2015

Why write the blog at all? I understand it's a little late to be answering this question but I guess It needs to be said at some point.

I have a vague recollection of my grandfather (Paddu Tatha) and whatever memory I have of him is of him either scolding someone or the other. He was short tempered and had very high expectations of people. I remember him scolding me a lot. Not his fault though, I was a stupid kid and I'd hate myself at that age if I saw him now. For example, I'd constantly steal the vegetable vendor's weighing scales and run away with it to home. Anyways he was a good man I have a good sense of the man from memory and from stories I have heard of him. Unfortunately he passed away when I was 7 or so.

I have never seen my other grandfather (Seshadri Tatha). He passed away before I was born. From what I've heard he was very intelligent, was pretty wealthy and liked to play around with his kids a lot. He was pretty infamous too for a lot of things. I didn't really have a sense of who he was until one day my uncle showed me a letter that he'd written to the collector of the district asking for a permit to ply buses between Perambalur and Trichirapalli. It was in English and he'd written it beautifully. It had great penmanship and was written better than what you'd expect of someone who grew up in rural Tamil Nadu. As far as I can recollect It didn't have a single grammatical or spelling error.

Writing is a window into the workings of a person's mind. You can see a side of a person that you normally don't get to see. For example I had this colleague back in Chennai who was generally very shy. We'd be lucky if we got two sentences out of him in a day while talking. But boy could he write. His emails would be perfect. You'd never see this side of him unless you spoke to him over an email.

And that's why I blog. My grand children may never get to see me and I just don't want them to be curious as to who I was. Or where they come from. This is the intent of this blog. To give them a peek into my mind.

That's all I had to say really.

I think my next entry will be of all the stupid shit I have done.

Well, it has been a long time now since my last update. My apologies to my friends who visit my blog only to find no updates. I am more active on twitter and any blog updates will be tweeted.

I saw the movie "Enakkul Oruvan" and was pleasantly surprised. I went in to the theatre with no expectations and came out glowing and with the biggest urge that this needs to be written about.

If you know anything about Tamil movies, you'll know that this industry has patented that art of producing shit movies. Not exaggerating at all. Take a look at the recent movies released by the so called big name directors. (Actually no, don't take a look)

Shankar's Ai was such a disappointment. I generally do not have a lot of hopes out of high budget movies and avoid them as much as possible. But when you have a family that has been amped up with constant visuals and adverts you have to give in. I went to see it with zero expectations but still was disappointed. How is that even possible? Who still makes movies where the high point of the movie is the extravagant and unnecessary songs. Shankar, that's who.

Another big disappointment was KS Ravikumar's Lingaa. Why? Why go through the ordeal of making this? Why bother telling this very ordinary story? Why bother having 25 comedians and 400 characters? They are a big distraction and come in the way of whatever little story being told. This wasn't movie watching, this was an ordeal.

Another weak story was Gautham Menon's "Yennai Arindhaal". This one made me go... "What year is it? 1990?" Who still makes movies that has the protagonist barge into a Mexican stand-off and declare "I am Satyadev IPS". That's where I lost it and stopped paying attention. And what was with the antagonist played by Arun Vijaykumar? I get that he's been building his body, but does he really have to take off his shirt every time the camera is on him? In a lot of places I felt as if Menon was trying to change the story or at least had multiple story lines in mind.

Its not all bad though. There have been some movies that do make sense. Are coherent and hold your attention throughout. They are few, far between and are almost always low budget movies made by new directors and story tellers.

We went to see the movie "Enakkul Oruvan" directed by debutant Prasad Ramar. This is a remake of a Kannada movie called "Lucia", also by the same director. First off though. This movie was advertised on TV with this song --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePwiT-RH2NY .

Who the hell in their right mind will watch a movie that is advertised with this item song.

So when I booked the tickets, once again for the family, I went with no expectations whatsoever. And it promptly blew our collective minds away. They say, don't judge a book by its cover. This is a prime example of the saying.

This movie is still running in theatres, and for this reason I can't really give away anything without spoiling anything for you. I'll reserve the plot discussion for a post that I will make a month later.

However, I will leave you with this quote and a poem.

Maha-Vishnu then reclines in the waters of the Causal Ocean in a state of divine sleep, called yoga-nidra. Thus, it is said that the universal creation is but the dream of Maha-Vishnu - Rig Veda

Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things. - Zhuangzi

Do watch this movie. You'll not regret it!