RIFLE RANGE BOY

420 IPC (Hindi; 2021) Director: Manish Gupta So that is how it is. Everybody claims to be adhering to the rule of law. For a simpleton like me, that sounds like sound advice. The law is there to protect the little people against the tyranny of the deep-pocketed. I was nurtured to believe that the Truth will always prevail in the end. Lady Justice is supposedly blind to coercion, they say. As I grew older, I realised that all these are just bunkum.  The people who frequently invoke the phrases 'rule of law' and 'by the book' do not mean what they say. What they actually mean is that they have masterminded the nooks, corners and loopholes in the legal system that they can literally get away with murder. They can legitimately proclaim that they can legally needle themselves away from being caught in a comprising position. They have got all their sides, frontal and posterior, all concealed. When and if ever they are queried, they have the fortitude to use the same law used ...

We carry the burdens of our ancestors. At least, that is my understanding of how life works. In my simple mind, we suffer for the mistakes of our ancestors and the misdeeds or inaction of the past leaders. Conversely, we prosper and enjoy the reason for our existence from their farsightedness. I was taught to believe, as the picture of life painted by my mother as I was exposed to the lessons in life, that when we do 'good things', we will be rewarded in due time. Somewhere somehow our good deeds will be returned, directly or indirectly. Then I discovered that you do 'good things' because it is the only humane thing to do. Later came the talk of karma and its nuances of how 'evil' actions, like Newton's Law, has a correspondingly counter re-action which may affect your descendants. Now, these people tell me that every person is an island. Everyone is responsible for his own actions or inactions and his 'soul' has to answer for it in this life o...

Jolly BA, LLB 2 (2017) Is it not scary or what? Here I am heading to Lucknow for a literary festival, and on the plane, I randomly chose a film to watch. And the movie I decide to view is set in Lucknow, of all the places in India. Is it mere coincidence? Is it synchronicity, the higher powers over me having a quiet chuckle at my expense? Is it trying to show who the boss is? Or am I having a delusion of grandiose that the world revolves around me and for me? Daunting or am I just creating an issue out of nothing? A mountain out of a molehill or cherry-picking what suits me and cry "Boo!"  This Akshay Kumar movie, which is the second offering after the excellent run of Jolly LLB. Sadly, the sequel does not live up to the standards of the former. It fails to impress in the humour department, and the story is pathetically predictable. Jolly is a junior lawyer in an established law firm. He has not shown his mettle and is often looked down upon by his boss, partl...

*Terms and conditions apply! The newest battle cry screams 'Black Lives Matter'. Of course, it is the only politically correct thing to say, that all lives are precious, irrespective of race, colour and class. Nice on paper, nice to hear but not in practice. It is an undeniable fact that some lives matter more than others. Rather than thinking that race, colour and creed are determining factors on who should live and who should just bite the bullet and disappear, I would like to think that money is the common denominator that saves everybody's skin in the end. In this time and age, the dictum 'Health is Wealth' no longer holds water. It should be rewritten as ' Wealth assures good Health'. As the cost of medical services snowballs by leaps and bounds, governments and health providers are running to cut cost. Even though the world has the technological know-how or at least have access to some experimental techniques to treat some potentially fatal il...

It is never 'all-or-none' rule. Above all show compassion, they say. These statements would flash scenes of border patrol officers, with batons in the hands or rifle pointing at the invaders, women or children. Then, of recent, close to us, distance wise, of a voluntary police personnel giving an earful to a shade-seeker from the torrential rain at a mosque for apparently not dressed appropriately for the occasion (of seeking shade at a house of worship). True, above all common sense should prevail and one of most revered human gift is compassion. True that World War 3 was averted in 1962 when a Russian officer decided to listen to his heart than to act on a faulty signal to start the sequence to activate the Russian nuclear head. Also true that ill-intended individuals are using this soft spot to cheat, smuggle and rob people blind. True, people who act as watchdogs should not be masters themselves but be obedient servants to stand in the line of fire and go as much as to ...

The Greeks say that a true Stoic sage would not crack under pressure. He would take all the curve balls that life hurls at him at the same stride as he embraces joy. He would find happiness in the simplest of things in life and would not gloat of others’ misgivings or be envious of others’ successes. He knows that everyday accomplishment has its weak points and every underachievement its merit! King Rama must have slipped into this role, a true Stoic sage, quite well. Imagine the tragedies that bemoaned upon him. He, however, continued performing his various duties, as a ruler, a son, a crowd pleaser without losing focus. Perhaps, the priorities of being an exemplary husband or a doting father did not fall into his dictionary. After waiting so many years in line for the realm, just when the ascent to the throne is imminent, he had to take a back seat and retreat into the jungle for 14 years. That too, because of some nonsensical promise made by his father.  Imagine an exile i...

