Thoughts on The Pianist

I watched the movie “The Pianist” today for the 3rd or 4th time. I love war movies and when I say that people think it is because I like violence. But I like war movies because they show the the effect of violence in the human life. It teaches me to cherish the life that I have as it is and reminds me how important it is to support the causes of oppressed and downtrodden people and voice for them.

A couple of thoughts passed my mind when I watched The Pianist again today. There are many scenes (and remember the movie is based on a true-life account) in this movie where individuals are left with no choice but to save/help themselves and ignore the others in the process. That makes me think, can we really help anyone but ourselves in the extreme situations? I mean, the really extreme situations. If not, then what is this so called thing “morale” mean to us? What is our morality based on?

(Image source: Wikipedia)

The Evergreen Voice – M Thankamani

[M Thankamani, who won accolades for her unique voice as a presenter and drama artiste at All India Radio (Akashvani), India’s national broadcaster, and as a film dubbing artiste, talks to KK Moidu during her first visit to Dubai.].

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Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy Award winner M Thankamani’s voice is familiar to listeners of the radio for more than three decades now. She is the presenter at Akashvani and those who have heard her voice once cannot forget the attractive and enticing tone. She has secured a place in the hearts of millions of listeners through the roles of numerous characters on radio dramas like Sooryakanthiye Snehicha Penkutty, Moodhevi, Theyyam, Indulekha etc. Her special talent for the vocalisation of people of all ages like old women, young ladies, college students or little girls, endeared her to audiences.

M Thankamani was born in Shoranur in Palghat district, Kerala, in a Namboothiri family. She is the third daughter of the great social reformer Mullamangalath Raman Bhattathirippadu aka MRB and Umadevi Antharjanam. Her father MRB was a playwright, poet and author of many books and made history by marrying a widow in the Namboothiri community.
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Etho January Maasam (cover)

The songs from the Malayalam movie Orkkuka Vallappozhum are a beautiful mix. My most favorite songs from this album are, Etho January Maasam (singer: Karthik) and Thaamara Pookkalum (singer: Sankaran Nampoothiri). This album is one of M Jayachandran’s best work to the date, I would say. I recorded this song without the shruthi in the BG, so please pardon any shruthi issues in between the pallavi and charanams.

Movie: Orkkuka Vallappozhum
Music: M Jayachandran
Original singer: Karthik
Covered by: Joseph Thomas

Etho Janurary Maasam (cover) | Upload Music

The times of Times of India

I admit that when I read a news report titled “NGOs, Teesta spiced up Gujarat riot incidents: SIT” in Times of India, I almost bought it. I know it is stupid to blindly believe everything that the media churns out, but the story was published in TOI and they quoted the SIT  in their news report which added to some primary credibility. Then there were immediate responses from Sangh Parivar sympathizers. They said that the “pseudo-secular media” conveniently withheld the story from publishing since it is election time. They attacked their enemies, those who stand for the secular ethos of the country. They also wanted the Supreme Court to initiate action on the “pseudo secular media” because of their silence on the issue.

I was shocked to read the whole thing. I got confused too, as whom to believe and whom not to believe on such sensitive issues. I thought that the very same secular values that many people in this great country stood for have just got dirty because of people like Teesta. Like I said before, I almost bought it.

Yet, the main charges/claims of the Times of India reporter had no substance and it did not come from the SIT. The major claims in the Times of India report mentioned the following:

• The riot witnesses were tutored by Teesta Setalvad before submitting the affidavits
• The celebrated rights activist [referring to Teesta] cooked up macabre tales of wanton killings
• The gangrape on Kausar Banu, and the gouging out of her foetus by the mob was found with “no truth”
• Dumping of dead bodies into a well by rioters at Naroda Patiya was also found with “no truth”

The TOI report said that all of these were told by SIT chief R K Raghavan in the Supreme Court on April 13th, Monday. But hold your horses, because none from the SIT or Mr. Raghavan himself were present in the apex court on April 13 to tell anything.

