Farouk Gulsara's Blog, page 22
August 9, 2024
Life with its ups and downs!
The Boy and the Heron (2023)
Director and Written: Hayao Miyazaki
I did not know much about this director until recently, but he has been a cult figure among those who enjoy Japanese cartoons. No, his brand of cartoons does not fall under manga, anime, or adult cartoons; instead, it carries a rather philosophical message. In fact, this particular offering is a semi-autobiographical one that the filmmaker made ten years after his retirement. In keeping with the coming-of-age era, the story is set in late 1930s Japan when the country is steeped knee-deep in the Pacific War.
It starts with Mahito, a young boy who gets up from sleep to find his mother trapped in a great fire. His mother subsequently succumbs to the fire. His father remarries his wife's sister, whom Mahito finds challenging to connect with.
Mahito moves to a new town to live with his pregnant stepmother. As Japan prepares for war, we see Mahita finding it challenging to fit into his new school and accept his new mum. A grey heron keeps hounding him. Mahito soon discovers a mysterious tower and a secret hidden beneath it.
Mahito soon enters a dream-like state into a bizarre new world, where he meets his deceased mother and maternal grandfather. His grandfather had an ambitious plan to create a utopia, and Mahito is the selected successor to continue the plan.
One cannot help but think that many scenes give the sense of déjà vu. There are scenes reminiscent of 'Alice in Wonderland'. I swear that one reminded me of Snow White in a glass casket. And not to forget the 1970s favourite Japanese cartoon, Marco - From the Apennines to the Andes, where Marco goes in search of his mother from port to port from Japan to Argentina.
The take-home message in this film is that life has its ups and downs, losses, and heartaches. We should not change anything in it but accept all the sadness and happiness in stride.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director and Written: Hayao Miyazaki
I did not know much about this director until recently, but he has been a cult figure among those who enjoy Japanese cartoons. No, his brand of cartoons does not fall under manga, anime, or adult cartoons; instead, it carries a rather philosophical message. In fact, this particular offering is a semi-autobiographical one that the filmmaker made ten years after his retirement. In keeping with the coming-of-age era, the story is set in late 1930s Japan when the country is steeped knee-deep in the Pacific War. It starts with Mahito, a young boy who gets up from sleep to find his mother trapped in a great fire. His mother subsequently succumbs to the fire. His father remarries his wife's sister, whom Mahito finds challenging to connect with.
Mahito moves to a new town to live with his pregnant stepmother. As Japan prepares for war, we see Mahita finding it challenging to fit into his new school and accept his new mum. A grey heron keeps hounding him. Mahito soon discovers a mysterious tower and a secret hidden beneath it.
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Mahito soon enters a dream-like state into a bizarre new world, where he meets his deceased mother and maternal grandfather. His grandfather had an ambitious plan to create a utopia, and Mahito is the selected successor to continue the plan. One cannot help but think that many scenes give the sense of déjà vu. There are scenes reminiscent of 'Alice in Wonderland'. I swear that one reminded me of Snow White in a glass casket. And not to forget the 1970s favourite Japanese cartoon, Marco - From the Apennines to the Andes, where Marco goes in search of his mother from port to port from Japan to Argentina.
The take-home message in this film is that life has its ups and downs, losses, and heartaches. We should not change anything in it but accept all the sadness and happiness in stride.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
August 7, 2024
Nothing like being free!
Kummathy (Bogeyman, Malayalam; 1979)
Director: G Aravindan
Most viewers would not have heard of this movie maker, mainly known as a legend in the Indian alternative cinema field. Unlike the masala Bollywood kind of logic-defying escapism that excites the masses, these artsy films only fascinate people who see beyond the story and what is shown on the screen. Some label this film as the best Indian movie ever made.
The movie came to the mainstream's attention after Martin Scorsese's team restored the old, lacklustre copies found in the Indian film archives in 2021. Scorcese announced this movie was one of his favourites at its restoration premiere in Italy. The original cinematographer, however, still preferred the analogue version, as he thought it had more texture and character.
It has been popularised as a children's movie and is usually screened on International Children's Day.
The first thing one notices when watching this film is that he feels like a child. Remember the time in our childhood when we were mere observers, watching and learning, seen but not heard? There is hardly any dialogue, but there is never a dull moment. Scene after scene, we are overwhelmed with the fantastic landscape of Kerala's countryside (God's own country). It draws us to a time when life was simple, running to school was fun, playing with friends was exhilarating, and days were long. Every new discovery is a new adventure. It was not so much our own antics that thrilled us; we were fascinated by the peculiarities that adults exhibited.
Chindan and his similarly aged preteen friends have a gala time. They play, run, prank, and observe the world go by. They are particularly drawn to an eccentric shaman who periodically comes to the village, singing and dancing along the way. They suspect the shaman has magic powers. They befriend him. During one of their play sessions, the shaman playfully changes them into animals, such as a monkey, dog, monkey, etcetera. Chindan becomes a dog. Before the shaman can change them back to their usual selves, Chindan is chased by another dog and goes missing.
Chindan's family goes looking for him, but in vain. By that time, the shaman had moved to another village. Chindan's family only brings back the dog; unbeknownst to them, it is actually Chindan.
