There was once a time, a few years ago, there was a spate when many of my relatives had given up on their motherland, turned their back on Malaysia and started looking around for greener pastures. I wondered how Mother Malaysia would feel to see one by one, her children, after years of nurturing them, after growing so big and strong, feel compelled to fly away from their roost. Like a proud mother seeing her kids having a mind of their own, she must be immersed in a kind of bitter-sweet feeling.
Like a flight of swallows, you came all stocks and barrels, from Swatow, from Coimbatore, Looking for a peace of mind, you scaled the high seas and brine.
You were hungry, I fed your soul, you had shivers, I showed you warmth. you were homeless, I gave you home. you were stateless, I was your hope.
Under the yellow umbrella, and a piece of cloth, you had dignity, camaraderie, integrity. a history, a legacy, an emblem, an anthem. The colours to spill your crimson.
Now that you have wings, you can expand your span, once an ugly duckling, majestically now a swan, I remain your dodo, Flightless, lifeless, brainless, valueless, And cared less.
I am not up to your mark not up to your spark, no path to walk. you want to fly, to reach high up in the sky. you peacocked to new horizons, no future, you cite as reasons, you curse me, you betray me still, I don't call it treason.
A summer love, a puppy love, the morning after, the hangover, a one night stand, a nightmare to be got over?
I have my desires too, To progress like the red dot, And shine like the rising sun too. Not just a chicken feed to the rot. I stay regal, guarding, patient, majestic, hawking over the nest providing a haven for the crows and the rest.
My wife thinks that I am nuts, listening to sad songs. No, I tell her. I am not into an exercise of self-pity or melancholy porn. It is just that, like Elton John said, sad songs say so much. I am in for the philosophy.
Nietzsche suggested that we all need tragedy in our life, or at least in its art form. Like a Greek tragedy where the two opposing forces, the 'Apollonian' and the 'Dionysian', get intertwined to create art, life is no different. We are brought down from our high chair to the ground by Nature to make us realise of our vulnerabilities by infusing sadness into our lives.
Tamil songs just got it right, to infuse intricate facts of life to its audiences when a character is facing obstacles of life. Its messages are immortalised via its many evergreen songs. 'Padaithane' (He Created) from 1962 hit 'Nitchaya Thamboolam' (a ritual of exchanging trays with gifts to mark mutual consent for marriage). Sivaji Ganesan, in his usual histrionic antic, some would call it over-acting, plays out the plight of a newly wedded man who suspects that he have been wronged by his wife. The wife, who had turned his life around, from being a loafer to a responsible householder, all the while had been two-timing him. Of course, in keeping with the pristine image of a chaste Indian wife, all this is not true.
In the song sequence, the character thinks aloud his predicament. He blames God for the emotional turmoil that he is encountering. He tries to make sense of His intricate game called life. He talks (sings) of Man's evolution from Ape to Homo Sapiens and how their simple lives became complicated with new found bonds and relationships. He questions the purpose of our existence, our life chained by familial piety and desires. It is amazing how we, with our simple minds, have to deal with so many problems. Worst of all, we sometimes forget our mistakes just to repeat them again.
The cinematographic technique employed for this particular song (music video) was described as avant-garte. It tried to employ American noir technique to bring out the dark hidden agenda of existentialism. The tall beams of light, long shadows and lighted pillars against an intensely dark background are pathognomonic of a noir movie.
A feeble attempt at translation...
He created, God created Man. (the singer is playing tricks with us. He modulates his voice to make it sound as if it can also be heard as 'why He created'?!) He made us grow, Grew misery in our hearts. He gave us, He gave us forgetfulness. He separated, Separated mind and sorrow. When Man was Ape, there was no turmoil in his mind. family, wife, siblings, groups were none, falling into trap of desire, compassion and love, cannot have peace of mind. Wandering, suffering, struggling, shrivelling, Is not giving any benefit to anyone. When one is born alone, there is no disturbance. When he joins another soul, there is always trouble. In Man's small head, so much burden. It starts at 20 and till 70, there is always dizziness (confusion).
Man, at the spring of his youth, raging with hormones and the spirit of freedom, plunges head-on to experience the pleasures of his senses. At this time, his heart rules, rather than his head. He follows blindly like a zombie, not thinking but mere as a reflex to the stimuli around him.
This is a one-way ticket which traps him into a slippery web of bonds, clutching tentacles and emotional baggage. By the time, he realises his position, he is ankle-deep rooted in the quicksand of hopelessness. Too many commitments, too many society-imposed dos and do nots. He can always turn around and leave it all and the only person that matter is himself and the only important thing is his emotional wellbeing. It is not easy. Even if he decides to cut off the umbilical cord of attachment, he is bound to repeat the whole debacle. He forgets and is blinded by his primal needs.
