RIFLE RANGE BOY

The Stranger (Novella by Albert Camus, 1942) Feature Film (Italian; 1967) Director: Marcello Mastroianni The last few years of his existence were not particularly pleasant. It started with diabetes which progressively affected his night vision. His occasional falls off his motorcycle, and a fracture shook his confidence. Progressively, the Penang roads appeared too hostile to his liking. He lost his independence when his children did not allow him to renew his driving and bike licences. From then on, things only went south. Two episodes of strokes later and a urinary bladder's tumour afterwards with the ensuing therapy made life more miserable. If that was not enough, the accidental falls, lacerations and worsening eyesight added to his misery and the people living around him. Many unsavoury words were hurled out of frustrations.  So, when the day of reckoning finally came, it was a relief of sorts. At least, that is how I looked at it. Released from the distresses of the mortal li...

Everybody has their own whims and fancies. We all have their idiosyncrasies. Somehow deep inside, we feel that we got to where we are because of what and how we did it. We must have done something right. That gives us the assurance that all things in life would turn out the way we want if it were done that particular way. And it would definitely turn sour if it were not done so. We all have our superstitions, and it gives us the conviction that everything will be alright if performed in such ritualistic manner. Nobody knows or can explain the sciences behind such an endeavour, but we do it anyway. What if something goes wrong? The stakes are too high to risk to engage in such a gamble. I was in the company of some friends. We had decided to finally meet up after numerous failed attempts to get together due to pressing work engagements. What better time and place to meet than at a local sports’ restaurant with a giant screen display of the week’s big English League football game. The ...

You are made to believe that the way to do it is divine. That, the effort that you put in your work is like serving God. That, you are performing the Almighty's job on Earth. You do not have to display your piety for others to see. All you have to do is to serve, everything else will take care of itself. You follow suit.  Then you realise that life cannot be all work. The people that you thought you have been sacrificing all your life for suddenly turn their back against you. They start hurling accusations of this and that. That you had been shortchanging them; that that is your job - your only job is to serve them. You, on the other hand, thought they would be eternally grateful to you for you had sacrificed everything for them in the course of your vocation. You thought yours was a calling. It, apparently, was not. It was just another job. You are just another spoke in the machinery of society that moves it forward. The tale that the people before you told were just t...

With the spate of events one after another, honouring someone in one way or another, I started thinking. Somebody sent an intercontinental Raksha Bhandhan greetings to his new found sister from another mother whilst refusing to recognise the existence of his own biological one. Another tied the band of allegiance with much disdain just for the sake so as not to break the tradition. In real life, this brother-sister duo was like snake and mongoose, eternal mortal enemies. When they met, one would look West whilst the other looked East, such were their animosity. Come to tying the string of brotherly protection in the world so hostile; they were all geared with sweets, nuts and showers of incense water to fragrance their sharing of common DNA! Same with Mothers, Fathers, Labourers, Farmers, zodiac animals in the Chinese calendar and the Hindu scriptures revered animals, the sacred cows and the divine Elephants.  The animal denoting the iconic remover of hurdles, the wise o...

Unnal Mudiyum Thambi (உன்னால் முடியும் தம்பி, You  can do it Brother, Tamil; 1988) Direction: K. Balachander A young Brahmin boy is busy chanting hymns under his breath as he walks to the temple lake to perform his daily abolitions. He sees a blind, hungry beggar struggling to pick up a piece of banana thrown for her. He can see that she is going to fall off the stairs, but he does not help her. He does not want to break his ritual. Another beggar who sees the whole scenario helps her but admonishes the boy for giving more importance to rituals than humanity. Herein lies the dilemma that plagued the adolescent for the rest of his life. One one hand, his father, is a dogmatic stickler of Vedantic scripture and a classical Indian music maestro who would rather die than to have the age-old Hindu traditions desecrated. One the other hand, the boy, Udayamurthi (Kamalhasan), can see so much social injustice around him that his father, a big man in the society, is turning a blind e...