Merdeka Special!

Only one side of the story... The truth is the multifaceted knife which slices the finder of the real truth which ultimately stays elusively mysterious not yearning to be discovered but sneering at those who attempt to....

A daughter's assessment of her father!

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
 Sunday, Apr 03, 2005
Pages from the past

There was more to Gemini Ganesh than just being a star of the silver screen, finds his daughter JAYA SHREEDHAR.

Last of the Triumvirate: Gemini Ganesh with Vyjayantimala in a still from one of his films.

HAVING lived with my father all my life, I presumed I was privy to everything about him. Yet, there were several things I could never figure out. How had he managed to live with a breezy unorthodoxy bordering on the bohemian, yet have his feet planted firmly on the ground? Where had he learnt the Houdiniesque skill to wriggle in and out of emotionally knotty relationships, largely unscathed? Why did it seem like he was always one step ahead of retribution? How come society winked indulgently at his "excesses" while reserving stern castigation for the rest? All I can say is that he led a charmed life.

Contradictions
Home was a jumble of seeming contradictions. My grandmother's shaven head, brown madisar-kattu and strict ritualism flowed seamlessly with her loving acceptance of the many inter-community marriages in the family. Appa would switch effortlessly between impeccable English, Sanskrit and the pungent vocabulary of Tamil filmdom. He dashed off syrupy English poems with a gusto that made me giggle with embarrassment; yet he had a refined sense of humour that, regretfully, was never exploited by his directors. He loved my mother and quite a few "others" and yet expected us all to love each other too! He loved chatting up the glitterati; equally, he derived pleasure from teasing vegetable vendors each morning into quoting competitive rates — not movie-star prices. He was a rash driver, yet he taught me to drive for hours each day with patience, stopping the day I learned to apply the brakes. He would often watch me at the NCC rifle practice. When I told him I was going to become a journalist, he asked, perplexed: "But what will you do for a living?" Yet, he burst into tears of pride, giving me a bear hug when I showed him my article in Frontline.

Excerpts

Keen Interest In The World: Gemini Ganesh's diary entry and the clipping from The Hindu, August 1942 .
Once, I stumbled upon Appa's Madras Christian College calendar of 1942 and diary of 1943 with two newspaper clippings from The Hindu. From the pages spoke a young chemistry instructor of 22, who played cricket tennis, badminton and bridge, frequented the city's cinema houses and cafes and who followed politics on and off the campus. Some random excerpts from his MCC almanac:

July 22, 1942: ... in the evening C. Rajagopalachari inaugurated the College Union Society. "On how to speak." People were disappointed because he never talked `Pakistan.' Books recommended (1) John Stuart Mill `Liberty' and (2)Thirukkural.

August 12, 1942: Strike again. Most of the students didn't attend college. Played tennis in the college court. Presidencians indefinite strike. Lathi charge... police open fire everywhere. Mohan Kumaramangalam shouted down. C.R. differs from Gandhi. Cricket practice...

August 14, 1942: Went to city in the afternoon with D. Saw "A Chump at Oxford" Laurel and Hardy at Elphinstone. Had lunch at Udipi...

August 18, 1942: College as usual. Students again plan a strike. Very fickle minded fellows. No organisation. In the evening met one Mr. Mackenzie, a Scotch soldier, was talking with him along with Anantharamiah, Ali... and Samuel Raj. Very interesting communistic views.

August 23, 1942: ... Good report of the match in Sunday `Hindu'. (see clipping)

January 2, 1943: ... Went to city with Murthy and one Mr. Subramaniam of Bishop Heber. Saw "Pardon my sarong" at New Globe... Bud Abbot and Louis Costello. Nice picture. Went to Café Casino... Swell day.

February 19, 1943: Prayer day for Gandhiji's fast. Students' agitation. Mahalaxmi Bhavathi gets arrested. So is Bhopal Easo John, D.. and others. Very anxious situation...

February 21, 1943: News about Gandhiji's worse condition. Trying situation. Prayer for Gandhiji's health

March 7, 1943: Attempted some painting. Went to city in the evening... to Roxy with Gurunandan Mulki, saw the "Great Dictator". Very good picture. Liked it awfully. Went to Hotel Brindavan...

November 28 1943: Went to Golden Rock by train and played a cricket match for Ormsby Institute against R.A.F. I bowled and took three for 17. Batting ...made 26. We made it for 3...

November 29, 1943: In the evening went to Plaza to see "Dive Bomber" technicolour featuring Eroll Flynn, Quite good. Most of the test cricketers were there.

Records

In his MCC days.

Appa was at the time a married man of two years while my mother was in Trichinopoly, a fact unbeknown to his MCC compatriots. ... until that fateful day when my mother's cousin visited him. That day's entry reads:

February 31, 1943: ... Mr. Krishnamurthy Ayyar from Trichy came unexpectedly. What a drama! I was in a dilemma...

Appa always kept some record of the day's events in the Hoe and Co. diary of the year, an annual compliment from his friend Mr. Chandrasekar of Higginbothams. The MCC diaries, however, are testimony to the memories of a carefree youth that he cherished. And the boy in him never died.

