Start a revolution from my bed?

Hunt for Red October (1990)

Many keyboard warriors are so convinced by what they see online. They fail to understand why others are so dumb (in their eyes, of course). To them, truth our there is as clear as day. And everyone else just ought to follow, no questions asked. What these modern warriors or influencers, as they are referred to these days, need to know is that sometimes we become too blinded with our beliefs that we fail to practice mindfulness. They should wear another hat and maybe a different colour lens, other than rose, to get a different perspective on things. A revolution cannot be started by an army of one. It begins with the revolution of the collective minds and hearts of the people. This change is difficult, more so in modern times, as we are so divided by ideologies, cultures, faiths and identity.

This film is based on Tom Clancy's 1984 novel which in turn was loosely based on Soviet Union's 1975 attempted mutiny aboard a warship. In the 1975 revolt, a brand-new Russian frigate, Storozhevoy, is hijacked by its Third Rank Captain, Valery Sablin. He was convinced that Leonid Brezhnev's Soviet Union had lost its original Leninist's visions. The system was plagued with corruption and lies. Sablin wanted to use the hijack as a political statement to stir the Russian to engage in its Second Revolution. His plan fell flat, and he and his fellow men were incarcerated.

Storozhevoy

In the book and the film version, the warship was changed to a spanking new state-of-art nuclear-powered radar-escaping submarine. A rogue Russian Captain uses the invincibility of the sub to defect to the USA. The problem is the US Navy does not know of his intention and are wary of the intrusion of a Russian submarine in international waters. At the same time, the Russian authorities realise the rogue Captain's plan. The Russians are at wit's end to stop the Americans from laying their hands on Russia's highly advanced submarine. 

The highly suspenseful drama describes how the US Navy manages to save the day. They help the Russian crew to defect, rescue the submarine and embarrass the Russian at their own game.

It is naive to believe that truth will always prevail in the end. Things in real life are much more convoluted than that. The power brokers, financiers, the leaders, big pharma companies and the media moguls have the final say of how history ought to be written. Poetic justice and honesty are left to pacify the romantics. It is the rule of the majority. Annoyance from the minority can be easily boomeranged back to the senders by the powers that be (spoiler alert). 

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A journey of conquest of a different kind

Xuanzang (大唐玄奘, Mandarin, Hindi; 2016)

Hsuan Tsang or Xuanzang is mentioned in early historical scriptures as of one the first person who journeyed from China via the Silk Road through Central Asia to reach India (or Sindhu as it was referred to then). He documented his travels meticulously and penned down all his escapades as he traversed the treacherous terrains, hills, deserts, monsoon and scorching heat. A child prodigy, Xuanzang entered the Buddhist monastery and was ordained a monk in Mahayana Buddhism at the age of 20. He then mastered Sanskrit and started studying ancient texts. Discovering discrepancies in the available scriptures, at the age of 25, in the year 627AD, he started a solo journey on foot from Chang 'An to India. This was the transition time from the Sui to the relatively peaceful Tang dynasty. His final destination was Nalanda University, in Meghada kingdom.

After three long years, travelling through modern-day Kazhakstan, Kyzhegistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Lahore and Delhi, he reached his destination. He is the first person to have described the Hindu kingdom to be extending as far as Afghanistan. 

He describes all the places that he visited within India. He told about how people live, the social norms and their dietary peculiarities. After learning at Nalanda University, he makes his teachers proud by winning an interfaith debate organised by King Varsha during Kumbh Mela in the holy city of Prayag (modern-day Allahabad). After 19 long years, traversing through 110 countries and walking 25,000 km, Xuanzang returned to Chang 'An with a wealth of knowledge and scriptures.

Ajanta Caves

The film is recommendable for its infotainment value. It brings to light of mesmerising natural landscapes and buildings that most of us will not have a chance to witness in our lifetimes. Many of the magnificent shrines and temples that existed at the time of his visit are still standing today. One such majestic structure is Ajanta Caves.

In the early 5th century AD, another Buddhist scholar from China named Faxian made a similar trip to India. He visited India during the reign of a Hindu dynasty, Chandragupta II, and reached Gautama Buddha's birthplace of Lumbini to obtain Buddhist scripts. He also visited Pataliputra, a Buddhist stronghold (Maurya's kingdom). Faxian, however, continued his journey to Ceylon. He described the island as a land of demons. He returned to China via sea. His boat went off course to Java and again swept off to Shandong on a second trip back to China.

