Joker: Unconventional, Ingenious, Brilliant

We live in interesting times, where exercising your freedom of speech, a fundamental constitutional right can land you in a soup. You can be instantly trolled by Bakths and labeled as an “anti-national” and if lucky you may escape a bid on your life and end up behind bars with sedition charges or other false cases. Didn’t we see varying degrees of this in the case of Kanhaiya Kumar, Irom Sharmila, Hardik Patel, Perumal Murugan, Kovan, Piyush Manush and many others in the recent past?

The plot of the movie Joker revolves around how an activist sprouts in our society and how the political system ruthlessly runs over him. The director has used a simple example of building toilets in rural India. The one-line plot may sound unappealing, but against the current political backdrop in the country, the story becomes an interesting script.

Director: Let’s start with Director Raju Murugan. This is his second movie after Cuckoo and he has depicted poverty without making you feel queasy and has used appropriate examples to showcase establishments (Governments and individuals working for them) and how they trespass citizen rights and cut corners to make them look good. Wikipedia says he has got the best out of his cast by making them rehearse 90% of the storyline before putting them in front of the camera.

Cast: This is the 4th movie for the protagonist Guru Somasundaram after his much spoken performance in Aaranya Kandam followed by Paandiya Naadu and Jigarthanda. Guru through his performance has inspired and challenged our stars to choose a meaty role than go for a formula driven scripts. Newcomers Ramya Pandian and Gayathri Krishnaa despite a short screen time in a role devoid of glamour leave a lasting impression as Isai and Malli. This only reiterates what happens when a script chooses the artist more than artist choosing the script and we've repeatedly seen this in early career of movie stars.

Music: Coming to the next portfolio is music, which makes this movie stand on its legs. When I did a bit of research on the music director Sean Roldan, I discovered this is a stage name of Ragavendra, son of Srimushnam Raja Rao (Mridhangist) and Padma, the daughter of famous novelist Sandilyan. He has beautifully brought out pathos in the song Ola Ola Kudisayile, created a lilting lullaby Chellamma with folk tunes from south and north and brought out essence of a Gana in the song Jasmine. He has used folk artist and unknown singers from Dharmapuri to croon and probably this may be the only movie these many new artists have been used for the first time in the movie. Ennga Sir Unga Sattam reminds songs from the 50s. Hadn’t Anirudh backed out of this project, we wouldn’t have discovered the brilliance in Sean Roldan and also new artist featured in the album.

Lyricists: Yugabarathy with over 1000 compositions to his credit is not new to Tamil Film Industry and he has penned numerous hits in his decade long career. Despite so many movies having come with a rural backdrop and many of the lyricists romanticized rural India and its characters there, but still Yugabarathy has managed to bring out uncaptured beauty in his lyrics. The Jasmine song is a great example where he romanticizes the heroin looking at the fungal mark (themal) in her neck and cracks in her feet (pithavadi) and equates her wink to the massage one gets at Hoggenakal. He captures the small pleasures and anguish in storing each other number on their mobile phones to enticing the heroine by promising to place flex banner outside their wedding. Very realistic and at the same time original and imaginative.

Lyricist Ramesh Vaidya must also be credited for penning down the Chellamma song that expresses the longing in the heart of the heroin and how dearly she loves him. Usage of Hindi lyrics in between brings in a different flavor, which is in describable.

Chinnathu manne yen ponne (mud described as gold)

Seravaattu kaasa yen rosa (precious pennies earned from selling dried leaves)

Selavaagi pogaathe (don’t spend yourself)

Chellammaa chellammaa

One can feel the rustic flavors in his lyrics and we are reminded of Vairamuthu’s lyrics in Karuthamma.

Overall: Despite the director using a song to establish the unconventional hero and his fight early on in the movie, we fail to get a grip of his narration until intermission. In the second half the director moves quickly to narrate the conflict and also resolves it. When combined with dialogues oozing of satire, brilliance in acting, lilting music and rustic lyrics it leaves audience and critics speechless and keeps the movie hall full even two weeks after its release.

Sans any marketing fanfare like Kabali (Cut out, airplane, Palaabishegam), this movie has been successful in the box office. Moreover, they've used an ingenious marketing tactic to fight privacy and get to support the movie plot. Soon this movie will be remade in Hindi and Telugu and will win many more hearts across India and bring about much needed change in the nation; which is more precious than awards.

