I am in Bhubaneswar, and met old colleagues at XIM campus. I started my Indian teaching career at XIMB. Therefore there is a sense of deja vu. I have a session to take at a research methodology workshop at another university tomorrow. This city is really lovely and modern looking now. In 1991-92, there were only around 30 autorickshaws in the town. And it used to be a small town, with only one traffic light, and almost no traffic.
It is still very green. But the IT sector has come in, with big buildings housing the firms. Roads are wide, clean and well-maintained.
Last two days, met Shailaja, a childhood friend from Singareni Collieries twenty years ago, and some IIM batchmates who live in Mumbai. In all, a great sense of the bygone days came back. Memories are always golden-hued. And why not?
Kurosawa and Woody Allen
It is rare for me to watch two movies in a day these days. I did it a few times during college days. In a day, I had once seen three Hindi films- and survived. But this weekend was different. I saw a Kurosawa film, Red Beard, followed by a Woody Allen film- Take the Money and Run. Both as different as chalk and cheese- or wine and single malt, but each completely engrossing.
Kurosawa is an acclaimed Japanese director known for his prelude to The Magnificent Seven and eventually, Sholay in its Indian avatar. Seven Samurai. But Red Beard is an incredible film. It is three hours long, and apparently, as its cassette cover describes it, about a young doctor posted in a rural clinic while dreaming of a plush job elsewhere. But that description does no justice at all to the film, and the guy who wrote it must have been blind, or of a low IQ. You will rarely see a movie so rich, multi-layered, and making its point with such little drama- understated in all its finery. The drama is in its simplicity, and the stories within the main story- the one described on the CD cover. It is about life in all its shades- gray, white and black. Of love, betrayal, poverty, lack of medical care, dedication of a single doctor who serves the poor, medical ethics, grace in death, confidences kept till the death bed, and lots more. It is difficult to describe it, actually. In short, great cinema.
Take the Money and Run is a breezy, self-deprecating comedy in typical Woody Allen style, about a bumbling bank robber and his wife. Enjoyable, and good fun to watch.
Kurosawa is an acclaimed Japanese director known for his prelude to The Magnificent Seven and eventually, Sholay in its Indian avatar. Seven Samurai. But Red Beard is an incredible film. It is three hours long, and apparently, as its cassette cover describes it, about a young doctor posted in a rural clinic while dreaming of a plush job elsewhere. But that description does no justice at all to the film, and the guy who wrote it must have been blind, or of a low IQ. You will rarely see a movie so rich, multi-layered, and making its point with such little drama- understated in all its finery. The drama is in its simplicity, and the stories within the main story- the one described on the CD cover. It is about life in all its shades- gray, white and black. Of love, betrayal, poverty, lack of medical care, dedication of a single doctor who serves the poor, medical ethics, grace in death, confidences kept till the death bed, and lots more. It is difficult to describe it, actually. In short, great cinema.
Take the Money and Run is a breezy, self-deprecating comedy in typical Woody Allen style, about a bumbling bank robber and his wife. Enjoyable, and good fun to watch.
Journalese
Journalistic language is full of cliches which makes news boring to read. Is there a compulsion to use certain words, or are all journalists given a limited-word dictionary to use? Or their editors?
Why is it that the Finance Minister always "mops up" a few thousand crores from his new tax? Can't he simply add to his kitty (which he also does, sometimes, because that's another cliche). Why are politicians always on a "whirlwind" tour of their constituencies, and why is "security tightened in view of a warning from intelligence agencies"? If it's already tight, does security get strangled by further tightening?
Why does CBI always have to "grill" a suspect, as if he is a piece of chicken, or other grillable commodity? Can't they simply do a normal interrogation? Why does the Supreme court only "lambast" or "come down heavily" on the government? Can it not simply ask them for an explanation in a civilised manner?
Why does the Sensex always "crash" and not lose its weight, or simply come down? Why are festivals celebrated with "gusto" all over the country, and why do opposition leaders always "lambast" the budget presented by their opposition-the ruling party? Can't they just criticise it, for once?
More questions than answers.
