Sunday, August 16, 2009

Wishing for a lost era

I happened to watch Director Cheran's Pokkisham a couple of days ago. Apart from singing in that movie, I attempted to dub and this was one of the times it did not work out. I tried reading out the letters and after a couple of days of work we all saw that it was not my forte and decided not to keep attempting.

During the process I saw some shots of the movie and was pretty awe struck at the detailing that has gone into it. Mom and I saw the movie at a special screening and loved it. The entire beauty of letter writing, checking out the post box and all that, I could relate to that. While I was talking to someone, she said her father used to write in every spare space on the Inland letter so as to make every penny worth. I used to write several letters until I was a teenager and until I started using my Email address. Greeting cards were hand-made, it was taught to us in school. I had a brilliant craft teacher who made some of the most exquisite cards I had ever seen. Embossing and paneling and all that she used to make it by hand. Letters were written mostly to friends abroad. At that point in time, an aerogram was perceived as expensive at 6.50/-. Since my letters went into pages, I used to write on extremely light weight papers, stash it in an envelope and send it on its way. I also remember writing a letter to my Grandmom in Tamil, with spelling mistakes wherever the 'Ra' and 'Na' came to play. This was perhaps while I was in boarding school.

Yesterday we were off to a village by the ECR, which is almost a weekly exercise. Mom goes there to teach music, stories from the Puranas, English and Hindi and basic etiquette. She had done this for several weeks at Olcott Memorial school while I was much younger and this is a small beginning of bigger plans. Now on the way to ECR we stopped at a small restaurant for breakfast. The person who was in charge of running the place, hailing from Tanjavur attended to us personally and this was not because am a known face. I loved the way he took interest in serving the food, so much so that it was almost like we were invited to someone's home in remote or maybe, not so remote Tamilnadu. I wonder how we failed to imbibe that culture. What went wrong in our skills of observation and imbibing? How is it that we failed to imbibe the good?

Coming back to Pokkisham, there is a scene where Mr Vijaykumar, essaying the role of the hero's father in the movie asks why he lied to him. (Though off topic, I think Mr Vijaykumar is one super unsung hero. I have always loved his acting and perhaps there is no one else like him and realized that I am his huge fan)
On the way back home from the movie, my mother, recollecting that scene was saying how upbringing used to be. The elders of the family will be stern but would always have a pleasant countenance. And if the youngsters have made a mistake they would understand from the demeanour, the minute changes in the tone and the way the elders look at them. Apologies will be in order and things would be back to normal without saying much or raising of voices. If something needs to be corrected the elders said so but once. When very angry there would nothing more than a harsh "HMMM".
Telephone would be present in a few houses and even those that could afford the service thought it was unnecessary. And now the cell phone is used to exchange information on what happened in the last episode of a serial or the latest gossip. When was the last time that a conversation on a messenger or the phone was totally useful? Or rather, had value? True, the definition of value is subjective. But more often than not we have learnt to lie to ourselves and there started the disintegration. I remember a proverb, the WWW says its roots are Spanish: Do not speak unless you can improve the silence. I somehow feel a crying need for this saying to come to effect now. Do we know how to listen to people who do not talk much? And here I am not speaking of people with disability.

Maybe with the onslaught of all the technology we have grown insensitive. People who might genuinely respect elders are criticized. People who have some culture and sophistication are criticized. And this by people who hail from similar backgrounds. I just fail to understand where the slip has happened. How long do we keep blaming the media? Is it, after all a reflection of what has happened within our lives?