Sand dunes in the Gobi Desert

Xuanzang's route to India.

Faxian's land route to India and back by sea.

With so much ease of acquiring knowledge through the plethora of portals available to us, we still have the inertia to go the extra mile. These two extraordinary figures risked their time and life to acquire and disseminate the wealth of knowledge to generations after them. Holding on to compasses in their hands, faiths in their heart as well as the stars above their heads as markers, they ventured into unknown territories. Come what may!

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Just passing through...

Death: An Inside Story (2020)

Sadhguru

Death gives us purpose in life. With the fear of mortality, Man probably would not be doing most of the things that we see around us. He knows that his life on Earth is finite. Hence, he needs to work hard as he wants to experience all the pleasures found here before his light burns out. Knowing that he has an expiry date, there is a need to produce progeny and care for his offspring, hoping that he will be cared for in old age.

Because of the fear of death and ignorance of what lays before and after this life as we know it, Man has created stories. These stories give purpose to his Existence here. The anxiety of what may in store after our sojourn on Earth, if it actually just a lifetime makes us believe many theories of life and death. If time is a continuum with no ends, Man has to spend a mighty long time after this life. On the other hand, if time is cyclical, Man will be returning. The next time around, things made not be good. So he better behave, here and now.

One of the ways to smack Man off his high horse and jolt him to the realisation of his vulnerability is for him to spend a day in a cemetery or crematorium. A corpse all dressed to the nines to his last journey never return but instead goes back to Mother Nature as food to other creatures or back as ash to bound to Earth again. It would be a humbling experience, understanding the fragility of life. The burning question would be, "when would the bus come for me?"

But then, he would also ponder into the age-old unanswered query - where were we before, what is our purpose, and where do we from here? From the Greeks who told rebirth and 'whitewashing' the mind before birth to unknown ethereal space for us to answer and pay for our actions during our sojourn on Earth, Man has tried to find the secret of our Existence. Unfortunately, no one has gone to the other side to return to tell of their experience on the other side. Nevertheless, people still talk about their past lives and even near-death experiences. Modern science has yet to prove the acceptability of these facts conclusively.

Herein lies the conundrum. To delve into something of which modern science, it is a matter of belief. Many of the things discussed by mystics cannot be accepted by modernity, but holy men insist that their findings are based on ancient and occult science that has been forgotten in our history.

When does life start and when does it end? Does it begin at implantation on Day 14 of ovulation, at the completion of implantation or at the point when primitive streak starts (formation of the trilaminar layers, hence individuation)? That is where medical sciences put a limit to embryo research. Indeed the gametes are not inanimate products.

Does life as we know it end when we lose consciousness, when our heart stops or when our brain stem reflexes stop responding? There is a dire need to determine an early diagnosis of brain death as modern ventilation keeps people alive, and retrieval for transplantation may be necessary.

We perceive our life as collections of knowledge and experiences. These are stored in our 'cloud' of consciousness. If all these can be downloaded in an alternative storage space or platform, we technically can achieve immortality. Death is just a minor hiccup as to how the mortal body catches a flu bug and recovers.

In the meantime, we have to contend with explanations given by spiritual men who have apparently discovered things beyond the realm of our understanding. Life works at different energy (Prana and Upa-aprana) levels. Death signifies five pranas' departure (Samana Vayu, Prana Vayu, Udana Vayu, Apana Vayu and Vyana Vayu) from the body. They exit at different times, ranging from twenty minutes all through to eighteen hours. Vyana Vayu is said to be the preservative of prana, and it may take up to fourteen days to leave, hence, the need for rituals for smooth passage of this energy to another realm.

We are also made memories of Nature's elements, our present, past lives, and many more. Reading through the book, one can understand the rationale of all the rituals in life and death that Indians have been performing. There is a hidden meaning behind all of it. Over the years, its significance has been lost, and it just appears like an unnecessary waste of time. The final destination for all souls is Moksa, nirvana or maha samadhi (ultimate equanimity state of intellect).

His final message is to embrace life and explore our full potentials. Death is not a tragedy, living without experiencing life is.