 

How to help friends and family heal faster

For time-to-time we come across friends or members in our extended family facing health issues and go through the ordeal of hospitalization, surgery and recovery. In the process of reaching out to them we often forget to mind our words and actions which in turn can hurt them and leave them offended. Here are some pointers to ensure that your words and actions give comfort and bear value.

Beware of word of mouth: We rarely hear directly from the horse’s mouth about the illness or ailment and mostly it is neighbors or relatives who bring us the grave news. So, when you decide to call the family to enquire about their health, never bring up the name of the person who shared the news with you. This not only exposes your network, but also erodes the trust you’ve earned. Moreover, you may never know the equation between the two and you don’t want to be seen as a broadcasting service. So, protect your source, if you need to be trusted.

Check before you visit: For some visiting the patient in the hospital is a check in the box item, while for some it is more important due to the emotional bond we share with the person or the family. Nevertheless, call up the family and check if visitors are allowed and if the patient is in a frame of mind to entertain visitors. Also find out what you can bring for the patient rather than showing up with flowers, fruits or health drinks. Importantly, keep your visits short and don’t visit if you are coming down with an infection or recovering from one. 

Don’t be inquisitive: Unless the person is willing to share their medical history, findings and treatment details, don’t try pry or acting like a medical professional. Instead focus on how you can be of help to the person and family during the rough patch. You never know in which phase (denial, acceptance, etc.) they are in and your questions, suggestions, false hopes and advice can slow down their progress.

Look before you leap: For some of us hospital visits may be mere courtesy calls, nothing wrong about that, while for some who are willing to stay invested there is a lot you can offer. From cooking and delivering meals to the family, making trips to the grocery store, driving kids to school to attending to the patient at the hospital there are a variety of responsibilities that you can sign-up for. But before you sign up for responsibilities ask yourself if you have the time and bandwidth because it doesn’t look good to abandon half-way or back out after committing.

Give no advices or make no comparisons: When visiting a patient it is good to enquire about their health, but refrain from talking too much about their ailment or making references to others who’ve gone through the same ordeal or giving unsolicited advices. Share fond memories and take some old pictures to rekindle halcyon days or carry books and music they may like. Ensure what you say or share doesn't make the patient anxious or leave them exhausted.

Be tight lipped: Out of sympathy and empathy it is easy for us to share or discuss the medical condition/progress/treatment with friends and family. But you may never know how you words and intentions get interpreted and re-communicated. Many at times, people are careless and may drop names and share information that may find its way back to the patient and their family. So, refrain from broadcasting or discussing any medical details that may have been shared with you in confidence.

Doesn't matter even if you don't visit the patient to show your support to the family, but ensure you don't hurt them with your careless behavior.

 

A spooky ride

It was two minutes past eight and just as I entered Mandaveli station I heard the train honk and accelerate. I didn’t curse my luck instead calmly took the escalator trying to avoid the boisterous crowd descending the stairs. As I entered my eyes swept the length and breadth of the platform looking for the usual faces that traveled with me every morning. Surprisingly, I found none of them. May be there were lucky to get on the earlier train?

 

With 10 more minutes for the next train to arrive, I dragged the iron bench to the shade and fished out my pocket to catch up on the morning twitter trolls on my mobile. A few trolls later arrived the next train that looked pretty much empty. Could it be my good luck or did they increase frequency of the morning trains? I boarded the partially empty train where I found a few empty seats, some in the aisle and some by the window.  

 

I settled for an aisle seat and got back to reading trolls from Bakths. Before I realized, the train zipped through Kotturpuram travelled over Adyar River and rushed along OMR from Madhya Kailash and entered Thiruvanmiyur station, the beginning of the IT corridor. I exited the station looking for the next mode of transportation to do the last 8 kms of my daily triathlon.

The Tidel Park junction is both dangerous and annoying. Dangerous because there is no foot over bridge for pedestrians and annoying because the duration of the green light for traffic that proceeds from Tidel Park towards Thiruvanmiyur is 5 minutes. And when it turned green the pedestrian movement resembled the masaimara migration bringing all types of vehicles from cycles, motorbikes, autos, cars to busses to a screeching halt. 

 

Today, I sprinted through the intersection before the light turned green. The feeling of winning the race against time didn’t last long as there were no busses waiting at the other end to ferry me to work. After a few minutes of waiting I settled in for a share auto and occupied the window seat to enjoy the cool breeze, but spooky surprise sat on my left ruining my journey.

