Highway

 Its been 5 years since I have ardently pursued hindi movies, if anything comes my way I'll just watch it and frankly speaking my opinion of the B’wood industry had gone drastically down due to its unnecessary skin show which in no way relates to the movie.

And in the name of comedy they direct some crap movies, poor hindi speaking people are destined to watch it because they don’t prefer to learn any other language other than hindi, thus far the situation had been the same. 

So, naturally I lost my interest in watching hindi movies, very rarely, at times  people suggests few good movies then i watch it!  Highway is one among the movie. It nailed the emotions perfectly with a force you would just jump into the characters.

When I watch a movie, I always prefer to connect with the character or at least the leading person part, I knew it to be a psychological thing because, we watch crap movies as an excellent ones just because shah rukh khan or ameer khan in it. Isn’t it?   

As a normal human I m also affected by these normal psychological factors, there should be a lead actor who must make me feel to watch a movie, because movies in hindi speaking industry especially in the recent times have been nothing but pathetic if you want honesty.

PK is a bit of relief  but in my view, PK Is also an out and out commercial movie with a social message, which obviously made no changes in the mind sets of people, in fact, I came out of the cinema hall, I forgot completely about the movie, later I decided to tweet, then too I didn’t recall many factors hence, I just generally said the movie was good. 

“Those who love god but not religion can watch this movie” – This was my  tweet

But it didn’t make any impact in my mind, apparently india is a country with very strong hindu sentiments, its uncommonly difficult for anyone to shake it, that’s why Jainism-buddhism-christianity-even islam play a tiny role in the country’s representation on the whole. Being created here, Buddhism is nowhere to be found, now you must how strongly terrorized these Hindu’s mind sets are!  The reason behind I wrote the previous lines are for, PK is kind of a movie, though it relays a good commercial message, those who dwell into our own thinking, hardly change it.

Highway made the impact in me that PK did not! Day before yesterday, when I started watching high way, I hardly had any expectations, because the hero, I have not even heard of him before, Heroine is the not so beautiful but very charming, spunky alia bhatt. Frankly when I had started I   was least interested to watch it, just thought I shall go with the flow because I had to pass my weekend in my boring hostel room.

From the first scene till the end, the movie gripped me hard, that I had to watch it without even turning my head! Firstly I would like to congratulate Imtiaz ali for projecting the emotions in a real way, one of my friend had felt, alia was over acting, but I wont accept that view, because, for a girl who had gone through sexual abuses in her child hood and had lived a life of monotonous typical delhi high class boredom, surely would have few psychological desperations which would come out when the situation forces the person, I sincerely feel, alia had given the best that she can! Excellent acting!

When the movie started I was so afraid it would lead to a rape scene, because that is what happens, when the girl gets kidnapped, thankfully it was not the case here!

Is it possible to fall in love with a rugged looking, uneducated, illiterate who has kidnapped you, who has beaten you up, who ignores you! Yes, you can! Two lost souls found a peace in together with serenity, it was just beautiful! 

Every scene has its own importance, for the funnier part, how alia and the driver guy dances for English music, and the hero had to control his urge to join with her or at least enjoy the atrocious nuisance she was creating. It was fun to watch, alia was so natural in her dance moves, and slowly getting into the rhythm the driver starts dancing, truly it was a marvelous scene! Well, I enjoyed it!

The most important message this movie gives us is the child molestation.  It happens everywhere, when I was young I thought only I had gone through that, but recently i asked my best friend, have you had any nasty experiences like me, she said so many!

People who have girl children, please teach them good and bad touches, protect them even from your family members, because I had heard of forceful incest which happens very commonly in the country, but obviously we are a back door society, which means, all that is bad happens in the back drop, but in the front we portray as a puritanical religious group which we are not! Despite the girls age, tell them these things, so that they wouldn’t be scared to reach out when the situation arises. It’s a humble request!

The slow deep love progresses as the movie, by this time, you are already in love with the hero,  this dirty looking guy impressed me with his acting skills, when people like this are in the industry, we are still stuck up with SRK saif ali khan kind, which is very sad, but, each and every scene, this guy had lived the character! 

When he abducts her, when he asks her to run, when she comes back hugging him so he pushes her away or when he forcefully scolds her for going to loo without letting him know! The level of decency which showed in this movie was awesome!

Finally as a girl who cherish romantic moments like a flower, I found the travel in the truck above was the best, when he gives the quilt for her to cover herself, she takes his hands put it behind herself and the entire travel time, she travels holding him! Beautiful art it was! 

I am a person who cannot take sad endings, because I dwell into the character so much, I feel if something bad happens in the story! While watching the movie, I checked out wiki page on the movie, it had clearly stated the movie has a sad ending and the hero dies in the end! 

So I was a bit prepared for the ending, but the way the hero was shot was very sad, but my worry is that they didn’t even have a decent conversation about themselves, but then I consoled myself the love is so deep, talking is not required there.

When she goes back to re-live the moments, on the way she stops the car to cry over, first I did not understand, then I realized it was the same place he abducted her! The moment she cries mahabir and looking over the sky to feel that he was there! 

