One Desi guy in US went for a Driving Test. When he was taking the road test, he reached a road junction and the signal was showing red, so he stopped the car. A few minutes later the signal turned green but this Desi was lost in thoughts and dint notice it. The Lady inspector who was sitting beside him asked, “When are you planning to go?”
He nonchalantly replied, “When my Visa expires”
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Creator
“Hi! I came to know that you’ve created a planet that’s sustaining for a long time”
“Yes! Its called Earth”
“I’ve been trying to produce a planet with living creatures and I tried 4-5 Proof of Concepts but everything failed. Its great to meet someone who has done a living organisms planet which is surviving for a long time. I’m planning to work on another Proof of Concept and this time want it to be stable. So I thought of interviewing you to get a better idea”
“Everything starts with a Proof of Concept. Initially Earth was also a Proof of Concept. I’m pleasantly surprised that its now stable and can be called a project”
“Can you explain me the concept used in Earth?”
“Every living organism needs to consume energy to do its activities. The Energy in Earth can be obtained by combinations of light, minerals, water and air. We’ve a group of species called plants which do the job of creating and storing the energy in a palatable format..”
“..and then the other organisms consume this energy and also form the secondary source of palatable energy”
“Yes”
“Its very easy to create this energy cycle. Lets talk about the consciousness of these living organism. Lets talk about the organism which has the highest conscious abilities”
“They are called Humans”
“What separates these species from the rest of the species?”
“This species can think, reason, imagine, visualize etc”
“How much are they creative? Do they analyze who created me? Why am I here?”
“Some humans think about this.. but you see I have created a lot of illusions. Also they had complicated their own life. They are very busy with their day to day mundane things so they have no time to research for the important questions”
“They perish rite?”
“Yes they perish. Its called death”
“So everyone is aware that they will perish. Do they kind of analyze where we come from, why we die, are we illusions”
“Everyone knows that they will die. But they act as though they live forever”
“Why?”
“Illusion”
“So they think that they are real”
“Yes. Just like we think that we are real”
“Aren’t we real?”
"You know the answer”
“I would like to hear it from you”
.
.
.
.
.
“Ok understood. You’ll not answer questions which are not pertaining to your project. Tell me how they think of you”
“They call me God. Many humans have many different versions of God. But I just don’t care. I’m looking for humans, who can appreciate this earth project or humans who are curious to know me. But unfortunately the majority of them don’t do either of this”
“B’coz of the illusion”
“Yes you can say so”
“How does this illusion work?”
“Ok look I just killed 300,000 humans. This is totally irrational. But these humans call it Tsunami! They rationalized an irrational thing!! Look here I kill this guy…..see they are saying that he died of a disease”
“So whatever we do irrationally gets converted as rational”
“Its not converted its their perspective. Its in their mind”
“So this earth, do they co-create”
“Yes they do. Every organism co-creates. I delegated a lot of creation to the organisms and it gives me beautiful complex creation!”
“..but they are not aware of that b’coz of illusion?”
“No.. we can’t say like that at least humans in some deep level know they are creating. At least in a subtle level”
“like?”
“Like they reproduce and create an offspring. They construct some physical structures, they dream..”
“Dream?”
“Dream is a state of consciousness where you imagine things. You create your own world”
“So its not co-creating. Its just pure creation”
“Yes they create an illusion. The illusion is such that if you create a dream and also present in the dream and something is happening around you and you feel as though you are in there for real. This is called creating an illusion and getting lost in it”
“Very interesting! I think this species of high consciousness.. humans are very intricately developed. Tel me more about this dream state”
“For eg this human is dreaming about you and me discussing about earth”
“Wow…. Wait!! Are we seeing this human dreaming about us. Or are we just existing in his dream?”
.
.
.
.
“Pls tell me!!!!”