Dr. Jaya Shreedhar, the youngest daughter of Gemini Ganesh, is Health Advisor, Internews Network. 

Aaaah! I get it now....

When we were growing up, we were told by parents and teachers (especially Sunday schools) alike to stay away from from dark music. How were to know to know what is dark music and what is acceptable. I finally came to the conclusion that all noise from musicians with long hair, loud Gothic non melodious sound emanated from shirtless bands with masks were out of bounds! (a simplistic view of the world). That deprived most of us from the music of great bands (are they really great like?) like AC/DC, Kiss, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Aerosmith etcetera, etcetera....

Fast forward 30 years to the future, with the comfort of reclining chair, non-arthritic fingers, the power of keyboard and cyber submarine cables, all the songs that we missed can be listened again and again. Not only that, we can gets its lyrics. Only now can we appreciate its true lyrics. All this while, I thought it was just gibberish and senseless yelling of self proclaimed artistes with croaking and constipation releasing voices!

The following song appeared Satanic to me then with its weird song chant-like Oooh... When you scrutinize its lyrics, it is nothing more than pure lyrics writing mastery at its heights of creativity.


Thanks again to the internet, the alleged backward masking of song (i.e. hidden messages encrypted into songs to psychologically deviate the mind of its listeners to the Dark side). Now, we can hear this back masking and decide for ourselves...like this one..

Bizarre thoughts at a bazaar

And all got me is this lousy 

badge, to tell me that I am

narcissistic! Still better than
my wife's CF (Control Freak)! 

So there I was, on a Saturday afternoon loitering around in an up-market bazaar on Petaling Jaya because my daughter just decided that she simply had to be at this place like this place was the greatest innovation since sliced bread! The bazaar was a collection of canopy covered stalls selling various items that one can just do without, predominantly of dresses (which were made from not much of material, quantity and amount wise) and cute handicraft souvenir items like the one on the left.
 Even one of the attendees was dressed like she was strolling along in Oxford Street for New Year sales in crimson red suede long coat in the tropical environment of Jaya One! It was as if the patrons were loitering with blinkers oblivious to reality of our climate and third world status!
The site was actually an avenue for small time on-line entrepreneurs to exhibit their merchandise. I was just wondering how many of these clothes were recycled hand-me-downs clothes from somebody house's backyard cloths line! The thought just sparked in my brain when a pungent odour emanated from one of these canopy stall as we pass them. It was definitely not a figment of my warped imagination. I distinctly overheard someone in the crowd mention the same (about the odour but theorized about leak in the container carrying the garment, hence the mouldy musky odour).
Amidst this entire bourgeois capitalistic ambiance, tucked neatly in the corner were a few nurses and student nurses (working class?) trying to highlight the importance of self breast examination and (by the way) to support the victims of the dreaded malignancy by selling some overpriced t-shirts for that cause. Proceeds of the sales were supposedly going to the victims (yeah, right!).
The intention of the youngsters may be noble - educating and propagating the news for a good reason, maybe deemed a spoiled sport for being a doomsday prophet, but whether the money actually reaches the intended recipient, that is anybody's guess. Like the tsunami area of Banda Aceh is still undeveloped despite the pouring of funds from the world over, and the Singapore NKF chief was found guilty of using the NGO's funds to fly first class and how the UN casual workers are only good at filling up claim forms in USD and on and on.....
Just the other day, I found out that my sister had been contributing RM30 monthly for the past 10years through direct debit of credit card to WWF. I know that she is an animal lover and all but 30X12X10 = RM3600.00 for beastly animals?
Yeah! I love animals too, so much that I eat them regularly, cooked and nicely garnished, of course.

Hitchcock’s ‘The White Shadow’ Discovered

AUGUST 4, 2011,
By Lucy Craymer

New Zealand Film Archive/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesA still image from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The White Shadow.’

Alfred Hitchcock’s first film, “The White Shadow,” thought to have been lost, has been found languishing at the New Zealand Film Archives.
The first three rolls of the 1923 melodrama have been discovered in the Wellington, New Zealand, archives, where they have been held for safekeeping since their original collector Jack Murtagh died in 1989. It remains possible that the second half of the film is also in storage but yet to be restored.
The Film Archive described the film as a “wild, atmospheric” melodrama starring Betty Compson in a dual role as twin sisters, one angelic and one soulless.
David Sterritt, chairman of the National Society of Film Critics and author of “The Films of Alfred Hitchcock,” called the discovery “one of the most significant developments in memory for scholars, critics, and admirers of Hitchcock’s extraordinary body of work” in a statement.
“At just 24 years old, Alfred Hitchcock wrote the film’s scenario, designed the sets, edited the footage and served as assistant director to Graham Cutts, whose professional jealousy toward the gifted upstart made the job all the more challenging,” Mr. Sterritt added.
Mr. Hitchcock went on to direct iconic movies such as “Psycho,” “Vertigo,” “The Birds” and “Dial M For Murder.” This is the second “lost” film later discovered in Mr. Murtagh’s collection. In 2009, the New Zealand Film Archive discovered John Ford’s 1927 comedy “Upstream.”
“From boyhood, my grandfather was an avid collector — be it films, stamps, coins or whatever,” said Mr. Murtagh’s son Tony Osborne. “He would be quietly amused by all the attention now generated by these important film discoveries.” The New Zealand Film Archive said the two films will be preserved over the next three years and made available internationally, including in the U.S.
TV reporting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=To3TBCieA2c
Cameo appearances of Alfred Hitchcock:

Scurrying over spicy curry

Of late, the mainstream media seem to be bragging of how in two instances, two multilingual cops saved the day. One helped a senior citizen to write a police report (conversing in Hockkein) whilst the other helped to negotiate 2 warring factions who were at logger-heads via his skill in Hockkein. Big deal, kudos to the police for being community friendly, bullocks!