A year later, the shaman returns to the village. Chindan, the dog, runs to him for an emotional meeting. The shaman recognises the dog and changes him back. Chindan returns home. Understanding the torture of being trapped, he releases his caged pet parakeet to freedom.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Most viewers would not have heard of this movie maker, mainly known as a legend in the Indian alternative cinema field. Unlike the masala Bollywood kind of logic-defying escapism that excites the masses, these artsy films only fascinate people who see beyond the story and what is shown on the screen. Some label this film as the best Indian movie ever made.The movie came to the mainstream's attention after Martin Scorsese's team restored the old, lacklustre copies found in the Indian film archives in 2021. Scorcese announced this movie was one of his favourites at its restoration premiere in Italy. The original cinematographer, however, still preferred the analogue version, as he thought it had more texture and character.
It has been popularised as a children's movie and is usually screened on International Children's Day.
The first thing one notices when watching this film is that he feels like a child. Remember the time in our childhood when we were mere observers, watching and learning, seen but not heard? There is hardly any dialogue, but there is never a dull moment. Scene after scene, we are overwhelmed with the fantastic landscape of Kerala's countryside (God's own country). It draws us to a time when life was simple, running to school was fun, playing with friends was exhilarating, and days were long. Every new discovery is a new adventure. It was not so much our own antics that thrilled us; we were fascinated by the peculiarities that adults exhibited.
Chindan and his similarly aged preteen friends have a gala time. They play, run, prank, and observe the world go by. They are particularly drawn to an eccentric shaman who periodically comes to the village, singing and dancing along the way. They suspect the shaman has magic powers. They befriend him. During one of their play sessions, the shaman playfully changes them into animals, such as a monkey, dog, monkey, etcetera. Chindan becomes a dog. Before the shaman can change them back to their usual selves, Chindan is chased by another dog and goes missing.
Chindan's family goes looking for him, but in vain. By that time, the shaman had moved to another village. Chindan's family only brings back the dog; unbeknownst to them, it is actually Chindan.
A year later, the shaman returns to the village. Chindan, the dog, runs to him for an emotional meeting. The shaman recognises the dog and changes him back. Chindan returns home. Understanding the torture of being trapped, he releases his caged pet parakeet to freedom.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
August 5, 2024
The bottomline of a fall!
Garudan (Vishnu's mythical bird, Tamil; 2024)
Director: R.S. Durai Senthilkumar
We all start life from the bottom of the shelf. We hope to one day be among the window displays and the envy of others. Invariably, he suddenly becomes philosophical once one reaches the top shelf or the window panel. He downplays his initial avarice as materialism, saying that real success is service to mankind and such. He goes on a rant that one can buy a mattress but cannot buy sleep, and he can build a house but not a home.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director: R.S. Durai Senthilkumar
We all start life from the bottom of the shelf. We hope to one day be among the window displays and the envy of others. Invariably, he suddenly becomes philosophical once one reaches the top shelf or the window panel. He downplays his initial avarice as materialism, saying that real success is service to mankind and such. He goes on a rant that one can buy a mattress but cannot buy sleep, and he can build a house but not a home. Do not be surprised to learn that, behind the scenes, his rapaciousness to usurp wealth still lingers. To this end, he may use his influence, his followers' aloofness, and blind faithfulness to his advantage. Just like how the East India Company and ancient Indian Merchants held the government of the day at ransom, these successful individuals may choose the path of greed.
Just when he thinks he just got everything under his thumb, has his 'i's dotted and 't's crossed, invariably, three things will lead to his fall. That would be land, women and wealth (Mann, Penn, Pon). Sometimes, religion would initiate his downfall, especially when he uses religion to deify himself. With the advent of modern media, before long, his bluff may have been bared open. The hawk of time will be marauding high above us to keep track of our deeds and misdeeds to balance the chit in this life or the next.
This film is a typical Tamil village drama in which lawlessness and abuse of power are the order of the day. A corrupt minister makes an elaborate plan to usurp a large chunk of land, a family ancestral land donated to a temple. The minister tries to kill the trustee and bribe the closest relative to get the land transferred clandestinely.
The trustee, an elderly grandma, adopts three boys who grow up tooth and nail, supporting each other. Little trouble starts brewing within the family, and the baddies take the opportunity to fan the embers until it turns into a bloodbath.
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August 3, 2024
Police, leave them people alone?!
Naalu Policeum Nalla Irundha Oorum (4 Policemen and a peaceful town, Tamil; 2015)
Directed by N. J. Srikrishna
This full-length comedy came and went without creating much of a storm. Naturally, it received little rave review. All the actors were very green, except for Yogi Babu, who did not play a vital role here, anyway.
The story is a comedy of errors, poking fun at how the police's assertion of their importance screws up the peace of an already peaceful village.
The small township of Porpandhal is so peaceful that it has received Best Village awards for years. There is no crime, and the police station sees no need to open on Sunday. The four policemen there lead cushy lives, working from 9 to 5 and playing board games all day.
The police HQ takes notice. It plans to shut down the station and transfer its staff to Ramnath, an area notorious for serious crimes. The policemen panic. They try to justify their presence by creating petty issues here and there.
Little did they expect what would finally pander with their little tweaking. They send out a petty thief to steal the village committee's collection monies, making the police appear as heroes when they retrieve the loot later. They hoped this would prevent the police station from closing and allow them to maintain their leisurely lives.
Unfortunately. the money that the thief stole got burnt in a fire. The committee chairman accuses the shopkeeper whose shop was razed by fire as the thief and of lying by purposely burning down his shop to hide evidence.
