Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring

Now what does these seasons remind us? Spring reminds me of the blossoming beauty of mother nature, Summer remains be about a lonely village street and some somber moments of life, the falling autumn leaves remind me about the philosophies of life and death , and winter reminds me about a child's grin, joy and festivity. Together they remind me a beautiful phrase from a long forgotten poem. Kim Ki-Duk's 2004 movie and his masterpiece Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring (Korean- Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom) reminded me of something else, that if all worlds a stage in which we act, then these seasons are the backdrops that mother nature keeps changing.Accompanying us throughout the drama called the cycle of life. Spring, Summer.. is a a simple. spiritual, spellbinding tale about growing up from innocence to sagacity.The five seasons in the title depict the different stages in the life of a Buddhist monk, implicitly referring to all lives of humanity.

The season is Spring and the place is filled with the sight of blossoming flowers and dense green vegetation.The screen opens to a small, floating Buddhist monastery, in the waters on a isolated lake surrounded by nothing but serene forested mountains. We are introduced to the two main characters, an old Buddhist monk and his young apprentice. The young boy who is nearly 8-10 years old is is learning the ways of Buddhism. Their lives are filled with prayer,mediation and total surrender to god, far away from the cries and desires of humanity. On an unusual day the master observes the kid torturing a fish, frog and a snake by tying heavy stones to their heads. The next morning the master ties a heavy stone to the kids back and offers to remove them only when the kid frees all the tortured animals from their burden, and also hints that if any of the animal dies of pain then he has to "carry the stone in his heart forever". To the kids dismay the snake and the fish die out of pain. the spring season ends with the huge cry of the kid upon seeing what he has done to the snake, thereby learning an incredible lesson to shed love on all beings.

The season is Summer and the air is filled with the warmth and clarity of the sun.The young kid is now a charming young Buddhist monk in his late teens.When a sick and lovely teenage girl arrives at the monastery for treatment, young monk is experiencing a first-crush, a race in his hormones. For the first time he has encountered the outside world , and he wants to taste it. Soon their age makes them vulnerable and he falls prey to his emotions. The two fall in love and have sex, a number of times.When the master finds their out their act, he advises the young monk that lust leads to desire, and desire opens door to more sinister impulses. And asks the girl to leave. The young monk who is not able to bear her departure abandons the master land eaves the monastery in search of her and the "real world". The summer ends with the departure of the young monk who is ought to learn some harsh lessons from the real world.

The season is Autumn and the place is filled with the beautifully colored leaves and the shedding trees.The old monk remains as the sole occupant of the monastery. the young monk who left years back returns to the monastery. We learn that he is now a wanted fugitive in the hands of the law for killing his wife for infidelity(the same girl whom he fell in love with). He seems to be tortured by the hands of the "real" life. He has lost the charm of a boy and that of a monk, he is now filled with rage and anger. He tries to kill himself, and when the master discovers it, he beats him ruthlessly orders him to carve ancient symbols on the monastery deck. The wood carving acts as a treatment for the raged mind, he sheds out all the anger in his mind by ruthlessly carving symbols using the stained knife, peace settles in him. And finally detectives arrive and arrest him for the crime. After a "final" goodbye with the master the young monks leaves for prison.Autumn ends with the master knowing his end and performing a suicide ritual, and meditates as he is suffocated and burned to death.

The season is Winter and it has frozen the lake with Ice, the mystic winter and the moody clouds fill up the air.The young monk who left for prison now returns as a middle age adult monk. he soon finds that the master has left, leaving behind the monastery and his position for his apprentice to occupy. The adult monk gets through all the ancient journals and prepares himself physically and mentally. Soon a woman with her face wrapped with a shall arrives there with an infant boy. She abandons her baby to the monk and tries to flee in the middle of the night, but drowns and dies in the middle of the frozen lake. When the monk uncovers her face, he finds something deeply disturbing or enlightening and it makes him tie the old rock to his back and climb the nearest peak. He undergoes huge amount of pain and torture as he climbs.He erects a Buddha statue on the peak. And finally the winter comes to an end with the monk trenchantly meditating on the summit.

when again as the Spring returns, we find the same floating Buddhist monastery amidst the sight of blossoming flowers and dense green vegetation.The adult monk is the new master and the abandoned boy is the new apprentice,the cycle continues, with new people getting the same old roles thereby hinting the viewers that it shall go on for years. In his turn the kid is found torturing a fish, frog and a snake by forcing stones into their mouth. He is happy to see them suffer in pain, just like his predecessor(the new master) was. And finally spring comes to an end with the sight of the Buddha statue nonchalantly observing the happenings from the peak.


