It is Elementary Stuff

The childhood is spent in unraveling the mysteries around us, and thus a detective story appeals to us most at that age. Famous Five, Secret Seven, Three Investigators, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and so on. As one grows out of these you have Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle, with the legendary characters they created - Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes. Before I read about these gentlemen in the books, thanks to the DoorDarshan, was able to watch the mysteries being solved by them live on television on Sunday afternoons. DD also used to serve Indian detective stories - Karamchand to be followed by Byomkesh Bakshi in Hindi, Ek Shunya Shunya in Marathi, Tuppagirum Sambu in Tamil, and it was all fascinating. So, when I happened to see the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes at a discounted price, I picked it up instantaneously. Little I realized the surprise in store. Reading the mystery stories (both the short one, and the novels) of Sherlock Holmes, I uncovered the following pattern:

• The story would start with Sherlock Holmes making some out-of-the-way comments about either Watson or the client, like "you are from Afghanistan" or "you left your window open". And each time, his friend Watson would be astounded, and Sherlock Holmes will give a detailed account of how he did it
• In between the mystery, Watson and Holmes will be separated, and Watson will make a summary of the mystery so far
• And the most boring part of all, and a fact common to all detective fiction, at the end of it the culprit will give his own long story, and naturally aided by some additional information from Sherlock.

Conan Doyle, through his character Holmes, states that human mind is trained to come to a conclusion using a train of thoughts, however, it is very difficult for the mind to uncover the facts when given the concluding state. Brilliant indeed. And thus, all fiction writers start from the end, and build the mystery for the reader. Since the author knows that he/she cannot reveal everything about the mystery, the end result is the end filled with a long confession by the culprit.

What makes Sherlock Holmes maybe stand apart from the others in the same genre is his human infallibility, when he admits to his defeat in four cases, one of them being a woman Irene Adler.

Thus it might be elementary, but is immensely interesting.

The Future is Here

Thanks to my friend Anto, learnt something new today - UMPC (Ulta Mobile Pocket Computer). This cool looking gadget will be the future of handheld, hopefully replacing so many things in the pocket - music pod, handheld, eBookReader, movie viewer, gaming console and phone. This project has received lot of support from intel, microsoft (origami) and apple. Some hardware, notably Samsung's Q1, are already available in the market. To watch a video on UMPC, go here. And to really know the latest, navigate to OnlyUMPC or use the link in the left hand side. The Future is Here, and it sure looks fun. (Now when am I getting my iPod? Hmmm ...)

Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Oh ... yeah, the movie of yesteryears, Shashi Kapoor and more than him Zeenat. Raj Kapoor's movie at his daring best, with Zeenat wearing kinda clothes, our latest item number gals would shy away from. Zeenat, I believe, had one more asset, she acted well too ! Hmmm, I know all the feminists would be up in arms for the lines above, but the purpose of this introduction is to introduce another movie - Anbe Sivam. Before I jump the gun, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, means "Truth and God - Both are Beautiful", a nice theme brilliantly told by Raj Kapoor. Kamal Hassan tries a different truth in the movie Anbe Sivam along with Madhavan. Anbe Sivam, literally means Love God. However, the strong undercurrent of the movie points to the fact that "every human being is God, so love fellow human beings". When the mandate is to love people, no wonder capitalists are the villains. Kamal portrays, a card carrying communist, who does street plays to rally workers against industry captains (especially Nasser, who is also the father of the heroine), who refuses to increase the salary of Rs. 910 a month. I remember the controversy when this movie was released and Kamal was questioned for his socialist leanings. Kamal ends the movie brilliantly. No, he does not marry the industrialist's daughter. Yes, Maddy who begins the movie as a neo-liberal, educated and look-down-on-poverty kinda guys transforms into a person who respects and loves men around him. And yes, the movie has leftist ideas, but above all a good story and a universal message. Anbe Sivam has been written and scripted by Kamal, and the first half of the movie, has many a hilarious encounters with Maddy. The songs by Vidya Sagar are just awesome. Vairamuthu, deserves a special mention here, as the lyrics of each song, are very relevant to the story and have that magical quality, which transforms the sweet music into nectar for the ears. Would urge you to watch it, if you have not; to revisit it, if you have; the way I did and emerge from the experience with that euphoric feeling of "love thy neighbor's".

Thank You for Smoking ...

