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September 26, 2007
The Ram Sethu controversy!
I was performing my religious rites for my father’s 2nd death anniversary at Rameshwaram on 23rd . And hence lost track about what our Tamil Nadu Chief Minister said about Ram Sethu bridge sitting at Chennai. The issue is simple – Hindu mythology says Lord Ram constructed a bridge using Vanar Sena to reach Sri Lanka to bring back her kidnapped wife. The remnant of bridge, which exists today seem to create some problems for ship navigation. If this Ram Sethu construction is broken the traveling time could be saved. Now the choice is between religion and economy or rather faith and money!
Karunanidhi’s argument is scientific. What is the proof that Lord Rama existed? And what is the proof that the bridge was built by Lord Rama? There is no proof at all. That way there is no proof for existence of any God. Then why don’t we break all the place of religious interests, and make roads for better transport? In fact a couple of years back there wasn’t any proof even to know who your father was, that doesn’t mean that we were all bastards. We had to accept what our mothers said. We need to accept few things, even when there is no scientific proof for now – that is what faith is all about.
Thirukural - supposedly written by Thiruvalluvar is a book of 1330 poems written few 1000 years ago. Those poems are displayed on all government buses and is a must portion for Tamil students. DMK supports its presence wholeheartedly. There is no scientific proof for it either. Tamil scholars say – it is still debatable about in which period Thiruvalluvar existed, or whether it was a work of a single man or a group of people.
Kannagi, a Tamil mythological character, is believed to have burnt the whole of Madurai by plucking her left breast using her hand, and throwing it away cursing the city. The story says that her single breast destroyed the whole of Madurai. This Kannagi is the same person whose statue was removed from Merina Beach during JJ’s period - to facilitate traffic. And the same DMK made a huge hue and cry, till DMK came into power. And the first thing DMK did was to reinstate Kannagi’s statue at the same place. Now how scientific is it - burning a huge city with a single breast!!
Whether Ram existed or not is not the question here. It is about my personal faith on my own religion. And none has the right to hurt my religious sentiments. Ram could be a North Indian, point well taken, but then South India had him in Ramayana written by our own author Kambar. So he exists for South Indians too.
Now the ugly part of the controversy is that the fundamentalist parties like VHP, BJP and RSS got into the picture - as if they are the only saviors of Hinduism. On the contrary true Hindus should get on to the roads and solve this issue once and for all – Ram Sethu should exists!
I don’t blame M Karunidhi’s stand on Ram’s existence. He is innocent. How can someone with three legal wives ever understand the presence of someone who stuck to one wife all through his life!
Posted by Kenni at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2007
It is all about being ‘Original!’
It is an old story again. Long long ago when I was working with Sify Astrology I had a major problem, which when I look back looks so menial and unnecessary. I don’t know about what others felt about me, but then I had put a lot of efforts and original ideas into making it a revenue generating vortal. Of course all the eyes were on it, and whichever channel - let it be Sify Hindi, or Sify Tamil or Sify Telugu, all wanted to start their Astro channel to show revenues to save their asses at job.
It so happened that one of the regional site managers copied ALL the ideas, which I had put into Sify Astrology. Of course any inputs given to the company becomes its own copyright, but then still copying without acknowledging irritated me a lot. I could not do any thing. I wasn’t jealous but then pissed off completely.
I take advice from only selected few, and looking at my irritated face one of my ‘REAL’ friends asked me what was wrong. And I explained him about the incident that drove me crazy. And my friend narrated to me a beautiful real life episode, which brought back the confidence I had lost temporarily.
The episode goes this way -
In the early 80s Rajini Kanth was at the peak of his career. He was so busy that producers couldn’t get his call sheets for 5-10 years. And most of the movies that Rajini did were super duper hits. The producers were pissed off completely, and wanted to chalk out an idea. They sat and did a quick analysis. They asked themselves – what made Rajini a phenomenon? Was it his looks? Was it his style? Or was it his funny Tamil accent? They thought it was all. Hence they searched for lookalikes of Rajini Kanth, and they named them Surya Kanth, Chandra Kanth and Nalini Kanth.
These 3 jokers looked like Rajini, could talk like Rajini, and they also imitated Rajini’s style that which came so naturally to the original Rajini. The producers made movies using these Kanths, and all of them were major flops. And with time all the Kanths vanished from the film industry in no time.
Today Rajini is in his late 50s now, and he still is ruling the roost. So what is so special about Rajini Kanth now – it is his originality.
Kennedi - you are like Rajini Kanth, and these managers are like Surya Kanth, Chandra Kanth and Nalini Kanth – they will vanish with time, said my friend. It indeed happened that way. Sify Astrology made the highest revenue, while other sites struggled to survive with time.
The moral of the story is – time makes originality survive, and all those copycats vanish with time. So try to be original! And also only do that comes easily to you, than trying to imitate others.
Posted by Kenni at 08:03 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2007
Chukde or F@&# De?
I recently watched ‘Chakde India’ and this was the 3rd movie in my life, which I wasn’t able to sit through. The other two were Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar and Dil Se. Chakde India’s story is simple and also very predictable. You know what is coming all through the movie, and there is zero suspense maintained. Shahrukh Khan has performed well rather he has not performed at all – hence he is tolerable.
There are some 16 women hockey players, and 1 Shahrukh Khan. Every woman is from a different state, and every woman has a peculiar behaviour, characteristic, and also a problem. These get highlighted in the practice sessions, and these problems get rectified one by one as they move towards the finals. The last problem gets rectified in the final match.
In fact there are not much difference between Aamir Khan’s Lagaan, and Shahrukh Khan’s Chakde India.
The similarities –
Problem - England (Lagaan), Pakistan (Chakde India)
Players – 10 Men & 1 Kachra (Lagaan), 16 women - all kachras
Differences –
Hero – Aamir Khan (Lagaan), Shahrukh Khan (Chakde India)
Game – Cricket (Lagaan), Hockey (Chakde India)
Of course the movie is a hit, and I could see most men in the theatre whistling and clapping all through the movie. May be they had come with their wives and / or girl friends, and had no other go but to prove their non-MCP attitude by showing themselves excited about how women can surpass men if given a chance.
The movie is a must watch for all those patriots, who still harness the hope of India toping the medal charts in Olympic games (hum honge kaamyaab ek dinnnnnnn). It is always good to see something on reels, which otherwise looks impossible in real life.
Well if someone who has watched the movie already, kindly let me know what is wrong with Sharukh Khan’s scooter? Why is he not able to start it when he leaves the house, and why is he not able to come on a scooter after 7 years? Why is he pushing it all through?
Posted by Kenni at 07:33 AM | Comments (0)