It might work in the 50s and 60s, but in 2011, 54 years after independence? Two bona fide Blue I/C holders and Malaysian citizens communicating like a chicken talking to a toad? You cannot blame the education system as Malaysia boasts of 98% literacy rate.
I remember a friend of mine relating the following true story in the 1960s in the interior of Kelantan (Kuala Krai) where and when literacy was low and many births were recorded by policemen for birth certificate notification purpose as home deliver was norm. This old farmer went to the police station proudly to register his first born son. Being illiterate that he was, he engaged the policemen to do the paper-work...
Cop: Pakcik, nah bagi nama gapa? (What name would you like to give?)
Farmer: Bagilah nama mudah-mudah. (Give a simple name! -in Kelantanese dialect)
And so the newborn was registered as 'Mudah Mudah bin Awang' and to his horror, friends and teachers called his name with full of glee for the rest of his life.
And in the late 80s when an elderly Malaysian Chinese lady complained complained to the attending doctor that they are many dogs in the tummy, nobody laughed. Everybody knew that she meant to say 'angin' (wind) when she said 'anjing' (dog)!
It was okay years ago but now after 40 years of introduction of National Education Policy, which single-handed murdered the mastery of the English Language in this country, there is little reason to substantiate the lack of competence in the National Language.
The reason of this discord is the non amalgamation, jealousy and distrust that occur between the various communities propagated by the self-centered politicians in the country. Maybe we need an Anna Hazare type of politician to be here to set things right.
Maybe, when the living becomes more difficult, when the pie becomes smaller, when they have a common enemy, various ethnic communities may congregate to fight together the common offender like in the case of Singaporeans who are up in arms against mainland Chinese immigrants who find the pungent odour of fellow Singaporeans' (who were there since the inception of Singapore in 1965) curry offensive. The internet is also rife with photos of mainland Chinese acting in an unacceptable fashion - bathing by the road-side, urinating in the park, drying laundry in the children's playground and even adults defecating in public drains!

In years to come, I envisage, if things do not change for better, in Malaysia, there would  a further divide between the haves and have-nots as well as bumiputras and non bumiputras. This demarcation would be made more precarious when the newly immigrated Indonesians are easily accepted as bumiputras and the rest is best left to each other's imaginations and 'Nightmare at Elm Street' and 'Freddy Kruger' experience!

Singapore's 'anti-Chinese curry war'

What began as a quarrel over the pungent aromas wafting from one family's kitchen has bubbled up into Singapore's spiciest protest movement, with 40,000 people set to express their national pride this weekend by cooking curry.

The mediator ruled that the Indian family could only cook curry when the Chinese family was not at home 

AFP/GETTY IMAGES

By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai
16 Aug 2011
Curry is one of Singapore's national dishes, a dish that is equally loved, although in different forms, by the island's British, Chinese, Indian and Malay populations.
So there was an instant uproar when a local newspaper reported that one Chinese family, recently arrived from the mainland, had taken offence at their Indian neighbours' dining habits.
"The family resorted to mediation because they could not stand the smell of curry," reported the Today newspaper. "The Indian family, who were mindful of their neighbours' aversion, had already taken to closing their doors and windows whenever they cooked the dish, but this was not enough," it added.
Instead, the unnamed Chinese family took their neighbours to Singapore's Community Mediation Centre for a ruling on the matter.
Marcellina Giam, the mediator, eventually ruled that the Indian family could only cook curry when the Chinese family was not at home. In return, the Chinese family promised to try the dish.
The judgment incensed Singaporeans, many of whom have eyed a recent flood of mainland Chinese immigrants with some disdain.
Almost a million mainland Chinese have arrived in recent years, making up a fifth of the island's population. Singapore's native Chinese population have been particularly upset by the newcomers, many of whom do not come from the provinces of Fujian and Guangdong that provided the original wave of immigrants before the Second World War. Most also do not speak English, which remains Singapore's national language.
"I am incensed with a People's Republic of China family telling my fellowmen not to cook curry," wrote Rosalind Lee, one of hundreds of commencers on the Today newspaper's website. "Almost all Singaporean homes cook curry. The mediator should tell the PRC family to adjust and adapt to Singapore's way of life and not tell the locals to adjust to the foreigner's way of life!" she added.

Yet another case of plagiarism!

Still talking about Shammi Kapoor and his movies, here is another a-go-go type dance in a song which bears a surprisingly similar tune to the one strummed out by The Beatles 2 years previously! A pure coincidence?