How Kaavya got caught, internalized apologies and learnt a lesson..

It is amusing to watch Kaavya Viswanathan's trials and tribulations in Indian and Western media. I say amusing not because I am happy about her fall but actually amused to read her attempt at different kinds of apologies and the indecisiveness she portrays to do the 'right' thing. I am not going to tell that she should be trashed for copying passages but at least a honest and straight forward apology would have at least made her look honest. For someone who feigns interest in the likes of Bronte and Ishiguro(now I have my doubts about that!), it may be hard to admit that she copied stuff from chick-lit. Lack of integrity is what is bothering about all this mess thats going on but as someone said Kaavya will learn an important lesson through this, that any publicity helps in selling books and so I dont think she will be too bothered about it.

Gone with the wind..

Just finished reading 'Gone with the wind' and 'Ratham ore niram'. I bought 'Gone with the wind' back in 1998 but never got to read it because the size of it was frightening. But after I watched the movie sometime back, decided to read it in full. And what a story it is. It does not pretend to preach anything(which is important to me!) and looks squarly at life without any frills to go along with it. Scarlett is flighty, brave, does not have moral values, does what she thinks as right and is terribly opinionated. But the spirit with which she makes a life for herself in the post-war Georgia is amazing. Rhett is just as vile, oppurtunistic and speaks what he thinks. But you end up liking him anyway. Somehow, whenever I was reading about Rhett, the image of Clark Gable standing in the bottom of the stairs came repeatedly and it tells something about the film. Since I lived for sometime in most of the places and visited everyone of the places add to the charm (Marietta, Jonesboro, Peachtree boulevard, Charleston, Decautur and Atlanta etc!).

"Ratham Ore Niram' by Sujatha is about the First war of independance or the sepoy mutiny of 1857. It tells a simple story but the backdrop is the Kanpur rebellion lead by Nana Sahib and Tantiya Thope. The Ghatt massacre and the Bibigar massacre form the backdrop of the story and it is interesting to note that Sujata takes a center position regards to the atrocities of the British and the sepoys. He criticizes both and blames none. That was not so fair anyway. There was a cause and the effect was savagery. But it was interesting to read a historical novel which was more honest to history than reading about the slender waists of the heroine and the swahbuckling sword-plays of the hero.

Gully Cricket..

The summer holidays are here and Sibi is on a tour to his grandmas. He is talking like there is no tomorrow and its a pleasure to hear him admonish me for saying something a little too loudly. He tells me not to shout and say things calmly as otherwise, his mom will feel upset. How cute is that!!. So he keeps my father and mother busy and we try hard to keep him busy.

Three days in Madurai went fast and the get-together of our families (I mean, my father and his brothers families along with all cousins) invoked all sorts of pleasant memories and especially my elder cousins who still treat me like a little brother. I was thinking of the 'gully cricket' we used to play in the narrow plot of land in front of my paternal grandma's house. It used to be a small plot with barely place for all of us to field, bowl and bat. But anyway, we used to play. This is sometime in the 1987-1990 timeline. I was the one guy who couldn't bat, bowl or field. But I was included in the teams so that there are equal number of people on either side. Sometimes, the chittappas and periappas join in and it will be a riot before the game ends. Since 'every dog had its own day', I had my days when I took 3 wickets(out of 5 players!) or hit some 15-20 runs. But it happened rarely. We used to play till it becomes night and mom and everyone calls for dinner. It means returning home after the dinner and followed by the dreaded monday. Even though I felt bad over everyone fussing over whose team my brother should be playing in(he bats/bowls excellently!!) and I usually got to a team short of one player. But the fact is that it created a camaraderie which exists even today between us. And ofcourse, the memories are priceless.

Its amazing how the little things you did makes you happy even after years. Or how little you realize the love of people you take for granted (my periamma brought filter to make coffee yesterday for me because I like the bitter coffee she makes!!). Its just we have become older but the bonds that ties us are still stronger..

What I am reading...

Finished reading 'Tamizh Ilakkiya Varalaru' by Mu.Va. My wife told me that she had a paper on the same in her literature class and how they hated it. Hmm. But it was an interesting read and lot of small interesting tid-bits on literature like why Tamil women chose not to wear gold anklets or 'kolusu' (the answer is in Silappathikaram) etc. And lot more info on some little known great Tamil poets like Arumuga Navalar, Suddananda Bharati, Vai.Mu. Kothai nayagi ammal and others. Just need to remember and find the books. One of the books I've been wanting to purchase but couldn't find in the past 10 years is 'Putham veedu' by Hepzibah yesudasan. Not even sure whether it is in print anymore and Mu.Va talks highly of the same. While he mentions Thi.Janakiraman, La.sa.ra, M.V.Venkatram, Sundara Ramasamy et al(the book was written in 1972), there is no mention of the new crop of poets who rode to prominence in the post-manikkodi era like Pramil, Pasuvvaiyah etc. Also the prominent feminists of the day like Rajam Krishnan or Ambai is also missed out. Not sure whether they were this prominent in 1972. Ashokamitran gets a passing remark(blasphemy!!) but Jeyakandan is discussed in detail(although I dont give a fig about him,anyway!). Over all, a good introductory book but just wondering why there is no follow-up on this and whether there is a good book covering the post 1972 Tamil literature. Need to search.

