A 12 year old, my stepmum?

Moondru Mudichu (3 Knots, Tamil; 1976)

Before fame and ego took over the best of them, Kamalhasan and Rajnikanth used to act together in many memorable films. Of hand, comes to mind are Avargal, Aval Appadithaan and Apoorva Raagangal.

Sridevi's debut as heroine at the age of 12+
Child abuse or what?

In that vein, Moondru Mudichi showcases sterling performances by this duo and another talented actress from the south, Sridevi, a debutante then as a heroine at the age of 12+ (born 1963).

Kamalhasan and Rajnikanth are soul mates and roommates. Kamalhasan falls in love with a college student Sridevi, but the chain-smoking devious Rajni has both his eyes fixated on the lass and has no qualms expressing his desires to her behind his back.

During a boat outing, Rajni lets Kamal drown after he fell overboard in full view of Sridevi. During police interrogation, he denies knowing to swim although he was a strong swimmer.
Disappointed, she leaves town to work as a nanny to a widower with kids. As fate has it in a typical Tamil movie, Rajni is the eldest son of the widower. Rajni tries to woo Sridevi again. As revenge, Sridevi marries his father and becomes Rajni's stepmother. Rajni gives an outstanding performance as a mean chain smoking villain complete with his trademark cigarette tricks. Tit for tat continues further with the arrival of a girl whom Rajni impregnated and absconded.
Smelling a rat, his father stages a near drowning scenario, and one thing leads to another, and everything is sorted out.

As usual K. Balachander who is known to belt out stories with extraordinary socially awkward themes and he does the same here. Rarely you see a lover turning to be a stepmother! Indeed Rajni came out tops here with his meatier and challenging role. The film was shot in black and white as the director felt it brings out the artistic sense of a story!

An excellent nostalgic flick that brings old memories of RRF as the songs from this movie used to be heard over the airwaves quite so often, no thanks to Iyer of Block D! We also had a radio cartridge player with this song in our family car Austin Mini. We heard this song, again and again, all the way to Kuala Lumpur in 1977.

https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson

Whatever happened to gentleman's golden handshake?

Someone just told me the other day that in case of accident, even if it is due to your own fault, never admit it when making a report afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed, arrange for a confession later or whatever you do, tell that there was a motorcyclist or pedestrian you had to avoid but was not in a correct state of mind to to jot the vehicle number. Failing to do so will find yourself in embarrassing situation of having your insurance claims rejected. So much for standing for the truth and the truth will prevail against all odds or that God protects the side of the truth. Now money talks.
A generation ago, a mark of a true gentleman is one who sticks by his words. A simple handshake or smoking of a peace pipe would seal an agreement. The word of a person from a civilised society is held in highest esteem as compared to someone who is a loafer, a blue collared or a native from the colonies.
Gone are those days. Words are just that, words, a jumble of alphabets to express one's wishes. The intent however can be different or differ according to circumstances. Things become more complex when the long arm of the law comes into the picture.A case that came to mind is the mix-up at a prominent fertility centre. The error was discovered by the clinicians and was duly informed to the affected parties who did not want to hear any of their explanation. The next thing the centre heard was a lawyer's notice, suspension of their practising licence and a fat fine.
Even at world level football scenario, a handshake at the end of a game which used to end all disagreements and anger at heights of the passion of game has no value any more. Thanks to the press who like to create a mountain out of a mole hill to spruce up their sales and have no material to write on, the flame of discontent is fanned almost after any small incident on the field and in the dressing room!

http://doctors.com.sg/medical/healthcare-news/singapore-mother-sues-thomson-fertility-centre-over-ivf-mix-up/

The 9 Avatars of Vishnu

http://www.hindu-blog.com/2007/06/ten-incarnations-of-lord-vishnu-in.html

The ten incarnations or ‘Dasa Avatara’ of Lord Vishnu is an extraordinary recording of the evolution of human life and advance in human civilization. In Hindu religion, the three main deities are Lord Brahma, Vishu and Shiva. Brahma creates, Vishnu protects and Shiva destroys - three faces of Mother Nature. Lord Vishnu descends on Earth to uphold dharma and to cleanse the Earth of evil. So far, Lord Vishnu has appeared nine times on Earth and the tenth, kalki, is expected.
The sequence of appearance of Lord Vishnu on Earth is in tune with the evolutionary theory. In fact, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu is an amazing recording of the advancement of human civilization. All this was recorded by Hindu sages thousands of years before Christ.
The first incarnation or avatar of Lord Vishnu was in the form of a fish and is known as ‘Matsya Avatar.’ It has now been confirmed by Science through various experiments that the first life forms evolved underwater.

