கொலை

ஒரே அடிதான் அடித்தேன். தலை தெறித்து இரத்த வெள்ளத்தில் கிடந்தான். கொலை செய்யணும் எண்ணமே எனக்கு இல்லை.  ஆனா கோபம் வந்துட்டா என்ன செய்றேன்னு தெரியல.  ஆத்திரக்காரனுக்கு புத்தி மட்டு என்ற பழமொழியை பெரியவங்க சும்மாவா சொன்னாங்க. இன்னைக்கு தான் இந்த பழமொழி புரிந்தது.  நினைத்து பார்த்தாலே பயமாயிருக்கு. நானா இப்படி செய்தேன்னு எனக்கே வியப்பாயிருக்கு.

The Legendary of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

The last time I wrote about Sachin Tendulkar was before the World Cup 2011, asking questions why the Indian team, consisting of cricket gods like Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, was not able to win the World Cup Championship.  This time, with Tendulkar announcing his retirement, an article was published in the 'The Hindu' newspaper, last Sunday, under the Canvas section of Magazine supplementary, had made me write another post on the same topic. 

Titled 'The Man Who Became God' by L. Suresh, the article highlighted that only if Tendulkar had fans instead of worshipers  things would have ended differently.  The author goes on to say Tendulkar faced problems beyond his age and his failures on the field because he was elevated to a position above mortals.  Projecting him as god has ended up making him the target of critics.  The same critics were quite when Lara didn't pull his team when they caved in or when Ponting lost two Ashes series but did not spare Tendulkar as he was put both on a pedestal as well as a microscope.  Being elevated as god, it didn't matter when he took the team into the finals of World Cup 2003 but did matter when he didn't score a 100 in the finals.  It didn't matter when he, as the only player, notched up 50s and 100s but did matter when he didn't get his team to win.  The author ends the article by saying his retirement deserves better response since the question "Why?" cried out by half the population was drowned by a resounding "Why not?" from the other half.

As I read the article, I was wondering when was the first time Tendulkar was christened as the god of cricket.  I believe it was during the Coca-Cola Cup of 1998, a tri-nation series between India, Australia and New Zealand, when he scored back-to-back centuries, popularly know as the Desert Storm, helping India to win the cup.  It was the same time when Shane Warne claimed that he had "nightmares" at the thought of bowling to Tendulkar.  Tendulkar was credited for winning the tournament highhandedly.  Tendulkar's first century in that tournament helped India to get to the finals based on a better run rate and his second century helped to win the finals.

The next question pondered in my mind was why did we make him a god.  I believe it is not only because of his batting skills and his behavior.  I think it has been the culture of India.  Immortalization of a person has been the summit of exaltation for us.  Be it the field of music, cinema or cricket, we always had gods.  True to our worship, we had gone to the extend of creating clashes among us when one's god was compared better to another's god.  Even though it is humane that everyone has their own likes and dislikes, immortalization of their favorite heroes has always stirred commotions at a greater level.  I am starting to believe that whenever a immortalization of a mortal happens, there are grave consequences as an equal and opposite reaction.  Is it because the true Immortal does not have want any mortal to be portrayed as mortal that the consequences are violent, I do not know.

I agree with the author that if only Sachin's fans stayed as a fan instead of becoming a worshiper or let him remain a legend instead of making him god, I think maybe, he would have gone to bat without bearing the heavy expectation of the entire population to score a century every time  on his shoulders.  Maybe, houses of cricketers would not been destroyed after performing badly in a World Cup match.  Maybe, there wouldn't be a protest against anyone who has made remarks against man-immortalized-god.  Maybe, falling at the feet would happen only to the true Immortal and our parents and not any equally mortal man.  If only we had enjoyed any event as it is rather than making someone god, lives could have been better.

Image credits: msn.com, blogspot.com, mid-day.com

The Last Stand

Arnold Schwarzenegger does a lead acting role in this movie nearly after a decade, his last being Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.  I wanted to watch this movie long time ago when its trailer was released (movie was released in January 2013) but somehow missed it.  Only recently, I happened to watch the trailer again and so downloaded the movie and watched it.  The reason I wanted to watch it is because I liked Arnold's movies and the reason I am writing a post on this movie is because the way the movie was produced.  In the trailer, Arnold would come crashing on a diner's doors and the occupants of the diner would ask him,"Sheriff, how are you?" Arnold would get up with pain and reply,"Old". Though it was funny, I thought Arnold was cast according to his present strength and age and not as an invincible hero.