Then 'Vasanthamallika' by Vaduvoor Duraisamy Iyengar. As I mentioned somewhere else, I've searching for any books written in the 1880-1940 perios especially novels by Kothai Nayagi, Rangaraju or Vaduvoor Duraisamy Iyengar. All these are what we call pulp these days but make very interesting read about the customs and life in those times. So I read not for the literary value but to understand how the writing style has evolved and to understand the social customs of the day. This is just a love story with some funny episodes and a happy ending for everyone. What is interesting is the Dickenseque sequence when the heroine runs from home and ends up in a pond trying to drown herself and find herself rescued by a drama troupe. Also the details on the Tamjore Maratha descendants life and customs. Contrast this with the writing of Thi.Ja in 'Mogamull' where the heroine is from the same background (Maharashtriyan girl born out of wedlock) and you can see that the status of this group in Tanjore hasn't changed from 1920 to 1965(when 'mogamull' was written). Thats what makes it an interesting read. Can't wait to lay hands on the Thigambara Samiyar mysteries..

Narnia and Pride & Prejudice

Last week, went to see two movies in Sathyam. 'The chronicles of Narnia' and 'Pride & Prejudice'. Narnia was kind of a let-down. Actually it was good but was not great. Story telling was the best part of it but the story is kind of a fantasy in a fantasy and that was not digestable (at least to  me!). Sibi liked the lion (but likes Alex the lion in Madagascar far better!!). Somehow he is captivated by lion. Maybe it is just a passing phase or may be he is intrigued by the animal. But the thing is he does not like the lion in 'The lion king'. So it must be either Chris Rock (who voices the lion in Madagascar) or some 'lions' that make him like them. Anyway, its a confusing thing if I try to understand his likings.

 

'Pride & Prejudice' with Keira Knightley was much better than I expected. Darcy could've been better but the Bennet's were actually depicted well. Its amazing that I am watching versions and versions of this same story and it never bores me down (or my wife either). If there is a family novel (like the songs in Tamil movies!), 'P&P' will win hands down in our family at least. As much as I like Lizzie, J likes Darcy. This movie version is a must watch, if you've read the novel a hundred times or have a hardback and 4 or 5 paperbacks of the same novel or watched the BBC version (which runs 6 hours!) tens of times. We qualify on all the essentials and it was a terrific experience to watch it on screen.

The Left of the moral side

"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." ~ C.S. Lewis

Sincerely made me think of the leftists of this country, coincidence?

Exhibition and Child labor

We went to the exhibition last week(11th). Whoever had the idea that having the exhibition on the banks of Cooum would be great idea must be really sick. Probably, Island grounds was a great place 150 years back. But now, it is only an piece of land surrounded by Cooum flowing to its brim in dark black color and a stench to match it. And it is not a great idea to put a blanket on the banks and eat giant appalams anyway. Pollution in Cooum is amazingly uncontrolled and the way everyone walks around taking it for granted is unbelievable. Simple solution: construct a 15 polluted water recycling plants or sewage treatment plants along the baks of cooum in Chennai alone and clean the water and send it into the river again. Simple but difficult to implement. Read here about how NYC treats Hudson and North river sewage using 14 plant. But for a country like US, it took 67 years to proceed from proposal to implementation. So, I dont think I will survive to see the day Cooum will be flowing like a normal river!!

 

Then went to Besant nagar beach this weekend (18th). If the Tamilnadu government is serious enough to implement the child labor laws it should look no further. No, I am not taking about the kids selling sundal or balloons or bajji there. You watch any family with a small kid (1-5 years of age), you will find another kid(always a girl in the 8-14 age range) watching over the kid. This will be true always for families where both the parents are working. Even my neighbor has a small girl to care of their kid. The treatment meted out to these kids vary from bad to worse. And it teaches a kind of class awareness to the kids who also start treating the girls as bosses. These girls always live with the family all the time and are not even allowed to visit their parents or have vacation etc. While the middle class is vociferous about their perks, they don't even have a conscience to treat these girls atleast moderately well. Probably, these people will argue strongly against child labor with these girls around. The lack of compassion and the skewed moral compass of these people is just horrendous. A sound case to describe middle class hypocrisy!!