The Promise

Saranya  looked at the mirror .  Her long waist length hair was shampooed and brown . Her dangling earrings were black metal and she wore not a tiny speck of gold anywhere. Her tiny black chain looked rusty over her faded T shirt. She looked as less traditional as a girl could be. Usually she would have loved this look. But today she hated herself.

A few months back , her look was a constant source of discord within the house. Each time she came down for dinner dressed this way, Sumitra aunty would make her life miserable. She would scold her head off ."Why can't you dress like an Indian girl. Why can't you wear some gold ornaments. It is not that your parents are poor and can't afford any of this." Saranya would ignore here completely and this angered her even more. Saranya's mother tried to make peace. She is here only for a few days and she is here for treatment. You have to be nice to her. And to her credit , she tried , but wearing gold ornaments and traditional clothes were beyond her."I can't wear ornaments just to please somebody". One day a frustrated Saranya shouted , only to find out that Sumitra aunty had overheard. From then on , she never uttered a word.

Months later, Sumitra aunty became weaker and weaker and lost all her hair after treatment. She would look at Saranya sadly , but did not say anything.Soon she became bedridden.One evening , she called Saranya to her side and said ,"When I was young, I used to love ornaments and new dresses, but my parents had no money to buy me anything.That is why when I see you not wearing any ornaments that your parents buy for you, I scold you so much. I can no longer wear them, At least I may see them on you.Her eyes filled with tears." Saranya understood. "Tomorrow. I will wear my new set saree and show off all my jewels to you and I will dress you up too. Let us take some photos then".

That was the last conversation Sumitra had with any body in this world.

The next day saranya sat alone in her room staring at the mirror. She looked as less traditional as a girl could be and first time in her life, she hated herself. On an impulse she took out her saree and wore it for the first time with out a complaint.She wore her gold chain and earrings. She looked at the mirror again . Tears were streaming down her face , but she felt at peace. She knew she had kept her promise and somewhere deep in her mind felt that Sumitra aunty too knew that  where ever she was.

My old 3310

As I was lazily snoozing the alarm on my iPhone in half woken slumber , a picture came to my mind.-My first cell phone , the Nokia 3310. It was big and blue and my constant companion for a good 6 years.It was back in 2003. India was a land where mobile phones were not so much in vogue as it is now. Incoming was also charged at around Rs 5 per min and even those select few blessed with the latest gadgetry hardly ever answered calls unless it was urgent.Then TRAI made incoming calls free. It was then that my mother, who wanted to keep tabs on her teenage daughter in college persuaded my dad to get me a cell phone. A small sleek (by the standards of the time) Nokia 3310. I was the least happy of the lot. Not only did I not want frequent calls from my mom asking where I was , but the fact was that being the scatter brain that I was , I was pretty confident that I would lose it somewhere in the course of the month.

But soon , for the first time in life , people started looking for me in hostel. I became an overnight celebrity as there were very few in the girls hostel who had cell phones .Hostel mates with boyfriends queued up to use my cell phone and in 2 years , the phone was witness of hundreds of hours of sugar coated puppy love.By the last year of college , cell phones became cheaper and more common and the use of my cell phone diminished considerably. It was then that I realised the power of the composer in the phone. I spent many fun hours trying desperately to create some new ring tones with not much success.

Later in 2004 when I got engaged and moved to Bangalore for my first job, the phone became a symbol of my new status as I was almost always on call with my fiance.Later the phone would also see a large number of international calls as my fiance moved to US and I emptied my pockets constantly to make expensive international calls.As the mobile world changed around ,me with people opting for sleeker and newer phones, I was looked at with disdain for holding on to my old phone.Do you use it to throw at stray dogs to keep them away was a common refrain I heard in those days. But I held on .. I had to change batteries three times and kept the phone which woke me up faithfully every day and kept me company all day long.

Everything has a life and life cycle and that was what I found out in 2006 , when I tried in vain to get the phone to charge up . It stubbornly refused to do so even after changing the battery and the charger and that was when I realised that it was the end of a long and eventful comradeship.

I got a Samsung 2310 after that and then a Nokia 3100 ,and now finally an IPhone.As I am gently touching the touch screen of the iPhone , I think of all those text messages hammered down into the hard keyboard of 3310. How times have changed.

ഉറുമിയും മാണിക്യകല്ലും

Happened to see two Prithviraj movies -the much hyped urumi by santhosh sivan and also manikyakkallu which has prithvi in a soft role -without action and muscles as a simple school teacher. Let me take them one by one.

