Fear of the unknown?

The Lost City of Z (2017)

It was a time when wealthy British aristocrats would amuse themselves with risky expeditions to savage lands to examine the lesser beings in 'uncivilised' territories. They would study them like guinea pigs, record their habits for future references and in the process rob them blind of precious metals and of a rich civilisation. It was a time just before the onset of World War One and Major Percy Fawcett is seconded to the Royal Geographical Society to do some surveying work in the interiors of Bolivia.

Fawcett does his work and returns but not without realising that, unlike his contemporaries who think that the Amazon natives are anything but civilised, he feels the land holds the remnants of an advanced culture.

After a failed return trip to discover the lost city that he calls 'Z', his life gets embroiled in the Trench War. Injured, he is refrained from pursuing any further expeditions. The calling proved too strong. On the insistence of his eldest son, he made a final attempt to the lost city. The fate and whereabouts of both of these explorers remain a mystery till today. Multiple search parties returned empty-handed. The consensus among most lies between being killed by natives and living blissfully with the natives.

Even though the film is quite slow moving, it did manage to create the tension of the conflict of a man having to decide between leaving behind a young family and missing the crucial growing years of his children, as these expeditions take years altogether, and wanting to achieve something in his life. Should you attempt the hold more than you can grasp or be happy with the strand of straws that you have? Should we let fear of the unknown determine our future? Should we be content with our lives? Is there a limit to satiety? Is contentment the panacea for all evils in the world?

Bad moon rising?

It was not just another day. It was a day of jubilation, the day Murugan defeated the asura Suryapadman. Coincidentally, it was also the day of the blue moon showed it fiery side after being engulfed by the dragon. When my mother was a little girl, people devoid of scientific knowledge used to tell that it was a transient event when Mother Nature, tired of holding the Earth all these while, decided to switch hands. Now we know it is the lunar eclipse. If the Supreme Mother is indulged in such gravity-defying task, it is inappropriate for mortals in merrymaking activities including eating and enjoying the outdoors.

In those days, and even now, the event is marked inauspicious. These days, in spite of our technological know-how, the society has somehow paradoxically have re-discovered the splendour of the age-old lost wisdom. They have combined it with current knowledge and try to give it a rational explanation to our ancestors' practices. Substantial changes in the electromagnetic charges restrict people to stay indoors.

With that in mind, all activities were kept to a minimum. Dinner was served, and the kitchen was closed before the onset of the eclipse. Everyone was forced to remain indoors, no TV, no loud music; possibility hallmarks of abstinence from merrymaking. While waiting for the time to pass, what do I receive? A phone call from the hospital of an imminent arrival of a baby. Apparently, the stork had been diligent in his duties. Keeping up my dharma, he rushed to the scene. If everything is pre-determined and happens under the watchful eyes of the Almighty, surely He would not be amused if one shirks his duties on the Makers' account.

Despite all the hullaballoo surrounding the turns of events surrounding the child's delivery amongst a specific circle of people, the mother was ignorant of its significance. As far as she can see it is a joyous event. Her nine months' wait is over, and joy spills in abundance in her young family.

For one group of people (Hindus), there had been a lot of debates and arguments about the lunar eclipse. They were arguing on the merits and appropriateness of keeping the temple open at this time as it was also Thaipusam on that day. Self-proclaimed pandits with their half-baked certainly kept life interesting as the suspense built up to the event with their 'discoveries'. For others, it was just another marvel of the world we live in. They just tell themselves that they are happy to be alive. They humble themselves by immersing themselves in the splendour and beauty of Nature. Still some stare in awe at the ability of the human mind to calculate and predict so accurately that such an event will happen and precisely at a specified time. Splendid!

It comes around eventually!

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946)

They say that there is no such thing as the perfect crime. Even when a seemingly seamless crime is committed, somehow, something would go awry. A slight oversight, a chance DNA evidence or worse still when it involves two or more partners in crime, mutual suspicion and fear of double-crossing would spur one of them to act silly to arouse suspicion of the unsuspecting. The criminals occasionally appear at the crime scene to look at his 'trophy'.

Nature has its own way of punishing the perpetrator. Even though its fixing of things may not appear clear-cut, one can feel that poetic justice is served at the end of the day. Nature has a wicked sense of humour and warped amusement standards. Balance is maintained, nevertheless.

This classic film noir, made in 1946 and acted by John Garfield and the vivacious and sultry Lana Turner, grasps your attention from the word go. The first-person background narration and loud background music add to the suspense and the unpredictability of both characters on their next move. It starts with a rolling stone, Frank Chambers, stopping at a diner to work as a helping hand. There is an instant attraction to the owner's young and flirtatious wife, Cora. One thing leads to another, and a plot to murder the filling station owner - husband, is hatched and executed successfully in a planned accident.

After this, the plot becomes twisted where the members of the legal profession try to confuse Cora and Chambers. Frank hears about an insurance policy bought under the husband's name for the first time. Here, the story attempts to take a jab at the legal profession. It shows how the court makes a charade of the charge, admission of guilt and leniency.

The ensuing tension between Frank and Cora is illustrated beautifully in the rest of the movie to give real meaning to the film's title. Just like how we always hear the postman's second ring of the doorbell, fate has a sure way to trap us in our mistakes. We cannot run away from our wrongdoings.

