RIFLE RANGE BOY

They say that the key to the future is in the past. Really? Many do not agree with this statement.  Dodo bird - from the past! Sure, how would one know that fire scalds if he is not given the opportunity to feel the brunt of heat traversing on the tips of the finger? Once burnt twice shy, they say. The mere thought of the pain of being scorched is enough to keep one on his toes to avoid the same experience.  The memory of the misery of a checkered past continually playing in mind is a sure way the same mistake and even be a stepping stone for higher achievement. A regular reminder of the past may spur to strive harder and remind one of the missions in hand. On the other hand, we are accused of clinging on to the past, living in the past, drawing in a shell and residing in the self-pity or nostalgia. As if nostalgia was a bad word! In environment concerns, records of the past are needed to predict the future. Our knowledge about extinct species may prevent fur...

Brass, pots, grinding stone, the sacrificial fire,  millets all essential to symbolise the threadbare of our existence and the power of the Universe  over our every action. Till death do us apart  this irrevocable union for continuity of the  species.  ©FG. It is that time of my life when friends and relatives start inviting me to their children's wedding. Sometimes I wonder why they do that. Me, a cynic, one who derives schadenfreude by just watching the world go by from the background. The one who sneers within himself which of the weddings that he attends is going to be in the doldrums, which loving couple is going to two-time, which lovey-dovey couple is going to be at each others' throat and much more. Maybe because of my status of being married, staying married for a reasonable period of time whilst dodging all the curveballs that were hurled my way in my lifetime (thus far) makes qualified to bless the newlyweds. The family may wish me ...

The Shape of Water (2017) Okay, this movie is a sci-fi romance flick which won an Oscar. It is modelled after 'The Beauty and The Beast', about a young cleaner-lady falling in love with mysterious scaly water-creature in captivity, initially captured in South America. There seems to exist more mystery behind the story of this mute orphan who lost her vocal powers probably after a neck injury. She spends a long time in her bath and gets an attraction to this creature. She spots the reptilian being in the laboratory, as he is being tortured. The story goes predictably as she and her band of misfits try to kidnap him from the science facility. They discover each other and live happily ever after. Of course, it is made more interesting than that. The setting is 1960 Baltimore, in a government lab. It boasts of colourful characters, all with flaws in them. The mute protagonist, her colleague who has been through multiple poor judgements in relationships, a talented but unsucce...