is it any fault of hers to be ambitious? Not at all. Yet you also sympathise with the hard-drinking husband. You cannot grudge him his pint after a hard day's work in the damp mines, in the dark belly of the earth. He is a man who bears his cross in life. He is justified in his actions. So is the wife in her feelings of frustration, desperation and disappointment. She then accepts her fate and turns her attention to her sons. They become the greatest love of her life. She exacts her revenge on the husband by turning the sons against him. The film beautifully portrays the relationship between the wife and husband, the mother and her sons and the father and his unspoken love for his sons; the sons and their confused love for their father.
The battle for affection and ownership over the relationship between the mother and her sons begin when they grow up and fall in love. When the eldest son dies, the youngest son Paul begins to carry an extraordinary burden upon his shoulders. Now, he not only has to live his life to please his mother but he also has to stand in for his older brother who died young and so did his mother's dreams for him. Paul has a dual burdern to carry. In the bargain a struggle ensues between what he wants and what others want of him.
He is unable to fall in love. For he compares every woman he meets to his mother. His mother does not help his cause by trying to keep her son's affection an exclusive property of hers. But she feels Paul's pain when he suffers in his relationships.
I is the story of zillions of parents and children around the world. Parents whose lives revolve around their children. Their love for their children is unsurpassed. They sacrifice a lot for their children. But is it selfless? No, it is a twisted form of selfishness. They live their dreams through their children. They nurture and give their all so that their children could become what they could never be. In the bargain they fail to realise that their children are individuals in their own right. Human beings who have their own dreams, wants, desires and life to lead. Unfortunately, the aforementioned parents don't see it that way. They see their children as their own property and become, unconsciously, dictators ruling over the lives of their children.
In the end everybody lives a painful life. The children are confused and caught between the love of their parents and the desire to lead h/her own life. The parents are disappointed and feels betrayed when the child rightfully walks away to tread h/her own chosen path. In all this the love and bond they share remains. Unfortunately it becomes a noose around their necks.
Sons & Lovers does not fail to read the gaps in between human relationships.
Directed by: Stephen Whittaker
Back to the story -Intellectual Gertrude marries miner Walter and soon grows to resent his hard drinking, inarticulate husband. When eldest son Willaim leaves for a job in London, Gertrude pours all her love and frustrated ambition into her relationship with her younger son Paul. And so when Paul finally falls in love, an unspoken battle begins between mother and son as Paul struggles to make his own way in the world.
The ambitious Gertrude is an ill-fit in the marriage to a miner. Is it any fault of hers to be ambitious? Not at all. Yet you also sympathise with the hard-drinking husband. You cannot grudge him his pint after a hard day's work in the damp mines, in the dark belly of the earth. He is a man who bears his cross in life. He is justified in his actions. So is the wife in her feelings of frustration, desperation and disappointment. She then accepts her fate and turns her attention to her sons. They become the greatest love of her life. She exacts her revenge on the husband by turning the sons against him. The film beautifully portrays the relationship between the wife and husband, the mother and her sons and the father and his unspoken love for his sons; the sons and their confused love for their father.
The battle for affection and ownership over the relationship between the mother and her sons begin when they grow up and fall in love. When the eldest son dies, the youngest son Paul begins to carry an extraordinary burden upon his shoulders. Now, he not only has to live his life to please his mother but he also has to stand in for his older brother who died young and so did his mother's dreams for him. Paul has a dual burdern to carry. In the bargain a struggle ensues between what he wants and what others want of him.
He is unable to fall in love. For he compares every woman he meets to his mother. His mother does not help his cause by trying to keep her son's affection an exclusive property of hers. But she feels Paul's pain when he suffers in his relationships.
I is the story of zillions of parents and children around the world. Parents whose lives revolve around their children. Their love for their children is unsurpassed. They sacrifice a lot for their children. But is it selfless? No, it is a twisted form of selfishness. They live their dreams through their children. They nurture and give their all so that their children could become what they could never be. In the bargain they fail to realise that their children are individuals in their own right. Human beings who have their own dreams, wants, desires and life to lead. Unfortunately, the aforementioned parents don't see it that way. They see their children as their own property and become, unconsciously, dictators ruling over the lives of their children.
In the end everybody lives a painful life. The children are confused and caught between the love of their parents and the desire to lead h/her own life. The parents are disappointed and feels betrayed when the child rightfully walks away to tread h/her own chosen path. In all this the love and bond they share remains. Unfortunately it becomes a noose around their necks.
Sons & Lovers does not fail to read the gaps in between human relationships.
Directed by: Stephen Whittaker
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