This movie has a great title (ref my previous post on movie titles), and looking at the storyline, might actually be a good movie. I wonder how the Indian Health Minister would react to this title - He was the one who has imposed a new diktat on all TV Channels that any smoking scene on TV should be accompanied with a written health warning below. MTv is in soup for failing to comply, and other who are not, are in soup, trying to comply. When I started smoking, I had just passed the teens (unlike the majority who start early). That time, I was with Cadburys; among my sales officer colleagues, shark-like distributors and street-smart salesmen, I was the youngest and as later events would prove dumbest. The cigarette then proved a good excuse to be macho, to mix freely with the big boys and was the expression of the freedom. It was an excuse to blow the good money I was makin, and maybe also a culmination of the craving generated by the celluloid heroes - all those men with their guns and their cigarettes. There have been all these frivlous reasons to start, and I am aware of all the numerous good reasons to stop. Yes, 'tis time to stop. Addicted as I am to this roll of paper carring tobacco, it is so goddamn difficult, even to think of stopping this seriously. So, am not thankful, I am Sorry for Smoking. Time to stop now ... Ohh, Nana is calling me, let me go have a quick puff and be back in jiffy.

Hazaron Filmein Aisi

Yesterday tea time was marked with a debate about the exact title of the recent movie - Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi (Means "Thousands of desires like this"). I have not seen this movie, heard 'tis good, and maybe would see it soon. However, what's the most appealing about this movie is its title. The title lends itself to endless imaginations, and hopefully the movie would be a justice to all that. Such movie titles, old or new, English or not, have always kindled me in a quest to imagine the story line, dream the dialogues, and then see the movie, to do a reality check. "A Streetcar named Desire" makes me desirous to see the movie as much as "Born on the Fourth of July". Knowing Oliver Stone, this must be a treat. Will slot these two for this weekend, and hopefully the neighborhood store "DVD World" will oblige me. A movie with a nice and long title is the Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb", and this one is a must watch for those who believe humour can't be satirized. In tamil, I have always wondered about the movie - "Silla Nerratil, Silla Manidhargal (Some times, Some People)", "Alaigal Oyivadhillay (Waves never stop)" or "Ninaithalay Innikum (So Sweet is the Memory)". Have not seen any of them, but a movie title in a similar vein is "Varimai Niram Sigappu (Poverty's color is Red)" and that was a classic Kamal movie, and is so left leaning that it turns out all right. "Do Aankhen, Barah Haath (Two eyes, Twelve Hands)", "Jaane Bhee Do Yaaron (Let it go, friends)", "Door gagan kee chaon mein (In the distant shade beneath the sky)" and "Yadon Ki Baraat (Marriage procession of memories)" are some movies in Hindi, which have great titles, and again I have not seen half of them. Which brings us to the next question - Hazaron Filmein Aisi (Thousands of films like these), and we are just scratching the surface. Time to pay a visit to the "DVD World" now ... NOW !

Rang De India

Wil start with a confession - This is the second movie, I have seen four times in a theater, and that too in sucessive weeks. The other movie, which shares the proud spot with RDB is Vaali, a tamil movie, which for me always was and is about Simran and nothing else. So, Rang De Basanti (IMDB link here) reflects personally on me as I have moved from issues skin deep to ideas which live deep with in. RDB to has a fantastic score by Rahman, and lyrics by Prasoon Joshi (the admaker in McKaan who made the Thanda Matlab CocaCola) . The story is good, and the way present has been intermingled with the past, puts the future in extremely good light. Aamir Khan has done it again, making his presence felt, while leaving a huge space for his co-stars to sparkle. And sparkle they do, especially Siddharth, who fits the role like a glove, and has played his part brilliantly. Hey did I mention this before? Prasoon had mailed me back (after the euphoric mail I had written to him for his lyrics and story) and was thankful that we spared some time for the movie. We should. Endpiece: Amul advertsing has always kept pace with the times, and have always managed to satirize the recent happening in a way that it doubles up to market their butter too. Here is what they said about RDB:

'Che' Guevara

Che Guevera (more on him here) was the foremost revolutionary of the 20th century, who lived and died by his ideals. His picture, with his flowing beard is the most reproduced picture in the world, appearing on t-shirts, posters and wherever free spirit is celebrated and respected. Well, I have liked and admired Che now for a long time. So, it was with great anticipation i approached two subjects in the recent days - one, a biography of Che by Jorge G. Castaneda (Amazon link here)and two, the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" based on Che's bike trip when he was 24 years old (IMDB link here). The book is good, and readable, especially if you are young and fired up with revolutionary ideas. Just one word of caution. There are many biographies of Che, and I am sure this is not the best one. The writer, who is an accomplished academician, tends to go off on tangents and at the heart of the matter; he is not a good story-teller, which is what one has to be when writing a biography as opposed to research thesis. Motorcycle Diaries on the other hand is a must watch, even if one lives and swears by capitalist ideals. The movie sets out to unravel the formative stages of Che, and to uncover the making of the legend. The movie is all about youth, about exploring your native land before setting off to foreign soils (maybe a subtle lesson for the Indian IT pros here) and most of all, the story is summed up in its tagline - Let the world change you... and you can change the world So mark this movie in you "To be watched" list, I am sure you will enjoy it more in a DVD with all those nice extra features, as much as I did.