Under the blue sky

"The sky is so high". 
"You do realize that there is no sky."
"Of course, there is! Look up! Can't you see it? The blue cover with the white clouds."
"Like cotton candies floating on a blue sea?"
"Not bad! You have turned into a poet."
"This is not poetry. It is just me trying to imitate you."
"In a way, you are."
"You are what?"
"An imitation of mine."
"Sheesh! Now way! I was mocking you."
"Me! I have never uttered those words."
"But you have said similar words. I was only imitating you."
"That's what I said. You are my imitation."
"No, no! Don't act dumb. My imitating you once does not make me your imitation."
"Well! That's a start. The many always starts with one."
"That's logical. Now you are trying to imitate me"
"I am logical too. What makes you think that poetry does not posses logic?"
"If its logical then its prose, not poetry."
"Hmmm, you are right. You are not my imitation and never will be."
"See!"
"But the sky looks beautiful."
"You do realize that the sky does not exist right?"
"It definitely does! Look up!"
"The blueness is caused by scattering of light by the small particles at the edge of the atmosphere..."
"Don't talk rot man. Just look up. Does it look like it does not exist?"
"What are you talking? I can't believe the two of us exist together."
"You see, everything is not logical or scientific. It is not always what others say. Sometimes, somethings exist when we think they exist. I think the sky exists and so it does. All this scattering and light does not matter."
"So tell me what happens in the night?"
"The sky exists in the night."
"But what happens to the blueness?"
"It is replaced with black."
".., and what about the stars and the moon?"
"They are just patterns in the black hood that covers the sky. Or maybe they are just tears in the blanket that the sky uses to cover itself."
"Good heavens! That is some imagination. Don't you get it, that's space."
"Oh, is it? So, the sky does not exist but space exists is it?"
"Space is everything that is beyond earth."
"Ah! When you say something exists it does, but not when I say so. Space means emptiness; something that is unoccupied. That nothingness exists but my blue sky with clouds does not, is it?"
"You don't understand. The blue sky is a play of light."
"Does light exist?"
"Yes, it does."
"So, how come 'the play of light' does not exist?"
"Play of light is only light."
"Which means that it exists too!"
"Well it is not like that."
"How do you know how a thing exists?"
"Well, you see the thing and realize that the thing exists."
"I see the blue sky and it exists."
"But if there is a thing, it obstructs you. The blue sky does not obstruct you."
"Well, water does not obstruct you."
"But it does. You can feel it."
"What about air and all those oxygens and nitrogens in it?"
"I mean its different. It is not the same as the blue sky."
"Ah! You are no longer able to explain right? I am now embarrassed to be you."
"You are not me. I am I and you are definitely not me."
"Not for each other but to the external world we are the same."
"I don't care about the external world."
"The one in which the blue sky does not exist?"
"Will you drop the blue sky. Please!"
"I can't. You want to know why?"
"No."
"I will say anyway. You said that the blue sky is not a thing and so I cannot drop it."
"You and I are definitely not the same."
"Buddy, being you is a bigger insult for me than you."
"What does that even mean! How can you be me?"
"Not for me or you but for everyone else, we are the same."
"Whenever anyone looks at me, they only see me and not you."
"Says you and no one else."
"Well! You are the one with the blue sky business. I am a person of science, a rational being."
"Ah! A man of science is it? What about all those times when you cry out to god for help?"
"I am only human. When the going gets tough, its tough for my thoughts not to go to god."
"Rational?"
"Yes. I have the humility and the justification for my irrationality. That makes me rational. No blue sky business for me."
"Ah! You are back to blue sky business is it? Tell me, why is the sky blue?"
"I have told you already. Light gets scattered by the small particles at the higher layers of the atmosphere."
"In that case, the higher layers of the atmosphere is blue and that is the blue sky."
"No. Top layer of atmosphere is not blue."
"Why is that leaf green?"
"It reflects the green part of the light."
"Same logic."
"No! Please be logical. Be rational."
"Listen, there is nothing rational about our lives. There is nothing logical about you or me. So stop arguing and let us be, do and think what we want. You are in no position to correct me for you too know so little about anything. You are welcome to think that you are right but you have no right to say I am wrong. We really don't know if you and I exists. So don't waste anyone's time with your rights and wrongs."

