PARASHU SPEAKS

MirrorMask Trailer

2011-07-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

5 Ridiculously Easy Ways To Unblock Writer’s Block

2011-07-05T14:54:00.000-07:00

5 Ridiculously Easy Ways To Unblock Writer’s Block: "

You would say that after more than 500 articles it’s highly unlikely to hit the writer’s block. Well, think again. Yes, I’ve written more than 500 articles so far in my career, but still, there are times when that white, empty computer screen makes me wanna scream. When all the happy and green pastures where my ideas used to fly from tree to tree, light and playful, are nothing but an empty desert. When words are turning their back on me, leaving behind a dumb smile and foggy eyes. Yes, even after 500 articles, this ugly beast can still makes you shiver.

If you’re not paying close attention to it, that is. Because, and that’s the good news, you can (and you should) fight it with very good chances to win, each and every time you see those empty spaces around you. You cannot make it disappear, it will still be there, but, if you’re carefully planning your moves, if you do a little bit of trickery, mixed with some mild discipline, all combined into just 5 simple principles, well, you can say an honest and vigorous “bye-bye” to the most hated enemy of the professional blogger (or writer, let’s not start a debate here, ok?).

1. Don’t Let It Happen

They say is far more easily to prevent an illness than to cure it. And they say that for a good reason. Don’t let your ideas well go dry. Keep close some capturing device and, each and every time you see an idea (I don’t think we’re having ideas, we’re more like seeing them) stop whatever you’re doing and write that thing down. Use a notebook, a notepad on your smartphone, an audio recorder, or whatever works for you.

There aren’t really any rules for this capturing device, as long as you’re going to actually use what you’re writing down. I’m kinda of techie guy so I use my own iPhone app (iAdd) for this, but you can use whatever you like. Pen and paper is great. Sending yourself emails with your Blackberry is also good. Whatever works for you.

I have an incredible feeling of relief every time when, some solitary morning, almost sensing the writer’s block jumping at me, immobilizing my hands on the keyboard with a short and unbeatable: “there’s nothing more to write about, Dragos!”, I just fire up my app and randomly pick one idea out of the dozens already saved there.

2. Write For Somebody Else

Believe it or not, we’re wired to act and perform in a group. We’re social animals, hence, our constant need for support and encouragement. If you keep writing only for your own projects (being it blogs, or books or columns), at some point, something will stop inside. You’re gonna run out of power.

This “stop” may come in the form of a writer’s block. Sometimes it may come in the form of a depression, but we’re not going there now. If it’s about a writer’s block, though, try to do this: write for somebody else. If you’re a journalist, do a favor to a colleague. If you’re a blogger, do a guest post. A genuine guest post, like giving the best of you for somebody else.

Magically, the words will start flowing. The inspiration will hit you like a Newtonian apple and fantabulous images and ideas will literally explode from your brain. Deep down, you’re seeking a form of validation. Sometimes, all you have to do in order to unblock your path is to first unblock somebody else path.

3. Free Form Writing

A very common source of writer’s block is the constant need of a “meaning”, or a “form”, or some sort of constraint, like the size (1000 words by noon, ok?). This can be really pressuring. My articles are usually between 1000 and 1200 words. But sometimes I can express everything I need to in just 30 words.

When I hit this wall, I usually put that specific project aside and start doing what I call free form writing. No constraints. No limits. Just writing whatever comes into my mind. I never keep those free form writing sessions. Because, of course, everything is so dull, or boring or ridiculous, that I just couldn’t stand reading it.

But the effect of this short exercise is amazing. After all the small pieces of garbage from all the corners of my conscious mind have been dumped into a disposable recipient, something that I know I will throw away immediately after, my normal, organized mind takes the lead. Paragraphs are forming naturally, structure is created on the fly and my project is finished in minutes.

4. From A To B In 5 Semantic Fractures

That’s a serious one. Although I used to play this game when I was a child, I only use it now when none of the above can be applied (namely, when I have nothing jotted down in my app, when I can’t write for somebody else or when no free form writing will produce the expected results).

I pick a random word (usually by opening a book at a random page), write it down, then pick another one using the same technique. Then I try to create 5 semantic structures (or fractures) from the word A to the word B. Going from “skyscraper” to “cabbage” may look like this: skyscraper – sky – birds – planes – wings – leaves – cabbage.

You can do this even when you’re not having the writer’s block. It will work like a sort of “brain muscle fitness”, forcing you to make unexpected connections. And unexpected connections will always lead to unexpected ideas, strategies or approaches. Unexpected is good. Go for it.

5. Silence Your Mind

If you could turn your mind into some kind of a radio, I’m sure you’d be completely blown away by the number of stations you’re listening simultaneously. Even if you “think” you’re not thinking at anything, you’re in fact thinking at something. Yup, you guessed it, this last tip is in fact just a form of meditation. I call it “silence your mind” because it makes me look smart, but in fact, is just a form of meditation.

Sometimes, our focus is hijacked by all these thousands of thoughts we’re continuously fostering, modifying, adjusting and we simply don’t have any focus left to finish that bloody page. The only solution here is to silence your mind. But don’t do it with violence, it will only make the noise higher.

Gently follow each and every thought until it’s no longer there, witness your visions and memories, look at the show put up on your brain scene by somebody you think it was you. If you do this long enough, if you resist the temptation to unfold all those stubs into independent scenes, the characters will eventually turn to you with obedience. You will be able to commend them. And only then you will be able to make them stop that gibberish you thought it’s yourself.

***

Writer’s block is more often than not just another form of life imbalance. Those tips here are not really just for writers. Or, if you really understand that we’re really the authors of our own lives, then, yes, we’re all writers of some sort.

So, plan carefully, don’t be selfish, empty your mind from time to time, play with your words and don’t take yourself too seriously.

You’ll be amazed how many people will start to enjoy your book of life.

A judgement for peace's sake

2010-09-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

Today 30 Sept 2010, Thursday | Allahabad, India.

Verdict on Babri Masjid land possession was passed, the land will be divided amongst all 3 parties who were claiming ownership of this disputed property. Anything for the sake of peace- everyone is hailing the high court's decision. None of the expected rioting has been reported in the news. Government has given guidelines to the channel to help maintain an atmosphere of calm and peace. Looks like they are successful so far. Partition is not a great concept, has our nation not learned it. Momentary peace is priority, future wars can be dealt with later.

The parties who were responsible for the demolition of the controversial mosque and changed the face of secular India, starting the biggest riots based religious differences post independence, readout briefings to the press at press-conference, hailing the judgement. Looks like they has been vindicated. Peace is an illusion at least for now.

We need to maintain peace at all cause. In the path of progress who wants obstacles, if that means closing eyes on 2000 plus dead. Why not? When numbers are on your-side and you have power to create a riot- the nation forgets and forgives. Democracy. I should know that. Good wins over evil, Bad will never triumph... etc are naive concepts. Mobilise mass opinion, when the number is on your-side, you are always rights.

Short films | Made using DSLRs

2009-09-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

Now with the Canon EOS 5D MKII, the boys can become men sooner. The rituals of climbing the filmmaking hierarchy will be a lot easier, assuming there is a compelling story to be told.

Image via Wikipedia

Canon came out with Canon EOS 5D MKII which comes with video capabilities, HD quality video on what is essentially a Digital SLR camera. This is significant development for the pro-sumer and independent filmmaking community. At this point they are very excited and are going bonkers. It is being discussed on twitter, check the tweets of Stu Maschwitz and run a search on vimeo with Canon EOS 5D MKII, you will get to see the excitement in form of test shoots and demo-videos. Let me explain the excitement.

When it came to films what separated the men from the boys was the filming technology- video vs film. Boys shot on video and always aspired for the film-look. They used plug-ins in the edit to mimic the lensing effects and contrast levels that define the film-look. On the Canon 5D you can use canon range of dslr lenses, control the look and feel of the scene manually, unlike in video cameras where controls were limited.

Over the past few months the progress has been clear. Demo videos are giving way to works of serious art. Now the independents can worry less about the form and focus more on the content.

Short film made with 4500+ still photographs. Shot with a Canon EOS 30D camera.

SYNOPSIS

A girl misses her train to Milan and is set to wait overnight in Rome until dawn. However, a chance encounter with a guy changes her plans and the night lights of the capital turn into the background to a tender love story. An extraordinary chemistry made of knowing glances and small gestures fills the few instants that separate them both from the sunrise.

This is a demo that Canon shot, a 1080p short film photographed with the Canon EOS 5D MKII

Blog | New beginning

2009-08-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

Technorati says in one of its studies that 95% of blogs are abandoned says an article in New York Times

"According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled"

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I started blogging on 11 feb 2005, it was a musing about socio-cultural scenario of Kerala. I was an erratic blogger and would post whenever I felt like. I had moved to Mumbai in Jan 2008 and thus lost the vantage point to the happenings in Kerala. I discontinued keralatimes. My last entry was on 28 august 2008.

I learned and gained much from the process of blogging.