He can blame all his misdoings and misjudgements on God's misdeeds as heard in this song. Alternatively, he can say that only the good things in life are of God's greatness but all its follies only man's wrong moves. He may say that it is all part of the Divine master plan and He is just testing our faith.
N.B. Apollo is the Greek god of light and reason. Nietzsche identifies the Apollonian as a life- and form-giving force, characterised by measured restraint and detachment, which reinforces a strong sense of self. Dionysus is the Greek god of wine and music, and Nietzsche identifies the Dionysian as a frenzy of self-forgetting in which the self gives way to a primal unity where individuals are at one with others and with nature. Both the Apollonian and the Dionysian are necessary in the creation of art. Without the Apollonian, the Dionysian lacks the form and structure to make a coherent piece of art, and without the Dionysian, the Apollonian lacks the necessary vitality and passion. Although they are diametrically opposed, they are also intimately intertwined. http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/nietzsche/section1.rhtml
Eureka (ユリイカ Yuriika,Japanese; 2000)
It is an extremely long and draggy 3-hour long melancholic drama of what may happen to survivors of a potentially life-threatening ordeal. Most people would just push their bitter experiences aside and move on with life. Some may blank off that unsavoury incident and live in denial. A small group of people would be suspended in time and would relive the moment in their minds.
Eureka is a Japanese movie set in rural Japan. It is done completely in sepia tone, save for last one minute as if to denote closure to the previous black episode.
A bus is jacked. In the ensuing showdown with the police, the bus jackers, a policeman and some passengers perished. The only survivors are Sawai, the bus driver, and a pair of siblings (brother Naoki and sister Kozue Tamara).
Sawai was used by the hijacker as a human shield before sharpshooter gunned him down. This gruesome blood bath proved too much for the three survivors.
Sawai becomes a recluse. He goes missing for two years, travelling aimlessly. His wife leaves him. The children become withdrawn, refusing to speak, socialise and even go to school as rumours started flying about sexual assault during the jacking. Marital disharmony ensues and mother walks out on the father. Father finds solace in the bottle and dies in a fatal road traffic accident. The children, Naoki and Kozue, stay alone in their family home.
Meanwhile, Sawai returns home to his brother’s house. Incidentally, many young ladies are killed and Sawai is suspected as a potential killer. Feeling uneasy, Sawai leaves his brother’s house to stay with the Tamara kids. Slowly, they start the process of healing as they travel around the island.
The million dollar question that lingers on everyone’s mind is why is so difficult for modern man to get over things. Generations before us had more difficult lives, enjoying shorter life spans and facing more frequent tragedies in their lifetimes. They also had to endure wars and cruelty of nature, yet many of them manage to swim through it with ease. Is all the mollycoddling and pampering making us weak, psychologically? Take the instance of allergies, for example. A century ago, probably nuts were never known to cause any problems for its consumers. Now, every food package is quick with a label to warn its users of potential anaphylactic reactions with its ingredients. What gives?
Thulabaram (Sacrifice, Tamil; 1968) I do not know why but I keep watching this movie over and over again over the years. Maybe because it draws me back to the time of RRF and the time that steamed with hopelessness and helplessness. At the same time, I do not agree with the melodrama and the self pity that is exhibited in full glory in this flick. So, psychoanalyse me!
This was one of the first movies that Amma took me to watch back in the days. Perhaps, she needed to reminisce her trying times of early adulthood.
Even after all these years, its songs, especially 'Kaathrinile Perum Kaathrinile' sang beautifully by K.J. Yesudass, still makes my hairs at the back of my neck stand.
This movie skyrocketed in popularity in the South that remakes were made in Tamil, Telegu and Hindi using the same main actress, Sharadha. The original film was made in Malayalam based on stage show. Sharadha went on to receive the National Film Award for that year.
Sharadha
Coming from a stronghold communist state, the story has all the hallmarks of capitalistic bashing. Bleak picture of the workers clan bullied by businessmen and crooked supposedly upholders of justice and liberty is evident here. Human values are replaced with the greed of profit and need to fatten one's wallet. In the charade of human greediness, the victims are the downtrodden working class who are not appreciated for their sacrifice but are scorned upon as an annoyance! Of course, the story takes it to the other extreme.
The story starts in a court-room. Vijaya (Sharadha) is in the dock for mercilessly poisoning her three kids. Keeping mum, the Public Prosecutor,Vatsala, (the ever beautiful Indian ex-stewardess turned actress and turned priestess, Kanjana) has an easy time proving her case. Vijaya is defended by a bumbling lawyer, Samanthan (the ever versatile TS Ballaiah) and his crook of a secretary (Nagesh).