“Yes! Its called Earth”
“I’ve been trying to produce a planet with living creatures and I tried 4-5 Proof of Concepts but everything failed. Its great to meet someone who has done a living organisms planet which is surviving for a long time. I’m planning to work on another Proof of Concept and this time want it to be stable. So I thought of interviewing you to get a better idea”
“Everything starts with a Proof of Concept. Initially Earth was also a Proof of Concept. I’m pleasantly surprised that its now stable and can be called a project”
“Can you explain me the concept used in Earth?”
“Every living organism needs to consume energy to do its activities. The Energy in Earth can be obtained by combinations of light, minerals, water and air. We’ve a group of species called plants which do the job of creating and storing the energy in a palatable format..”
“..and then the other organisms consume this energy and also form the secondary source of palatable energy”
“Yes”
“Its very easy to create this energy cycle. Lets talk about the consciousness of these living organism. Lets talk about the organism which has the highest conscious abilities”
“They are called Humans”
“What separates these species from the rest of the species?”
“This species can think, reason, imagine, visualize etc”
“How much are they creative? Do they analyze who created me? Why am I here?”
“Some humans think about this.. but you see I have created a lot of illusions. Also they had complicated their own life. They are very busy with their day to day mundane things so they have no time to research for the important questions”
“They perish rite?”
“Yes they perish. Its called death”
“So everyone is aware that they will perish. Do they kind of analyze where we come from, why we die, are we illusions”
“Everyone knows that they will die. But they act as though they live forever”
“Why?”
“Illusion”
“So they think that they are real”
“Yes. Just like we think that we are real”
“Aren’t we real?”
"You know the answer”
“I would like to hear it from you”
.
.
.
.
.
“Ok understood. You’ll not answer questions which are not pertaining to your project. Tell me how they think of you”
“They call me God. Many humans have many different versions of God. But I just don’t care. I’m looking for humans, who can appreciate this earth project or humans who are curious to know me. But unfortunately the majority of them don’t do either of this”
“B’coz of the illusion”
“Yes you can say so”
“How does this illusion work?”
“Ok look I just killed 300,000 humans. This is totally irrational. But these humans call it Tsunami! They rationalized an irrational thing!! Look here I kill this guy…..see they are saying that he died of a disease”
“So whatever we do irrationally gets converted as rational”
“Its not converted its their perspective. Its in their mind”
“So this earth, do they co-create”
“Yes they do. Every organism co-creates. I delegated a lot of creation to the organisms and it gives me beautiful complex creation!”
“..but they are not aware of that b’coz of illusion?”
“No.. we can’t say like that at least humans in some deep level know they are creating. At least in a subtle level”
“like?”
“Like they reproduce and create an offspring. They construct some physical structures, they dream..”
“Dream?”
“Dream is a state of consciousness where you imagine things. You create your own world”
“So its not co-creating. Its just pure creation”
“Yes they create an illusion. The illusion is such that if you create a dream and also present in the dream and something is happening around you and you feel as though you are in there for real. This is called creating an illusion and getting lost in it”
“Very interesting! I think this species of high consciousness.. humans are very intricately developed. Tel me more about this dream state”
“For eg this human is dreaming about you and me discussing about earth”
“Wow…. Wait!! Are we seeing this human dreaming about us. Or are we just existing in his dream?”
.
.
.
.
“Pls tell me!!!!”
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Royal Astrologer
The King came to the Royal Astrologer and said, “Sir! The Queen is pregnant. Can you please tell me whether it will be a boy or girl?”
The Astrologer closed his eyes and murmured some mantras and then he looked at the king and said, “Oh King! I have the answer to your question”
The Astrologer grabbed a palm leaf and scribbled something and then tied the palm leaf and placed it in a small iron box and closed it. The Astrologer said, “Even though I know the answer the time is not ripe to tell it to you. O King! Pls come back later”
The King gave some gifts to the Astrologer and bid him goodbye. The King came back a few months later, the astrologer rolled some dice and looked very agitated. He looked at the King and said, “Your highness! I very well know whether we are going to have a prince or princess, and I know how anxious you are. But unfortunately the time is still not ripe for you to hear it”
The King went back disappointed. Few months later the Queen gave birth to a beautiful princess. The King was overjoyed with happiness, but all these months the King was getting increasingly agitated about the Royal Astrologer. The King thought, “Is this astrologer trying to trick me? Does this guy really know astrology?”
