chaotic order

The beginnings of Learning - The aftermath of a rigorous formal education Many years ago, I had the opportunity to teach a bunch of fresh and young graduates from a very reputed college in India. These boys and girls were the crème-le –crème of the education system. Having worked and slogged their way for the last fifteen to eighteen years: beating competition at school, meeting parental expectations, becoming the envy and pride of their family – they had finally stepped out of their educational incubation with an fruity offer letter in their hands, and with the firm satisfaction tinged with a liberal dose of arrogance, that they finally made it to the “real” world. The company that had hired these kids was in its own right a maverick organization, and they were very clear in their minds about the kind of talent they wished to recruit. I had meticulously prepared a fourteen day agenda based on the requirements and was scheduled to meet with the director to finalize the contents and fi

“The Words” – the movie.   (Review of a brilliant theme) This is the third piece of review that I am penning over the last week. “The Words” is a film that talks about the state of a mind of an aspiring author, who struggles to find words that are original enough. He lacks that spark within that can give birth to a story that is worth telling. All that he writes smacks of artificiality and a lack of deep feeling. He words do not leap out of the pages with a passionate intensity and consequently his books do not ring true. He desperately seeks inspiration in Love, marriage, sex, had work -  but nothing motivates him to produce an original piece of work, until he stumbles upon a novel long abandoned in a decrepit leather bag;  and all of a sudden finds the novel reflecting the story that he always wanted to write, but couldn’t.  What follows then is the hero’s journey into a discovery of the true nature of storytelling, and his utter ineptitude for such an enormous task.   This movie

“The Interpreter” - the last masterpiece by a gifted director (Sydney Pollack)  Many years ago, In one of the longer flights from Los Angeles to Sydney, I casually tuned into a movie named “The way we were”, starring the debonair Robert Redford along with Barbara Streisand. It was a romantic film set during the early thirties, and explored the intricate yet tender relationship between a social activist waving a flag for every possible cause, and a talented writer, who will not take his talent seriously enough. In the hands of any other director, the film and the narrative would have stooped to mundane levels, but not so, in the hands of Sydney Pollack - the maverick genius; in whose direction, a story assumes a dimension and an inner depth that lesser mortals can only aspire to achieve. The performances of Ms Streisand were molded to perfection, and her innocent guile and beseeching looks linger long after in our memories as a tribute to the spirit of freedom and just causes. It is

“The Sessions” - The movie:  a brilliant portrayal of surrogate Sex I have always admired Helen hunt for her mercurial brilliance on screen. She may not be the typically voluptuous American idol with a curvaceous body and sultry looks, but then she belongs to that rare breed of actors whose deep blue eyes can reflect a thousand unspoken words in a single gaze. Her role in “Cast away”, which quintessentially is a Tom Hanks movie, was pivotal to the story line, and in those final frames of the film when her pent up emotions erupt and she runs desperately to hug Tom, besieging to take her with him: is a study in histrionics. “The sessions” then, is a movie about sexual emancipation of an invalid; bedridden, dying, and yet passionately seeking vent to his sexual stirrings. His need to feel the warmth of a female body and the experience the catharsis that sexual intercourse offers, leads him to take the help of a priest to justify his inner urge and achieve inner fulfillment.  In a r

The Menacing “ME” – A short essay The need to constantly assert oneself in every situation is the heaviest burden that we carry around most of the time. It becomes almost unbearable. From the time we wake up, every act needs a persona to enact it - as a Son, A Father, A professional, a friend, a citizen; the list is endless. It is almost as if we are ashamed of ourselves being utterly naked, and the compulsive need to become socially acceptable has become almost a neurotic obsession.  No wonder, we keep often keep slipping into a somnambulistic state of depression and constantly attempting to pull ourselves up, by tugging at our shoes laces. It is a self-defeating act. No matter how hard we try and how competent we are in “acting up”, there are those deep evanescent moments in time, when the dress slips and we are forced to look at ourselves as we are.  To most of us, this can be an unnerving experience; because all that we have “stood” for, or tried so assiduously nurture and pre

Judicial Pardon - A perspective in the light of Sanjay dutt’s pending imprisonment I have been watching with avid interest the proceedings of the impending imprisonment of Sanjay Dutt, for his alleged involvement in the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. While it is true, that Mr. Dutt is sentenced to five years minimum sentencing by the Supreme court, one needs to examine the nature of Jurisprudence and its role in regulating human behavior; as against, a mere factual interpretation and rendering of law . Whether pardon in this case should be granted or not, is something that I am not competent to assert, but as a student of History and the evolution of Human society, I do believe that no system of justice is static and inviolable. Laws are meant to evolve and adapt itself to changing times, and its principal task to keep the wheels of society well-oiled and moving within the embankments of civilized behavior. Laws are not meant only to punish, but also to reform, correct and integrate

The perils of democracy - The origins of Conflict in Srilanka - a perspective and a background “ What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?”     -- -Mahatma Gandhi   Any kind of civil war has its roots in the way communities have lived and worked together within a given geographical area, and is often the result of a long history of slow rot, discontent and dissent accumulating over a period of time.   The origins of the Sinhalese – Tamil conflict is interesting principally in this context because for centuries, both these communities have lived, worked, produced great works of art and literature, shared common religious dogmas and myths; despite having the same ethnic differences, that are being bandied about so much over the last three decades. So my question is: what has changed in this century that resulted in this brutal civil