The Lighter Side

All work and no play just doesn’t augur well in life. You have to have the lighter side of it too. Precisely what I conveyed to my youngest grandson, Rohan(9), when he called from US to interview me for his class project, “The Family Tree”. I confess, I felt flattered when someone wanted to interview me. All along I have only interviewed others, including a Nobel Laureate, and published the gist for the benefit of readers.

I answered Rohan with details of my ancestry starting from my great-grandfather. He jotted them down with great interest, not without difficulty on spellings occasionally. The final questions was: “What is grandpa’s advice to you?” That was a tall order at such a short notice, given that my presence of mind disowns me at critical moments.

I knew he was very good at soccer and football. So unwittingly I uttered, “Devote equal time to your studies as to your games.” On hindsight I thought I should not have specified the time, but just said, Work while you work, Play while you play, so that my advice didn’t clash with  my son or d-i-l’s, just in case they had a different game plan for him. So I modified it: “That said, Rohan, do what your parents say.” “But Thatha,” he quipped, “my teacher asked for my grandpa’s advice, not parents’.”  Probably mine suited him better, and he wanted it to go on record to legitimize his spending more time on play. 

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Festive season is in full swing, so is a series of Bollywood movies. “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” featuring Akshay Kumar and the lady who acted with aplomb in Dum Laga Ke Haisa, Bhumi Pednekar, is showing to packed houses. The movie has joined the 100-crore club in record time. Hats off to the director for sustaining the interest of the audience on a thin story-line. The heroine has a toilet in her home, but none in her husband’s house when she moves over there upon marriage. She is compelled to join the rest of the village ladies in the early hours for a joint venture, with a lantern in one and a lotta in the other hand. How the debutant director handles such a ticklish subject, and what follows is absorbing, entertaining and educative. When Chetan Sharma and Nidhi (Maple 3206) called us over intercom, “Sundaram ji, we have booked tickets for you two too for Toilet, we were shocked until the air was cleared. Well worth a visit - the movie, I mean.

If you ever think this happens only in movies and never in real life, you are mistaken. In the1950s, beaming with happiness my uncle returned to Palghat with his bride from Eranakulam, only to find her disillusioned. There was no toilet. Ladies had to make-do at the open backyard, while the menfolk walked up to the open area near the village pond. She just was not cut out for that. A via media was worked out. He requested his friend to walk to the nearby post office and send him a telegram: “Leave cancelled, join immediately”. And the couple left by the next available train for Delhi. But someone re-looked at the telegram minutely and announced, “But the telegram has originated from Palghat, not Delhi,” - well, not before the newlyweds were half way to Delhi.

Yet another movie that is doing well is Bareilly ki Burfi, inspired by a Western, adapted to Indian settings. This is directed by Ashwini Iyer Tiwari (w/o Nitesh Tiwari, director of the famous movie, Dangal, and, the earlier Chillar Party). Ashwini Iyer’s earlier film, Nil Batey Sannatta (Zero divided by zero, that is Good for Nothing) also attracted a good response as was her Tamil version, Amma Kanakku. She walked away with Filmfare’s Best debutant director award for Nil Batey…  

In sharp contrast, Salman’s Tubelight  directed by Kabir Khan, who had two back-to-back 100-crore earners including Bhajrangi Bhaijaan, bombed at the box office. Similarly Imitiaz Ali’s earlier film, Rockstar, had joined the 100-crore club, but his recent one, a Shah Rukh film, When Harry met… with Anushka Sharma, failed to take off.

Speaking of ‘take off’, that was also the name of a Malayalam movie that was premiered in television last week. It is based on an actual incident when a few Malayalee nursing staff got stranded during the Iraq civil war. Thanks to the untiring efforts of Indian Embassy officials and others, they were all brought home in one piece in 2014. At the end of the movie, the persons involved in real life were interviewed to get a feel of their ordeal. Excellent take off for the debutant director.

V V Sundaram

Maple 3195

27 Aug 2017

Independene Day in SFV

SFV celebrated with gusto India’s 70 years of Independence. This year the venue was moved to the ampitheatre, reminiscent of the Roman empire period and the Colosseum in Rome. 

It would seem rain God too had been preparing no less for the event. Holding close to his chest the August quota of rainfall, He unleashed it in one go in the wee hours of Independence Day. If His action resulted in several areas getting inundated, vehicles floating on water, and some residences submerging up to the first floor level, don’t blame Him; hold the town planners responsible for their disgusting drainage infrastructure. He couldn’t take the plight of farmers any more. Also, for posterity, it is for us, equally, to have made arrangements to harvest the rainwater for ‘rainy’ days, rather than let it go waste into the sea.

The residents assembled at the venue on the dot - over 200 we learn. Soon began the programme,  the flag-hoisting first. Alas, the flag just wouldn’t unfurl itself - probably drenched completely in the rain; nor would it release the flowers it was holding unto itself firmly for warmth - they must be lovely and fragrant. Soon Vishnu, the Security supervisor brought it down to a level where he could unknot the rope for the flag to unfurl. No luck. Then our Vivek Jain, a man for all seasons, volunteered, did some jugglery. His countenance sporting a beard probably helped him to pass for a magician. The flag readily loosened its grip. Thus, Vivek and Vishnu jointly hoisted the flag what originally the Chief Guest had been invited to do. Nonetheless, the Chief Guest thanked them for their joint efforts. Moral: Never take things for granted. Expect the unexpected. Anything can go wrong at any time.

The Chief Guest began his address. (This time the honor fell on this writer. Yes, many of the residents had gone on vacation availing of the long holidays, having to take only a day off on Monday.) The mike disowned him. Probably it had prior knowledge that it would be nothing but a flamboyant display of mediocre ability, and the audience won’t miss much if they didn’t hear. Some make-shift arrangements were soon pressed into service. The mike obliged, but alas, only for a while. Anyway this hide and seek game went on till his address. Nonetheless, some of the residents from the armed forces and the SFVian ladies seemed a happier lot. They thought they heard some encomiums showered on them.

The mike was tamed, however, for the programs that followed. The soulful song,Yeh mere vatan ke logon….took the cake. For the uninitiated, during the Chinese aggression, each of the leading music directors of Bollywood were requested to compose a patriotic song to boost the morale of our soldiers. And this song, written by Kavi Pradeep, set to tune by C Ramchandra, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar, won accolades. It is said when she rendered this song, Nehru went into tears. And the SFV music troupe did full justice to the song. Also some talents, hitherto unknown, came to light. We’ll look forward to more such hidden treasures.

The dance performance by a young girl, to the lyrics of Ustad Zakir Hussain the renowned table master, was done to perfection. Last but not the least, the function also witnessed the launch of SFV Newsletter - a fortnightly, in digital format. If the announcement was any indication, the team is overflowing with ideas, and it would seem we are in for some exciting reading pleasure.

The function ended with light refreshments, with one resident sponsoring the sweet, Dharwad peda - if the corridor news is anything to go by. Happily, by and large, residents chose to follow the line for their turn, with only a select few, initially in the guise of being engrossed in a chat with someone already in the line, joining the mainstream closer to Destination Snacks Table.

Kudos to the organizers. What next?

V V Sundaram

Maple 3195

17 Aug 2017