Two movies /48 hrs

Recently we watched two movies within a gap of 24 hrs. Both the movies were unique. First one was filled with natural and soft treatment of life. The second was a combination of special effects and race against time. In many ways both had some common ground between them. The movies which we saw were - Loudspeaker (Malayalam) and 2012 (English).

Loudspeaker portrayed the changing face (s)of mankind. The following juxtapositions find place in Loudspeaker- old/new, rural/urban,natural/artificial. The treatment surprisingly is not Loud. There is a human element in the movie and it carries a strong message about our changing lives. The central motif is similar to Rajesh Khanna starrers -Anand and Bawarachi and the copy of copy of all these – Kal ho na ho. Something akin to the saying - He came, he saw and he conquered. Watching a movie with some brilliant snapshots of Kerala is a true nostalgic act for a Gulf Malayalee. Jairaj injects a shot of humanism without the help of Doctor Preacher. In a way it was good to see Jairaj attempting a theme like this which is far removed from his usual misadventures with ‘saffronic’ themes. (Paitherekam, Deshadanam). Even though  Mammoty looks different as the Loud Mike, he lacks a tinge of originality.We felt that he was too glamorous for the role of a ‘farmer/kidney donor from the hills’. Jagathy is wasted with an insignificant character of the apartment secretary . We had heard numerous complaints about the sync technique used ( first time in Malayalam) in the movie but our movie watching experience was complaint free.

2012 is about the end of the world. We all know that the world will end soon and the bad/mad rush has already begun. Copenhagen promoting the theme of hope is one way of creating awareness about the dying earth. ( Sign the petition and become a citizen at www.hopenhagen.com) The world as we know will face death due to either environmental issues, terrorism or an alien attack) Mayans predicted it long back and Indians noticed it and as usual Americans saves the world ( or at least the world of the rich) with the help of hard working China men. A movie filled with American jingoism and propaganda, 2012 is just like Independence Day. The biblical ark is shown in a new avatar. In many ways the movie attempts to yoke Mayan calender with the biblical ark.

The Language of Violence

Google has entered into a partnership with leading publication houses to bring the best from the world of words. i was browsing the titles this morning and i came across a book titled ‘The Violence of Language’. the title made me think about the violent ways of using language. I took some time to mull over the topic and found that it will be worthy of a blog. The fact that today violence is a common thing makes the topic more topical. The topic deals only with the verbal use of language. words which are un- parliamentary may be the starting point. every human being has got a breaking point. If he/she is pushed beyond a certain point then he will break. One of the way’s through which he regains balance is by uttering some words which are like bullets and will hit the target bull’s eye. The language becomes violent.

Cursing,Swearing are all instances were language can get really violent. Studies are being conducted into the violent nature of human communication. What are the effects of bad words on the listener? How does human brain process these words?. Answers will be found soon. Most of the time the powerful language we use is a result of anger and frustration. In these modern times you can see people getting more complex and hard hearted. The use of violent language is becoming more intense and common.

The self-development guru’s (Robin Sharma, Deepak Chopra) are of the opinion that violent words always carry a negative field of energy and that will vitiate the ambience. this is one area which they are minting money. to make the post-post modern beings control their anger and practice the golden rule of silence. as a teacher i sometimes do get angry in the class, but experience has taught me that anger in a classroom is utterly useless. When i browsed the net i even came up with the idea of non-violent communication.

In, developing countries like India, the worst forms of violent communication is used against women and children. teachers against students, parents against children, husband against wife… the list goes on. Money, cultural issues, and lack of education are some of the breeding grounds for these types of communication.

Oman Diary - Part One

This is our second year in Oman. Last year we never had the inclination to explore Oman. This year we thought we will do a bit of exploration so that we will discover Oman. We decided to explore the ‘Real Oman’ far away from the hustle bustle of the Sohar life. So we chose a destination that is 70 kms away from Sohar - Wadi Hibi. Surrounded by mountains the village of Hibi is peaceful and has some of the best picturesque places.

 

There are some structures which our driver cum guide Saed told us were old houses.They are made of perfectly shaped stones and plastered with mud. Omanis lived in these houses maybe some 20 years back. Now they remain as examples of the past. the houses were constructed in such a way that the inhabitants were protected from wind and other adverse weather conditions. It had sub terranean passages and air ducts for ventilation. The modern houses co-exist with these ancient structures, complete with air conditioners and satellite TV.

 

 

This was the taxi which took us on this journey. Behind you can see the mountains and a Masjid. People living in Hibi are usually go to sleep late and they get up late. Most of them are farmers and their pace of life is slow and relaxed. We met some of them and they invited us to eat breakfast with them. The time was 10:30 am. Hibi like any other village is a close knit society. People know each other and they share a sense of camaraderie.  Maybe it is effect of nature on the minds of human beings. People are healthy and active. we met an old man whose age was 80+, walking around with the agility of an 30+ man.

( to be continued)