RIFLE RANGE BOY

Seven Years in Tibet (1997) Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud (Based on Heinrich Harrer's book with the same name) Similar to the internment camps established in the USA for German and Japanese migrants during the First and Second World Wars, India had comparable camps. Numerous German workers and even alpine climbers from Austria were detained in various camps around Ahmedabad and Dehradun. One notable individual was Gustav Hermann Krimbiegel, an extraordinary gardener credited with creating royal gardens across India. Krimbiegel was a German botanist who migrated to Britain in 1888. He began his apprenticeship at Kew Gardens and was subsequently recommended to work in the garden of the Maharaja of Baroda. After witnessing his remarkable gardening skills, he was commissioned by other princely states. He is recognised for his development of Lalbagh in Bangalore, Brindavan in Mysore, and many others. In addition to his horticultural achievements, he is also known for introducing new see...

Valley of Flowers (2006) Director: Pan Nalin In my books, the way to put someone on the right track when he has gone wayward is to make him realise his errors so that he can rectify them. A person aware of his mistakes will realise the implications of his actions and will not be a repeat offender.  In theory, this is how it works, I think. One will not touch fire after touching, and burning will be having his fingers burnt before. The brain will be re-wired to be reminded (re-mind) of the pains, the blister, the scorching and the inconveniences of the healing process afterwards.  Somehow I have issues extrapolating this analogy to karma. If the purpose of birth and re-birth is to create a 2.0 version of the species to improve oneself to reach the level of Eternal Bliss, not everyone is blessed with this realisation, however.  Whenever we are caught in a dilemma and feel frustrated, we are told, akin to pacifying a crying child, that we are just reaping what we sow. We are...

Samsara (in Tibetian and Ladhaki languages; 2002) Directed, Written by: Pan Nalin I remember an episode when my house cat was engaged in a staring contest with a stray cat. My cat was inside the comfort of my home behind a glass door, staring intently at the other through the clear glass. In my mind, I imagined what thoughts could have crossed their nimble feline brains. The stray would probably be envious of my cat. It would imagine a cosy life, free of the cruelty of the elements, time to pampers oneself licking its fir in place and feeding time on the clock. It would have wished to swap places. My cat would probably be jealous of the stray. The stray would be the master of its own destiny. Everywhere it decides to lay its butt, it is its home - freedom. My cat may not realise that it may be minced meat one day in the world of catfights. The stray would not live one day in the sterile environment of a home feeding on pellets called cat food. It may want to hunt its prey and tear into...

Xuanzang (大唐玄奘, Mandarin, Hindi; 2016) Hsuan Tsang or Xuanzang is mentioned in early historical scriptures as of one the first person who journeyed from China via the Silk Road through Central Asia to reach India (or Sindhu as it was referred to then). He documented his travels meticulously and penned down all his escapades as he traversed the treacherous terrains, hills, deserts, monsoon and scorching heat. A child prodigy, Xuanzang entered the Buddhist monastery and was ordained a monk in Mahayana Buddhism at the age of 20. He then mastered Sanskrit and started studying ancient texts. Discovering discrepancies in the available scriptures, at the age of 25, in the year 627AD, he started a solo journey on foot from Chang 'An to India. This was the transition time from the Sui to the relatively peaceful Tang dynasty. His final destination was Nalanda University, in Meghada kingdom. After three long years, travelling through modern-day Kazhakstan, Kyzhegistan, Uzbekistan, Afgha...

Historical Monument of Kalinga at Dhauli. The ferocious Emperor Asoka was moved by the crimson hue of the river water nearby. Only then did the realisation of his tyranny came fore. He became a pacifist, a Buddhist and built stupas and pillars to remind himself and his subjects on the value of life. They keep telling me that I am insignificant; that I am inconspicuous to the grander scheme of things around; that I am just passing through. My existence in time is less than a millimicrosecondth of the 13.8 billion years since the time Big Bang happened. They ask me to be humble, to bow to the forces of Nature and to remember that I am weak; all just flesh, blood and bone. I am so brittle, organic and living on borrowed time. At the bat of an eyelid, I may be down and out. I remain but just dust, a part of the galaxy. I am told to invoke the blessings of the celestial bodies that govern our every move and not to incur their wrath. This message of humility is apparentl...

There used to be a time in our childhood when we used to look forward to religious festivities. Besides being a holiday, it was also a time of free food and free pocket money. That was the time when waited with anticipation for our neighbours to call us to their homes for merriment. All that just memories of a distant era. Now, a long holiday with the lure of cheap flights is the time we all look forward to planning our next holiday destination. With the same mindset, my cousin and I zeroed in on Siem Reap, the town closest to ruins of an ancient Hindu which existed about a thousand years ago. It was lost in the annals of time also to be discovered by a Frenchman by accident during his expedition through the Mekong River to catch butterflies! So goes the legend! Nature at its best for a picture perfect postcard They still live under the euphoria that they were the rulers of the world; that their ancestors were the most civilised in the region and that their neighbouring ...

Genius of the Ancient World (BBC Four) #1. Buddha Centuries before modern man came up with the concept of cognitive psychology and self-discoveries, there walk a man in flesh and blood who questioned the ritualistic practices of the people in the name of the Protector. At a time when Brahmin sages performed sacrificial rites to appease the Maker so that man can be taken care in the next life, he stood to question the relevance of these. Leaving his comfortable life in the courtyards of the leader of the Sankya clansmen in Southern Nepal, he wandered to the buzzing city in Maghada state. People of the cosmopolitan town of Patna were alive with many questions and ideas about life and its purpose. Siddharta Gautama queried the concept of samsara and the cycle of life. If rituals could change the fate of the high caste in the next life, what happens to the traders and workers rank. Are they destined to be trapped in miseries forever? He sought for his answers with a s...

Some say that the mere fact that we are born on Earth is torture. It is a punishment of sorts. All the aches, the physical pains, the emotional pains, the disappointments, the cheats, the fall and loss of function may be just an ellipse of what a man faces in his lifetime. Saying all these, even the wisest of men, would like to hold on to his last breath not matter what in exchange for all the wealth in the world. Many religions that promote themselves as a way of life suggest that the relationships that we develop along the way in our life are the cause of most of our problems. We should either not to take to heart all the miseries that develop in our daily interactions with our friends, colleagues, and loved ones or cut ourselves from these relationships. In the other words, renunciation is the word.  Renunciation can be done, it seems, in two ways. In the first instance, one can choose a life of self-sacrifice and self-avoidance from the time of adolescence or at com...