When the police tried to intervene by making the temple priests as mediators, a stash of dirty magazines was found planted in the temple grounds instead, angering the temple committee members. They, too, go ballistic against the rest of the villagers.
At the end of the day, the once exemplary peaceful village now becomes a war zone. Everyone ends up in arms against one another. The policemen, though, get their wishes fulfilled. They stay put.
Everyone is trying to prove their worth. A doctor is worth his degree only if people fall sick. A mechanic will be out of a job if everyone's vehicle is maintenance-free and immune from breakdowns. In the same way, lawyers will be jobless if no one runs afoul of the law. Lawyers may also turn a non-issue into a national crisis; leave it to them. The same goes for the police, too; so much power and nowhere to flaunt it can be pretty intimidating.
Respect is earned. People are free to respect each other if they think their existence is respected. Try greeting a random guy on the street. Invariably, he would reciprocate your salutations unless he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia or believes there is a catch.
The moment the other party thinks that he is taken for a fool and feels cheated or discriminated against, that is when all human decencies end. The experiment was done by a third-grade school teacher, Jane Elliott, in 1968 after Martin Luther King's assassination highlighted this effect. She wanted to show how it felt to be discriminated against. The all-white class was divided into two groups- the blue-eyed and the brown-eyed. The blue-eyed students were given preferential treatment and compliments. The experiment was reversed but only lasted two days. From the short experiment, she found how easily people deemed 'inferior' fitted into the role so quickly and saw how fast the mild-mannered students in the 'superior' 'group became devils.
The lesson learnt here is that everything is honky dory when each other's liberty is respected. He flips when one's position is threatened or feels he is taken for a pushover. The suppressed reptilian mind awakens, and like Pandora's Box, evil thoughts and actions will be unleashed. All shields will be up to ward off anything that resembles hostility. The societal-imposed social inhibitions go out of the window!
May not! The Wokes and BLM sympathisers seem to scream from the depths of their lungs to de-fund the police. They argue that having a police squad is damaging to the existence of the minorities in the country. Alternative? Let looters have a field day, businesses finding it not cost-effective to apprehend or persecute offenders with minor thefts or simply close their retail stores and opt for online businesses only.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This full-length comedy came and went without creating much of a storm. Naturally, it received little rave review. All the actors were very green, except for Yogi Babu, who did not play a vital role here, anyway. The story is a comedy of errors, poking fun at how the police's assertion of their importance screws up the peace of an already peaceful village.
The small township of Porpandhal is so peaceful that it has received Best Village awards for years. There is no crime, and the police station sees no need to open on Sunday. The four policemen there lead cushy lives, working from 9 to 5 and playing board games all day.
The police HQ takes notice. It plans to shut down the station and transfer its staff to Ramnath, an area notorious for serious crimes. The policemen panic. They try to justify their presence by creating petty issues here and there.
Little did they expect what would finally pander with their little tweaking. They send out a petty thief to steal the village committee's collection monies, making the police appear as heroes when they retrieve the loot later. They hoped this would prevent the police station from closing and allow them to maintain their leisurely lives.
Unfortunately. the money that the thief stole got burnt in a fire. The committee chairman accuses the shopkeeper whose shop was razed by fire as the thief and of lying by purposely burning down his shop to hide evidence. When the police tried to intervene by making the temple priests as mediators, a stash of dirty magazines was found planted in the temple grounds instead, angering the temple committee members. They, too, go ballistic against the rest of the villagers.
At the end of the day, the once exemplary peaceful village now becomes a war zone. Everyone ends up in arms against one another. The policemen, though, get their wishes fulfilled. They stay put.
Everyone is trying to prove their worth. A doctor is worth his degree only if people fall sick. A mechanic will be out of a job if everyone's vehicle is maintenance-free and immune from breakdowns. In the same way, lawyers will be jobless if no one runs afoul of the law. Lawyers may also turn a non-issue into a national crisis; leave it to them. The same goes for the police, too; so much power and nowhere to flaunt it can be pretty intimidating.
Respect is earned. People are free to respect each other if they think their existence is respected. Try greeting a random guy on the street. Invariably, he would reciprocate your salutations unless he suffers from paranoid schizophrenia or believes there is a catch.
The moment the other party thinks that he is taken for a fool and feels cheated or discriminated against, that is when all human decencies end. The experiment was done by a third-grade school teacher, Jane Elliott, in 1968 after Martin Luther King's assassination highlighted this effect. She wanted to show how it felt to be discriminated against. The all-white class was divided into two groups- the blue-eyed and the brown-eyed. The blue-eyed students were given preferential treatment and compliments. The experiment was reversed but only lasted two days. From the short experiment, she found how easily people deemed 'inferior' fitted into the role so quickly and saw how fast the mild-mannered students in the 'superior' 'group became devils.The lesson learnt here is that everything is honky dory when each other's liberty is respected. He flips when one's position is threatened or feels he is taken for a pushover. The suppressed reptilian mind awakens, and like Pandora's Box, evil thoughts and actions will be unleashed. All shields will be up to ward off anything that resembles hostility. The societal-imposed social inhibitions go out of the window!
May not! The Wokes and BLM sympathisers seem to scream from the depths of their lungs to de-fund the police. They argue that having a police squad is damaging to the existence of the minorities in the country. Alternative? Let looters have a field day, businesses finding it not cost-effective to apprehend or persecute offenders with minor thefts or simply close their retail stores and opt for online businesses only.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
August 1, 2024
Because the clairvoyant said so?