Why is it that the Finance Minister always "mops up" a few thousand crores from his new tax? Can't he simply add to his kitty (which he also does, sometimes, because that's another cliche). Why are politicians always on a "whirlwind" tour of their constituencies, and why is "security tightened in view of a warning from intelligence agencies"? If it's already tight, does security get strangled by further tightening?
Why does CBI always have to "grill" a suspect, as if he is a piece of chicken, or other grillable commodity? Can't they simply do a normal interrogation? Why does the Supreme court only "lambast" or "come down heavily" on the government? Can it not simply ask them for an explanation in a civilised manner?
Why does the Sensex always "crash" and not lose its weight, or simply come down? Why are festivals celebrated with "gusto" all over the country, and why do opposition leaders always "lambast" the budget presented by their opposition-the ruling party? Can't they just criticise it, for once?
More questions than answers.
Caricatures
In Hindi films, one of the best caricatures has been that of a South Indian played by Mehmood. I am of course, referring to the movie Padosan, known for its chartbusting songs by R.D. Burman too. The film is held together by the Mehmood character, who is an innocent dance and music teacher. What brought great delight to the audience was the politically incorrect but hilarious Tamil accent he brought to the role, a landmark caricature.
The common man caricature, was done well by Amol Palekar in several movies. The drunkard, by Keshto Mukherjee, as also by Amitabh Bachchan in a couple of films. There was an Oriya character played by an actor in Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar ke which was also very good. Lalita Pawar played a quintessential Indian mother-in-law, as did Nirupa Roy, the mother. These were real stereotypes played by the actors so well, that they became embedded as a caricature. The police inspector from Jagdish Raj, the Commissioner played by Iftikhar, all turned into a sort of pseudo-reality of their respective characters, and the audiences lapped them up. The village belle was one such, played by variious actresses over the years, but always a ghagra-choli clad, over-the-top, or overly innocent character with full-blown make-up from L'Oreal.
The villains and the dons over the years played by Prem Chopra, Pran, Manmohan, Ajit, and so on, were also exaggerated with mannerisms giving them an identity, topped by the tobacco chewing Gabbar Singh, for a change in military fatigues instead of a dhoti and kurta. Not to foregt the original 'item girls', the gangster's molls, singing "Maar diya jaaye ya chhod diya jaye". Even modern urban characters are frequently exaggerated, like the TV reporter, or advertising executive, or night club crooner. Until realism came into (some) films, actually, every character was in a way, a caricature of the role being played, and this happened even more in some of the regional cinema, like Tamil and Telugu for example.
The common man caricature, was done well by Amol Palekar in several movies. The drunkard, by Keshto Mukherjee, as also by Amitabh Bachchan in a couple of films. There was an Oriya character played by an actor in Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar ke which was also very good. Lalita Pawar played a quintessential Indian mother-in-law, as did Nirupa Roy, the mother. These were real stereotypes played by the actors so well, that they became embedded as a caricature. The police inspector from Jagdish Raj, the Commissioner played by Iftikhar, all turned into a sort of pseudo-reality of their respective characters, and the audiences lapped them up. The village belle was one such, played by variious actresses over the years, but always a ghagra-choli clad, over-the-top, or overly innocent character with full-blown make-up from L'Oreal.
The villains and the dons over the years played by Prem Chopra, Pran, Manmohan, Ajit, and so on, were also exaggerated with mannerisms giving them an identity, topped by the tobacco chewing Gabbar Singh, for a change in military fatigues instead of a dhoti and kurta. Not to foregt the original 'item girls', the gangster's molls, singing "Maar diya jaaye ya chhod diya jaye". Even modern urban characters are frequently exaggerated, like the TV reporter, or advertising executive, or night club crooner. Until realism came into (some) films, actually, every character was in a way, a caricature of the role being played, and this happened even more in some of the regional cinema, like Tamil and Telugu for example.
India Beats Someone
At last, India beat someone convincingly, with a somewhat large margin. But what a comedown from 1983, when we were absolutely majestic in all matches. including the one with the West Indies-the final. Our current team seems to have an overdose of stars, and that may be its problem. Everyone is a major star, and yet the team falls short of performance when it counts.
A major contrast so far has been Pakistan, with almost unknown names, barring one or two ageing heroes. Just out of a match-fixing scandal involving half their team, and yet, on the field, working as a team. Throwing up surprises, beating the champions reasonably convincingly.