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The go-to fiction of yesteryear

Brothers Karamazov (1958)

Fyodor Dostoyevsky's writings during the Russian Golden Age of Literature have been referred to as a go-to place by many great icons of the world. At times of uncertainties, Einstien used to read Dostoyevsky for clarity. Nietzsche defined him as the only psychologist that he needed. Dostoyevsky inspired many writers like Hemmingway and Kafka. Akira Kurosawa made movies based on one of his stories (The Idiot). Osho (aka Bhagwan Sri Rajneesh) described the profound moral and philosophical messages in Dostoyevsky's 'Brother Karamozov' comparable to the Bible.

This story tells the story of Fyodor Karamazov, a high spirited widowed father who enjoys the more beautiful things in life - wine, music and women, especially a lady, Grushenka, who runs a tavern. Fyodor has four adult sons, each with their own personality traits. He is very tight-fisted with his money. Dimitri, the eldest, an ex-army, has a penchant for money and also an eye on Grushenka. But Dimitri has a suitor, Katya, a rich heiress who is rooting for him but he is not interested. The second son, Ivan, is an intellectual, a newspaperman and an atheist. He has the soft spots for Katya but sadly unrequited. The third son, Alexi, is a priest who is the peacemaker of the family who sees the good in everybody. The last one is actually Fyodor's illegitimate and epileptic son, Smerdyakov. He functions as the butler and yearns for his father unconditional love but sadly what he gets in return are hurls of insult.

Smerdyakov plans to murder his father, executes it but circumstances caused Dimitri to be accused of it. Ivan, who knew of Smerdyakov's intention but did not do anything to stop it is made to feel guilty. Meanwhile, Alexi is holding the whole family on a tightrope. Grushenka and Katya show their ugly side to win their love.

It is said that the film failed to capture the intellectual, philosophical, and spiritual essence of the book. This is expected as it is not possible to show all the emotions and the soliloquy that occurs within oneself in this two-hour presentation.

Many of these topics are dealt with superficially to maintain its entertainment value.

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See a red door, paint it black!

Hotel Mumbai (English/Hindi; 2018)
Indian-Australian co-production.

You say Islam is a peaceful religion, and these terrorist activities do not represent the true essence of the faith. But, why is it that the cry of an enraged suicidal jihadi bomber and the prayer of desperation and helplessness of his intended victim who is at the cusp of death is one and the same? And it is too numerous to a dhimmi's comfort. There is a huge problem, and the believers have to do a lot to resurrect the right image of the religion. Pussyfooting around it is wrong for PR.

This is what goes through a kafir's mind when he sees a scene from the movie where a terrorist is about to execute his hostage point-blank on her head. He is confused as she recites the Islamic prayer usually gets a mention at the time of death.

'Hotel Mumbai' is an Indo-Australian production which tries to re-enact of one India's worst nightmare when coordinated shootings happened around Mumbai. It was the 26th of November 2008 when ten young Pakistani men landed assumingly alighted a dinghy at a secluded fishermen's wharf. With them, they had automatic rifles and explosives. In a coordinated fashion, as if they had planned this all their lives and with constant communication with their Pakistani contact, these Lashkar-e-Taiba members proceeded on their shoot at six over avenues, Hotel Taj, being one.

Ajmal Kasab, the only captured

perpetrator of the attack.

The city was unprepared to such coordinated attacks, and their police force was ill-prepared for this. They had to wait for the Special Forces from New Delhi for assistance. So, the guests and staff of the hotel had to fend for themselves, dodging the bullets of four gunmen on a shooting spree. Only ten hours after the first shot, did the rapid-action personnel slide down the roof from a helicopter to put an end to the mayhem.

The screenwriters fictionalised three or four characters based on real people who were caught in the hotel. It revolved around a waiter, Arjun Singh (Dev Patel), the chief chef, Hemant Oberoi, a haughty Russian businessman guest and a husband-wife couple with a newborn baby and nanny. It is an extraordinary gritty tale of how ordinary people rose to the occasion to become heroes. It was done in a down to earth manner minus the melodrama of Bollywood and the display of heroic rescue often associated with international pictures. Even though the viewers knew how the siege would end, the element of suspense was held until the very end.

More than ten years after the disaster, many old wounds remain unattended. The ease in which these Pakistani men slipped into the Mumbai fishing wharf is a puzzle. The local fishermen, who by nature are protective of their turf, did confront them of their intentions but were told to 'mind their own business'. A police report made about them by the fishermen remained unresolved.

