Just a Contemplated Thought...

At the Dusk of Diwali...

                                                    The day was nearing its end. It was a dark evening which was reflected by colorful flower spark lights exploded then and there in the sky. By this time the crackers that was been lighted were over and it was the time for relaxing the vision with flashing sky dashers that bursted against the dark background of the night sky, just by sitting in the terrace of the home. It is followed by a night that brings deep sleep out of tiredness of the whole day of celebration. While suddenly I woke from my tiring sleep in the middle of the night. My clock showed that it was 2 PM exactly. I  went to the corridor and watched out of it the whole street in which I was a part.

                                   I was able to experience a deep silence; that was neither a haunting one nor a noisy one, rather a silence of deep truth; that put people into repose avoiding them to think on it. I felt the tiredness of my neighbor not only the one next to my door, but also the one next to my city; briefly the tiredness of my whole state. They were the ones who were striving hard everyday with different facets of a single problem financially, that made them struggle for living their life altogether. They yearned for experiencing happiness each moment of their life and they found it manifested in one single day of every year for festivals like Diwali. They pay their dues for everything that they buy in the name of GST only for the welfare of Government, however central it may be or however peripheral it may be for them. The welfare for whom this middle class people's three-fourths of the salary is swallowed-up are supposed to provide them the liberty to experience happiness on that one full day of festival. But they are perfect in passing verdicts against their cultural norms and alloting time limits for experiencing their happiness for which they run and toil each moment.                                                                                                                                                       If the reason for restricted timing is demanded from the eco-friendly politicians, who made thermocols to float in the surface of the river to avoid it evaporating and who were ready to destroy 12o acres of forest land and around 300 hectares of agricultural lands for the green corridor, they say that it is to reduce the rate of air pollution, that causes serious health effects for the citizens. Unfortunately, the eco-friendly politicians are unable to restrict alcohol completely, that results in death of thousands of such citizens. From my perspective, it is not such a crime to register a First Information Report, on the account of bursting crackers out of the scheduled time. 
                                         This is because our state is a state that has efficient Police men who are humble enough willingly forget the rich people who maintain burial grounds of traditional statues and who are paid forty crores for maintaining godowns of banned gutka. The sacred law of Court, either the supreme or the subordinate should fetter the issues like alcoholism, bribery and corruption that stifles the happiness of citizens; rather it fetters the tradition of festivals and cultural promise of marital relationships to stifle the well-being of such citizens.
                                         I felt that this time of my dawn of realization might be a dawn of realization for all such people in higher positions. Eventhough they are not ready to make laws for enriching the happiness for such people, they should at least avoid being the barriers of such middle class people's existing happiness. Before passing a verdict the workers of law should not only visualize the benefit that it would bring for 'them' or for their country; but they should visualize how it affects such people of middle class strata. 
                                          If its does not work to be dawn for their realization, then it should be the dusk of our ignorance to blindly adhere to all futile laws that put an end to traditional celebrations and cultural norms. Its our time to find such a dawn in the dusk of such restricting Diwali. We should end seeing narrower view of restricting a festival of one particular religion and broaden our view to see it as a restriction imposed on experiencing happiness even on that one day. Having such a view will enable the middle class people like us to indirectly demand the courteous eyes of law on us; thereby indulging in performing righteous acts that would be a benefit for us and also for our Government. If we consider our  silence adherence to laws be of favor to the Government, then a mutual reciprocation should be either present or demanded from them. That mutual reciprocation manifests itself when Government starts to work for the welfare of the people.
                                            This dusk of Diwali should not be like the dusk of the celebrations of Jallikkatu revolting to the core and then getting lost in the depths of silence like youngsters; rather it should be finding the dawn in the dusk of such restricting celebration. I think I have achieved it, by waking in such a dawn of realization after the dusk of Diwali. What about you...
                                             

A Poem by A Page that is Intentionally left blank...

An Empty Page

      An Empty page with tear droplets is my life.

      An Empty Page yearning to have legible letters on it,

      An Empty Page that feels itself illegible without letters,

      An Empty Page that had imprinted papers as its friends, 

      An Empty Page that glorified the meaning that each of its friends reflected with words on them,

An Empty Page that toils hard to give fresh look for a book,

An Empty Page that struggles for an opportunity to appear in the eyes of its Writer,

It was an Empty Page that had a undying hope to become a Written one someday...

Finally the Writer imprints that Empty Page also.

The Empty Page is now happy with letters on it, though it has just a phrase on it;

Failing to realize the meaning of that phrase.

One day its friends made fun of the letters on it,

The Empty Page thought that they mock it for having a single  phrase.

So, it still waited for at least one of the reader's eyes to open wide on the meaning it delivers.

Without realizing that the Empty Page had already become Invalid in their eyes,

Having imprinted as,

"THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK".

 

Conflict in the movie 'Vanamagan' (The Son of Forest)

Conflict between Nature & Technology in the movie ‘Vanamagan’

“The Enemy of Art is the absence of Limitations”

                                                  says George Orson Welles; a famous American actor, director, writer and producer, who worked in theatre, radio and film. But, I would say that, the absence of limitations actually broadens the scope, for the forms of art, apart from Literature. This is because, I believe any art that conveys some message for its observers or reflects the typical harsh reality emphasizing for a change/ representing a change, is art. It can be analysed, interpreted, appreciated or criticized. So, I started to interpret this Tamil movie ‘Vanamagan’ directed by A. L. Vijay; that once again opened my eyes on the struggle, that is prevalent in between the Nature and Technology, whenever, either of it is tried to be modified by the other/ modifies the other, that later leads to some form of great destruction. Apart from its unbelievable scene sequences and other technical effects, I thought that the director of this movie had a great interest to emphasize the wide gap between the human beings and Nature, made by the Technology.