The King went back to the astrologer and said, “O Learned Astrologer! I’m now a father of a princess”
The Royal Astrologer nodded and said, “O King! Pls go to the room in the left side. In the middle of the room you will see a small iron box. Pls open it and read what is written on the palm leaf”
The King went to the room and opened the iron box and untied the palm leaf. ‘Girl’ was written in that leaf. The king came back to the astrologer and bowed before him and said, “O Learned One! Pls forgive me for doubting you; you’ve proved to this country how great your astrology is! I understand that you should’ve a compelling reason to abstain from telling me whether the country will be blessed with a Prince or Princess. Pls accept my gifts”
After the king left one of the Royal Astrologer’s disciples came towards the astrologer and bowed before him and said, “Master! Pls teach us the technique that you used to find out whether the King’s child is a boy or girl”
The Royal Astrologer said, “Go to the room in the right side and read what is written on the palm leaf inside the Iron Box”
The Astrologer closed his eyes and murmured some mantras and then he looked at the king and said, “Oh King! I have the answer to your question”
The Astrologer grabbed a palm leaf and scribbled something and then tied the palm leaf and placed it in a small iron box and closed it. The Astrologer said, “Even though I know the answer the time is not ripe to tell it to you. O King! Pls come back later”
The King gave some gifts to the Astrologer and bid him goodbye. The King came back a few months later, the astrologer rolled some dice and looked very agitated. He looked at the King and said, “Your highness! I very well know whether we are going to have a prince or princess, and I know how anxious you are. But unfortunately the time is still not ripe for you to hear it”
The King went back disappointed. Few months later the Queen gave birth to a beautiful princess. The King was overjoyed with happiness, but all these months the King was getting increasingly agitated about the Royal Astrologer. The King thought, “Is this astrologer trying to trick me? Does this guy really know astrology?”
The King went back to the astrologer and said, “O Learned Astrologer! I’m now a father of a princess”
The Royal Astrologer nodded and said, “O King! Pls go to the room in the left side. In the middle of the room you will see a small iron box. Pls open it and read what is written on the palm leaf”
The King went to the room and opened the iron box and untied the palm leaf. ‘Girl’ was written in that leaf. The king came back to the astrologer and bowed before him and said, “O Learned One! Pls forgive me for doubting you; you’ve proved to this country how great your astrology is! I understand that you should’ve a compelling reason to abstain from telling me whether the country will be blessed with a Prince or Princess. Pls accept my gifts”
After the king left one of the Royal Astrologer’s disciples came towards the astrologer and bowed before him and said, “Master! Pls teach us the technique that you used to find out whether the King’s child is a boy or girl”
The Royal Astrologer said, “Go to the room in the right side and read what is written on the palm leaf inside the Iron Box”
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Beef Curry
8 - year old Bob looked sternly towards his father Brian. His father was bringing the 'Beef Curry' for dinner from the kitchen.
Bob asked thumping his fists over the table, "Why do you make Beef Curry every week?"
Brian smiled as he placed the Curry in the dining table and said, "You know the answer"
Bob replied, "B'coz you like it.. ."
Brian started serving the Curry. Bob asked, "Dad! Why you like it?"
Brian said, "We mostly like a particular color.. a particular food b'coz we have an emotional attachment to it"
Bob looked at Brian attentively.
Brian said, "During my childhood my family was never well off financially"
Bob nodded. Brian continued, "When I was your age, I was usually alone in the apartment, Mom usually worked extra time so that we would have at least one proper meal a day. There were endless nights when I couldn’t sleep out of sheer hunger, so I learned to drink several glasses of tap water in an effort to fool my stomach into thinking it was full just so I could get a couple hours of sleep. There were endless days when I was so hungry that I couldn’t concentrate in school, envying my friends and classmates, wishing with all my heart and soul that I could trade lives with them just for one day to see how life would be like in their shoes.