Brilliant movie making – I loved highway, it was worth spending my time, movies like these I wouldn’t mind spending my paisa in the theaters!

If you haven’t seen it yet, please do watch it! 

With love,

Prathipa

The Da vinci code- Alien world entrance

Dan brown's the da vinci code enthralls you with its deep core knowledge of the holy grail, Christianity and how the world had always made sure that the reality was kept hidden under or be called as an asylum where in the dominance based fabricated facts are now considered history.

I was forced to acknowledge neither the truth doesn't have value nor it instigates the real interest in people, the real researchers do find the facts, but the facts cannot be proved as facts because of the lack of proof.

This novel i bought recently to make me come out of regency romance novels, i had become an addict, i felt it was time, i should change the genre's i read. Not that i m against romance genre reading, in fact i thoroughly believe for a woman any kinda depression can be cured via a beautifully described hero in a novel. I love them, thus read them.

The da vince code provoked me, made me think, wonder about the artist called Leonardo da vinci, the scientist, philosopher, artist etc and  revolutionary during the 15th century by being a homosexual(of course, it has not been proven)

I have been reading this novel for the past few days and i have been intrigued by the man himself, and the boldness of dan brown for writing something that has proven to be the most daring thing possible, opposing the world for Christians and Christianity wouldn't have been so easy for him i dare say

I loved every minute of the da vinci code, it has taken me to a new ride full of thrills, anticipation, suspense, deep core feeling of discovering something new.

I had become a fan of robert langdon and sophie , but i wished dan brown had elaborated their romance a bit, after all that would make the novel more spicy and tangy yet i deeply understand the need of dan brown to stick to a single line, the search of holy grail.

At last when langdon find the solution, i felt a sensible satisfaction that the holy grail is in safe hands. Yeah heard english scholars like salman rushdie had commented on the language skills but so far i had observed salman rushdie seems to be commenting about everyone's book who has not got great english writing skills, Thank heavens i haven't read any of his books so far.

There are some books just made for going with the ride without any thinking from our end, yet we end up thinking so much about it, the da vince code is one among them, it speaks volumes about reality, but we are in kalyug, where in we just hear the truth and ignore it, this book could probably be the one.

Adios
Prathipa

Rock Fest - 40th Green walk!

40^th green walk has been a success, there is a feel of profound satisfaction, fulfillment of expectations.

Invitations has been sent out, every one was waiting to meet everyone, some are very new to the green walk family, their curiosities were unlimited

As soon as I entered the beautiful village, I was focused on sending the kids to register their name, while in the process, one of the new participant of green walk asked me, “ what it is all about, what you guys do in this group?

I replied saying, “ It’s a process of learning about history mainly, preserving the valuables, understanding the archeology , treating them as treasure and making friends”  He smiled and nodded his head. I am sure he would understand what I had meant in the forth coming green walks.

Many came in the morning drenching in the rain, their level of commitment to green walk was extra ordinary, as soon as people reached, they were served with hot breakfast. It was like an important family gathering, new participants eagerly talking and making friends, people who are friends already, happy meeting them again.  In fact, people like me, who will always be waiting when it would happen again, so I could meet my friends and make new friends.

After serving food, the rain was still pouring out, many stood in the rain while having their breakfast, some clever people  came with the umbrella, it was used by few of us from getting drenched. Holding the umbrella’s had been a problem while eating, but we managed to find few slaves to do that (kidding) J J

 Some finished their breakfast and went to the temple in the village. It was a beautiful sight, I m so confident, photographs cannot give you the real feel of peace what you get while looking at the reality. Most of the kids stood near the lotus pond, some naughty one’s had used the lotus leaves as umbrellas which has been  a view to our sour eyes.

Registration process was going on with full speed, everyone got a green walk participant batch . Few hardworking sisters distributing the batches with mangalyan’s speed.  I tried to participate in their action, but could only disturb them being a late comer, so I took the responsibility to make all our kutti green walkers register their name.

Thankfully, the rain had slowly stopped,  using the opportunity, we all went to the samanar caves climbing over few steps in the path, it was a beautiful view, for a moment with the rain and all,  I felt I was in some European country side where dukes and duchesses had lived. Simply gorgeous view, freshly cleansed in the rain.

All the green walk participants, walked their way to reach settipudavu, it was just a 5 minutes walk from the venue,  everyone stood silent while shanthalingam sir explained the history of the place. 

·       The statues in the caves are 2300 years old , but the archealogy department managed to trace them out only few years back and he also mentioned –in  the book, kaval kottam, the journey starts from settipudavu.

·       He also claimed that preserving these places are very important.

·       He said, the statues in the caves resembles  old days settiyars and their life style.

Green walk volunteers helping the kids again coming down to the venue, in the mean time our official photographers have jumped at the opportunity to capture the moments , must say, green walk had created wonderful magicians, they present the image we see in a panoramic view at times beating the reality.