Urumi on one hand has the trademark cinematography by Santhosh Sivan which makes watching the lush green shores of kerala in the 16th or 17th century candy for anyone's eyes.The movies traces the course of a young man(Prithviraj) sworn to avenge the death of his father by the hands of none other than Vasco Da Gama .  But For some reason, the film fails to touch a chord with your heart.The movie looks good , the performers are all awesome, but there is a certain kind of soul missing in the script that prevents the movie from being what it was aimed to be-an Epic. Prithviraj has done an excellent job and is well supported by Prabhu Deva, Nithya Menon and Genelia, though apart from Prithviraj and Prabhudeva, the rest of them look and act odd in their present day counter part roles.The attemps to draw a present day parallel  fails miserably and the movie should have stuck to its original 17th century track.

Best Part :Santosh Sivan's cinematography , Nithya Menon, Prithviraj's drop dead looks.The other suppprting actors from Jagathy to the singers at the king's palace have done justice to their roles.Notably I liked the actor who played the role of the king .

Good Part : Prithvi and Prabhudeva have a good cameraderie and have done well in their roles. Genelia in Action scenes.
OK Part : Script , which is good in parts , but meanders off without knowing if it should take itself seriously or not.
Worst Part :Vidyabalan and Tabu,Costumes(nobody can be tricked into believing that these were authentic kerala costumes)

 Urumi is an enterainer with eye catching visuals, amazing songs, attractive people- eye candy and just like some of the jokes that the lead duo crack on screen, it is not a film to be taken seriously.

Manikyakkallu on the other hand takes itself too seriously, were it a little less idealistic , a little less preachy and did not try to praise its hero every other minute of the second half, it would have been a pleasure to watch. The movie takes after many of the movies in the same genre about a teacher coming to uplift a downtrodden school and has little new to offer and evokes a sense of nostalgia of good old malayalam movies , but does not reach anywhere near them.

Best Part : I liked all the kids acting as students-(They were so natural) & Samvrutha and the location.


Good Part : All the supporting cast like Nedumudi and KPSC and Jagathy sleep walking through the roles they have played a billion times invoking nostalgia of old movies.

OK Part : Prithviraj-He looks good , I liked his non action hero look and style but needs to improve while talking long monlogues.

Worst Part : Script getting kathi like when Prithvi asking kids to read MK Gandhi and stuff. And the unrealistic ending. ( would have been good if it was just a 100% pass and A1 for 1 or 2(A1 for everyone was just unbelievable) and the editing. The movie is a good 20 mins extra long.

It was a movie that could have been better made with a tinge of freshness , but alas , that was not meant to be. It is the same old wine in a slightly newer bottle

 

 

Into the realm of writing parody songs

Recently I ventured into a field that I had never even dreamt of doing in the past. I wrote parody songs. It all started with us wanting to make a special programmme for two of our friends who are relocating to India , when it dawned on a bunch of us to create a drama of the comedies in their life replete with parody songs enacted by the acting talent in our group. I ended up writing no less than 6 parody songs. 5 of which we enacted and all of us had a real fun evening. Thought of saving these songs here for want of a better place and as one of the most fun memories I had making them , singing them , watching my friends perform and watching the original couple on whom the whole joke was based, laughing their heads off..

Here they are .

Song 1 :Bangalore Nagarathil [Kaanana Chayayil Parody]

banglore nagarathil kazcha kaanan
njanum varatteyo ninte koode
paadilla padilla nithu mole
work kazhinjoru neramilla

NSS collegil dance kaanan
enneyum koodonnu kondu poku
innavidekku nam chenenkilo
thallanayi partikkar kathu nilpu

weekend adipoli aakkiduvan
chettanum koodente koode vayo
ninneyorikkal njan kondu pokam
innu vendinnu vendomalale

[bangalore nagarathil..]

Nammal thammil kandathil
pinninnoru varsham thikachumayi
Innenna Pekshaye Kaivediyathonnenne
Koodonnu Kondu Poku

innu muzhuvan njan ekanaya
apsara barilirunnu veesham
innu njan ezhuthum programinellam
ninte peridunnathayirikkum.

[bangalore nagarathil..]

