Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 148

Only when you get on to the other side!

Bhaji on the Beach (1994)
Director: Gurinder Chada


It is quite clear. Man is always restless. He is never happy with anything. He is always looking for greener pastures. It may be his inborn desire to spread his wings, to improve himself and subsequently propel mankind to higher of achievement. But, what is this achievement? Does progress technological advancement, ease of living or carrying out the traditions set out by our fathers and creating a peaceful world where everyone can hold hands together, look at each other and say 'Joy to the world, joy boys and girls, joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea and the joy to you and me!'?

We seem to uproot from their native country, leave stock and barrel and explore greener pastures with a chest full of hope that their newfound motherland would be a land of milk and money. Surprise, surprise. True, some of the things that the new country has to offer are worlds apart with what they grew up. But, their sojourn also marks the evolution of new problems. They are particularly disturbed with the embracement of their offspring of the cultures of their new masters. The elders are not particularly happy with this development as they perceive their age-old traditions to be far superior. That is where the friction starts!

In essence, this is the issue the filmmaker is trying to explore in this light comedy. A kind of self-appointed feminist social worker organises a day trip to the beach to a group of Punjabi British ladies, ranging from teenage girls, a soon to be a medical student, a young mother, a middle-aged lady all through to a senior citizen. Each come aboard with a psychological baggage. The journey does not solve any of their problems but gives them a clearer mind to face the challenges of their lives.

The grass is always greener on the neighbours' lawns because they are so full of manure. Move over to their abode to realise the stench, the flies and the 'booby traps' when you walk on the grass! That does not mean we should be perpetually contented with we have and grateful that things could worse or should we build our nationalistic spirit and challenge the status quo or the inertia in our own backyard? Points to ponder.
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Any way you like it!

One man's perception of certain of an event may differ to another's. Just like that his understanding of a part of scriptures may vary. He may cherry pick what he wants to see and the part that is favourable to his agenda.

I recently heard yet another interpretation of the iconic event of Bhagavad-Gita. The discourse between Arjuna, the warrior who got cold feet on the eve of a deathly duel and his confidante, Krishna, to most people, is an intelligent dialogue on the purpose of life and existence. Looking at it from another angle, it is psychotherapy.

Imagine a student pinning all his hopes to sit for an important public examination. This examination is so significant to him as it is the only way for him to escape the shackles of poverty and hopelessness. His family has put all their faith in him to succeed. The student has been doing well all through his life but somehow, this time it feels different. The pressure is too over-bearing. The thought of his whole life being decided on a single examination seem ludicrous. He grows cold feet.

Imagine a senior person who has seen it all comes to the rescue. He literally tells him to snap out of it only to realise that that method does not work. He starts counselling him on purpose of his path in life and ways to make sense of it all as well as the correct method to take things at a stride as they come.

As in Bhagavad-Gita, the opening of the content of your heart is therapeutic. Our fears, sometimes arise from the same mind that is supposed to protect us from external dangers. It is akin to the fences that were erected to guard our crops which start feeding on the produce.







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The stage we look up to!

Denial (2016)

It is said that Holocaust is a sensitive word. Firstly, the word has been hijacked only to denote one event, to what happened in Auschwitz and the many concentration camps during WW2 to the 6 million Jews there. True, there were many other equally bad, if not worse, atrocities that were done by Man to his fellow kind, this event always took centre stage. Perhaps, Hollywood helped to sell this story too. After all, many of the pioneers of the silver screen were disgruntled Jews who themselves were movie doyens who escaped Hitler's tyranny to settle in America.

Human history is marred with many blood bath events and senseless deaths. What comes to mind are The Indian Partition, The Bengal Famine, death under Stalin regime, Russian deaths in WW2, Rape of Nanking, hunger deaths during the Cultural Revolution in China, Communist witch-hunt in Indonesia, the Armenian genocide and the World Wars which may have been actually started off by the Russian Revolution. War is a bloody event and brings out the worst in mankind. So, to single out the Jewish Holocaust as a sole savagery to happen in our civilisation is as if it is the most singularly important in history is an overkill, so say the non-sympathisers. It is not to say that these events did not take place but rather, too much romanticism and emotions are placed on it. These people who do not conform to the general train of thought is termed 'Holocaust Deniers' as if to mean that they do not acknowledge its occurrence!