The letter writing era, the time window between letters, the glee of getting something via post .. somehow the instant means of communication today just pales in comparison, which is actually supposed to serve a purpose. A purpose of serving us. But in turn we seem to be serving technology ; being its slaves. SMSing a hundred thousand times a day. Frankly its irritating to see someone typing away on their phone incessantly. The constant chatting on various IMs. I find that tiresome as well. When I was younger and when all this seemed magical I used to make a face when mom used to ask "What in God's name do you achieve by asking someone on Chat or Sms what's up?" Though I obeyed grudgingly, not immediately of course, but eventually, it makes perfect sense now. My Chat clients are usually off. I used it only when linguists or clients have questions.
What is the purpose after all? Do you end up a little smarter with all the smsing and chatting? Or does the person on the other end feel happy when you keep in constant touch.
Though I am thankful for all the conveniences of this day and age, I long for the silence and tranquility that our elders enjoyed. I yearn for the sophistication. I yearn for the perfection of the era gone by. I yearn for the dignity that people saw all around them.

More often than not I love the company of the older generation. So much to learn from them. Right from the way a family set up worked, marriages worked, children were brought up. It is all very beautiful. At least with the kind of families that I have been exposed to. A lot of people thought my mother was bringing me up in too sheltered a manner. There would be enough and more people who would come to advice on how to bring me up. And there were enough and more "well meaning" people to advice me that its not all that good to obey my mother. But now its all crystal clear. I see the difference between the pithy chaff and the golden wheat. And thank God for the upbringing that I have had. For my mother. Sadly I see that a lot of parents are unable to make this happen for several reasons. Some blame the media. Some blame peer pressure. Some blame other members of the family.

I was reading another article on how bloody tough it is to bring up children with the kind of exposure they get, the kind of entertainment they are exposed to and how children are perhaps no longer innocent. Even while hosting the show on Aahaa FM while discussing on a related topic, a lot of people blamed the parents/grandparents who watched TV for inappropriate behaviour in children. As toddlers grow up, they are fed on a diet of cartoon and mostly serials. Perhaps there are ways of feeding a child without the help of a Tom beating Jerry up. Or anything else. Though I have loved the cartoon at a point in time, I think its perhaps something elders should watch and should be kept far away from a young mind. Along with the smartness of Jerry, 'only the good triumph', or good people are subject to a lot of trouble or brain is better than brawn or whatever underlying or subliminal message the cartoon has, something that is going to be absorbed first and perhaps foremost is the violence. And learning to laugh at it someone being thulped. I wondered how children were brought up when TV was rare. And when the time comes, my children will be brought up exactly the same way. And mostly they will be home-schooled. Reading up, I see a lot of families have chosen this path to educating their children. I guess an exam affiliated to a board can be given from anywhere without needing to go to school.

Robin Sharma also wrote in his book. A reminder of sorts that the phone is there to serve us and it is not necessary to jump and take every call. Our family comes first. TV and radio and entertainment need not be always on. After 6 in the evening every apartment complex is full of cacophony of various channels blaring.

I have a lot of old world sentiments on several things. I refuse to and shall continue to in not conforming to a way that is standard. After all its only that - Standard. I do not go about judging and telling people what to do. And in the same way, I do not want to be told to conform to a lot of things which are perhaps acceptable by most for now. I wish to live life on my own terms even if it seems dated at times. And when I look around me carefully, I see there are a few people closer to my age who share my sentiments. We may be outcasts of sorts, called reclusive or eccentric or sometimes plain rude. But then its only time which can prove certain things. As my mom says when you are trying something new or working on something new its best to keep quiet about it and when the time comes and when the end result is there for all to see, the world would wonder why they did not think of that.
More than anything else I wish for peace and quiet. Within and without. And really hope a lot people around take the trip of finding the peace and silence within and discover that.
And truly Pokkisham is a wonderful movie. In the detailing and actually so many things like the way letters were written and read, trunk calls and in capturing the essence of an era gone by, it is a lot of magic and truly worth the money you spend on the movie.

P.S.: A heartfelt thank you to all the comments I got on the alternate means of power generation. It was a fund of information and more sooner than later I would be doing everything possible to powering my home in this manner.

38 comments:

Imagination said...

Very true. It scares me to see children here in US. No offense to anyone but they are a lot different than how we were years ago. Somehow they seem to have everything provided for them, from food, toys, TV, entertainment etc. that they don't seek the affection or validation from elders. They sometimes don't even acknowledge you even when you are talking to them. They have this peer pressure, I think, to behave all grown up even when they are children and that includes remaining aloof.