Zulfarhan OsmanA news report piqued my interest recently. The parents of a murdered college student prostrated in prayer right after the verdict was announced by the court of appeal that six accused would be hanged. Later, they told reporters they were showing their appreciation to the Almighty as justice was done.
These types of news often leave me more perplexed than I already am. An overseeing Almighty who was cognisant of all the things going on with their loved one but procrastinated would typically get a cold shoulder. If He were a mere mortal, He would get a notice of professional negligence for napping on the job. His nemesis, the horned and tailed one, through His proxies in robes, would have a field day trying to act smart and reenact all the fraction of seconds when danger could have been averted. But deep inside, these Satan's representatives on Earth thrive on maladies like these.
On one hand, we are products of the Original Sin, imperfect in every way and prone to being tempted to wrongdoings. However, we are still expected to bear the effects of our misdeeds.
We are expected to forgive and forget like He forgives us every time we commit a sin. And we claim that the justice He metes is just. Yet we investigate, leave nothing unturned, exhume, and do a forensic investigation to the last foxhole to pin down the perpetrator and hurl the whole might of the law against him. We gain joy in seeing the accused squirm and hide in shame. We call this justice prevailed.
On the other hand, we have an abundance of examples of the victims' families forgiving their aggressors. I covered this in another post. (See here.)
(P.S. For the curious, the abovementioned case happened in a military college in Kuala Lumpur. In 2017, six students, then 21, accused a 17-year-old junior of stealing a laptop computer. A seer had earlier identified the 17-year-old as the thief. The six students, together with 12 other friends, try to beat and torture the young boy to confess. They burnt his body and privates with hot iron. The perpetrators concealed him from the hostel warden, and delaying medical attention, the 17-year-old succumbed to his injuries two weeks later. The six accused were found guilty and sentenced to 18 years of jail. The accomplices were jailed for three years. The six were given sentences to hang at the Court of Appeal.)
(P.P.S. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rope', based on an actual event, comes to mind. How two students of Chicago University in 1924 thought it was cool to snap the neck of a 14-year-old boy!)
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July 30, 2024
People just want to live!
Cabrini (Italian/English, 2024)
Director: Alejandro Gómez Monteverde
After their exposè of transborder abduction of minors to satisfy the sexual needs of the deviant in 'Sound of Freedom' and hitting a runaway success at the box office, Angel Studio tries their hand at distributing a film that tries to highlight the bad treatment of early Italian immigrants at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century to the USA. The expansion of white Americans southward and westward opened the door to an influx of economic immigrants from Europe. The potato famine sent the Irish there, and abject poverty brought Italians and Jews to escape persecution. There was plenty of menial work to be done that the locals found too dirty, dangerous and demeaning to do. Immigrants filled the gap willingly. The Americans were not welcoming of them, however. Shoving them to the most unflattering part of New York, infested with rats, crime and disease, they had to live like rats. Healthcare was poor, social amenities were dismal, pimping was rampant and in short, there was general lawlessness.
Against this background, a troublemaker Roman Catholic nun was sent to care for the poor Italian migrants in New York. The nun, Frances Maria Cabrini, and her sisters arrive in New York and find themselves in the dirty streets of Point Five. Amidst the non-cooperation of the Diocese and the Mayor, Cabrini, with her fighting spirit, despite her failing health due to past TB, starts an orphanage. The powers that be were not so excited that a woman could do so much and for, in their eyes, vermins of society. She got eviction notices and fines from the city council.
Through the help of the press, she acquired donations to purchase a piece of property, which she turned into an orphanage. She and her team soon set up a private hospital to earn money to subside the poor immigrants. Her chain of hospitals grew and had many branches worldwide.
There is a lesson for us all to learn. Recently, many videos have emerged on social media of self-appointed vigilantès who pounce on foreigners in Malaysia who set up shops, ride around without valid driving licences, or extend their premises illegally. These foreigners comprise refugees with UNHCR cards, foreign workers who overstayed their visas, and runaway workers.
Vigilantes showing foreign businessesIn the video, the vloggers quickly pass disparaging remarks about their living conditions and choice of food. In the vigilantes' eyes, the guest workers should be subservient to the locals, not independent, earning lots of money, perhaps more than the locals. The vloggers would feel unhappy that the guests bring their cultures and practices into the country, akin to polluting the Malaysian culture (sic.)The vloggers should hear themselves speak. It sounds so ridiculous. A person in the prime of his (or her) youth is bound to have surmount of plans for his future. He would want to be a notch higher than his parents, maybe two. The desire of the human mind has no boundaries. Wealth is often used as the yardstick of success. If one does not seek wealth in his youth, when else? If his living conditions in his country are not conducive, the only logical thing to do, as generations before us did, is to migrate, looking for safer and greener pastures. The immigrants are there to do work that the locals feel is beneath them, which is demeaning and a side effect of the prospering society.
Aren't we all, the citizens of the world, all migrants, anyway? From the first hominid who walked out of the Savanah for food, we are all emigres. Some flee from famine, others for opportunities, and to escape persecution, we move. The world is for everyone. Borders are artificial demarcations, not cast in stone but in our minds.
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July 28, 2024
Unconventional Investigative Methods?
Vina - Sebelum 7 Hari. (Indonesian, 2024)
Director: Anggy Umbara
Thanks to Saravanan Decodes, my latest indulgence, for highlighting many solved and unsolved mysteries worldwide. He has 700-over YouTube presentations of some of the most puzzling and heinous murders and tries to decode them.