"But 1 day things became worse, it got so bad that there wasn’t anything to eat over the weekend except some potatoes with spuds growing out of them. Food was minimal during the week. I lied on the floor, crying my eyes out, my tears soaking through the carpet and shouted out loud the words - 'I’m so hungry!', hoping that by some miracle, God would hear my cries of hunger and provide me with food to nourish my weak body like he did with manna for the Israelites. When nothing manifested, I cried even harder onto the carpet.
"Several minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. I obviously didn’t want to answer it, but the person kept on knocking and wouldn’t go away. I opened the door just a crack to see who it was. It was my friend John. He lived one floor beneath me.
"He invited me to his apartment for no apparent reason. I didn’t really have anything else going for me, but I didn’t want him to see that I was crying, so after some failed attempts to dissuade him in order to buy some time while I wiped the tears off my face, I accepted his out of the blue invitation and followed him. It was strange because I was pretty sure he knew something was wrong with me, and he would usually ask what was wrong, but he didn’t this time. No words were spoken between us as we climbed down the stairs to his apartment. I followed him one floor down to his apartment and when I went inside, a delicious aroma in the air pierced my stomach like a sharp spear."
Bob said, "It was the smell of curry!!"
Brian smiled, "Yes! There on the dinner table, was a steaming plate of curry on white rice, with chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas embedded in it. John’s mother gestured to me to sit down and to eat. She poured a can of grape soda into a yellow plastic cup and placed it beside the plate. I couldn’t help myself. I started wolfing down the curry as if I were in a speed eating competition. I couldn’t get enough of it. The plate emptied quickly and she was quick to refill it and I wolfed it down once more despite the burning sensation of hot food in my mouth."
Brian looked at Bob and said, "Words cannot describe how great that curry and grape soda tasted that day and words cannot express the enormous gratitude I had for John and his mother at that moment in time."
Bob asked, "Dad! Did God answer your prayers? Or did John and his mom simply hear your cries of hunger through their ceiling of the apartment"
Brian thought for a moment and said, "I think it was a little bit of both... And to this day, this experience is the sole reason why I absolutely love Beef Curry so much. I absolutely love it. I can’t get enough of it. I associate this Curry with hope in the darkest of hours; of human kindness and goodness."
Bob asked thumping his fists over the table, "Why do you make Beef Curry every week?"
Brian smiled as he placed the Curry in the dining table and said, "You know the answer"
Bob replied, "B'coz you like it.. ."
Brian started serving the Curry. Bob asked, "Dad! Why you like it?"
Brian said, "We mostly like a particular color.. a particular food b'coz we have an emotional attachment to it"
Bob looked at Brian attentively.
Brian said, "During my childhood my family was never well off financially"
Bob nodded. Brian continued, "When I was your age, I was usually alone in the apartment, Mom usually worked extra time so that we would have at least one proper meal a day. There were endless nights when I couldn’t sleep out of sheer hunger, so I learned to drink several glasses of tap water in an effort to fool my stomach into thinking it was full just so I could get a couple hours of sleep. There were endless days when I was so hungry that I couldn’t concentrate in school, envying my friends and classmates, wishing with all my heart and soul that I could trade lives with them just for one day to see how life would be like in their shoes.
"But 1 day things became worse, it got so bad that there wasn’t anything to eat over the weekend except some potatoes with spuds growing out of them. Food was minimal during the week. I lied on the floor, crying my eyes out, my tears soaking through the carpet and shouted out loud the words - 'I’m so hungry!', hoping that by some miracle, God would hear my cries of hunger and provide me with food to nourish my weak body like he did with manna for the Israelites. When nothing manifested, I cried even harder onto the carpet.