Awatts said...

I second a lot of observations made by you Chimayi on how our elders bought up kids...no TV, no cell phones, no SMS or Chat etc etc...

I think that is what made it probably easier - lesser number of distractions.

Yes I agree that it is up to us, whether to make Technology be of use to us vs. us becoming used by Technology. WE ultimately have the choice.

But in a craziness filled world where it's a rat race everywhere to make money, become popular and powerful, the insecure human in us always wants to FIT into the world, to not be an outcast, to not be left out, to be part of everything 'happening'.

It would take a helluva lot of courage, conviction and determination to not fall into that race, to be sure that, the path we take (away from the rat race) will eventually get us where we want to go (even tho that may not be the finish line for the race).

Thought provoking article for sure. Wishing you best to be able to follow this path! :)

Unknown said...

Well said Chinmayi. Yes, as we progress ahead in our standard of living with more and more external physical comforts, we tend to depend on them way too much. In this entire process our standrad of life...goes on for a toss....we've lots and lots of social contacts....throuh orkut/facebook and what not, but a very few near and dear ones with whom we can share our happiness and sorrows. Somehow I feel with the tremendous growth in technology grows, there is a sharp decline in humanity.

Reading this post, I am curious on Pokkisham. Dir Cheran is one great person who can bring in the happiness of past era, wonderfully into our hearts.

"Do not speak unless you can improve the silence." makes lots of sense. Like this.

Jeeva said...

Long time reader, first time commenter. You have written on variety of topics in this post, but 1 point that stuck me (as a mother) was about home schooling. The first question that came to my mind when I heard of the concept was - what about peer interaction for these kids ? Would they get used to the idea that they would be the center of activity whenever they do something ?

Anonymous said...

Chinmayee! Wonderful write up. Very much impressed. Keep posting.
Regards
Srini
Sharjah

Anonymous said...

Chinmayee! Wonderful write up. Very much impressed. Keep posting.
Regards
Srini
Sharjah

Krishnan KR said...

I don't know if we have become insensitive or not. But what I know is we look n search for something that's either gone or hard to get.

Imagine getting a 1000 letters via post every day, would you still have the same feeling ??

I guess, the delay in getting something makes it more precious.

Anything we get easily, readily n instantly is not appreciated as much as the one we get out of waiting , struggling n working for it.

Letters Vs IM/Emails...Its like why gold is expensive than other metals

usually other metals have more purpose in life... but Gold is still precious.

Besides mode/frequency of communication.. its personal preference.

All said and done, where ever possible I prefer written letters to IMs/Emails b'coz the letters can remain with you forever if you want ... and its even more precious b'coz its hand written by the person and its a time freeze of the moments used to write the letter and it goes on and on and on

BTW...are you not going to ask me the alternate way/s to power your home ?

Krishnan KR said...

Chinmayi...I just loved the movie. I liked the song so much, the trunk calls, the letters , your singing :-) ... I am telling everyone I like it so much.

EsKay said...

You have to shout out loud to prove silence is an effective way of communicating.

We are not proud of our culture, our old values, our tradition. These are the pillers that our nation is build on. If we lose them then we will lose our identity. Why chasing the culture(!) that is only few hundred yrs old.Media is brainwashing the people.

You sound too flat which may suit modern easy going characters but not emotionally rich ones. Good to know one's limits...

Nash said...

Haha, typically interesting post. Certainly the quality of upbringing plays an important role in moulding their personality.

I got reminded of myself being the only solution to my grandfather's boredom in his slightly younger days where quality time was spent together on developing experimental, indigeneous home-made engineering solutions. This was the time when my parents were particular in not providing any cable television connection until I have completed my schooling.

It makes sense for me now, in a way though, considering my success.

Neo said...