A forgotten man narrates

As soon as he saw me, he asked the dreaded question. "Do you remember me?" I responded with the truth "Yes." He did not stop but went on to ask the dreaded followup question. "In that case, tell me my name." Once again, I decided to say the truth "I remember you but not your name." I thought it was a fair response and he seemed satisfied by it too. He said "Aaaaah! That's what I thought." He went on to say his name. I remembered him. His name pops up regularly in the conversations that I have had with my relatives. At those times, I only remembered his name but not his physical self. When I saw him, I was able to identify that I had seen him a number of times. But, my mind simply did not have the connection between his name and him. So, it ended up embarrassing me. I am never good with names anyway. During the last year of my school teaching career, I spent three months in a class without remembering the name of half of the class. That proved to me that names are overrated.

I have the feeling that people only ask the question "Do you remember me?" when they are sure the other person does not remember the 'me'. One has to be a psycho to remember every person that he or she has met during his or her lifetime. Even if I am a psycho, I am certainly not that kind of psycho. I belong to the other end of the spectrum. I am constantly trying to forget the people whom I don't have to remember. The word networking only brings cables and electronic boxes to my mind, not people.

He liked to talk and so continued talking to no one in particular. Fortunately for me, my two aunts liked listening to his story. Frankly, I enjoyed listening to it too but I could have lived without them. He talked about this and that before landing on a story that involved his wife. Men of that age and possibly every age invariably narrated stories that portrayed their wives in a comic strain. I will now try and reproduce the incident as he narrated it.

My wife was sitting with her cousins and discussing family politics. Suddenly, she lost her conciousness and fell off the chair. I ran towards her and tried calling out her name. Obviously, she did not respond to it. Someone opened a bottle of water and sprinkled some water on her face. That proved effective. Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at us in confusion. She asked the question that a million heroines have asked "Where am I?" One of her worried cousins responded "You are at Devu's house". She said "Oh!" and closed her eyes again. The person who had sprinkled the water earlier, sprinkled water on her face again. She opened her eyes and said "Stop it! I am alright now. As such there is a water shortage, don't waste water." She attempted to sit up but another cousin stopped her by saying "No! Don't! I have called the ambulance. You should go to the hospital." My wife protested. I joined the protest too but everyone present shushed us. One of them even went on to say "Careful! It might be brain hemorrhage. It might get worse if you move. We have to get you to the hospital by the time the golden hour ends." At first, I wanted to laugh and then I started wondering if it could actually be a hemorrhage. Before she could protest, the ambulance arrived and two persons rushed in with a stretcher. They placed it next to my wife, picked her up and placed her on it. All this happened in a short time and before I realized it, I was sitting inside a speeding ambulance besides my wife who was lying on a stretcher. I tried to talk to the attenders in the ambulance but they seemed too occupied to listen to my words.

At the hospital, my wife was taken to the emergency room. The doctor asked "What happened?" I said "My wife fainted."

"Did she fall?"

"Yes. From a chair."

"Did her head hit the ground?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Did she have lunch?"

"Yes."

"Was there a problem with her speech before she fainted?"

"No. She was talking well with her cousins."

"How was she when she woke up?"

"She was tired."

"Her speech?"

"It was fine. She was about to get up when ..."

"Wait! Let me check her."

The doctor checked her with a few instruments. Soon, he turned to me and said "Looks like her BP went high." She looked at the doctor and me sheepishly and said "I forgot to take the medicine this morning." The doctor looked at her with a grave expression and said "That is not good. You should have your medicines on time. Never forget it." She said "Yes doctor. I alway have it. Only this morning I forgot and then I was standing in the sun at the temple the whole morning. So..." The doctor interrupted her. "You should take care of your health. Health is important." I pitched in by saying "Yes, yes. Health is important." I turned towards the doctor and said "So, can we leave now?" The doctor seemed shocked by my statement. He said "No, no. We have to run some tests. Blood test, MRI and so on. We have to make sure that there are no other issues. At this age, you should be careful. You have to wait." 

