The Battle of M

The idea has been shelved, and I got so pissed, that I am gonna delete the word document. But I think I have done a good job here, so I am posting my latest screenplay for a two minute short film here.

From the darkness, the scene is revealed.

P.O.V shots

1.         We see the board the The company hanging on the building, to where we are going to get in. The camera looks down to see a gate. The word turns red. A soft, white hand raises and opens the gate slowly. And we hear the voice of a lady.

M

The first time I got in this world, I was petrified. It was new, and it wasn’t easy. I was not the alien in here, but this place was alien to me.

The camera moves forward to show car, beside which sits the two dogs. They both look at the camera, and we see the evil faces appear on them. They are the evil guards.

M

I was greeted by the guards, only, they weren’t just guards.

2.         The camera reveals the stairs towards the office. The camera moves up through the stairs, to the door, which she opens slowly.

M

The journey was not easy. There were hardships, pain, sorrows. But every journey is for a cause. Mine was for a purpose, mine was to meet my destiny. Mine was to fight.

3.         The camera reveals the door to the office, which the hand slowly opens. Inside we see the employees of The company. Each person’s face is revealed to be a devil’s face. A close-up shot of everyone with the evil face.

M

And inside, I met my foes, the perfect opponents. They were waiting for the untainted soul, and I was there for them. They wanted me so bad. The fresh meat, the hot blood. They were looking for all of it.

Everyone stands up and joins as a group with an evil grin on everyone’s face. The main person among them stands forward and raises both his hand with the widest grin ever. He is welcoming her.

M

They wouldn’t let go of me. They wanted my soul. What they didn’t know was one simple thing.

The camera turns around to reveal M, our girl, smiling. A bright light shines around her. She is shown holding a sword. She smiles.

M

That I came prepared.

The scene abruptly jumps to darkness.

M

And it was only the beginning.

Credits

The End

My Grandfather

Hey everyone! This is my new short story, which I have written for Tinkle Digest. This is just an excerpt, and carries a theme of motivation. Please share your views here:

“I don’t know what I always felt about my grandfather, because I never saw him in my life. He had been a freedom fighter in his youths, who stood by Subash Chandra Bose during his early teens, and then joined Gandhi in his fight using the weapon of ahimsa. After the country won its independence, he stayed with the Mahathama, until he got shot and killed.

“Later, he joined the army and served the nation during many important crises, such as the Sino-Indian War of 1962, and later against Pakistan in years 1965, 1971 and finally the famous Kargil war in 1999. In course of time he won numerous ranks and medals, but the first and last time I ever saw him was when he was in a casket, buried with all the pride and love from the countrymen who he tried to protect.

“I still remember when my father was asked to receive the folded Indian flag and a golden medal, the famous Paramveer Chakara for his services. My father held it with pride, while his heart was burning with loss. He didn’t dare to look into the casket again.

“I was asked to burn his body, and I did. Being his only grandson, I was given the right to do the last rites for him. But what I never understood was the whole purpose behind the act. I could never understand why he had to fight for 50 crore people, and why he died for them. There was no purpose.

“As I grew up, I started to learn more about my country. Nothing made sense. People were born, people die. In between they live for no purpose. It made no sense to me. The way I saw it, I was the charioteer of my own ride.

“Things were not meant to be simple. Let me describe my locality. I live in a colony with a group of other families. We have a drainage running in front of everyone’s house, which had be stagnated for years. The municipality would always promise about coming over to clean up the mess and make the drainage run smoothly, but those were false calls from them. I mean, who would enter the sewage to clean someone else’s waste?

“Next to our colony is the busy slum of Mumbai, which is also the living place for many people. Everyday when I walk to school I see kids beg for alms, people working for the least of wages and women trying all sorts of things to feed their babies. It was not a chaotic situation. It was just a typical India, where people can never make a move for themselves and expects someone else to do it for them. I pitied them, I always did.
“Questions about my grandfather giving up his life for nothing, and the living styles of thousands of people around me always confused me. I just wanted to escape this country. And so it was decided that after graduation I would leave for London for an elegant life. My parents could not make think otherwise.”

Are we free yet?

Are we living in a free country? What is freedom? Today I came across a variety of incidents, which weren't new to me, and won’t be for you either. But they still make me wonder, are we free yet?

MORNING:
I had taken an early train to Thrissur, and it wasn't an easy one, especially since I was working late in my office. (No, it wasn't a hectic night; I was working on my own works). I didn't have anything to read, and the magazine I bought carried all the stories I have read earlier (except for Alicia Souza's Fact File).

