The silence of happiness

The most enchanting line, I have ever read in a book, remains “ I shall never forget the day, my father took me, to the graveyard, of forgotten books..”

Memory fails me(quite often it seems, nowadays) and the title remains, not even on the fringes of my tongue..

But, it forced me to think, how true, the allegory is. Fact is, most of us shall end, no matter how valiantly we fight against it, nameless stats in the census that a government shall take, sometime in the future.

I would even argue, that our greatest fear, and cause for discontent, and anger, remains the thought, that someday, we too shall lie, unmourned and unremarked. Underground and unloved.( both words show up as errors in WORD™)

Unless you’re a hindu of course..

I see around me, people lining up, to make that JUMPstart to their careers, “stay ahead of the competition”, “earn that 6 Lakhs per annum” minimum salary, get into that “TOP INSTI machan!!”, get into that “fortune 500 Company dude, that’s something you know”..

And know what, maybe most of them are genuinely happy at getting those things. But somehow, somewhere, the impression I get, is that more than the elation of success, it’s the crushing blow of failure, that seems to occupy the minds, most of the time.

What’s really at stake here? A house? A car? Jet setting status? A trophy wife/husband? Or, your ego/ability/inability, to get those things, while people around you, are getting those?

Sad fact is, I see people treating the above, as the end, rather than the means to an end..

The greatest line for me, in Fight Club, is when Brad Pitt’s character says-
“ your life is worth more than the last column in your pass book”.

Maybe that’s why, we tend to remember the guys,who challenged our notions of what happiness is.. you know the conversation-“ can you believe it? That guy Left his mit seat, to join some ashram somewhere..MIT!!!!” , or “ how a person could leave a 7 figure salary, MNC job, to come back home, is beyond me, you know..”

Somewhere underneath that veneer of skepticism, is the reluctant acknowledge, that that person is a reminder of our own personal failure, to breathe life, into our dreams..

Despite all the “ BOOMING ECONOMY©®” talk, I also see a mushrooming of psychologists and Lifestyle gurus.. you would think that a job/car/house/wife/jetsetting would do(maybe not in that order).. maybe not..

I remember this dialogue from before sunrise, where Julie delpy’s character says.-“ people with the greatest ability to change the world, often remain silent and we stay ignorant of their ways. Which is a good thing, cos once they come back into this world, they become part of it” or words to that effect..

I have many dreams.. seeing Gangotri once, before it melts away forever, seeing St. Peter’s church, going to Jerusalem, learning Aryan Sanskrit, to read our epics and texts, the way they were written, learning to speak in atleast 6 languages, write a poem in Tamil someday(yeah, scoff all you want), working with VALVE or Rockstar in my lifetime..

Atleast, I am aware that these are things that I truly want. But I fear that they make look at the world, not see it.

I cannot honestly say that I know what the joy of a delicious meal is, because I have never faced starvation. I do not know loneliness, because I am yet to enter a place full of strangers, I do not know the solutions to the world’s problems, because I do not know what it’s problems are.

I do not know what’s wrong with me, because I cannot pretend I know myself completely.

I think that we have restrained ourselves, in the chains of expectations, to drown our happiness, in the sea of dreams..

I cannot hear the call of happiness.. but I do not know, if I have turned deaf, to the sound of my inner self.

all i know is, nothing.

Likhe Jo Khat Tujhe

To

My friends, wherever they are

Hi y’all

Another vacation is upon me.. but sadly, it is the last one, in the next 3 years. So, I intend to laze around, and make it as unproductive as possible. Of course, being me, that won’t take much effort.

In the grand tradition of all the students, of seasons past, and seasons to come, hols are the perfect opportunity, to catch up on all the movies that you miss while college is on.

I have been averaging around 3 flicks a day.. I am not complaining at all, but my mom is already budgeting the cost of my next, MORE POWERFUL spectacles.

I caught up on Don(no comments please,,,) and vivah.. now that is a movie which is a brilliant example of identifying your core target audience, and catering to them, unabashedly.

It is structured to tug at the hearts and the hands holding the handkerchiefs, of the Bhabhis and saas, across the hindi heartland. While I did not think too highly of it, it remains an ok, watchable film. But word of caution, don’t watch it with the female of the species.. you run the risk of being labeled “ Insensitive”, when you cant help sniggering at several sequences.

I did not think too much of Dhoom2. it remains an expensive, yet thoughtless imitation of several movies which we have committed to memory. And it baffles me, how a skinny bones Ash, can become an object of admiration.. watchable on DVD or Tv, when it comes out.. that’s my opinion..

Gonna catch up on Casino royale this week.

I heard the music of Guru.. as usual, for a Rehman score, you have to grow close to it.. but it is def one of his best scores to date.. 4 and a half thumbs to Mani and A.R.

And for literature, I read Jude the Obscure.. I would recommend this book to anyone, wishing to be a journo or a writer, not because the writing is brilliant, but because I think, that the book is a work of courage.

Let me explain. Thomas hardy wrote it in the 19^th century. The book deals with failed marriage, divorce, marriage between cousins, separation from the church, searing dismissal of the papal doctrines of leading life, child murder and adultery.

Now, imagine writing all this, in today’s times... there would be a parliamentary inquiry, and the book would be banned.. TV channels would have material for their talk shows for a month and so on..