Two exciting cases piqued my interest. It was in how these seemingly dead-ended cases saw living daylight through unconventional methods.
The first case happened in Cirebon, West Java. A 16-year-old Vina Dewi Arsita, a student, was reported to have died after getting involved in a road traffic accident while travelling with her boyfriend, Edy, in the thick of the night in 2016. The death certificate was released as death due to Motor Vehicle Accident. There were some uncertainties about whether police did not come forward with more information about the ongoing investigations or whether their investigation was shoddy. Her boyfriend, too, perished in the accident. Burial was done.
On the seventh day of her death, Vina's best friend, Linda, was possessed by Vina's spirit, who narrated minute to minute account of what Vina endured before her death. In the local populace, it is believed that a dead person's spirit hovers around their neighbourhood before departing for good. Vina's admirer, Eky, who had made bold advances towards her, was once spat upon and humiliated by Vina. Eky was a member of a motorcycle chain gang. Keeping a grudge against her actions, Eky, with his ten other friends, confronted Edy and Vina, ramped them down, ran their machines over Vina's limbs, gang-raped her and left her to die.
This news soon became viral, and sympathetic netizens launched an awareness campaign. The police had no choice but to re-investigate. New investigative papers were opened. Rape was confirmed, and eight of the eleven perpetrators were apprehended, charged and convicted. They confessed to their crimes. Astonishingly, their account of what happened corresponded precisely to what was told by Vina's spirit. Eky and two others are still at large. A point to note is that Eky's father is a police officer.
Saravanan Decodes
People wonder whether its investigation was manipulated or whether justice can still be served after so many years.
The second bizarre case happened in a village near Agra, India, in 1988. A 4-year-old Toran Singh (@Titu) was born into a poor family of six children. Titu was a precocious child who started speaking at the age of 18 months. By 4, he started talking about his wealthy family, which he was born into, and the roaring electrical business he ran in Agra. And he said his name was Suresh Verma.
Out of curiosity, his elder brother checked out his assertions. It was all true. Titu even recognised his widowed wife of his last birth. Suresh Verma indeed had a radio business and was killed by foes. He was shot in his head. Due to a lack of evidence, the case stalled. Police were called in.
Titu ( Toran Singh)Curiously, Titu could narrate all the intimate details of the murder that only the victim could tell and that the police did not reveal for public consumption. Titu identified his shooter, who confessed to the police later. The killer was later charged and sentenced. Titu had a birthmark on his scalp, which corresponded to the area where Suresh Verma was shot.
Toran Singh went on to lead a quiet life away from media scrutiny. He is reportedly an assistant professor of naturopathy and yoga therapy at Benares Hindu University in Varanasi.
Even though the methods employed to investigate these cases will not stand alone if challenged in a court of law, they can nevertheless be helpful as part of the police armamentarium to cow the perpetrator into submission.
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google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director: Anggy Umbara
Thanks to Saravanan Decodes, my latest indulgence, for highlighting many solved and unsolved mysteries worldwide. He has 700-over YouTube presentations of some of the most puzzling and heinous murders and tries to decode them.Two exciting cases piqued my interest. It was in how these seemingly dead-ended cases saw living daylight through unconventional methods.
The first case happened in Cirebon, West Java. A 16-year-old Vina Dewi Arsita, a student, was reported to have died after getting involved in a road traffic accident while travelling with her boyfriend, Edy, in the thick of the night in 2016. The death certificate was released as death due to Motor Vehicle Accident. There were some uncertainties about whether police did not come forward with more information about the ongoing investigations or whether their investigation was shoddy. Her boyfriend, too, perished in the accident. Burial was done.
On the seventh day of her death, Vina's best friend, Linda, was possessed by Vina's spirit, who narrated minute to minute account of what Vina endured before her death. In the local populace, it is believed that a dead person's spirit hovers around their neighbourhood before departing for good. Vina's admirer, Eky, who had made bold advances towards her, was once spat upon and humiliated by Vina. Eky was a member of a motorcycle chain gang. Keeping a grudge against her actions, Eky, with his ten other friends, confronted Edy and Vina, ramped them down, ran their machines over Vina's limbs, gang-raped her and left her to die.This news soon became viral, and sympathetic netizens launched an awareness campaign. The police had no choice but to re-investigate. New investigative papers were opened. Rape was confirmed, and eight of the eleven perpetrators were apprehended, charged and convicted. They confessed to their crimes. Astonishingly, their account of what happened corresponded precisely to what was told by Vina's spirit. Eky and two others are still at large. A point to note is that Eky's father is a police officer.
Saravanan DecodesPeople wonder whether its investigation was manipulated or whether justice can still be served after so many years.
The second bizarre case happened in a village near Agra, India, in 1988. A 4-year-old Toran Singh (@Titu) was born into a poor family of six children. Titu was a precocious child who started speaking at the age of 18 months. By 4, he started talking about his wealthy family, which he was born into, and the roaring electrical business he ran in Agra. And he said his name was Suresh Verma.
Out of curiosity, his elder brother checked out his assertions. It was all true. Titu even recognised his widowed wife of his last birth. Suresh Verma indeed had a radio business and was killed by foes. He was shot in his head. Due to a lack of evidence, the case stalled. Police were called in.
