Ponniyin Selvan

Today I put down this massive and magnificent art of eminence by Kalki Krishnamurthy. Its massive because it comes in 2000+ pages in 4 volumes. Each page is a sheer joy of witnessing the grandeur of Chozha kingdom. 

Vallavarayan Vandiyatheevan walks in the lanes and palaces of Thanjavur, Kanchi, Kadamboor, Kodumbalur, Madurai, strolls in the forests of western and southern Karnataka underneath the Kaveri river, rows in the Indian ocean between Rameswaram and Ilankai, fight wars, truces, take part in secret conspiracies, scandalises affirmations from kings, corners death threats, with luck escapes from precarious people and situations, laments the loss of a friend, craves for Kundavai yet, survives the trust placed on him. - Is he the Hero? No. 

Arulmozhivarman or Ponniyin Selvan is the hero. He is believed to be saved by mother Kaveri herself when he was placed in the river and thats how he gets the name Ponniyin Selva. He is in Ilankai(Srilanka) waging war and is only 19. He is the second son of the most handsome king of Chola dynasty - Sundara Chola. His siblings are Aditya Karikalan and Kunduvai. Kunduvai is a lady protagonist sharing much of the spot light along with Vandiyatheevan. 

The plot is eventful with many twists but the storyline is predictable though there are great many people involved. All conspires to one war and that war has to be waged. 

The summary of the plot and the family tree and whos who is well reported in the wikipedia. 

I lived through the eyes of Vandiyatheevan all along with his vulnerabilities, love, sheepishness, shallowness, trickery, maturity and his hope for seeing good things. The books took me through those lanes and palaces that he walked by in a visual experience. I read the english version translated by Pavithra Srinivasan though I so much wanted to read the original script written in Tamil by Kalki (due to my illiteracy in Tamil).  

Thought for today

Live one task at a time

Live one thought at a time

Live one day at a time

There are parallel universes, Live one life at a time  

iCon - Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business

 This is an unauthorized biography of the greatest - Steve Jobs. i in the title of the book specified in small is a representation of many apple products. It also has a "I am con" kind of representation. This book is about the second innings of Steve Jobs at Apple once he was thrown out by the board of directors in 1985. 

PC: https://www.gottabemobile.com/iphone-6-iphone-5s-designs-reportedly-jobs-influenced/

Steve Jobs, born in San Francisco was adopted by Paul Jobs - a mechanic in American coast guard and his wife Clara Jobs. Jobs family moved to Mountain View California where Steve met many friends having curiosity in electronics. He enrolled in to Reed college in Oregon but soon dropped out and took interest in calligraphy. He started working at Atari Inc. where he worked on circuit boards for games. He took help from his long time friend Steve Wozniak and submitted boards that shook Atari's product owners. With Wozniak on his side, Jobs persuaded him to demo the partially built Apple 1 computer at HomeBrew computer club. This proved to be a life changing event for Jobs and Wozniak. The Apple Inc. as its known today was first conceptualized in Job's garage. The first investor Mike Markkula who was a retired Intel product marketing manager quoted saying he is investing not in the idea of Apple but in the incredible man behind it ie Steve Jobs. 

Steve Jobs took the role of CEO of Apple and was very successful at it. He was even the youngest to make it to the Forbes list of richest people in USA. He brought in the chief marketing manager Scully from Pepsico to Apple in 1983 as CEO. Jobs released ads for the Macintosh in 1984 stating the machine is something that no one ever has imagined to exist. This was largely seen as marketing hype and Macintosh did not receive the response Jobs was expecting. There were differences between Scully and Jobs. Macintosh failed to outperform IBMs personal computer. Jobs controlled the Macintosh division and the CEO Scully controlled the Apple 2 division and these two divisions worked like 2 different companies though Apple 2 generated the most of the revenue. In 1985 Jan, during the annual meeting, Apple 2 was not mentioned at all and this brought more bitterness among the early employees of Apple 2. Most of them left. Scully planned to reorganize the Apple board of directors in response to which Jobs also developed a plan to eliminate Scully. But Jobs plan was leaked and he later resigned from Apple. 

Jobs in 1985 founded NeXT Inc. which sold workstations for education use. He also founded Pixar- a computer animation studio which later produced movies like Toy Story and Incredibles etc. 