As the film ended i was tied to my seat, it looked like i was in deep meditation for the past two hours. An intriguing experience which we rarely experience in cinema, transporting me to a different reality altogether. The way the cinema portrays the beauty of various seasons will stay in ones mind for long time. Mutability of life and the desire for inner peace which the film portrays have universal implications. It is a magical fable which conveys Buddhist philosophies in the most spiritual and persuasive form. With very minimal dialouges , the calmness of the movie intrigues deep into the viewer. The usage of Buddhist chants add to the ambiance that the movie has created. And the night when we were done with the movie, we found a frog in the closet. My usual reaction would be- just flush it out, but i just couldn't say that. I felt something deeply moving, and we decided not to disturb and to let it be. I didn't want to carry a stone in the heart for the rest of my life.The frog was saved, and for sure a lesson was learned. I could feel the tiny ripples that the movies has created within me, I was humbled .And that is what they call the power of good cinema.

Do check the comments, for some interesting counter views and discussion about regional movies by Raj.

For more info visit
Spring, Summer - Trailer
Kim Ki-Duk

S.Ramakrishnan

Can a book change lives? Can an author alter all the perceptions that you had on living? Can a few printed words induce changes deep down inside your soul? Can reading someone turnout to be the most cherished moment of your life? Can a book transform you into a different entity altogether? It was some five or six years back, I was then a small time reader, reading mostly cheap English fiction.Back then I read to keep me entertained, I read for the thrills it gave me, I read to satisfy the hormones that disturbed my pineal glands. I would have easily become yet another representative of this modern generation. A generation which takes pride in reading Jefferey Archer and John Grisham. A generation which is more than happy to fill its bookshelves with Robert Ludlum and Sidney Sheldon. A Generation which is unaware of the existence of Jeyakanthan and Asokamithran. A generation which reads only in English. A generation of mere Fakers. But then there came S.Ramakrishnan(S.Ra).

It all started on a sleepless night, jobless, bored; i was looking for something to read. And ended up with an literary essay by S.Ra in Anandha Vikatan titled Thunai Ezhuthu(துணை எழுத்து ). I wasn't too eager to read it. Maybe i found it to be too serious for my tastes or maybe i feared that i can never understand such serious writing. But somehow i started reading it, and suddenly all heavens broke loose. I was losing my conscience and was traveling into a magical world created by his words. It was like reading something that the my inner soul has always tried to convey . It was like all my philosophies were acquiring a printed form. It made me visualize the world just like the way my mystical third eye had perceived it. This is no exaggeration, i went speechless. The same night i went through the archieves finding all the essays from previous issues. I read them all. I read till dawn, and soon i could sense the difference that the words had made in me. A change was underway, a change that would introduce me into serious reading, a change that would make me go in search of my roots in Tamil literature, a change that will alter my preferences forever, a change that will make the name S.Ra sound like a chant.

What is Thunai Ezhuthu about? It is collection of essays in Tamil, in which the author speaks about human lives, that he has witnessed till date as an onlooker. He writes about his experiences with life, as a wanderer, as an observer, as a kid, as someones friend, as a scholar, as a dreamer and as a normal human like the rest of us.He writes about incidents that we all face, but in a way that we have never perceived them. He brings in front the truths and hidden emotions that we would have failed to notice.He applies magical realism to normal life and brings out something very unique and special. He makes words flow like a whisper down the ear, silent and mesmerizing. Intense words written vividly to capture the senses and the soul together. Stories about ordinary lives and their plight for surviving the complexities are narrated like epics. Like a spiritual guru S.Ra teaches philosophies about living. lessons that you could take with you for a long and unending journey of life. I know people who carry around Thunai Ezhuthu just as Bible and Qur'an , it makes wonders in peoples lives. It made one in mine.

My opinions on life started to differ, maybe for the first time i started to have opinions on living. Reading was no more a pass time, it soon became one of the very reasons of my existence. I ventured into unexplored teritories, i lost the fear that i had for literature. I read S.Ra till the last drop. He introduced me to Jayakanthan, Jeyamohan, Sundara.Ramasamy and all other men who served the echelons of Tamil writing. He made me understand Rushdie and McEvan in better sense. When I then saw cinemas from around the globe i was able to relate with the humanity that it portrayed. My search for life grew bigger. I started to look out for life in everything i that I sensed. He made profound impacts on my thoughts, and in whatever i write or do I could find his influence all along. S.Ra words filled me with something that i have been missing all these years. His philosophies became my tenets for living and a more sensible human being was born out of me.Hence there is definitely a book out there which can change your life and alter all your perceptions .It lies somewhere, in the undusted shelves of a bookstore very near to your proximity.All you got to do is find it.... before its too late!