I had a seat right from the start, because it was Independence Day, and I was at the first bogey, in which were very few men, and not a single lady (expedition shattered big time). And why weren't there much people? I realized it only after the train started. All of those men were drunk. They had a good reason to do so too. It was Independence Day, some of them may have got their bonus, and some of them might have saved up some money. Anyways...all of them were drunk.

They still had bottles in their hands. No matter how much the price rise for any other useful stuff such as vegetables and rice, they wouldn't raise a protest or think about making more money. But when it come s to liquor, no one can be a better conservative than a typical Malayalee.

One person even puked right in front of me. So as the train reach the Edapilly station, I got off to get into a better berth, where there were many families. I sat in one of the vacant seats, and silently continued to read my book, with my thoughts wandering around the first compartment I got in. Drinks and money makes men wicked, not forget a thirsty penis as well. And yet, there are no rules against it. Interesting country we all live in.

NOON:
I finished my session with Muthachchan by around 1:30 and started back to the station. It was a long walk to the station, which I decided to take. It may sound a foolish decision, but when it comes to walking and taking a bus, I mostly prefer to walk. For the same reason, you wouldn't find me carrying more than a hundred bucks at a time. The mere thought of spending it will stop me from taking a bus, and it will usually help me go ahead.

Coming back to that noon, I had a long walk to take, and of the many buildings I had to pass, one was a textile showroom which had put up signs of Onam discounts and such. The big textile showroom clearly didn't have much of a parking space, but the worst part was that all the vehicles were being gathered right on the road, creating at least a minute long chaos in every three minutes.

I didn't have to ask anyone why there was such chaos. The police were there to control the mob. But the clear violation of rules was silently suppressed by the people visiting the showroom and the law enforcers standing there. And why shouldn't they? Laws are meant to be broken, not to mend anything broken. I didn't have anything to say there, so I just walked further to the station.

AFTERNOON:
By the time I reached the station, I was tired. I purchased a ticket to Ernakulam and walked towards the bridge that could take me to platform No. 1. Now here is a funny part about me. I like long walks, but when it comes to climbing stairs, I am worse than a sloth.

On the stairs I saw a young lady, a nomad, crying in broken Hindi to a guy next to her, who was clearly drunk. I am not good with Hindi, though I do understand what people speak. Ad with my understanding, I gathered out that she was crying because she was hungry. She had hundred rupees saved for herself, which the guy next to her, probably her husband, took for his daily drinks. The guy was smirking silently, and the woman was crying badly.

Now, I am not a hero, and I only had 70 bucks left. So I walked ahead, as did the hundreds before and after me, except for one. A girl perhaps, or a woman, I am not sure. She was really angry, and said, "All you men can do is stare, pity and then walk away. Couldn't you do anything about this woman?"

People were now looking at her, and so did I. I smiled as she opened her purse and took a hundred rupee note. I knew what was going to happen next. As she handed the note to the lady, the man next to her grabbed the money and walked away nicely. The woman was stunned, and the young lady cried more. All the men laughed, and I clearly heard one person say in Malayalam, "We don't give money to drunkards."

Clearly the woman didn't know what she should do next, so she too looked at the lady pathetically and walked away, and the lady was still crying. I remembered about the packet of biscuits I had bought that morning. I wasn't particularly feeling hungry, so I knew what I had to do.

I gave the lady the packet of biscuits, which she opened up quickly. I expected her to eat first, but what followed stunned me. What none of us noticed earlier was a little kid lying on her lap all along, into which's mouth she put those biscuits. At times she too would eat, but she made sure the child was eating well.

I was standing at a railway platform, with people, who all see this and walk away. I am no different from them. Even I do not taken necessary actions, and if I didn't have a set of spare biscuits, I wouldn't do that either. The question shot back in me.....are we free yet?

EVENING:
I boarded my train, and in the next two hours I reached Ernakulam. Life was normal, life was stupid.

CONCLUSION:
I am no good man, and I no evil. I am just a common man, who watches others and take no steps. And later on, come back to Facebook and complain about it. I, like the other billion Indians, am nothing but an attention seeker. But sometimes it is necessary to speak out the truth.

