Never strayed from its intentions

Dr Rama Subbiah Scholarship Fund
Golden Jubilee Celebration (1967-2017)

Most of us who studied in the local universities are quite familiar with Dr Rama Subbiah Scholarship Fund which had been a boon to many underprivileged varsity students of Indian descent. Not many of us, however, know much about Dr Rama Subbiah and the genesis of this fund.

Dr Rama Subbiah (1933-1969) is first Malaysian Ph D holder in the field of Linguistics. Working as a lecturer in University Malaya and Chairman of NUPW-PPN Hostel Management Committee, he financed, out of his pocket, accommodation for TAR College Indian students who had to commute long distances on a bus from out of town to study their A-levels. That started in 1967.

From then on, the hostel students contributed their hostel security deposit money to start a scholarship fund. Many individuals later pledged small but regular contributions to this embryonic scholarship endowment which was initially named 'The Indian Students Scholarship Fund'. After the untimely demise of Dr Rama in a tragic motor vehicle accident, it was renamed 'Dr Rama Subbiah Scholarship Fund'.

The help via this fund reached out to many students of humble backgrounds. They, in turn, after reaping the benefit of this endowment, continued the trend. Beneficiaries were required to reimburse what they had received into a revolving fund once they started working. Over the years, the Board which manages this resource has increased their base capital through social fundraising activities.

It recently celebrated its Silver Jubilee, its fifty years of existence.

Early alien visitations to India

Kalai Arasi (கலை அரசி, Queen of Arts, Tamil; 1963)

Even when extra-galactical adventures, wars of astronomical proportions and extra-terrestrial visits in vimānas are mentioned in the Hindu scriptures, somehow, science fiction movies never really had a following at the silver screen level. A 1952 Hollywood collaborated film 'Kaadu (Jungle)' is the first Tamil sci-fi movie. Many alien visitation film ventures have failed, including Satyajit Ray's effort.

40 years before 'Koi Mil Gaya' burnt the silver screen hailed as the first successful Indian science-fiction flick, Kollywood did indeed release an epic saga of alien visitation, flying saucers and alien abduction. Keeping with the interest of viewers of that era, the elements of romance, songs, dances and swashbuckling scenes were kept very much alive.

This movie almost did not make it to theatres. The project was apparently started in the last 1950s as evidenced by choice of leading actors. MGR and Bhanumathi must have been the hottest pair in the late 50s after their successful pairing in 1955's 'Ali Baba and 40 thieves' (அலி பாபாவும் நாப்பது திருடர்கள்), hence the pick here, I think.  The lyricist who is credited passed away in 1959. The song lyrics were conversational-like, unlike the ones that came out in 1963 where melody, poetry and symbolism were given more importance.

Alien (MN Nambiar) with vision goggles and spacesuit

Talking about its songs, I have to say that, even though I can swear that I had never heard the songs before, they had a haunting feel to it. The lines were quite prophetic. One particular line in the opening song struck a chord with me, 'under enclosure of the blue skies, in the lap of the sea and earth, the Lord of Time rules over us'.  If one were to scrutinise the lyrics, we could also learn about the planet's weather, terrain and its day-night cycle. It had midnight sun and inhospitable environment.

I have a funny feeling about MGR showcasing his atheistic outlook in this movie. As per the norm in most Tamil films, praises and salutations to the God are the order, either in the opening credits or as props. Surprisingly, none of these was present. As if reading my thought, a line was heard, something to the effect of 'time is under the purview of the sun, and that decides all the occurrences on Earth', i.e., not God who runs the world!

Mission: Earth!

Another line which says about the same ideology towards the end of the movie is 'எங்கிருந்தோ வந்தோம், எங்கேயோ போகிறோம்,எப்படி செந்தோமோ, அப்பெடியே செண்டுகிறோம், வருட்டோமோ?' (Don't know where we came from, don't know where we are going to, don't know how we met, the same way we are going.) It looks like the Creator is nowhere in the equation of birth and death. This, the main character (Mohan, MGR) says this to an alien being as he departs from her planet.