Matsya Avatar

The second incarnation of Lord Vishnu was in the form of a tortoise known as ‘Kurma Avatar.’ Tortoise is an amphibious creature capable of living both on land and in water and it indicates the moving of life form from underwater to surface of Earth.

Kurma Avatar

The third incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the boar known as ‘Varaha Avatar’. Boar is a complete land animal and in this incarnation, life form has moved out of water and has adapted to land.

Varaha Avatar

The fourth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the half-man half-animal form known as ‘Narasimha Avatar.’ This incarnation starts the transformation from animal to human form.

Narasimha Avatar

The fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the dwarf or pigmy sized human being known as the ‘Vamana avatar.’ A transition from the beastly form to human form and the development of intelligence.

Vamana Avatar

The sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is the forest dweller known as ‘Parasuram.’ He has developed weapons and axe is his first weapon. Any sharp stone can be transformed into an axe and it also indicates the first settlement of humans in forests.

Parasuram

The seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu is Lord Ram. He is civilized and has developed more superior weapons like the bow and arrows. He has cleared the forests and developed small communities or villages. He is very vigilant and protects his villages and people.

Ram

The eight incarnation of Lord Vishnu is Lord Balarama. He is portrayed with the plough – the beginning of full-fledged cultivation. Human civilization has developed agriculture and is no longer depended on meat and forest for food. The beginning of agrarian economy.

Balarama

The ninth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is Krishna. He represents the advancing human civilization. He is associated with cows, the beginning of domestication of animals and development of economy, which continues to the present day.

Krishna

The tenth incarnation of Lord Vishnu is Kalki and is yet to arrive. He is believed to ride on a swift horse Devadatha and destroy the world. A clear indication that human beings will bring an end to life on earth. The numerous natural calamities created by human beings and the numerous nuclear weapons stored illustrates this.

Kalki - Before Armageddon?
Horseback again? 666?

After complete annihilation, Lord Vishnu alone floats on a pipal life - perhaps the last remaining life form. Thousands of years after the complete annihilation, life will begin again in water.

N.B. My friend, as they always say, religion is but with symbolism. We should not interpret it literally at face value but at its essence. The pitfall is that we may always conveniently choose the part that just suits us nicely. An example would be a polygamous philandering blue bearded Alpha Male may justify his companionship may relate the various Gods with more than one consort!

Hamba kecek Kelante!

Bunohan (2011, Malay)

Dain Said, Director.

After hearing many rave reviews again and again about this Malaysian movie, produced by Universal Studios, I decided to give it a peek. It was a film done spoken completely in Kelantanese Malay and shot in Kelantan Thai border where beliefs of mysticism and spirits of the land is rife. This piece of nobody's land is a waste land where nothing much is happening. People cross the border at their whim and every guy looks like a bad dude. In fact there were no ladies at all in this movie except for an apparition of the protagonist's dead mother later in the movie.
One have to digest the whole movie in order to understand the flow of the story which appeared disjointed initially where everybody is fighting and is being killed ruthlessly.

It starts with Adil, a Muay Thai boxer, absconding from a fight, with his buddies after he injures his Thai opponent early on the fight (which he was not supposed to).
Meanwhile Ilham, a hired assassin, is summoned by the Thais to track Adil down and he lands in Bunohan, the village he grew up. He discovers that his mother's grave had been shifted unceremoniously. He is sidetracked to place his mother's remains at the rightful place.
Adil's father, a wayang kulit puppeteer (dalang) is visited by his eldest son, Bakar, under the pretext of caring for his ailing father. His ulterior motive is take over the ancestral land to sell it off. Things gets complicated when he discovers that his father holds steadfast to the promise he had made to Adil's mother to pass the land to Adil. Adil is soon revealed to be a illegitimate child to the puppet master. Ilham is the dalang's first wife's son who left Bunohan after the death of his mother.
As Ilham thinks twice of killing his sibling, his Thai masters decided to terminate his services and his life. Adil engages in another Muay Thai encounter, wins the fight but is poisoned and dies. The old man is also killed to ease the business transaction. The plot of land is soon sold and development is about to take place.
At one look, the story may not seem much. The plus point for this movie is artistic approach of storytelling. The cinematography is breathtaking making me wonder at splendour of our country. Of course, CGI helped to enhance the beauty of landscape and skyline.
The completely Kelantanese dialect used throughout the movie brought me memories of those two trying lonely years in Kubang Kerian. The idea of using this lingo, in my opinion, makes it more interesting and believable. The politicians may not be so happy looking at the lawlessness of this part of the country. Well, in any part of the world, be it US or China, parts of the border is indeed no-mans-land and a badland. 
The film has its followers in the independent film makers' circles and has enriched itself with many nods, mentions and awards.

