Sunday, August 05, 2007

Watching movies had become a past time that I indulge in. At times. There are days when Mom and I haunt a multiplex for two - three days in a row, if time so permits, finish watching all the movies and not go back to the theater for several weeks.
And some times, while travelling, we get to watch movies in-flight. I watch several movies in licensed DVDs. (sorry had to reaffirm that) Depending on how involved I was with certain characters in the film, I sometimes have an accent hangover from the characters in the movie. I must however admit that this has happened with all the movies were Old English is spoken. Like say Shakespeare in Love, The Girl with the Pearl Earrings.
Some movies you watch and then not think much about it thereafter. And some movies mess with your head, question beliefs, things you have been buying. Several things actually. And one such is the Blood Diamond. I am no movie reviewer, and I do not even want to try. The title according to the wiki refers to Blood Diamonds that are diamonds mined in war zones and sold to finance conflicts. There were some theories I'd like to say which the movie put forth as to why diamonds are so expensive. Works on the very day-to-day cut-supply-increase-demand concept. The movie also portrayed the character of Mandy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), who is the journalist covering the war and the illegal diamond trade. The character made me admire the guts of investigative journalists the world over and those who pursue stories to strive and bring justice with just a few pints of ink from their pens or let me say some units of electricity from their PCs, risking their lives more often than not.
There was another line that the character of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) says in the movie, "I do not understand why my own people would commit such atrocities against their kind". Not the exact words. Though it has been in front of my eyes probably for ever it was like snap-wake-up to the fact that one man will easily destroy another for his own good.
Also there was was another section in the movie, questioning whether men were good or bad. And finally Danny Archer (Dicaprio) says men are just men. It's what they do that makes them good or bad.
The question of Good and Bad would probably be one of the oldest arguments ever. Who decides what is good or bad? What is good to one may be bad for another. Is there but anything in the world that has gained uniform acceptance by all beings? I would dare to say no. (Once, an ex supreme court judge was my co passenger in one of the flights, I could not help asking him questions on his career. Of course he spoke to me as an elder would speak to a child, telling me that there is good in the world. Nothing has fallen apart. And of course I did not get answers to my questions)
Once questions start coming its frustrating to know that there are almost no answers. And probably there are not many to give them. If the Himalayan Masters were to listen to my rants, they would probably just smile. I have always wanted to know right from my early teens about where we come from where we go. Even if there are previous lives and after lives, what is the reason for this whole game?
Are we actually our own masters? Writers of our own destiny? I do believe that it is upto us to take the road that is oft travelled or the one less travelled. Perhaps there is more to "The Road not taken" by Robert Frost, than meets the eye. Of course, Very clearly its about choices made. If each lifetime is a lesson to be learnt, and we do not get it right in the first go, and say, we come back until we do learn, and then there are new lessons. And once all that has been learnt, whither destination? I sometimes wonder what it would be like to know everything, have the answers to every question. In that case, would living become meaningless? Because I am not searching for anything? There is no need, no want, no goal to achieve?
We brought nothing, go with nothing, and what happens, has happened, will happen is for the good. So are our choices already written destiny or does destiny get written as it happens while we make our choices, (but then wont it be case-history)?
I have but started learning the first notes in music and by the time I learn of and learn the ultimate cosmic symphony? How much longer?

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess you are absolutely right. If everyone knew every answer,

1. there won't be any love, emotion or action. That means almost the end of the world

or

2. there won't be any fear, means there will be all sorts of dissasters, again almost the end of the world.

Whether knowing the truth is an advantage or disadvantage depends on what the truth is. Great, back to step one!

Ananth said...

Hey Chinmayi,

One entertaining way to look at the 'game' of life is to watch and understand the movie 'Matrix'.

But otherwise, destiny is probably the most questioned thing in the universe. Here are some questions to ponder -
Was it in your destiny to learn music?
Was it in your destiny to gain popularity as a singer in films? Was it in your destiny to pursue Psychology?
Was it in your destiny to question destiny?
Was it in your destiny to live among those who have questioned destiny and are yet to get their answers?

Coming to good and bad men, many 'bad' men do not even know why they are bad...want to quote a dialogue from "Bourne Ultimatum", when a guy has Jason Bourne at gun-point and asks him why he had let him go earlier when he had the chance to kill this guy and Jason asks "Do you even know why you are being sent to kill me?"

All of us, are in a similar situation, and we do not have the answers to certain "why's". Time matters - and it is time which will bring the beauty to the cosmic symphony and it is time which shall define it as 'Ultimate'.

