Subtleties often overlooked

Days and Nights in the Forest (Aranyer Din Ratri, অরণ্যের দিনরাত্রি , Bengali, 1970)
Screenplay & Direction: Satyajit Ray

The interesting thing about the movie is that they story is not your usual beginning, climax and resolution. You gather the story as the film rolls on and you pick up the bits of juicy information as you go along. Like onion peel the juice bits unfold, no your typical story where there is an introduction of characters, building of crisis or suspense, climax and finally resolution. Not here, he brings out the issues, you percolate, perambulate then you realise that that is the way the society is. Things do not change overnight, then you procrastinate and move on to watch the next movie....
4 friends are off on a trip to spend some quality time in solitude in a bungalow by a forest in Bihar. I gathered that all of these friends have baggage that they have back home that they would like to put aside during this holiday. Asim (Soumitra Chaterjee, whom has acted in many of Ray's films), the leader of the pack, in some high ranking officer in an international arena but must have been sacked recently. He is the driver of the car and is quite accommodative of his other friends' antics. Seated beside the driver is the comical Shekar who is unattached to any girl and is not highly educated. He is the joker who livens the party of 4. Then there is Hari, is seem to be sleeping most of the time trying to get over the break-up with his uppity girlfriend in Calcutta over some letter. Finally, there is Sanjoy, the low earning wager whose salary supports many dependents in his family. Of course, the story does not make the difference in their socioeconomic status so apparent. The friends do not treat each other in any different.

Hari, Asim, Sanjoy, Sekhar

In the course of the film, you would notice the great divide between the haves/educated and the have-not/less, not educated. The way our friends talk to others of lower is embarrassingly apparent. The condescending and rough tone spoken to them is crystal clear even to someone untrained in the intonation of the Bengali language like me! Later in the movie, we also see how no body bothers about the caretaker's wife who is allegedly very sick.
They land at a forest bungalow where strict instructions are placed at the entrance on need to prior permission before staying in the bungalows. Asim, using his subtle strong arm tactics, that he is so and so in Calcutta manage to grease the palms of the helpless caretaker with his sickly wife. And they cheekily tell themselves, "What the country can do without corruption!"
They laze around in the rest house, sleeping, talking nature walks and visits to the local liquor den to kock themselves drunk. They came in contact with the local people. The love sick Hari lays his eyes on a local vixen, Gulli (Simi Garewal). Looks like having enough with modern city girls with their demands, he find the simple village lass more to his taste.

Gulli (Simi Grewal)

The following day, our 4 heroes realise that the neighbouring bungalow was occupied by 2 ladies, a young boy and a old gentleman. The two ladies are Aparna (the lovely Sharmila Tagore again) and her sister in law Jaya, a widow with a son. The four are on a short holiday there en route to elsewhere.

Aparna (Tagore)

The occupants of two bungalows become close. When the forest officer finds out about their unannounced, this straight-by-the-book demanded of the 4 heroes to vacate, only to saved by their neighbours, again showing how rules can be bend based on patronization!
Asim and Aparna show interest in each other in their own subtle way. We discover that Aparna is a highly intellectual lady with her own skeletons in the closet. Beneath her strong exterior, she is vulnerable underneath after witnessing suicides in the family including her brother's, Jaya's husband. Jaya, the lonely widow, exposes her feelings to Sanjoy. Sanjoy, even though fascinated with her, cannot bring himself to her advances, probably because of his middle-class mindset - that she is a widow!

A day at the fair

Meanwhile, Sekhar with own weakness for gambling burns all his money in the local fair. Hari meets his lass in the fair and releases his lust on her. On his way back, a local helper whom Hari accuses of picking his wallet gets his revenge. After watching Hari's clandestine acitivity with Gulli in the jungle, he beats Hari on the head.
The time comes for everyone to leave the holiday hideout. The ladies leave - Aparna leaves her contact in Calcutta with Asim, Jaya has no hard feelings even though her love was declined - she left boiled eggs, the guys' favourite. The guys probably devoid of their worries, rejuvenated to face the real world all over again.
As usual a Ray classic, a gem, a good watch.