N.B. With the talk of multiple wives and Kelantan, I remember my Psychiatry posting ward rounds discussion with SMR. He emphasised the importance of history taking including marital and extra marital liaisons as it had bearing on mental health. Taking to consideration that most Kelantanese men and women that we saw had illustrious marital lives, we asked him what was norm. In most cultures, more than two marriages were considered excessive. In Kelantan it was 6!

Too much knowledge is a bad thing?

Danger, Professor Robinson!

The unquenchable thirst of mankind for knowledge seem insatiable. From the time of cavemen, people had always wanted to know what is on the other side - of the river, of the horizon, of the hill, of the rainbow, of the sky and so on...
There are a lot of things that man is learning every day. Some are pure theories but seem to make sense so everybody accepts it as the gospel truth - like the Theory of Evolution for example. It makes sense and man cannot dispute it, hence he accepts it, putting two and two together.Now, people in power in certain countries think they should withhold some information away from public knowledge in the name of national security and government secret. Others will cry that this abuse of power and that the public should be made available to this important information for their scrutiny.
Information is power they say, hence, people will little knowledge would think they know everything. However, if they dwell further and further into the sea of knowledge, only then would they realise that there is always an answer to a question which raises yet another question and another till there is no infinity.
In some cultures, things related to the birds and the bees are best unspoken and left in the confines of each others' imagination. Secrets of bodily pleasures and the forbidden apple is left to be discovered after a laborious ceremony with the nod of the moons and the stars with a pledge of public declaration of intent! With time, this restrictions have succumbed to liberation and 'self protection'.
Truth about the beginning of time and man as well as the future is a constant curiosity to mankind. They have brought in God into the equation to answer some of them. Although it pacifies some believers, it does not convince other naysayers. They demand proofs for this and that. The believers say that some things are better not known nor questioned. Herein also lies the dilemma whose God is the truthful One and his respective believers claim superiority.
Now, psychiatrist argue that the constant over bombardment of information confuses the young mind and stunts their mental maturity. A 26 year old man today is equivalent to a 21 year old man one generation previously, due to stunting of their mental maturation!
Now I am more confused....

Class act

Pather Pancholi (Bengali, Song of the road 1955)
Director: Satyajit Ray

In a book I am currently reading on biographies of MK Gandhi and Winston Churchill, the author says that Bengalis (at least during Gandhi's era) had a chip over their shoulders. They thought that Bengal should be the cradle of Indian civilization after producing many literary figures, including Rabindranath Tagore, who received the Nobel prize with an almost 100% literacy rate in the state.

This film is further proof of this effect, a revolutionary movie, a deviant from your typical idea of how an Indian movie would be. Done on a shoestring budget, a relatively novice cast, minus the razzmatazz of glitz of affluence, depicting utter poverty without tear-jerking melodrama, it still managed to win our hearts and won many international accolades.

Durga passing stolen guava to grand aunt 

Impressed by Nehru (then the Prime Minister), who decided to nominate it to the Cannes film festival despite its depiction of abject poverty and misery, which was not the way to depict a newly independent country. Its movie-making manner was revolutionary, straying from the mainstream film of that era. Its storytelling is not straightforward but is disjointed. Viewers have to have to make their own conclusion as the film progresses.
In jest, it illustrates the fun of carefree growing up in the 1920s of Durga and her younger brother Appu.

There is also a love-hate relationship between their mother and the father's Auntie, a scary witch-like looking hunched back old lady. I was wondering how they got such a lady to act that role. Apparently, she was a down and out ex-actress staying in a brothel!

The story depicts an everyday life of a poor Brahmin family living on the edge of a jungle. Every day is a struggle. Even the dog and the cat, who appear to be living in a symbiotic relationship with them, appear lethargic, poor-spirited with sadness in their eyes. The father, a scholarly priest, survives by writing accounts and performing religious rituals for others.

As fish is a staple diet of the inhabitants of the Bay of Bengal, where the priest also consumes fish.
The film was shot when life was simple, greenery was lush, childhood was carefree, the highlight of the day was watching the daily mail train pass by and playing in the rain was fun!

 
This film is not by any standard a usual fare. The story is told in a patchy manner for viewers to grasp the essence of the story. The scene of a food vendor coming to the little village and typical nighttime in the household under the light from an oil lamp is memorable.

Leaving the curse of the ancestral home

The story sort of climaxes when the father goes on a long errand out of town. This brings some hardship to the family - Durga falls sick, the economic situation becomes worse supported by a rich neighbour and her family with whom they earlier had a tiff over stolen guavas and unsettled debts, and a storm hits the shabby shack which they call home.