Titu ( Toran Singh)Curiously, Titu could narrate all the intimate details of the murder that only the victim could tell and that the police did not reveal for public consumption. Titu identified his shooter, who confessed to the police later. The killer was later charged and sentenced. Titu had a birthmark on his scalp, which corresponded to the area where Suresh Verma was shot.Toran Singh went on to lead a quiet life away from media scrutiny. He is reportedly an assistant professor of naturopathy and yoga therapy at Benares Hindu University in Varanasi.
Even though the methods employed to investigate these cases will not stand alone if challenged in a court of law, they can nevertheless be helpful as part of the police armamentarium to cow the perpetrator into submission.
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July 26, 2024
Above all, think!
Maharaj (Hindi; 2024)
Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra
There was no big hoopla to announce the arrival of one of Bollywood star's son, Aamir Khan's Junaid Khan, to the silver screen. The film, however, had to be cleared by the courts for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments before making a quiet screening on Netflix. From the get-go, people started demonstrating in front of Netflix HQ in the USA, accusing them of defaming Lord Krishna. Many of the demonstrators had not even viewed the show. Still, they demonstrated anyway, seeing the OTT platform, as in previous instances, had repeatedly been releasing movies that tend to ridicule or put Sanatha Dharma in a bad light. In their eyes, Hindus were like dodos, easy prey for target practice. For instance, no one would dare make a movie that even gives a hint of ridicule or as much questions Islamic figures or practices using modern-day yardstick. It is an unwritten rule that Islamic bodies had to give their nod before such a story hits the filming process.
The whole story is based on an 1862 Bombay High Court case. In this case, a social reformer and journalist, Karsandas Mulji, and Nanabhai Rustomji Ranina, a newspaperman, were served a libel suit by Jadunathjer Barjratanjee Maharaj. The Maharaj alleges that the duo defamed himself and his religious practice and brought shame to the age-old religious practices of his Hindu sect, the Pushimarg of Vallabha Sampradaya.
Vallabha set up the sect in the 1600s when he had a vision he was a reincarnation of Krishna. He set up a centre that grew big thanks to the contributions of various business communities and Vaishvanite Hindus. After Vallabha's demise, his descendants took over. The heir would be known as Maharaj. Karnadas' assertion was that the sect had deviated from traditional Vedic teaching. Its leader had abused his position by getting sexual favours from his devotees.
The court case exposed the ignorance of his devotees. Many could not tell whether Maharaj was a guru (guide) or God himself. They blindly followed the herd in the name of devotion and service to the Almighty. This included sending their wives and teenage daughters for Maharaj's sexual gratification. It was also revealed that the guru was afflicted with syphilis.
The case was presided over by two judges. Chief Justice Matthew Sausse, the senior of the two, overruled the other's decision to find Karsandas guilty of libel as private matters need not be publicised in public space and fined him 5 rupees. On the other hand, he affirmed that the sect was heterodox and deviant. Its songs in praise of Krishna, sung by young girls, were construed as amorous and sung by 16,000 gopis. Karsandas Mulji was awarded cost.
This trial was a watershed case for India's social reforms and press freedom.
Karsandas MuljiThe movie takes the liberty to masalafy the background of Karsandas, giving him a youthful look with a modern haircut. The level of drama is hyped with a dance number, a holi celebration with Karsandas love interest herself falling prey to the list of Maharaj. Melodrama reaches a point of no return when his lover subsequently commits suicide after Karsandas annulled their engagement after her seemingly wilful act of sex with the Maharaj in the name of divine service.
This is not a documentary film. Hence, there was a need to spice up the characters and glamourise the narrative here and there.
Yes, Modi had been reported to have sung praises of Mulji for his work in his newspaper, Satya Prakash, and his advocacy of women's rights and social reforms, particularly widow remarriage and the rights of the oppressed. So, people were surprised when a movie about him landed the producers in the courts.
More than one and a half centuries after the trial, we find ourselves in the same boat as the members of the Pustimarg sect. We are easily cowed into submission when the name of the Divine is mentioned. It has become a dog whistle for the believers to toe the line. Questions cannot be raised as they are considered heretical. Just following, not asking questions, is the way to go. Like the children of Hamelin, we seem to be intoxicated to the tune of the Piped Piper's flute.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra
There was no big hoopla to announce the arrival of one of Bollywood star's son, Aamir Khan's Junaid Khan, to the silver screen. The film, however, had to be cleared by the courts for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments before making a quiet screening on Netflix. From the get-go, people started demonstrating in front of Netflix HQ in the USA, accusing them of defaming Lord Krishna. Many of the demonstrators had not even viewed the show. Still, they demonstrated anyway, seeing the OTT platform, as in previous instances, had repeatedly been releasing movies that tend to ridicule or put Sanatha Dharma in a bad light. In their eyes, Hindus were like dodos, easy prey for target practice. For instance, no one would dare make a movie that even gives a hint of ridicule or as much questions Islamic figures or practices using modern-day yardstick. It is an unwritten rule that Islamic bodies had to give their nod before such a story hits the filming process. The whole story is based on an 1862 Bombay High Court case. In this case, a social reformer and journalist, Karsandas Mulji, and Nanabhai Rustomji Ranina, a newspaperman, were served a libel suit by Jadunathjer Barjratanjee Maharaj. The Maharaj alleges that the duo defamed himself and his religious practice and brought shame to the age-old religious practices of his Hindu sect, the Pushimarg of Vallabha Sampradaya.