See the haughty lady who is pleased with the judgement of  splitting the baby to appease both parties. Of course, the wise  one used it as a test to look for both mothers' body language. The turn of events of late reminded me of a story narrated in my early childhood. I was a toddler when puthu atteh was renting a room in our house. It was a routine for us to pester her every evening with yet another story. She had a penchant for telling folk tales in such an exciting manner. I must have seen such a pain, as I remember, asking many smart-alec questions. After all, it was all just fairy and folk tales. The tale that comes to mind is the one regarding two women fighting over a single baby, and the learned King had to pass judgment.  Of course, this story had been told in many traditions. In Tamil mythology, King Pandiyan of the Chola Kingdom was the judge; King Solomon presided in the Biblical version.  I am sure there must be similar versions elsewhere i...

Over the last weekend, the family was deeply engaged in a debate on the appropriateness of a video clipping that went viral on the cyberspace. A thick in the middle kind of a middle aged man was filmed on a handphone whilst a girl, who may be the victim, went on a rampage accusing him of outraging her modesty while seated in a flight. He had apparently touched her after slipping his hands through the space between the seats. The debate was whether what the victim did was right or the accused deserved such a shaming. The victim who is from the generation who wishes that their mobile devices were attached to their body had the clarity of mind to record the whole event soon after the said crime was committed. She raised an alarm and drew fellow plane passengers to her seat as she started confronting the perpetrator with artillery of piercing questions. The accused on the receiving end sat slouched in shame covering his face. There is a second clip where the accused is in better spiri...

American Sniper (2014) Produced and Directed by: Clint Eastwood Normally I do not fancy American military propaganda films but decided to give a go as it was directed by Dirty Harry himself. The academy also plays an important role of stirring national pride and international justifications by nominating these films in loads of categories. This particular movie was no different except that if you notice carefully, the story kind of mocks the double standards of Americans practise in dealing with international affairs. When children all over the occupied territories are wailing day and night with hunger, homelessness and loss of piece of mind, the protagonist gets all riled up when his crying neonate is not attended to by the nurses in the nursery. Just because of a piece of cloth and ideologies that supposedly save mankind but does not mean a thing to the man on the street, young men go to zones that they are not familiar with and probably not heard of before in their entire live...

Law: Freedom trap? Heard over the weekend, a public forum, in the ambience of a multi-storey departmental, the epitome of the success of capitalism, of a topic highlighting things that mattered to the lowly common folks of the country- the law and whether it was the best thing available for the common man on the street. The forum forms part of the series of BFM Night School's outdoor activity, bringing intellectual and philosophical discussions to the masses. With the advent and selective use of law by leaders, of late, to subdue their political opponents and even curb the supposed freedom of his subjects, this topic appears more relevant than ever, today. Whenever common sense fail to rule, the long arm of the law is conveniently invoked to scare the living daylights of its victim (lay people). The law sometimes seem not accessible to the common man as compared to people in power. Law seem to take more time than the process of governing the country. Even though avenues are avai...

Now how often have we heard people sitting high up and looking down saying, "yeah but they is the real way of doing it! They are not doing it right. There are specific ways of doing it. The Truth is all there in the scriptures!" Yes and yet no religion is not guilty of it. The animals are supposed to be respected and are said to be also creations of the Almighty but the way they are abused, culled and hunted, it appears like their sole purpose of existence is to be eaten, hunted and be bullied. They say that their religious way of justice is God sent and is cast on stone. If you look around, their justice is made to look so disconnected from the train of thought of contemporary man. If you do not have a living example to follow, how can you proclaim that your system is the best. We need a sign. We need a living proof of superiority of the merchandise that you are trying to sell us! Your religious leaders allow atrocities to be carried out on fellow citizens. Yet they adv...

Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) This is usually categorised as the first of many movies which were shot in a particular techniques involving a lot of shadows, narrating stories which are dark with a low budget production copying German and French cinematography. In hindsight, it was called 'film noir' and boasts of many groundbreaking new cinematography then. RKO Radio Pictures has the bragging rights of producing many such films. The irony of this movie is that the main actor associated it only speaks in the last 10 minutes of the show! It is Peter Lorre, the guy who gained international recognition through Fritz Lang's 1931 movie 'M'. He, like the many Jews who were victims of witch hunt of the Nazi regime in the late 30s migrated lock, stock and barrel to flourish Hollywood's Tinseltown. Reporter Michael Ward has his future all set. He has a lovely girl, Jane, who is all excited that he has a promotion and is a star witness in a murder trial. He can...

