Night journey in A train- A still camera Version

That was my first journey in train after I had reached enough consciousness. I can recollect that night where I stayed slumber less, watching the drifting and fading lights. When I travel in trains during night, reminiscence of that day enters my mind... evoking inexplicable delight and varied emotions insubconscious mind that I cant etch out.

I wrote this in one of my early blog stories, and still night journey in train is same as the one I did first time in my life. I tried to capture a few moments into my cam and I made it into a video. Just watch it

music copied from dreamland by Robert Miles

Roaring sea

A few days back, I skipped my office , and that was a rainy day... I went to see the roaring turbulent sea, and enjoyed it.. Here a few clippings

Abba

I listened to this song by Abba two days back....
I am confused, about whom they have written?


They came flying from far away, now I'm under their spell
I love hearing the stories that they tell
They've seen places beyond my land and they've found new horizons
They speak strangely but I understand

And I dream I'm an eagle
And I dream I can spread my wings

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please

As all good friends we talk all night, and we fly wing to wing
I have questions and they know everything
There's no limit to what I feel, we climb higher and higher
Am I dreaming or is it all real?

Is it true I'm an eagle?
Is it true I can spread my wings?

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky
(I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly
(What a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please

And I dream I'm an eagle
And I dream I can spread my wings

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky
(I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly
(What a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas

Flying high, high, I'm a bird in the sky
(I'm an eagle)
I'm an eagle that rides on the breeze
High, high, what a feeling to fly
(What a feeling)
Over mountains and forests and seas
And to go anywhere that I please

A few Experimental pics-Toy images

toy house

My baby girl

Train, meadow, and garden

Sea and the Sky

Leather Dolls

Adrienne Pal

Its not merriment, dance and celebrations life is always about. Inside the dingy, white, and dull, walls of hospital where pain, blood, illness, and ultimately death play the games in its own ways. No wonder those who work in hospitals are emotionless and unmoved.

The film “Adrienne Pal” directed by Agne Kocsis travels through this world where, the painful event in average man’s life creates no feelings. The movie starts with the frigid face of a lift operator in front of a dead body, with a radio playing songs without any breaks. But when we go into the film the heroin Piroska herself is the embodiment of indifference and she is always unemotional through out the film. Eva Gabor who portrayed the extremely obese Piroska needs great appreciation in conveying the emotionless, monotonous life of a nurse in a terminal ward. She has very well succeeded in imparting the cold impassive life she has in hospital and in her private life. Its heart touching to see her, often watching the nursing room with full of ECG monitors, surrounded by the beeping sound as if in a Dolby theatre. Always she has a cream pastry in her hand and we can see her eating. What else she could do? When she is tensed, she wants to have sex, there’s nothing else other than eating makes her relieved. The monotonous co habitation with her boyfriend also failed to bring colours in her life. It is torturing to see the alienated Piroska in the movie. The movie somehow reminded the poem “Tulips” written by Sylvia Plath.

In between, a Patient named “Adrienne Pal” brought back the memories about an old school time friend with the same name, which in fact topples her day to day life. She sets off to find her long lost friend. While tracing her, she searches her own memories, and she reaches into an embarrassment when others recollect their memories. She becomes confused who is correct? She or the others? The journey created havocs in her life. Her boyfriend left her suspecting she is in search of another boyfriend. No one can forget the scene of heavyhearted Piroska, when she listens to the phone message left by her boyfriend saying he is leaving her. Cold and indifferent she lays down the sofa to live her life alone. Finally when she confirms that Adrianne Pal is alive and your eyes will be filled wit tears when Piroska is shown gazing in dilemma as if she should call or not. She drops the contact no into the box of memories without making a call and in the hospital she sinks down into the voice of her own heart’s ECG sound, and monitor. A journey back into her routine life.

The nursing care scenes are absolutely true to the core. No one can be blamed if someone believes Eva Gabor is a nurse, because the way Piroska doing it is thoroughly professional. You can “smell” the hospital if you watch the movie. I bet. And there is no background score in the movie (Hats off to the sensible director). The “thadar” sound of Piroska’s sandals and the ECG monitor replace the background score.