Vallabha set up the sect in the 1600s when he had a vision he was a reincarnation of Krishna. He set up a centre that grew big thanks to the contributions of various business communities and Vaishvanite Hindus. After Vallabha's demise, his descendants took over. The heir would be known as Maharaj. Karnadas' assertion was that the sect had deviated from traditional Vedic teaching. Its leader had abused his position by getting sexual favours from his devotees.
The court case exposed the ignorance of his devotees. Many could not tell whether Maharaj was a guru (guide) or God himself. They blindly followed the herd in the name of devotion and service to the Almighty. This included sending their wives and teenage daughters for Maharaj's sexual gratification. It was also revealed that the guru was afflicted with syphilis.
The case was presided over by two judges. Chief Justice Matthew Sausse, the senior of the two, overruled the other's decision to find Karsandas guilty of libel as private matters need not be publicised in public space and fined him 5 rupees. On the other hand, he affirmed that the sect was heterodox and deviant. Its songs in praise of Krishna, sung by young girls, were construed as amorous and sung by 16,000 gopis. Karsandas Mulji was awarded cost.
This trial was a watershed case for India's social reforms and press freedom.
Karsandas MuljiThe movie takes the liberty to masalafy the background of Karsandas, giving him a youthful look with a modern haircut. The level of drama is hyped with a dance number, a holi celebration with Karsandas love interest herself falling prey to the list of Maharaj. Melodrama reaches a point of no return when his lover subsequently commits suicide after Karsandas annulled their engagement after her seemingly wilful act of sex with the Maharaj in the name of divine service. This is not a documentary film. Hence, there was a need to spice up the characters and glamourise the narrative here and there.
Yes, Modi had been reported to have sung praises of Mulji for his work in his newspaper, Satya Prakash, and his advocacy of women's rights and social reforms, particularly widow remarriage and the rights of the oppressed. So, people were surprised when a movie about him landed the producers in the courts.
More than one and a half centuries after the trial, we find ourselves in the same boat as the members of the Pustimarg sect. We are easily cowed into submission when the name of the Divine is mentioned. It has become a dog whistle for the believers to toe the line. Questions cannot be raised as they are considered heretical. Just following, not asking questions, is the way to go. Like the children of Hamelin, we seem to be intoxicated to the tune of the Piped Piper's flute.
https://enfolding.org/krishna-in-the-dock-the-1862-maharaja-libel-case-and-its-consequences-i/
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July 24, 2024
Caste, not race?
Origin (2023)
Director: Ava Duverney (Based on the book, 'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents' by Isabel Wilkerson)
It is an interesting way of looking at all the problems affecting the world today. It is blamed on caste segregation. Traditionally, we think of caste as a problem only affecting India. And Indians believe it is a system brought in by colonial masters and divided the nation to ease control. The stifling of one layer of society over the other is not just based on the colour of their skin. It is something beyond. The group at the top end of the food chain would want to maintain the status quo and keep the people beneath them forever squashed.
The writer, Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, compared situations in three scenarios.
She looked at the black situation in America, where blacks are stereotyped as troublemakers, poor, unemployed, unemployable and criminals. The system reinforces this stereotype upon them to a level that even the blacks buy into the trope. The blacks become apologetic about how they are and make amends to be 'liked' by the oppressors, i.e. the white Americans.
The truth of the matter is that the white men brought them as slaves from Africa. Everything was alright when they were the masters and the blacks their slaves. Things became complicated when emancipation happened. The whites made it a point to retain themselves in the highest perch of the food chain. They suppressed the blacks through the preservation of the white gene pool via marriage laws, housing restrictions and educational opportunities. This continued until they occupied the unsavoury aspects of the country's statistics. Stories of police brutality, George Floyd and Trayvon Martin have become a recurrent theme.
It is not the colour of the skin of the other that matters. Look at post-WWI Germany. The wisdom of the Nazi Party thought the Jews should be made the bogeymen to make their country rise from the ashes of the First World War. Propaganda after propaganda of the Nazis made Jews the scorn of the country. Jews were identified, tagged, marked, quarantined, cursed and finally sent to incinerators, all under the law of the land.
The author then travelled to India to see how caste discrimination affects the Dalit community. Accompanied by a Dalit academician, she is told how the elitist and the ruling class suppress the Dalit community from succeeding in life. The film goes on to show how members of the low rung of society are oppressed and confined to performing menial chores that nobody wants to do. Ambedkar is featured here as the living of someone who went on to obtain a double PhD despite all the odds that worked against him to keep him down. The manner in which his society had reservations about sharing, even drinking water, even as a Government official, is stressed too. A statue of Ambedkar in Delhi is shown to be placed in a cage because the statue is constantly vandalised, suggesting to the viewers that the general public hates revering a Dalit figure even though he helped to draft the Indian Constitution. Is that the hint?
The presentation conveniently failed to inform the high number of high-performing students who could not secure a place in the local universities, all because of caste quota. To continue studying, these students and their parents must fork out high sums of money to get foreign education and possibly foreign employment. India's loss is the rest of the world's gain.
The film tries to simplify everything. The innate desire for one person to dominate over the other is inherent in all of us. It does not depend on race or ethnicity. People will find reasons to suppress others with made-up reasons. This probably goes well with critical race theorists who insist that racism is inherent in the legal institution to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.