I have no idea why, but I get the feeling that these guys don't prepare well. That they assume they know everything. Like the famous dialogue in The Party, where Peter Sellers, playing an Indian who creates mayhem as an uninvited guest at a Hollywood party, answering a lady who asks him "What do you THINK you are doing?", replies with scorn, "We Indians don't think what we are doing. We KNOW what we are doing.". Well, let's hope these guys know what they are doing. Or find out fast.
A major contrast so far has been Pakistan, with almost unknown names, barring one or two ageing heroes. Just out of a match-fixing scandal involving half their team, and yet, on the field, working as a team. Throwing up surprises, beating the champions reasonably convincingly.
I have no idea why, but I get the feeling that these guys don't prepare well. That they assume they know everything. Like the famous dialogue in The Party, where Peter Sellers, playing an Indian who creates mayhem as an uninvited guest at a Hollywood party, answering a lady who asks him "What do you THINK you are doing?", replies with scorn, "We Indians don't think what we are doing. We KNOW what we are doing.". Well, let's hope these guys know what they are doing. Or find out fast.
Faking It
The world is "maya" or make-believe. Or, as Shakespeare chose to put it, All the world is a Stage, and we are players. Therefore, we should not be making a big fuss about a few fake pilots. In fact, I would propose that we have fake doctors, lawyers, Supreme Court judges, Parliament, Corporates, Universities and so on. The imagination boggles at the extent to which the 'fakedom' (only rhymes with sheikhdom, but otherwise an unrelated concept) can go.
Most of our worldly problems can be solved if we 'just fake it'. Sorry, Nike, and Pfizer (for different reasons). We can have fake crops, and fake crop insurance. Imagine how much money can be saved. If we even have fake supermarkets, we don't have to argue about allowing FDI (foreign direct investment for those who don't read the papers) in the retail sector- Carre fours and Carry Fives can all have a ball. Precious amounts of time, ink (in the print media) and airtime (on TV) can be saved, thereby keeping everyone cool, and not warm. Goodbye, global warming.
Fake aeroplanes can also be given to fake pilots, and the rest of us can use 3G mobile phones to conduct our business from our homes. By the way, we were supposed to have paperless offices and virtual video-conferencing to replace physical visits, so why hasn't it happened? We could actually have fake notes in circulation officially, because investment advisers have been selling so-called derivatives for so many years, with only a mirage of collateral to back it up. It may also save us the effort of distinguishing between white and black money, or trying to lug it across oceans from the vaults of faraway banks into India.
Finally, let's have fake nuclear plants, so that real people are not endangered when they decide to go 'boom'.
Most of our worldly problems can be solved if we 'just fake it'. Sorry, Nike, and Pfizer (for different reasons). We can have fake crops, and fake crop insurance. Imagine how much money can be saved. If we even have fake supermarkets, we don't have to argue about allowing FDI (foreign direct investment for those who don't read the papers) in the retail sector- Carre fours and Carry Fives can all have a ball. Precious amounts of time, ink (in the print media) and airtime (on TV) can be saved, thereby keeping everyone cool, and not warm. Goodbye, global warming.
Fake aeroplanes can also be given to fake pilots, and the rest of us can use 3G mobile phones to conduct our business from our homes. By the way, we were supposed to have paperless offices and virtual video-conferencing to replace physical visits, so why hasn't it happened? We could actually have fake notes in circulation officially, because investment advisers have been selling so-called derivatives for so many years, with only a mirage of collateral to back it up. It may also save us the effort of distinguishing between white and black money, or trying to lug it across oceans from the vaults of faraway banks into India.
Finally, let's have fake nuclear plants, so that real people are not endangered when they decide to go 'boom'.
Sharad Joshi's Satire
For lovers of Sharad Joshi's satire please look up the following link -Hindi, audio.
http://www.esnips.com/web/Vyang---Hindi---Shard-Joshi/
He's outrageously funny, in the tradition of haasya kavis. I first heard him in the early eighties, and loved his act.
http://www.esnips.com/web/Vyang---Hindi---Shard-Joshi/
He's outrageously funny, in the tradition of haasya kavis. I first heard him in the early eighties, and loved his act.
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