Post-Resignation Blues

Post-Resignation Blues

I have quit my job. I'll be moving south. The new offer is terrific and all. But then some how it is always tough to leave a place that you have grown to like. Or maybe it is the dawning of the realization that I have to make new friends... get accustomed to the new place and all. On one hand that's an exciting idea but on the other it wears my lazy soul out. Leaving Indore is not gonna be easy.
On the day (night, rather) I first came to Indore I was shaken up big time. It was a cold November night. The temperature was - at best - 6 degree Celsius. It froze all operating equipment of my body, including my brains. I realized what 'numb' meant that night. But I love cold. I prefer to the sweltering hear of Chennai (my home). But as a town Indore is light-years behind Chennai. There are no roads. I mean there are some remnants (of a road laid probably by Aurangazeb or Akbar) that punctuate the potholes. The dust will make even Buddha swear. I hated the place. I don't know why, but now I have grown to 'accept' Indore. The way it is. With all its dust and roadlessness. With its unruly motorists. And of course, I love the cold.
The past couple of years we had water and power scarcity and that added to my woes. This year the monsoon's been good. Too good actually. Probably Indore is happy that it's getting rid of an asshole that hates it.
I live in a single-bedroom flat in a township (a group of apartment complexes for the uninitiated). I used to live in a separate house; me in the ground floor and the land lords in the first. That's where someone stole my first computer. I had bought that PC after dreaming of owning one for three years and it dealt a severe blow Indore's image in my mind. I hated the place. But now, I am a bit sad that I am leaving. It is strange you know. For a person that has never stepped out of his hometown to suddenly travel so much. Live in strange towns. Learn new tongues. But the best thing about living solo is that you can roam around in your jocks in your apartment. Don't look at me like that. It was meant to be a figurative of privacy and freedom. But I think my days of living alone (which I so badly wanted a few years back) are gonna end. I will be married soon. And I don't think I'll miss living alone, for I would die to spend the rest of my life with her. That's a paradox let me rephrase it. I'll kill to live with her. ;-) Reminds me of a song by Tom cochran: Life is a highway:
"Life's like a road that you travel on
When there's ne day here and the next day gone
Somethimes you bend and sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your head to the wind
There's a world outside ev'ry darkened door
Where blues won't haunt you anymore
Where brave are free and lovers soar
Come ride with me to the distant shore
We won't hesitate
Break down the garden's gate
There's not much time left today

Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long
If you're going my way
I wanna drive it all night long"

Source: http://www.lyricsfind.com/lyrics/7119/71641.php
Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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"Coming back to the controversies created by the HYPOCRITIC media and a portion of public who argue that the many scenes in BOYS are obscene and vulgar in nature. Go back a couple of years in the cinema history. The same Chennai had a special screening of Deep Mehta�’s Fire exclusively for women in Anand theatre. What a movie to have special screening for women. Surprisingly the show was housefull. A movie that depicts an illegitimate relationship (this type of relationship is still illegitimate in India) between two women, in the same conservative Indian society, is running full houses. But a movie that depicts the lives of five boys as they are is protested to be cut left, right and center to accommodate public interest. Appreciate the height of bias. I'll have the last laugh. Despite the shortcomings, just for the honesty of filmmaking, I support BOYS. Do you ?"
That's what LazyGeek a.k.a Guru wrote on his review on Boys - a movie by Shankar. Media, the pseudo-puritanical section of the society and some dumbpoliticianss tried to create some noise.
The issue my friends is not with the movie. It is with the Indian psyche. 'Modesty' 'Chastity' and other such keywords are drilled into you from when you alight in this green-well not so green- world. A few years back eve-teasing killed a girl in Chennai. Very few had asked themselves 'why'. Repression. Sexual repression.
PRAFUL BIDWAI in his coulmn on Frontline 'Of fascism and repression' says:
"A number of surveys tell us that a majority of Indians are sexually inhibited and repressed. They do not know much about sex or eroticism, and talk even less about it in public. The subject of sex is taboo, just as kissing was for long in our commercial films. Often, sex is only discussed in hushed tones and furtively in dark, shady clinics like "Hero Pharmacy" which promise happy "married life" �— read, machismo overflowing with testosterone �— to frustrated, anguished young men who have terrible insecurities about premature ejaculation and insurmountable guilt about masturbation.
There is a generalised climate of forced asceticism in many parts of India. This is related to growing gendered violence, harassment of women, bride-burning, and outright rape. Gender discrimination begins early. Different-sex teenagers do not interact and play together except on pain of parental disapproval. They are taught to be chaste, "pure", celibate.
Boys are told masturbation leads to loss of virility and mental and spiritual power too. It is a sin. Girls are drilled into disguising and suppressing their sensuality, and projecting false "modesty". The family tightly controls women's mobility and sexuality. There can be little sexual freedom when the family's objective is to turn women into baby-producing (and - rearing) factories." (Read more on Frontline's site)
I can't agree more with Praful. And it is sad that 'honest' movie making has to go through this shit. Praful makes an excellent argument about how these pseudo-values fuel the repression and give rise to terrible personalities that go about raping, arsoning and killing (Godhra remember?) at will under the excuse of Hindutva or something like that. Mind you, I said under the excuse of Hindutva. How is this relevant to BOYS? Well, movies that connect to audiences; movies that are closer to reality ALSO help shape/alter the misplaced convictions, blind-values. Okay maybe that was stretching it too far but hey that's how movies ought to be made. Honest. It's fun to watch an honest movie. Where the hero doesn't wack 100 guys with ONE KICK for god'ssake! And, honest movie making relies on story, screen-play and treatment. Not on heroes or heroines. That's good news to the producers who crib about the astronomical rates of some of our heroes. Honest movies = quality movies = hits (well, mostly) so mr.producer shut up and do it. A movie needn't preach ideals. We go to movies for entertainment not for spiritual upliftment. So, if any one's talking that shit they can shut their misplaced anal cavities up. So what do I do when I am positive that sense is something I shouldn't expect from a tamil movie? I stop thinking and tell myself 'this is the way it is. stop thinking. Just watch the crap and go home and sleep.' No man! that's not how Jurassic Parks happen. Great movies happen because a free mind is allowed to pursue an idea; what it believes in. Its fundamental right is not curbed by the conservative/Talibanistic critics. For heaven'ssake Ananda Vikatan is not the ****ing authority on movie-making. Screw them. Screw the media. The press wants publicity and will publish any shit. We killed Galelio remember? For thinking the earth is a ball. Let's not repeat our mistakes. Maybe this is good for our movies. Maybe movies like Kakka Kakka, Boys (that are honest) will help shape the future of Tamil mvoies. Let's give them a chance! Let's not kill good minds. Even if the idea's proved wrong. It's all right! We put up with so much perversion in real life. If my memory serves me right one of the tamil mags (Kumudam or Vikatan) published an article sometime back on child-molestation and how it affects the married life (life itself) of a girl. They quoted victims! Why do you think it happens? It's time to move on. it was fun. All that shit about sex being 'bad'. And not having sex being good and 'spiritual'. Let's not sell our souls. Let's think what we believe. And let's believe what we think. Let's say what we think and believe. Everything else is irrelevant. Let's grow up. Please!
Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Outsourcing to India and The American scream