In 1996, when Apple announced it would buy NeXT for 427 million dollars. With this Jobs became the interim chief executive. Much of the NeXT products found their way in to Apple technologies. Under the guidance of Jobs, Apple increased sales significantly with the introduction of iMac and other new products. Jobs introduced iPod, iTunes and iTunes Store. In 2007, Apple entered the Phone business with the introduction of iPhone. 

The book is a narration of how Jobs built back the Apple empire and launched breakthrough products like iPod and iPhone. He has been criticized for his salesman and persuasion skills all through and at the same time he is perceived as a jerk more and less of a genius when it comes to technology. 

Schit's creek

The pandemic has been depressing a lot. Watched this series during first lockdown when the circumstances where not so grieving compared to the second one. 

The idea of a big billionaire going broke was a cool one at that point where the world looked stable in every dimension. But after two waves of pandemic, it's a common scene in every household. If it's only the losses in finances, I am glad. Many lives are lost in the meanwhile. 

It's about a very affluent family losing all the wealth and migrate to a small and remote town "Schitts creek" which once they bought as a joke. Johnny Rose is the owner of Rose video and his wife Moira is a soap opera actress. They have 2 adult children David and Alexis. The plot is about how the family adjusts to the new life in the creek. They realise life lessons and find love. 

I found Johny Rose(Eugene Levy) to be the funniest. Moira Rose(Catherine O Hara) is best when she delivers the quirky and profound dialects. Alexis(Annie Murphy) is over reacting mostly. David(Daniel Levy) does a good job in balancing the scenes with these weird family members. There is a good portion of gay love between David and Patrick. One of the good things I found was that the gayness is never represented with resistance or opression from either family members or the people of Schitts creek. 

I laughed through some of the seasons but the remaining 50% of the seasons were plain boring and drama like. 

Have fun watching this light comedy if you have surplus time! 

ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೇನು? - Part 2

ಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಎಂದು ವಿಂಗಡಿಸಬಹುದು

• ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯ ಧರ್ಮ
• ವಿಶೇಷ ಧರ್ಮ
• ನೈಮಿತ್ತಿಕ ಧರ್ಮ
• ಆಪದ್ಧರ್ಮ

ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯ ಧರ್ಮ

ಮನುಗಳ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಸಾಧಾರಣ ಧರ್ಮ ಅಥವಾ ನಿತ್ಯಧರ್ಮದ ಲಕ್ಷಣಗಳು ಹೀಗಿವೆ

• ದೃಢತೆ ಮತ್ತು ಧೈರ್ಯ 
• ಕ್ಷಮೆ
• ದಮ 
• ಅಸ್ತೆಯ
• ಶೌಚ
• ಇಂದ್ರಿಯಗಳ ಮೇಲೆ ಹತೋಟಿ
• ಬುದ್ಧಿ ವ್ಯವಸಾಯ
• ತತ್ವ ವಿದ್ಯೆ
• ಸತ್ಯ ಶೀಲತೆ
• ಸೌಮ್ಯ ಶಾಂತಿಗಳು

ಈ ಹತ್ತು ಧರ್ಮದ ಗುರುತುಗಳು. ಇವು ದೇಶ ಭೇದ, ಕಾಲಭೇದಗಳಿoದ ವ್ಯತ್ಯಾಸವಾಗದೆ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮನುಷ್ಯರಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ ಇರಬೇಕಾದ ನೀತಿಗುಣಗಳು.

PC: https://bradstevenstattoo.wordpress.com/2012/04/04/young-krishna/

ವಿಶೇಷ ಧರ್ಮ

ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ವಿಧ

೧. ಜಾತಿ ಧರ್ಮ

ಚಾತುರ್ವರ್ಣ್ಯಕ್ಕು, ನಾನಾ ಕುಲಗಳಿಗೂ ನಾನಾ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು.

೨. ಆಶ್ರಮಧರ್ಮ

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚಾರಿ, ಗೃಹಸ್ಥ, ವಾನಪ್ರಸ್ಥ, ಸನ್ಯಾಸಿ -  ಈ ನಾನ ಆಶ್ರಮಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಪಟ್ಟ ದೀಕ್ಷೆ - ವ್ರತ - ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ.