                                                The plot of this film centres on an ‘uncontacted tribal group’ of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; whose land inside the dark forest is taken by a corporate company, to establish their industry, destroying the forest area and the tribal people who is staying there. Jara is an inhabitant of that tribe, who in an attempt to save his tribe from the Police, meets with an accident. He is hardly hit by the car of Kaavya, who with her friends enjoys the trip in Andaman, thereby driving in high speed, in the restricted forest area. Jara becomes unconscious and taken into the care of Kaavya, the Managing Director of Kaavya Group of Industries, one of the Richest Entrepreneur, who lost her parents in an accident and taken care of by her money-minded  uncle Rajasekar and his son Vicky. The way in which, Jara regains his memory and saves his tribe, with the help of Kaavya, constitutes the rest of the plot.

                                                As this movie portrays two extreme characters: Jara, a tribal inhabitant completely influenced by Nature and Kaavya, a rich girl highly influenced by civilised technology. Though, Kaavya is not portrayed as a techy-freak in the movie, the influence of technology is evident, when she seeks freedom as a girl, in her song. Initially this conflict between Nature and Technology starts when Kaavya and her friends in their Andaman tour, tend to break the rules, to enter into the restricted forest area. The quest for thrill and adventure, that is prevalent in the twenty-first century, technological era, plays an important role in their act. This leads to the first problem that they face with Nature’s people, the tribal inhabitant, Jara. Only because of their illegal trespassing, they hit Jara hardly, who tries to escape within the forest. After taking Jara into her care, Kaavya tries to tame him like an animal, who in her eyes tends to be uncivilized. In that course, it is Jara who finds it difficult to adapt to the civilized and technological environment. But in the climax of the movie, there comes a situation, when Kaavya realizes that these people who tend to be uncivilized are more humane than the people who are civilized.

                               Initially , when Kaavya finds Jara in her home back, Jara tends to eat all the raw vegetables, nothing left for them even to make a simple dish. For the first time, Kaavya encounters with hunger. This is symbolic of the fact that if people continue to curb Nature’s prosperity for their own advantage, then finally there will be nothing left with Nature, to provide for humanity. This would make humanity starve to death, for which now-a-days scientists warn that, within two decades, there will be scarcity of food, so that people would take tablets, to sustain themselves. Jara’s  brutal attack on Vicky, when he misbehaves with Kaavya symbolizes that; when Nature becomes furious with disasters, then it becomes uncontrollable and dangerous to the humanity, to the extent that none can escape from the destruction.

                                Since Jara and his people are greatly influenced by Nature and live with Nature; they tend to be the embodiment of Nature. All the selfless attitude of Nature is found in them. Nature tends to be selfless because, in spite of man destroying Nature for his selfish purpose, Nature tends to give him all that he wants; food, water and shelter. The same selfless attitudes are found in these tribal people. They shared their food that is hunted among everyone equally and they tend to accept people as they are. They hunt only for their necessity. As the comedian says in one sequence, they don’t need money to live, but the heart to live together. Kaavya and her people in the modern world are greatly influenced by civilisation and technology, which made them selfish. Kaavya’s friends are evident of this selfish attitude, when she is in trouble they don’t tend to help her, instead they find ways to escape from her, for their own safety. Kaavya, the only master of her lavish residence, needs all varieties of food, among which she will eat any one; whereas the rest will be wasted in the dustbin. She consumes less, whereas waste a lot of resources. Kaavya in her uncle’s care believes that, money is the only need of man to live in the modern world. This is evident, when she forges the tickets to Chennai, with her twenty-five lakhs worth Diamond ring, which is again for a selfish purpose. This selfish and inhumane attitude of the people of modern era and the selfless and humane attitude of the Nature and its people; serves to be the basic essence of all the conflict between Nature and Technology.

                                     All the conflicts that a common man speaks of between Nature and technology, tends to circle around the self-centered humanity and selfless Nature. This conflict can be resolved only when tries to change itself to be selfless, which is impossible with the influence of Technology. Because, the use four mobiles within a family, for all the family members, makes them to be selfish to recharge their own unlimited net packs, to enlighten and expand their own knowledge of international issues and their own  friendly relationships with people in distant lands.

Happy New Year

Wishing You a Happy New Year

Forget the Past,

Plan for the Future – But

Work in the Present – to

Make the moment pleasant.

Root out the Anger,

Blot out the Fear – But

Sort out the Frailties – to

Prove out the Abilities.

Forgive the Enemy,

Favour the Friends – But

Don’t forsake your Families – that

Will forlorn you.

Stand up against Inhumanity,

Don’t give up the hope for Change – But

Keep up your Spirits – to

Cope up with Obstacles.

So, bid Farewell for 2017

That was of endless bliss,

Welcome the arrival of 2018

That will be an Annus Mirabilis.