RIFLE RANGE BOY

I do not think any songs in any other languages carry as much philosophy in its lyrics as the Tamil movie songs do. The songs are not merely evergreen for its entertainment value, but it also disseminates values deemed useful in our daily lives. It may resonate to all irrespective of their individual theological beliefs and convictions on the purpose of their existence on Earth. Perhaps I am not up to date with the latest numbers that are churned out of Kollywood, but their golden era of Tamil songs for its meaningful lyrics are from the 50s all through the 80s. Speakers of this ancient language will appreciate the deep meanings that songs of that period convey. Thanks to poets of that time bracket, in the likes of Kannadasan, Vaali, Pulmaipithan, Pattukottai Kalyanasundaram and much more. In this scene from a 1958 film, Thai Piranthaal Vazhi Pirakkum (New Path is paved with the birth of the month of Thai) our undulating ups and downs of the voyage of life are...

The birthplace of Jane and Benjamin Franklin. Jane would live here for most of her life while Benjamin would leave to pursue his apprenticeship. (brainpickings.org) Heard a podcast recently on one of the American founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin. As is well known, he emerged from a humble beginning, of a son of a poor candle and soap maker, to propel himself away from the clutches of poverty, to pull himself up with his boots strap even though he could not afford boots. Benjamin, a polymath, later became a printer, a master inventor, a diplomat, established the mail service and had a hand in drafting the Declaration of Independence. He was self-taught. Together with his favourite sister, Jenny (out of 16 other siblings), they used to teach each other. Then, Benjamin left his home to work in a printing press run by his brother by a twist of fate. One thing led to another, and he left the job. He later managed to establish himself as a printer. In his printing compa...

The Untold History of the United States (2012, Documentary) Written, Directed and Narrated by Oliver Stone In essence life on Earth never changed. The animalistic yearn for power, blood and control never left us even though we left our nomadic ways, our parchments and dressed in 'modern attires'. This documentary, coming from a controversial filmmaker, Oliver Stone, is a must watch for history buffs who believe that history is not just a dead subject about dead people. After all, history is supposed to regularly discussed, dissected, analysed and argued with the understanding that history repeats itself. One who does not appreciate the follies of history is bound to repeat its indiscretion. This set of documentary comprise 10 regular one-hour episodes and two prequels which cover almost a century of the rise of the United States of America after it had tamed the Wild West and its southern neighbours in the late 19th century to hail as the only remaining...

Many who live in the present, enjoying the comforts of modernity, growing fat with the affluence and the ease of doing things with scientific advances abhor the many changes that happen around them. They clamour about decadence, injustice and our self-induced path to destruction. They reminisce about the good days when foods were tasty, the air was clean and leaders were honest. The more you delve into history, the more one realises that Man's past was never anything but of turmoil. Take the instance of South India, for example. They talk about the glorious good old Golden Age of the Pandyas, Cheras and Cholas and their gargantuan seafaring, scientific and philosophical feats. Thanjavur Periya Kovil Sample of Chola architectural prowess All these achievements did not come without any human sacrifices. The Hindu kings had to outdo their Jain Kings with their architecture and their wealth. They had to compete with the Buddhist for support from the masses as Budd...

Westworld Season 1 (2016) Someone said the other day that we are going through the golden age of television. As the competition to make newer themes and fresh ideas get greater, we, the viewers, can relax, sit back and just watch the fun. All the love and adventure themes seem to have run out. Now, the storytellers have to look no further but somewhat inwardly into our minds. And believe you me, there is a landmine there! With all the vestigial connexions in our grey matter and the smartest amongst us only use ten percent of our real brain potential, the mind is an ocean, of which, our imagination is the limiting factor. Yes, the story of Westworld is a complicated narrative told in a flip-flop manner over three timelines, probably as analysed by one online commentator, 2015, 2018 and 2052. In a nutshell, it is a story of a Western-themed entertainment park where paying guests go to re-live the adventure of living in the Wild West. The park was curated by Robert Ford (Anthony H...

Ragasiya Police 115 (Tamil, 1968; Secret Police 115) This MGR-Jayalalitha flick is supposed to be Tamil cinema's answer to Ian Fleming's James Bond and Hollywood's swashbuckling loverboy Errol Flynn. Unfortunately, it turned to be more of a light romantic comedy with an occasional espionage work. The filmmakers decided to harp ever reliable time-tested chemistry of MGR-Jayalalitha and the one-man comedy machine of Nagesh, even though Nagesh does not appear in any of the scenes with the protagonist. To make it family wholesome, there was no dearth of melodious songs and eye-catching psychedelic Eastman colours. The film reminisces the typical 60s Indian movie where the typical crooks (Asokan and MN Nambiar) use trap doors, hidden switches and underground tunnels to hide their ill-gotten spoils. Hey, they are still using the same modus operandi for the same purpose in the 21st century! Ramu (MGR) is a secret CBI agent who is sent on a mission to thwart a clandestine ac...