The crux of this movie is the real life legal spat between an American Jewish Professor, Lipstadt, and a Nazi-Germany scholar, Irving. Irving sued Lipstadt for libel as she labelled him to being a Holocaust denier in her book. As the publisher of her book, Penguin, is British, Irving sued her in the English courts. In the English legal system, the burden of proof lies with the accused. Hence, it is up to her legal team to convince the judge for a favourable outcome whilst dodging pressures from the media, Holocaust survivors themselves and their pushy client.

If one were to follow the proceedings in the courts, one would realise that the last thing that the legal system is trying to find out is the Truth and to mete justice. It has become a stage, like life itself, a place for people to seek publicity, to set precedence for the rest of society to use as a yardstick to follow and an avenue to apparently showcase their high culture to the world. On this stage the actors, the histrionic performers act out their roles to create a shadow play and smokescreen to hoodwink the jury or the presiding judge to look at the case from their (the lawyers) own rose tinted lenses. This can happen as things in life are not so straight forward. No one is either so bad or angelic. The truth is multilayered and can be viewed from many perspectives. It is the role of the directors of this stage to create the props, set the mood and sell their story.

The victors can then write the ensuing story any way they want!

(N.B. There is plenty of literature in the cyberspace on the Holocaust, put up by its deniers. They question the validity of many of the evidence put forward by the sympathisers. They deny that there was a systematic planning of Jewish genocide. They posit that it was the usual atrocity of any war and the planned gassing of people in Austwick is an exaggeration or even a blatant lie. They claim that there is no documented proof. The Jews, in rebuttal, reply that the pieces of evidence were destroyed by Hitler. The debate will never end.)http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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More than meets the eye!

Autobiography of a Yogi
Paramahamsa Yogananda (first published 1946)

During Steve Job's memorial service, visitors were each given a copy of the above book. The same book that Jobs read during his wandering years in India and the same one that he read annually to recharge himself. It must have guided him to think outside the box to see things
that others fail to see. But hearing the stories about his regimental and sometimes brutal work expectations, you may need a lot of tenacity to be in his team of game-changers.

At least three people that I know had confessed to me that this book had truly transformed the way they viewed life afterwards. It further increased my curiosity to grab a copy. That task was not difficult. A free e-book is available on-line.

Well, after completing the book, I still appear the man I use to be. Time will tell whether anything happened. Maybe my inner eye is still shut to receive the wisdom. My scepticism has made me a numbskull, too thick to be enlightened.

What it did do, however, is to make me realise that there are many things in this world are beyond the comprehension of an average man. Like the illusionary acts of David Copperfield, Houdini and David Blaine, some of the stunts claimed to have been done for these holy men beg explanations of extraordinary proportions. They talk of ability to have 'out-of-body' experiences at will, the capacity to predict future events, the potential to identify follower to continue the lineage, the capability to control the autonomic functions of the body, to live without food and air for days on end and much more.

There is mention of a scientist, Luther Burbank, who is said to have 'spoken' to his cacti to 'persuade' them to shed off their thorns. He managed to coax the cacti not to be afraid of its environment to arm itself with protection. Subsequent generations of cacti grew 'thornless'! Cross reference with Wikipedia confirms Burbank to be an eminent botanist with the fame on developing 800 varieties of plants, a spineless cactus for cattle-feed and a genetic variant potato which saved the Irish famine.

The swami also narrates his experience visiting a Catholic priestess in Europe, Therese Neumann, who goes into a trance during the Passion of Christ to speak in Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek and to have spontaneous bleeding (stigmata) from places Jesus Christ did - heart, crown, wrist, arms, etcetera. She is said to have survived for 12 years only on prayer wafer.