I would be really happy if the book was to be Thunai Ezhuthu. And to know more about Ramakrishnan and his works visit ::http://www.sramakrishnan.com/::

Chicks, mails, brokers and dilbert

Everyone rambles, so do I..

1) I don’t remember when was the last time I laughed watching a movie. I mean i was not into those "feel-good" movies for a long time. All I watch is crude stuff (read serious movies which move at the pace of live), and there is no comedy or feel good tag attached to those movies. My roommates say that its real fun watching me when i am into movies, I believe I look like a P.Chidambaram staring at the inflation index, or like someone who has just lost his wife (do ppl really worry for that?? ). Cant help it though!!, those are movies for the thinking man.(ahem..) And seriously I wish some day my roommates (8 of em) watch some Iranian, Mexican movies in my collection. Esp. I hate this guy(read Mr. Singapore) when he downloads stuff like 10000BC, Kung-fu panda, fantastic four I feel like hitting him with a iron rod :)). Anyway tastes differ. So were was I? Yes feel-good movies, I watched “Sleepless in Seattle” today. And liked It, my admiration grows for Tom hanks; be it the loner in castaway, or the naive Mr. Gump, or the brilliant Langdon unraveling the Da vinci code, Hanks is brilliant. And he proves that he is a master in romance (you've got mail was good too). I am not a sucker for romantic comedies and "Chick"-flicks (so the post title is now reasoned), but I like them. Pretentious, dreamy, formulatic but like sugar caught up under the tongue; they are swweet.

2)When you are reading this, i would have successfully completed my fourth week on bench. Take it from me getting bench is a curse disguised as a boon. At times when i get up in the morning and see people getting ready and leaving for office i feel totally lost. Who am I?, Where I am? What am I doing here? and it takes quite some time to accept the truth that I am jobless with a job. I have an office which I never visit, I have an id card which I never wear, I have colleagues whom I never meet, I get salary for the work I never do, I live in an illusion (Irruku aana illa!). The only means by which I connect to the corporate is by checking ma mails!. Mails from the HR regarding visit of a Gynecologist, mails from NSS regarding the resolving of critical outage in the metro cloud (Damn it!!), mails from workforce regarding opportunities in the US of A(romba mukkiyam!), and mails from old colleagues with title on the likes of-****Super hot still from MAXIM july***Be-careful-when-opening**** and it is these mails that console me. I get mails; therefore i am still a part of the company :).

3)We have been searching for a new house and my hate for these ugly-shameless-sick creatures is growing by the day. Guess who? who else THE BROKERS(read house brokers:)) the way they speak, the way they cheat it just raises my BP to boiling point. Usually I don’t loose my temper, but today i couldn't. I had an confront with one of them, which would have turned out into an ugly fight. And also the money they demand for an hour’s job, i believe is higher than Manmohan Singh's basic salary. One month of rent as commission is an unwritten law (3BHK, rent-16k so commission -16k…wtf?). When you question them they say " That‘s how things work here, You guys work for an IT company, you earn a lot, why cant you give us our due". Sick creatures, it's as if the IT people are indebted to each and everyone in Chennai. Be it the housemaid, the street vendor or the autowalas, everyone demands. I feel like yelling "Am I earning for you? Did you fund me when i was in college? “We work for a month all day and night, money doesn’t come from a vending tree, its hard earned money, many have commitments of supporting their families, my friends have tiring responsibilities, even some are the only source of belief for their families. And these creatures out there are desperate to suck every penny from our pockets. I feel sick. The other creatures are the house owners who treat Bachelors like untouchables. As if they were never in their bachelor-hood, as if they were born from the mothers womb when they were 40! "bachelor na veedu thara mudiyathunga, we prefer decent families" --"then marry me your daughter we will become a family" old-pricks!!!
A group of 8 men who look just like baby-eaters are desperately in need of a house (3B3BHK- 3bedroom3bathroom and a HK) near Velachery. Help greatly solicited.