ನೈಮಿತ್ತಿಕ ಧರ್ಮ

ಇದು ಯಾವುದೋ ಒಂದು ಕೊಂಚ ಕಾಲದ ಉದ್ದೇಶಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ನಡೆಯತಕ್ಕದ್ದು 

ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಎರಡು ಬಗೆ

ಕಾಮ್ಯ, ಎಂದರೆ ತಮತಮಗೆ ಇರುವ ಬೇಡಿಕೆಗಳು ನೆರವೇರುವುದುಕ್ಕೋಸ್ಕರ ಮಾಡುವ ಪೂಜೆ, ಯಜ್ಞ  ಮೊದಲಾದವು

ಶುದ್ಧಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ, ಎಂದರೆ ದೋಷ ಪ್ರಾಯಶ್ಚಿತ್ತ ರೂಪವಾಗಿಯು ಅಶೌಚನಿವೃತ್ತಿ ರೂಪವಾಗಿಯೂ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು

ಆಪದ್ಧರ್ಮ

ರೋಗ ಅರಾಜಕ ಮೊದಲಾದ ಕಾರಣಗಳಿಂದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹೇಳಿರುವ ಧರ್ಮಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದನ್ನಾದರೂ ಸಾಂಗವಾಗಿ ನಡೆಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗದೇ ಹೋದಾಗ ಒಂದು ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮ ಲಾಂಛನವನ್ನು ಮಾತ್ರವಾದರೂ ಉಳಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದಕ್ಕಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವ ಆಚರಣೆಗಳು

ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೇನು?

The most important question anyone will ask during a lifetime is "What is Dharma?" Here is some notes I made from Bhagavathgeete through the book - "Jeevandharma yoga" 

ಧರ್ಮ ಎಂದರೆ ಧರಿಸಬಲ್ಲದ್ದು.

ಧರ್ಮದ ಮೂರು ವಿಧಗಳು

• ನೈಜ
• ನ್ಯಾಯ
• ಮೈತ್ರಿ

ನೈಜವೆಂದರೆ ಸಹಜ ಲಕ್ಷಣ. ಯಾವ ಒಂದು ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಆಗಿದೆಯೋ ಆ ಲಕ್ಷಣದ ವಿಕಾಸವೇ ಧರ್ಮ. ಸುಡುವುದು ಬೆಂಕಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಬೀಸುವುದು ಗಾಳಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಹಾರುವುದು ಪಕ್ಷಿಯ ಧರ್ಮ, ಬಿಸಿಯನ್ನು ಹೋಗಲಾಡಿ ಸಿ ತನುವಾಗಿಸುವುದು ನೀರಿನ ಧರ್ಮ, ಮೈ ಮುದಿಯಾಗುವುದು ದೇಹ ಧರ್ಮ. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ವಯೋಧರ್ಮ, ಋತು ಧರ್ಮಗಳು. ಮನುಷ್ಯ ಯಾವ ತನ್ನ ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ ಬಲದಿಂದ ಇತರ ಜನರ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನಕ್ಕೆ ಒದಗಬಹುದು ಆ ಗುಣವಿಶೇಷ ಅವನ ಧರ್ಮ. ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇದನ್ನು ವ್ಯಾಲ್ಯೂ ಎಂದು ಕರೆಯುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಯಾವ ಒಂದು ಗುಣದಿಂದ ಅಥವಾ  ಶಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಒಂದು ಪದಾರ್ಥಕ್ಕೆ ಬೆಲೆ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ ಆ ಗುಣ ಅಥವಾ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಅದರ ಧರ್ಮ. ಹೀಗೆ ನೈಜ ದ ಪರಿಪಾಲನೆ ಧರ್ಮ.

ನ್ಯಾಯವೆಂದರೆ ಒಂದು ವಸ್ತುವಿನ ಅಥವಾ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಯ ನೈಜಾಭೀವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯಿಂದ ಇನ್ನೊಂದುರ ನೈಜಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾನಿಯಾಗದಂತೆ ಒಂದು ಸಮೂಹದ ನಾನಾ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗಳ ವಿಕಾಸನ ಗಳನ್ನು ಹದ್ದಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಇರಿಸುವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆ.

ಮೈತ್ರಿ ಎಂದರೆ ಇತರರಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರೀತಿ. ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯು ತನ್ನ ನೈಜ ದಿಂದ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಸ್ವ ಜೀವನವನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತಾರ ಪಡಿಸುವುದು. ಅದೇ ಆತ್ಮವಿಕಾಸ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಧಕ ವಾದದ್ದು ಲೋಕಸ್ನೇಹ. ಅದೇ ಧರ್ಮ.