1. Before the blog my jottings were not more than a to do list or occasional poetry. I learned to think paragraphs. Though my grammar and spelling still remain terrible. I found a new expression in writing.

2. I developed opinions on cultural and social issues, started listening to what was happening around me.

3. I began to understand technological developments of the internet, looking back i feel that I am part of a social media revolution that everyone is talking about now.

4. I trained myself to sift and navigate the information highway. Introduction to RSS and Feed reader happened.

5. I found new friends to share ideas with

6. and more

"There will come a time, when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning" - Lois L'Amour

Rubber & Prejudice or No Bride for Rubber Tappers

2008-06-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

June 01,08 | M.R. Subramaniam |Businessline

No Keralite is coming forward to tap rubber these days. Workers from Tamil Nadu are getting jobs in infrastructure projects. Therefore, planters have now turned to getting workers from the North,” says Mr N. Radhakrishnan, President of the Cochin Rubber Merchants Association.
..............
One reason Keralites not wanting to become tappers is due to a social stigma attached to it and them not able to get brides!

Kerala's future

2008-05-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

"Kerala is in a state of flux. Caught between a communist past and capitalist future, between pessimistic melodrama loving older generation and a practical cosmopolitan young generation. A land blessed by nature being destroyed by false pride of its people. The time of this land is yet to come"
- Quote from Parashunaama

Parashu- 'higher than thou'

2008-04-15T05:22:00.001-07:00

Parashu stood wondering what consequence he wanted to embrace as he stood thinking where to sit. He could sit down on the dusty ground, or he could climb higher up and let everyone look up if he were to speak, along the depth and distance axis he could take up any place. The choice he takes would have consequences. The obvious question was if he was willing to take a position, he understood that even standing there was a position on the axis. And he made a choice, slowly he move on to the higher ground and occupied a golden seat.

White

2008-03-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

God and his lambs

2007-09-14T07:47:00.001-07:00

note the god's own country board, hidden behind the umbrella is 0 km to hill palace museum.

Bloody road

2007-09-06T05:40:00.000-07:00

The roads of Kerala today are the reflection of the governance- and we are mute witness to the total chaos.

red kinetics

2007-04-04T03:46:00.000-07:00

Parashu on art of cinema

2007-03-09T00:10:00.000-08:00

You know what, actually, 'Good cinema' or 'award cinema' is not meant for a layman, because it's goal is not to operate with cliches or existing audio-visual language. it is meant for those in the filmmaking trade, much like a trade journal or a concept car to those in the engineering or auto-industry. It's role in the system is to stretch beyond cliches, the form/content. Art cinema has the role of exploring new ways of telling stories. stretching the medium to its limits... the new idioms thus created eventually gets adopted into the mainstream/ commercial cinema.

In the media i have heard certain filmmakers and critics talk about good cinema as an opposite of commercial cinema.

'Good' is subjective, we could fight over what is good or not yet not find an answer. Good cinema. what the fuck is good cinema anyways.

commercial cinema is a term used to categorize films that play to the gallery, whose objective is to entertain, and titillate primal senses and aspirations of its viewers. It is called commercial cinema, because of its primary motive to make profit. Continuing to speak in the same breath; Good cinema doesn't play to the gallery. It has an arrogant stamp of its maker. Who says 'this is the way i want to say it, see it or go to sleep'. That is the way it is meant to be.

Let us face it. It is an art to entertain people. not every toms, chandrans, and harrys can do that. It is an art to entertain and make money. every filmmaker dreams of it. maybe not for moneys sake, but as an indicator of a being heard by a larger audience. (larger the audience more the money)

But why do we need the so called good cinema which will put a layman to sleep to have commercial release, ending up being a waste of money and precious time because it is not the audience it is meant for. Good cinema has rightful place in the cinema ecosystem when it is not seen as the opposite of commercial cinema. This is the bane of Art cinema in Kerala- The art filmmakers who see 'Good' Cinema as something against Commercial cinema. It has to be made with an aim to create new audio-visual idioms rather than stick to the form of film noir or cinema verite which unfortunately is the only genres made in the name of art films in this part of the world.

SHAME! SHAME! The butcher on the wall- Saddam is inducted into the CPI(m) 'Wall of fame'

2007-01-25T04:03:00.000-08:00

"Deshabhimani, a Malayalam daily and a CPI(M) organ, ran an editorial on Saddam titled Lal Salaam. Even CPI minister Binoy Vishwam wrote a column in another daily...."

WHY is the CPI (m) doing this?

"....Saddam was the CPI(M)'s poster boy in the recent Assembly polls and last month's Assembly bypoll in Thiruvambadi. The CPI(M) defeated the IUML there"-

Report and photo taken from DNAINDIA. http://www.dnaindia.com

This stand is contrary to the stand that the communist party has taken worldwide. In kerala the CPI(M) is inducting the US slain ex- president of Iraq into their 'wall of fame' alongside che, lenin and other foreign dignitaries. SHAME ON THEM. Please note that the public memory is really short. Not long ago Saddam was called the butcher of bagdad for killing of innocent people of Iraq and attacking Kuwait.But today he is forgiven, he is a hero. Good for him. SHAME ON YOU. Shame on you Deshabhimani editor-in-chief. Shame on you Kairali TV editors. Shame on you, Kerala Communist Party Leadership.

This is the stand taken by Communit League. www.communistleague.org
I am glad that there is some Communists with a historic perspective on this issue.

This what they say “The communist league has no interest in adding its voice to either of the two competing chorus shouting about the execution-style killing of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein al- Tikriti at the hands of the U.S. sponsored government of Prime Minister Nouri al- Maliki.
Even though we shed no tears over his demise, we refuse to join hands with those who are ‘celebrating’ his death.
Based on our own observations, these ‘celebrations’, and the people who organize them, are tools of Washington and the Bush regime, designed to manufacture ‘public opinion’ that can be spoon-fed to the people of the U.S and other countries by the corporate media.

Even though we believe the ‘trial’ of Hussein was a show trial, with the verdict and sentence fixed in advance, we refuse to join hands with those who are ‘protesting’ his death.

From what we have seen, those who are organizing these ‘protests’ whether they are described socialists and communists or are from the arab community, alibi, apologize for and even act on behalf of some of the most reactionary elements helping to tear apart and wipe out the people of Iraq”

READ ON

Why not truth now?

2006-10-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

Like the zen master said, truth does not always liberate masses/ society/ community. They have to be readied to first accept the truth, to understand the truth in its real context and perspective. The ground has to be prepared for the seeds to be sown.

-like the true stories about how behind closed doors detailed strategies are drawn to tighten the grip of control over a community's perspectives and further shape it by the the moral standards of the media baron's orthodox family values, using a network of marketing agents who stand guard to the empire of profit that is founded on instilled sense of guilt, shame and false pride of community.
i know real stories of people, (more than one), driven to edges of depression and despair by the network of information that is in place for the media network. it is scary. the network of control is like a state military intelligence. they use it to intimidate the powerful and drive common man to suicide.

or

real stories of how the liberators/ party of the poor, innovate and learn new techniques of extortion to build a corporation so huge that it makes the ex- oppressor look like a petty thief. how they are mastering the art of extortion of public and private fund over phone calls, leaving no messy trail of evidence. all legit fund creation, that will fund the future uprising of the masses fed and blinded on liquor and hyper-reality. They are not ready for the truth.

Many true stories are condemned to languish in small gatherings and get passed on as murmurs ear to ear within closed circles, sometimes leaking out into the mainstream as hearsay and as a report of news from a reliable source, which never really gets substantiated and ends up as mere gossips or conspiracy theories.

A Journal

2006-09-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

Conversation with a 'Pulayadi mon'

2006-09-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

Parashu - "Worn-out by the sun and stress I settled under the tree. Summer sun was scorching my scrotum"

- "The fully opened municipal tap dripped, my hopes were brimming over the Bisleri bottle as the drops collected at the bottom. Across the road, through the mirage, mud huts were bleached out in the afternoon brightness. Out of the luminescence appeared a local Goddess with a full earthen pot and let me quench my desire. She was a true Goddess..."

On hearing that, 'Pulayadi mon' interrupted and started to drool, making hand gestures that implied sex -"mmehhmmm...yymmmeeeemm......"

Parashu- "No, 'O great son of Pulayadi'... We did not fuck"

-"There is more important matters than sex and fixations with sex, in this case it was water"

motion graphics scribble 1

2006-07-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

original image

how can you set me free if there is nothing called freedom!!

2006-06-29T05:19:00.000-07:00

While scripting reservation

2006-05-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

In one rural indian village there were 3 friends: a hard-worker, an intelligent and a near stupid. They went to the same school and got same opportunities. Years later, the hard-worker became a high ranking official at LIC, the Intelligent became a doctor and the near stupid became a clerk at the local administration.

Now, that does not make a good story, so predictable. We put it forward for popular reaction and got response "no drama..."

The discussion continued...