Swami Yogananda and his followers in Self-Realisation Fellowship try to build a bridge between Hinduism and Christianity. His call by his guru to go to America is to continue what Swami Vivekananda did to introduce Hinduism to the West.

Chandragupta of the Maurya Empire halted the advancing Alexander of Macedonia's garrisons in Punjab. Alexander, in return, was deeply fascinated with Hindu philosophy. Asoka. in his youth, is said to have met Alexander in the royal courts. On his return, he is said to have taken a yogi, Kalanos, to Macedonia but he apparently plunged into a burning fire to end his life! It appears like Alexander gets no respect! Diogenes, in Greece, had told Alexander not to block the sun when Diogenes was sunbathing and the Commander had stopped to pay respect to the philosopher. In India, Alexander had the same treatment!

There is another explanation for the existence of caste in the Hindu society. Unlike the popular belief, one is not born into a particular caste. The caste was a way to emphasise that people by default are born with certain pre-ordained aptitude. Those with scholastic abilities can get involved in the professions that involve brain work; those with physical attributes could defend the country; those with economic shrewdness may indulge in business; those who carry orders well can perform pre-determined jobs and the rest can do works unattractive to the community. Unfortunately, over time, this distribution of manpower had been hijacked by the need to keep certain trade secrets within the practitioners and the caste system ascertained by birth prevailed!

The autobiography tells the coming of age of Mukunda Ghosh in Bengal, through cholera, his self-discovery, his astral linkage with Swami Yukdeswar, his audience with some interesting holy men with compelling lifestyles and finally a telepathic conversation with his deceased guru. Deceased only in physical body but to be very much alive on a distant planet with a different outlook on existence.

Just because all the thing mentioned in the book appears out of the world, it should not be pushed aside as mumbo jumbo. The human potential is phenomenal. This very nature is the one that has made us be the longest surviving species on this planet, outliving bigger and more powerful beings. We have also managed to be the defacto leaders of the world. Like Arthur C. Clarke said, "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic!"

Experimentations into the crypts of mind are already ongoing. Clairvoyance, telepathy, psychokinesis, travelling through space and time, precognition, powers of healing of body and mind have created renewed interest in the scientific circles. The problem is that they are still labelled as pseudo-science by the general public. Aeons ago, in the land bounded by the Indus, these ideas were accepted facts. The only thing is that they were expressed in symbolic fashions which modern man finds it difficult to comprehend.http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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It isn't over till it is over!

Hidden Figures (2016)

When you born into the less sunny side of the city, there must be more than one way to enjoy the sun! There surely must be more than one way to uproot oneself to the clutches of poverty and tune of hopelessness. One can be a card carrying, placard carrying opposer of the system and rant all about it in social avenues. Or they can brood all they can, hoping for self-pity and immersing themselves in intoxicants to forget their miseries and be the problem instead of solving it! [image error]
Alternatively, one can be part of the system and try to improve himself by using his God-given faculties and the Man-made facilities to his advantage. It is easy to throw in the towel and wail, claiming injustices by the fate, birth, sins of forefathers but it takes tenacity and character to give a good fight against tyranny. And it need not be violent in action but can be equally brutal!

It is 1960s USA and the space race is on. The leader of the capitalistic wants to win this two-sided race especially after Yuri Gagarin leads by becoming the first man to fly in space. Against this background and highly segregated American society, three black ladies are competing in NASA to serve their nation. These three women, Katherine G Johnson, a mathematician, Mary Johnson, an engineer and Dorothy Vaughn, a mathematician and supervisor, fought against a system biased against the coloured and the female gender to prove their worthiness through sheer hard work and working within the system.

Even though the film plot was highly predictable and did not score high on the awe or suspense factor, it is nevertheless empowering to the underprivileged or those who think that they had hit a brick wall. It isn't over till it is over!

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You can play the blame game!

Padaithaane (from Nitchaya Thaapoolam, Tamil; 1962)
Lyricist: Kannadasan

My wife thinks that I am nuts, listening to sad songs. No, I tell her. I am not into an exercise of self-pity or melancholy porn. It is just that, like Elton John said, sad songs say so much. I am in for the philosophy.