The question I need to ask you people is...are we free yet? What is freedom? If people are to starve, if people are to follow injustice, if people are to be abusive and drunk all their lives, if people are to be unproductive by all means, if the true potential of the country is meant to be hidden under the lust of sex, money and drugs, where is freedom? What was it that our ancestors fought for? What are we doing?

I don't know what you should do; it is something you should decide. I know what I should do, and I will do it. Gandhi has done his part, Bhagat Singh, Azad, Nehru, Mangal Pandey...they all have done their part. Every individual are to do their part. What are you doing? The least one should ask to the self is....are we free yet?

Image Courtesy: Subin (https://www.facebook.com/ArtistSubinkalarickal)

Short Film NJAN

While the story is by my friend Hari, I handled the dialogues and screenplay for this short film, which we have named Njan. Here is the first scene of the short film. Please give me your reviews:


We see the words NJAN… appear on screen, which fade to set the story to begin.

Scene. 1: Int. Srinath’s Bed room, Early Morning

As the morning rays shine through the open window, we see a big and spacious bedroom,
with all kind of luxuries one can find. The bed in itself in huge, and on it lies a man with
a woman. The lady is young, we don’t have to know her name. The man is but the one we
have to know. The camera pans on to him:

Narrator

Njaan aarenno njaan enthinnu vannuvenno ennikku ariyilla.

Njaan innu ivide undu. Nalle evide undaavum ennu

ennikkariyilla. Kallathinte mattachakrathil, mikapozhum

njaan oru baliyadu mathramaannu. Ennal mattulavarude

kannil, njan oru aravumrigham mathramaanu.

The man opens his eyes and looks around. He wakes up and stirs around. His hands
are about to touch the girl he is lying beside to, but he makes sure he doesn’t touch
her. Instead, he slowly wakes up, and reaches his hands for the purse lying on the table
nearby. He picks it up, takes a few thousand rupee notes out of it, and throws it over her.
He then stands up and walks towards the camera.

Narrator

Penninum padhavikkum enthe munnil oru villa mathrame

ullu. Haram pidikunna vasthukkalkku njaan thane

vilayidum. Chilla samayangallil chorayil aayirikkum

vilayiruthunathu. Innum njaan oru villayittu. Enthe

karmathinnu njan itta peru marannam, vila…oru kodi.

The three types of people and fear - Part 2

Now that the three kinds of people have been generalized, let us see what drives them off towards and away from their course. The course, as is well known by the general people, is the goal or the desire to move ahead for many. From having a toy to winning a Nobel Prize can all come under the same desire.

The goal is always a far side view, and the path towards it always a tarnished or unattended one. With the many kind of people around, majority being dull and drawn away from reality, one always faces the negativity of an action they have to take.

How come the society be driven away from reality when they are actually living it? This is the crazy part. Reality is where one accepts the turmoil and moves forward to defeat them. But with growing time, not many get the courage to act as such. They tend to live in a false reality which consists of false safety and security. The worst is when they try to impart their crooked and tarnished wisdom to others. And just as a virus multiplies into many, the false reality is thus imparted into the developing minds, getting them into the troubled stage of decision making.

What is courage? Courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to get over it. Fear and courage mutually coexists, just as good and bad. One has to realize that fear is not the factor that draws one from success, but the lack of courage to overcome it that draws them back. Fearing God and respecting him are thus two different things; when you fear God, you live under the delusions of mortals, while when you respect Him, you are under His direct protection. Unfortunately the words have tarnished so badly by the many generations before us, and they sure will do so later too.

With this kind of trouble over them, they come over to the stage of making a decision, and slowly the three kind of fear surfaces and grips them by their throat. Napoleon Hills has describes many kinds of fears, and Eackhart Tolle has stated these as reasons of drawing oneself from the present. But here I am only going to point out the three major fears that bring people down.

Fear of pain

This is perhaps the least known fear for many, but for those who had faced it tend to keep away from it. This is one thing people with sportsman spirit overcome, for it takes a great deal of courage to overcome it. Once inflicted with pain, people fear to face the trouble or anything similar to it. A small love failure can cause a man to run away from someone who actually loves him. Being cheated in business can cause him to start working under someone else. Fear of pain is so powerful, and yet the weakest of the three major causes of fear I am going to state.

Fear of loss

Fear of loss is a different kind of fear, which mostly caused by losing something. If being in pain and losing something are mutually interactive, then why are both different? Because pain can be overcome by experiencing the whole thing again, but fear of loss is something that can causes turmoil in the human minds. When one has lost something, mind tends to seek protection from everything around him, while fear causes mind to seek protection from that particular instance alone. This can in turn create mystical tragedy in the person’s life too.  