Trust and Conviction

cgsociety.org

I heard a strange comparison between cryptocurrency and religion the other day.

When we look at the number of people who invest a significant amount of their hard-earned savings into multiple blockchain technology schemes, we sometimes wonder what makes people place so much trust into something so intangible. How many times in the history of man have we seen promises of easy wealth through a yet another newer and more novel way to beat the system? How predictably have the bubble repeatedly burst when people, like rats, followed Piped Piper to the caves?

Even with the knowledge of previous mayhems and follies, with their great reluctance to be detached from their world material wealth, the promise of multiplying their already burgeoning opulence is too much to resist.

There is no central control, hence the lure of concealment. There must be a reason the Blockchain technology is cryptic. Is going to be so mysterious that everything may just go up kaboom into thin air? There is nothing to claim possession, just a series of an algorithm to assert ownership. Right now, the proprietor can just sleep well convincing himself that he may be superrich one day. The day of a real cashless society who would pay for their coffee with Bitcoin is quite remote. It is a promise, no doubt, it may materialise one day, but till then, it is just promises written on water!

What do you know? The premise of religion is not much different from the above. The tenet of most religious practices is based on trust. The conviction that the elders in their faith have discovered a path to protect their interest when their time on Earth is up. That the promise of a figure who would be just out there judging our souls after keeping a tab on our good deeds whilst on Earth.

In both cases, there are no documents to uphold our interests on the day of reckoning. The future rests on mutual trust and blind faith that things will be all alright!

Precode Hollywood

Do you want to leave your legacy?

Historical Monument of Kalinga at Dhauli.

The ferocious Emperor Asoka was moved by

the crimson hue of the river water nearby.

Only then did the realisation of his tyranny

came fore. He became a pacifist, a Buddhist

and built stupas and pillars to remind

himself and his subjects on the value of life.

They keep telling me that I am insignificant; that I am inconspicuous to the grander scheme of things around; that I am just passing through. My existence in time is less than a millimicrosecondth of the 13.8 billion years since the time Big Bang happened. They ask me to be humble, to bow to the forces of Nature and to remember that I am weak; all just flesh, blood and bone. I am so brittle, organic and living on borrowed time. At the bat of an eyelid, I may be down and out. I remain but just dust, a part of the galaxy. I am told to invoke the blessings of the celestial bodies that govern our every move and not to incur their wrath.

This message of humility is apparently applicable only to some. It is shoved down the throats of lesser beings who are powerless and have to forever live on the goodwill of the crumbs from the mighty, the courageous and the wealthy. Social and moral mores are not applicable to them. They can act without impunity till death do them apart, or the Agent Intellect shine the ray of wisdom on them.

When their Consciousness becomes more manifest, they will insist that they are reformed and be given a new slate and a new lease on life. With their unholy earning, they would kosher it with mammoth structures to remind mortals that they are nothing. They would be anything but humble.

But then these megalomaniacs are the ones that history remembers. The average Joe whose existence follows the actual path of moderation as preached by the elders hardly matters to the more important direction of the human civilisation. Their lives are quickly forgotten.

My assertion is that rules only apply to the weak. The valiant segment of the population is exempt from the common rules and regulations. Well, some people are more equal than others. Some leave a legacy behind, others not even their carbon print or footprint.

Buddha statue Dhauli, Odisha

Like Karma Chameleon, you come and go!

Kedi (Turkish, documentary; 2017)
Director: Ceyda Torun

They gaze into the horizon without a care in the world. If a dog wags its tail and jumps around your legs for attention, it is because it thinks you are God. A cat, on the other hand, does not give two hoots to your presence. Cats have perfected the way to strut the posterior in front of your face in defiance in an art form humans call 'catwalk'. The cats do not think of humans as God but instead perceive themselves as the intermediaries to the Gods. Thanks to their ancestors who were placed on a pedestal by Queen Cleopatra and her band of rulers, as well as the unique place conferred to members of the Cat Family in ancient belief systems (Al Uzza with her cat and Durga with her Bengal Tiger), cats wander with a chip on their shoulders. With their eight other lives to spare, they roam haughtily with their snouts high in the air as if breathing on imported air. Like in Boy George's 'Karma Chameleon', they come and go as they please. Unlike other domesticated animals, they managed to convince Man that they need not be leashed.

With their alluring meowing and their fluffy, soft bodies, cats know they can get away with murder, but they only use their charm to cajole the gullible public to depart from some mouthwatering chow.

This Turkish documentary is an exceptional presentation that would melt the hearts of any cat-lover. Using low cameras to follow the path of the stars of the film, the cats, it manages to capture many fantastic close-shots of members of the feline species. It appears that the Turkish community is quite accommodating in having stray cats wander about their streets, cafés, roofs, and even homes. The shows mostly try to outline the daily routines of many street cats while taking many striking photographs of these sly animals. As it is mentioned in this offering, cats offer comfort to anxious and weak souls. It redefines the meaning of our existential presence. They may open our soul to accept life beings as a continuum of the Universe rather than treating animals as second-class lifeforms that do not deserve our respect or a kind of punishment for their doings in their past lives. Maybe their presence on Earth acts as a testing bed for us to place us in the karma cycle when we are done with this present life on Earth.