Nietzsche suggested that we all need tragedy in our life, or at least in its art form. Like a Greek tragedy where the two opposing forces, the 'Apollonian' and the 'Dionysian', get intertwined to create art, life is no different. We are brought down from our high chair to the ground by Nature to make us realise of our vulnerabilities by infusing sadness into our lives.

Tamil songs just got it right, to infuse intricate facts of life to its audiences when a character is facing obstacles of life. Its messages are immortalised via its many evergreen songs. 'Padaithane' (He Created) from 1962 hit 'Nitchaya Thamboolam' (a ritual of exchanging trays with gifts to mark mutual consent for marriage). Sivaji Ganesan, in his usual histrionic antic, some would call it over-acting, plays out the plight of a newly wedded man who suspects that he have been wronged by his wife. The wife, who had turned his life around, from being a loafer to a responsible householder, all the while had been two-timing him. Of course, in keeping with the pristine image of a chaste Indian wife, all this is not true.

In the song sequence, the character thinks aloud his predicament. He blames God for the emotional turmoil that he is encountering. He tries to make sense of His intricate game called life. He talks (sings) of Man's evolution from Ape to Homo Sapiens and how their simple lives became complicated with new found bonds and relationships. He questions the purpose of our existence, our life chained by familial piety and desires. It is amazing how we, with our simple minds, have to deal with so many problems. Worst of all, we sometimes forget our mistakes just to repeat them again.

The cinematographic technique employed for this particular song (music video) was described as avant-garte. It tried to employ American noir technique to bring out the dark hidden agenda of existentialism. The tall beams of light, long shadows and lighted pillars against an intensely dark background are pathognomonic of a noir movie.



A feeble attempt at translation...

He created,
God created Man.
(the singer is playing tricks with us. He modulates his voice to make it sound as if it can also be heard as 'why He created'?!)
He made us grow,
Grew misery in our hearts.
He gave us,
He gave us forgetfulness.
He separated,
Separated mind and sorrow.
When Man was Ape,
there was no turmoil in his mind.
family, wife, siblings, groups were none,
falling into trap of desire, compassion and love,
cannot have peace of mind.
Wandering, suffering, struggling, shrivelling,
Is not giving any benefit to anyone.
When one is born alone,
there is no disturbance.
When he joins another soul,
there is always trouble.
In Man's small head, so much burden.
It starts at 20 and till 70,
there is always dizziness (confusion).

Man, at the spring of his youth, raging with hormones and the spirit of freedom, plunges head-on to experience the pleasures of his senses. At this time, his heart rules, rather than his head. He follows blindly like a zombie, not thinking but mere as a reflex to the stimuli around him. 
This is a one-way ticket which traps him into a slippery web of bonds, clutching tentacles and emotional baggage. By the time, he realises his position, he is ankle-deep rooted in the quicksand of hopelessness. Too many commitments, too many society-imposed dos and do nots. He can always turn around and leave it all and the only person that matter is himself and the only important thing is his emotional wellbeing. It is not easy. Even if he decides to cut off the umbilical cord of attachment, he is bound to repeat the whole debacle. He forgets and is blinded by his primal needs.
He can blame all his misdoings and misjudgements on God's misdeeds as heard in this song. Alternatively, he can say that only the good things in life are of God's greatness but all its follies only man's wrong moves. He may say that it is all part of the Divine master plan and He is just testing our faith. 

N.B. Apollo is the Greek god of light and reason. Nietzsche identifies the Apollonian as a life- and form-giving force, characterised by measured restraint and detachment, which reinforces a strong sense of self. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and music, and Nietzsche identifies the Dionysian as a frenzy of self-forgetting in which the self gives way to a primal unity where individuals are at one with others and with nature. Both the Apollonian and the Dionysian are necessary in the creation of art. Without the Apollonian, the Dionysian lacks the form and structure to make a coherent piece of art, and without the Dionysian, the Apollonian lacks the necessary vitality and passion. Although they are diametrically opposed, they are also intimately intertwined. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/nietzsche/section1.rhtmlhttp://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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A divine mirth?