Fear of the bad

This fear is very much important, because it doesn’t require experience of anything ill. The bad can be anything which you have only heard of from a friend, seen through television or anything as such, but never experienced for one self. But as soon as you have heard of it, mind develops a precautionary stage that can stop you from attempting it. If you hear about a person choking to death while eating spaghetti, mind doesn’t tell ‘Man! That’s unexpected!’ Instead it says ‘Man! It could’ve been you!’

I am sure you have met people who have said similar sentences to you. ‘He died while riding his bike. What of it were us?’ ‘Why do you have to go out at night? Didn’t hear that a girl was raped over there? You could be next!’ Inflicting fear of the bad is the easiest thing anyone can do it, and you may not even have come across it.

The fear of the bad is the worst to come across, for it can prevent you from being creative or productive. It can kill you off the roots. But yet there are people who develop the courage and acts according to what their hearty says. Steve Jobs had once said, “Listen to your instincts (heart) and do accordingly, for some reason it knows what is right for you.” He is right. Mind wants you to be safe; heart wants you to be happy. Happiness can be obtained only if one gets over fear.

So if you want to start a business venture, the first thing you have to do is shut your ears from everyone and your own mind, and open the doors of your heart. If you want to ask a girl out, don’t think, just do it. If you want to have a start-up., just start it up. You are the beginning and end of your life, no external factor should design who you are and what you can do, because the external factors are only meant to throw stones when you are sinned and praise you when you are hailed.

They who have the courage to face the indefinite can meet up with what they want. They who want to take the road not taken should just take them. As they say in the Alchemist, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in making it come true.” Believe in what you want to do, and just do it.

Remember the words from the poem Invictus, the favorite poem of Nelson Mandela: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.”

Repeat with me: I shall not give up for anyone’s influence. This is my life, this is my choice, this is my dream, and I shall not step back till I win my dream.

Success shall be yours.

My references:

1.      Power of Now: Eackhart Tolle

2.      Think and Grow Rich: Napoleon Hills

3.      Invictus: William Ernest Henley

4.      The Alchemist: Paulo Coelho

5.      The Road Not Taken: Robert Frost

The three types of people and fear - Part 1

Let me start with a personal note. I was watching the famous Harishchandrachi Factory, a Marathi movie based on the famous man Phalke, the father of Indian Film Industry. I was so inspired from his life for he never gave up even in the toughest situation, and always smiled ahead of his troubles. The true story was so fascinating, but I got depressed as soon as I had a word about it to my mother. She suddenly quoted, “He is an idiot! What did he do apart from making movies? Back then it must have been possible, now it isn’t. His wife was a fool, he was a fool. Don’t learn from him.”

The whole conversation made me feel really bad, but later on I started to think deep about what she said. It was right around the time when I finished reading the famous book THINK AND GROW RICH by Napoleon Hills, which discussed about the fears faced by people and ways of successes anyone could achieve. Combining both the experiences, here I am, discussing the basic insecurities faced by people before any venture. Before starting, let me define the three kinds of people around us.

You know these people. You had been around them, and you are one of them. Who you are may be defined by the choice you take over what you want to do. The famous quote from the movie BATMAN BEGINS that says ‘It is not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you’ is a statement well said and true by all means. Unless you are keen to show who you underneath, the world will define you on how you act in front of them. And in the general mode, we can define people into three.

Before getting ahead, let me state one more thing. These categorizations is purely something derived from my own context, fairly based on Napoleon Hills quotes and several other autobiographies, as those of Gandhi, Anne Frank, Jawaharlal Nehru and so on. Your concept over people may vary. The categorization that I am going to make is purely based upon moments when once has to take decisions.

With these in mind, let me start. You know people around you, and you know how you are to the rest of the world. Generalizing the whole lot, the three divisions of people are:

1) The Weak

These are people who are condemned to live the life in darkness, for they do not possess the courage to do what they have to do. Unfortunately, for these people, fate is much drawn by an internal negative force. They develop their insecurities by themselves and lie within the solitude walls, which condemn them to not move forward. There may be extreme talent within them, but they shall never posses the courage to break the walls and come out to the real world. These can also be people who live within the walls and are not able to see what lies out for them, thinking that what they have is what the best is. But their condition is not as worse as the second type of people.

