Gestures and salutations?

Credit: thenewsminute.com

It was a Saturday night, and I was sitting smack in the middle of a temple going late 40s and an early 50s group. They had earlier decided to let their hair down and to indulge in the intoxicating bright nocturnal lights of capitalism and its lure. As the night slithered away into the darkness, their topics of idle banter started becoming more philosophical. From Malaysian politics and the lethargic state of affairs in the country, they ventured into the wisdom of the Vedanta.

Somebody started talking about the symbolic gestures of deference amongst Hindus of touching or slightly signalling towards the feet of someone elder. It may a signal of deferring to the great soul that resides in the physical body of the one being touched. The soul has achieved so much, and the younger newbie submits humbly in awe.

There are some who refuse to touch the feet. They believe that everyone carries their sins and evil deeds of their past lives in the lowest part of the lower extremities. In other words, we drag our misdeeds all through our short existence on Earth. When the younger touches the toes of the elder, some of the younger's lousy karma apparently transfers to the older person. The elder, after accumulating so much of bad points in the current life, by just being alive, the last thing they want is more Karmic baggage.

Of course, others decline to be given such high salutations as they are not worthy.

There are no arguments when it comes to the reverence of the dead. Everyone is willing to transfer the black marks of their tainted pasts. The dead cannot refuse.

Then, the topic went to the decorum of who can touch whom. It seems that mothers should not allow their pretty female offspring to reach the feet of holy men of blessings. It was just not done. A No-No. Period. A young girl with no blood relations to the recipient should not think of being blessed by an older unrelated man (especially there is no objection to conjugal desires!). And the crowd went blank on why a restriction should come about. That is when I put in my two cents worth of input.

There are groups of people who get pleasurable vibes by tactile stimulation of toes. In other words, they may have toe fetishism. Well, you do not want to display affection and arousal in public. What is more, if you are a holy man.

And I ask myself why I do not have friends! I should be asking why do they even friend me!

 P.S., Of course, everyone has their own version regarding the restrictions of young girls touching elders' feet. One is related to energy generated by the female gender. Their bodies exude so much energy doing multiple hormonal functions that they could do without additional energy. Others compared young ladies to Goddess Lakshmi that they cannot be made to show respect. Well, they sure do not respect women in domestic violence cases and in local laws that are overtly patriarchal and discriminatory against the fairer gender!

Ahalya falls at Rama's feet in gratitude for her liberation from Guatama's
curse. Note the Urdu/Persian script. Guatama, an elderly sage, cursed his
young two-timing wife Ahalya to be turned to stone. She was, of all people,
seduced by Lord Indra himself. Indra had tricked Ahalya by appearing in
the image of her husband. Ahalya, knowing of his deception, willingly just
played on.

A young man displays pranama to an elderly.

A procrastinator, Chirakari, salutes his father, Guatama for not carrying out his duties a son.
A furious Guatama had ordered his son to kill his mother. The ever over-thinking delayed his
action by weighing the merits and demerits of not executing his father's orders and the evil
of killing his own flesh. Procrastination proved useful as Guatama soon regretted his rash
decision and was glad that his son had indeed not killed his mother. Earlier, Guatama had discovered that his wife, Ahalya, Chirakari's mother, had wronged him.

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

Disposable!

Pulsagari (North Korean; 1985)
Director: Shin Sang-ok

Although we have hardly heard of North Korea (NK)'s indulgement in the celluloid industry, The Supreme Leaders of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-Un and Kim Jong-Il before him, are movie buffs. The elder was so desperate to bring his country's movies to the international arena (and to make propaganda films) that Jong-Il kidnapped South Korea's famous film icons of the 60s, Shin Sang-ok and his ex-wife Choi Eun-hee for this purpose.

In 1979, Choi went missing in Hong Kong. Shin was the prime suspect in her disappearance. In trying to investigate her vanishing, he was kidnapped by Kim's men and whisked off to NK. Here, Shin found Choi safe and sound. After series of torture and rehabilitation exercise, Shin decided that the best way to escape was to play ball. Both Choi and Shin soon became a feature in NK high society. He was coaxed to make about 7 movies, of which Pulsagari is one. A year later, in Vienna, both of them sought asylum. Pulsagari is basically a rip-off of Godzilla. Even though the backstory behind this sci-fi sounds more interesting than the flick, the storyline does carry some sobering thoughts.
It tells of an evil emperor who tortures his subjects. The already resources-depleted mountain dwelling community is harassed for taxes. When money became scarce, the King's generals demand their metal utensils, hoe, rakes, pots, pans and knife to be smelt to be made weapons. The villagers resisted. The head was imprisoned and tortured. Before dying, the leader moulded a figurine of a fabled monster named Pulsagari and breathed life into it.

Pulsagari was discovered by the villagers, and soon they realised that the cute little monster was very much alive and thrived on iron. It was just handy as it fast gobbled up all the enemies' arsenal. Pulsagari was a saviour who saved the villagers from the tyranny of the iron-fisted rulers. It became bigger with more iron-feed. When the war was over, and the foes were defeated, the villagers had a bigger problem in their hand. Pulsagari's ferocious appetite could not keep up with the availability of iron in the village. Ironically, the saviour became the demander. The only way to reach sanity was to just kill off Pulsagari!

The hidden message here is that in life everybody has a shelf-life. No one is indispensable. They are sent to be Earth to perform a specific pre-ordained mission. What that is, is anybody's guess. After that is done, we have to just fade away into the sunset rather than to be a burden to the soil that supports us. Funny, Kim did not see the moral staring in the face of its viewers. I guess the joke must be on him.

Hear a podcast of the experience of the South Koreans on the other side of the 38th parallel... On 'This American Life'.

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/556/same-bed-different-dreams/act-one


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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