Outsourcing to India and The American scream

Kinglsey's post on Sue's piece on java.net had me thinking. Here's my take.
enough's been said about outsourcing backlash. Enough has been said about how Americans (well some of them) hate the brown people from India for lapping up all 'their' jobs. Let's look within. We have a section of people that thinks Sonia Gandhi is unfit to contest in elections because she is of Italian origin. And of course we have state governments like TN and Maharashtra taking 'measures' against the 'western culture'. Human nature. America is America because it was the place that invented the term 'create wealth'. I admire its capitalism but now when I see some of them whining about competition from India or other countries that offer cheap labour... well, guys you taught us capitalism!
I don't want to conclude on this issue. It's good for me and my country. It's good for Microsoft. Oracle. IBM. SUN. It works. Well most times. And I happen to be on the right (?) side. By that I mean the side that's making the most of it. So whatever I say to conclude would result in rhetoric. It's business as usual people. May the best (wo)man get the job. I sympathize with Sue for her juvenile rant. With our prices we are hurting them where it hurts the most. That's business. That's life Sue. You taught us that!
Write to me: suman 'at' sumankumar 'dot' com

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Kaakka Kaakka: A Review

Kaakka Kaakka: A Review

I do not watch Indian movies as a rule; unless it is by someone like Maniratnam (I thought he is the best of the worst, but in no way a match to Hollywood's technically sound movie makers). At times I do watch Govinda's movies; I'd switch my brain to sleep mode though. The sad fact is that our movies are far away from reality. Don't misunderstand me. When I say reality I mean 'how people react'. I can't digest stupid love stories or a hero wacking 100 guys all alone. No sir.
Gowtham Menon's latest flick Kaakka Kaakka comes as a refreshing breeze and probably has changed my mind about Tamil movie makers. Gowtham's KK is about a cop that is an encounter specialist; one that believes that cold blooded criminals ought to be shot in the balls. He falls in love with a girl, a teacher, and the story is about how the cop's profession affects his personal life (in the way of Paandiya an animal in the guise of a human being). What's so refreshing about it? You might ask. Well, the treatment. Why is it important? Treatment can make a lousy story into a great movie and vice-versa. I also want to emphasize Gowtham's honest movie making. His characters talk, act and react like they are supposed to. The bad boys bad mouth. I loved the way Pandiyaa says 'Dey baadu' or 'Otha!'. That's how a rowdy talks bud. That's how a bad soul vibes. They swear like there's no tomorrow. There are no dialogues in KK. Only 'conversations'. Ah! that's relief isn't it? In this movie Gowtham has scored over even Mani whose movies offer theatrical dialogues and artificial characters (his heroines shout a lot and his research sucks: remember how an 'AIR' correspondent goes hunting for news in Assam in Dil se, for god'ssake!)
Gowtham's characters in KK are real. The movie offers wonderful entertainment. I hope we allow Gowtham to stick to his honesty and passion. I am sure that'd result in some wonderful flicks. Having said that, hey Gowtham what was the scene where Pandiya attacks the hero for the first time? The two groups (cops and bad guys) are firing at each other, and Pandiya stands still and stares at the hero who returns the compliment and NONE OF THE BULLETS HIT PANDIYA? Eeeeeeeeeeennn! That was non sense Gowtham. So was a normal high school teacher having a posh house (you didn't tell us she was born rich). I give it to you though. You got balls. And that's all it takes to clean up the shit in our movies. Way to go Gowtham.
I have to compliment Harris on the score. The re-recording is shit but the songs (well a couple actually) are nice. The first number 'ooowohu waahu' is groovy and hey people welcome guitar to our Tamil movie music. It is a shame that they never used that wonderful instrument in the movies.

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