RIFLE RANGE BOY

Mehta Boys (Hindi, 2015) Directed, Written and Produced by Boman Irani https://www.indiaforums.com/movie/the-mehta-boys_7313 This problem is frequently observed these days. As baby boomers live longer lives and share their experiences, clashes often arise between them and younger generations. The boomers are eager to impart the knowledge that benefited them. In their view, they do not want to be like their fathers, who sat aloof, refusing to engage in conversation with the children. The boomers believed they were doing the younger generation a favour by offering free advice. The problem is they assume that this is the only effective approach. The younger ones see things through a different lens and adopt a more relaxed attitude. The boomers live with a siege mentality, assuming that the world is hostile and could turn upside down at any moment. They act as if they are facing impending doom. Their sole purpose in life is to save for a rainy day at the expense of enjoying themselves. Con...

Recently, I caught an obituary announcement on social media. An old working senior had passed on. Even though my interaction with that person was short, it left an unpleasant aftertaste. From his demeanour, I learnt how not to disrespect my subordinates. This person was so vile in his comments during high-level meetings that my boss would ask me or one of my colleagues to accompany him for moral support. His scoldings were so personal that they bordered on testing my department's competence and even intelligence. Everyone let out an air of relief when he was transferred for a promotion. Why a person of such arrogance should be rewarded was the million-dollar question. But then, we were glad that our problem was somebody else's. That was the last I heard of him until the fateful announcement. There it was, the photograph of him with a toothful smile on his face, innocence oozing down his face, and religious symbols below it. It was his obituary announcement. Under that, a long l...

Aelay (ஏலே! Hey You! Tamil; 2021) We always complain that our fathers are not expressive enough, that they are not touchy enough. We allege that they are relatively economical with their display of affection. We despise their approach to solving problems. We say they are too laid back, sometimes also detached.  In our minds, our fathers exhibit all the traits of how a father should not be. We resolve to be just the opposite of what they were. We spend a great deal of our adulthood not seeing eye- to-eye with our fathers.  We tell ourselves we will not be like him when we grow older. Slowly, with the lessons learnt from the School of Hard Knock and Life, we soon realise that he managed, with and despite his knowledge and experience, to hold the fort for others to prosper. In the traditional sense, he looked at himself as a material provider. As for their deeds and misdeeds that he has under his belt, they cannot be held against as he did with his family's best interest at ...

It is difficult for a son to live in the shadows of his father. Invariably, they do not live up to their fathers' achievements. Living examples of these are too numerous to be enumerated - Gandhi's son, Harilal, a disappointed young man who died as a vagabond in a corridor bed of a general hospital; Michael Douglas and his drug-plagued son; Charlie Sheen (son of Martin Sheen) and his troubles with booze and women; Eric Clapton's son and suicide from a skyscraper after a drug overdose; John Lennon's offspring  Julian stayed at best as a one-hit wonder. This fact was reinforced from this small book written in Malay by Malaysia's legendary actor, musician, director extraordinaire P. Ramlee's only biological son, Nasir. It was published in 2007, a year before he succumbed to heart ailment and complications of diabetes at 54 years of age. This book was different from other P. Ramlee featured books as it most talked about happenings within the Ramlee household an...