Song 2 : Nithu Orungi veroo [Nee Madhu Pakaroo Parody]

nithu orungi verooo orungivaro..
ninte photo edukkanayi..
alpam kazhinjotte alpam kazhinjotte
njan liner ittottee..
nee vegam va vegam vaa.. camera ready aanu..


cheettu kalikkenam vellamadikkenam
onnu vegam irangamo.. (2)
10 minute edukkum innu potluck alle..
curry ippo ready aakum..
nithu orungi veroo orungi veroo
vegam iranganayi
nee vegam vaa vegam vaa pokan neramayi..

[Nithu orungi veroo..]


adipoli 11nde cricket match undu
nee kaanan verunnundo..(2)
dance practiceundu njan verunnilla
oooonam programaa...
nee vannalo
athu kazhinju
namukkorumichu shopping cheyyam
nee vegam vaa vegam vaa pokan neramayi..

[Nithu orungi verooo..]



Song 3 -Adyathe kanmani [aadyathe Kanmani Parody]



aadyathe kanmani aanayirikkanam
Nalla musclemanay valaranam
avan achane pole irikkanam
aadyathe kanmani pennayirikkanam
meen kari vekkanariyanam
avalkkamede kaipunyam kittanam



achane pole photo edukkanam
adipoli 11il kalikkanam
ammaye pole orunganam ente mol
dancu kalikkan padikkanam

[aadyathe kanmani...]


en manikkutane serial kanikkam
idea star singer kanicheedam
thankakudathine cheetu kalippikkam
cheetu kalichu kunukku veykkam
kunjikaal projectile aadyathe releasakum..

[aadyathe kanmani...]



Song 4 :Chaya Vekkadi [Ishtamalleda parody]



M: Chaya vekkadi edi chaya vekkadi
oru chicken kaalum porichu kondu vaa

F:chicken murikkanam chetta ulli ariyanam
chaya pathram kazhuki vekkanam

F: phone adikkunnu ayyo offshoranu.
venda chetta , vekku chetta.. venda chetta vekku chetta..


F:karyamillallo oru karyomillallo..
paranjittonum karyamillallo
M:chaya vekkadi, onnu vegam vekkadi
8 manikku status ayakkanam

M:kuzhimadichiye edi edi...
ippo venam vegam ponam ippo venam vegam ponam

M:veruthe thirakkokooti engu ponu nee
F:chetta, enikku kadukin manamadikkunnu
M:hey, just 1 min. (to the phone)
F:paalu pathanju pongidunnu
urula kizhangu karinjidunnu
arikku vecha vellam vanganam
F& M :ho ho arikku vecha vellam vanganam



Song 5 :Ellarum chollanu [Ellarum Chollanu parody]


ellarum chollanu koottarum chollanu
us aa nallathennu
usaa nallathennu
njanonnu chinthichu nokkiyappol
thonannu naaanu nallathennu
kerala naadanu nallathennu

officil pokanam,rathriyul callukal
bhakshanam kashti aanu..
ivide bhakshanam kashtiyanu
neethu vinde prasavam nattilanenkilo
naadan bhakshanam kittum
amma vekkunna amma vekkunna
food kittum..

mathiyayi pengale mathiyayi koottare
ibm joli moolam
jithuettande jithuettande joli moolam
neram velukkumbol pennungal vili aanu
offshore call enna peril..
ayyo offshore call ayyo offshore call enna peril

project mattidam H1 eduthidam
nilkan ready aanenkil
ningal nilkan .. ningal nilkan
ready aanenkil
cyrilinde naadakathil role onnu thanneedam
theerumanam maattumenkil
ningal theerumanam maatumenkil..

ellarum chollanu koottarum chollanu
usa nallathennu athe usa athe usa nallathennu..
ennalum chinthichu nokkumbol thonnunnu
naadanu nallathennu kerala naadananu nallathennu 

Pranchiyettan and the Saint

Finally , finally, one of the most well received malayalam movies of the last year became available online and we didn't think twice before watching it on TV. I for one , had been eagerly awaiting the release of this movie on the internet because the story is based in my home "Thrissur" and all the characters were said to be speaking in typical Thrissur slang. The movie did not dissappoint. It showed yet again , that Mammootty is becoming a master of situational comedy.(From Trivandrum slang in Rajamanikyam to Thrissur slang in this movie).


The movie has Mammooty playing "Cherammal Francis" an uneducated , but rich businessman in Thrissur , who is trying different ways to change his image and name from that of "Ari pranji" to something more respectable.He is very often bested by his childhood nemesis (Siddique as Dr Jose) who incidentally also stole his childhood sweetheart Omana(Khusboo) through nefarious schemes as well. Many hilarious situations that ensue in the process.