Hi Chinmayi, nice thought... I always felt the same way on the line of your mom "when you are trying something new or working on something new its best to keep quiet about it and when the time comes and when the end result is there for all to see, the world would wonder why they did not think of that". I'ven't penned it though, but it is always good to keep this message in our heart when we venture into something new.
Also, keep the good work of visiting schools, as I strongly feel that child education is the only way to make this world a better place in the future for our kids to live...
And it is our responsibility to act on it... so we should just stop being intelligent critics of politics, corruption, economics, global warming, etc; and start working on the things on what & how one want this world (people) to be around us...
My conclusion is that we are knowledgeable enough to understand the macro and micro effects of any cause... so should stop talking and start acting upon the things we perceive...

Great blog... keep up the good work... have a great month ahead Chinmayi... and convey my regards to mom!

About Me: An engineer by graduation, a domain consultant in an IT firm by profession, music lover by admiration, amateur photographer because of love towards this beautiful God-made world, hometown adorer being a Coimbatorean, morning walker being a resident of Bangalore, a wannabe MBA grad with GMAT score more than 750.... last but not the least; always wondering why people fight when everyone are actually brothers n sisters assume that we can from Adam & Eve :)

Maddy said...

I simply can't agree more with each and every word you have said. I don't have the power of words with me, but i strongly agree, this is something that has been in me for long and now, when i read it, i felt like "exactly, how true!!". Thanks for the awesome post, chinmayi!

P.S: Reading your blog helps me with my GRE preparation too. :)Lots of good words used in the most appropriate contexts. Kudos!

MissAmbiguity said...

:-)

Anonymous said...

Hi Chinmayi San...

Well today's children are lot more smarter. It is important to give them the freedom and choice they deserve.

A long enough locked up child when sees the door open is gonna runaway with all the madness in directions she/he cud run.

With time they gonna grow and find their own home and know to restructure them better. It is natural process and better evolved . Yes,there are better chances that these children may be lost and never find home because they chose not to.

One thing trekking teaches you is that if you follow your passion then you will be lost for while but that is the only way you can get better out of your passion.


I know it hard to enjoy sms or im ,when you can people's mind :)

hav fun !!!

royale said...

Nowdays your singing is so good especially from Pokisaham "Nila Song"
All the best for future hits

jayashree swaminathan said...

hi chinmayee :)
happy to be the first to comment on ur latest post! i am a regular visitor to ur blog and i luv the way u write!
And looks like this is one of the longest posts u've written so far!
cheers!
jaya

Parvathi Subramaniam said...

Hi Chinmayi,

I thought you will find this blog page interesting when you have time.

http://nammashaale.wordpress.com/

And coming to this post of yours, I am towards supporting children and not parents. Unfortuntely the parents deliver children out of sheer peer pressure(my colleagues already have 2 children, my mother wants to see her grandchild before she dies etc etc) and not because they want to have them. And the parents think that their responsibility ends as soon as the ward's admission is made to a BIG school and that school will take care of it so that both parents can be busy earning money to live and afford the lifestyle and the childrens' tution fees.

Like your write up, in those days, the general attitude of people was get the children married as soon as they reach puberty and the rest of the time of the woman is spent in delivering children and more children not to forget cooking. So the first few children are forced to grow up to be able to "mother" the rest of their offsprings while the parents continue their reproduction.

And coming to marriages in those times working well, well people in bad marriages still stayed together for fear of society and lack of financial support(women precicely). Today that fear is no more there for a majority of people..In those days these women were a minority(ala K.Balachander heroines).

Children listening to elders?It should be a mutual process. If children make a valid point(which they always will) then elders should respect it. If a child does not want to study that day and sleep or play or for that matter watch TV, the parents should NOT emotionally harass them to do that they want. Parents should remember one thing. There will be times when they will have to say a NO to children. Let it not be all the time. Not for a small ice cream or an extra 5 mins of play or sleep time or not wanting to study for that time. I read this in that blog. Children are your best bullshit meters. If they are good the parents are the reason. If they are bad, the parents are the reason.

Parvathi

Anonymous said...