"Several minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. I obviously didn’t want to answer it, but the person kept on knocking and wouldn’t go away. I opened the door just a crack to see who it was. It was my friend John. He lived one floor beneath me.
"He invited me to his apartment for no apparent reason. I didn’t really have anything else going for me, but I didn’t want him to see that I was crying, so after some failed attempts to dissuade him in order to buy some time while I wiped the tears off my face, I accepted his out of the blue invitation and followed him. It was strange because I was pretty sure he knew something was wrong with me, and he would usually ask what was wrong, but he didn’t this time. No words were spoken between us as we climbed down the stairs to his apartment. I followed him one floor down to his apartment and when I went inside, a delicious aroma in the air pierced my stomach like a sharp spear."
Bob said, "It was the smell of curry!!"
Brian smiled, "Yes! There on the dinner table, was a steaming plate of curry on white rice, with chunks of beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, and peas embedded in it. John’s mother gestured to me to sit down and to eat. She poured a can of grape soda into a yellow plastic cup and placed it beside the plate. I couldn’t help myself. I started wolfing down the curry as if I were in a speed eating competition. I couldn’t get enough of it. The plate emptied quickly and she was quick to refill it and I wolfed it down once more despite the burning sensation of hot food in my mouth."
Brian looked at Bob and said, "Words cannot describe how great that curry and grape soda tasted that day and words cannot express the enormous gratitude I had for John and his mother at that moment in time."
Bob asked, "Dad! Did God answer your prayers? Or did John and his mom simply hear your cries of hunger through their ceiling of the apartment"
Brian thought for a moment and said, "I think it was a little bit of both... And to this day, this experience is the sole reason why I absolutely love Beef Curry so much. I absolutely love it. I can’t get enough of it. I associate this Curry with hope in the darkest of hours; of human kindness and goodness."
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Naan Kadavul - Review
I got very curious.. I just wanted to see the film. May be it was b'coz of my trip to Varnasi .. may be it was b'coz of my interests to know about Aghories. I got spellbound by the trailer. So I went to the theater and saw the film.
The story is about an Aghori and a beggar. Both their lives are narrated parallely and a couple of times their lives intersects. Illayaraja's music was scintillating! I just cannot imagine how this movie will be without "Om Sivoham". But I got disappointed when I realized Bala dint picturise 'Kannil Parvai' and 'Amma Un Pillai'. They were both very good songs.. my worry is not about the utilization of these songs in the film..its about reachability of these songs. How many ppl knew about this song now? How many ppl would've heard these songs if they were pictured!
Arya is an Aghori who was taken back to his home town(Malaikottai) by his father. But Arya shows no bondage to his family. He leads his Aghori life in the village. Actually in a couple of days he leaves home and lives with some monks in a rundown temple. Thandavan has a pool of beggars. Thandavan assigns some ppl to take care of the beggars. Taking care means managing the beggars and bringing back their money to Thandavan. Murugan is one of those 'managers', one day Murugan notices Puja, who is a blind beggar and takes her with him.
One of the best things about this film is showcasing of the plight of beggars. Beggars have no home and they live in inhospitable condition, but even then they have this home concept. Whenever they are displaced from one group to another they cry they feel home sick. Bala has done a good job in showcasing the various facets of these ppl life. He would've taken a lot of pain in selecting different physically and mentally challenged ppl for this film. There was this scene were a guy comes to Thandavan with a lot of physically and mentally challenged ppl. Thandavan looks at each person and finally says, "So I've no job now. Since these ppl are already handicapped I need not 'make' them handicapped"
Murugan knows that whatever he is doing is wrong and feels terribly guilt. He goes to the temple everyday and prays to 'Mangadu Samy'.
"Mangadu Samy' is a seer who has no limbs but this Samy never opens his eyes never also speaks. Also in one scene Murugan comes back to his den in a drunk state and apologizes to Puja for separating her from her group and then explain to every beggars about how he loves them and how he hates his job.