Now, what if...the hardworking becomes a clerk in local administration, intelligent becomes a high ranking official at LIC and stupid becomes a doctor.

Sounds dramatic. "the script is getting interesting"- the popular verdict.

Continue... go on flesh it out... substantiate...

A hardworking person can get a low paying job because of
a) bad luck, b) missed opportunity, c) lack of guidance... so on and so forth

An intelligent person not living up to the expectation could be because of a) bad company, b) drugs, c) getting misguided and joining an extremist group in college (and later reforming)

A near stupid becoming a doctor could be because of a) divine intervention, or b) now proposed reservation policy

(p.s. note : don't read further if you found the above offensive)

Need more drama!! let us put in the caste angles...

The hardworking person who ends up getting a low paying job is an upper caste then... popular reaction- "too bad", "deserves it", "fate"
and if the hard-worker is a lower caste then... popular reaction- "need reservations"

Then intelligent person ends up getting a job below his caliber and happens to be an upper caste then... popular reaction- "too bad", "deserves it", "fate"
if he is a lower caste then... popular reaction- "need reservations"

The near stupid ends up becoming a doctor and he happens to be an upper caste... popular reaction-"injustice", "what the fuck!!"
if the stupid becomes a doctor and he is of the lower caste then... (if you take a politically correct stance) ... then blame it on parliamentary decisions, Arjun Singh style.

And thus spoke Parashu: reservation if intented to uplift the economically backward people should not be caste based. Because unlike fifty years back today there are wealthy lower caste and scavenging upper castes. So the policies will have no effect on the cash rich upper or lower caste, they can always choose to go abroad... In this attempt to create equality in another 10 years we will end up creating a new class of under-privilaged- 'the economically backward former upper caste'.

Kindness! Respect! Servitude!

2006-05-18T07:40:00.000-07:00

Not-a-burden

2006-05-18T07:31:00.000-07:00

RSS march. PAST.

2006-05-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

9:30 am. wed. 21 dec 2005. road block at tripunitura jn, Kochi. Courtesy: a political rally titled, 'navakerala yatra'

2005-12-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

judgement and concept of fairness

2005-12-12T21:17:00.000-08:00

a soldier kills and is awarded, not punished for murder. but rewarded. Has the soldier committed murder!!?? technically yes. Has he really committed murder? perhaps not.

not all snuffing out of life is murder. murder, noun 1. the unlawful killing of one human being by another, especially when it is intentional... but communication is not just words it is more complex. not all killings are equal. some have to be rewarded, some have to be punished. that is the law of the society. i am not going to substantiate that.

********************************

location: an electric crematorium in x town. dusk.
"there is a threshold of pain that i could take. beyond that my mind and body gave up. my tolerance was relative. absolutely" - a dead body of abc who was hanged for murder. according to him and some others, wrongfully. according to some others rightfully.

********************************
basic.
survival. of. the. fittest.
physical needs first.
then the well being.
then comes grooming.
then craving for appreciation. (maslow).
then spirituality.

to each of us each stage is relative as well as absolute.

**********************************
self. i. me. myself. define it.
self is i.
self is mine.
then there is self which is projected self... the me keeps changing....
eg: my brother. my father. my wife. my nation. my world. my universe. all of which becomes me in different contexts. my brother is me if anyone threatens him, till that point i might have been baying for his blood. my nation is me, i will kill for it when the enemy strikes. survival of 'i' is primal need. But, the needs keeps changing. they are relative.

*********************************
location: an air cooled bedroom, close to midnight.
"the definition of me: sub-atomic particle is me. the cosmos is me. me is my community but the outsider: my enemy. mine is my survival. my well being. my grooming. my need for appreciation, my God" - the conscience of a surviving politician who instigated a communal riot.

**********************************
judgment is human capacity.
**********************************
the 14 year old mother who killed her child and was not punished for murder, the keeper of law looked beyond the law and made a judgement beyond the penal code. a murderer being set free, sounds fair in this context. but a judgment that we face everyday in the society does not always sound fair, eg. the law not applying equally to the civilian murderer and the soldier. sounds unfair?! But then the problem is not with the law. it is with the notion of fairness we are tutored into. in the wild there no mercy. there is another kind of justice. a kind that is beyond our civic understanding. lion kills his cub and sit in the shade and lick clean the last drop of blood from its paws. for many conveniences we are not far from wild. the rule of chances, survival and fate applies to us.
Thus spoke Parashu, there should be law. then there are ones who follow it discreetly. those who bend it without breaking it. That judge who sits under the virtue of words that preach 'truth shall prevail',..even as he orders the house to be seated, knows deep in his heart that justice need not always prevail.

before it rained, the clouds...first black & white then colour...

2005-12-03T04:56:00.000-08:00

Charitrathinde niram... blackko? reddo? golddo?

2005-10-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

In the future, I had started plotting to kill Parashu who in rage had put the axe against my neck threatening to slit my jugular vein, In times before those terrible days, Parashu was my guiding light. These are happy times.

We mostly talked about issues of the land and people. Kerala was the center our universe and malayalees, the chosen people.

Parashu had walked the times, like the vampire of the west, he had been there from the beginning. i asked him how life was then. he told me stories of the ages. stories of insignificant people whom history had no consequence recording. Parashu always called people and individuals insignificant. He had this macro view of events and time, it probably has something to do with the fact that Parashu was always there seeing everything, been there, seen all, done that.

Parashu said, "If i were to talk in the language you understand now, history is the point of view of the historian and a PR exercise of the people who commissioned the venture. It recorded certain words black and certain letters golden and certain sentences blood red. The histories have different tones. indian history recorded by british is of a different tone from indian history recorded by indians. Russian history recorded by Americans, American history recorded by europeans, different hues"

-What is the color of history then?

-True history is colorless, tasteless... it can never be recorded accurately. Because ink always has to have a color.

Dinosaur!!

2005-09-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

entering heaven

2005-09-21T03:48:00.000-07:00

golden god, emrald waters- morning ritual bath

2005-09-21T01:59:00.000-07:00

in-the-web

2005-09-11T23:28:00.000-07:00

in-the-web
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

Is that an ant caught in the web or a spider that looks like an ant? In the past week i saw variants of spiders that i have not seen before. Two to be precise, a spider that looked like an ant and then a spider that looked like a mosqito. both were seen spinning webs. Or has the ants and the mosquitos of late evolved to be webbers. I would not be surprised at at that, have we humans not taken to webbing!!

made-in-heaven

2005-09-11T23:15:00.000-07:00

made-in-heaven
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

A namboothiri wedding near Kootatukulam, Kerala.

another earth another time

2005-09-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

the earth had 4 moons.
and these moon were made of a different matter and were seen around the earth at around 90 degree distance from the center. the matter that filled them reflected more light which obviously meant that there was no nights. there was only one season. constantly. there was no concept of seasons or nights. there was one type of crop that shed leaves and bore fruits in unpredictable fashion. where a plant that dried up and died there was another which bore fruits. food was always there. so nobody bothered to calculate the months, days, hour, minutes or seconds.

As for time calculation, yeah time was calculated not using the solar or lunar way. Only purpose of recording time was for history reasons. So time became a notion calculated by the lifetime of ancestors. like the time that the milk tooth of king george the tenth fell, referred to a unique point in time that everyone in the country understood. Later when trade began to expand. the reference point in time was no more unique, this lead to a lot of confusion. Amongst tribes and later nations, there was a race to name the times, with their kings and leaders. after many squabbles even more wars and a few world wars which nearly destroying the earth, the leaders of the world decided upon a system where by a body like UN was constituted to amicably name the times. so that trade could progress.

the organization was in greenwich near london. Thus the concept of Kaalpurush or the time man was borrowed from the indian nation. the organization decided that they would nominate a 'time man' whose life would be recorded from the birth to his first procreation and every event would be marked. later as science progressed they discovered complex ways to device means to measure smaller units of the time man's biological clock. thus the unit became smaller. this helped physicists like einstein further the frontiers of science. but the common man was happy with the larger events of the selected time man's life. time of birth, first vacination, time of his first step. his first day at school, his puberty, and procreation, after which he is considered dead. and then his child would becomes new clock. the committee of time creation, in its constitution, took care of all conceivable unfortunate eventualities like the death of the person before procreation or the inability to procreate. Thus the life of time man was kept and published regularly for the entire mankind to see. first through print and then electronically. there were devices that transfered images of time man live on to the wrist pieces.

The people of the nation traded and their lifestyles evolved, but they did not have the stars to help them navigate. instead there was the four moons which they called a moon, b moon, c moon and d moon. they had lesser number of gods. because the natural phenomenon were limited. the mysteries of the deep dark sky was not there. the light always was blinding. so no one dared look beyond. since no one saw no one asked. troubles and war was always there since people were much like they were now. but just that the reasons to people's pain and misery were more innovative.