ಶಂಕರಾಚಾರ್ಯರು ಧರ್ಮದ ಅರ್ಥ ಹೀಗೆ ಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ

ಯಾವ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥೆಯೂ ಯಾವ ಚರ್ಚೆಯೂ ಲೋಕದ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಸ್ಥಿತಿಗೆ ಸಾಧಕವಾಗಿ, ಜೀವಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಇಹದಲ್ಲಿ ಯೋಗಕ್ಷೇಮವನ್ನು, ಪರರಲ್ಲಿ ಸದ್ಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ ಕೊಡಬಲ್ಲದೋ ಅದು ಧರ್ಮ. 

ಧರ್ಮವು ಜೀವವನ್ನು ಜಗತ್ತನ್ನು ಸಹ ಧರಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಜೀವಕ್ಕೂ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೂ ಸಂಬಂಧ ತಪ್ಪಿದ್ದಲ್ಲ. ಹಾಗಿರುವಲ್ಲಿ

೧. ಜೀವಿಯ ನೈಜ ಗುಣಗಳು ಜಗತ್ತಿನ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಿಂದ ಕೆಡದೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಪಡುತ್ತ ಜಗತ್ತಿಗೆ ಉಪಕಾರ ವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಯು

೨. ಜಗತ್ತು ಜೀವ ಸಂಪರ್ಕದಿಂದ ಕೆಡದೆ ಉತ್ತಮ ಪಡುತ್ತಾ ಜೀವಿಗೆ ಉಪಕಾರಕ ವಾಗುವಂತೆ ಯು

ಯಾವ ಯಾವ ಚರ್ಯೆಗಳು ಕಾರ್ಯಗಳು ನಿಯಮಗಳು ನೀತಿಗಳು ಮನುಷ್ಯನಿಗೆ ಯುಕ್ತ ವಾಗುತ್ತವೆ ಅವುಗಳ ಒಟ್ಟು ಧರ್ಮ.

ಆತ್ಮ ಲಾಭಕ್ಕಿಂತ ಮೇಲ್ ಆದದ್ದು ಯಾವುದು ಇಲ್ಲ ಅದೇ ಹಿತ ಗಳಲ್ಲೆಲ್ಲ ಪರಮ ಹಿತ. ಆತ್ಮದ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಂಡು ಅನುಭವಿಸುವುದೇ ಮೋಕ್ಷ.

ಜೀವವು ಜಗತ್ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿ ಬೀಸುತ್ತಿರುವ ಮಾಯಜಾಲ ದೊಳಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿಕೊಂಡು ತನ್ನೊಳಗಿರುವ ಪರಮಾತ್ಮ ವಸ್ತುವನ್ನು, ಪರಮೇಶ್ವರನನ್ನು ಮರೆತು, ತದಿತರ ವಾದದ್ದನ್ನು ಸುಖವೆಂದು ನಂಬಿಕೊಂಡು, ಆ ಸುಖ ಸಾಮಗ್ರಿ ಗಾಗಿ ಪರದಾಡುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಈ ಪರಿಭ್ರಮಣೆ ಸಂಸಾರ. ಜಗತ್ ವ್ಯಾಮೋಹದಿಂದ ಬ್ರಾಂತಿ. ಈ ಭ್ರಾಂತಿ ಪ್ರಮಾದಗಳನ್ನು ನೀಗಿ ಆತ್ಮ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು, ಭಗವತ್ ಸ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಕಂಡುಕೊಂಡು ಅನುಭವಿಸುವುದು ಹೊರಗೆ ಸಿಕ್ಕುವ ಸುಖಗಳಿಗಿಂತ ಮಹತ್ತರವಾದ ಸುಖ. ಈ ಉತ್ತಮೋತ್ತಮ ಲಾಭಕ್ಕೆ ಜೀವವನ್ನು ಅನುಗೊಳಿಸುವ ಗುಣ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರ ವರ್ತನೆಗಳು ಧರ್ಮ. 