Now, hardy wrote it in 19^th Century, and braved the cold shoulders of the church, the parliament, and ostracism by his peers. As a favor to the publisher, he modified the ending, to show that JUDE, an immoral man, by society’s standards( a point that is debatable, which is the essence of the book), must suffer, as “ Wickedness must be punished!” sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Apart from that, I have been reading a 7 part volume, called the Krishna Avatara, by K.L. Munshi.

It is a practical take, on how the legend of shri Krishna could have come about. It also offers information, that we generally do not get, as most of us, have only grown up on 3 interpretations of Ved Vyasa’s Mahabharata and the Vishnu Purana.

I recommend reading it, for those interested in reading about Indian mythologies.

In other news, I watched the Lok Sabha session today, for a change. While the behaviour of the Honourable Members has not improved a lot, I was very impressed by the arguments, put forth by Shrimati Sushila Mahajan( I think that was the name), who raised the issue of inflation, in the house at 5in the evening, when the parliament was empty.

While her points would merit a whole post, I will stick to the last point she made, to Mr. Sharad Pawar, who was also present.

She wanted to know, why, a government, which pays it’s farmers, only 700 per quintal of wheat, and had tonnes rotting away in storage, paid a huge sum, of around 1100 per quintal of wheat, from Australia, to feed the same farmers!!

Mr. Pawar’s mind was noticeably elsewhere( might I suggest, that he was preparing for interviews on ganguly’s return, to the team?)

A scandal of massive proportions, is being ignored by all, in the wake of a delayed sanju judgement, and shibu soren’s conviction.. which exposes BJP’s hypocrisy, as JMM was part of NDA once..

and i am disgusted with a news media, that has more airtime for Aishwarya's Kundali and Sanjay Dutt's judgement, and little on the increasing deforestation in tribal areas( save for the Hindu) and the rise in personal Loans to foreigns Banks.. trust me, that is heading us on the Argentinian way, yet not a whimper of concern, from our Economic experts..

Well, that’s about all I have done thus far.. what have you been upto? Do keep me updated on what’s going on..

Catch up with ya later..

Bye

archith

a century ago

some very significant things, that took place, a hundred years ago:

• Britain finally adopted an Indian Standard Time.. thus setting into motion, a century long struggle, for the college student, to arrive in class, on TIME
• Rolls Royce was officially registered.. and true beauty and snobbishness, made a graceful merger, a long long time, after cleopatra's passing away( AHH! What a pretty nose!)
• The Great Earthquake of San Francisco, happened. and i am not such an inhuman beast, to make a triviality, of such a tragedy.
• the first Phonographic Player, called the Victorola, was manufactured. think of it as the first steps of man, before he WALK(man)ed away, to the gradens to music, to pluck the delicate (I) Pods
• SOS was internationally adopted as a distress call.. and dolphins were laughing, at how, despite all our so called " Intelligence", the only language, on the high seas, were CLICKS
• the first Commercial feature film, called " the story of the Kelly Gang" was released. and thus, people unfit for any other decent job, suddenly found themselves, fully occupied and paid, for not doing anything noteworthy, but just bitch in general. we also call them Movie Critics..
• The All India Muslim League was formed. and so, Sunny Deol could, ninety years later, make a comeback, and shout his lungs out, and indian music composers no longer had to feel guilty about lifting western music. oh, and we became a nation of great batsmen..

much thanks to wiki, for making this possible..

A Civil Right Part 1

Well, this post is strictly aimed at a very niche junta.. I know that most of you might feel this post is not worth your while, to go through, so go ahead and skip this. This is serious fanboy stuff here.

Now, ordinarily, being the only guy in my class, who actively spends hours online, to keep track with what the comic book industry is dishing out these days( I think), I am accustomed to being the outcast.

So yeah, I did identify with Peter Parker and ilk, way back in school. Which resonates with most comic geeks, I know.

And being in India, was a toughie, as the DC and Marvel issues we got in libraries, were old stuff. I mean , I even read an old issue, with the 1^st appearance of Superboy in it.

That issue is now worth a cool 50K $, but I never told my librarian that.. anyways, I was on the verge of quitting on comics for good. Cos most stories were meting out the same thing over and over again. I had also almost quit on Bruce Wayne, when they healed his broken back overnight, and Peter Parker, when the awful Clone saga started.

So, till 2003, I kept in touch with the continuity, intermittently, but still, querying FTP servers, for old issues.

But last 3 years, saw a renaissance of sorts. First off, I think Jim Lee is the best thing to happen to comics, since Frank Miller. I fell in love with Selina Kyle, again( for like 3^rd time), after reading HUSH.

I seriously recommend it to people, who aren’t remotely interested in comics, to go through it, for the artwork alone.

Then, Marvel unleashed the powerful, gripping House of M. I mean the characterization was on the lines of what we read, in good novels. And for once, a big crossover, had a serious repercussion on the comic universe( after 84, when the Crisis on Infinite Earths, wiped out BILLIONS of people).

I mean, the biggest change was, that the mutants, were down to a real MINORITY for a long long time.

Then, DC came up with the Infinite Crisis, which has thankfully removed all the darkness that had crept into the comics industry. Face it, most children wouldn’t feel right, reading the stories that were written upto 2004.

And now DC has 52 which is slowly unfolding into a beautiful piece of comic storytelling.

But, now back to the relevance to the photo on top. Read part 2 below..