The wrath

2005-09-02T04:09:00.000-07:00

Down the temple road, past the post office, the second shop on the right- painted on the yellow board in red and black, ISD, STD, Local calls.
Balamani collects coins from people who makes calls. Her late father had named her owner- manager of the booth. She was all of 18. On her forehead is sandal wood paste. On the way from home before opening to the shop she visits guruvayoor appan and collects her share of his prasadam. Daily without fail.
Only times she misses out that is on the day of bandhs like the one that happened yesterday. Most shops remain closed. She does not know why there was a bandh yesterday. She complies with all the bandhs the left calling or the right. She loses that day's income from the booth that her father left for the family. But that loss gets washed away by the collective helplessness of her society. She is not much bothered if she is not able to open the shop on that day. She is only too happy. She gets a day off to catch up on her life that she misses out on, laze around, watch television, catch up on some gossip... But the little Krishna in the temple missed her. He is a jealous god. The dark clouds rolled in at noon and it poured down very heavily.

Parashu warned that the parties should be careful about this little guy's wrath for lately they have been testing his patience a bit too much. For if his wrath falls on them they might not see the seat of power ever again.

reason for the unreason- a love letter

2005-09-01T02:34:00.000-07:00

All human beings are creative and suckers for stories. A story is an illusion of order. To us humans, stories like dreams have therapeutic value. It numbs our minds and reality takes the back door.

We need reason because we strive to create order and make sense of the chaos around us; in doing so we end up creating more chaos. Ironic isn't it !!.

President Bush had to give a new story to the world to stay in power while catering to his country's needs. So Bush prioritized the problem of the world and decided the most appropriate action to save the world was war "Saddam is a danger to the world.... Weapons of mass destruction etc.." A new story idea, alongside Osama Bin Laden... since post cold war the Commies, Castros story wouldn't have any effect on the public psyche.

Human beings are a bundle of needs and the need 'monster' cant be reasoned with. Needs have to be fulfilled and like energy need cannot be destroyed but only changes its form. The need to justify the need does not kill the need. So why look hard for reasons and justifications.

There are identified needs and unidentified needs. The unidentified needs can be mistaken to be an identified need, in humans this mistake often sets in motion an unconscious repetitive behavior patterns leading to frustration and chaos. like when - need for touch manifesting as love, or smoking filling in for the need of silent introspections.
There is this an example of mistaken need that is particularly lethal and common in our worlds now; the need for unconditional acceptance fulfilled in a family scenario expected in a professional environment. You can only imagine the consequence.

Are the needs not reason enough?

When we try to justify the need we construct stories and then become a central character in it, we look around for villains and victims and drag the people around us and their emotions into our personal universes and created a chaos. It is when a lie is cooked up as a reason to justify the need and lull ourself to believe in the reason to act that i and you, suck the people around us into the self created black hole.

So I shall save the story of reason for my love for you. There is only a need, identified or unidentified. I Love You.

redlight for the last time

2005-07-08T00:32:00.000-07:00

Monsoon: Mastershot- untitled

2005-07-07T23:55:00.000-07:00

Monsoon: montage in the rain

2005-07-07T23:51:00.000-07:00

Monsoon: state of mind wallpaper

2005-07-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

vytilla crossing in the rain

2005-07-04T04:10:00.000-07:00

Soumya will reach office in another half an hour. she does not know that she is being photographed by a blogger... and that she would eventually end up being a particle of data in cyberspace. that morning the traffic between vytilla and the south overbridge would stay jammed for the next one hour. That morning soumya reached office late. and was warned by her boss. this was the third such time. she was almost in tears. her daugher would in some years become a rank holder in the IAS exam and get splattered on the front page of mathrobhoomi... but as for now the monsoon of 2005 is raging. one june morning, on the way to the office...

Title- Freudian sleep. with narration. without sub-titles. dur: 60 sec

2005-06-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Day/interior. Fade in from black. Sometimes there is a dream that looks so real as though it happened. Subject is in focus and the misc-en-scene radial blurred. Then when the dream moves and you can smell the musty smell of the dream and sweat. In the montage of unrelated shots and overlapping sounds, you can hear the creek of the bed and see the shut windows and zero watt bulb. You can hear someone in the other room and feel the dream's red oxide floor. You do not fall. You are woken up.

Night/exterior. Sometimes there is reality that feels so dreamy as though it never happened. The star lit sky and the full-moon and salty smell, the creaking sound of anchored boats and feel of sand. The narration is about a trip from Howrah country to a Mumbai beach side house. The background score is missing, the co-actor along side you is missing, a can of memory is missing and you are looking around. You climb the spiral stairs and see reality and you begin to realise the mercy of the Goddess. She makes you believe that you are dreaming. Right there you close your eyes and go to sleep. Fade to black.

And thus Parashu was enlightened

2005-06-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

The news spread like a 'camel' ink blot- sisters have begun a hunt...

Back in the dorm, he is applying 'cuticura' power on the mark on his forehead, It is changing color, from a darker shade of his light brown skin to a shade of pink and now it is becoming maroon and eventually it would become a mark on his forehead like a small pox scar and there remain for the rest of his life. His blessing and his 'third-eye'.

It was an hour back that Matthew Kurian, the senior from 2nd standard gathered 9 first standard boys and cramped them into one of the small toilets of the hostel. Matthew elevated himself by climbing on the upturned bucket over the indian closet to be seen and heard clearly. He was a towering 5 footer, as the 3 foot somethings looked up and listened with open mouths, he began instructing" With your thumb rub the middle of your forehead, up and down, a hundred and one times, chant the name of siva and you will get a vision of the lord" Matthew starts to count "1, 2, 3, 4, ...99, 100,101." and when the chorus of counting and chanting stopped, nothing had happened.

For next minute there was silence. The boys looked at each other. Everyone looked blank. Little Parashu's protest broke the silence "where is siva?". Matthew didnt have an answer. Murmuring the murmur of disappointment the group dispersed. It was Sivaratri of 1981, junior hostel of Sarvodaya Vidhyalaya, Trivandrum.

The warden sister came to know of the incident and a hunt began for the boys with mark of the third-eye. Those who were caught were caned, amongst them was Matthew. Fortunately, Parashu was not caught. That was the first night Parashu had the vision of the Lord in full glory on top of icy kailasam, parvati was beaming alongside. The serpents seemed excited to see Parashu and winked at him. That wink contained knowledge of life.

Eventually Parashu learned the art of visiting the divine by feeling his 'third-eye' scar. He met them again on every public holiday, sometimes siva would not be around, but parvati was always home. She was nice to him.

Since his hostel days, Parashu has been visited by many other Gods and Goddesses of his times with the help of his 'third eye' scar. Each encounter making Parashu more enlightened.

song of a confirmist- ver. 1.2

2005-06-24T05:14:00.000-07:00

media. history. constitution. communication. geography.
*****************************************************
my society has its own little software encoder and decoder
and a social consciousness of social rights and wrongs.
they record it on white pages, printed in black and white
and taught me and you about our's and their's
and all the societies write their own laws and protocols
their imaginary lands and lines.

now can we have a right society or a wrong society
or
is it even required to have a knowledge of what is right. what is wrong.

song of a confirmist- ver. 1.1

2005-06-24T05:13:00.001-07:00

eye. nose. ear. tongue. skin.
*****************************************************
each one of us have our own little encoding and decoding softwares in our little heads
we all are wearing distortion lenses in front of our eyes and other senses
and we all judge our own rights and our own wrongs.
so so conveniently.
i do that all the time.
do you know someone who does not.

now can we have a right view of clear and real
or
is it even required to have a knowledge of what is clear. what is real.

song of a confirmist- ver. 1.0

2005-06-24T05:13:00.000-07:00

Sight. Smell. Sound. Taste. Touch.
*****************************************************
My senses are open to stimuli. by millions every day.
Receive signals, decode them.
Encode and memorize or encode, memorize and respond.
This memory is used to decode future stimuli.
There is a software in my head that encode experiences
and creates responses.
all this when i thought that i was in control

can we have a right view of reality
or
is it even required to have a knowledge of what is real. what is right.

advertising in kerala. prt-2

2005-06-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

Word of mouth rules in Kerala. Advertising in the way the rest of the world thinks is paralyzed in Kerala. The uncrowned kings of kerala advertising: the real people who have helped shape the identity of kerala as the best test market in india. Please welcome into our midst Saboo Coloniaa, Gayatri and Rehman and their predecessors- the film poster designer.

They design poster that foil warp kerala. Over the years their posters helped shape the mallu's dismissive attitude towards advertising and publicity. Flop film posters consistently claim superhit status, numbing the senses and trust of the market. “ You cant trust these printed words “, says madhu- who sells among other things lolly-pops from his rickety pavement shop near chittor road in Cochin. He had over heard our plans for the matinee show of ‘taskaraveeran’ , the just released mammooty flick . The poster is screaming ‘SUPERHIT’ in the fifth colour. These posters are mostly final struggle of a sinking producer trying to keep nose above the waters. (These guys are overlooked by watchdogs that are on the look out for false claims in publicity materials.)

