Questions of faith or questionable faith?

Over the past few years there have been questions on faith in a god (i think he doesn't deserve the capitalized "G") , from me as well as from people i know. when i mention god, i have to say before hand that i want to distinguish spirituality vs religion. spirituality primarily deals with questions of existence, about why we are here and what we are supposed to do. it does not need a god as an enabler and in fact does just as well without his/her presence as in cases like Jainism/Buddhism. Religion on the other hand rather concerns itself with all the rules, rituals and restrictions that god seems to be so in love with.

I have always believed that religion's primary role in society was to enforce proper codes of conduct in absence of strong government or authority. therefore it's basic premise rises from the assumption that humans left to themselves would revert to a primal state where mere survival is what matters. this in turn negates any chances of the survival of civilization or society under which an individual's chance of survival are actually better. The first priest would have understood this perfectly, but to impose one person's sanity on a multitude of stupid humanity would require 'divine' intervention and that's when the first god would have been 'invented'. This celestial judge dispensed justice through his 'priests' and helped to maintain peace in society in face of perceived inequalities in life. as with any political/social system, it succumbed to that source of perennial problems, greed. the priests got greedy and what was worse was that they started believing in their own fabrications. it was a case of delusions morphing into reality. soon people started missing the fine print... that you did not need him to follow the rest of the manual. this is where i have a bone to pick. how come a system that preaches unconditional love for all humanity somehow says that you will be punished just because you forgot to serve him lamb once a year or you forgot to fast once a week. that just seems anathema to the 'unconditional' part of love. after all aren't we all supposed to be his children.?!

i could rant for a few more pages, but there have been more eloquent authors out there who have argued for intelligence over religion :). I am slightly more comfortable in the religions of the East where punishment is restricted to rebirth, but still the rituals and stratification of society in terms of castes in Hinduism and the fatalistic and bleak nature of Buddhism put me off. Confucianism and Epicurean systems appeal better but then that takes you away from religion into philosophy, which is where i think all religions should stop at.

My personal belief system is best summed in these following words of Einstein, particularly the last part in bold.

"I cannot imagine a God who rewards and punishes the objects of his creation, whose purposes are modeled after our own -- a God, in short, who is but a reflection of human frailty."

I leave you with a cartoon sketch. nothing specific against christ. i am against all gods equally. society has already evolved past the easter bunny and santa claus. i am just hoping that god is the next logical step in the process.

Of donkey love and Kashmir

Before you perverts start filling up your heads with dirty thoughts, let me clarify that this is a post about the movie Tahaan. I had wanted to catch this movie ever since i chanced upon it's review by Baradwaj Rangan. It was a complete coincidence that i happened to watch both the movies featured in that review in a space of a week. But the review got it right to the point. First rate performances in both movies, but talk about A Wednesday is reserved for another post.

Coming back to Tahaan, i am surprised by the sudden rise in precocious young talent , first Darsheel Safary in TZP and now here in Purav Bhandara who plays the protaganist. I just hope some of our 'superstars' could salvage half of what he does in this movie. As far as the story goes, it is about a boy who loses his donkey(can we call a donkey cute??!!! cos it was), Birbal, and his efforts in getting him back and what he manages to come across during the time. There are two things that struck me apart from the fine acting.

First, the cinematography. The scenes look like they are slideshows of picture perfect postcards lined up with characters thrown in to fit. Sadly, I have never been to Kashmir and so am not sure whether it's the place that lends itself to such achingly beautiful images or it's the man behind the camera who manages to dress it up so exquisitely. But thanks to Santosh Sivan for capturing it on camera. Here is a scene from the movie


Second, there were certain scenes in the movie that would have been worth the price of the admission ticket by themselves. There was a particular portion where Tahaan goes around asking the kids in the neighborhood whether they have seen his Birbal. Like all kids they are playing, but instead of the innocuous cops & thieves, they are playing militants and soldiers, gunning each other down. Violence, it seems, has stolen even the innocence of the kids at that point. But then a smile is put back on your face when Tahaan shows up for the security check when the army asks all the men in the village to assemble. I had a huge grin on my face when he tries explaining his presence to the officer. There was this other scene where , in the land of the apples, a Kashmiri pandit's hand reaches out to steal an apple left on a window ledge of a devastated home by Anupam Kher. Forced to steal from their own orchards!! It was indeed sad. It was gems like these in what was still a good story that made it great.

On the whole it was a good 90 minutes spent. Hopefully we get to see the kid in more movies going forward. And hopefully the donkey too.

