RIFLE RANGE BOY

Living 202 2 Director: Oliver Hermanus You remember a time when you were looking at the world that passed on by. You see the stream of people all grown up, handsome, poised, brimming with confidence. You tell yourself that you want to be like them with lots of friends and be likeable. You just could not wait to grow up. In your inner circle, you have friends who think highly of you. You consider yourself the life and soul of a party. And poof! You find yourself to be an old fool. You are a party pooper, a bore, a high-strung individual and a killjoy. People shun you. The younger ones would rather stay away from you to have a good time. They look at you as Scrooge and find excuses to stay away with a six-foot pole. You wonder whatever happened to the bubbly youngster that you once were. Have you become that lone child in the playground with a perpetual sourpuss face who does not want to share his toys? We sometimes lock ourselves in a comfort zone. We think we are all mighty and immort...

Landscape with Figures" by George Tooker (1992 ) Trapped in pigeon holes? I have known Uncle K7 for more than thirty-over years. Ever ready with a gleaming smile, he enjoys having long banter with me every now and then, I think. Periodically, during draggy family functions, we would often be nooked at a corner to discuss his life and times as a young technician in the world of espionage. Working in the Malaysian Field Force as a sergeant, he was in the frontline trying to intercept communist's radio communication using the then avant-garde British and German technology .  These family gatherings were nothing more than marking of attendance akin to a Mafia family meetings where the same crowd meets, again and again, to reinforce who is who in the family's hierarchal ladder.  My interactions with Uncle K7 over the years opened up my understanding of mortality, immortality and the purpose of life. Through him, I realised the need to discover, re-discover and continue learn...

Afsos (Regret, Hindi/English; 2020) Amazon Prime Video The human race is the way it is because we are mortal beings. We know we have a shelf life and we want to finish all our humanly possible achievements within our lifetimes. Since our existence is finite, we yearn to immortalise it via discoveries and inventions. Our zest to explore the world we are born into pushes us to yonder to foreign shores and new frontiers.  Without the fear of death, we would probably be fat blobs, uninitiated to pursue any endeavours. Everything would seem purposeless. Relationships are meaningless as there is nothing to expect anymore. We know what happens and how it will end. The diseases that we will get will give us the pain of illnesses but not relief from the distress. We will regress to our primal state; engaging in purposeless activities with impunity, knowing that nothing awaits us at the end. The seven deadly sins of Man will have a field day. With the fear of death and hope of a comf...