RIFLE RANGE BOY

Holdovers (2023) Director: Alexander Payne This one comes close to being a feel-good Christmas spirit movie in the vein of 'It's a Wonderful Life' (1946), 'Miracle at 34th Street' (1947), and 'Diehard!' (1988). Maybe not 'Diehard' for its destruction and violence that happens around X'Mas. When everything looks hopeless, and there is no reason to be merry, one can be a Scrooge, making life a living hell for people or, alternatively, try to at least a little bit better for others. After all, that is how life has been for aeons. Life, with its ups and downs throughout our civilisation, only makes one's life more colourful. Despite all the maladies and tragedy, we still come out unscathed, dusting the dirt off our backs and moving forward to face another challenge. That that does not kill us makes us stronger. The sombre settings around Christmas make the soul go pensive. Tradition has made one long for lost relatives and reminisce about a caref...

Spoilt for choice! We say so many things about food. That we eat to live, not live to eat. That food be treated just as we treat medicine; not to overconsume, over-indulge or abuse. Like the Tamil proverb says, in excess, even honey turns poison. When we have the stomach to taste, we don't have the means; when there are the means, we don't have the stomach for it! Some would insist that eating to satisfy the senses is a sin. It is viewed as disrespecting Mother Nature, who provides and protects. Why go far? Gluttony is listed as one of seven deadly sins that Man should not commit. Various food abstinence regimes are considered highly by many religious beliefs. Fasting during Lent and Ramadan is recommended. So do Hindus during their multiple prayers. Then there are the Jains and Pythogorians with their dos and don'ts about eating and the types of foods that can be consumed. Tubers and root vegetables are avoided by Puritan Jains as ingestion of these foodstuffs kills under...

( Just a figment of imagination)   Nature's Pallette product   There used to be a God-forsaken piece of land kept away from people of the civilised world. It was too harsh and too hostile to human habitation. The climate was intense, and the terrain was unyielding. So it became a haven for people who wanted peace and to be left again.   With trust in God and faith in their physical and mental strength, they labour, innovate and improve. When chocolate gained popularity around Europe, the Swiss became creative in churning milk in steam-powered mixers to rebrand the drink of the Mayan Gods to the civilised world.   Unlike their neighbours, who were actively hunting each other, the Swiss were not powerful enough to resist. So, they claim neutrality. Promoting peace and non-partisanship, they showed their mantle during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 when the 80,000 over-defeated French soldiers and refugees were nursed to health. They remained neutral in the First and S...

Time is cruel! © DKLA At the pinnacle of their career, the Beatles must have had an existential crisis. McCartney and Lennon must have wondered how they would be at 64. Their vision of a 64-year old man, from the lenses of a person in the 1960s, must have been quite depressing. With bad teeth, bad eyesight and bald, it must be a picture of melancholy.  Luckily, growing old in the 21st century is bearable. The 60s is the new 40s. One can still lead a productive life in the senior citizen / geriatric age group provided the bus does not come to pick you up prematurely. After completing 633 km of cycling from Seoul to Pusan in 5 days, we had a couple days to unwind in Pusan. Immersed in the euphoria of completing our gargantuan task, we thought that our feat must be something that we, the seven of us, would be talking for a long time including reminiscing about it in our twilight years. We would probably be savouring each photo that we took along the way, trying to remember each ...