I realized that the doctor will not let us out for the next few hours. Worse, I will end up losing a few thousands unnecessarily. I took out my mobile and called our doctor who works in the same hospital. As soon as he picked the call, I informed him about everything that happened during the past two hours. The doctor listened to me patiently and said "Oh! That is all is it? She can go home. You can come back tomorrow and meet me. Give the phone to the duty doctor. I will inform." I gave the phone to the duty doctor who looked at me suspiciously. He explained the incidents that happened from the time my wife arrived at the hospital. For a few minutes after that, he only said "Hmmm", "Ah", "Yes" and "No".  Finally, he gave me back the phone and said "I will prepare the discharge summary. You can leave after that." I smiled and said "Thank you doctor."

Thanks to our doctor, I saved a lot of time and money.

Everyone listening to the narration laughed and nodded in agreement.

A House for Mr Biswas

I bought this book many years back. Everyone in my family read it many years back. They raved about it and are even considering reading it again. But I did not touch it for a long time. I was introduced to V S Naipul many years back. My friend, who was also my house mate, bought the book 'India: A million mutinies now" as a gift for his fiancée. She stayed in Delhi and we lived in Bangalore. So, the book stayed with us for many months. I took the opportunity to read the book. I loved it. The book made me realize that an author could tell a story through a series of essays. When I think back, I wonder if I should have read the book that a guy was planning to gift to his fiancée. Will it not become an used book? But it seems that neither I nor he belonged to the romantic type. So both of us did not care. Many months later, he gifted the book to his fiancée. A few days later, she asked him for whom he had bought the book. Though unromantic by nature, he was sensible enough to realize that the question was a loaded one. Instead if responding to the question he asked "What do you mean?" She said "You bought the book for yourself, isn't it?" He said "No. I bought it for you." She said "What makes you think I read such books?" The poor girl had no interest in essays on lives of families spread across India. For that she thought she could read a newspaper. I think on that day she realized that she probably would not receive roses and gifts on Valentine's day.

Getting back to Naipul

After buying "The House of Mr.Biswas", I bought a few other books by V S Naipul. I read a couple of those books too but not this one. In meanwhile, I got to know that the book was not a happy one. Maybe that added to my lack of interest in reading it. Finally, one day a few months back, I started reading the book. The book is long and it took me many months to finish. The book is not a happy one. Though the book is a satire, at most times, I felt miserable reading it. Mr. Biswas is a miserable character. It was tough for me to not empathize with the protagonist of the book. The guy is a selfish cowardly brute. The story is recounted from his point of view and so he justifies everything he does and criticizes everyone else's actions. The issue is that when I read a book, I always become a part of the story. Unfortunately, in this case not only did I feel I was a part of the book but I also felt that I am Mr. Biswas. I did not like that. 

All this would make one feel that I hated reading the book. Nope! The book is brilliant. I don't think I have read anything like this. Its vivid and descriptive. The problem arises due to the fact that it is so well written that I was not able to differentiate reality from fiction while I read the book. It gave me a clear picture of Port of Spain, Hanuman house, the house on Sikkim street and all the locations that formed a part of the story. The picture might not be anything like how the author envisioned it but I don't care. If a movie is made on this book, I should not watch it as I don't think it will live upto the picture I have inside my head. This book proves that an author can get into the reader's head if he/she wants to. Scary!

I started writing this post, when I read a part of the book that deal with a deaths that occurs in one of the houses that Mr. Biswas stays in. The writing is hilarious. It shows, the contempt that Mr. Biswas holds for the other characters and is a general commentary on how people deal with death. Given below are the lines from the book.  

Then, in quick succession, a number of deaths occurred.