Wilkerson looks at black suppression not as a race issue but as a caste suppression. A group of people, in the USA's case, it is the Hispanics and the Blacks, are put at the bottom of the hierarchical 'caste system' through generations of oppressive laws.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
google.com, pub-8936739298367050, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Director: Ava Duverney (Based on the book, 'Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents' by Isabel Wilkerson)
It is an interesting way of looking at all the problems affecting the world today. It is blamed on caste segregation. Traditionally, we think of caste as a problem only affecting India. And Indians believe it is a system brought in by colonial masters and divided the nation to ease control. The stifling of one layer of society over the other is not just based on the colour of their skin. It is something beyond. The group at the top end of the food chain would want to maintain the status quo and keep the people beneath them forever squashed.The writer, Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, compared situations in three scenarios.
She looked at the black situation in America, where blacks are stereotyped as troublemakers, poor, unemployed, unemployable and criminals. The system reinforces this stereotype upon them to a level that even the blacks buy into the trope. The blacks become apologetic about how they are and make amends to be 'liked' by the oppressors, i.e. the white Americans.
The truth of the matter is that the white men brought them as slaves from Africa. Everything was alright when they were the masters and the blacks their slaves. Things became complicated when emancipation happened. The whites made it a point to retain themselves in the highest perch of the food chain. They suppressed the blacks through the preservation of the white gene pool via marriage laws, housing restrictions and educational opportunities. This continued until they occupied the unsavoury aspects of the country's statistics. Stories of police brutality, George Floyd and Trayvon Martin have become a recurrent theme.
It is not the colour of the skin of the other that matters. Look at post-WWI Germany. The wisdom of the Nazi Party thought the Jews should be made the bogeymen to make their country rise from the ashes of the First World War. Propaganda after propaganda of the Nazis made Jews the scorn of the country. Jews were identified, tagged, marked, quarantined, cursed and finally sent to incinerators, all under the law of the land.
The author then travelled to India to see how caste discrimination affects the Dalit community. Accompanied by a Dalit academician, she is told how the elitist and the ruling class suppress the Dalit community from succeeding in life. The film goes on to show how members of the low rung of society are oppressed and confined to performing menial chores that nobody wants to do. Ambedkar is featured here as the living of someone who went on to obtain a double PhD despite all the odds that worked against him to keep him down. The manner in which his society had reservations about sharing, even drinking water, even as a Government official, is stressed too. A statue of Ambedkar in Delhi is shown to be placed in a cage because the statue is constantly vandalised, suggesting to the viewers that the general public hates revering a Dalit figure even though he helped to draft the Indian Constitution. Is that the hint?
The presentation conveniently failed to inform the high number of high-performing students who could not secure a place in the local universities, all because of caste quota. To continue studying, these students and their parents must fork out high sums of money to get foreign education and possibly foreign employment. India's loss is the rest of the world's gain.
The film tries to simplify everything. The innate desire for one person to dominate over the other is inherent in all of us. It does not depend on race or ethnicity. People will find reasons to suppress others with made-up reasons. This probably goes well with critical race theorists who insist that racism is inherent in the legal institution to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans.
Wilkerson looks at black suppression not as a race issue but as a caste suppression. A group of people, in the USA's case, it is the Hispanics and the Blacks, are put at the bottom of the hierarchical 'caste system' through generations of oppressive laws.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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July 22, 2024
A twister!
Maharaja (2024, Tamil)
Director: Nithilan Swaminathan
If you are fed up watching the same old-time-tested formulaic Indian movies, this one is for you. The story starts as a comedy, but as it goes on, the storyline gets twisted.
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Director: Nithilan Swaminathan
If you are fed up watching the same old-time-tested formulaic Indian movies, this one is for you. The story starts as a comedy, but as it goes on, the storyline gets twisted. Just when you think you know how the story will go, it takes a tangent and yet another. And it goes on and on until it ends with a final twister.
Maharaja, a mild-mannered barber, leads a simple life with his wife and a little daughter. Right in front of his eyes, he sees a lorry, with its driver obviously off its rails, crashing into his house, killing his wife instantaneously. His ‘daughter’ is miraculously saved by a metal dustbin.
Maharajah continues life as a widower and a doting father. One day, his house is broken into, and the metal dustbin that saved his ‘daughter’ goes missing. Maharaja makes a police report.
What happened afterwards is a series of flashbacks, parallel storytelling, police brutality, and police power abuse that all lead to good old storytelling and a satisfying end to a twisted comedic thriller, if there is such a genre.
Spoiler alert: Maybe there is no such thing as a selfish gene. A person does not feel a buzz upon seeing someone with the shared DNA wronged. The skin does not quiver when a sibling is beaten up. If not, we would not have sibling rivalry. Neither would we have incest, postpartum violence or mass suicide of families. Empathy and caring are learned experiences. We all feel for our age-old friends and buddies in a closed community without sharing common DNA. Sharing Lucy’s ancient DNA does not count as a common ancestry, as perhaps all of mankind carries it.
On a sobering note, we can see how creative some netizens can be. The main character in Maharaja, Vijay Sethupathi, in his 50th film appearance, is spotted with a bandaged left ear. As if like a fortunate stroke of serendipity (for the internet trolls, at least), on a platter, the news of Trump being shot in the ear became viral. Leave it to the ingenuity of the human mind, and the world has a picture of Vijay Sethupathi and Trump on the same poster as if promoting the film!
In case viewers are wondering about the role of the snake in this movie. Fret no more. Snakes are notoriously known for not recognising their offspring and eating their own eggs. Helpful to understand the ending. In a world that sees mothers rushing helplessly into burning buildings, we also have mothers who feed their cubs to the wolves!
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