A middle aged woman wished me from the outside, boarded the auto, sat beside me and started to make a conversation. I didn’t remember seeing this woman before and was taken aback when she started to ask me personal questions. I gave her half-hearted replies to dissuade her from asking further questions. 

 

She didn’t carry an identity card nor did she introduce herself. With a few more passengers getting in the auto, she moved closer towards me. Her questions and gestures made me suspicious and I wondered if she is a transgender trying to get some attention. I scanned her from head to toe to confirm my suspicion. These days many transgender people carry themselves so well and are even better dressed than average women.

 

Soon her interrogation started to focus on my professional side: who I worked for and what time I left work in the evening. This made me even more suspicious left me wondering why am I being targeting this woman. Could she be a police officer in mufti? Or a biscuit bandit? 

 

I was really uncomfortable with the inquisitive stranger beside me and protected my identity by giving fake monosyllabic responses to her questions. Quickly securing my identity and belongings, I logged on to Whatspp to read a text from a friend in US who asked me to YouTube Michella Obama’s speech at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia.

 

Sensing that I was in no mood to entertain her questions she started to share personal information and then went to talk about extending the MRTS service to Mahabalipuram. Is she being chased or followed by someone and is she trying to get friendly to escape him? Or is she a drug mule trying to offload stuff to me? I stayed focused on searching Michelle Obama’s video supporting the democratic woman presidential candidate who broke federal rules and used personal email and server for official and confidential communication.

 

As the auto neared my destination I fished for change in my wallet and once again she asked me the fare to my destination. Annoyed with her question, I politely asked her to check with the driver. I disembarked the auto with a sigh and relief, but then the woman started to follow me to work. I was ready to confront her on her identity and why she was tagging behind me, but then I decided to walk faster than usual to escape another volley of questions.

 

I went through the baggage screening and quickly jumped into an elevator that was going down, but then as the elevator reached the ground level and the doors opened she was standing there.

I was afraid she might get a hint of where I sat, so I alighted a few floors before my destination and took the stairs. I have never been followed by a woman this close and what started as a crowd-free ride on the train today quickly turned out to be a spooky auto ride.   

 

Once I settled in my seat, I Whatsapped my friend on how some ordinary women in the next seat on a public transport can get conversant with strangers and voluntarily seek and share personal information putting lives at risk.

Popular, yet rare!

The month of Aadi offers different kinds of therapy based on individual interests and inclination. For people with religious interests, temples with women goddesses turn into an attraction point, while for those inclined towards retail therapy, major brands and stores lure them with good discounts. Surprisingly, this Aadi also brought with it some Carnatic Music to the city that ended its dry and hot season a month ago. Brahma Gana Sabha and PS Institute of Art, Music & Culture came together to host this year's Aadi Isai Vizha at Dakshinamurthy Auditorium at PS High School on RK Mutt Road, Mylapore.

With good spread of programs and choices, Chennai residents had another good reason to give miss to temples, shops and sabhas on that Aadi Friday and instead head over to catch the first day first show of Kabali staring Rajnikanth, a matinee idol from 1970s. When I learnt that my evening call was moved to Monday, I decided to celebrate my weekend at Dakshinamurthy Auditorium listening to a woman octogenarian vocalist from Bangalore. 

 

It is rare to find vocalists who perform in their 80s and to find them in good vocal health is even more rare. A few years ago Parasala Ponnammal, a doyen from Kerala, God's own country stopped performing as her health didn't permit her to sing for 2.5 hours. Today, the only two vocalists who still perform and can draw a full house at their concerts are Sangita Kalanidhi Smt. Vedavalli and Sangita Kala Acharya Smt. Neela Ramgopal. Both these vocalists have earned their titles and laurels and the music they produce today is for the sake of art and not for money or fame. But, how many of us as listeners realize the value of music and set aside our prejudices about artists, their age and lineage to hear blissful music?

With many women in their early 50s complaining of knee pain and unable to sit crossed legged on the floor, Neela Ramgopal sat in cross legged position for 135 mins giving a wonderful manodharma sangitam. I've heard over 15 of her concerts at various venues in Chennai and Bangalore and I must admit that she rarely repeats songs and always educates and delights her audience with rare songs from various composers. When I left home that evening I knew it was going to be an educative evening, which began with Avvaiyar's Vinayakar Agaval and ended with a Purandara Dasar Nama. 