ಧರ್ಮದಿಂದ ಆಗುವ ಪ್ರಯೋಜನಗಳು ಮುಖ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಮೂರು

• ಲೋಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥಿ ತಿ
• ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ ಸುಖ ಸಂಪಾದನೆ
• ಜೀವಕ್ಕೆ ಹಿತಸಾಧನೆ

ಸತ್ಯವೆಂದರೆ ಯಥಾರ್ಥ - ಸಂದರ್ಭ ವಾಸ್ತವವಾಗಿ ಹೇಗಿದೆಯೋ ಅದು. ತತ್ವವೆಂದರೆ ಅದೇ. ಪ್ರಸಕ್ತ ವಾಗಿರುವ ವಿಷಯದ ನಿಜಸ್ಥಿತಿಯೇ ತತ್ವ.  ನಮಗೆ ಇರುವ ಸಂದರ್ಭದ ತತ್ವವನ್ನು - ಯಥಾರ್ಥವನ್ನು ಗ್ರಹಿಸಿ ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ನಮ್ಮ ನಡುವಳಿಕೆಯನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದು ಧರ್ಮ

ಒಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಮನುಷ್ಯನು ಸ್ವ ಸುಖವನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸಿ ಕೊಳ್ಳುವುದರಲ್ಲಿ ಜೀವದ ಸದ್ಗತಿಯನ್ನು ಮರೆಯದೆ , ಇತರ ಜನದ ಸುಖ ಸಾಧನೆಗೆ ಅಡ್ಡಿ ತಾರದೆಯು, ಇತರ ಜನಕ್ಕೆ ತನ್ನ ನೈಜದಿಂದ ಸಹಾಯವಾಗುವಂತೆಯು ನಡೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕೆಂಬ ನಿಬಂಧನೆಯೇ ಧರ್ಮ.

ಒಂದೊಂದು ಜೀವದ ಸ್ವಾಭಾವ ರಚನೆಯು ಸಂದರ್ಭ ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶವು ಒಂದೊಂದು ರೀತಿ ಬೇರೆಬೇರೆಯಾಗಿರುತ್ತದೆ ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಒಂದೊಂದರ ಧರ್ಮವು ಬೇರೆ ಬೇರೆಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬನಿಗೂ ಅವನ ಸ್ವ-ಧರ್ಮ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಧರ್ಮ ಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತ ವಾದ ಯುದ್ಧದಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತು ಹೋರುವುದು ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯನಿಗೆ ಸ್ವಧರ್ಮ. ಅದು ಅರ್ಜುನನಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯ ;ವ್ಯಾಸರಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಪಂಚಪತಿ ಸ್ವೀಕಾರ ದ್ರೌಪತಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವಾಯಿತು; ಸ್ತ್ರೀ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ಇನ್ಯಾರಿಗೂ ಹಾಗಾಗಲಿಲ್ಲ; ಭಾವನಿಂದ ಮಕ್ಕಳನ್ನು ಪಡೆಯುವುದು ಅಂಬಿಕೆ ಅಂಬಾಲಿಕೆ ಯರಿಗೆ ಕರ್ತವ್ಯವಾಯಿತು; ಮಿಕ್ಕಾ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯರಿಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಹೀಗೆ ಧರ್ಮ ತತ್ವವು ಜಾತಿಯನ್ನು ಅನುಸರಿಸಿ, ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಯ ಶಕ್ತಿ-ಸಾಮರ್ಥ್ಯಗಳು ಅನುಸಾರವಾಗಿ, ಸಮಾಜ ಸಂದರ್ಭ ವಶದಿಂದ ರೂಪ ತಾಳುತ್ತದೆ.

Picture credit - 

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-photo-blog/janmashtami-these-10-cute-little-krishnas-will-melt-your-heart/

Now

Do not miss THIS moment.. because when it's no more, you won't have a chance again to GIVE 

Gunjan Saxena - The Kargil girl

This movie is in news for all the right reasons. Gunjan Saxena is the IAF flight lieutenant who went on to become the first woman pilot to fly the cheetah helicopters in war zone. She joined IAF in 1994 and took part in Kargil war in 1999 in evacuating wounded soldiers, aiding surveillance and transporting essential supplies. A great tribute goes out from my heart to her. 

Now coming to the movie - Its the most acclaimed movie supposed to be showing the valiance of a woman in the time where woman were less privileged. But it irked me a bit. Instead of proving the mettle of Gunjan, movie focused more on the shallowness of men around her. Its not at intervals but the whole plot is the same. Starting with derogatory and non believing brother to the IAF co pilots and bosses. IAF has officially objected the depiction of this perspective. And Gunjan herself has confirmed that there was no such treatment from her male companions. If the story was to be made up, it could've been in a way which aspires women in general to pursue greater aspirations than to just fight for woman rights in a non woman organization. Repeatedly Gunjan gets vexed by her male counterparts and not in a single incident she stands up for herself. Any mediocre woman of this era knows when to stop tolerating the derision and to speak up, not waiting for a major event to happen.