After months, the father returns with gifts for the family, including a saree for Durga, only to find that Durga succumbed to her illness. The family decides to move to Benares lock, stock and barrel for a better life. Symbolically, a snake moves into their ancestral as the family heads to Benares. A class above the rest!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF7TlxUUFsA

N.B. The director Satyajit Ray is held in high esteem by the film fraternity. Having been honoured many times, including a doctorate from Oxford, he received an honorary Oscar just before his death in 1992. The legendary director Akira Kurosawa quipped, "Not to have seen the cinema of Ray means existing in the world without seeing the sun or the moon."

Run for .... myself!

Like a goose forced fed for the liver to prepare foie gras or like a wharf labourer diet, the preceding days before the full marathon was high carbohydrate intake to build up the glycogen storage. Our parents educated us as not to end up as labourers but we have end up eating like them at least before a run! This would mark the lull period after 6 months of intensive training which was sometimes ridiculed by non runners. Remarks like "you know mortality during marathon is a concern, you know", "I offer my services to anaesthetise you when you undergo total knee replacement", " you are trying to act like a young chap", "midlife crisis" were hurled left, right and centre all the time and seem like the only thing coming out from the orifices of naysayers.
After setting out the regalia of armamentarium the night before, I hardly could catch any sleep. The sheeep just kept jumping over the fence and they just kept on coming and coming. With so much of adrenalin floating around, sleep was so elusive. I could sense myself slipping into superficial sleep but that was it, no Stage IV or REM sleep. Firecrackers also went off as it was the Chang festival. All in all, I only caught an hour's snooze!Again, in the fourth year in succession, I was gathered with running junkies, at a time when most 'normal' KLites were asleep, at the ever familiar Merdeka square, from P. Ramlee's 'Labu dan Labi' to Bersih 3.0 gathering. This time around my partner in crime (SK) decided to be deflowered as a 'Full Marathon Virgin'.
The threat of haze looming over the skies, which was a great concern one week before the race, thankfully it kind of cleared off after the recent light showers.
The starting gun for the full marathon was fired at sharp 4.30am to the start of a long journey for an estimated 1,100 FM runners. The temperature was moderate by Malaysian standards - 23 degrees Celsius but slightly humid. From Merdeka Square, we ran along Jln Travers pass the Old Railway Station to Brickfields and then to the Federal Highway. From the onset, I planned to set my pace at 7min/km so as to complete the race at 5 hours. With the adrenaline rush and the energy of the other runners seem so infectious that I actually went at around 6.20 to 6.30!
As we were sliding down towards the Sg Besi airport, God showered his blessings in a light misty rain and a zephyr to cool the soon to be weary bodies. Apparently, He had cool the roads further earlier as the roads appeared wet (but not too wet and slippery).
The journey continued to Dewan Bahasa Pustaka and Jln Cheras. The organisation and crowd control were excellent this time around as the organizers had deployed many helping hands and reserve police units. Kudos. The water stations, I felt was too many. Many runners avoided many stations.
I took my first power gel at 12km mark.
The sun was kind and did not show its hot face until I passed 30km mark. As the motto of the annual run was 'Run for a cause', participants displayed their creative reasons for running. Beside reasons like 'Running for Orang Asli', 'Running for Bersih 3.0', some strongly displayed their political frustrations boldly. A chap attached a placard at his back reading, 'RM20million for NFC? 1Lembu can run marathon!'. A bull head picture and a rope signifying tail was attached to this picture. A lady was attired in songket skirt and a 'kuda kepang' head gear.
From Jln Cheras, we entered Jln Tun Razak seamlessly in spite of the chaotic road repairs. Entrance to the Bukit Bintang and the financial capitalistic hub of KL marked the half marathon mark. This time around (as compared to last year's) I was strong and was able to maintain my intended pace.
The trail continued back to Jln Tun Razak, IJN and into Jln Ipoh. This is the stretch I hit the brick wall last year and was the psychological barrier I had to overcome. All the countless early morning weekend and treadmill thrashing endeavours proved its mantle. I cruised through the 30km mark into Jln Kuching. Here the restless KL motorists reared their ugly heads but we soldiered on. Then on it was the familiar territory of Bukit Tunku hills which gave us the renewed energy and vision. Near the Bank Negara area, we were caught in a bottleneck with obviously McDonald fed Y-generations hogging the road engaging in talks on how far they had run with their colleagues, also walking at snail's pace.
By this time, my mojo was dwindling and my pace was taking its toll but still managed to hit the finish line in 4h57m13s. Mission accomplished - a sub-5 full marathon.
SK - 4h45m28s! Jack another accomplice did his Half in 1h57m!Raj DNS due to a bug.
http://runkeeper.com/user/asokan63/activity/97195755

Happy faces -SK, FG and Taufik Mghazali (FB friend)