These people are not seen in the award functions or the seminars of Cochin advertising club- the official union of the advertisers. Rahman or Saboo or Gayatri have no clue about the theories of advertising. These guys follow their gut. They have their protocol, their set of rules and process. Family posters- to woo the family audience, title poster to announce, action posters mend to curdle the young’s blood, ‘glamour posters’ with the mandatory ‘A’, ‘the class posters’ done in white space… these rules have set the ground rule for advertising in Kerala. Any one at Cochin Ad Club listening!

Coming soon- IMAGES that set the rules.

advertising in kerala. prt-1

2005-06-17T03:41:00.000-07:00

Did you know that? Kerala is considered to be best product test market in India. That is the reason why many products are launched here before the high decibel nationwide commercial launch. The legend goes that if the product clears in the litmus test in the kerala market, it will succeed any where in india. The critical ‘force’ of Keralites is not entirely useless!.

But finally when commercials are made for a nationwide launch, kerala is not considered an important market worthy of a tv commericial with its regional sensiblities. So they dub the north Indian sensiblity into Malayalam often ends up being not understood in the most literate state.

I am told if there is enough budget, then a single commercial is made of the consolidated southern states mostly taking into consideration the tamil/ telugu/ kannada cultural backdrop. They know that kerala is a totally different cultural consciousness, but it is not considered a worthy enough market to spend precious tv commercial budget on!! We should not be fighting about cultural endangerment posed by globalization when ‘Hindisation’ of Malayalam is happening through advertising and films. I shall talk about fear of the ‘inevitable’ globalization in another post.

The Mumbai advertisers fears are not entirely baseless. When greeted with a commercial the ‘who are you trying to fool’ sense is triggered in the mallu brains.
Since the ad filmmaking community is virtually non-existent in kerala the blame of nuking 2 generation of malayalees trust on advertising falls on the print campaigns. The agencies in kerala have being bombarding the mallu brains with functional advertising with false promises and claims. Image advertising/ branding is non-existent.

Kerala is a word of mouth market. The Malayalam film industry will vouch that claim.

To be continued….

art for art sake/ word count 175

2005-06-13T23:28:00.001-07:00

This is a blank post. I have already written nine words. By the time I would have written whatever this article turns out to be it would be irrelevant and 'nine words' would then seem stupid. The page then would no longer be blank for I have written by now fifty words already. I think have succeeded in writing out a post and filled out a blank page for which I am happy. But I have not said a word. The page is still blank and the word count zero. For real, have i said something, Parashu? I have said nothing!

In desperation to communicate, we in the media fill out blank pages. And keep word count in the name of art. If the audience does not understand, what is the point? Would it not have been better to leave the page blank, than scribble gibberish?

I turned to Parashu and asked him, ‘given a choice between gibberish and a blank page what would you choose?’
Parashu replied ‘ gibberish, any day'.

I kept quiet for 2 weeks.

Eat my rotten heart

2005-06-06T01:53:00.000-07:00

monsoon close up series
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

monsoon close up series

2005-06-06T01:45:00.000-07:00

monsoon close up series
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

enjoy the rain

a theory of evolution, monsoon etc...

2005-05-30T05:02:00.000-07:00

A group of apes that ate magic mushrooms began to think differently, their perception evolved, abstraction became a faculty of their mind, they created music, they began painting. They evolved and became human beings.

"What do you think?" I asked
"Possible" replied Parashu. Parashu was busy reading the mind of a girl who thought she was committing harakiri. I left him alone.

I could already smell the monsoon in the air. The spirit of my ancestors within me rejoiced. My genes react to the smell of rain. Today is 30 th of May. Yesterday, It had rained in Kochi i believe it is part of Kerala. Man always is trying to predict God's next move, but God is happily playing in the puddle.

trivia:
What is the difference between genius and stupidity?
Genius has limits- Albert Einstein

framed by the chruch

2005-05-17T00:28:00.000-07:00

framed by the chruch
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

the good_naveen anthraper

2005-05-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

the good_naveen anthraper
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

A freeze from joshua's short film. Naveen J Anthraper plays the role of "good". Naveen who?
Naveen is guitarist/ rocker from kochi with sizeble female following.
http://www.naveenjanthraper.com/Biography.html

ruins of dhanushkodi 2

2005-05-16T23:48:00.000-07:00

ruins of dhanushkodi 2
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

The ghost town...

dhanushkodi church in the ruins

2005-05-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

dhanushkodi church ruins
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

old man and the sea

2005-05-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

old man and the sea
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

At Dhanuskodi we met an old man. He told us stories about the ghost town on the beach. He told us about the houses, stations, warehouses, schools and church that the british had build. Amongst which the church was the only recogniseble structure. He pointed far into the sea taking our eyes to the place where once the house of president abdul kalam stood.

The wind was blowing in from the sea. Tiny particles of sand stunk our faces. But the old man struck a match and lit his beedi. The wind did not interupt him as though there was a pact between them. Afterall he was the only surviving member in the town that once was a busy trade center. His hamlet stood saperate from that of the fisher folks. The road that lead in and out of Dhanushkodi divided them...

josh with the cast

2005-05-16T22:24:00.000-07:00

josh with the cast
Originally uploaded by Parashu.

Parashu and me went to along for the shoot of joshua newton's shortfilm. The location was danushkodi, near rameshwaram, tamil nadu. This place is the southern most tip of India, sri lanka is around 74 km from here. There was a thriving port town here till 1950, with railway station which had upto 6 trains coming in daily, that was supposed to be very busy station back then. Then, a tsunami like phenomenon took the entire town under the sea. Today only ruins of the town are seen here. and amongst the ruins, a church is the only recognisable structure. The finale of josh's film unfolds in this church of the ghost town.

Kingdom of heaven- Grey hero and white villian

2005-05-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

The story has a stronger political and philosophical message, as opposed to the primal emotions of a wronged father in 'Gladiator'. Even though it is very timely given the political climate of the world, 'Kingdom of Heaven' will have lesser universal appeal.

Queen Sibylla "There will come a time when you wish that you had done a little evil for a greater good" Balian stood silent. Profound statement is wasted because the professed time does not come. After the surrender of Jerusalem to the army of Salaudin. Sibylla and Balian ride back to a little village in France and live happily ever after!! The film looks like it is edited out to cater to the box office demands. The duration looked like it was too small to tell the story the director really wanted to say. Especially the relationship between Balian and Sibylla looks incomplete and underdeveloped. Their on screen passion does not have proper build up. Hope we get to see the film from Ridley Scotts heart which would be possible if there is ever a director's cut.

The film does manage to break a few stereotypes. For one the people from the Middle East are portrayed as disciplined, belonging to a more advanced society than the Europeans who are mostly shown as crude and barbaric. Sallaudin is portrayed as a noble visionary general. This is the first time i have seen a villian with a halo portrayed in pure white, as opposed to the shades of grey on the hero.

Parashu liked the film. He is yet to recover from the sheer scale of production. (He has not seen 'Lord of the rings')

Silence on mount kailash

2005-05-07T05:22:00.000-07:00

Gowri Chandrashekar a.k.a Jomol better known to malayalam film watchers as Janaki kutty called a press conference where she alleged her parents of having cheated her off her 'cash'. It was not shocking since it looked like a rerun of incidents that unfolded after 17 october 2004.

At a facilitation ceremony during a public function held at Cochin, Meera Jasmin cried. The bad blood between her and her parents was material for prime time TV news. TRP rating hit new highs, Kerala discussed Meera into the night onto the pillow.

Next morning stale headlines in the leading newspapers - photo of the crying star, the glycerin free tears flowing down her famous cheeks. It had one generation shell shocked and the other found expression.

The stereotype of the suffering parent watched shell shocked, they had witnessed the birth of a retribution- The tyrant parent and the suffering children. One whole generation's muted scream had found voice.

Now a few old question will be re-examined 'Why are old being pushed into old age homes?' Magazines will re-analyse. Stories on the subject will have new twists.

"Hope that this will not become a new vocabulary for justification of cruelty towards parents"- said Parashu.

A report during that week in the inside pages of Cochin edition of newspapers went largely unnoticed, a father had hacked his only son to death as he threatened to kill him and his wife.

A couple sat silently atop a mountain as their rather cute elephant like son, circumambulated them. Today there was silence.

Propagating equality of sexes- a blueprint for the media

2005-05-05T04:43:00.000-07:00

Parashu defines woman thus-

"Woman is female of the human species. The male is called man. Like in the case of most mammals it is the woman that bears the off springs and nourishes them" . All the differences between a man and a woman begins and ends with reproduction function, in all other ways they are similar, or to phrase it in a politically correct manner- they are 'equal'.
*************************
The real position of equality of the sexes therefore rests on one factor - impact of reproduction function on the the physical, psychological and spiritual aspects of man and woman. Assuming that a human being is body, mind and soul.
*************************
Victimization. "The weak is victimized by the strong".
*************************
When we in the media propagate the issue of victimization there is an implication of assumed weakness of the victim. When we pump the messages of woman as a victim, the task of reinstating woman to her rightfully equal status becomes very difficult.
*************************
In case of Regina (of Kunjalikutty fame) media not only lost an opportunity to shred the popular stereotypical victimized woman mould instead they twisted the truth to play to the gallery for monetary gains. After all in this case she was not the prey, she was the hunter. Showing the reality of Kunjalikutty being the victim would have been a step in the right direction towards portrayal of woman as the one who victimized the 'lost to lust' man.

