True Blue
 A view of the horizon and the seemingly endless Atlantic Ocean. There's nothing that beats water when it comes to adding that classic touch.
  Mission ImpossibleHad been to my friend’s place recently. And she had a rather funny (some might find it revolting) account to narrate! Just throws light on some basic facilities or the lack of them in India. My friend has this habit of shifting her place often. Mostly it’s attributed to the fact that one or other of her room mates kick her out :D Jokes apart, but this is a real painful business and having gone through that whole processing of moving in and settling down, I can empathize! I had gone over to her place to pick her up for yet another session of loafing around in the city’s malls. She wasn’t ready yet so I settled with a cup of coffee. She looked rather anxious and kept on peeping outside the window on every sound that came from the street. I was intrigued. I asked her if she was expecting someone and if I had dropped in at the exactly wrong moment. She said ‘Hell no, you got it all wrong. I am expecting someone alright, but not what you think’. ‘So who is this VIP?’; I asked, curiosity you see, I should have been named cat! ‘the kachrawala’ she declared. I couldn’t say if I found that scandalous or amusing! She hurried on with a quick explanation, spotting the look on my face and the cup that was all set to drop, ‘I need to dispose this garbage that’s piling up at my place and I can’t find a way to do it!’ I said, ‘So, what’s the big deal? Go throw it off at some dustbin in your street’ She shot me a look as if I thought she was dumb enough not to think of it (may be it was lady-where-have-you-been-these-days, I couldn’t exactly put my finger on it!) ‘It’s not that simple’, she said. I couldn’t understand, what could be so complicated in disposing domestic waste???! She then narrated a series of events and by the end of it I was convinced, that even a trivial thing as this could cause you worries when you are new to a place. For the past few weeks she had lived in this place, she had tried and invented new ways of garbage disposal! The first day she looked around to find a dustbin, nope, not a single one in sight. She asked the neighbour, the lady said that there would be a van that would come in every morning and that’s how these people got rid of it. Fine, that sounds simple. She waited and waited the next morning, no sight of any van coming in. time for office and she had to bolt out to catch the last bus. Come weekend and she knew, she had to nail the van this time! Nope , no van. She asked the neighbour again she said ‘adhu eppa varumnu solla mudiyadhu ma, but it will come for sure’ periya super star! Finally on Sunday morning she had a whistle sound and quite some movement in the neighbourhood, curious she rushed out to find out what was happening and Voila, the Van! The man told her that they would blow the whistle anytime they are around, that way people would know. ‘Good’ she thought. That solves one problem. The next week however, she had not heard any whistle the whole of Saturday. Finally when she did, she rushed out with the dustbin only to find out that it was a couple of kids playing with a whistle! Uugggggghhhh! She could have died then! Then followed a vain and pathetic effort to carry it to the main road and toss it in the ‘unofficial’ dustbin. But the dogs in the street trailed behind her making life all the more embarrassing. Now she has to get rid of it, not knowing how and where. Well that’s where I come in, I know the place quite well, in fact I used to live 2 blocks away until recently. And there’s a ‘drop’ point right there :) But how do we get it till there? ‘like this’ she said, lifting a Westside shopping bag. My jaw dropped ‘That’s the garbage!!!!’ ‘Yeah, perfectly disguised in layers of shopping bags. Tell me I am a genius’ Whatever! ‘here you can take this we can walk to that place’ I almost shrieked out ‘I’d rather not! Not with a plethora of stray dogs chasing me…!’ She said ‘so much for a friend in need. Now what???’ That’s it. I wanted it finished. I said we’d hire an auto to the mall and on the way get rid of the packet. She said ‘Brilliant!’. We managed to pull it off, with me trying hard not to look at the expression in the Autowala’s face. All this wouldn’t have been there if only there was a proper means of disposing waste. All it takes is ample dustbins for every mohalla if not every gali!
Overshadow!
 The sun sets on a bronzed Paris with the Eiffel's shadow looming large over the city
HeroA not so quite weekend had just drawn to a close and I decided to seal it with a movie at night…as usual. I picked up this DVD, of a movie I had so often heard, Hero. This was no Jackie Shroff-Meenakshi Sheshadri romance, but a martial arts classic, at least that’s what my friend said when he hesitantly lent the DVD from his priced collection! Whatever! The only reason I decided to watch it; I heard that this movie impressed the likes of Quentin Tarantino, to an extent that made him release it in US. Reason enough for me to watch it. The movie began playing. The scene opened on a close up shot on Jet li..but wait, the language is Mandarin! Gosh, how on earth do I watch it? All that hard work in smuggling this one out of my friend’s cupboard gone down the drain huh?! I desperately searched for the subtitle option; praying every moment that it had English subtitles, Chinese, Thai, German…oh Lord…no! English…ha..life saver! Five minutes into the movie I realized that its far better to watch the movie the way it was originally made, without the actors mouthing heavily accented English words and speaking in a way only the Hongkong movie stars could…its not a bit irritating and gives an original feel. I’d rather prefer to read those little white English letters! Ah, let me come to the movie now. It is a period film, stars an array of talents, the international ones being Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi of the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon fame. But the really impressive performances are turned in by Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Maggie Cheung. Set in the ancient China, the movie tells the tale of a Nation split into 6 warring states, the Qin Kingdom, being the largest and most powerful. The plot focuses on the ‘elimination’ of the three assassins trying to murder the ruthless Emperor of Qin by one man, the Nameless (Jet Li). I would stop there without giving away anything more of the movie. What unfolds on screen is a breath taking, colourful, intriguing spectacle. The narrative is the most unique feature of this movie. It views an account of happenings in different perspective, of what it could have been, of what it was made to be and what it actually was. The final one takes one by surprise. It reminds me of a technique of story telling employed quite marvelously in an old tamil classic starring Sivaji Ganesan, Andha Naal, in which one event is presented in different versions. But that’s where the similarities end. Ranging from cold vengeance to sublime romance and culminating finally in a moral, righteous climatic sequence, the narrative has involved every emotion known to mankind. What good is such an impeccable narrative if it does not have equally stunning visuals? The exotic locales of ancient China and the vibrant colours are a treat to watch, rivaled only by the elegant, flowing robes of the protagonists; the red fight between Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi with the yellow leaves swirling around them being an excellent example. Special mention to the special effects and cinematography, from the gliding over the lake a la Crouching Tiger…to the Magnificent shower of arrows in the climatic and red sequence; a treat to watch. The story though set in ancient China, could very well be juxtaposed to the present times, may speak of utopia, but hey…that’s something that the Chinese did achieve didn’t they? Er…there has to be something bad about this movie, and there is. The movie sags a little bit and sways off course somewhere between the second and third narrative, with some scenes dragging longer than usual. And the fact that Maggie Cheung’s character remained indifferent to Tony Leung Chiu Wai’s Broken Swords ideals is a mystery. The conversation between the protagonists could have been more emphatic, because the conclusion drawn eventually leads Maggie Cheung’s Flying Snow to be the mildly reckless, hot headed heroine, the fact that another character in the movie declines to accept. The only flaw in the characterization? That apart, I find none! A martial arts treat, it’s a must for every movie goer. An excellent movie. I don’t blame Tarantino! P.S: I did not worry returning that DVD to my friend; I have one of my own now in my personal collection, pity that I wont be able to see it on the big screen!
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