As the case almost comes to an end, Vijaya finally breaks her silence. She narrates her side of the story. And the credits roll in as we are transported to a time when Vatsala and Vijaya are easy going bharathanatyam dancing university students pursuing BA.
Vatsala's father is a crooked lawyer (TS Balliah) who is not very bright but strikes rich with his client's ignorance and naivety. His assistant, Nagesh, uses his position to con the gullible for a little tips here and there. Looks like between of these Brahmins, they try to outdo each other in getting bribes! Their antics on-screen are great to watch. (A bashing of the upper caste of society)
Vijaya's father (Major Sunderajan) had seen better times. A disciplinarian and a stickler to time, order and natural justice, he had helped his relatives just to be left in a lurch with a lawsuit on his property and his factory for ownership. Hold behold his lawyer is the incompetent Samanthan!
Tragedy strikes when Vijaya's father loses his case and is thrown out his own house. Left as a pauper with no means to support himself and his daughter and shunned by friends and relatives, the trauma proved too heavy on his ailing heart. He succumbs to a massive heart attack. The only loyal worker who stood by Vijaya and her father is Ramu (the melodrama king of tragedy, AVM Rajan).
As the cash kitty gets smaller and the hostility of the Indian environment on seeing a helpless innocent young pretty girl proved too much, Ramu brings Vijaya to stay in his ramshackle hut of a factory worker. Ramu's household personifies the epitome of melancholia with bare necessities and a ever complaining mother who openly expresses her discontent of life and she imagines a comfortable life with her daughter and husband, which never materialises.
Back in university, Vijaya was chased around by a fun loving jovial fellow student, Muthuraman. Seeing her hopeless states of affairs in Vijaya, her beau decides to confess that their relationship was based on friendship love, not the lover's kind!
Left hanging on a thread, Vijaya takes the bold step to nosedive into the web of poverty, to marry the sad faced Ramu. They had bliss in their humble abode. Testimony of their happiness were the three kids and the song which showcases the joy of celebration in a poor man's home.' " Come ponggal or diwali, there are only tears in our home...!" How more pathetic can you sound?
As if not enough, tragedy strikes yet again. Due to management-workers' dispute, the factory is closed indefinitely and Ramu and his co-worker are left to starve. Union disputes becomes intense and Ramu is finally knifed down, leaving Vijaya and the kids hungry and penniless. If fate is cruel, the society is also unkind. Relatives and neighbours soon start hurling various unsavoury accusation against this young widow. Hunger drives the children to beg, enraging Vijaya. Soon they start to steal food. All these proved too much for someone who at one time had her future all paved ahead of her. She opts for mass suicide. Unfortunately, she survives and is put on the dock.... The storyteller tries to justify the protagonist's actions and inactions to the cruelty of society and fate. She does not admonish the lack of her initiative to uproot herself from misery but instead look for self pity. Perhaps if we had walked a mile in their shoes..
A timeless classic with melodious melodies to match the path of nostalgia. A reminder though...
Now, if only the children knew a soup kitchen they could go to....
Where a local bookstore thought Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species' should be placed? In the fiction section!
It sometimes becomes more and more perplexing when you start asking questions about life. One question will lead to another and pretty soon you will caught in a dreaded dead end with only more questions encircling your head.
You ask yourself, if man evolved from apes, why are there still apes around? Wouldn't the apes and other primates have an innate desire at their DNA level to climb the stairway of evolution? Is it not the basic teaching of survival to forever improve oneself? For example, when the first generation discovers or invents something after so many generations of living in the dark about the subject matter, the second and subsequent generations learnt it so easily and improve it swiftly to take to great heights.
Just about 40 years ago, a hand held device to communicate face to face appeared fictional and is labelled 'Star Trek' technology. For the first practical computer to be invented, it took forever. Once a breakthrough was made, suddenly one by one everything falls in place. The same device for keeping time, to communicate though audio and visual means, to track one's speed and pace with GPS, to check facts literally at the tip of one's finger and to earn a living! In the lower order animal kingdom, there have been anecdotal reports of insects of one gender developing gonads of the other within the same generation just because they were at brink of extinction. Why is that some group of people just stay the same, generation after generation, singing the same song of melancholy and hopelessness? (பஞ்சகோலம்)
At the same time, you cannot understand why some living animals have been downgraded in their evolutionary chain, if indeed true. The once fearsome ferocious sabre carnivorous tooth tiger of the feline ancestors has now evolved to become a domesticated omnivorous toothless cat roaming around our homes, harmless and in fact fearful of us! Of course, it could be natural selection after adverse living conditions on planet Earth.
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