1. Paalum theli thenum - Kalyani - Vinayakar Agaval - Avvaiyar 

2. Neeve gathi yani - Kalyani - Varnam -Shyama Sastri

3. Muruga thirumaal maruga - Harikamboji - Thanjavur Sankara Iyer Nereval at Karunai kadale unnai kanavum piriyen

4. Panchashat Peeta - Devagandhari - Dikshithar 

5. Chenthane Sadha - Kuntalvarali - Thyagaraja 

6. Mamava Karunaya -Shanmukhapriya - Swati Thirunaal

7. Neeraja Sama - Jayanthasree - Oothukaadu Kavi

8. Ragam and Thanam - Bahudari.                                                                                   

Pallavi: Kandanadi avan yenakku sondhamadi; Valli Manalanadi (2-kalai Aadi Talam to sync up with the appropriate Tamil month). Swaras in Bahudari, Amruthavarshini, Nalinakanthi and came back in reverse order.

9. Apaduruku - Khamas - Javali

10. Kannada Virutham in Sindhubairavi followed by Tirupathi Venkataramana - Purundaradasar 

11. Thillana

If you look at the above list, all of the ragas are popular, while the songs are rarely heard in today's concert platform. It would be an interesting exercise to draw up a list of songs for the above ragas for a popular musician from Chennai, who often repeats them. May be this is one other reason why one must hear musicians who come from outside of Chennai and who have a different repertoire. 

Neela Mami's concert that evening was also an educative session for both non-percussionist and percussionist. Since some of the songs were new to them, they had to play watchfully and couldn't let their enthusiasm get ahead of the vocalist. Neela Mami understood the gaps in their learning and gave them appropriate cues to make it a team performance.

While media and friends were belaboring over the hype behind Kabali and its let down on print and social media, I was still lost in the tranquilizing music from the previous evening. Baradwaj Rangan, a cinema critic from the Hindu even hosted a video chat session discussing if it was a Rajinikanth movie or P. Ranjith movie and how the actor and director compromised their brand of cinema. While Rajinikanth and Ranjith may let you down, but never the great composers of Carnatic Music and Neela Mami with her wide repertoire. Art for the sake of money, fame, and idol status is ephemeral and different from art for the sake of art. It is easy to be popular, but difficult to be popular, yet rare! 

Brexit: A White-Washed Indian Family Drama?

The current political atmosphere in the United Kingdom is both charged and divided ahead of Brexit referendum to be held in less than 24-hours. Hearing arguments on immigration, economic freedom and independence reminds me debates that happen in our homes over joint family set-up and same-caste marriages. 

The UK Independence Party has been fiercely supporting the exit like daughter-in-laws seeking economic freedom and independence from joint-family set-up. The EU has been warning Britian of 

Exit price and no opportunity to come back in the union, while the Conservative party realizes the advantages, it is struggling to convince its citizens. As much as the joint family makes it feel rigid in the inside, it offers tremendous support and protectionism when things begin to go wrong. 

The cultural change brought about by immigration is another point of contention between the warring parties. If I were to bring home a girl from another caste or religion, my parents would not be too happy because of the dilution of cultural values and practices. Similarly, the Conservatives are worried about the fast-changing religious demographic and evolving British palette for Kebab and Curry. By exiting EU, Britain hopes to prolong the shelf-life of their culture and palette for fish and chips. Scientifically, Cross-pollination is an opportunity to improve the genetic make-up and propounds Darwinism: survival of the fittest and the need for constant evolution.

Another striking similarity to this white-washed version of the Indian family drama is the recent murder of a Parliamentarian, Jo Cox who supported staying in the EU, which resembles honor killings that happen here in the name of caste and religion. 

Irrespective of what we term this: a white-washed version of an Indian drama or a brown version of a British Soap, the Brits will have to face the repercussions of their choice, which will significantly alter their cultural DNA and legacy. Only time can tell the real merits and demerits of such a choice, until then let's enjoy the drama in British style with some beer, fish and chips.

Life lessons from Mowgli and Dory

Taking my 10-year old nephew to movies this summer has not only helped us bond, but also made me review the purpose of life and characters in it. But, before I share my interpretation and point out the uncanny resemblance of characters from these two movies (The Jungle Book and Finding Dory) to real life, let me share about a craze that hit our generation (the 1970 borns) like an epidemic.