Parashu says to us in the media, 'Nevermind there is always a next time'

Digital Malayalam Cinema: An irrelevant discussion of a relevant issue

2005-05-02T00:13:00.000-07:00

I overheard a Malayalam film producer's PA in conversation with Parashu. Now this dude knew all the inside stuff, when i say 'inside stuff', i mean 'real underbelly stuff'. The kind of stuff that won't get written in the media. The powerful media is expected to be fearless and truthful, but the editors are after all folks with families and career aspiration.

Unlike these editors Parashu is fearless, at the same time he is wise enough to know that most of that discussion lay outside the topical scope of this blog. There was this passing bit in the conversation that i found more interesting than deals and kinks of the famous.

I must tell you guys this...he spoke of digital cinema projection. Parashu was excited by the time 'the insider' had left. He told me how the Malayalam film industry could get its glory back. Malayalam cinema with capability of the innovative subject selection, could phase out the threats it is facing from the other film markets. If only MACTA and film exhibitor's association saw with the clarity he did...

The possibility of film projectors in the theaters and multiplexes going digital would be liberating. This technology is available now. Imagine a filmmaker being able to shoot on digital, edit the film in his home pc. burn the product on to a DVD. Marketing it. Getting censor clearance and put it on the exhibition. Sounds simple and alluring, alley!! It is the economics of the film format which is hindering the technical competitiveness of Malayalam Cinema.

Conversion of film to and from digital format is a very expensive option. while in the big markets like west and the big Indian markets where cost is not a consideration, film is worked upon digitally to make enhanced visuals. That is why foreign films and current crop of hindi, tamil and telugu films have better production value. Now-a-days an art house film in those market can afford minimum budgets ranging between 2-3 crores. But for small markets of the size of Kerala, a film that costs more than a crore and an half for a mainstream film is financial suicide.

That is where digital format comes in. The digital projectors being a new technology can be expensive. What if the Kerala film distributor's and exhibitor's associations can collectively take initiative to bulk purchase digital projectors in place of film projectors. Then the cost of production of the film would come down. That would mean democratization of the film industry, letting new people into the industry making some old hands redundant (this would come in with its fair share of flux) but in the end; one of the more mature film industry and market in India would survive. This would also mean some people would have to give up the habits of deals and kinks, which is easier said than done. Till then we movie goers and cinema at large would have to suffer for their pleasures.

(disclaimer: This piece would make filmmaking in the future sound alluring and simple, Complexities of ever changing film grammars, technicalities and other intricacies , are conveniently ignored to maintain the focus of the topic of discussion. Parashu or the writer will not be take responsibility for any such illusion of simplicity and resultant acts that the above discussion conjures)

Television is the future of malayalam cinema

2005-04-28T05:18:00.000-07:00

" Television is the future of Malayalam cinema". Don't take these prophetic words of Parashu lightly.

The much talked about 'malayalam cinema prathisandi' (the malayalam cinema crisis) was blamed on the emergence of satellite television. This lead to bans being imposed on films stars doing shows for television channels or acting in soaps and shows. Basking in the past glory, those at the helm of the Malayalam film industry can choose to ignore television at their own risk.

The real reason for the crisis in malayalam cinema industry is the lack of quality content and form. Innovative content comes from vision while form is dictated by techniques. Innovation in content calls for addressing issues that are relevant to the times. There is a need for production of commercial and art house cinema that appeal to the masses by tickling their senses both primal and evolved. But unfortunately, the existing filmmakers fail miserably as torchbearers of their society. There is a void of genius in the industry which now is filled with flash-in-the-pan hit makers and pretentious art filmmakers. If MACTA has real intention of saving the industry they should seriously think about launching a voluntary retirement scheme for filmmakers who have outlived their context. Cinematically speaking they should be archived.

The other reason for the current sorry state of affairs is the lack of support and respect towards the emergence of new technicians especially editors. More than any others, Malayalam cinema needs editors who understand and can make use of the digital technology in post production. It is the editors and post production artist/ colorists who have graduated from television that are giving the hindi/tamil films the sheen that they have now. They bring with them new way of crafting the stories. Television is the breeding ground for these digital artist. So instead fearing the emergence of television, the film fraternity should accept the strength of the medium. They should realize that the big screen will always be the ultimate dream for the small screen fraternity. It would be silly for the lion to look at the rat and panic, instead get the rat's help to cut free from the trap it has fallen into.

meals ready

2005-04-21T01:54:00.000-07:00

Once on a lone trek to the himalayas i met a person who owned a lodge on top of the mountain. He invited me over to his house for dinner. Amongst other things this man in his late 20s told me that the luc besson film 'the 5th element' was his concept. We talked some pseudo philosophy. I forgot all the gyans he spoke that night but for one. He asked me if i knew the mother of all philosophies. He elaborated animatedly waving his four fingered left hand "food is the greatest philosophy in the world, when the stomach is full there can be great thoughts and philosophizing"

Food in Kerala is probably the cheapest in the world. Saying that no person in this land will ever go hungry, would be an understatement. Rephrase it appropriately- no person in this land will have less than full stomach. True. Courtesy the serving traditions in the hotels in Kerala. A second serving of rice, or the side dishes is not charged. And if you are ordering 'parotta' which could cost you as low as Rs. 2 to 4, gravy comes free. (the system popularly known as 'parotta and paint'). This is similar to the buffet arrangements in star hotels. Pay a huge sum and eat and choke yourself with food. Only here you pay a pittance to fill full-tank. God forbid, if at any point "The hotel-owner's Association of Kerala" decides to change some daily buffet rules, Some folks would understand that work is worship and respect the costumer.

En achaney aanenikishtam

2005-04-20T23:11:00.000-07:00

Not very long time ago in one of the Gulf states, a police bike pulled over to an accident site. Nothing serious, the indicator of the toyota is smashed, it is the honda's mistake. The toyota man and honda man stood shook hands before commencing the examination to see the extend of damage. The police arrived. He too shook hands with the men exchange courteous words before they got into business of charging the guilty. There this is a very common sight. It would seem very odd for a person who is used to driving on the indian roads. The arab culture is very courteous. It has elaborate vocabulary for the "hello" occasions. (also known as stroking rituals in Transactional Analysis)

I have my ways of "helloing" friends and those younger than me. But how does we malayalees show respect for the elderly?. In north india they touch feet. That is not a practice seen in Kerala. "namaste ji" the use of "ji" and "aap" to show respect. What are the cultural equivalent in Kerala? There is the use of "Taangal" for "aap" denoting respect. But i dont think they use anywhere other than stage plays and mythologies/fictions dubbed for malayalam television channels.

"How do we show our elders respect nowadays?" i asked Parashu.
"Have never thought about it!! " Parashu replied with 'is that important?' look on his face.

We have non verbal ways of doing it. When a young malayalee meets and elderly. He stops the conversation if he was chattering with a friend while the elder comes by, stubs the cigarette or beedi or keeps off the path when he see the shadow of the elder approaching. Then there is the classic pulling down the lungi/mundu that has been lifted and knotted above knee length. I almost thanked God for the lungi. But then those were pre- 'spadikam' days. Many hands of full sleeved shirts have been chopped since. Many versions of 'narasimham' has hit theatre since.

bat over cochin

2005-04-15T03:17:00.000-07:00

bat over cochin
Originally uploaded by Tenny Tomas.

The pitch darkness was stolen by the neon and sodium lights. The city rose from the water. The sea was reclaimed. The mountains were flattened out. The caves and forest cover was long lost. But the creatures of the night still roam. While some roam the bus stations, hotel rooms and streets the others take to the skies, sometimes as bats...

- A bat shot over the city of Cochin. 11:30 pm, half an hour before the Vishu, the Malayalee new year.

Vytilla Junction, Cochin

2005-04-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

DSCN0001
Originally uploaded by Tenny Tomas.

Price of a revolution

2005-04-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Evolution. Evolution is slow, unnoticed. unseen. unheard. Revolution. Revolution is always red. Blood is always shed. It is the law or nature. A price has to be paid.

The Keralite society was in the grip of social and economic apartheid for centuries.
One generation was all it took to change all that. Now the society is equal. literate. healthy. This revolution was bloodless. But the color still was red.

The peasants got land. They learned to read and hate the rich and wealthy. The upper class became ‘no more class’ and the lower class became the privileged class. Equality was achieved without death. Or so it seemed. Until, the next generation…

Energy does not die it just changes forms. The servile will have the servitude, only the master changes. The political father figure replaces serving servile fathers and the served landlords.

(The dreamer gives dreams to the idealist and thus is born a rebel.)