There is a stunning scene showing a miniature town, where working models of train and buses hover. The camera simulates a bird’s eye vision, or a sky shot taken in helicopter, where the camera goes above the town as a whole. The camera shows the train running through the city, bus speeding up through the road, crossing tennis ground, hills, sky high flats and apartments lit up beautifully, and hills and valleys, which finally ends up in a railway station, when two trains stop in the station and we will be just mesmerized to see at the end when camera shows Piroska casually watching the trains running through the town with unimaginable tranquillity.

Piroska, you brought a new meaning to the indifferent emotionless life. To the journeys through memories. You taught life is not always colourful and full of joy.
Kudoos to Eva Gabor as well.

Jesus's Christmas Tree

Christmas is the season of Christmas tree, and carol songs. For me they bring back the life of a mentally unstable man Named “Baby” (Those who know English will laugh at this, but it’s a common name in our state), who was a neighbour and an active member of our church. His father was a pastor in our church years back, even before my birth. Baby had one younger brother and sister each. Sister named Mary was a chronic mental patient. All of them were unmarried and they all lived together in the same house.

It was too pathetic to be addressed as a house. A tiled roof erected on four brick made pillars. Thatched walls, up to the lintel level and the rest open. Rooms were separated by plastic sheet. Cold wind of December and rain of monsoon gave them their due on their respective seasons. That was the only house there with no electricity. I never knew how they managed to live. Baby earned a living by doing manual labour work for neighbours, and most of them often fooled him by not giving proper wages.

During Christmas season, 23rd and 24th of December every year will be the days dedicated for Carol singing. It will start by 7 'o' clock in the evening and end by 6 am in the next day. Whole night we will be singing.

And that was the only time, I used to visit his home, to take him to church, because both of us used to go together to church for joining the carol singers.

When someone visited his house, he used to become too nervous, biting nails, walking here and there, keep on talking nonsense, singing what ever comes to his mouth and so on. I used to sit on his bed, covered with ragged cloth. No mattress, no mat nothing. Just torn away cloths. He knew how to play flute, and there he used to play it saying “I will play this song this time”

One Christmas season, when I visited his home to take him to church, I saw News paper rags spread all around his bed. In reply to my question he told “I will show you”, and led me to the front side of his house. There was a small tree, which was decorated by the news paper rags in an untidy manner, fluttering with least aesthetic sense. On top a faded pinched star hanged like a reminder of his poverty, which he had collected from somebody’s backyard dust bin. I sensed out a mild pain growing inside my heart caused by watching the attempts made by him to make his Christmas merry , and thought of giving some colour crape papers to decorate his tree, which I couldn’t do.

And on that night, just before the carol singers reaching his home, he went to his home. And when we were there, we were astonished to see Baby mad and perplexed like anything, busy in lighting candles from top to bottom of the tree decorated with paper rags. At one stage I feared whether he would burn his house, as it was thatched, which was so easy to catch fire. He was nervous, running around the tree. The papers hanging around caught fire, which he himself extinguished. But the Christmas tree was brilliantly beautiful in spite of the worst and least decorations. He was uttering something in a low voice, and others were a bit frightened to see all these. And a few even asked to blew off the candles fearing his house would catch fire, because the tree was almost near to his house.

That was the only beautiful Christmas tree I have ever seen, which Jesus might have visited and enjoyed. Each and every Christmas season, stars, and Christmas trees remind me of Baby and his impoverished Christmas tree. Baby died last year in an asylum, with no one to recognize, and look after, was buried like a stranger in some cemetery.

The moment which gave me a shock , and think about the biblical human values even I myself hold was that, when an official from the asylum called our church to make arrangement for his burial, our church pastor, and church wardens told them,

“We don’t know anyone named like that, and there is no such a member in this church”.

International Film Festival Kerala

I have been busy watching the films screened in the 15the international film festval kerala, held in Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala. Around 150 films were screened in 10 theatrs and I really enjoyed the 15 films I watched.some of them went into my heart like a beautifully written story or novel.

German, French, Kyrgistan, Austrian, Belgium, Croatian, Finland,Columbian, Egyptian,Russian,Hungarian, Spanish Flemnco, Hindi And finally one English movie made my Festival complete.

I like to post some reviews in my blog later.

Bull Dance Festival

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD

And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing

and.....( watch the video, and dont forget to use your ear phone or speakers)

Fortified Views

Golkonda fort views, from Hyderabad, India.