The craze

I was my nephew's age then. Gold Spot, a popular soda, promoted their drink to kids using the Jungle Book. A certain number of bottle caps when turns in earned us the Jungle Book comic, which had a simple story line with vacant spots for key characters. Beneath every bottle cap of the drink came a character, which we collected and pasted in appropriate empty spots in the comic. We used our pocket money to buy Gold Spot drinks for the sake of collecting these characters and when we ran out of money, we walked by small shops in our neighborhood looking for Gold Spot caps. 

Sometimes, we got lucky, but most times we either spotted empty caps or those from other brands. A few of those lucky spots earned us multiple copies of the same character, which we swapped amongst our friends. May be we replaced these fictional characters with formulas, equations, theorems and science laws. Should we also include prejudices and biases to the above list?

A common theme

Both animation movies revolve around shortcomings, searching the past and returning home with help of friends. Returning home is a metaphor that can be used for jobs, people, relationships.

From Mowgli's perspective, the Jungle Book is a story of friendships and how it helped him handle vissicitudes of life and return home. From Shere Khan and King Luois's point-of-view, it is a tale of how prejudice, revenge seeking mentality, desirescan reduce one to ashes. 

Finding Dory, a sequel to Finding Nemo, not only involves return of Dory to her parents, but also return of species who were being forcefully taken away from the ocean in California to an aquarium in Cleveland. 

Reel is real!

Gone are those days where we exchanged duplicate characters in bottle caps, while today we discuss tales of such characters in our life. 

In our professional lives we often come across managers who mirror Shere Khan in their attitude and venomous peers like Ka who pretend to be our true friends. Fortunately, it is folks like Baloo, Bagheera, Akela and Raksha who make our lives happy.

Like Dory many of us have shortcoming that eclipse our objective of life. We happily move around lforgetting our goals and priorities like Dory. It is people who meet along the journey who help us get back on track and realize our dreams.

The two movies besides being funny, poignant and thought provoking remind us that life is often a mix of both good and evil characters and that one must pause and think of their objectives and not be hijacked by emotions and instincts. 

Watch the movie and come up with your own interpretation. Don't forget to listen to Baloo sing...The bare necessities of life will come to you...They'll come to you! - https://youtu.be/Gu8mFbBvoMI

Euphoria and Gratitude in Marriages

Yes, sometimes marriages can happen over social media in the corporate world. And there is one striking similarity in the emotion broadcasted after announcement of marriage plans and company buy-outs: overly optimistic. If you don't agree with me, watch the recent video of Jeff Weiner and Satya Nadella speak about what the take over means to each of their companies: https://youtu.be/HHVtNgngLHA. 

Jeff is seen to be controlling his smirk (he recalls what happened to Nokia after Microsoft buy out), while Satya brags about the deal and how it buying Linked In would help Microsoft expand its business. And subsequently, Jeff defends the deal and explains why it is a win-win for Linked In; as Satya vehemently shakes his head like a joyous partner who slipped in the engagement ring. You know who is the husband in the marriage.

Though I've never been married or engaged in my personal life, but in my professional life, I've played the role of a communications specialist giving false hope to both parties. At one time, I was a part of the team that prepared optimistic communications assuaging fears of employees and customers during Satyam fiasco, and later on announcing an aquistioon to employees, compiling Q&A to customers and financial analysts who often sit on the fence questioning the value of the deal and success/failure of the acquisition strategy.

Over valued?

Microsoft is paying 79 times the social network's earnings before EBITDA and Linked In shares are being bought over at $220 despite Linked In shares dropping in value by 44% due to poor performance reported in Feb 2016 and losing $11 billion in market cap. 

Today 26.2 billion deal is being questioned, analyzed and reviewed by press, analysts on business channels and shareholders on Twitter. Though we could hear the similar tune in the background: over valuation, but let's not forget that the rich always marries into rich and often the marriage is a way to consolidate wealth and safeguard personal prosperity more than ensuring prosperity for employees and shareholders. Linked In shares surged in value (46%) as soon as the deal was announced by Microsoft, which clearly shows the market pulse on the buy-out.

Raw deal

In my professional career, I have gone through the experience of both being taken over by a smaller player and taking over a smaller player. The truth is that, many of colleagues were made redundant and high cost resources being replaced with cheaper options from the other side bringing gloom to employees. 

Just as kids get a raw deal in a marriage, employees get the other end of the stick in M&As. Euphoria and gratitude are both an illusion as management looks to multiply their wealth and reduce cost. The only parties that stands to gain in corporates marriages are lawyers, investment bankers, deal brokers and consulting companies (therapist) that work on post-merger integration.