How is it that Arya just wakes up and beats bad men. The only explanation could be that Aghories intuitively knows who is bad and who is good by just seeing at ppl! Police remanding Arya for 1 week time is just a waste of time. Nothing significantly happens. Also towards the end the flow of the film was very abrupt. We see Puja in a Christian missionary and then in the next scene we see her back in Thandavan's place. How she went to the Christian missionary, how she came back.. also what happened to Murugan were never explained.
For any character to have a lasting impression we should empathize with that character. Unfortunately Arya's character has nothing to be emphatic about. Initial couple of scenes we may be shell-shocked seeing Arya but then it becomes a routine and we loose interest in that character. But Puja's character has some depth and we can empathize. Actually all the beggars characters were well etched. Example: the girl who has a soft corner to Murugan and her eventual fate!
In the final scene Pooja comes to Arya (her makeup looks very good) and says that she had given up on all the religions and all the Gods. She had finally come to him hoping that he could solve her problem, he could end her miseries and give her salvation. Arya helps her using Bala's own unique way!
Acting from both Arya and Pooja are just average. But credit must be given to Puja who had the courage to pledge 2 years of her acting career to a film, considering a female actor has a very short acting career.
The greatest issue with this film is all the scenes look good but they just don't make a complete film. Its like a collage whose bits doesn't show a coherent picture. Anyways its a different film which is worth watching.
The story is about an Aghori and a beggar. Both their lives are narrated parallely and a couple of times their lives intersects. Illayaraja's music was scintillating! I just cannot imagine how this movie will be without "Om Sivoham". But I got disappointed when I realized Bala dint picturise 'Kannil Parvai' and 'Amma Un Pillai'. They were both very good songs.. my worry is not about the utilization of these songs in the film..its about reachability of these songs. How many ppl knew about this song now? How many ppl would've heard these songs if they were pictured!
Arya is an Aghori who was taken back to his home town(Malaikottai) by his father. But Arya shows no bondage to his family. He leads his Aghori life in the village. Actually in a couple of days he leaves home and lives with some monks in a rundown temple. Thandavan has a pool of beggars. Thandavan assigns some ppl to take care of the beggars. Taking care means managing the beggars and bringing back their money to Thandavan. Murugan is one of those 'managers', one day Murugan notices Puja, who is a blind beggar and takes her with him.
One of the best things about this film is showcasing of the plight of beggars. Beggars have no home and they live in inhospitable condition, but even then they have this home concept. Whenever they are displaced from one group to another they cry they feel home sick. Bala has done a good job in showcasing the various facets of these ppl life. He would've taken a lot of pain in selecting different physically and mentally challenged ppl for this film. There was this scene were a guy comes to Thandavan with a lot of physically and mentally challenged ppl. Thandavan looks at each person and finally says, "So I've no job now. Since these ppl are already handicapped I need not 'make' them handicapped"
Murugan knows that whatever he is doing is wrong and feels terribly guilt. He goes to the temple everyday and prays to 'Mangadu Samy'.
"Mangadu Samy' is a seer who has no limbs but this Samy never opens his eyes never also speaks. Also in one scene Murugan comes back to his den in a drunk state and apologizes to Puja for separating her from her group and then explain to every beggars about how he loves them and how he hates his job.
How is it that Arya just wakes up and beats bad men. The only explanation could be that Aghories intuitively knows who is bad and who is good by just seeing at ppl! Police remanding Arya for 1 week time is just a waste of time. Nothing significantly happens. Also towards the end the flow of the film was very abrupt. We see Puja in a Christian missionary and then in the next scene we see her back in Thandavan's place. How she went to the Christian missionary, how she came back.. also what happened to Murugan were never explained.
For any character to have a lasting impression we should empathize with that character. Unfortunately Arya's character has nothing to be emphatic about. Initial couple of scenes we may be shell-shocked seeing Arya but then it becomes a routine and we loose interest in that character. But Puja's character has some depth and we can empathize. Actually all the beggars characters were well etched. Example: the girl who has a soft corner to Murugan and her eventual fate!