Even though the TOI article was referring to the SIT report, the person whom they quoted was Gujarat government’s counsel, Mukul Rohtagi. And the SIT chief Mr. Raghavan told Hindutan Times that the alleged leaks appear to have been based on statements of state police officials and “cannot be termed as findings of the report.”[via]

Then came the second article in Times of India, by the same reporter and this time the reporter said nothing about the above claims and rather held on to “discrepancies” and “contradictions“. No word about Kausar Banu, Wanton Killing or the Tutoring of Teesta. He chose to be silent on those allegations which he had earlier stated as the “SIT found untrue“.

So yes, if this is the kind of journalism we are fed with, there needs to have legal action against “such” media houses. Unfortunately, these are the times of India.

PS: It doesn’t take a genius to guess why the Gujarat counsel’s claims made news just 3 days before the 1st phase of general elections. I am not for or against Teesta’s case. We have a process of law in place and our Supreme Court to judge the case. So let the law take it’s due course.

Related reading:

About warped minds - Dilip D’Souza
‘Cooking Up Macabre Tales’: FAQ – Outlook

Linkaholic

Over at Muziboo, I am continuously playing this cover version of Way Back Into Love, a song from the movie Music & Lyrics. I loved the song and movie (even though it was kind of soap-ish) and now this cover version too has become my favorite. It is done by Sunny and Mitalee. Go there and check it out. I’m sure you will love the song, particularly the beautiful voice and crystal clear rendition of Mitalee.

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Over at Mutiny, Kima points at our perceptions about the North-East of India. Worth a good read.

Two. The insurgency in Mizoram, which many experts claimed to be the biggest revolt in the Northeast, was all started because of a rat. After the bamboo trees in Mizoram flowered, millions of rats reproduced and they ate up all our food stock. Hence there was a HUGE famine in the Lushai Hills (now Mizoram) and India didn’t give a shit about our plight.

The MNFF (Mizo National Famine Front) was formed where every Mizo looked after another with NO help from the Indian Govt. Soon the MNFF became the MNF (Mizo National Front) under Pu Laldenga and the entire Mizo community rebelled against India because of the neglect and it became so intense that it was the bloodiest battle in the North East so far. But do Indians know about this story? No. Do Indians even know that Aizawl is the ONLY city in Indian history where the Indian Air Force bombed the city day in and night out? Yes, we are talking about a possible genocide here, where entire generations of Mizos were completely wiped out because of this.

But no. People are oblivious to this and we are criticized for not being Indian enough and jeered as a “Chinese” or “Nepali” wherever we go in India. Seriously, tell me, can you blame those who were fighting for autonomy back then?

Three. I have come across numerous posts where fanatics say they want to take back Mizoram from the clutches of evil Christianity. They want to revive Hinduism back there, which is really absurd because Mizos were never Hindus before the missionaries came! We were war-mongering animists fighting with each other to the death, and headhunting was an intrinsic part of our culture. Sure, if you want us to disown Christianity and go back to our roots, I really don’t mind – May I please chop off your head?

Five. Seven of my cousins are serving in the Indian Army and Navy. And yes, a large number of people from the Northeast are in the Armed forces protecting this great country and ready to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty. Why must we always be asked to prove our patriotism in spite of that?

Pen Hospital, at Thrissur

Ever heard of a hospital for your Pen? And a doctor could help you heal your pen whenever it fell sick? Here is Honest Pen Hospital at Thrissur. If you are in Thrissur, walk through the historical Palace Road, and you will find it in the middle of thriving new shopping malls in the city. This hospital has become an integral part of Thrissur’s history. In the early days, this pen hospital used to help people when they refused to replace their favorite pens. I had an old Hero pen fixed at the place many years back. The doc in the Honest Pen Hospital knew how to fix them all and had the spare parts for surgery; even for the imported and expensive pens. And the doc’s favorites were fountain pens.

Times changed. Ball pens and computers came. People changed too. They no longer wanted to fix things. Pens, relationships or life in general. Or perhaps they have very little time to fix things and would rather find replacements. And in this new consumerist world, the pen hospital has no role to play.