The movie was really simple and the action was sequenced well for a 65-year old character.  The plot of the movie is that a drug-lord escapes from the FBI, racing in a Chevrolet Corvette at incredible speeds and tries to immigrate to Mexico.  What stands between him and achieving his goal is the Sheriff of the Sommerton Junction city in Arizona.  Arnold Schwarzenegger plays Ray Owens as the Sheriff of the city and the city has only four deputies under him.  How Schwarzenegger defends the escaping drug-lord with his under-skilled deputies is the story.  There was no incredible or things-that-can-happen-only-in-film action sequences in the movie.  I was remembered of the Rocky Balboa movie where the coach of Rocky, when he decides to take up one last fight, advises Rocky that since he is aging he cannot achieve speed in his punches but can add power to his every punch and trains him for the same.  Rocky practices punching with holding heavy weights in this hands.  Similarly in this movie, Schwarzenegger is not fast as he used to be in his earlier action movies but his every blow makes the escaping fugitive land on his butts to the ground.

Another character whom I liked in the movie is FBI Agent John Bannister played by Forest Whitaker.  He has exhibited beautiful emotions - commanding when giving orders to transfer the drug-lord, sneering as a senior agent, surprising when a local county Sheriff ignores him twice, being satisfied that justice is served on arresting the mole agent and impressing when an ordinary Sheriff with his four deputies has defeated the escaping drug-lord.  However, every time the drug-lord wins over whatever obstacle the FBI agent places paints the FBI in bad light, earning sympathy for the agent.

I was surprised when I learnt who the director of the movie was, Kim Jee-woon.  He has directed this movie after finishing 'I Saw the Devil'.  This movie had extraordinary action scene as the cop would hit the psychopath serial killer with hammer, crowbar or whatever he gets in his hand that would break the bones of the killer and make him bleed profusely.  But in 'The Last Stand' there was nothing as such and the action sequence was really natural.  I believe the director has matched the action according to the strengths of the character in both the movies.  Kim Jee-woon has also directed the Korean movie 'The Tale of Two Sisters' and an American remake titled 'The Uninvited' was made.  This too had a brilliant story and screenplay.

I wouldn't say 'The Last Stand' is one of the best action movies but a movie that has a logical and natural screenplay and a must watch for Arnold Schwarzenegger's fans.

Fascination with Computers

To me, fascination with computers started when I was studying 3rd standard.  All computers were based on the x86 architecture and MS-DOS was the first widespread operating system at that time.  The computers were manufactured by IBM and the processor cabinet was not like tower type available these days but flat types like HTPC.  The cabinet was so sturdy that one can place the monitor on top of it.  The mouse was yet to be invented as MS-DOS was not GUI-based operating system so no pointing device was required.  The only pointing device I could remember in my childhood is the Light Pen.  Light Pen was the second best example for input devices next to keyboard in our text books.  I have come across this Light Pen so many times but have never seen a real one.  A fair imagination of the light pen I have is the Stylus that is being used in Samsung Galaxy Note.   I think the processor was a 16-bit processor and the speed of the processor was 5MHz.  The removable media that was widely used during that time was the 5¼" Floppy Disk.

WordStar was the word processor application, equivalent of today’s MS-Word.  Remember there were no pointing devices so navigation and all actions like highlighting, changing to bold and italics were all controlled by combination of keys.  To state a few, Ctrl + E moves the cursor one line upward, Ctrl + F moves the cursor to the end of the current line and Ctrl + G deletes the character to the right of the current position.  An expert in WordStar application is said to know all these shortcuts in those times.  Lotus 1-2-3 was the spreadsheet application, equivalent of today’s MS-Excel.  Internet was yet to become popular for common use and so no email client application during my childhood.  The programming language I first learned was BASIC which is an acronym from Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code.  It is a high-level language and the most common programming practice was to start every code with 10 REM.  REM stands for REMARK and the first line usually had a brief description of what the program is about.

The main source of my fascination towards computers was not these applications or programming language but games.  With a 16-bit processor of 5MHz speed, you could imagine how games would have been a thrill but you won’t believe that there was one particular game that was an obsession to me.  It is the Prince of Persia released

in 1989. I believe some of you would remember it or even relish those playing moments. The game starts with a story that a wizard named Jaffar takes hold of the kingdom of Sultan when Sultan is fighting a war in a foreign land. Jaffar takes captive of Sultan’s daughter and the prince, the protagonist of the game, must defeat Jaffar and free the princess. The player plays the prince role. The game is a 2D game and there are 12 levels in the game. There is a time limit of one hour to complete the game. Jaffar will appear only in the 12 level and in each level there will be spike traps, guillotines and swordsmen. In the first level, the prince has to get the sword so that he can fight the swordsmen and finally Jaffar. Defeating Jaffar will be the greatest challenge because he will strike you instantaneously unlike the obese swordsmen.