In the final scene Pooja comes to Arya (her makeup looks very good) and says that she had given up on all the religions and all the Gods. She had finally come to him hoping that he could solve her problem, he could end her miseries and give her salvation. Arya helps her using Bala's own unique way!
Acting from both Arya and Pooja are just average. But credit must be given to Puja who had the courage to pledge 2 years of her acting career to a film, considering a female actor has a very short acting career.
The greatest issue with this film is all the scenes look good but they just don't make a complete film. Its like a collage whose bits doesn't show a coherent picture. Anyways its a different film which is worth watching.
Friday, March 6, 2009
The Lunatic
He walked towards me and said, "You are not lunatic"
I showed him some funny faces. He shook his head. I know that he was not convinced, I made some noise and jumped a couple of times. He gently smiled and said, "I'm watching you for the past 1 week. I know very well that you are not lunatic. Don't worry I will not inform anyone. Even I'm not lunatic. I just need a company in this mad place. I'm happy to see a sane person here"
I nodded. The noise made by a couple of inmates were deafening our ears. We decided to go to the remote corner of our garden.
He asked me as we walked in the garden, "So why are you here?"
I said, "I killed my business partner.. not really a murder. We'd some difference in profit sharing and were having a heated conversation. I just pushed him and he fell down."
He asked, "Did he fell onto some sharp object or something..?"
I said, "No. He just fell from the 10th floor"
He nodded and said, "So you are faking it to escape prison"
"Yep that's the best way, my lawyer advised", I said.
We then sat in a bench. I asked, "So what crime you committed"
He said coldly, "No crime.. its all b'coz of those god worshippers"
I stared at him, he looked at me and said, "No I'm not an atheist. I worship God and that exactly brought me here".
I got a little curious. He continued, "If you just see how we worship. It looks very archaic. You know why they show aarthi".
He dint wait for my reply. He said, "B'coz during olden days there were no electricity. So it will be very dark inside the temple. Aarthi was to make the God visible."
I nodded, he continued, "Why do we wave God with hand fan"
I said, "B'coz in olden days there were no fans and AC"
His eyes became bright, he exclaimed, "Exactly! Do you know why we carry the idol in a chariot..b'coz in olden days King is supreme.. and Kings were carried in chariot. We dono who God is so we give Him the highest human status"
I said, "Now we don't have kings"
"Yes", he said, "So we need to change this worship. We need to make something that can give some sense to ppl"
There were a couple of minutes of silence. We both were in deep contemplation.
Finally he broke the silence. He said, "In this world, truth has no value. Whatever is the thing which is followed by more ppl.. 'popular belief' can be the right word..is considered truth. Heard of the story of a man who said earth is round but he was ridiculed as mad man... why? b'coz the popular belief at that time was 'earth is flat'"
I asked, "So what you did?"
He said, "I changed the system. I changed the ritual of worship and those ppl labeled me as mad man"
"What exactly you did?"
He stood up, his eyes wide open, he said, "I changed everything. Instead of doing Milk and Honey abhishegam I bathed God with soap. Instead of decorating His head with a throne I gave Him cooling glass. I gave Him Pizza, Pasta. This worship was something which I can easily identify with.. which makes a lot of sense..Why are you looking at me like that.. I'm not Lunatic!"
I showed him some funny faces. He shook his head. I know that he was not convinced, I made some noise and jumped a couple of times. He gently smiled and said, "I'm watching you for the past 1 week. I know very well that you are not lunatic. Don't worry I will not inform anyone. Even I'm not lunatic. I just need a company in this mad place. I'm happy to see a sane person here"
I nodded. The noise made by a couple of inmates were deafening our ears. We decided to go to the remote corner of our garden.
He asked me as we walked in the garden, "So why are you here?"
I said, "I killed my business partner.. not really a murder. We'd some difference in profit sharing and were having a heated conversation. I just pushed him and he fell down."
He asked, "Did he fell onto some sharp object or something..?"