Sharma, son in law, who collected oranges and drove the children to school, slipped off a mossy orange branch one rainy morning and broke his neck. He died almost at once. The children did not go to school that day. Sharma’s widow tried to turn the holiday into a day of mourning. She sobbed and wailed and embraced everyone who went near her and asked for messages to be sent. Messages was sent and Sharma's relations turned up in the afternoon, non-descript people, not able, even in their sorrow, to drown the shyness. They put Sharma in a plain coffin and carried him to the graveyard, where the village had assembled to see the Hindu rites. Hari, in white jacket and beads, whined over the grave and sprinkled water over it with a mango leaf.

‘Same thing he did to my house’ said Biswas to Anand. (I found this line hilarious. Mr. Biswas moves into a small shack that he considers to be his. His wife and her family insists that Hari should conduct a pooja. Mr. Biswas does not like Hari and stands against this proposal. But they win and the pooja is conducted the same manner as the one he conducted for Sharma's death. A few days after the pooja Mr.Biswas had to give up the house and move away.) 

Sharma’s widow shrieked, fainted, revived, and tried to fling herself into the grave. The villagers watched with interest. Some of the knowing whispered about sutee.

Movie - November 2023

Count from August 2023: 71.

November 2023: 11 Movies and series

1. Shutter Island: This movie appears on many lists of the greatest psychological thriller movies. I have been considereing watching it for a long time. Finally, I did when I was reminded that this is a Scorsese - DiCaprio movie. A good thriller. It starts off at one place and twists into another place by the end. I did not guess the twist for a long time. At one point, the twist started appearing but I was not sure about it. The twist was an uncomfortable one and I wished it was not true. But by the end it was clear that it was true and I felt terribly unhappy. A great movie. I will not watch it again.
2. Master: I don't like Vijay, the actor. Most, if not all, his movies have two big problems - his dialogue delivery and his acting. This effectively means, I should avoid watching his movies and to a great extent, I have been successful at avoiding them. 'Beast' was the first Vijay movie that I have seen in the theaters and though I had a good laugh, it was not a good movie. I have never felt the desire to see that movie again though I laughed at its silliness as I watched it. Of course, Vijay hammed through the role like he usually does. For these reasons, I gave Master a miss when it was released. I am not a big fan to Vijay Sethupati either (could it be that I have a block against the name 'Vijay'). I did not see the movie when it was released on OTT either. But I suddenly felt the urge to watch the movie. I liked the movie. Both the Vijays were not annoying and the story was interesting. I did not end up with a feeling that I should have watched the movie earlier - it was not that good. Will not disappoint one's so-what-should-I-watch-on-Prime-now urge.
3. Loki (season 2): The first part of Loki was excellent and it ended at a point that ensured that I would watch the second season. I did and I loved it. Its complex and great to watch. Tom Hiddleston is fantastic. When compared to season one this season is a lot more serious. I missed the funny part of season 1 but the makers maintained the tension well and I was engrossed in the proceedings. The end of the season seemed like the end of the series itself but one never knows. The internet is filled with speculation on how the ending of the series would affect the MCU but I don't think it would affect much. The makers of the MCU movies and series will make adjustments to their stories to fit the end of Loki season 2 into it. The conviction of Jonathan Majors, makes the continuation of Kang as a villain complex but I am sure MCU will work with that too. Ultimately, nothing really matter, its all a story after all and stories can be taken wherever the story teller desires to take it.
4. Upload (season 3): I loved Upload season 1. Sometime back I got the idea that human beings can live forever if human thought can be transferred out of a brain into a computer. This series is based on this idea and I was thrilled to see the idea being reproduced well on screen. The first season of the series was really good. The second one was good. The romance between the lead characters, reached a crescendo at the end of the second season. Thus, most of the third season focussed on the relation between these two characters and this made the series miserable. Three months have passed since I watched this season of Upload and I don't remember much about it. It was not interesting but I watched it anyway. Did not want to leave the story hanging. I think I will try and watch the next season too but if its like the current one then I would have no choice but drop it in the middle.