My best moment in the game is in the level 4 where there would be a mirror and the prince has to jump right through the mirror. The mirror would break to pieces and the prince will run through it but at the same time, a shadow of the prince will emerge from the mirror at the same time he runs through the mirror. It is the doppelganger of the prince. This is a plot device as the prince would be thrown in the dungeon because of the

doppelganger.   The doppelganger will appear in the level 12 where he will take a sword and will be ready to fight against the prince.  If the prince hits the doppelganger with the sword, he will lose one life and so does the prince.  If the prince pushes him down the floors, even then the prince will die. The only way is to make the prince put the sword and the doppelganger will also put the sword and then jumping into him, the prince and doppelganger will become one. And to solve this puzzle was really interesting. Since I studied in the same school where my father worked, I got easily access to the computers in the lab and this is how I was introduced to this game. I used to compete with the watchman at my school. He was a Nepali and he helped me to complete few levels in the game. Even though Prince of Persia has been upgraded into many versions, my fondness of the first version still remains the same as I had in my childhood.

These days gaming are becoming an addiction and cause for violence among kids and teenagers.  I have read news of gamer playing for straight 40 hours and end up dying, students becoming murders to buy PlayStation.  I believe a lack of awareness about gaming is the reason for this kind of news.  Though I was introduced to gaming when I studying 3rd standard, I was not overexposed to it because I had access to computers only in the free time of the school hours and this facility was available only till my 5th standard.  When I bought a PC during my final year of college, frequent gaming was only for a season or till I completed one game.  I strongly believe gaming should be part of education, causing an awareness of the pros and cons of gaming and regular surveillance from parents till they are matured enough to be aware of it.  As long as computers are existent, gaming will be an entertainment and fun to persons like me. 

Horror

Those of you who know me would know how much I am fond of horror movies.  I don’t know when this inclination towards the horror movies started but there are few things why I prefer horror movies.  It gives me a thrill to know what horror the movie has in store for me.  I ask myself questions like would I be scared by the events in the movie, can the filmmaker scare or shock me, how much blood filled gory scenes would be in the movie, what disgusting ways can the director have in the movie to create the horror and so on.  And as always, I watch horror movies all alone by myself in my bedroom; with the only light coming from the screen and with earphones plugged into my ears.  Ideally I did not want any light or sound to distract me.  Of the movies I have watched so far, very few have indeed tried to scare me.  To state a few horror movies that entertained me are The Descent, REC, Paranormal Activity, Saw series, The Hills Have Eyes, Wrong Turn, Hostel, and Resident Evil series and so on.

A recent Google search led me to realize when my fondness towards horror movies started.  When I look back, I believe that it should have started when I watched the first horror movie in my life during my early teenage.  The movie was The Evil Dead released in the year 1981.  One of my dad’s friends gave us the VHS tape of the movie and we watched the movie at night.  I don’t know if you have watched the movie in your teenage because I could remember how frightened I was after watching the movie.  I remember I was scared to leave even the windows open during the night, fearing the ghost would enter our home through breeze, because that’s how the ghost would travel in that movie.  Most of the times, there would be dead silence in the movie and suddenly a sound would be heard.  When the character goes towards the place from where the sound had originated, it would either be a branch striking the window or a cat passing by.  When they sigh and get relaxed, a horrible face would show up when they least expected them.  The high-pitched female scream along with the discordant background music would add more shock to the viewer.

This retrospection did not happen because of any horror movies I watched recently but because of a director.  Few weeks back, I watched the movie For Love of the Game.  This movie is a drama sports film and has nothing to do with horror.  I really liked the movie primarily because I liked Kevin Costner (liked him from Mr. Brooks movie) and the screenplay.   I googled to find who the director of this movie was so that I could check out his other works, it was then I realized that it the same director who did this movie was the one who directed The Evil Dead.  His name is Sam Raimi.

Yes, Sam Raimi is the one who directed the Evil Dead series.  He is also the producer of The Evil Dead movie.  It was surprising for me to know that Sam Raimi also directed the Darkman series.  Darkman series were yet another teenage adoration for me and Liam Neeson, the principal character Darkman series, was already becoming my favorite actor (also I liked Liam in Pilgrim’s Progress movie) by then.  To add more surprise, Sam Raimi is also the director of the blockbuster Spider-Man films.  And again he is the director for The Simple Plan, another acclaimed crime thriller.  All these movies, I enjoyed to the core.  Unknowingly, I have liked all of Sam Raimi’s works so far and I was really blown out of water when I came to know this.  So, Sam Raimi has become one of the directors whom I look forward to his upcoming movies.  Apart from directing, he has also produced horror movies which were not in his direction: The Grudge series, Boogeyman series and 30 Daysof Night to name a few.   I am yet to watch his supernatural horror Drag Me to Hell and I will not be surprised if I liked this movie too.  I am also looking forward to his movie, The Possession, directed by Ole Borndeal, after watching its trailer.

