Paradesi - The Best!

There are very few films come up with a concept of period piece and recreate history exactly or feel close to real. In this front, director Bala’s ‘Paradesi’ (a pejorative Tamil term for wastrel) has took a special place in Indian film industry and within days of release (march 15) the film received National Award for Best costume design – by Poornima Ramaswamy. Inspired by a 1969 English novel ‘Red Tea’ by Paul Harris Daniel, the film upholds real life incidents of enslaved tea plantation workers of pre-independence India.

Director Bala, critically acclaimed for very unusual cinema has transported us to an era where the people of rural villages in the Madras Presidency are drove to work on British tea plantations with a promise of high wage and accommodation on contract base. But once reached, they are treated as enslave and pointing at their accommodation, food and medicine the supervisor cheats the enslaved to work on frustration and uncertain freedom. The film’s lead was unrolled by Adharvaa as Rasa, a carefree young tom-tom beater with half bald head – which is the state of most of men in the film hailed from village as enslave.

Alike Adharvaa, Vedhivka role is equally appraise for characteristic performance. The pretty actress has greased down gracefully, showcasing her acting skill which perhaps would wonder anyone who had watched any of her early pictures. ‘I guess everyone is equally talented and bringing it out is an art of either actor or director similar to student or teacher’. In this way director Bala had done incredible job by bringing or identifying the best out of actors and giving them change while exploring untouched plots.

The film also enclosed the struggle of tea leaf plucking; confesses the truth which is not easy as we see in tea estates, a pretty sight where women wore a basket on back and head covered in colorful shawl. One thing that impressed or impounds me in the film was the tone.  The dark yet low-light gave a realistic touch and brought down the more emotional and enslave scenes into less impulse. The music scores vital support to the film and songs come alongside the sequence is fair impressive and profound lyrics produces energy whiles lives at enslave.

Nowhere could I see an actor on screen and every character were so alive. The film run for more or less than two hour has very less dialogues, but the expressions and cinematography explains a lot. I recommend this film as must watch everyone and there is no language barrier here. Sorry I have no complains about the film, but indeed appreciate the entire team of Paradesi and its impossible without hardship and hats off to Bala to think different from any other.

Common become uncommon

Only if we miss something the wanting becomes more… and it’s obvious in case of house sparrows. We lost the species almost in towns and cities and the reasons may vary from increased radiation in air to cut down of trees and shortage of grains. House sparrow is a species that survive along with human habitation lost tack while our lifestyle changes.

Today we see the sparrows only far away from cities (that too has become a rare sight) where the changes in architecture and communication laid back or less treated. There were times during childhood I tried to catch the sparrows that often visit our balconies and sometimes they built their hay nest among the sewage pipes and pillars. It was also a lovely scene to see those small sparrows perching the cable wires across the lane in a line and piercing the grains left over the balcony.

Even in late 90s, sparrows were spread across the cities and it was in very short span the sparrows went invisible almost. There are only brief memories perching upon the sparrows and their sweet chirrups were lost echo from ears, but meanwhile the mynas and cuckoo brought comfort around our homes. Sparrows usually pick their nesting places inside or at the entrance of homes, storehouse and elsewhere human reside. In villages, folks tie a bunch of paddies at their house entrance to treat the little birds with grain and help building their nests.

I can’t remember when I last saw a sparrow in our city (Chennai) but I could see them in fair numbers sometime far away from home – such as Western Ghats. Hence I couldn’t see them away from human habitation.  The pair of sparrows you see in the picture above was taken inside the Danish Fort at Tranquebar and I could find a number of house sparrows residing there, perhaps being Danish colony the colonial buildings (a combine of tiled and pillared architecture) here encourages the livelihood of sparrows to lead life at comfort.

Today being a World House Sparrow Day, the thought on sparrows intend to write on them and I feel so pity that we couldn’t provide livelihood for these small birds that share very small space in our neighborhood. I was really sad and shock to read the news in paper here today, where in Karur (a district in Tamil Nadu) number of sparrow is killed every day for meat in a TASMAC bar. Each sparrow was bought for Rs.5 and a plate of meat was sold for Rs.30.  It was totally frustrating; at time when we were looking forward how to bring back the sparrows into our neighborhood, such poaching in innumerable disturbing a lot.

Hope the govt. takes action on those poachers and I don’t know what to say when such thing happens in a government run Wine Shop. Pls stop! 

Flameless Sun

Picture by Jeevan: Ooty Botanical Garden

Its fun taking pictures on sunflower

a flameless sun, sparkle in golden yellow
breaking down a sow of seed, the sun rise
from a vivid bud, grows a graceful flower.

