Sunday, June 24, 2007

Melancholy

Amazingly tender and melancholic! :)

I like for you to be still - Pablo Neruda

I like for you to be still:
it is as though you were absent,
and you hear me from far away
and my voice does not touch you.

It seems as though your eyes had flown away
and it seems that a kiss had sealed your mouth.

As all things are filled with my soul
you emerge from the things,
filled with my soul.

You are like my soul,
a butterfly of dream,
and you are like the word Melancholy.

I like for you to be still,
and you seem far away.

It sounds as though you were lamenting,
a butterfly cooing like a dove.
And you hear me from far away,
and my voice does not reach you:
Let me come to be still in your silence.
And let me talk to you with your silence
that is bright as a lamp, simple as a ring.

You are like the night,
with its stillness and constellations.

Your silence is that of a star,
as remote and candid.

I like for you to be still:
it is as though you were absent,
distant and full of sorrow as though you had died.

One word then, one smile, is enough.
And I am happy,
happy that it's not true.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Madness & Freedom!

A friend sent this some time back. Liked it a lot!


Alexis Zorba: Damn it boss, I like you too much not to say it. You've got everything except one thing: madness! A man needs a little madness, or else...

Basil: Or else?

Alexis Zorba: ...he never dares cut the rope and be free.


Zorba the Greek
Nikos Kazantzakis

Monday, June 18, 2007

The Boss, Truly!

Watching a Rajni movie in the opening weekend is indeed an experience in itself. All the more, when there has been hype and publicity like never before and U watch it with this die-hard Rajni fan.

The face of the whole theatre seems to have changed – there are posters, cutouts, garlands over the cutouts, colourful banners- all with Rajni’s face and some stylish posture along with some incredible lines...Sample this : “There is only one god; there is only one mother; there is only one superstar” ! All this in Bangalore, what would be the scene in Chennai? Some grand entry to a carnival, for sure.

After jostling through the crowd, we manage to find our seats. Lights dim.
A huge roar of whistles, cheers and claps erupts. There is this teeny weeny trailor of his next movie 'Sultan'! The roar gets louder this time.

The Film Certificate “Sivaji” appears. The roar is now at a feverish pitch and I am simply caught up in the exuberance and excitement of the moment. And then after the titles, the hero makes his superstar entry. The roar has reached a frenzy and I sink deeper into my chair.

The movie has the usual Rajni elements. His style being the overriding factor. Of course, to keep up with his modern image, instead of playing with a cigarette, our hero has progressed (admirably) to Mentos Chewies. :)

When our hero is stuck alone with the gang of the villains, about to be beaten up, one man sympathetically asks him, “Yen thaniya vandenga?” (Why did you venture out alone?) And there our amiable hero with his trademark grin, cheekily utters – “Kanna, panningathaan senthu varum, Singham eppovum thaniyathaan varum!” (My dear, only pigs come together. A lion always walks alone!)

No other hero could have said this with that right mix of arrogance, confidence, aplomb and STYLE!

Some memorable dialogues, self-deprecating humour at its best and a socially relevant storyline with the Shankaresque brand of treatment. The typical struggle of the Hero and the final victory! Add that with Vivek, good music and very trendily shot songs in amazingly done up (ostentatious) sets! (Watch out for the first night scene spoof and the stylishly shot song thereafter).

So this die-hard fan asks me as we step out: Sivaji pidichudha? I grudgingly reply : Illa, only MGR!

Nijamaave oru athiradi thaan!

PS: Scriptwriter to please note that FERA is now defunct and FEMA rules the roost ;)

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Beautiful!


My favourite city in the world!
Journeying through misty, dark and "full of phlegm" clouds... and to get this bird's eye view of the place I am so fond of :)
Its always the journey which is amazing and then the destination also becomes something to look forward to ;)

Took this when my flight flew over Chennai's coast before landing.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Can't think of something I read in recent times which uplifted me as much as "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.

Simply Unputdownable from beginning to end... magical realism!

All about a 15 year old boy with a very imaginative name - Piscine Molitor Patel who is stranded on a lifeboat after his ship sinks on the Pacific.

Along with him in the lifeboat, there is a zebra with a fractured leg, a female orangutan, a Hyena and well, sharks swim by the lifeboat nudging the boat.

He spends a whole night wondering how he is going to die - whether the orangutan will assault him or the hyena will bite off his leg or the sharks will devour him or by some mercy of God, he would merely drown, which seems to be the best way according to him, all of a sudden.

After one day on the life boat, he discovers to his utter shock and fear, what he missed noticing all along on the life boat - a 450 pound three year old Royal Bengal Tiger!!!!

And then I just had to hop onto the bandwagon struggling to stay afloat on the Pacific!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Richard Parker, Why did you botch it up finally ?