2) The Downthrown

Now this category is quite special, for they possess the will to break free, but not the courage. These people, unfortunately comprises, the majority of people, which statistically counts to around 80% (13% held by the former category). The downthrown are those mostly influenced by the external negative force, which mostly includes the ones around them. The influence and power the downthrown gives to the one around them greatly affects the further decision they are meant to take for their lives. When this happens they are forced to live a life SUGGESTED by others, and regret in the end of their lives. As painful as it seems, unfortunately most of us follow this suite. The weak when possess the pain for them, the downthrown are forced to take decisions and made to live a cowardly life. And thus we call the third category The Strong.

3) The Strong

Now statistically this category holds just 7% and consists of the least number of people like them. But these are the movers of the society and developers of the world. They call themselves creative artists, innovators and what not, while all they do is listen to their heart ALONE and do what THEY FEEL IS RIGHT, which is a very important aspect for because when 7 out of hundred people stand up against the rest of the world, they are actually helping the rest 93 person by doing so. They defy rules, create charismas suit up for the good. It is these people that one has learned about in their textbooks, heard about from others with envy, seen through videos and felt through their acts of valor and just. Believe it or not, if you go through their life stories you will find one common link…listening to your heart.

Now that the three kinds of people are known, we can see the three types of fears that capture the heart of people. Stay tuned with us…

Screw the educational system

I am not a man against education; if I were, I would not have gone further into seeking knowledge. I am planning to take a different course so that I can learn what I want to learn. No, I am not against education, but I am a man against the present educational system, prevailing in, if I am right, India and Britain primarily.

When I was in school, there were moral ethics. I knew the difference between right and wrong. When teachers taught me, I would be able to grasp them and understand them to the fullest. School was a time when I could learn something more from books.

By the time I reached college, the whole education morality had started to crumble in front of me. Studying was to get marks, so that one could get to a company, make money, get a family, secure their future. The importance of trying to understand what is being taught had diminished within many of my fellow mates, and so it did in me. I was eager to know more, but I realized I was not going to understand a word because I had taken a course not of my choice. So I blamed myself as I left college, four years later.

But now when I am typing this, I have to say that I am quite dissatisfied by the present educational system. What I faced in college was in fact a virus that had spread to schools too. Everyone wants to pass, and get to a college. No, they do not Want to take a low course, but only engineering and medicines (and if not both, at the best, CA). Why they wanted to learn, nobody knew the answer except the common statement ‘To get a job’.

We have heard of many successful people, but most of them were not oriented towards education alone. They were oriented to knowledge, wisdom, understanding, talent, imagination and courage. Earlier educational system could provide these factors, but now the educational system has got itself oriented towards getting marks and later jobs.

People have forgotten to live in this course of life. Life is not about simply getting a job and making money, it is about doing what you want to do. There is a quote in the super hit movie 3 Idiots ‘Never run behind success, run behind perfection. Success will come behind you.’ Alas, the movie has not been able to make an impact in today’s generation.

Life is not about getting marks. When you are asked to learn Shakespeare’s ‘Julius Ceaser’, you are not expected to simply understand the grammatical points and the thought of the author, but you are meant to see what you feel when you read them. When you do a problem in Maths, it is not just to study, but to understand the importance of Maths in day to day life (apart from counting the missing amount from your salary).

There is a lot to learn about than to get educated. Break out the chains, you are not meant to be in the constraints. Choose a course of your desire, live life the way you want. Do what you like to do. Never listen to what others have to say. If you are not to listen yourself, then how can you expect the world to respond to you?

Your life, your choice.

And to the present educational system…screw yourself! You are allowed to tamper the creativity and enthusiasm in the new generation, for they are the ones to bring out a change. Education should never be to get marks, but to learn, about everything, and about life. Education should not be about certificates, because one can never be judged with a piece of paper. (If you have doubts on that, check the life of Henry Ford, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and many as such, including Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison).

Life is to learn, understand and move ahead of time, not to get good marks so that you can end up in a cubicle. I know Venkatesh who studied well and now works for a power-plant, because he loved doing it, and I know many others who took the course because it was a better option. I know Nirmal KS, Sajeesh, Bhavin and many such who got arrears but ended up with a great job and post because they liked ding what they wanted to do, and I know people who are sulking in jobs they don’t like to do. And I know myself, for I have broken the constraints, and the whole team of my company who think the same. What you want to do is a choice.

Life and death is a choice of man, and so is how to live and how to die.