Those days...

ಆ ದಿನಗಳು

Lights... Camera... Action!
A movie par excellence, and with no major budget as well!
I think its movies like these that are keeping our Kannada Film Industry afloat. Once upon a time, Kannada film Industry aka Sandalwood, had a golden age, with some really awesome movies, heros like ನಮ್ಮ ಅಣ್ಣಾವ್ರು, ಸಾಹಸ ಸಿಂಹ, extremely talented directors, one of my all time favourites - ಪುಟ್ಟಣ್ಣ ಕಣಗಾಲ್ etc! But in recent times, nothing much has come out!

And aa dinagalu is one extremely well directed movie! It has about two songs and not much background score as well! It really makes you think... do we really need a big star cast, major budget. This movie showcases the pure talent of a director. Really! Hats off to director Chaitanya and the 'those days' crew for a job well done!

Its a known fact that movies can create magic. But its really nice to see a simple movie give that delicate touch of finesse. Simple costumes, simple dialogues, simple background scores, simple cast, simple set up and simply brilliant!
This movie reminds me of a tamizh movie called "Velli Tirai" which translates to 'Silver Screen'. Its about how an upcoming director fights for a place in the hoplessly complicated and unfair film industry! The movie stars veteran Prakash Rai. This too was a simple movie. The last 20 odd minutes were simply brilliant! The movie as a whole may not be as captivating as this one, but it shows how simple movies can also be made.

I also remember a song from Superstar's Kuselan... It's titled 'Cinema Cinema'. A line in that song goes "Kadaval yaar enru yaar paartaar adai kannil kaatum inda cinema thaan" meaning "Who knows what God looks like, but its only cinema that shows you how he looks"!

Very True!

You've got mail!

Emails! they have simply changed the way we communicate! I still wonder, how the post offices are still able to live!! :)

Have you written any letter? I remember writing letters to Uncle Pai of Tinkle, long ago! But after that, it just stopped!
Until a few months back. When I sent a Post card to a friend in Denmark, when I was in Germany. I had to literally search for where a post office is, how it'd look and find out what one must ask for!

I started writing snail mails! It obviously gives a personal touch! It feels really great to receive a letter, postcard, something from a person far far away! A person you haven't met, maybe haven't talked as well!

Postcards!! Now-a-days, I have a new hobby. Exchanging postcards. Yes, it may take upto a month for a post card to go to Canada from here (its the longest, normally it takes 10-15 days), but, the personal touch goes along with it! It feels really great to reading different handwritings! Different emotions, different things!

You will feel really nice when you get a, say, two-page letter from a friend! Handwritten! I mean, to think of it, that person must actually make some time for you! Out of their busy schedule, they must sit and write a letter, put it in an envelope, paste stamps and actually post it! It shows the human-ness! An e-mail, which just goes in a jiffy cant really have this kind of a feeling!
And then the wait!! :) Heard of the song kabutar ja ja ja? :)

Everyday I wait to get back home and hope to find a letter from someone out there!

I've got mail!

You can find pics of the cards I've received till now.
http://picasaweb.google.com/lambdaplus/PostCards


Thanks a ton to everyone snail-mailing me!
And a big thank-you to the Postal Department the world over! You people are really doing a great job!

Outkast

Assume you own something, anything, take, for example, a book, a bike, a bicycle, a car, anything! Would you like seeing it get destroyed? or stolen? or man-handled? right in front of your eyes? No!!

Why isn't the same concern shown towards many other things, greater things, truly invaluable things, that truly-madly-deeply belongs to us!

India is a huge country with loadsa people... and many many cultures and traditions...
but... the problem is that we are slowly losing most of our traditions and rituals!
sad... real sad... don't you think? too much westernization :) Yes yes! I'm back to square one isn't it?

Not exactly! (Phew!)

We have different people following different traditions and practices. These people pass on the knowledge to their children, and they to their children and thus the practices go on for generations.

But as civilization advanced, man started going places and learning newer things. He thus started spending more time elsewhere than at home, learning these practices. And so, slowly and steadily the knowledge became extinct! There are so many things that we don't know why we follow, but we still follow! Some of the "high IQ" lot condemn practicing of these as they are "superstitious", as their intelligent brain couldn't find a "suitable" explanation for why it has to be done! Thus we lose these practices as well. We are adopting newer ways of life and letting go of our actual practices, which actually identify us! We are losing our identity!!

The only way to save our stolen identity is to be us! To be with people who follow our traditions... who... (to be completed when I'm in mood for it)