When I walked past the pen hospital on Saturday, I found that it’s closed. I felt kind of sad and I don’t know why…

Update: Kuttan Menon has confirmed that the shop is not closed yet. It is still operating. So get your pens rolling there.

Changing Priorities

I think the time has come to assess and re-arrange my priorities in life. As a result, I’m going to stop some of my online initiatives. The first to go would be my podcasts (both my Malayalam and English podcasts). I don’t get much time to prepare quality content for both and I don’t intend to post crappy episodes as space-fillers. The existing episodes will stay, but there will be no new episodes except for some occasional audio posts whenever I feel it is needed.

I have no intention to stop this blog, my music blogs or Blogswara. As of now, at least. Those things lie close to my heart and I can’t give it up. But I am planning to invest my free time in getting and managing more freelance projects. I realized that I don’t have a backup plan for the worst times in my professional life and need to make some extra bucks to prepare for that.

I also realize that I need a change so badly, even though I can’t figure out what kind of change it is. Perhaps time will figure it out for me and I hope it does so soon because I am getting bored of whatever I have in life now.

Hello Hello by MIDIval PunditZ

San Fransisco based record label Six Degrees Records has released Hello Hello, the latest album by MIDIval PunditZ an Electronic Indian duo. The lead track from the album is available to download for FREE from the Six Degrees website. They say Hello Hello is the duo’s most adventurous and mature release to date and one that promises to excite old fans while attracting new listeners.

Midival PunditZ is the work of producers Gaurav Raina and Tapan Raj, two veterans of India’s thriving club scene who felt that Western dance music didn’t connect with them on the same emotional level as India’s own classical and folk music. In 1997, after several years of work setting up their own studio in New Delhi, the two producers launched the PunditZ. Gigs with Tabla Beat Science, the Indo-electronica act founded by producer Bill Laswell and tabla master Zakir Hussain, put the duo on the map. On their newest release, Hello Hello, the PunditZ marry Indian raga, Bollywood pop, and regional folk dance rhythms to several decades of Western dance music, with echoes of everything from Bhangra to rock music to Daft Punk.

(Thanks to Tim of Six Degrees Records for the info)

BarCamp Kerala 5 at Technopark

BarCamp Kerala is an ad-hoc gathering rooted in the desire to share and learn in an open & friendly environment. It is an intense yet cool, event with discussions, demos, and strong interactions. The 5th edition of BarCamp Kerala (BCK5), is scheduled to be on May 3rd, 2009, Sunday at TechnoPark, Thiruvananthapuram. Visit their website to register.

Congress or BJP?

As the poll day is nearing, I found a blog post by Amit Verma of India Uncut that echoes my thought.

I still prefer the Congress to the BJP. This is because the Congress stands for nothing, while the BJP stands for something pernicious. The BJP has, in its DNA, the politics of divisiveness. It is true that the Congress has also played such politics, but out of convenience, not belief. That makes their acts no less heinous, but, in my eyes at least, it makes them slightly less dangerous because there is less chance of things going wrong, of a repeat of 1984 or 2002.

The so-called Dynastic Politics accusation by BJP against Congress is also a farce, as BJP is not a step behind in the race of dynasties in politics. As one commentator in this post rightly points out:

The BJP is replete with dynasties, with a long history of sons and daughters being established in politics.

1) Manvendra Singh, the son of Jaswant Singh;

2) Dushyant Singh, the son of Vasundhara Raje Scindia and nephew of Yashodhara Raje Scindia, who in turn, are the daughters of Vijayraje Scindia;

3) Karuna Shukla, Vajpayee’s niece, Ranjan Bhattacharya, his foster son-in-law and

4) Pankaj Singh, son of Rajnath Singh are some, to name a few. So your argument that only the Congress has a history of dynastic politics is a joke.

And about countering terrorism, we all know what their strong leader and decisive Government did. Some extremely dangerous terrorists had Government escort to set them free.

So I think it is about choosing the lesser evil in this election.