And for the final surprise, Sam Raimi has confirmed that a remake of The Evil Dead would be made in the year 2013 but will be directed by Fede Alvarez.  And to quote the voice from the recorder in the Evil Dead movie: “I have seen the dark shadows moving in the woods and I have no doubt that whatever I have resurrected through this book is sure to come crawling... for me” is an apt reflection of my expectation for Sam Raimi and his works.

தமிழ் மொழி - பாகம் II

அண்மையில் ஒரு தமிழ் பத்திரிகையை படித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தேன். அதில் தெரிவோம் தெளிவோம் என்ற பகுதியில் சில தமிழ் சொற்களில் பெயர் காரணங்களையும் எப்படி அவைகளை தவறாக அர்த்தம் கொள்ளபடுகிறது என்பதையும் கூறியிருந்தார்கள். அவை பயனுள்ளதாக இருந்தால் அவைகளில் சிலவற்றை இப்பதிவில் பகிர்கிறேன்.

சலம்
மலைகளிலும், அருவிகளிலும், ஓடைகளிலும் சலசலவென ஒலி எழுப்பி ஓடி வருவதாலும், ஒலி எழுப்பிக் கீழே விழுவதாலும் அத்தண்ணீர் காரணப் பெயராகச் சலம் ஆயிற்று. எனினும், நம்மில் பெரும்பாலோர் ஜலம் என்பது வடமொழியின் மூலச்சொல் என்றும், அதனைத் தமிழ்ப்படுத்திச் சலம் என்று எழுதுவதாகவும் கருதுகின்றனர்.

சம்பந்தி
பெண்ணோ, ஆணோ எடுத்த அல்லது கொடுத்த வீட்டுக்காரர்களைச் சம்பந்தி என்றே ஆழைக்க வேண்டும். சம் = நல்ல, பந்தம் = உறவு, சம்பந்தம் = நல்லுறவு, சம்பந்தி = நல்லுறவுக்காரர். சம்பந்தம் உற்றவரே சம்பந்தி ஆவார். எனினும், நம்மில் பெரும்பாலோர் சம்மந்தி என்றே தவறாக வழங்கி வருகிறார்கள். இதன்படிப் பார்த்தால் சம்மந்தி என்பதற்கு நல்ல குரங்கு என்பதே பொருளாகும். சம் = நல்ல, மந்தி = குரங்கு.

வெற்றிலை
வெறும்+இலை, வெற்று+இலை = வெற்றிலை. எந்த ஒரு செடியும், கொடியும், மரமும் பூத்துக் காய்த்துக் கனியும் தன்மை உடையனவாகவே இருக்கும் என்பது இயற்கை. ஆனால் பூக்காமலும், காய்க்காமலும், வெறும் இலையை மட்டுமே நேரிடையாகத் தருவதால் இது வெற்றிலை (வெறும் இலை, வெற்று இலை என்ற பொருளில்) ஆயிற்று.

வாழை
அந்த மரத்தின் பட்டை வழுவழு என்று இருப்பதால் (வழு-வழு-வாழ) அது வாழை ஆயிற்று. மேலும், நம்மால் ஓர் இடத்தில் ஒரு புதிய கன்று வைக்கப்பட்டால் அதுவே பின் தொடர்ந்து வாரிசு முறையில் இயல்பாகத் தனக்குத்தானே மூலமாகவும், முதலாகவும் இருந்து கன்று ஈன்று கொண்டே வாழ்ந்து வருவதாலும், வாழ்ந்து விடுவதாலும் அது வாழை ஆயிற்று.  நாம் தென்னையோ, பனையோ வைத்தால் நாம் வைத்த அந்த மரம் ஒன்று மட்டுமேதான் வளரும். அதற்குப் பின் தொடர்ச்சியாக வாரிசு முறையில் இயல்பாக எந்த மரமும் வளராது - தொடராது. ஆனால் வாழை அப்படி அல்லவே! எனவேதான், இது தொடர்ந்து வருவதால் - வாழ்வதால் வாழை ஆயிற்று.