When I grow up, I want to be rich; I want to have boobies (oops, groupies), so the song goes. We all have our dreams so as not to repeat the mistakes that our forefathers. We want to undo all the mistakes, to grasp lost opportunities or that that never came their way. We follow the rules, the do's and don'ts paved by our elders. We try to uphold ancient value systems hoping for the blessings from Nature or Divine Being or whoever who is or isn't there. We play hard, we work hard but bearing in mind that the Middle Path is always the best. We do a reality check. The last time we scrutinised, we were doing a-okay. The future could not be looking any better. We were proud of ourselves. The future looked so bright that we may have to wear shades. Then wham! The dark shadow of the past plagues come haunting. The very genetically predetermined ailments that were tried to be kept at bay came a-knocking. The sensible life that was led is no guarantee for the rogue DNA to...

Arrival (2016) If you are a fan of 'Ancient Alien' series and a keen follower of Erich von Daniken, then you would probably believe that alien visitors periodically manifest on Earth to propel us a step ahead in our civilisation. If not how would we describe the leaps of intelligence that we seem to make in leaps and bounds? In a strongly patriarchal society of medieval France which gives no space to women in the public sphere, emerges a 17-year old girl to lead New Orleans to war and win. Living in a quiet world without artificial light, suddenly the circadian cycle of night and day is changed forever with advances of science and technology. No distance is too far, and everyone can fly! All these came about not by Man's initiative solely but with prodding from visitors. Now, the visitors are in trouble, and they need our help or at least 3000 years in the future! At least that is part of the story in this latest sci-fi movie that has hit the silver screens. The real the...

We all like to think that we are the anointed one, that we are special, that we were made in His mould. Unfortunately, we tell ourselves that just to convince ourselves. Even we do not buy that story. We are so disenchanted by that idea that we have to regularly remind ourselves. We try to be around others who share our same thinking to comfort ourselves that we are indeed on the right track. When we see others with equally logical explanations that are able to connect the dots, that are contradictory to ours, we feel small. We say that that cannot be true. We were right all along, we pacify. We yearn for approval to state our case. We coalesce with the similar feeble minded ones and feel contented, satisfied that we were and are right. We are afraid to contest, fearful that we may fail. We build a cocoon, constantly bombarding ourselves with affirmative statements, living in a perpetual state of euphoria and self-denial. In essence, we are insecure,  just throttling...

Stealing a Nation (2004) Written and Directed by John Pilger Before the mysterious disappearance of the flight MH370, never had I heard of the existence of a military base in the Indian Ocean named Diego Garcia. With the power of the web, we now know so many things about this piece of coral island, out in the middle of nowhere, in the Chagos Archipelago with Diego Garcia as the main island and its neighbours are Mauritius and Seychelles. Some time now, the story of the imposition of inhumane displacement of its indigenous inhabitants of the isle by imperial superpowers, namely Britain and America had hit the headlines in the UK and Mauritius. Around 1965, the British foreign office clandestinely falsified a document stating that the Chagos Archipelago was an uninhabited piece of land only occupied by seagulls. They did this to justify the selling  of this island, which they had held since the 19th century, to the US in exchange for modern military equipment. The US, in...

https://brightside.me/creativity-photography/16-fascinating-historical-pictures-few-people-have-seen-before-127555/ 20 Fascinating Historical Pictures Few People Have Seen Before Sometimes, an event, someone’s fate, or even an entire era can be hiding behind just one simple photo. Pictures store not only our memories but also the whole world’s history. Bright Side  collected 20 beautiful shots and offers you a chance to plunge into the past. Just take a look; there were some truly fascinating things going on before we were here! © Getty Images    A zoo keeper and tiger cubs, 1937. © nickkahler    Girls getting changed on a public beach, 1929. © tumblr    Charlie Chaplin and his wife Una, United States, 1944. © travelsandobservations    Dubai, 1965. © metro.se    ...

Dangal (Wrestle, Hindi; 2016) That title of the post kind of sums up the message behind the movie. All the seemingly cruel and unconventional things that parents do and try to impart to their downlines may actually be for their own good. Parents push their offspring to the brim not for their own self glory but so that the younger will be able weather any challenges that come their way in their future when the elders are no longer around to bail them out. What does not kill them only makes them stronger! Imagine a world without Thriller and Moon Walk if Joe Jackson had not drilled his kids too such an extent that they reached superstardom. If not for his father, Michael would have been just an average Joe! Unfortunately, the juniors are not going to easily to accept their seniors' point of view lying down. This must be the curse that every generation goes through before they realise the people before them were right after all. But then, sometimes this awareness may just ...