It was surprising to see Pankaj Tripathi in the plot whose acting is as usual commendable. Jahnavi Kapoor looked a clown. Rest do their part - nothing noteworthy. 

Shakuntala devi

The person Shakuntala Devi and the movie on her are both sensations garnering viewership all over the world. 

When I was a 10 std kid, my math teacher inspired me towards the life of Shakuntala Devi. Later when I was preparing for campus placements in college, I read her book - "puzzles to puzzle you". Naturally this movie fell in my watch list attributing to the sophisticated AI that Amazon prime has built. 

3 clear crisp messages that movie gives as far as I understand.

1. Stop being obsessed by "me, me, me, I, I, I and my, my, my".

(On a different stand point - you don't really matter as much as you think you matter). 

Today in 2020's age, we are so swept away with a world full that talks about finding your voice and being on your own, loving yourself, living your passion such that you can excuse yourself for thrashing someone else's dreams, discovering your calling, being brave enough to express your authentic self etc. But this is all so wrong. 

We are all bound by the rules of society and the law and if not, to a great extent, bound by the rules of family. These rules define austere limitations for expression of self. You need to find the balance between "living up for self" and breaking the rule. There needs to be an equilibrium  for "I", "him"(to all men in life) and "us".

2. Motherhood - 

Aren't all mothers perfect? She loved you with all she could. There is no right or wrong. 

Don't cry for the identity she gave you. If you don't like it, you have all the abilities and opportunities to change it. 

Don't look at the mother as a mother but as a woman having her own dreams and calling. 

3. Breaking the cycle of negativity - 

There is an old saying that if you think bad of a person, be assured that he/she thinks bad of you too. This is no unknown magic. Negativity multiplies negativity. Just forgiving the person who wronged you is not enough. Think highly of him/her and appreciate the good things he/she has done to you. That way instead of having a neutral stand point, you make peace with him/her and win-win from both the sides. 

Same goes with motherhood. Is motherhood a cycle where you pass on your curses (and blessings) to your lineage? From your mother to you, you to your daughter and she to her daughter? You just forgiving her would not be enough. If you like to be appreciated by your daughter, appreciate the benevolence of your mother.

 

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Gantumoote (The baggage)

Spoiler: Watch this movie ONLY if you appreciate the rendition of love in it's most subtle ways.

The movie is about a teenage girl expressing her emptiness and fullness together and concurrently after  her young lover ends his life. 

The movie takes you back to the school and gives you a high degree of nostalgia. Every scene is perfectly knit to fit the 90's time zone. What is different from the main stream kannada cinema and this is that the protagonist is a young girl who is not scared to have a mind of her own. 

The movie talks about the teenage love, pressure of exams, mental and physical abuses that will cause long lasting ill effects, high school bullying, heart break, life long emptiness due to death of a loved one and so forth.

The acting by Teju Belavadi and Nischit Karodi is best in class. The scenes are just perfect with no scope to improve - especially the one where Meera comes to confront the death of Madhu when she touches the body of her dead lover. You really swallow a lump of pain when she turns back and heads home. The subtle movements and acting by both in the lead couple expound the fine drawn presentation of love. That factor is also the one that keeps you glued. 

Here is a bit of Meera's(protagonist) mind chatter which gives you the taste of the sensibilities she harness. 

ಆಗ್ಲೇ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗಿದ್ದು ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾವನೆಗಲ್ ಮಾತ್ರ ನಮ್ ಅನುಭವಕ್ಕೆ ಬರುತ್ತೆ; ಅದಷ್ಟೇ ನಿಜ ನಮಗೆ. ಬೇರೆಯವರ ಭಾವನೆಗಳು, ಯೋಚನೆಗಳು ಅರ್ಥ ಮಾಡ್ಕೊಬಹುದೇ ಹೊರತು ಅನುಭವಿಸಕ್ಕೆ ಆಗಲ್ಲ. ಅವನು ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸ್ತೀನಿ ಅಂದ. ಅವನ್ ಪ್ರಕಾರ ಪ್ರೀತಿ ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಇಷ್ಟೇ ಇರ್ಬೇಕು.