மிளகாய்
மிளகாய் என்பது தமிழ்நாட்டில் அறிமுகமான - உற்பத்தியான பொருள் அன்று. உறைப்புச் சுவை உடைய இந்தப் பொருள் இன்றைக்குச் சுமார் 500 ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு சில்லி நாட்டிலிருந்து முதன்முதலாக நம் நாட்டில் அறிமுகமானது. ஆனால் தமிழர்கட்குக் காரச்சுவை உடையதாக விளங்கிய முதன்மையான சொந்த உற்பத்தி விளைபொருள் மிளகே ஆகும். கார்ச்சுவையோடு வந்த அந்த வெளிநாட்டுப் பொருளைத் தம் தமிழ் நிலைக்கு ஏற்ப மிளகுக்காய் என வழங்கினர், இதுவே காலப்போக்கில் மிளகாய் (மிளகுக்காய்) ஆயிற்று. மிளகாய்க்கு ஆங்கிலத்தில் சில்லி என்றுதானே பெயர். பிறகுதான் மிளகாய் தமிழக விளைபொருளும் ஆனது.

சோமாஸ்
சோமாஸ் என்பது ஒரு தின்பண்டத்தின் பெயர் ஆகும். நிலவுக்குச் சோமன் என்ற ஒரு வேறு பெயரும் உண்டு. நிலவு வளைந்து இருக்கும். அதுபோல வளைந்து இருக்கும் அத்தின்பண்டம் சோமாஸ் ஆயிற்று. இந்தச் சோமாஸிலிருந்து வந்த புதிய தின்பண்டம்தான் சமோசா. ஆம் பழைய தின்பண்டம் - சோமாஸ்; புதிய தின்பண்டம் - சமோசா.

மூலம்: அணுவிரதம் ஏப்ரல் 2012

Mystic River

There are a few instances when I cursed myself for not having watched a movie a long time ago.  Today, the list gets one more addition.  Normally when you watch a comedy, you usually come out laughing. You watch a tragedy and you come out with a heavy heart.  You watch an action/adventure movie and you are high in your spirits.  And you have the feel good movies or movies that leave you with nothing or adds more to your boredom. You discuss with your friends or think to yourself, no this is not right, the movie shouldn't have gone this way or shouldn't have ended this way.  Or you say this movie is cinematic and has no credible fiction in it.  However, there are few movies which leave you stunned, just stunned. After finishing this movie, I couldn't think of any of these things. I did not/could not feel whether the justice was served or not in this movie.  I could not think of any else on the events took place in this movie or how everyone acted in this movie.  My mind was calm as a bomb but was on the verge of exploding and this blog is the evidence of the explosion.

I was becoming the fan of Sean Penn after watching "I am Sam" but now it is acknowledged.  The cold face he shows when Brendan Harris walks in his store, the burst of tears when he comes to know his daughter has been murdered, the emotions he hides behind his coolers while preparing for his daughter's funeral, the grieving father mourning the fact that he misses his daughter, the brotherly face he shows to his sister-in-law when she confesses about her husband's actions, the steel face when he avenges for his daughter's murder and the last not the least is the classic when he comes to know he had killed an innocent man with forgetting not to mention the carefree yet remorseful face at the end of the movie.  No wonder he bagged so many accolades for his acting and exceptionally apt that he received an Oscar for the Best Actor of the year 2003.

Tim Robbins would be loved by all movie freaks for his performance in "The Shawshank Redemption" and he does not fail in this endeavor too.  Though he looks calm, he has so much secrets soaked within himself and carries the face so lost by himself.  Sometimes looking nervous, sometimes looking pitiful but I wonder how he manages to be terrorized and terroristic at the same time.  An acting that makes you forget that he's acting fetches him the Oscar for the Best Supporting of the same year.  Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne does justice to their roles.  And what graceful acting by Marcia Gay Harden.  All do their jobs so perfectly and flawlessly.

The movie has got a soothing hue or color throughout its lifetime that has a calming effecting on the viewers' mind.  The music is intertwined with the story and the closing music does not give a feel whether truth has triumphed or evil has been rewarded with defeat.  It is neutral and so I felt after the movie.  

All my astonishment and acclamation was floating in the mid-air until the closing credits came up.  I was made to shut up my mind and its astonishment and say 'No wonder, he was the director'.  And the realization dawned that only he could have directed such a movie, a realization that happened for the second time, the first time being after watching the movie Apocalypto.  Already a fan of his works, my favorite list of his movies gets one more addition.  Only this director knows how to shoot a drama with a script that has all the ingredients for a thriller.  This genre of directors show why they are the best in the industry as they can emphasize that human emotions can give the same thrill as any other thriller/action movies.