RIFLE RANGE BOY

Descendants (Documentary; 2022) Written and directed by: Margaret Brown We often tell us to put the past behind us and use the past as lessons to propel us forward. Refrain from brooding over the past, but look at the future, which is within our means to write. The past is a done thing which cannot be rewritten.  Is there any merit in prodding the past and trying to write the wrong that our ancestors did by omission or commission? This documentary makes one thing of this very point. Can we blame all our misgivings on how our ancestors were treated? Is transgenerational PSTD justified enough to be the reason for the current generation to be dysfunctional, economically backward and in a quandary? Is validation of the deeds of our forefathers needed for us to prosper in life? Or is the mere lack of their recognition just an excuse to remain as sluggards? It is good to put the facts straight. As history is written as dictated by the victors, their version is just one aspect of what rea...

Karma and other stories (Rishi Reddi 2007) Picked up this book the other day, another writer with Indian roots. The author is not an Indian living in India writing about Indian stuff but rather she is an American with Indian roots who spent most of living times in the confused land of opportunity. I guess from the contents of the books that many Indians who migrated to the land of plenty ended up being confused. Confused, that they are viewed upon as outsiders in the land that their intellectual eyes opened and also as outsiders in the land that their parents speak so highly of. Confused too, as they wonder what drove droves of its citizens from a country which had all, the civilization, the bond with nature, have analysed and have stories of good virtues, conduct, culture and governance. How come a culture so highly developed failed their subjects? This book does not give all answers to the above. It only stimulates your mind and thinks. The answers for th...

The Descendants 2011 "Ah," I thought, "it is going to be another one of those George Clooney movies where he goes on exhibiting his flashy smile breaking young girls' heart and laughing all the way to the bank!" Luckily, I was wrong. It was not too bad, actually. The starting line caught my attention. Something to the effect of people go under the impression that everyone in Hawaii is happy living in paradise but people there too have fatal cancers, have heartaches..... It is an emotionally charged movie of the story of Matt King, a successful real estate attorney who has an adrenaline junkie brain dead wife in hospital after a water sport accident. He soon discovers that she had been cheating on him. Then there are his two daughters who are giving him hell - a pre-teen who is having problems with friends in school and is using 4-lettered word like punctuation marks and a wild young adult in university. To top it up, there is a question of his ancestral land...