What gives? What it takes?

A dejected kilt-wearing Scotsman walking back to day time
job and back to reality....

Since King James I/VI united Scotland and England under the same umbrella after his mother was abdicated, imprisoned and eventually beheaded for treason, Scots had always been feeling that they have been short changed. The impression that I got when I was there is that the Scots were just waiting to break free from the union.
The recent referendum outcome obviously proved me wrong.
Come Monday, it is back life and back to reality. The nay sayers and the yay sayers have to bury the hatchet, hold hands, walk into the sun set and be embroiled in the daily challenges of life.
That is life. No matter what differences we have harbour against each other and the outcomes that may despair us, we have to carry on with life with a straight face.
To all the people who think that we are being hypocrite by not standing our ground and rejecting all kinds of actions that contradicts our belief, I say get real. At the end of the day, the equilibrium and sanctity of the institution has to be preserved. This can also be said of a family. A family member may have certain strong beliefs on certain subjects. By comprising and adjusting his decisions to accommodate the desires of other members, it is by no means indicative of a weak leadership or sucking up to populist sentiments. Life is a game of give and take. It is a game of tug-of-war where the final outcome is determined by what gives and what it takes!

What maketh a human?

So, it is yet another run, my personal competitive run #35 since I took the plunge into my first run in 2009. This time, it is the Adidas King of the Road 16.8km run—my third time participating. 

As I ran past the immense monolithic man-made structures in the middle of the affluent and less affluent parts of the suburb, I realised that nothing about the race had changed. The aspirant runners, with their 'gaya muthusamy' way of dressing in branded gear and laden with gadgets—heart monitors, sweat headbands, logo-flashing fluorescent compression suits, Gel Kinsei (the Bentley of running shoes), and so on— etcetera. Even the loud-mouthed hooligans with nonsensical shouts and catcalls at the 15 km mark were present this time. However, this time, they had their stereophonic bass, pounding with high trebles and high fidelity systems, to match their rowdy act!

Also in a saree

So there was nothing new; it was just the same old, same old. As I was running and thinking about what to write regarding the run, it occurred to me. Why not write about the attire of some of the participants, I wondered?

Some dress to impress, some wish to, but cannot due to certain social and cultural restrictions. Others flaunt regardless (because they can and want to), while some modify their clothing to bypass the law, aiming to be acceptable and to cover taboo zones.

In Saree

Like they say, sarees are worn by people like Mother Theresa and by sex workers in the most remote areas of India. What difference does it make — modesty versus alluring inner desires? It is the combined act of carrying oneself and speech that completes the whole package, is it not? 

So, I chuckle to myself and ask why all the effort to colour code, enhance the contours, and leave nothing to the imagination, only to let it all go to waste? Just a thought while I continue the run...

They did it because they felt like it!

Compulsion 1959
Set in Chicago of 1924, this is another film noir starring Orson Welles, Dean Stockwell (the guy on TV series 'Voyagers!' with the time gadget), Bradford Dilman, Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman of TV series $6million dollar man) and others.
Artie Strauss (Dilman) and Judd Steiner (Stockwell) are two intelligent wayward rich university law students who go around with a chip on their shoulder (thinking that they are of superior intellect) doing mischief and hit-and-run a drunk off a road because they felt like it!
Richard Anderson (Max) is Judd's brother who despises his brother's association with Artie.
The deranged duo kills a boy but for a perfect murder but Judd inadvertently dropped his glasses at the crime scene.
Judd is a loner and child prodigy speaking 14 languages who lost his mother at 8. Artie is always abandoned by his aristocrat parents. The police finally pinpoint the murder to the duo. By that time, I was wondering when Welles was going to manifest.
The weary and clearly obese Welles (Jonathan Wilk) walks in only 1 hour into the movie as the flamboyant and sarcastic atheist defence lawyer for both Artie and Judd.
The second half of the movie focuses on the court proceedings and its drama. The outcome of the case is somewhat predictable but the pull factor is the compelling powerful dialogue. Wilk, who opposes capital punishment manages to get life imprisonment for them with his heart wrenching persuasive 15 minute submission at the end of the movie, leaving a bad aftertaste of life, hatred and killing amongst man as well the the question of religious belief and the Hand of God which dropped the pair of spectacles at the scene of crime!
It is alien to see university students dressed to the nines with suits and ties here. The story is based on hate crime killing of a Jewish boy in Chicago back in 1924.
Dilman, Stockwell and Welles all received Best Actor Award at Cannes in 1959. Another 100% rating from The Rotten Tomato. Double thumbs UP!

Memorable quote...

If there is any way of destroying hatred and all that goes with it, it's not through evil and hatred and cruelty, but through charity, love, understanding.