The story can be described as a bit wishy-washy sometimes. The filmmakers must have got some of their ideas from 'Flash Gordon' as seen with some of the cinematography. One can sense that some scenes were added. At one juncture, Mohan is running dressed in dhoti just to continue in another locale in pants and trousers. This can be expected as filming had come to a halt due to MGR's other prolific offers and had to rejuvenated years later after the producer held a hunger strike in front of MGR's office!

It starts with MN Nambiar as the commander of an alien ship navigating through milky way past Jupiter and Saturn heading towards Earth (Boologam). Even though his race had attained great heights in the field of science and technology, it lacked wisdom in art and music. The two-manned flying saucer was heading to Earth to kidnap Vani (Banumathi) whom the aliens knew to be good in this field. The mission was to get Vani to teach his people music and singing.

What is Tamil movie without dual roles?

Mohan, a do-gooder farmer, lives with his sister (Sachu) and an old mother. He is in love with Vani, and the feeling is mutual. Aliens abduct Vani and Mohan is imprisoned as the kidnapper. In the meantime, the no-good manager (VS Veerapa) spots a village idiot who resembles Vani as her replacement. Mohan is freed. Mohan spots the alien who was left behind, overpowers him and sneaks into the flying saucer and makes it to the planet where Vani is held.


She is treated well and is promised of her freedom after she imparts her knowledge to the prince of the land. Guess what! When Mohan reaches the planet, he spots his doppelganger who is kind enough to teach him a thing or two about the planet like using anti-gravity shoes and the environment. Unfortunately, he is hit by meteor and Mohan uses his costume to enter the palace as a jester. The rest of the movie shows the princess (Jaishree) falling in love with Mohan, Mohan wriggling himself away from the princess, convincing her of his undying love to Vani, getting a crash course on manning a spaceship, having a duel with MN Nambiar who is keen to get Vani, saving Vani and safely returning to Earth!

Is that a bird or a plane? No, that's a flying saucer!

Bearing in mind that the film was made in the late 50s, it can be said to be quite unconventional. Although you cannot compare it to Star Trek or Star Wars where all the tiny details are thought of, it can be said that they did introduce something new as far as Indian cinema is concerned. The idea of anti-gravity shoes is refreshing. Laser guns came in the form of flame-spewing taser guns. Some of the scenes look like they are preparing the people for a time in the future where spotting a UFO in the sky is as uninteresting as seeing a cow on the Indian street.

Unconventional also is the fact that there were no comedians in the cast. The only light moment that I found is a line at the finish when Mohan and Vani are met by Vani's father and questioned about their disappearance, Mohan just says, "Oh, we were abducted to another planet!" To which the father says, "Oh, come off it, we have a lot of work to do."

Mohan and Vani just say to each other, "One day all these will be possible!"
At another instance, farmers are fascinated by the flames in the sky. Mohan, the knowledgeable one, just tell them matter-of-factly, "Oh, that is a flying saucer in the sky!"

It only goes to show that a revolutionary thought just stays a thought if the time is not ripe for the general public to accept. Many forward thinkers who were way ahead of their times just disappeared without having ideas jotted in the annals of time. The performance arts, literary work and now with the aid of cyberspace, every thought process can potentially reach every nook and corner of the civilisation. Ideas evolve so fast in this restless world that even before you say "Eureka!", your discovery is already yesterday's news.

http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/tamil-film-had-aliens-spaceships-anti-gravity-boots-half-century-ago-44272

http://milliblog.com/2010/08/11/was-mgr-starrer-kalai-arasi-the-first-indian-film-to-feature-an-alien/

Dedicated to SM in JB, you know who you are!
Juno makes it to Jupiter orbit!

But it is not just a number?

It first started with the greeting of "hello Uncle" and your reply to "Sorry, I don't remember being related to your mother!".