4)When I started Amazwi, I wished to have a minimalist and readable layout. I wanted a Black and white theme as technically black gives an elegance, a depth and character to the brand. Also I love the mix of black white and grey. They are so simple yet so mystic. They mean a lot and I associate with these colors most of the time. And now I am changing the header, to the new 'two-lives" banner. It was philosophical, and there are the usual genuine looking African kids! So how bout you? do you like the new header?
{As Sridhar points out in the comment section the header portrays ambivalence or the coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings.}

5)And I don’t know how may of you went through the Dilbert widget. If no, do it now and i am sure you'll love it. I love Dilbert(Anyone who hates his/hers employer will love Dilbert)its fun, its intelligent, its the best satire of the corporate life!. Man I love Dogbert, he is the most admirable character I have ever read in a comic! The bosses, the colleagues, they are just the same everywhere!. It's universal and I seriously wish I could get into a company without the Pointy haired boss, the evil Catbert, or the lazy Wally. And if you are lost reading this or if you really are not aware of Dilbert then loser :( try this wiki link and get educated.Few favorite samples
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PS: 1 Look at the time its nearly 4 in the morning(I live on US of A time schedule), Am i becoming an insomniac:)). A Sleepless-in-Chennai??!

PS: 2 "We work for a month all day and night, money doesn’t come from a vending tree, its hard earned money". Someone laughed. Agreed i am not eligible to say this; at least for the past month!! But i am sure change is not too far :)).
Happy reading!

Y tu mamá también

Sex.Now how many of us agree that it is, and it will be the very reason for our existence? How many of us approve it as a humane act? How many of us are comfortable discussing about it? How many of us have honest views about sex? How many of us act like it has nothing to do with our lives and our thinking? How many of you have already started making judgments about me? No I am not very comfortable discussing about sex. I am just one among you. But it was after watching this movie i felt we we Indians are not so honest, we have never made a movie which peels the skin and shows human emotions in its barest form. Alfonso Cuaron is a director whom I adore, his Children of Men redefined the science fiction genre. A friend of mine suggested a movie which is described as his masterpiece, Y tu mama tambien (English-And your mother, too) is a masterpiece which redefines our understanding about lust, desires and relationships.Made originally in Mexican, but when you listen keenly you can hear the universal voice of the human soul which is driven by the very need of sensuality.

Set in the modern day Mexico, it is the story of two young boys who are in their late teens and a women in her late twenties who go on a road trip across Mexico. Coming from different economic backgrounds Tenoch and Julio are two foolish adolescents on the verge of manhood who see women as commodities, and like all their counterparts across the universe they find themselves caught in the web of fantasies, it is their primary drive in life. It is when they meet Lusia an orphan, who is not-so-happily married to Tenoch's cousin. Mesmerized by her beauty they invite her to join them on a road trip to a imaginary beach called "Heavens mouth". She agrees. Not because she is foolish, she is numb with pain. Luisa is lonely, humiliated, abused and neglected, she is a testament to the suppressed woman community; mentally tortured by the chauvinistic husbands . She is aware of the intentions and implications but still agrees because she finds it as a way to escape from the cruel hands of life and a means to strike back at so called society.She agrees and together they start the journey, A journey which helps Luisa discover how clumsy, selfish, and dishonest men really are, a journey in which she tries to teach boys to treat a woman properly, a journey which will for the first time make her the master, and when the journey ends as viewers we discover the harsh realities behind men, women, friendships, bondings, relationships and on top of all sex.

The movie is very sexual in nature, but it is honest.There are explicit scenes but they are not glorified or romanticized. The scenes look obscene only if your intentions are so.The viewers are not made into intruders of privacy instead we are transformed into observers, when you see a 'something you actually observe something else. And the movie is not just about the adventures of three individuals, it is surprisingly funny most of the time, it has all the hip and peppy ingredients of a teen flick, as a road film parallely the director speaks about the poltical and economic strata of Mexico which they are driving through. Lead actors specially Maribel Verdu who played Luisa is very intense, and the expression in her eyes speaks about the struggle that she is into, she suffers from cancer which is revealed at the very end. And there is Gael Garcia Bernal as Julio ( I consider myself as his greatest fan on earth) with a performance of a lifetime. The cast is near perfect. The film mostly uses long takes, and there is a graceful silence that accompanies throughout. A pale brown colour pallete helps in revealing the dullness even if they are into the most disturbing of acts. Right from the beginning we can sense the seriousness and the genuine intentions of the movie, praised for being honest and unafraid of sexuality. Hyped as a "teen movie" for the arthouse crowd, it went to win golden palm at cannes and critical praise world over. As Roger Ebert my favourite critic says "Beneath the carefree road movie that the movie is, there is a more serious level--and below that, a dead serious level".

