Dial Hitchcock for Thriller!

This movie was in my list of to-watch movies for a long time. I only got a chance to see it last week.

Arguably one the greatest thrillers by Hitchcock(since I havent yet seen The Rear Window), this movie is shot almost completely inside an apartment house in London. There is probably a maximum of 1 minute of footage shot outside the apartment. Yet, you never feel claustrophobic or suffocated or get bored of seeing the same surroundings again and again. The hallmark of the 'Master of Suspense'. Thriller perfectionism that Sherlock Holmes would have appreciated.

Grace Kelly got her biggest break in this movie before going on to do The Rear Window in the same year. Her acting is so professional that it hardly seems this was her biggest movie at that time. Ray Milland has a class that is exceedingly impossible to describe. He's got the class and charishma to carry himself so gracefully. John Williams as the Scotland Yard inspector looks so right for the part.

Let me not go into details about the actual plot. However, the deduction on the part of the inspector is so Sherlockian that I couldnt possibly stop myself from saying "Wow...". In fact, if you can get the DVD, dont miss out watching the extras. Some really cool footages of Hitchcock, some trivia about the movie, etc.

Finally, Hitchcock as usual makes a cameo appearance in a most unexpected scene, the way he does in almost all his movies. What a pleasure to watch this movie!

Calvin inspires like no other!

CHANGE THE TARGET IF YOU CANT CHANGE YOURSELF!

ನಾನು ಹೋದರೆ ಹೋದೇನು

ಮೊನ್ನೆ ನಾನು ಡಾ||ರಾಜ್ ರವರ "ಭಕ್ತ ಕನಕದಾಸ" ಚಿತ್ರ ನೋಡಿದೆ. ಸುಮಾರು ೮ ಅಥವಾ ೧೦ನೇ ಬಾರಿಯಿರಬಹುದು. ಅದರ ಒಂದೊಂದು ಹಾಡೂ ಅಪರಂಜಿ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕೇಳಬೇಕೆನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ಕನಕದಾಸರ ಪದಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಗಿರುವ ಸಂದೇಶಗಳು ಎಂದೆಂದಿಗೂ ನಮಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಾಮಾಜಿಕ ಜವಾಬ್ದಾರಿಗಳನ್ನು ಜ್ನಾಪಿಸುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ.


ಆದರೆ ಇವುಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ನನಗೆ ಬಹಳ ಇಷ್ಟವಾದ ಒಂದು ಸನ್ನಿವೇಶವೆಂದರೆ ವ್ಯಾಸರಾಜರು ತಮ್ಮ ಶಿಷ್ಯಂದಿರನ್ನು ಕರೆದು ಕನಕನಿಗೆ ಹೀಗೆ ಕೇಳುತ್ತರೆ "ಕನಕ, ನನ್ನ ಶಿಷ್ಯಂದಿರಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರಿಗೆ ಮೋಕ್ಷ ಪ್ರಾಪ್ತಿಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ?". ಕನಕದಾಸರು ಒಬ್ಬೊಬ್ಬರನ್ನೂ ನೋಡಿ "ಇವರಿಗಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ", "ಇವರಿಗಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ" ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತರೆ. ನಂತರ ಅಲ್ಲೆ ಕುಳಿತಿದ್ದ ಪುರಂದರದಾಸರನ್ನು ತೋರಿಸಿ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅವರಿಗೂ ಆಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಕನಕದಾಸರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತರೆ. ಕೊನೆಗೆ ತಾವು ಸ್ವರ್ಗ ಸೇರುತ್ತೇವೆಯೆ ಎಂದು ಕೇಳುತ್ತರೆ. ಅವರೂ ಇಲ್ಲವೆಂದು ಕನಕದಾಸರು ಹೇಳುತ್ತರೆ.

