On Father's Day - Poetry

In that old photo tucked in the album tattered,

My position you have made safe and secured,

Where I am a little naive all-dependent kid,

Behind your strong arms conveniently hid.

Hardships in childhood plenty you faced,

Path of success after hardships you traced,

But we received all possible comfort,

Unfathomable behind it your effort.

You were always there for us in evenings,

Overseeing studies or us watching cricket innings,

Seldom with friends or colleagues did you go out,

Your dedication for us unparalleled and devout.

A person so composed, epitome of calm,

Have never caused anyone a tad bit harm,

Helped the jobless, helped your peers,

You have established many such careers.

Ever so helpful, understanding and cooperative,

As a husband your stance so commemorative,

To your in-laws much more than a son you been,

Revered in society you possess unmatched sheen.

 You have made us, structured our lives,

With grit ensured for us smooth strides,

You inculcated in us values illuminating,

That guides us today in paths so daunting.

So broad a mind, so large a heart,

A person so very special thou art,

But to write for family is an event rare,

Inhibition aplenty to show emotions bare.

I don’t conform to man-made special days,

Relations can’t be shackled in any such ways,

A surge to write on this day something new,

On Fathers Day, Baba, a few words for you.

The sleeping giant - Democracy

The lessons learnt from the recently concluded assembly elections in five states, which many dub incorrectly as semi final to 2014, are many. While one can endlessly debate about the debacle of the elephant, the nullification of a charismatic Gandhi, the beating of anti incumbency by Badals and Parriker, the see-saw game in Chhatisgarh and the strange political dynamics of the north eastern Manipur, there is one fact that has reiterated itself yet again. The fact that is the undercurrent no matter what superficial phenomenon occurs. And that undercurrent is the subtle yet strong power of democracy.

There could be a thousand and yet more flaws in Indian political system. For it is deep entrenched in the sub conscious that the word politician and corrupt are synonymous. There also is the realisation of the fact that the voter does not even have a choice of better candidates. A situation akin to ‘caught between the devil and the deep blue sea’ could aptly describe the dilemma of the average Indian voter. But to annul such a downward spiralling event, multi party democracy in India provides more choices. Unlike in nations where one has to choose between two, in India we can choose one among many.

While the traditional belief was that the voting ‘mass’, the weaker sections of the society, could be bought with wad of cash, liquor and food, the spread of education/literacy/media outreach has made that mass smart. The honeytrap doesn’t work for urban and affluent voters. Not that it would matter given the dismal voting rate they display. A case in point has been Tamil Nadu where such antics did not pay off. This however does not suggest that the Indian voter has come of age and does not succumb to pulls and pressures or for that matter to lure. But trends over the past few years have shown an increase in the maturity of the voter, which certainly has been boosted by the democratic fabric of the nation.

Despite the doomed picture, especially of the political framework of the country, as presented in news media, it is heartening in comparison to many nations of the world. India thankfully is no Syria or Libya, or for that matter the middle east, where dictators fuelled by oil rule the roost with religion as the plank. India thankfully isn’t North Korea or Russia or for that matter the dragon China where communism is the mask of exploitation, throttling of free choice and widespread nepotism. India thankfully is not the score of African nations where private militias call the shots. And certainly not a Pakistan.

India for that matter is thankfully not the US where bipartisan politics, even though working successfully, leaves less choice and limits greater diversification of ideas. India also thankfully isn’t the UK, with a money guzzling monarchy at the top of the ladder. The Indian elephant might take many more years to match the development scale of these nations at its slow pace, but certainly it enjoys more freedom to roam about. There are plenty of ills, waiting to be eradicated, but at least in the electoral scenario, democracy, since the birth of the nation, has provided more goods.

In this regard the focus of pressure groups outside the ‘system’, be it NGO’s or the Anna team or any such group, should be to strengthen this democracy. The call for inclusion for none-of-the-above column is a welcome step, however imparting education and motivating more and more number of people especially the urban population to vote should be carried on with fervour. Democracy can be strengthened with increased participation, and increased participation can be induced with simplifying the rules and regulations that govern voting. The disenchantment of the youth with political scenario needs to be addressed.

It is convenient to crib about the system or the lack of it. Fault finding is a task that is carried out almost sub consciously about nearly everything that is around us. A take home message from the recent election results and a few prior to it should make us look at our democracy with optimism. Because amidst all the pessimism lies the fact that, this Indian voter, despite all the travails, can choose his representative, can accept cash and kind from one party and not vote for it, can overthrow a corrupt regime, can bring back a performing government and in doing all so drive the juggernaut of democracy.