The movie as such is a behavioral study, and for sure the lessons learnt are a bit harsh. I doubt such movies will ever movies be made in India. Can we tolerate a character like Lusia, the name the society will give her is a whore or thaasi. All we need is cliched women with no real emotions who have no other job but to make men fall in love, dance around tress uncovering the belly buttons and showing some decolletage, SHAME. I believe nudity is far better than the obscenity that we see in our movies. I don't want to break my head speaking about the society.Anyway Y tu mama tambien will remain in my list of unforgettable movies- for a lifetime. As they say "cinema is truth 24 frames per second" Y tu mama tambien is meaningfull cinema at its most refined honest and barest form.

For more info visit
imdb- Y tu mama tambien
Alfonso Cuaron

Tagged!

My First tag:) by Uma, here is my take

6 Whatevers About me -

1) Born as the youngest son for two professors , brought up in the suburbs of Madurai, "attended" college at PSG tech Coimbatore, now "benched" at Cognizant Chennai.

2) A wannabe cinematographer, a wannabe journalist, a wannabe graphic designer, a wannabe normad, a reluctant S/W professional. Now wannabe an MBA, wannabe a writer, wannabe a filmmaker, wannabe a...

3) Crazy with friends and confused when alone!! Both my craziness and my confusion may annoy:). And ever proud about the friends i have.(even if they dont give a damn about this blog...:( )

4)I Love the company of good books and movies, I hate snoring to the core that Whenever i hear someone snoring, i always wished i had a gun :)

5)

6) An Introvert.A loner by choice.


5 Things i miss right now -

1) My room at my grandmas house, my cocoon during the college days. It was the place where i discovered the bibliophile, the graphic designer and the movie fanatic in me. I miss its privacy. I miss the tiled roofs. I miss the sun which played hide and seek through the small vents in the roof. I miss its warmth . I miss my cocoon.

2) My college life and the gang. "While they studied... we lived" was the caption(The godz gang03-07) .Missing the life we lived as the underdogs. Missing the days which were filled with fun, friends and zero responsibilities. A carefree life- a life with no worries, just fun fun fun.Its only after a year the reality hurts...College life is over for sure!!

3) My old project team.

4) Home made food sooooooooooo much.(or atleast good food for the sake of it)Take it from me its hard to survive only on parottas and kal-dosais. Atleast after 12 months!!

5) God how can i forget that. My past hairdo (b/w nov07-may08). I miss that E.T look it gave to me! And those of you who haven't heard the pathetic story of my long hair better read it here!!


10 Things I wanna achieve in a decade -

1) Ditch cognizant.Ditch IT.End up @ MICA or any other B-school which offers specialized courses related to marketing,communications and branding.Get a career, get a life. Earn enough for Survival.Make more revelations about myself.

2) Visit Cannes. Attend the Cannes film festival. Meet the best brains of creativity and share a cup of coffee.

3) Grow long hair once again and this time cut it for no reasons whatsoever.:)

4) Buy a car. (Now that has to happen within a year!!.. N for that i need to burgle a bank!!). Upgrade the car @ home with an Corolla.

5) Sponsor a child.

6) Read a looooooot of books of all different kinds. More of Tamil literature, i suck at it big time.(And i believe there is no use in reading international bestsellers if u have not read the best in your mother language)

7) Write screenplay for a movie.

8) Take out the entire family on a road trip.

9) Live at least two years in Europe or Africa. Meet new people. Meet new landscapes. Meet new challenges.Go to bed looking at the skyline in the middle of the African forest and Wake up looking at the snow capped mountains of the Alps.

10) Meet "her".

**************************************************************************************** 11)Having this idea for sometime now, To open an African restaurant chain in India, even had decided upon a name("Hottentots") and some marketing strategies. God if i had money i would do it today, given the lack of such themed restaurants and quality African food, i am sure i would be a runaway success. Partners with huge wallets are invited :)


The (Boring) book tag **-

**Pick up the nearest book.Open to page 123.Find the fifth sentence.Post the next three sentences.

"we have reached the end of our little mystery. You are welcome to put any questions that you like to me now and there is no danger that i will refuse to answer them"
As said by Sherlock homes in the book A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conon Doyle.