"ಇನ್ನು ನೀನು ಸ್ವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುವೆಯ?" ಎಂದು ಕೇಳುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕನಕದಾಸರು "ನಾನು ಹೋದರೆ ಹೋದೇನು" ಎಂದು ಉತ್ತರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ ಇತರ ಶಿಷ್ಯಂದಿರು ಕೋಪಗ್ರಸ್ತರಾಗುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಅದಕ್ಕೆ ಕನಕದಾಸರು ತಾವು ತಮ್ಮ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದುದರ ಅರ್ಥ ವಿವರಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ. " 'ನಾನು ಹೋದರೆ ಹೋದೇನು' ಎಂದರೆ ನನ್ನಲ್ಲಿರುವ 'ನಾನು' ಎನ್ನುವ ಅಹಂಕಾರ ಹೋದರೆ ಆಗ ನಾನು ಸ್ವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗುತ್ತೇನೆ" ಎಂದು.

ಈ ಮೂರು ಪದಗಳ ಎಂತಹ ಅರ್ಥ ಅಡಗಿದೆ! ಚಿನ್ನದಲ್ಲಿ ಕೆತ್ತಿಸಬಹುದಾದಂತಹ ನುಡಿಮುತ್ತುಗಳು! ನಾವು ಪ್ರತಿಯೊಬ್ಬರಲ್ಲೂ ಎಲ್ಲ ದುರಾಲೋಚನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗಿರುವುದೇ 'ನಾನು' ಎನ್ನುವ ಅಹಂಭಾವ. ಇದನ್ನು ನಾವೆಲ್ಲರೂ ಅರಿತುಕೊಂಡಲ್ಲಿ ನಮ್ಮ ಜೀವನ ಎಷ್ಟು ಅಭಿವ್ರುದ್ಧಿಗೊಳ್ಳುವುದು!


NOTE: If you cannot read Kannada fonts, please see here. Click on image below to read text in kannada.

Online Banking? No Way...

It looks like one of those advances in our quality of life that come with developments in technology. On a closer look, it is anything but the truth! How often have we not been uncomfortable in trusting some unknown customer representative with our innermost financial secrets? Especially more so in the USA with the Social Security Number and Driver's License number opening the doors to virtually any kind of information about a person. But it is a case where there is no going back!

It was so pleasant in India when you went to the bank with your passbook and got an entry for every transaction you performed with your account. No 'Please wait, the next available customer representative will be with you shortly' hour-long telephone calls and no cyber security issues to be worried about.

Are there not so many instances when we wish that we were not victims of technology advancement? Dont we, many times, wish we to left behind to ourselves to what we are comfortable with?

PS: What prompted me to write this was this.

Heights of racketeering!

Image Courtesy: Deccan Herald(E-Paper)

Miracle #1 : People still vote for these people!
Miracle #2 : What the hell is the Election Commission doing when candidates are BRIBING the voters like this publicly?
Miracle #3 : How can they promise that the Govt will give these items ?!??! They will not give anything.. thats a different issue but whose money is being used!?!? Huh...Land to the landless.. Bicycles to high school students... There are 3 million of both those categories not to mention the number of homes without TVs and defaulting farmers' loans!

Finally, it had to come this way for me to realise that Karnataka politics is much better than its neighbour's !

This is what they call ಯಾರದ್ದೋ ದುಡ್ಡು, ಎಲ್ಲಮ್ಮನ ಜಾತ್ರೆ !

Warlord...Er...No...Lord of War.

Make no mistake. Neither does this movie have romance and witty dialogues nor does it have a happy ending. This is a 'different' kind of action movie. More a documentary than a movie. But whoa... a damn good one at that! An awesome movie on drug running and illegal arms trading.

Watch it for yourself. Definitely not to be missed!

P.S: To get the joke in the title, you need to see the movie.

Kannada Expletives Etymology !

I have always been interested in etymology. It is usually very logical in most cases. In Sanskrit, you can invariable trace it to the 'धातु'... In English, you can trace quite a lot of words to Latin and Greek roots. But what interests me is the words that people use most often without thinking ... ತಲೆ ಕಾಯಿ ಬುರುಡೆ, ಕತ್ತೆ ಬಡವ, ಮಣ್ಣು ತಿನ್ನು, ಬಡ್ಡಿ ಮಗ, ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ. ಈ ಪದಗಳು ಹೇಗೆ ಹುಟ್ಟಿದವು ? ಇದರ ಅರ್ಥ ಏನು ? ಅಥವ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ನಿಜವಾಗಲೂ ಅರ್ಥವಿದೆಯೆ ?