OSCAR 2012 – Predictions

Its Oscar time again. Tomorrow morning (early on 27^th Feb in India) the biggest Hollywood event will unveil last years’ stalwarts in various aspects of movie making. The Oscars, despite all its detractors, still remain the most famed certification for movies.

And it so happens each year that the Oscar fever rises only after the nominations is announced. Movies, unheard of until then are downloaded and viewed. Whether Oscars make a movie famous or a famous movie makes it to Oscar are two sides of the same coin.

Nine movies have been nominated for Best Movie. They are: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse. 

I have on the penultimate of the Oscars completed viewing all the movies. A few of them I had watched a few months earlier.

They are as disparate and diverse as it can get. A silent and black and white movie (The Artist), a contemporary family drama (The Descendants), a 9/11 story (Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close), a movie on the colored nannies (The Help). Then there is one on grit of a young boy (Hugo) by Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen’s take on a dreamy yesteryear take (Midnight in Paris), a movie on baseball’s tryst with money (MoneyBall), Terence Malick’s tangential abstract (The Tree of Life) and Spielberg’s war movie centered around a horse (War Horse).

The individual movies in a nutshell:

The Artist: Jean Dujardin plays a silent movie artist who is unable to deal and cope with the advent of change in movie. With no dialogues and being a black and white movie, it stands apart. The actor is a serious contender for the Best Actor category.

The Descendants: George Clooney plays the father role perfectly with the highlight of the movie being the father-daughter relationship. The transition in the emotions of the family over the death of Clooney’s wife has been portrayed beautifully in a contemporary set up.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close: One of the two Oscar nominations which has a child artist as a protagonist. Though it is to be noted that The Descendants, The Tree of Life, and The Descendants do have important child actor roles. How a child copes up with the loss of his father on 9/11, his relation with his mother and how they come to peace with it is portrayed in the movie.

The Help: A movie on the colored nannies which formed an important part of an American home has strong character sketches in the movie. Violet Davies role has been critically acclaimed.

Hugo: Martin Scorsese has given us a movie with a child protagonist and has used special effects to perfection in a grand portray of clock and early movie making. It is a movie which deals with travails of an orphan and his grit in finding answers which helps an early movie maker find his lost answers.

Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen is back with what he does best, portraying characters strongly and he does that this time in a medieval set up. With his characteristic background scores, Midnight in Paris is an interesting watch, though a little prior knowledge on Hemmingway could help.

Moneyball: A movie on baseball and the money involved in it is shown in the movie, especially how calculations and mathematics has taken over instincts and traditional knowledge in selection of players. Brad Pitt’s angry manager role is portrayed beautifully.

The Tree of Life: It could not get more abstract than this. With camera work and cinematography reaching great heights, it is a movie on Life in a bigger scheme, shown in a family’s handling a death in the family. It is more an arty a movie and palatable for serious movie watchers. 

War Horse: Steven Spielberg’s war movie, which revolves around a horse and shows the World War on both sides. Many sub plots of the movie disparate in their own means works perfectly in the end for the movie.

For a successfully movie, there has to be many ‘moments’ in the movie which uplift it. There are plenty of them in the above mentioned movies.

The climax scene of The Artist where Dujarin wants to kill himself, German and American soldiers helping the horse to get out in War Horse, the love portrayed in Midnight in Paris, Brad Pitt’s dinner table scenes in Tree of Life, the father-daughter interactions in The Descendants, the outburst in The Help, and the list is a long one.

We come to the pivotal question. Which movie will be crowned the Best Movie in less than 24 hours?

Every movie could be a winner. They have the potential. The factors which could work for them are: the ‘different’ movies like The Artist and The Tree of Life, one silent, black and white and the other abstract. Contemporary family drama in The Descendants. America’s turnaround moment 9/11 in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and its past, not so glorious, in The Help. Grit and reforming ending in Hugo. Dreamy movie making in Midnight in Paris. Another obsession of US, baseball, in Moneyball. Movie making reaching nadir in The Tree of Life and a trusted Oscar formula, world war, in War Horse.

If I am to put my money on a movie, with a lot of apprehension, I would go with – Hugo !

Best Director: The Artist, The Descendants, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, The Tree of Life. My Guess: Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris

Best Actor: Demián Bichir, George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt. My guess: Jean Dujardin for The Artist.