Now tag 5 people -

Aravindhan
Milinta
Sridhar
Umesh
Antony

Nightwatchman

In the sport of cricket, a nightwatchman is a is a lower-order batsman who's job is to maintain most of the strike until the close of play and so protect other, more capable batsmen from being out cheaply in what may be a period of tiredness or in poor light.And that is what exactly this post is doing for my Blog :)

[Scribbled on 13th June]
Imagine you got tonsillitis, and there is this freakin chilled bottle of coke placed in front of you, what would you do next?
a) Avoid it.
b) Drink it- let it aggravates your tonsils, a cruel pain develops in your throat, high fever and body ache can join in as supplements, you cant drink, eat or even speak, not to mention that you don't have the luxury to shave or bath :( - you soon dissipate a rotten smell and people leave you alone behind locked doors, all you got to eat will be a few slices of outdated milka bread and the rat-poison that your bachelor friend makes in the name of "rasam".

Given the options what will you choose? i am sure if you were evolved from homosapiens, you would choose a, but still i give you two more options
1)You gotta go to work next morning
2)You are BENCHED

So now you know what i chose! Yup it was 2.b (I was BENCHED so I Drank it) and that is the reason why i am suffering so much, it is cruelty at its very best! .

Sickness really makes you forget the world around you(not really!). Yesterday my temperature was at some 102 degrees with no more pills left, i just decided to sleep. Going to bed i was a bit compounded with thoughts, i mean really tormented thoughts. But as i felt the temperature was rising all these thoughts started to wither off from me, slowly i felt my mind was free of emotions it was kinda blank,i couldn't feel anything, as the suffering increases i felt all the earthly feelings soon left me like the feathers leaving a bird, i could see a bright white light just filling my thoughts, i was feeling something else, something more powerful, something more intriguing, i mean...... i could sense GOD!! Ya he was there amidst the light he was traversing towards me with a calm visage, and a divine smile, my sickness was my gateway to god, he was coming down and down towards me and i was like feeling the entire universe, it was so bright a white that it looked like heaven, he was so close to me, i was nearly floating, he gently caressed my hair and opened his mouth to say "SON..". It was then I heard my phone ringing somewhere in earth.

Me - Hello

Mr.X- Hello sir, this is pradeep calling on behalf of ABN AMRO bank regarding personal loan..

Me- Can i say somethin pradeep.....Please Go F***********************K yourself!


So now you know how my meeting with god ended! :(***********************************

PS: I know that was Baaaaad but still i gotta write something, for the past one week i wrote so much,that every time i read it i just cried or felt like hanging myself. This was the BEST of the LOT. There is this lesson that i learnt when you feel like shit, better write about shit!!


[15th June]
God i am still not out of this Writers-block [Shut up,, i can hear you laughing]. And for sure a bedridden week would not serve as a good inspiration. So do pray for me!!!

And Guys i saw this ad(old one though), going through the Cannes Lions website. I just have three words for it Wow.wOw.woW.
Its too funny, it registers the the brand in the minds of the viewers and also creates a visibility for the ad agency. what else do you expect. Please switch on your speakers.I was amazed watching this, how about you?

One from the heart

The room looks deserted, I am alone all by my own. There is nothing but the noisy swirl of the fan, and the nuggets of sunlight which pass in from the dusty corners of the window. The sun is trying to intrude into me like it has always done, the shiny mustard light, the heat and warmth accompanied by the little tears shed by the skin fill in my being, I sit here like a volcano of sweat. I have no regrets. A cup of tea may not be a good option, but still I feel like I need one. I get into the kitchen burn some water, the bag of green tea looks old but smells good, I add some sugar to the water, the boiling of the water conveys that it cant wait, and then the tea bag gets into the water, little by little it looses its virginity, dip in and dip out, the essence is spilt ,the lust between the water and the tea bag ends up in making me my cup of dark green tea, I take it by hand, sip it for taste. It isn’t too sweet nor too raw, looks perfect to me, and then I gulp it, gulp and gulp! A gentle heat generates within me and the pores do some overwork. I sweat like a monster but still I have no regrets, maybe a puff of cigarette would have graced the occasion but then I remember I don’t smoke.