Judgement at Nuremberg (1961) As our country comes to a crossroad, and many uncertainties have to be thrashed out so that history would not judge us in a bad light, it is always good to look back at history. Even though inevitable, we do not to want history to repeat itself. Many of the dialogues in this film cut through incisively like a knife. The topics argued here about race and masterly inactivity by the people in authority are relevant today as it were 80 years ago. It is worth a watch, albeit its 3 hour speech filled presentation. This film narrates the military trial in Nuremberg of 4 civilians who served in Nazi Germany. The accused are Emil Hahn (prosecutor), Frederich Hoffstetter, Warren Lemmpe and Ernst Janning (a reputable authority in law and Minister of Law, acted brilliantly by Burt Lancaster.) The trial is presided by a tribunal panel of 3 where the head is Judge Harewood (Spencer Tracy). He is actually given the job as nobody else wanted it and was just a small t...

If there were a God, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity  as to be offended by those who doubt  his existence. And He would not like to be apple polished all the time! Imagine your children singing praises of you every time they think of you. Annoying, right? "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell That is the trouble, is it not? People are so cocksure that certain things must done in a certain way and insists that others follow suit or malady may befall upon them. And the naysayers do not have the courage to support themselves steady on their vertebrae to oppose such views as they themselves are not cocksure about their convictions or is it because they are wiser but do not want to offend? At the end of the day, the louder, the mightier and the vocally gifted would rule the world. The real truth would lay dormant, pacifying the feeble into submi...

Make yourself at home Remember the time in history when the first merchant ship landed in Surat and the year 1509 when Lopez de Sequeira landed on our shores with gifts and praises. The locals bent over backwards, as the local culture dictates, to please the guests and make them comfortable and feel welcome. The guests, fondly referred to as 'Benggali Putih', did not fulfil their part of the bargain of being a gracious visitor but instead became their masters. Life, as the locals knew it, was never the same. Here comes trouble! Fast forward 5 centuries later, the whole country is excited that the most powerful man on the world with the official authority to annihilate the whole world with a press of a button decided to grace his presence in this land. Media has gone bonkers hailing the visit as the next best thing since 1966 when his predecessor came here to signal to the Eastern Block that we were proxies of the Uncle Sam. So, keep out! And it applies to others to...

For years and years, many seemingly unimportant information are written in case notes of patients. Many apparently worthless piece of news is recorded diligently. Who actually bothers about the weight of the placenta during delivery. Many routine things are recorded faithfully at spinal level without any any grey matter involved. Even when a doctor 'clerks' your illness, at the back of his mind is to record salient features of your interview. Sometimes, he acts more like a clerk trying fulfill his duty of completing the mandatory questions and forms. Don't even bother about the nurses! By the time they retire, they would written all the Vedics scriptures a thousand times over. Why all this obsession to write? I always wondered.... And I saw how many particulars are retrospectively filled and many descriptive posterior covering documentations occur when an unfavourable outcome happens. All are done in the hope that they, the attendants, would be likely pinpointed and pena...

So you think the truth will always prevail? You tell me that justice is impartial and is always fair. Is it just me or why is it that I think that it just a farce, just created to pacify a crying child. It is never fair. Justice is blind, deaf, mute, dumb and everything in between. So, there I was, driving like a good guy, crossing the junction after ensuring that the road is clear. In fact, the cars at the T-junction waited for me to cross. Out of nowhere, comes a motorcyclist weaving through the traffic in between cars to crash directly to the side of my car. No warning, no honk, just like that, like a death wish. And there I was trying to help him out to be up on his feet. Somehow, I felt the whole accident was staged. Out of nowhere, people appeared to the site offering various services - towing, insurance claims and unwarranted less than 2cents' worth of opinions. And when, I, as a diligent citizen, made my police report, I was told that I was not totally off the hook. A...

A friend of mine once attended a surprise party where sharks were the main item, not on the menu but rather attended mainly by lawyers. He ended up being surprised as the main conversation on everybody's lip was money, money and more money - all in tune of hundreds of thousands of ringgits, at least. It also left him with a bad after taste and it was not the food... Gone are the days where the practice of law is to fight for liberty, rights, justice and all that goes with it. I just downloaded the whole Season 1 of the famed Perry Mason done in 1957. The TV series were instrumental in churning of many learned lawyers all around Malaysia (at least of the Gen X and late Baby Boomers). Later generations would have been drawn by the glitz of LA Law. By then, the fight for justice had dwindled and the so called glamour had taken over. Faithful Secretary, Della Street (Barbara Hale) Perry Mason, the series, gives you the feel good era of the yesteryears where everybody is well be...