5. Deadpool 1: I have been thinking of watching this movie for a long time. Many people have raved about it but I somehow did not want to watch it. On watching the movie, I realized why. The reason was that I was sure I will not like the movie and sure enough, on watching it I realized I did not like this movie. It cool, sarcastic, funny, different from anything I have seen and all but I did not like this movie. It did not keep me occupied. The only scene I remember is Deadpool killing Ryan Reynold as he read the script of 'Green Lantern'. That scene was funny. I laughed, rewound, watched again and laughed again. I guess that scene alone makes this movieworth watching. 
6. Deadpool 2: Deadpool 1 was interesting and had some good jokes. It should have been a good movie but I did not like it. But to complete the deadpool scene I watched the second part. It been two months since I have seen this movie and I don't remember much of the movie. There is someone who comes from the future and tries to stop someone who ... Oh! How does it matter! This is a generic entertainer that does not deserve all the hype it receives. But I will watch Deadpool 3 when it is released. I guess it's due to FOMO.
7. Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 2: I had seen some parts of this movie many months back but I had dropped off in the middle as there were too many things happening in life and movies were the last thing in my mind. Then I heard that the third part of the movie is really good. I missed watching it in theatres. But I had a chance to watch in the Disney + Hotstar. So I decided to watch that movie but I could not do so without watching the second part. So I watched this. Its a decent movie at best. It is not as interesting at the first or third part. As in third part this gives the backstory of one of the characters but this one is not as interesting as the one in the third part. So its ok-ok. 
8. Guardians of Galaxy Vol. 3: I am not a big fan of the MCU though I have watched many movies of that universe. But Guardian of Galaxy series in one of the best in that universe. Chris Pratt is funny and cool. Zoe Saldaña plays the no nonsense role well. The Racoon, Groot and other big fellow are funny. The part 1 of the series was really good and the songs in the movie are great too. Bringing back the songs of 80s and 90s and making it an integral part of the movie pushed the movie up a notch or two. The third part of the series, is better than the second and is almost as good as the first. The serious back story of one of the characters that runs through the movie gives some heavy material to the movie. It is a good movie to watch, though I don't believe I will watch the movie again (even on OTT).
9. Napolean: At some time in the past, I heard that Ridley Scott is making a movie on Napolean and that Joaquin Phoenix is playing the role of Napolean. I had decided then that I would see the movie in the theatre. Soon the happenings in my life, pushed the movie off my head. I saw its trailer during the screening of "Killers of the Flower Moon". Soon after the movie was released, I watched it, at IMAX. I was warned the movie was disgusting by a friend, but it did not matter. I would have liked the movie if it was another hour longer. Ridley Scott mocked Scorsese about the length of his movie, but I think his own movie suffered due to it being shorter than required. The IMAX experience did not make much of an impression on me. I guess I was engrossed in the movie and the largeness of the screen was forgotten as I watched it.
10. Paatal Lok (season 1): I had heard about this series for long, but did not bother to watch. But after Dahaad I ran out of hindi series that seemed interesting. That's when I remembered about this series and how people raved about it. For some reason, I thought that series was of mythological nature - I mean, involving humans and shaitans in some manner. But the reference to paatal is metaphorical. I was a trifle disappointed but unnecessarily actually. Great series. Kept me at the edge of my seat. It started with a lot of curse words and brutality but as the season proceeded, it started focusing on the story at hand. That does not mean it is not dirty and brutal, its just that it dirtiness and brutality seemed relevant to the story. I loved the fact that the series is about a crime that is foiled. It is a search for the intention. In that sense it is not the thriller where we are looking forward to find the person responsible for the crime. I did not care about the intention behind the crime. All that I was interested in was the way the series was laid out. Of course, the brilliant cast helped in making the series interesting to watch.
11. Wakanda Forever: What a terrible movie! A lot of sentiments that did not affect me at all. Too many cliches. Also, the end credit scenes completely messed the movie. Anyway, I don't have much else to say. The only thing I liked about the movie is the kadi joke based on the movie title that I heard a few months back - If Black Panther sits down, he will never get up, Why? Because okkandha forever.