Wiser or going in circles?

At the beginning of last century, the period in the time of a child's life called childhood did not exist. People like Tom Sawyer did not have a time in their life that they can reminisce as childhood. Kids at that time just grew fast, learnt as much and as fast as they could and matured fast, in time when they are physically developed to perform the duties of an adult. Nobody bothered, and it was not a problem, that their tender years are not paved with love, affection, comradeship and groupies. They did not become deranged psychopaths ala Norman Bates. Even as late as the 70s, nineteen year olds were donning military fatigues and marching to war. 

In the Eastern culture, children were to seen, not heard. The children were basically void of emotions and were just growing vessels who were supposed to be grateful to be born, fed and prepared for the future. 

Then came the modern way of bringing up children. These vessels suddenly had become sensitive fragile mimosa pudicas that became everything that their parents thought they would not become. And to top it all up, they squarely blame their parents for all their failures in life even though their lives were indeed a bed of roses as compared to their parents and the generations before them. 

The Asian parents took this idol worshiping of these little Napoleons one step further. China's one child policy, put these oversized pampered brats on pedestal, dancing to their every whim and fancy. Combined with the desire for their children to outdo their neighbours' child, their life essentially became centered around their offspring. Every effort was taken to shield them from eventualities and cushion their every fall. 

After all these years, on the contrary, the Francophile way of bringing up children dictates that they should be left to grow on their own like wildflowers, learning things as they go on. They should not be made the centre of attention but rather be let to learn the roles and duties as adult as the children's role is just assimilate into society as adults, nothing more. 

Hey, we have now gone a complete circle. We were doing it right all along only to be advised by experts that we were doing it wrong and suggested a new method which is actually a mirror image of our old ways. Ironic!

This is also true in other fields, our diet, for example. After steaming, broiling, grilling and frying our food all this while, some are now eating their food raw as our cavemen ancestors used too. 

Pet lovers are also feeding raw food to their loved one. My cat who has been consuming pellets of food all this while would get a shock of his life and run for his life if I were to throw a raw fish at him! Don't ask about catching mice, scaredy cat!

Uniquely Penang

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/leisure/2013/09/03/restoran-a-dawood/

Restoran A. Dawood

September 3, 2013
Truly uniquely Dawood, Itik Sammah, has been their restaurant’s signature dish for the past 73 years.

Penang has so many great eateries that has stood the test of time. Plenty have witnessed the Independence of our young nation and threw opened their doors to celebrate. One of them was Dawood.

They threw open their doors in 1957 and held a dinner at their premises. Old photographs show smartly dressed men coming here to eat and toast the occasion. Another photo shows the storefront elaborately adorned with decorations denoting the year of Malaysia’s Merdeka.

Alright, to the food. What is famous here is their Itik Sammah, duck cooked in a heady red gravy. Ordering one, you will get a massive chunk of duck thigh in a reddish brown gravy, absorbing the myriad of spices in the dish. A heady aroma hits you as you take a whiff. You try it, expecting something familiar but it’s different. The gravy is slightly tangier than a normal curry and though it has an almost rendang-like consistency, it has a milder coconut taste.
Truly uniquely Dawood, Itik Sammah, has been their restaurant’s signature dish for the past 73 years. Sammah is actually what the thick and exotic gravy is called in Tamil.
Syed Aliar, the current owner of Dawood says he uses duck because it has tons of flavour compared to chicken. The meat is also gamier and richer able to stand up to their heavy gravies. Another firm favourite is the roast chicken. The chicken is tender, juicy and tongue-tingling hot, roasted for hours with chillies and onions.