Then it became, "You just don't understand!"
And finally, you know that it has hit the next phase when one who has turned 31 years start condemning the generation younger than them as "these young people just don't get it!"!
During my last outing, there was this 31-year-old guy, born in the prosperous years after the 80s, shown obviously by his bulging abdominal girth, went on a rampage telling the crowd how he cannot fathom what the youngsters are thinking these days! And it was about their fixation with their fingers doing the talking rather than talking in somebody's face. And how alienated these aliens are out of touch with reality!
This is funny because when I see this 31-year-old, I look at him as coming from a planet. Looks like I am turning into a dinosaur.

Welcome to 2013 as I enter the Senior Veteran category, and I complete half a century of life on earth.

The 50 somethings are people, not cadavers!

Monday September 17, 2012

Fashion not only the domain of the young

BUT THEN AGAIN
By MARY SCHNEIDER
star2@thestar.com.my

Who says fashion is the exclusive domain of the young?

MY mum wears my T-shirts,” said a teenager during a call to a local radio station. “She’s 50. That shouldn’t be allowed.”

“I recently saw another woman about the same age wearing a pair of tight shorts and high heels,” responded the deejay, who was inviting callers to talk about the issue. “That shouldn’t be allowed either.”

Had I not been driving at the time, I might have phoned the radio station and asked them what all the fuss was about. Living in a world that is facing global warming, starvation, human rights violations, land degradation and racial tensions, surely there are more important things to worry about than the clothes that the over-fifties are wearing.

My choice: A woman should have the freedom to wear whatever she wants, no matter what her age.

As I continued to listen, I realised that the majority of people calling the radio station felt that older folks should dress in an age-appropriate manner. For example, it seems that some young people are traumatised, or so they would have you believe, by the sight of their middle-aged mother wearing a short dress, or showing cleavage, or sporting loud designs.

“She looks like mutton dressed up as lamb,” some of them said.

As if it’s okay for anyone to refer to their mother as an old sheep.

It seems to me that if a woman raises someone to have opinions of their own, and instills in them the confidence necessary to call a radio station to express those opinions, the least her offspring can do is respect her and her fashion choices.

I’m not sure who came up with the idea that fashion is the exclusive domain of the young, but I feel we should all have the freedom to wear whatever we want, no matter what age. Why are women of a certain age expected to become invisible, to blend into the background with their middle-aged uniforms? Since when did middle age diminish a woman’s right to be noticed?

I’m not a fashion slave, but I do know what I like and what I think looks good on me. And that’s all that matters to me.

When I look in the mirror, I can see that I’m in my fifties, but I still smile at my reflection on those days when I think I look good – something that much younger person might find difficult to understand.

Many years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I remember walking into a Scottish pub behind two old ladies. I’m not sure how old they really were, because anyone over the age of 40 was immediately thrown into the “old” category, but I do remember they had grey hair and were a little overweight.

As I walked through the front door of the pub, they stopped in front of a large mirror on the wall, removed their coats and studied themselves. One of them patted her hair and examined her lipstick, while the other smoothed down her dress, a bright red number that seemed out of place on someone of her years.

“Is that a new dress?” asked the lipstick lady.

“Yes,” said her friend. “Do you like it?”

“It’s lovely. You look gorgeous in it.”

“Thanks. You look gorgeous yourself.”

With a final pat of their hair they both disappeared into the bar, confident that they did indeed look gorgeous.

“What does it matter?” I said to myself. “It’s not as if anything is going to happen. There will be no admiring glances, eyes making contact over a crowded room, offers of drinks, telephone numbers being exchanged, possibilities of romance …”

How naive of me. These things do matter, but I just didn’t have the wisdom to realise it at the time.

I think more and more women of a certain age are defying stereotypes in a way that makes some people feel uncomfortable. However, the more women go against societal norms, the more expectations will change.

We will surely become more accepting of our aging bodies, which will surely benefit everyone. Because let’s face it, none of us can escape the effects of gravity and the lines that time and life’s experiences leave on our bodies.

But we can choose what we put on our bodies, and how we want to express our personality through clothes.

If I want to wear a sunshine yellow mini skirt and crimson tank top, because they make me feel bright and happy, don’t spoil my day by telling me that I’m looking like an old sheep pretending to be a lamb.

Baaaaaaaa!