House

House has been one of all time favorite characters on television. I guess it has to do with him getting away doing and saying stuff that would land most of us in jail. I have come to admire the sheer gumption of the character in doing what he does. And the sarcasm is to die for. But some of the best moments come when House manages to surprise his friends and colleagues. Sample this

Clean Shaven House: which tie should i wear?

Wilson: you shaved!!!

House: The red one then.

Wilson: you have TWO ties???!!!!!!!!

Of mass bunks and politics!!

During my undergrad days, it was quite common to find students discussing "mass bunks" when the whole class would fail to show up on a day. Now the point of it was to make sure that no classes were held , so you end up having a day off and not missing out on classes at the same time. Imagine it working the other way around... the professor banishes all students from his class for bad behaviour so that he can have an off day :). Something like that transpired in the TN assembly today where the 'honorable' members put on their best infantile behavior for exhibition. The entire opposition was evicted from the House after demanding an explanation for use of force on lawyers in the High Court promises. No question hour, no dialogue... just valuable taxpayer money at work subsidising the member's tea, coffee and paruppu vadai. the ignominy of it all!! i wonder what the members still in the house had left to discuss... maybe something important like the hem line of shriya's skirts the evening before at a muhurat or the "apparent" bulging of Namitha's waistline.

Now the lawyers are no reincarnated Buddha's but the very notion of use of force seems too regresssive and high-handed. That coupled with the fact that it happened on the premises of the institution that is supposed to protect the rights to protest doesn't bode too well. When the opposition gets voted to power the next time, they will then want their "off" time to discuss relevant issues like the balding head of rajini and want to declare it as an endangered species. Such comedy will ensue that somebody should make a reality show out of this all. Sex sells but stupidity sells better.!!!

-shri

What's in a name?

Apparently almost all alphabets in the English language. Sample this..

Stage Name: Blaaze.

Real Name: Lakshmi Narasimha Vijaya Rajagopala Seshadri Sharma Rajesh Raman

Now that's a real mouthful. But I say that the original name has a lot more character(s), no?
Imagine the possibilities, you need not fear on wagering a name change for a bet... who is gonna notice if you change Seshadri to Susan or Vijaya to Viagra!

UPDATE: there have been some questions about the veracity of the claim.. but here is a link to an interview with the Hindu where he rolls out his name.

-shri

Tolkienation

To say that i am huge Tolkien fan would be a euphemism. if i were not an atheist and i did believe in rebirth.. i would kill to be Merry/Pippin. You might think an odd choice, but if you knew my lazy self you would nod in appreciation. Being Gandalf/Frodo/Aragorn/Sam is basically too much work and pain. Any other character would be too far on the fringes without any scope for proper attention . These guys are there for all the cool parts of the book-the Ents, the battles; and they happen to be end up being the most handsome guys in the Shire. Must have really scored with the girls :p. Anways back to Tolkien, i have read 3 of his works.. LoTR, the Hobbit and the Silmarillion,multiple readings of all of them. While my feelings towards the Hobbit are ambivalent, i absolutely love the other 2. There are outside chances of better plots out there, but i cannot fathom something that is more dazzling in the grandeur and scale of the world it is set in. Imagine a person spending a better part of 2 decades or more, trying to lend as much authenticity and character to these imagined worlds. I hardly have the patience to spend 10 mins posting an update to this blog.

But there are two things that captivate me about the Professor's works. One is the kind of bluesy longing that the writing manages to evoke in the reader. I have never been able to explain why but i always wanted to be a part of that majestic, yet ultimately, a tale of beautiful sadness. The other thing is essentially the lyrical quality of the prose. The words, names and the places are to die for. He seems to innately understand what sounds (and means) good or bad. Not surprising considering he was a professor of linguistics and not literature. Hear about names like Elbereth and Feanor, Brandybuck and Cirdan, Grima and Saruman and places like Eregion and Arda, Shire and Mordor and you don't need to read the book to know which ones are the good ones and which ones belong to the dark side. This is a particularly noticeable aspect of his writings and he talks about trying to excel at this "linguistic aesthetics" in a letter written to the publisher of the Silmarillion.

One of my desires have been to own all of the good Prof's works and already own 2 of them. I am torn about what to buy next , either the Children of Hurin or The Unfinished Tales of Middle Earth. I always felt sad that JRR did not get to publish more but today i had a pleasant surprise. Looks like they managed to dig out an old work of the Master and are going to publish it. Hurray!! It is of course a tale unconnected to the LoTR and it's world, but it does seem to be of the same "legendary" nature as his most famous work. looking forward to it. For folks who have not read Tolkien , i suggest that you give him a chance. Do not be put off by the size of the tome. By the time you are done with it, you would wish that it was another 800 pages longer.

-shri

:)

So true, no?

-shri