For the sake of the dreamer and his dreams, the rebel is willing to go hungry. The rebel is willing to go die. pulldown down shutters. become martyrs. leave his wife and children.

Then the son of rebel hates the dreamer and the rebel. he becomes a conformist and lives comfortably numb, comfortably alive: As King of his political father’s land…

He wants a high paying job for his low productive skills. If he is not fed he will fight with his father and commit suicide! At home he is the master. Sneak away outside the state and becomes a servile. And confirms that revolutions certainly has a price.

Revolution is as of now dead. Revolution still is red.

-From the songs of Parashu

Caution couples!!

2005-04-02T04:51:00.000-08:00

A travel tip for honeymoon travelers in 'Vanitha'** april 1-14, 2005 issue, starts with this paragraph.

"vivaaham kazhinjulla aadhyatey orrumichulla yatra. ee lokatu nigal randu perum maatramulluennu thoniyekam. annaal matullavar nigale shraddikunudenu marakadirikuka. apakadam ozhivakaan pakvathayaarna perumaatavum sradhayum aavashyamanu..."

Translation
"While on your honeymoon trip you could be elated to feel that you are the only people in this world. But don't forget that others are watching you. In order to avoid trouble, be cautious and behave in a mature manner..."

Without being judgmental, can we ponder about this caution notice, it is telling something about the state of our society and of kerala culture, after saying this Parashu turned around passing the mike to you, he looked blank and shouted- "comments please"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
** (Vanitha is a malayalam magazine for woman)

TRIUMPH OF JUSTICE

2005-03-31T00:02:00.000-08:00

This was forwarded to me by annie james today. i am trying to find its source from her. i am not waiting to get reply. whoever wrote it, good job, well said.

TRIUMPH OF JUSTICE

CLASSIC VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.

The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the
summer away.

Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food
or shelter so he dies out in the cold.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

MODERN VERSION...

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.

Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and
demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while
others are cold and starving.

BBC, CNN, NDTV show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper
next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with
food.

The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this
poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?

Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Government for not
upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.

The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the
grasshopper. Opposition MP's stage a walkout.

Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala
demanding a Judicial Enquiry.

Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism
Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the
winter.

The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing
left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government
and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by BBC,CNN and
NDTV.

Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice".

Mallu wisdom no: 361

2005-03-29T02:33:00.000-08:00

'For a more glamourous you' is baseline of an international cosmetic product. It would have to change in if it is targetting the larger section of the demography.

The mainstream media in Kerala has branded the soft porn as glamour. This stereotyping is endorsed by the official malayalam cinema website which is AMMA's online presence. AMMA is the trade union of malayalam film artists. On the site if you click on glamour link, you will reach the photo page of mallu 'soft porn' actresses.

glam·our or glam·or n
1. an irresistible alluring quality that somebody or something possesses by virtue of seeming much more exciting, romantic, or fashionable than ordinary people or things
2. striking physical good looks or sexual impact, especially when it is enhanced with highly fashionable clothes or makeup
3. a magical spell or charm (archaic)

adj: characterized by glamour

por·nog·ra·phy n
1. films, magazines, writings, photographs, or other materials that are sexually explicit and intended to cause sexual arousal
2. the production or sale of sexually explicit films, magazines, or other materials

Encarta® World English Dictionary

new revolution

2005-03-20T23:01:00.000-08:00

calling for the 'new marxist', where are you?*

you lead them to the land reforms.
now that they have home, mend the fences for them

you taught them to read and write
now show them the right to read

you gave them the vocabulary of revolution and weapons against oppression.
now that they have the strength give them the composure

you gave the men their voice
now give the woman their song

you fed the laboring class fish.
now is the time to teach them fishing, (tell them there is an ocean).

you taught them the dignity for the body
now teach them to respect the minds

you transformed the society.
now that they are unbound, set them free.

calling for the new revolutionaries, where are you?*

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
credit- Smirnoff Vodka 2004-2005, india campaign (life is calling, where are you?)

My life simplified. And God.

2005-03-20T22:17:00.000-08:00

Tsunami. Every person who experienced it personally and the others who saw it through the media, all will talk about it to someone else, some other time. For each person, the interpretation will be unique, the content of which would be based on their belief system. The experience and interpretation is the relative reality. There are infinite possibilities within this relative reality.

There is another reality, the absolute reality
stripped of emotions. seemingly cold. matter of fact. in this case-
Tsunami. the truth of the event.

There are 2 parallel realities – relative reality and absolute reality

-mmm... interesting. Deep shit.
-Did you get it?
-No !!
-mmm... never mind will explain it some other day.
__________________________

How the B/BOK becomes ?

2005-03-12T01:37:00.000-08:00

Aliens and E.Ts and super humans and misfits begin to make you cry. and you don't know why? The american and hollywood knows the emotions of identity crisis and they silently churns out blockbusters catering to the large mass of people who does not know if he is an nigerian, irish, german, jew or russian. Their ancestors had told them stories of their people and the illusive home.

But Parashu is only concerned with Keralites.

The questions of their identity is consuming a generation. After spending the impressible years of their life outside the land of their ancestors, in Gulf states, Singapore, Australia, USA, UK, Delhi, Mumbai, Chenni, Jaipur... where-ever....!!! You create a wonderland based on experiances of you amma and pappa. Stories of ammachi, appachan, their childhood treks to school and the scheming relatives and the good uncles. Then their is the wonderful earthy malayalam film in VHS which gives the techni-colour to your wonderland. The land that never is.

In your adapted home when the locals ask you "Who are you?" " Where do you belong?" -You reply "I am an Indian", i am a Keralite" "I am a malayalee". But the bubble bursts when you go down the rabbit hole, the vacation trip to Kerala. and on hearing you talk your Keralite Cousin will ask you "Where are you from?" "where do you belong" . In a flash that innocent questions like the napalm sucks your lungs dry and leaves you gasping. The crisis to the identity begins. The search for self. To be come a definite word.

Then one day you learn to laugh at the need to belong. and learn the art of living here and now. And then a new generation gypsy is then born. a new identity is forged. Suddenly the whole world becomes home. and you become a proud B/BOK. But there are others who are not as lucky as you, left to fend with their 'non- identities'.

Then another Spiderman movie smashes the box office records.

utopia, mahabali and marx- part 2

2005-03-08T20:36:00.000-08:00

ON THE WALL
staring- Maaveli. Marx. Lenin. Che Guevara. George Orwell. Achudanadan. and introducing RAMACHANDRAN

A picture is worth a thousand words. A new martyr is resurrected from every politically motivated murder news that hits the headline. Only criteria to the martyrdom, a remote link to the party and high decibel presence in the press & media. He gets into company of gentlemen revolutionaries from far off west, who have found home away from home.
Lenin whose image the next generation Russian will have trouble recognizing and his fellow comrades are still symbols in Kerala, they are still representative images to a promise to a non exploitative world where everyone is alike. a symbol of a revolution- a path to that 'maavelinaadu' the malayali's version of Utopia, where all men are equal and incorruptible.
"Equally poor or equally Bill Gates!!??"- chanting these word under his controlled breath Parashu hurried towards the wall to take a leak.
A platform announcement was heard calling out 'if one mr. George Orwell is somewhere in the farm, Mr Achudanandan is waiting in the Kerala stall!'

RAMACHANDRAN was with MARX, LENIN & CHE GUEVARA, on the wall. Parashu was whistling relief as he buttoned up his levis 501.

URBAN MALLU COWBOYS UNITE!

2005-03-08T06:25:00.000-08:00

Selling the stereotype of Urban as a laughing stock and encouraging the population to look down upon THE URBAN MALAYALEE COWBOY-UMC (in the existing local lingo the urban brethens are known as 'Patanakaaran Parishkaari')

TBWA/i 's 4 out of 5 campaign for malayala manorama is the most regressive campaign of the year

In order to communicate the point 4 out of 5 keralites read manorama publications,

the hoarding across kerala shows
5 Malayalee men - 4 keralites playing chenda, one keralite in playing a drum kit,
their attire: the men on chenda is in mundu, like the popular imageries in the temple pooram shot while the one on drums looks like an art director at an advertising agency, cap and khakis.

The inference
4 are with manorama. 1 is with mathrubhoomi (the competition)
4 are good. 1 is bad.

For once i felt MATHRUBHOOMI is cool.

what is love?

2005-03-08T05:41:00.000-08:00

the content of this blog is taking a very political hue. "gosh, that is not me"- parashu said. it sounds bitter. looks like you hate communists, trade unions, communalists, malayala manorama group. parashu didnt leap forward to defend himself.
"what do you want me to talk about?" - parashu
how about love and associated feelings?
parashu smiled the parashu smile- "i think you need to take a break, go visit some porn sites, but come back soon"

utopia, mahabali and marx

2005-03-08T04:38:00.000-08:00

utopia, we are the people who believed in it. every year we celebrate it and sing this song into the psyche of all generations to be born out of this land.