ಅಲ್ಲ, ಯಾವೋನಿಗಾದ್ರು ಬಯ್ಯಬೇಕಾದರೆ ಬಡ ಕತ್ತೆಗೇಕೆ ಹೋಲಿಸುವಿಕೆ ? ಅದರಲ್ಲೂ ಕತ್ತೆ ಬಡವಾಗಿರುತ್ತೆಯೆ? ಹಾಗೆಯೇ, ಬಡ್ಡಿ ಮಗ ಎಂದರೇನರ್ಥ ? ಮಗ ಬಡ್ಡಿ ಕಟ್ಟಬೇಕೆ ಅಥವ ಕಟ್ಟಿಲ್ಲವೆ...

ನನಗೆ ಸಧ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬೇರೆ ಪದಗಳು ಹೊಳೆಯುತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಈ ರೀತಿಯ ಇನ್ನಿತರ ಪದಗಳು ನಿಮ್ಮ ನೆನಪಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರೆ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಸೂಚಿಸಿ...(NO PROFANITY ALLOWED)
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NOTE: If you cannot read the Kannada Fonts here, please see this link for help.

Maybe I too need a change ! Or...

I know ... I know... When you stuck with a problem that you can't solve, you start blaming things around you ... Exactly what I am doing right now...

What is it with me and books ?

I don't know what it is with me and books. I have had an affair with them all my life! But I find them irrestible once I even see them(I assure you it is not bibliomania but only bibliophilia! There is a lot of difference between them! And moreover, I am not the kind who would go to any extent to buy a first edition/out-of-print book just for the heck of it. A booklover according to me is one who really respects his books and takes great care of them.

Gone are the days when I ued to just go and browse the books for hours in Nagasri, Book Paradise, Prism and other bookstores in Jayanagar 4th Block. I even love collecting them. Sometimes I hardly feel like returning them back to the library or to the person I borrowed it from(beware if you are the person I borrow books from!). Hell hath no fury to my cursings if you borrowed a book from me and returned it damaged! Also, I have a friends who invert an open book toremember the page! Ughh... Why the hell cant they find a small piece of paper to use as a bookmark ?

In fact, there are different qualities of first hand and second hand books(thats new and used for the Americans) that I love. The smell of the pages of the new books is something that pulls me into the bookstores every once in a while. Paperbacks, hardbound novels, textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopaedias all have different kinds of smells and feel. Sherlock Holmes would probably have identified the publishers of his day by smelling the paper!

On the other hand, second hand(or used) books have that used 'feel' which is indescribable. A good reader would have made small but intelligent comments/annotations(only pencil allowed! I hate people who write using pens in their printed books) in the margin(though I never write in margins) or provided a reference to some other similar/contrasting work which immediately makes me reach for Google.

I still have the Oxford English dictionary that my grandfather had got on his 11th birthday in 1925! He used the book till his very last days. If he found a new word in the newspaper, he would reach for his dictionary. What is it that enhances the charm of a book as its usage increases ? I know many people who love to just buy brand new books to adorn their bookshelves. What is the use if you never get to 'use' them at all ?

There are some splendid articles by Pradeep Sebastian in the Hindu. His column titled the 'Endpaper' describes the true characteristics of a bibliophile. You can sample his writings on Writing in Margins and Bookshelves.

ಡಾ|ರಾಜ್ - ಗೌರವ ನಮನ

ನಾನೇ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ,
ಕನ್ನಡ ತಾಯಿಯ ಪ್ರೇಮದ ಕುವರ
ಅನೀತಿ ಅಳಿಸಿ, ನ್ಯಾಯವ ಉಳಿಸಿ
ಶಾಂತಿಯನಿಳಿಸಲು ಬಂದ ಪ್ರೇಮ ಕಿಶೋರ...
ರಾಜ್ ಕುಮಾರ್...

Dr.Raj and Kannada Film industry were two names for the same thing. I just can't find any words to say in my blog today and moreover, there is nothing about Dr.Raj I can write that the Kannadigas do not know about. His filmography alone is almost 35% of the list of watchable Kannada movies!

There never was and never will be another personality like him in Kannada Film World. We will all probably thank him silently while watching any of his movies for leaving behind such a rich legacy of Kannada movies of every conceivable genre.

May his soul rest in peace.

UPDATED: I cant put it better than what this article says.



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