Hacksaw Ridge (2016)


If I did not know better, that it was a movie directed by Mel Gibson (of 'Braveheart' and 'Passion of Christ' fame), I would have thought that it could be some kind of a divine satire. The idea of a pacifist enlist as a soldier in the Second World War just does not make sense. Surprisingly, it is actually based on true story and such a soldier did walk this Earth and was awarded the Medal of Honour for his work beyond the call of duties in the Battle of Okinawa. He was a non-rifle carrying, conscientious objector, a vegetarian, a Sabbath-keeping Seventh Adventist Church Baptist who believed that he was sent to Earth with a mission. The soldier, Desmond Doss, was convinced that his calling was to serve his country and save the soldiers but without touching a gun but through offering medical help to wounded soldiers in battle.

He keeps his faith despite the atrocities he witnessed on the battle field. With a Bible in his pocket and a photograph of his beau, he embraced the gruesome fight with harakiri practising Japanese on the island of Okinawa.

Sometimes, we go about our duties thinking that it is birthright to defend something that we believe is true. We are so convinced that our actions, no matter whether it makes sense or not, to be just. For example, the Commandment says 'Thou shalt not kill' but we always justify our killing by understanding that the killing to be our own kind or kin; not a non-believer or a foreigner! It appears that the codes of conducts are just to foster unity amongst one's race and ensure strength to maintain power. The moment we see all as one race, the human race, we only need one bro code - do unto others as you would have them do unto you!

It is funny that everybody thinks that they are special, that they sent on a mission that they themselves do not but like to believe that they will told in time if look hard enough. They interpret some random signs as divine communication with them and will be hellbent to carry out the perceived calling from God. How different does that make you from people who are labelled as fundamentalists, fanatics, terrorists? ISIS and ISIL think that way too!http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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Hermit in a cocoon?

Fences (2016)

After going through the hard knocks of life, you resolve to get it. You set your rules and set out not to repeat the mistakes the people who were assigned to care for you. You build a wall within a fence and like a hermit in the confines of your cocoon. You think you are doing okay and are not repeating the mistakes of your forefathers. You have seen the darkest hour of life and honestly, wish for your offspring to cushioned off these bruises from their walks of life.

You find the only way you know to impart your experiences and make it your God-given duty to educate them academically and socially. You know what? At the end of the day, you realise that your effort seems like an exercise in futility. You are labelled a madman, the reason for their perceived insanity and as a man living in the uncertain glory of the past.

As a man, you make one mistake and the whole world pins you down as a scourge of mankind. All your good deeds come down to nought. You then realise that your situation is very much like the same one that you have been trying to avoid all these while. The little kingdom that you try to build within your fences come crumbling down.  Surprisingly, your efforts are only appreciated after your passing...

'Fences' is an adaptation of a Pulitzer-winning screenplay about a 1950s Pittsburgh-based garbage collector, Troy, and his little family. After growing up with many unfilled dreams in early adulthood, Troy pulls himself together to provide for his wife, Rose and his son, Cory. Associated with his household are his brother, Gabe, a mentally deranged veteran, Troy's son from first marriage, Lyon and his bosom buddy, Bono. Along come trouble in the form of a rebellious Cory and Troy's girlfriend!

This emotionally charged drama shines in all departments, the acting, the script and the set. It brings to life the reality of living amongst the poor who strive to change their fate.

Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in.http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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Life is full of 'what if's!

Dhuruvangal Pathnaaru (16 Extremes)

Back in the 90s, my sisters suggested that I should watch a revolutionarily new Tamil with a new format, 'Puthu Puthu Arthangal' (New Meanings). A then new to the Tamil cinema, Rahman was the star. Later, he acted in 'Sangamam', another milestone depicting the clash between classical Indian music and the folk music. Rahman was rarely seen after that till I saw him in this rare neo-noir Tamil crime drama film. The years have been kind to this lanky star. His appearance has not changed much over the years.