I like this post. It makes sense and I am glad I live in a place where silence is around me. I think it is something that most of us thing about for the future. I know some people who went as far as moving out of North America to raise their kids. But I think, more than the place, the parents and surrounding matter.

I really respect your mom for enlightening those less fortunate. Especially broadening their understanding through teaching English. Sometimes, reading the news from Tamilnadu, it gets exasperating. I wonder when the general public will learn to question things. The poor that have very little, but are taught to remain so. How can so many millions not realize that something is wrong? Or close their eyes? Or actually encourage all this for their personal wellbeing? The inequalities are there in the West as well. But the extremities, and the barriers put to quench those poor striving for a better life in Tamilnadu, is mindboggling.

Schooling goes a long way in leaving lasting impressions. Though selfishness is human nature, I think that basically, what we are taught as children will definitely impact our notion of right and wrong. Of course, many times I have thought that people who have no right to have children have them:-) But even bad parenting can be over-written by good teachers.

Really, there are no answers to this post. Hopefully, your experiments will bear the right fruits.

-kajan

kanakNPK said...

I heard ur song Nila nee vaanam from pokkisham.U signed really good.I'm going to watch the movie this week..I have no time to read this blog fully.. i will comment to tis blog after read...

Jayamurugan said...

Well written article....
By the way, I missed hearing you on Big FM[on 14-aug-09]. :(

Uma said...

Good blog, Chinmayi.

The Maverick said...

HiChinmayi,

Jus chanced upon ur blog.. Always liked ur singing in Tamil N Hindi movies (those are the only ones I hv listened.. dont know if u hv sung in other languages). Was more impressed when i realised u hv other interests apart from singing. Keep it up.

Anonymous said...

It's often quite amazing how you can seemingly watch a movie and end up reflecting on life, past & present.

I take your stand on non-conformity and allowing myself to make mistakes and learn from them.

Very good insights . keep writing chinmayi,... you are an inspiration to me when i see darker days..
-Latha (Singapore)

Saraswathan said...

How very true! We have indeed forgotten the pleasure of reading a well written letter from near and dear. The jargon filled Email has taken over our lives. The other day I was shocked to find that the present generation miserably lacks in good vocabulary, having got used to the net lingo! It is time we got back to writing letters and start reading some good Books lest we forget about good communication.

Hariharan said...

well there are lots of people who are in that list...how much ever i tell my dad to convert the old haridas bhajans and other devotional cassetes and video cassetes to digital format i find am the first one when it comes to playing those stuff...it has a charm of its own

regarding the tanjore chef u said..there are people like that still i guess...its 1ly the hi-fi hotels who have forgotten totally bout hospitality whereas the small ones are d best..just go along the ecr to say kumbakonam and on d way u can find innumerable people who go all d way to help us...

u say so much bout kids being fed watchin cartoon network....dis in itself looks like an old world thought...nowadays they are fed watchin progs like sach ka samna, rakhi sawants swayamvar and etc etc...i still remember those days when my mom used to show me the moon and say "anga paru nila"..i used to stare wid my mouth wide open and get stuffed wid thayir sadam....today its all changed..gone are even the days when v had something called 'nila chooru' and 'mottai madi thookiam'...its all highly mutated and today v have moonlight disc parties in hi-fi areas and 'mottai madi quarter' in low-fi areas...

another important aspect that we all miss these days is that quintessential 'amma madi mel thoongaren'...there used to be days when v slept in our mothers laps when v had headache or just as it is..but its all changed...howmuch ever v feel sick v pop up a pill and go to office...

also speakin of golden days how many of them can u find in d age group of 20-30 in those margazhi masam sabha katcheris or the early morning bhajanais...they had a charm of their own..its all dissappeared into thin air..if find very less people listening to carnatic music and stuff..

it all has to change and the change has to come from within to evryone

Mona said...

Home schooling? Seriously-why??I would love to hear your take on that.

Rakesh said...