He shown trying to contest for "Regency Club" president elections ,organize a welcome for an oscar winner(an obvious take on Resul Pookutty) and even get a padmashree award.Innocent , tinyTom, Jayaraj warrier, the new face as Eyappan the cook and TG Ravi give ample support to his schemes. It is right after the failure of the last scheme (the one to get padmashree) that a lady with the very same name comes into his life.Priyamani as the smart modern girl changes not only the colours of his house , but the colours of his heart as well, as he falls in love with her,only to hear that she has already had enough of relationships and men from her experience with a failed marriage.Pranji is too busy to be dwelling on his heart break for long and takes it as another one of his failures. He now conentrates his attention on getting a weak student(Master Ganapaty as Pauli) in his friend Anthony mash's school to pass the SSLC exam,but fails at that too inspite of finding out that the boy was brilliant.But he finds out that Pauli is dealing with unimaginably huge personal problems and decide to adopt him as his son.

It is at this juncture that he goes to his church to have a talk with the Saint Francis of Assisi.
The whole movie is shown as a series of conversations between Pranji and the Saint , and hence the title.The movie is simple to the core and the uncomplicated narration style make it a pleasant watch.

Pranji thinks as every one does that his problems are huge and that he is always losing , when in the end , the saint shows him that life is not as we think and that he infact has everything that he needs.

A very endearing movie and one that evoked a lot of nostalgia of my favourite place "Thrissur" and its people.

Waiting...

Just read this  http://questforheaven.blogspot.com/2011/02/rain-on.html by Usha Ma'm on her blog and I'm all back to my favourite muse , the rain.Unfortunately , we have still weeks left before the snow melts and the rain falls.Having experienced it last year , felt like writing about the season here that is sooo different from the rain in kerala. Also put some sleeping beauty into it. Here it is

Waiting...

Pricked by the icy thimble
Life lay sleeping beneath the snow
Bound to slumber by a season's curse
Frozen cold as in death she lay

Winter fairy with hands nimble
Draped all in a white ensemble
A palace of snow and ice prevailed
Protecting her from eyes that pried.

Storms raged above and battles were fought
But the curse did not break and she slept on.
Waiting for her prince and waiting for her kiss
A kiss that would warm and make her alive

Then one day , as it was destined to be,
Some one came from far above ,
The frozen fortress melted away
As his warm hands made their way.

She stirred at his touch, a smile
Upon her cold dry lips she lay,
As drops of rain came pouring down..
Kissing her to life once again

My Take on Gone With the Wind

  

My take on one of my favourite novels "Gone With the

Wind". This is the story told as briefly as possible , trying to keep the essence of a thousand page book within a few hundred words , writtern way back in 2004.

Just reading it again showed me how simplistically I see  these books and characters.Initially it was sent as four emails to my husband and some of my friends after I'd just finished reading the novel myself.Here it is with a few minor edits for typos.

 

Part 1:

The book is set in the times of American civil war.Scarlett is the eldest daughter of Gerald O'Hara (who was Irish and made his money in cotton plantations) and Ellen Robillard a really nice lady and and excellent house manager .

She is described as some one who has the power to get things done with out actually raising her voice.Their plantation is called 'Tara'.It has many slaves.There are women slaves who specialise in getting ladies ready and also field hands who work in the field.Almost all the neighbours live in much the similar way.

Scarlett is a very different character.Not what you'd expect of a Heroine.She is attractive with green eyes red hair and all .But she only understands tangible things like money and land.She really does a lot of things that are not quite right just to get her own way and make money.

Scarlett loves Ashley one of the people in her neighbourhood.But he marries his cousin Melanie.On the day of engagement of Ashley and Melanie she confronts ashley and he confesses that he loves her but that they will never be happy together coz they cannot understand each other.she slaps him.

Rhett butler Overhears this conversation.He already has a very bad reputation and every one in the country hates him.Scarlett is mad at him and hates him instantly for seeing her in that shameful sitaution.

Melanie is the other heroine like character in the book.She is full of goodness.She cannot even imagine an evil inention in another person.She loves Ashley dearly.

To spite everyone Scarlett marries Melanie's brother Charles.

Then the civil war happens.................