Regards,

Ananth

SHEETAL AMBAR said...

I have to first Say , I love Blood Diamond !! It was way too awesome !! Mind Blowing..

I have always Had this question Haunting me since I was a child.. I have also always felt that Good and Bad is defined by Individual's Point of View.. What is good to one may seem bad to another..

And when we do ask questions to our elders , They give us answers like we are children and can be kept quiet if they told us some one liner answer..

But I have always believed that EVERY question has an answer.. Its normally whether or not we wanna accept that answer or keep searching for a better one..

Another nice post.. Hey since You've studies Psychology , If u have time go and post ur comments on my recent post about Depression..

Anonymous said...

wah kya life hai! see the movie life ho to aisi!

Rangasai said...

The answer to your quetion may very well lie in the question itself.Suppose we learn everything there is to be known in this human life,probably that will illuminate a path showing the destination we are to reach.

What that destinaton holds for us we may never know but the reason we are not all knowing may be what the USA armed forces call as the "need to know",i.e.,you will get to know about something only if your involvement is required in it.I believe that is how God works,making things known to us when we require them.

After all what is life when you can't discover love,happiness,hatred,fear and all those emotions that course through our veins making us human because of the fact that we know everything.And how dangerous can it be,the repercussions that may follow,we can only hazard a guess.As far as our destiny is concerned,it is written destiny but as we go about our daily lives it gets written(do i sound like a nut case?)

P.S:Sorry for the long post.Couldn't help it.

Chitra said...

Chinmayi: Nice post again :)

Life is more like a pre recorded cassette and every day is like an episode...nobody knows from where we come and where we go and thats the truth.

Hv to definitely watch blood diamond then...though i feel journalism is becoming a big joke now a days. Can you believe all television channels giving breaking news abt Sanjay Dutt? Worse in the US.. all newspapers and tv channels talking abt release of paris hilton in a drunk n drive case...yeeeeeeeeeeks felt like giving two whacks for all those media folks who were covering this as Flash news headlines...

Too much seething...so shall stop now :) My Best

Anonymous said...

Wah! people here having high philosophical disscusions on various existential issues. Wah what a high intellecutal crowd! adoring their dear blogger - who by the way writes all shit and all about herself- really great minds intreacting here

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

sorry I am unable to write about you since you are conveniently anonymous.. But I guess it would make a colourful blog if I were to, without doubt..

Vivek said...

ஆகா!!! அருமையான பதிவு!!!!! BIG KUDOS TO CHINMAYYI...

SHEETAL AMBAR said...

Looks Like Anonymous has so much Love & Affection Towards you Chinnus !!.. WoW..!! Im so touched by his words of love..
Im sure you must be having tears of joy gal after reading how much Anonymous wants ur blog to nice colourful cos of him..
Ill miss Anonymous once he/she stops sending some 'love' to u.. Anonymous makes it so much more interesting to read ur blog eh Chinnus !!
:D
:P

EsKay said...

There is nothing called destiny. Humanbeings are minuscule part of the nature. As nature is governed by probability, we -human beings- are also governed by probability.
Our actions, reactions, outcomes are all governed by probability.

There is NO way one can comeout with an absolute, closed end answer that does not raise further questions. When an answer to a question can lead to more questions, where is the end.
When there is no end, how can we believe we will find answers to all the questions. It is Utopia.

Ananth said...

Hey Chinmayi,

Please visit my blog http://flightofmind.blogspot.com/ and tell me what you feel about my blog-up on the "anonymous" fellows.

Regards,

Ananth

Anonymous said...

To the Anonymous chap who wrote,"Wah! people here having high philosophical...".

For your information, a blog is a place where one expresses or records his/her activities, thoughts, openions, etc. People might have various reasons to comment here but I think that is not your business :)


Ananth, I believe your comment [and post also] attacks all Anonymous commenters. One can have a constructive argument or discussion even as an 'anonymous'.

I do agree that most anonymous commenters do write unnecessory stuff, but some people choose to be anonymous because,

1. They might not have the time or requirement to identify themselves.

2. They might not have any expectations.

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

requirement I can possibly understand.. but no time to identify themselves? I do not agree :)
No expectations on what?

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

Expectations could be receiving a reply from you, openion or knoledge sharing, compliment, receiving a comment from you on their blogs, friendship or even recognition.

Talking about recognition, I have seen one or two blogs created just for the purpose of showing you [the celebrity] their profiles :D There was no blogging at all, only the profiles, so one can guess :)

Tc.

anitha shalini said...