I sit still, slowly and deeply i start feeling the sun. Like thousand of needles gently poking into the skin, the sun light touches me. I wish it tried to speak with me, tell me stories of evolution, stories of the earth, secrets about god, secrets about its earnest silence. But we both decide to enjoy the anonymity. Right from my early days sun has been my elixir, it has always accompanied my journey. As a kid i was allured by its charm, I used to stand hours beneath the scorching sun. The magical chemistry it performs deep inside the soul can’t be put in mere words. The warmth of the evening sun has the power to seduce whatever comes by its way. I remember the summer holidays at my grandma’s village, those were beautiful days. The village was filled with the sun, the farmland, the coconut grooves, the petty shops, the innocent faces, the ancient houses, all looked more beautiful under the gaze of the sun. In the summer sun light dawns an artist role and the ordinary village streets look better than the masterpiece of Da Vinci. Sun light is straight forward, it is honest, its discerning and it brings with it a lot of clarity, it is the best succor for humanity. I remember this poem i read some days back "காதல் பகலைப்போன்றதே! காமம் இரவைப்போன்றதே!"(Love is what the day is!, lust is what the night is!) and I couldn’t find any better explanation for love and lust.

I imagine about living a life like the lonely tree that stands atop the hill. Like a saint it goes through all the four seasons of Mother Nature. Winter, summer, autumn and spring all means the same to it, it has no complaints and it doesn’t go out carping. Its sagacity and indolence remind me of a lonely sage. If i am the tree, then this is my summer!. The season has filled a vacuum in me, the days are a bit dry, so is the living. But i have no regrets, this season too.. will pass by. The sun in these days has made me revisit the Mr.grey in me. I am in the middle of this fight between all my goodness and all my madness. The black and white in me converge with will full ferocity and I end up becoming an ocean filled with grey blood. The grayness makes me belong everywhere, to all the good and all the bad, to all of humanity and suddenly i feel like god.. And the age old question arises in me again. Where do I unbelong? is it to the breeze or the storm?, is it to the god or the devil? , is it to the wisdom or the reality?, is it to the love or the lust? is it to the loner or the lively ? , is it to the geek or the nerd ? , is it to the conscience or the convention? is it to the boy or to the man ? , is it to the ‘?’ or the ‘!’....

The sun is setting. the bright yellow is to be replaced by the blustering brown. My friend is retiring for the day, he has made me scribble all this. And at times i find the scribble is mystic with its meaningless patterns but still exploring in deep these scribbles make up the most of me, just like the art of modern times this scribble is void of hypocrisy, void of conventions and void of desires. What I write is what I want to be but, what I scribble is what I am. In a few moments from now my windows will be wide open, soon the air will be filled with the enigma of the song "shadow of the day”, soon the gentle evening breeze will caress me like an angel and soon I will be lost in sight of the retiring day and will be slowly sailing into the state of oblivion.

I Got to go! Bye.

IPL - between the overs!

India was a very boring nation, and then IPL happened. For the past month or so there was nothing but IPL everywhere, in the room, at office, on the road, over the phone, on the internet, this thing was taking over the nation by storm. Inflation rate meant nothing to us as long as the super kings had a better run rate!(so u know i am so good at rhymes..:D.) It had become the relief for the average indian, relief from everyday life, relief from the price hike, relief from the ugly Indian politics, relief from radika sarathkumar and balaji telefilms, relief from boring Saas Bahu serials, the home has suddenly turned into an entertainment haven. Thanks to IPL. I am sure this is gonna be the future, i would be happy if it could grow at par with the much-hyped football leagues of the west, i would be happy if the next gen Indian kid is proud sporting a knight riders jersey than a man-u jersey, i am really happy that IPL happened. OK guys IPL reinvented cricket, Warne had the last laugh, Sreesanth sucked big time, cheerleaders of Hyderabad were real sexy;), Mallaya was an egoistic moron, the trophy resembled dinosaur shit to me, IPL spoilt my AIMCAT , what next?? Lets get off from these stuff, they are history now. But there was something that is little spoken about, we watched the matches but there was something else that was more important than the matches, they were the very reason for the existence of IPL, they determined the success of IPL and we watched it all the time!! You may be right, yup i meant the Commercials :)!!

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(Disclaimer- The author is an MBA aspirant in the fields of communications, advertising and marketing and if he writes something as if he is the next-ad-guru...please do laugh at him :)) It was the yielding season for Sony max, I mean they should have earned for an eternity. I think cricket is the only sport which offers so much time for ads (remember thr is no ad in a football or hockey match) and as viewers we got no choice but to watch them. If u had watched closely three were many ads about brand-revamp and reinvention (eg.Godrej, Ceat, Shoppers stop) it was the perfect timing bcoz IPL was all about revamp and reinvention of cricket, so the IPL platform was ideal to introduce the newer versions of old brands and they used it!!.The pick of the lot(the good bad and the ugly) were,

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The Loosers :-( -

"Imagine If people were like Crabtree.." possibly the dumbest campaign in the entire season, a sobbing bride who suddenly cheers when her husband switches her on!!! I felt like yelling WTF?!!! The concept was dumb the acting was too fake, it was sooo baaad that i wonder people are really gonna think twice before they buy a crabtree.