It was quite engaging to watch this flick. From the word go, I was hooked. Initially starting with the cliche and cute philosophical lines, I was keen to know how it would progress. The curiosity increased as the narration flip-flopped between the present and five years into the future. A retired police officer has a chat with a chap whom he mistakenly thinks is his subordinate's son. Thinking that the visitor ('the son') is a keen follower of his last unsuccessful case, they discuss details of it at great lengths. The storytelling is so compelling. The police procedures are discussed quite meticulously with no chance for holes. I thought that this film who also follow what most Tamil films do - make the story quite complicated and end it with the most ridiculous impossible explanations just to tie the loose ends. Luckily, it did not end that way here.

One has to watch till the end to appreciate the twist at the end and then suddenly all the profound voice-overs by the narrator would start to make perfect sense.

Life is full of possibilities. Whenever something does not turn out in our favour, we always ask ourselves 'what if', 'what if'. What if I had pursued another career path? What if I had married my first girlfriend? What if I had stayed single? What if I had not answered the phone when I was driving? What if I had not been mean to the stray dog? Life is full of unanswered questions. I am pretty sure I would be asking the same questions if I had taken the alternate path.

A story as told by one person may put him as the protagonist, the hero. To another person, this same story would be narrated as if the first person is the villain. It is all one's perspective. A surprisingly cerebral film from a 22-year-old debutante. Way to go!http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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Money begets money!

Hell or High Water (2017)

It has got opposition against corporate American written all over it. This movie must have liberal democrats drooling all over. It is a simple neo-Western story like the one one sees in a pulp fiction. Two brothers go on a bank robbing spree and two Texas Rangers going after them. Doesn't sound original, does it? In fact, it could have been plucked from the many Westerns we have seen before. But, see beyond it. There are no horses and there is more than meets the eye.

In the modern world, being born poor is like hereditary disease passed from generation to generation. The poor is caught in a spiral, like a snake catching its own tail, a vicious cyclical self-defeating spiral. To come out of the rut, you need money which is sparse when you are poor. And to top it all, education, which the elites claim is the sure pass to unchain the shackles of poverty is no cheap feat. There appears to be a concerted effort to keep the poor poorer and the rich richer than they already are. Money begets money and destitution multiply helplessness. The bigger corporations, in cahoots with the powers that be who were elected to keep the general public's interest at heart, have standards that tighten the screws on the members of the lower rung of the society. They go on their work like business as usual. Come what may, come hell or high water, they will ensure their profits and share-owners' dividends do not dwindle, even by a dime!

This film tells a tale of two brothers who had just lost their old mother. The elder brother had just been released from prison. They had grown under an abusive father. The younger had himself gone through some rough patch. He had cared for his demandingly sick mother and pines for over his ex-wife and his two young sons. The family farm had seen better times. It had been neglected by him and is soon to be repossessed by the banks after some shady legal wranglings. To top it all, there could be petroleum in their land! So, the brothers came with a series of bank robberies from the same bank that is executing the foreclosure to pay them back and place a trust in the same bank for the younger brother's family!

Hot on their trail is an unlikely duo of Texas Rangers; a near to retirement racist-statement rantings Ranger and his Native-Mexican assistant who just had it with his boss. Even though the story is predictable, the movie remains memorable for its good acting, the unforgettable lines with heavy Southerner mannerism and figure of speech and the hopeless environment that it depicts - the real picture of inland America - in debt, empty, dirty and sleepy towns with no economic activities. The only viable business is eatery and banks! And the whole system, the long arms of the law and even the public is out to protect the big guys, the corporation.

Memorable lines...
I've been poor my whole life, like a disease passing from generation to generation. But, not my boys, not anymore.He wouldn't know God if he crawled up his pant leg and bit him on the pecker. (referring to an evangelist)Blood always follows the money.Sometimes a blind pig finds a truffle. (one time lucky)Justice isn't a crime.Now that looks like a man who could foreclose on a house. (referring to a banker)http://asok22.wix.com/rifle-range-boy
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