I said, "No. He just fell from the 10th floor"
He nodded and said, "So you are faking it to escape prison"
"Yep that's the best way, my lawyer advised", I said.
We then sat in a bench. I asked, "So what crime you committed"
He said coldly, "No crime.. its all b'coz of those god worshippers"
I stared at him, he looked at me and said, "No I'm not an atheist. I worship God and that exactly brought me here".
I got a little curious. He continued, "If you just see how we worship. It looks very archaic. You know why they show aarthi".
He dint wait for my reply. He said, "B'coz during olden days there were no electricity. So it will be very dark inside the temple. Aarthi was to make the God visible."
I nodded, he continued, "Why do we wave God with hand fan"
I said, "B'coz in olden days there were no fans and AC"
His eyes became bright, he exclaimed, "Exactly! Do you know why we carry the idol in a chariot..b'coz in olden days King is supreme.. and Kings were carried in chariot. We dono who God is so we give Him the highest human status"
I said, "Now we don't have kings"
"Yes", he said, "So we need to change this worship. We need to make something that can give some sense to ppl"
There were a couple of minutes of silence. We both were in deep contemplation.
Finally he broke the silence. He said, "In this world, truth has no value. Whatever is the thing which is followed by more ppl.. 'popular belief' can be the right word..is considered truth. Heard of the story of a man who said earth is round but he was ridiculed as mad man... why? b'coz the popular belief at that time was 'earth is flat'"
I asked, "So what you did?"
He said, "I changed the system. I changed the ritual of worship and those ppl labeled me as mad man"
"What exactly you did?"
He stood up, his eyes wide open, he said, "I changed everything. Instead of doing Milk and Honey abhishegam I bathed God with soap. Instead of decorating His head with a throne I gave Him cooling glass. I gave Him Pizza, Pasta. This worship was something which I can easily identify with.. which makes a lot of sense..Why are you looking at me like that.. I'm not Lunatic!"
Monday, March 2, 2009
The Multiplication Factor
During one TV Interview the interviewer asked Music Director Ramesh Vinayagam, "I heard that you are a perfectionist. You will make sure that the singer has sung the song correctly."
Ramesh Vinayagam replied, "Its not about being perfectionist. Its about the fear of 'The multiplication factor'"
The interviewer asked, "What's that?"
The Music Director replied, "See.. I just sung a song during this interview. I know that in some places I dint sing correctly. This interview will be broad-casted and lets say 1000 ppl are watching it.. then the mistake done by me is seen by 1000 ppl. That is my mistake got multiplied"
The Interviewer nodded.
Ramesh Vinayagam continued, "What I'm trying to make sure is whether the singer has sung the song correctly without changing the raagam and thaalam. B'coz just imagine how much time it will be multiplied. Lets say we've a film song in which the singer has not sung according to the meter.. lets say they release 5000 CDs. Also they broadcast in the TVs and Radios 10 times a week and they will also run shows in theaters. Also there will be stage singers who will sing the song as it is.....The mistake will be multiplied a million fold. This is what I'm trying to avoid."
Ramesh Vinayagam replied, "Its not about being perfectionist. Its about the fear of 'The multiplication factor'"
The interviewer asked, "What's that?"
The Music Director replied, "See.. I just sung a song during this interview. I know that in some places I dint sing correctly. This interview will be broad-casted and lets say 1000 ppl are watching it.. then the mistake done by me is seen by 1000 ppl. That is my mistake got multiplied"
The Interviewer nodded.
Ramesh Vinayagam continued, "What I'm trying to make sure is whether the singer has sung the song correctly without changing the raagam and thaalam. B'coz just imagine how much time it will be multiplied. Lets say we've a film song in which the singer has not sung according to the meter.. lets say they release 5000 CDs. Also they broadcast in the TVs and Radios 10 times a week and they will also run shows in theaters. Also there will be stage singers who will sing the song as it is.....The mistake will be multiplied a million fold. This is what I'm trying to avoid."
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