Other specialties available at Dawood are the quail curry and also fried chicken (it appears they know their fowls well). Initially, Dawood started as a lodging house for shipyard workers working at the nearby port during the early 1930s. In 1937, the British granted food licenses to local businesses and the namesake of the restaurant, Shaik Dawood took this opportunity to expand his business. He brought in a cook from Keelakarai who was in Singapore to assist him and opened a mess hall as a place for renters to come and eat. The Itik Sammah is one of the original dishes created by Shaikh Dawood and his cook.
Dawood Restaurant has been popular even before Merdeka. Their recipes have remained unchanged, ensuring that their customers stay with them. Serving delicious South Indian cuisine, this restaurant is humble and unassuming. The food brings in the crowd and it’s evident that this will continue for years to come.

Address: 61 Lebuh Queen Penang

Tel: 04 2616223

Opens: 8 am – 9 pm daily

Pros: The food is great and they also serve homemade barley drink. Servers are friendly and accomodating.

Cons: Parking is a nightmare because it’s located at the busy Queen Street.

Price Range: RM15 – RM25

We make you happy through food and we now have a food channel on Channel 838 on hyppTV Unifi. Check our shows at www.friedchillies.tv 

A forgettable thriller!

Midnight Lace (1960)

This 1960 suspense thriller did not strike as a memorable flick. I guess I have seen way too many films like this to be thrilled. An American heiress in London, living the high life, experiences death threats which nobody believes and accuse her to have lost her mind only to turn out that she has right all along and the perpetrator is someone close all along! Sounds familiar?
There were a few saving grace, however. The gorgeous Doris Day with her 60s VO5 sprayed blonde curls and her various modest but striking trendy fashion clothes of the bygone era. Rex Harrison is charming as a caring husband. Even though not his personal best, John William, who had been in many of Hitchcock's TV series is a joy to watch as a Scotland Yard officer. The story however, is quite predictable.

Kit Preston (Doris Day) hears threatening voices on her life repeatedly, during a walk on a foggy evening and repeated phone call. Tony (Rex Harrison), her friend Peggy and her Aunt Bea think that it is the work of a prankster. As the calls become more frequent and she is alone and she falls in front of a running bus, everyone suspects that she may be craving for attention. Meanwhile, her maid's son (Roddy MacDowell) is a nuisance, a suspicious character is seen loitering around, the foreman of a construction company doing repairs in front of her flat seem very close to Mrs Preston.

John William

A day before the Preston's planned vacation to Venice, the assailant strikes. Hold behold, it had been the husband all this while. He wanted the money to put into his business. He thought he could push his wife to suicide. His accomplice had been Peggy. The suspicious character seen around is actually Peggy's boyfriend who was planning to kill his cheating girlfriend and her lover (i.e. Tony Preston).

yawn... A forgettable affair. It probably marks the end of an era of suspense thriller film where actress can be fully covered to thrill!

What say you?

Heard an interview with the founder of AirAsia about his childhood. Apparently, his father bought him a flight ticket to study in UK when he was a teenager. He landed in a boarding school and had to literally swim out of the deep end to survive. What he initially thought was a punishment turned out a blessing in disguise as he can weather any kind of tumble which had made him what he is today. He calls it Darwinism that propelled him to success!

My brain started thinking again when I heard of  Søren Kierkegaard's fiction 'Fear and Trembling'. It is a highly controversial text which described the anxiety that went through the mind of Abraham when he heard God's call to sacrifice his son, Isaac. he described the anxiety that he must have had in the three and a half day journey up a hill and the splitting of firewood for the process.

And it both cases, the sons just submitted themselves without a fight!

What makes the fathers so cocksure that what they are doing is indeed in the best interest of the child or of mankind? 

Much too often, we have seen kids who were thrown into the deep end just drown. Some keep deep resentment against their parents, blaming all their failures to their parents. Others give up the fight by indulging in destructive activities of worse, intractable depression. 

So, are you going to take the path of least resistance, the path much traveled by others? Or are you going to a gamble, take the responsibility of the future of your kids in your own hands by venturing into something like home schooling or packing them off to boarding school?