What your saying is very true,none of them are writing letters nor reading books.This has created a great change in the current mindset of people.Hope everybody improve their knowledge for the sake of it,not for any monetary purpose,to an extent it is difficult to follow these days.And one thing I'm very happy about your profound vocablury,each time after reading your blog i come across very new words and i check out their synonyms immediately.Thank you for that.Have a great week ahead.

Anonymous said...

//
Now on the way to ECR we stopped at a small restaurant for breakfast. The person who was in charge of running the place, hailing from Tanjavur attended to us personally and this was not because am a known face. I loved the way he took interest in serving the food, so much so that it was almost like we were invited to someone's home in remote or maybe, not so remote Tamilnadu//


There are very few hotels in TamilNadu which do so.. There is a hotel in coimbatore named "Hari Bavan ".. This is a pure non veg hotel.. The server would say "indha vayasula sapidama endha vayasula sapdia poringa.." he will say the same to all ppl from age 20 to 60.. and also in madurai there is a hotel named "arun aanandar mess".. here also food is served in the same fashion..

--arun

A Man in NPK said...

Its too long blog.It shows ur interest on letter and
This week i'm going to watch pokkisham,
Ur song on pokkisham was really cool "Nila song "

Victor said...

Completely agree with everything,..
But I have to stand up to the cartoons. Sorry I am a cartoon/animation addict.
I grew up watching Tom & Jerry, Duck Tales, Talespin, Jungle book etc you know all those DD cartoons and then Dexters lab, Scooby Doo, Popoyee, Hannah & Barbera cartoons etc from Cartoon Network.. I have to say even now when I think about my childhood I cant remember much except for those cartoons.. Well there is also the fact that I do have poor memory..But I think those didnt teach me violence.. I was too young to think properly.. When I ponder about them now, I am really amazed at the brilliance of those guys who create them.. It has made me to try to be humorous, creative and adventurous.. But Yes I have seen the quality of cartoons is worse nowadays..

à®®ுத்தரசன் said...

me too thought the same way about pokkisam...... its a perfect way to remembr the letter writing era... but sad to know that the film did not go well with this generation audience... not a good sign for tamil film industry...

anyways.... thanks chin for sharing ECR road restaurant experience...well mannered ppl like the restaurant owner are pride for our coutnry

AshWin said...

Cheran s movie is always worth a watch ...a pinch of everything which was good....
To scapegoat Media is devoid of nous ...and Of course you cant live in past ..

Kids are growing up in Information age, where anything is a click away ...and their Brain receptors are more attracted to any Video..
We need to ensure that what they see is informative and not Chewmud...
and to blame elders for that is not moral, coz what they like, half our generation hate.. :(

Chinmayi Sripada /Chinmayee said...

Thanks everyone.
Jeeva: I am more or less, a product of homeschooling. I did not miss peer interaction. It was the best option for me because my career path was fixed and it makes sense for youngsters/children inclined towards sports as well, as a lot of time is going to be consumed in training. I think the world has a way of shaping an individual more than you realize. And maybe don't you think that the current nuclear family set up makes a child think that he is the center of all activity, if he is the only child?
Krishnan: Thats the point, a 1000 people wont be interested in writing. Even in the times of letter writing there were people who had the inclination to write and some plain did not.
Parvathi: i guess most people wont have children unless they are pressured as they would rather give importance to their careers than anything else. For those who cannot be pressured most couples prefer to not have children. And I think this scenario would hold true for an age that has gone by and is not the state of affiard today. And I think the adults of today have grown to give a good ear to their children. And even for the adults to know to listen to children, they, in turn should have had a good upbringing. Sometimes its a vicious circle but it might help if people can let go of all consuming egos.
Hariharan: if you are going to office no matter how sick you are, one you are putting others at risk or you feel that your office might stop functioning or put your job at risk if you dont show up for a day. And I see that this is the mindset that most people have. I remember my doctor telling me once that the world will not come to an end if I did not host my breakfast show on Aahaa FM for a day. It makes a lot of sense now.
Mona: because I have been homeschooled and the biggest reason for the decision was the mindset/behaviour/language of the children I met during Airtel Super Singer Junior. Not just me, at that point in time a lot of the crew members kinda decided they will think twice before sending their kids to school. But in most cases, if the kids are at home, they are going to be watching serials. So in some cases school would be a better option than soaps. And I would also like to say that it would make more sense for people like me perhaps, artistes or people who have already decided on what they are going to be doing in their lives, pretty early on.
A Man in NPK: When I write its mostly an outpouring and I do not consider the length. Sorry. :)