From the garden of Blue Mountains
I captured this yellow beauty
holding a smile always as cheerful
building its hope upon vibrant colors.

As bright as sun with dark disk core
has the only guts to face the sun forever
following its journey from east to west
displays a glorious sight alongside sunlight.

Being a source on everyday recipe
sunflowers produces fuel for multipurpose;
there isn’t sunburns exposed to this sun
only to become favorite of almost everyone. 

A year around Barath

My nephew Barath – cousin’s son, turns one today. And he’s such an adorable child I ever met in my life alive and he was four months old when I first saw him. He was a very happy child and laughing Buddha, anytime anyway and in-between cries he smiles like there isn't sorrow anymore and his crystal clear eyes beholds for transparent relationship at heart. He is gem at expression and his each gesture embarks upon unpaved terrain with no more violent imprints.

The kid has grown to stand on his foot now, never waits for someone to get things and his pursue has become challenge for the adults to follow him. He also shows interest on mechanical front these days to check anything suppose to be wheels and whatever troublesome he was troubleshoot his kind heart and innocent smiles. I don’t know what to write more about him and he’s a kind I could not find resemble and perhaps his present has been cheerful and get relief out of  inherent storm.

I wish him all the very best and good health – since he has a weak immune, often capture with illness – hope he drives away anything hold on his pursuit of happiness, and earns more strength and nutrition as well enough wealth and knowledge. Happy Birthday dear Barath: the following greeting cards were created by me and I am also going to present a video CD on him along with it, while there’s a birthday party at their home this evening. I’m not supposed to attend since they hold it on their terrace which is hardly possible for me, my parents will pass it.

Btw I was also caught between severe cough and cold for a week now and so was my absent here these days. I had visited doctor two times this week and feeling somehow better now to play with normal. I had constant cough and spending time on laptop was very low and overall the dry throat restricted me from reading. Hope to be back in normal few days. 

(click pictures for enlarge)

If you had time pls do check the video on my nephew (below)

Saturdays and the sound of squirrel

Until reading Keith’s post on ‘my favorite sound on earth’ I didn't had much thought about sounds that are my favorite. Just before started to write this post (on Saturday afternoon), I was hearing the shrill of squirrel somewhere from the nearby trees and this sound always set my mood somewhere into the past. I could recollect a couple of moments as series from past which has relationship between Saturday and squirrel. Both were a phases took place in my childhood and age less than 12.

My father, holding great devotion toward gods, usually takes us to the Pillaiyar Kovil and Anantha Padmanabha Swami Temple near Adyar junction in the neighborhood. And just about a km from home, he used to take us in his bike or sometime walkabout. It used to be our first outing on weekends being Saturday morning; the priests in the Pillaiyar temple were so familiar with us since father never misses visiting their temple then on Saturdays. (The stories where different after shifting home to another area (Thiruvanmyuir) seven years before)

Even he occasionally visits the Adyar Pillaiyar temple, he never miss going to temple on Saturdays still.  Thankfully there’s a Pillaiyar temple at our street end, so he doesn’t needed to traveling 4km to worship his favorite god always. Unlike the Adyar Pillaiyar temple that stood on the middle of the road by splitting a lane, and got disturbed by both sides of passing vehicles; the Padmanabha Swami Temple lies quiet few meters away from there.

I always enjoyed visiting Padmanabha Swami temple, since it has a spacious corridor and courtyard and very less people visited then, we take it as advantage to experience our liberty.  I really liked placing the lord’s headgear (which is a practice in all Perumal temples, to place or make touch our head with a silver headgear, similar to the one on god’s head); even they keep it only for a second, I look for one more time and I don’t know why but I liked it then. I also like having the holy water they drop on the extended palm which taste delicious.

In this temple the lord was seen on a lying position.  Behind the main shrine and on the corridor, there’s an Almond tree and it is where I used to hear the squirrel squeaking and they even run across the corridor leaving their calls behind. To my knowledge it is where I first saw squirrels, to be chased by me. Another place I used to hear the squirrel calling was where I studied tuition, a street away from us.  And she’s was an Anglo-Indian women who took tuition for me and another girl on her own interest and I need to acknowledge, only because of her my English improved much better.

I attended tuition for my fourth and fifth standards to her and she lived in the first floor of an apartment on a dead end street. Almost isolated from noise disturbance, she lived alone with a servant maid aid and occasionally her uncle or aunt visits her. Unlike the weekdays where I usually go to her house in evening, after coming from school, on Saturdays I visit her in morning the time close to our present at temple. Here I hear only the shrill of squirrels rather seeing them in action inside the temple premises. Every time I hear the sound of squirrel I couldn’t avoid touching those memories in mind.