We all assembled at the venue, the arrangement were made for us to sit and listen peacefully despite the rain. Sooner the sun emerged from the clouds, made us all wonder had it really been raining in the morning, It was that sunny in the noon, thankfully also helped the fest to continue without any interruptions from the nature.

Muthukrishnan sir spoke of the history of green walk and how it started…

·       We started green walk with just 25 people , now it has been a established group with 300 participants. Every green walk has been a new experience and learning for all the participants.

·       The villagers have taught us the history of the mountains , they are the owners of the mountains and also the history.

·       Collector and Writer S Ramakrishnan and few other writers were not able to participate due to the judgment but this 40^th green walk had given us more enthusiasm and energy to conduct activities like this in future

·       Green walk insists all participants to bring their family members as well,   we believe women and children are the ones who take the history forward.1500 participants were expected only 450 turned up, he thanked all who had participated in the event.  

Environmentalist theoder baskaran sir spoke with more  history insights.

·       He claimed that caste and  religion based worships in india has been the reason Buddhism and Jainism has been eradicated from our country, though Buddhism and Jainism born in india.

·       He stated that history of tamil nadu and india presents us the living style of the upper class people, but Buddhism and Jainism teaches us how the normal people had lived those days.

·       No details about normal people had been registered in indian history but we can trace them and find it the samanar caves, he also said british  are the first who had researched about the jain sculptures and our government doesn’t encourage archeological research based on other religions except Hinduism  and reduced funds for the research and he expects the situation to change in the future.

Children were the strength of this rock fest, each and every kid enjoyed thoroughly, even the kids from the village participated, after winning certificates and prizes the smile on their faces was  just spectacular . More than 100 kids participated in the games and competitions.

Drawing competitions were conducted, we could see creativity redefined In those miniature chart canvases. Green walk once again successfully accomplished by teaching history to the children, their learning in the school has been limited to certain topics alone, but herein green walk from the very young age they are being trained to understand & respect the history and also preserving them. On its way Green walk creating young historians who would take the creativity they inculcated in  the green walk to their future I surmise.

Prize distribution was sheer fun, one of the green walk participant made all children stand and dance for her tunes, the shy ones sat with a grin on their face, one bold came and sang that was taught to her in the morning.  Giggling and laughter all over!

All the adults/ parents sat with a smile and enjoying the fun younger ones were having, I m sure some were longing for their childhood days. 

After the prize distribution, muthukrishnan sir concluded his speech by thanking everyone who had participated in the event despite the hurdles they have over come to participate in the event.

Rock fest had been a complete success with lots of food for brain, stomach and also heart.  Thank you green walk.

40th Green walk - Rock Festival

40^th Green walk rock festival has been successfully completed, It happened like a fast paced thriller movie with unbelievable interruptions.

I dare say, I enjoyed it a lot because of those interruptions which had happened.

Court judgment interfered, blissful rain, don’t know about others, I thoroughly enjoyed driving my two wheeler to the venue- – keelakuyilkudi..

Face paced life style, running nowhere but somewhere in life, like everyone around me, I also long for peace, greenery, simplicity.

Where else one could get it other than green walk. 

What they had promised they delivered beautifully, rock festival promised exhilaration, substance, deep core knowledge, photography, talented people and friends. You could get all in one package, who would miss it for heaven’s sake! Thank god I didn’t! 

We were expecting around 1500 people, but because of the nature’s wonderful curse only 500 turned up, nevertheless, it was a beautiful experience having so many people around especially kids.

Shanthalingam sir’s speech was just magnificent, I chuckled so many times listening to his speech especially when he under estimated himself by saying, he got his respect back after participating in green walk.

I know the effort and pain Muthukrishnan sir and our green walk colleagues had gone through, it had paid off, having all those negatives such as no buses and heavy rain, still people participated, so we can imagine how far and how strongly green walk had reached.

 I m proud on their behalf and also as a participant.

First many were not sure whether it would happen or not, due to the reasons I mentioned above, but it did.

It was a through enjoyment day for the kids, they enjoyed listening to the experts talk about samanar caves and its history. Making kids come out of TV and video games these days are surely a challenge, but last Sunday, green walk had successfully achieved that.

Games were conducted, competitions energized people, prizes were distributed, even the local village boys participated and they were all exhilarated taking prizes home! Seeing their smiles made many of us smile J

I wouldn’t wanna miss green walk mainly because it gave me friends, wonderfully talented and updated friends who would also indirectly urge you to do something in your life. When everyone around you have talent, you would be little embarrassed to not have done something spectacular in your life and it instigates, positively, of course! 

It’s a place for photography, unfortunately or fortunately this time I had decided not to take any pictures from my phone, so I just clicked pictures through my eyes without letting an electronic instrument disturbing my peace when I m enjoying the reality! 

So much of wasted food, lots of tension, gripping moments – in the end, it was a success, yes few writers couldn’t turn up, but the event happened just as it would with every one of them around, successfully.

Now I am eagerly waiting for the 50^th Festival!!! 

Forgive me for stealing some of your pictures, i haven't taken my own, hence took some of these wonderful pics from the green walk page.

Regards
Prathi surendran