Anonymous said...

you are right about the fact that tv and other sorts of media distractions that have a great affect on growing children. Everytime I went for a vacation to Jaffna Srilanka i see alot of my cousins brought up with no t.v or computers but are brilliant in studies and are well mannered. They are all old fashioned but they do know the outer world at the same time but choose live what they think is the best. Just not to be misguided jaffna tamils have a literacy rate of 92% despite all the civil war. I read in book how Abraham Lincoln used to study using the street lights, I first saw it in Jaffna. I found that people there had alot of respect. It really suprised me. They actually listen to their parents or elders when they are scolded. They never argue back. Here we are gettin irritated and complaining every moment we get with our parents for not letting us chat or go out to watch movies or not letting us do what we want to do. Although i was brought up in western world where technology is hard to miss i am really glad my parents showed me the world where both exist but people choose the ancient way of living. But it all comes down to the child's choice but its the parent's choice to show them the way of school life or the way of homeschool life.

Kas

George Bernard Waah! said...

Dear Chinmayi, I watched Pokkisham recently, and your lilting voice enhanced the sense of love and longing in the song - nila, nee vaanam kaattru.

My favourite part is when you sing your first two lines once again - anbulla manna, anubulla kanaaavaaa. Something about your voice that always enamours me. A special mention has to be made for the first song you sung with Rahman - Oru Dheivam Thandha Poove. I hope you continue to sing forever more, and bring joy to our hearts. All the best.

As for your comments about our culture and tradition, and how we have lost the ability to be courteous and hospitable with guests and elders - I have been wondering about the exact same thing for a while now. There are no easy answers in life, as we all know. Things change, people change and often traditions and culture are trampled beneath the sheer weight of homogenous globalization. Lets carry on being nice souls to one another, and try and conveince our friends to adopt the same approach. Thats the best we can do for now. And of course, we can always keep expressing ourselves in creative ways. Art and creative expression can often mould human consciousness in myriad ways. An intellectual revolution will change our cultural and traditional landscape, and will help us understand who we truly are. A keen awareness of our individual and collective consciousness shall pave the way for a better future. As you can clearly deduce, I am an idealist.

George Bernard Waah! said...

I forgot to add, Chinmayi, that I have been utterly inspired by Cheran's Pokkisham. The last time any work of moving images left an indelible impression was when I watched Kannathil Muthamittal. The range of human emotions on display in that film seemed to traverse the breadth of our collective emotional knowledge. Now, through Pokkisham, Cheran has re-coded my creative genes. I found out this morning that an assistant director that works with him currently runs a media organization called Kanavuppattarai. I am itching to speak with Cheran and surrender my creative instincts to his judgement and use. In all my years of watching Cinema, I have never thought of reaching out to the director of a film to either congratulate, deride or join him in the creative process. I feel a creative thirst within myself for the very first time - a strong desire to work in Cheran's team, a sustained inspiration to be a part of such life-changing experiences. Like Nadeera in the film, I have begun what I feel to be a life-long journey of love for love through the cinematic idiom. Wish me luck, Chinmayi. Thanks for reading my comments herewith.

amna said...

I absolutely loved your voice in the song in Pokkisham - nila nee vanam. I have been listening to it on repeat mode and haven't tired of it in 3 days :)

desta head said...

hi chimayi..
should say..great work ..in everything you do...reading is a pleasure when u write..please continue..
been a very long time..but miss u on radio 91.9..got to speak to u on a topic..and then suddenly dont find u ..and offlate have stopped listening to 91.9..please come back..