RIFLE RANGE BOY

Madras Café (Hindi, 2013) Director: Shoojit Sircar It all started with the British and the Christian missionaries. The colonial masters decided to modernise their colonies. The British evangelists took charge of the South of Ceylon while the Americans built schools in the northern half. The American preachers, who were assigned a predominantly Tamil population, emphasised Science and Mathematics teaching. The schism started there. The people from the North were more well prepared to meet the challenges of the new world. After independence, the ruling majority from the South imposed affirmative actions to balance the scale. In came Solomon Bandaranaike, a Singhalese with an illustrious family background which even included a knighted father and a British godfather. Solomon, an Anglophile, an Oxford graduate, was more white than Snow White. He could not speak the local lingo and did not practice Buddhism. He served in the Ceylon legal administration after his return from the UK in the m...

The Rice Mother (2004) Author: Rani Manicka History is written by victors said Walter Benjamin. History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon according to Napoleon Bonaparte. History will be kind to me as I intend to write it, asserted Winston Churchill. These statements just show us how the real narration, the truth can and will be manipulated by the people in power to set forth their personal agendas. Of late, in Malaysia, there is a concerted effort to erase the contributions of particular communities in the development of the country. History is altered and churned out as they like as if it is a fictional writing to bring out a happy ending that suits the flavour of the month. Like the Ministry of Truth in Orwell's 1984, they churn out lies after lies to suit their game plan. They know well that one who controls the past controls the future and he who controls the present controls the past. Talk to any Malaysian family. They all have a tale to tell about the...

Dheepan (Bilingual; Yaalpaanam Tamil and French; 2015) When refugees are given space to stay in a vicinity, it is not just physical space they need. They would need social and psychological support to carry on life. After all the push factors that drove them from their comfort zone, the devastations that they had endured, the love ones that they had lost, PTSD is a real problem which needs to be handled tactfully. They do not come alone. With them come the baggage of young ones who need to be paved for a future where they can fend for themselves. There are bound to be people who are non-conformists and natural fighter-cocks who would just  rebel without a cause. Bad apples are everywhere. Crime and social disharmony amongst themselves and with other communities may strain the policing duties. Refugees and immigrants, who are usually in the prime of the lives, will have dreams and desires, be it for the future or for carnal gratifications. Hence, sexual and rep...

Dambulla Golden Temple They say they had great powers and wisdom. Legend has it that one of their kings, Ravana, had literally brought Lord Shiva to his knees when the king had conquered the Indian subcontinent all the way to what they thought was edge of heaven - Mount Kailash. Only when the mighty Lord thumbed his big guy did he plead for clemency and hence was born the Shiva Thandava stotram which is still muttered by His devotees till today. The island has so much of history and feats in engineering and architecture but what has it become? A third world country with chaotic traffic system filled by traffic etiquette wanting horn blaring drivers and three wheeler 'tut-tut' taxis who treat the road as a war zone where only the fittest and lion hearted survives! A nation with such a long high culture is now wallowed in poverty and has to play dance monkey to the tunes of tourists from supposedly developed nation to conjure out foreign exchange for their liveliho...