"during the reign of king mahabali people were all equal.
life was joyeous and was free from calamities.
no lies, no cheating nor was there any false promises
life was good"

which is why lenin, marx, and che are still painted our walls.
we will always buy Utopia, does not matter which name it comes in. communism, marxism, or in the future as communalism.

trivia-
Kerala has the distinction of being the first place in the world to democratically elect a communist government.

B/BOKs

2005-03-04T21:05:00.000-08:00

The first word Parashu spoke to me was 'Tenny, i want you to write for me'.
That was on our very first meeting. I smirked in reaction.
I also noticed that he wore very distinct smelling deodorant which
was definite smell of Axe.

i dont have it in me to write. i have been with writers and blogumists
but that had nothing to do with words. writing is a different game.
if i could write i would have written the script for a feature film
which i would direct.

there was a gap of 3 weeks before i bumped into him again.
when he told me that actually he would dictate and all i had to do was
make notes. and that he wanted someone who could write at the speed
of his thoughts.

between our last meeting and this time i did some detective work.
Sherlock informed me that Parashu was a B/BOK!!! In fact the very
first B/BOK. Born/Brought up Outside Kerala.

B/BOK was as per reports in malayalam feature films, television and malayala
manorama weekly, were seen as rich people, who wore bermudas and spoke
in malayalam with a heavy english mix. The had little brains, were naive.
Survived on sandwich and cola. Being seen as friends with them would
mean inviting scorns from your brethren's- I was warned.

I agreed to write for Parashu, i dont know why i did that, must have
been the 'axe effect'.

Buddhas and the Shankaracharya

2005-03-04T00:26:00.000-08:00

What is the origin of 'palli', sloped tile roof,
Kathakali, Kalaripayatu and iddiyappam?....
read ahead and find out

Shankaracharya (A.D. 700?-750?), also known as Shankara,
was a Hindu philosopher. His most important works were
his commentaries on the Vedas, the sacred writings of Hinduism.
Shankaracharya was born in Kerala, southern India.
He practiced self-denial and learned to give up worldly pleasures
and comforts early in life. He devoted himself to study,
philosophical discussion, and religious teaching.
He became a wandering scholar, and his fame spread
throughout India. During his journeying, Shankaracharya
established four great monasteries-in Badrinath in the Himalaya,
Shringeri in Mysore, Dwarka in western India, and
Puri in eastern India.
                                - Politically correct history

Parashu told me that...
the buddhist from the north
and himalayan kingdom came to the southern strip.
Were the buddhists fleeing persecution or just
found their promised land- and much needed solitude?
This will always remain a matter of speculation.
The monks found caves that were ideal
for meditation. fruits and water were plenty,
philosophy thrived.

These monks from the northern hills
brought with them their unique concepts like that of
'Palli', sloped tile roof structures, natural medicines,
mask operas with breath control (the bases of techniques
used in Koodiyattam and later Kathakali).
Around this time Buddhism, Kalaripayatu etc
were exported from here via the silk route
to south east asia and China in exchange
for Iddiappam and fish. (fishing nets).

Shankaracharya from Kaladi defeated the buddhists in
debates and converted their 'pallis' into temples as
per vedic rites. After which he went on a cross country,
and formed maths in various places in India
and hinduism became an organised religion.
The defeated Buddhas left Kerala.

Many years down the timeline, around the 1900s
another traveling swami, by the name Vivekananda
described this land which by then was practicing
some of the worst forms of discrimination based on
religion and castes, as 'a mad house of religions'

Pop history - Pre history

2005-03-02T00:54:00.000-08:00

The early inhabitants of kerala
must have been the dravidians
who were chased down south by the aryans.
They stayed in the jungles, hunting for food and
worshiped ancestors, nature & snakes.

These indigenous people were later seen
living on the mountain ghats:
They must have been happy, sad, living.
But to the rest of Kerala...
cinema portrayed them as exploited victims of the
'civilized people' or practicing witch craft and being
less intelligent, and dancing around fire performing
strange rituals over seen by the one eyed 'Moopan' (the elder).
In media there are stories of there land
being taken away, their environment encroached
their protests with bow and arrows taking on
the rifles of Kerala Police.
__________

Parashu asks:
"how about story of an adivasi super hero...?
how about story of a cruel psychopath adivasi who invades the city...?

Its time to expand the stereotype of the adivasis.
come on guys can we have more on the list...
who needs sympathy..."
____________

Circa the 15th century people in Europe sympathized at the plight
of the Asians and Africans still living a life that was unlike theirs
'full of misery and darkness'. They resolved to save asia and africa.

The Keraliya vs Malayalee psyche

2005-03-01T21:08:00.000-08:00

(malayalam in its current form was engineered
about little more than a century ago)

After Parashuram plunged his
axe in, to form the fertile 'Keralam' ,
as if in a time-lapse shot the thick topical jungle
grew up on that narrow strip,
Cut off from the rest
of the Indian land mass, it then became home
to wild creatures.

snakes, tigers, elephants, hornbills...

Dangerous land was perfect cover for people
who ran away their land in search of a better world.
The single most prominent trait the malayalee shows
till this day!!

People came to this land for all reasons right and wrong.
The dravidians came in fleeing the aryan invasion,
The sages/ munis for meditation, the sanskrit reading
bhramins from beyond the ghats who came and set up temples
(will have to still find out why they came here)
the arab traveler, Thomas and the syrians to spread teachings
of Jesus and their church, the chinese, the europeans for trade
you could add more to that list yourself. There are even
stories of africans who were bought in by the europeans
as slaves who got assimilated into the population.
All of them have lend their philosophies, sperms and eggs
to make up the present Kerala.

There is a Keraliya psyche lost beneath
the new malayalee psyche
created by marxist communists and
media tribe of Malalyala Manorama.

Parshu to Guardians of 'Malayalee culture'

2005-03-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

"O keepers of malayalee traditions & purity answer me this,
Where did the sperms that fertilized the tribe come from?
Stop thumping your hardened chests and crying about
influences of other alien cultures...
Realize that
Your mother was being impregnated through the ages...
your fathers are from many nations- chinese, arab, jew,
greek, roman, egyptians, aborigines, africans and sundry...
Don't shame your good mother, who has never
chased away anyone who came to her: As her sons and
daughters dont defile her womb by taking the name of
cultural purity"
- Songs of Parashu

Malayalees have traces of all races in their gene pool.
Notice that malayalees have a mix and match of many physical features:
straight haired, curly haired, light skinned,
dark skinned, small eyed, large eyed, high cheek boned,
sharp nose, long nose, black eye, light eyed, short, tall...
(only give away today being, the hair factor-
mandatory thick mustache and coconut oiled hair)

"Kerala was claimed from the sea
by the axe of 'Parashuram'
along the south western coast of india"
This legend is the first chapter
in the books of many historians who have traced
Kerala history.

The origin of Kerala is shrouded in mystery like the
thick tropical forest that once covered the land.

(pop history of Kerala to be continued...)

egg or chicken

2005-02-24T08:17:00.000-08:00

warning in every public transport bus in Kerala
It is illegal for men to occupy seat reserved for woman

Kerala is amongst the most unsafe places for woman to live, in India

Why is your mother and sister not safe in 100% literate Kerala?

NRKs and ANRK

2005-02-24T07:41:00.000-08:00

Aspiring Non Resident Keralites - Malayalees who have never travelled outside the state.
They harbor a craving to get out off the state but have to stay back for emotional or financial reasons. These people are politically aware,
active in trade unions and constantly craving for Utopia.

Non Resident Keralites- Malayalees who reside outside the state
There are 2 sub important sub categories

Malayalees who have resided outside india
They are more Malayalee than even the residents, most of them dream of returning to the state as they become tired of their second-class citizen status, with no political involvement in the residing country. These folks lose their cunning and become incapable of returning to being resident keralites.
Amongst them people return for emotional reason. while the non emotional types choose migrate to places that offer them first class citizenship.

Malayalees who have lived outside the state but inside india
They enjoy voting rights, are first class citizens hence remain satisfied to be merged into their adapted society.
These folks usually have children who hate to be called Malayalees. There are people who return for emotional reasons most of them
either go back or live the rest of their life criticizing his tribe.

(p.s. note- I have tried to maintain political correctness where ever possible. Exceptions are always there.)

The Rich Malayalee, the poor malayalee

2005-02-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

Malayalees consider physical labour as a virtue while mental/ intellectual labour to create wealth as unjust.
malayalees who physically labour as bus driver, auto-rickshaw driver, head-load workers, masons, carpenters, construction workers, factory workers have a mindset that has been moulded by the communist regime to this effect.

When they see that the person who has invested capital and taken risk in an area of opportunity make profit,
they think of it as unjust. then they demand a share in profit. Trade unions call for strikes and lock outs leading to destruction of entrepreneurial initiatives.

Just as people all over the world, in his dream every malayalee dreams of becoming rich.

looking for more stereotypes

2005-02-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

How many ways can Keralites be generalised? what are the kind of stereotypes? Munshi on Asianet shows one way.