Part 2

In the war many people were killed and the south was defeated.Among the dead were Charles-scarlett's first husband.She bears a child which she totally ignores.She never really loved Charles and hates the time of widowhood coz she cannott do anything that she likes.The fact that she can never have Ashley gnaws at her.

Then she goes to live with Melanie and Charles ' aunt in Atlanta.Scarlett hates Melanie.But Melanie always misinterprets Scarlett's behavior with something heroic.Rhett Butler makes many cameo appearances and he is the one person who can read what's exactly on Scarlett's mind.He doesn't care about reputation and he has no scruples about making money when the confederate (southern states) are falling.

Then war comes to Atlanta too and everyone flees .But Scarlett and Melanie cannot leave because Melanie is pregnant.Though she curses Melanie a lot in private,she stays with her and helps her.Then they go back to Tara together.There everything is scarce and they have barely enough to live and pay taxes.They try to get money .Very unconventionally scarlett seduces a guy called Frank Kennedy who owns a store and marries him knowing perfectly well that her sister loved him as well.But here she really does give the money to every one in her family which her sister would never have done.
She lives as the wife of Frank kennedy and gives birth to a daughter.But She starts managing the store and also buys mills.She turns out to be an excellent business lady .But as ladies of her time are not supposed to be outside houses.Frank gets ridiculed by every one.He Ashley and many others join the Klu Klux Klan against blacks and Frank gets killed.

Rhett helps Ashley.Even now Scarlett loves Ashley.Rhett loves her.

Part 3

Rhett Butler was unpopular because he was thought to have made a lot of money from war .Also he was known to have funded a prostitute set up her house and he was quite ungallant unlike the usual southerners.


Scarlett is by far the most unpopular female in town and only Melanie really likes her.Rhett confronts her one day and offers to marry her fully knowing alll her faults also telling her that he has virtually no feelings of any kind towards her.But that since they understand each other's character so well , they should get married.

Again a marriage for Scarlett and Rhett gives her everything money can buy and also independence to live as she likes which is a way unnatural to other southern ladies.

Ashley has virtually no money and no job .So scarlett offers him a job at one of her mills.Even now she has Ashley on her mind and wishes that Melanie were dead.Melanie on the other hand adores Scarlett and Rhett and has no suspicions abt her.

Scarlett starts liking Rhett but not loving him.They have a daughter 'Bonnie' whom Rhett adores.Rhett mends his ways and becomes the most caring father that Atlanta has ever seen.All the townspeople start liking Rhett.

Then an incident involving Ashley and Melanie occurs at the mills and causes scandal in the town.Every one hates scarlett and the whole town is abuzz with rumours.But melanie refuses to believe any rumour abt scarlett and even stops talking to those who talk ill of her.Neither Ashley nor Scarlett tell her the truth because truth would be unbelievable to Melanie.

Rhett becomes quite cold to scarlett and leaves Atlanta.She starts understanding him .But she is too head strong to admit it to him.

Part 4

The day Rhett comes back ,Scarlett is really happy to see him and wants to tell him that she is going to have a child.But they have an argument at the end of which she falls down the fleet of grand stairs and is very ill.

It is at this point that we understand how much Rhett had loved scarlett.And Scarlett delirious can only think that Rhet hates her and she never once calls his name.Melanie is there full time to care for her as well as console Rhett.

After Scarlett recovers , She pays a visit to Tara and comes back rejuvenated.Bonnie grows very fond of jumping over fences on her pony .Rhett is a very indulgent father and lets her do everything she fancies.
Then one day Bonnie tries to make the pony jump a very large fence and she falls off the horse and dies instantaneously.Scarlett blames Rhett.Rhett is devastated.

Rhett gets drunk everyday and goes back to his old ways .He doesn't even acknowledge Scarlett's existence.Scarlett feels very lonely.Then one day Rhett telegrams her saying that Melanie is seriously ill.

She had not heeded doctor's advice abt not having a baby and now was on her deathbed.

Melanie says she wants to speak to scarlett .She tells scarlett to look after Ashley and her kid.Scarlett suddenly realises how much Melanie meant to her and that her foolish love for Ashley evaporates away in a flash..

As she rushes back to her home thru the mist to tell Rhett that she loves him and that she wants him .But he calmly says that it is too late -his love for her has worn out and that he is abt to go on a long voyage.....

Scarlett is left all alone.But with charecteristic grit she says 'I'll think of some way to get him back'.'After all tomorrow is another day'.