Hi Chinmayi - Somewhat on the same lines as your post here - I would like you to have a look at this post of mine written some time back. http://anithalucas.blogspot.com/2006/10/vanilla-sky.html
I like to believe that there is some place out there where we go after "this life" is over - where there would some sort of judgement as to the fairness of our actions in this life - I mean, I would damned if I had to "do the right thing" all these years at the cost of my own likes, comforts and desires just to find out that it really didn't matter how I lived. If my fate is no different than the an axe murdurer and his savvy lawyer who lied through his teeth to get him out of jail, I'd rather make a few less sacrifices and do a few less good deeds.Bluntly put, I am no enlightened soul, I am just ordinary, I do good only because deep down I think I will go to hell otherwise. So yeah I believe there is more - much more in store for us than this game on earth. Its not all meaningless. Ok time to stop ranting - just remembered this was supposed to be a short comment.

intruder said...

ok im like so confused now. i will read again later. maybe i should not have posted this comment. oh well i've started to type lol.

"There is no need, no want, no goal to achieve?"

ofcourse there is... talk to a sales/marketing person...

"really great minds intreacting here"

yep you certainely don't belong here. whats the deal with those comments? what you trying to say? nothing in my experience suggests quoting counter to ones thoughts without expecting shit back. your posts aint going to change anything so why not contribute in places where you are more welcomed.

Ananth said...

If you don't have time to identify yourselves, where do find time to write such huge comments from?
And what expectations? Expectations, if any, can be had by the blogger - not by the one who reacts!

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

The fact that you read the blogs and even comment, anonymous or not, is because you want to share knowledge. If you do not want knowledge sharing then you should not be reading the blogs in the first place. Even you have posted a reply. Just pointing out that you are perhaps contradicting yourself here.
With the blogs with only profiles, two months ago, anonymous comments were not allowed. Only people with BLOGGER IDs could post here. Which made it mandatory for some people to register, just like an EMail address. It was not with an intent to show me their profiles.
Anonymous comments definitely expect a reply, more on the lines of a fight, they want to be the unknown name callers, in most cases that is. Some of the anonymous comments have been nice. My point is if someone wants to call names, they better have the guts to do it openly, or not comment at all. Everyone does not expect a compliment either.
In a lot of cases, people may be more interested in tracking down anonymous commenters than the ones with proper identities. My cents

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

ananth: gets me pondering on those lines as wel
sheetal: i agree :)
rangasai: have absorbed what you have said. and dont bother about long comments. can be however long you want it to be
chitra: yep the media, esp news should move away from celebs and concentrate on bringing other things to like.. Like another line in blood diamond, "at the end of the day, it is about who gets what"
eskay: probability? yet to understand that.. probably I ll have to come back to your comment and read it a couple more times. I would like to believe there is a state where there are no questions. Probably thats what they call enlightenment.
anitha: somehow, I do not know whether there will be a place where we will be judged. But yes, that is a thought. Will have to delve into that.

Anonymous said...

Ananth, by no means I am trying to justify cowardly acts.

When the option of commenting as an anonymous is provided, lazy bugs like me are likely to go for it rather than setting up a profile :)

Either you should discontinue providing the option or avoid categorizing all anonymous commenters as one group.

Anonymous said...

Chinmayee,

Me not someone who wants to remain anonymous. Just that couldn't find the 'subha muhurtham' to launch my profile. Lazy bug :)

And I never said my comments are coming without any expectations. So, no contradictions. There are occasions when I simply wanted to leave my 'vote' in favour of the blogger and had no plans of returning back to that post again. That's an example of a comment with no expectations.

When someone creates a profile with up-to-date Bio-data, doesn't post any 'knoledge sharing' comments but asks Chinmayi to reply to an email ID, would you call that a comment with no expectations? So nice of Chinmayi to defend such people though :)

But since I was quite jobless, I went on to check all the posts for the next 4 monthes after that Email request, and found no signs of that commenter again. Now my idea is not to critize or blame such natural human act. I am just trying to prove that not only the bloggers but even commenters might have expectations. People feel very special when they know that a celebrity knows them. A psychologist would know much better than me :)

Anonymous said...

Criticizing being anonymous is a shame.

The ultimate reason to critize should be to make a possitive change. So one should either do it with a clear identification or else mind his/her own business.

த.ராஜசேகர் said...

Woow!
That was a terrific post.

Its just that
Everybody think on similar lines atleast once in their lifetime.

But some make an effort to understand the logic behind their very existence.

and

Others just start truly believing in pre-defined answers available to them..

:-)