"Youre care no bieggie Interriere" i used to believe that getz was a mid-sized luxury car for young professionals, but they have altered my vision it is actually a car made for those who speak monkey language,Foolish! if an ad could zero the buying interest - it has to be the Getz prime ad.Out of place and turning negative to the mother brand.The so called Italian girl was too annoying for me.

"Change is refreshing"- It started out like a good campaign for Ceat tyres, i thought it was gonna rock but nothing happened from then on!. The entire campaign spoke about Mr.'Change' and his antics but not about tyres or the business of Ceat. The new logo was terrible... the old ceat looked fine to me(there is this new trend of pure font logos, we saw it with shoppers stop and now in ceat). The 'Change' guy started to look like a boring moron at the end. Good concept to begin with but should have explored it to the core. A big thumbs down.

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The Runner-ups :-/-

"If we open up, we can brighten up the world" the new campaign of Godrej was not so bad, but still it gives you the impression that Godrej was a very closed-unapproachable company before the change, now that is bad. It was like saying - we were too ugly earlier and just now we got a makeover!! I expected a series of video ads similar to the schoolmaster stuff, but there were none. The new three coloured logo looked very forced,( remember the new Canara bank logo, now that was CHANGE to me).But i think there was too much of not-so-effective Godrej ads, and it may mean a lot of money not well spent. Maybe it turns positive in the long term, hard luck Godrej.

"I chose to speak my mind.. without saying a word" Congrats guys that was the best example of attitude-marketing. We all know that accent is not very luxurious car and rightly the protogonist says "I chose luxury ...without being extravagant". And suddenly you find that there is an attitude associated with the car, and start loving the car for being so humble. Lovely ad which tries to sell Accent for its real values!! But Personally i think the accent-era has come to its end, and with so many good cars in the mid segment the ad alone may not help. It is like beating on a dead snake,But still a great try!

The Winners :-) -

"Jashn Manale"- A surprise entrant?. Definite yes, It was a beautiful way of bringing coke back into the mainstream. The ad it makes you believe that coke is the best partner when your are having a party with your friends, it is a drink to have when you are together and when life is a big party. When coke whoozes out the party ends!!!. Great concept, a good execution and some hummable music and Hrithik to add to it.A great recall value, i defenitely think it would have made the ex-lovers of coke , fall in love once again. Among soft drinks coke was never an option but i think this ad makes you remember coke whenever u order for one.And the recent stats says coke sales has gone up, now that’s sucess induced by ads.
"Chhota credit"---- Vodafone delivers again. The ad featuring the anxious little girl and the sweet little gentleman, and their friendship over one drop of ink. Totally impeccable. The concept is vodafone will credit Rs10 for its subscribers when they run out of balance, any the ad uses a similar concept in a lovely parallel setting and WHOA!! it was bang on target. The customer gets the message of the ad, he feels good viewing the ad thereby the brand itself becomes a feel good brand hence instilling a lot of positive vibe to the mother brand(same with the little-girl and the helpfull dog series ). The girl looks cute, and the boy looks like a new age-cool-guy(remember Ishaan of TZP), the teacher collecting the papers is not the one we used to have in school days instead she collects the papers with a gentle and smiling visage, the controlled usage of colours(mostly red and white), and the overall ambience+ execution makes it one of a kind. Congrats to the ogilvy&mather guys(the agency for vodafone).The genius of the ad lies in its ability to make you become nostalgic, we crave for our school days it brings back the beautiful little memories of the school time. You think about your schooltime sweetheart, the ink fights, monthly tests, leaking pens, ink bottles and finally the ad makes you a kid and you sport a mystic smile each time you watch it!!paisa vasool!!

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All's Well That Ends Well"(thanks nive if ur reading this ;)!!!) so i think we have ended this on a high note, I am gonna go find my bed and sleep amidst the snoring monsters with whom i share my space, so if you are really impressed with what I’ve written, please don feel shy. I do accept cash, DD , M.O or even sodexo meal passes!! For all those ho have come a long way till this point.. Thanks for your time.:)