The attackers were in contact via their mobile lines with their puppet masters in Pakistan all through the siege. The young gunmen were given a minute to minute instructions and even given moral support to stay true to their divine missions. Despite their evil, destructive planning and execution, their ringleader in Pakistan remains at large. Pakistan who admitted playing a role in the attack seems apathetic towards amending their caustic relationship with their neighbour and continue exporting or sponsoring terror activities.

The Indian Police and the previous Indian government administration had a lot of questions to answer for their lack of urgency, inefficiencies and mismanagement. In an interview, Ratan Tata, the Chairman, mentioned that the police had received advance warning of the attacks and that some countermeasures had been taken. Obviously, it did not bear fruition.

1908 Taj Hotel
symbol of strength and resilience of the Indian people

At least 170 people perished in the attack. At least 50% of the victims were the employees of Taj Hotel. It is said one of the reasons why so many employees died is due to their work culture. One of their work ethe is 'guest is God'. Tata employees are said to have a profound attachment to their work, much like how its Chairman, Ratan Tata, treats all levels of his employees - like family. He is easily the richest man in India but does not appear in the who-is-who list of India's most affluent. He gives a huge chunk back to society.

It is ironic that even though Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving perpetrator, had one mind of giving up his life in punishing the infidels who squandered the wealth of his people, he went against all the odds to escape execution. He failed his appeals and clemency from President. His last helpless words were "I swear by Allah, won't do such a thing again". In a single sentence admitting his guilt and regretting his actions.

The often unspoken reason for their mindless activity is poverty. Religion is just a tool to hoodwink the helpless with the promise of monetary assistance to their families and a blissful afterlife in heaven. In this particular episode, there is a hint that even the promised money did not reach the family. The ecstatic afterlife? What a deception?

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If walls could speak!

Vivekanda Illam, Chennai.

Ever wondered how people in the tropical climates used to cool themselves down on a hot day before the advent of refrigeration? Frederic Tudor, a businessman from New England, had the foresight to harvest something free from its frozen lakes to ship it to places that needed it most. He mastered the art of sending tonnes of ice, covered with sawdust, to Florida and the Caribbean in the early 19th century. He later even exported it all the way to India. A trip carrying 100 over tonnes of ice from Boston to Madras typically took 4 months with 80% of the cargo intact. In the 1840s, Frederic Tudor built a facility in Madras to store his merchandise. It was named the Ice House.

Frederic Tudor was part of the Boston Elite or Boston Brahmins, as they were referred to. The Boston Brahmins are descendants of the earliest immigrants from England. They were Protestants and were the leading influencers of American institutions and cultures.

Frederic Tudor

In 1833, the first shipment of American ice arrived in Calcutta. It sent excitement to the locals of such chilly luxury. For the next two decades, these cargos were in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. They had a good thing going until local artificial-ice manufacturers started their businesses. Around the 1870s, refrigerated merchant vessels started scaling the high seas.

Madras, as it was known in the 1830s, was a bustling metropolitan city with a network of business enterprises. Many of its old buildings aged more than 200 years are still standing today. It speaks not of the English exploitation of the country but instead of the astute craftsmanship and quality of buildings built by the local builder. It is said that Madras had its own brand of superior plaster-mix. Chennai also has the reputation of having the second most number of heritage buildings in India after Calcutta. It has its own Heritage Conservation Committee that oversees maintenance and reservation of their old erections.

Sister R.S. Subbulakshimi

The Ice House was sold off in the 1880s after the ice business winded up. It was bought by a High Court judge who named it Castle Kernan. It was later changed ownership many times. It is now called Vivekananda Illam (Vivekananda Home) as he is said to have spent time there in 1897. The building was also used by Ramakrishna Mission and R.S. Subbulakshmi, a social reformer, for social upliftment activities. Almost all Indian freedom fighters, at one time or another, is said to have met there to preach their efforts for Independence at the premises.

Sister R.S. Subulakshmi was widowed at the age of twelve, and she made it her life ambition to uplift the plight of widows and woman generally. She continued her studies and obtained excellent results. She started Sarada Ladies Union (Sarada, being Swami Ramakrishna's consort) for widows. In 1915, the Government of Madras acquired the Ice House for her social work. 

It went on till 1963 when it was given to the Ramakrishna Mission. It currently houses an exhibition on the life and times of Swami Vivekanda.

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