Lost Heritage

I hope you all agree with me that the Indian economy is booming. We have plenty of money at our disposal, which was a distant dream just 5 or 6 years back. Pay-scales are increasing year-by-year. Opportunities are opening up for the young and talented. The world is just like “You dream, you work, you achieve”. Innovative ideas are being appreciated and paid all over the world.
But beneath all these green pastures is the danger of forgetting our culture! You have everything now but still you are missing the simple joys that come by doing your favourite things (you might have even forgotten about your interests by now). Just try to answer the following questions:
1. When did you last go to a temple alone?
2. When did you last see a teenage girl wearing a half-saree?
3. When did you last visit your native village/town?
4. When did you last eat our traditional snacks like kaarappoosa, gorumiti, kajjikai, mysorepak etc?
5. When did you last read any book that’s written in your regional language with interest (not for time pass)?
6. When did you prostrate before your elders?
I don’t mean that you should do all these so as to follow our culture. These are just some of the huge list of the examples of our lost heritage. Just close your eyes for a few moments and try to imagine your childhood. Imagine the days you spent at your grand-parents’ house. Imagine the days when you used to play with a bunch of friends. Imagine the games you used to play with them. Imagine being scolded by neighbours for trying to steal guavas and mangoes from their backyards. Imagine the happiness in your face when you see all the family members gathered at your grand-parents’ house for festivals. Imagine the feel of cool evening breeze blowing mildly on your face while playing in the fields. Some of these things are done even better now. But is there the purity of the past in these things now?
Holidays, for elders, are being spent lying around in bed or working extra hours for extra bucks while holidays, for children, are being spent in special coaching centres for personality development etc. Are your parents not happy with what they used to get in their days? Did you ever need summer camps in your childhood? Is this because of the lack of outdoor activities for children? Do the play-stations and X-boxes help your kids to build team morale and the physical exercise that we used to get in the games we played in our childhood?
An average person is thinking twice to eat rice with pure ghee (the reason stated at this juncture is mostly the fat content) while he/she eats a burger with a whole slice of cheese without a second thought. This is just a small example to show that the mindsets of the people are changing.
My sincere advice is to try to follow any of the following things by taking a small break from your routine works:
1. Visit a village-side in your free time and enjoy the simplicity
2. Go to a peaceful place that’s untouched by the sounds of the motors and try to listen the sounds of nature.
3. Pluck and eat a fresh fruit from a tree in the neighbouring field on the road-side without anyone noticing.
4. Sit in the cool shade of a tree and enjoy your favourite book or music.
5. Sit on the riverside and enjoy the feel of the breeze tickling your face.
6. If it’s not possible to go to a village, just go to the city outskirts and visit a movie theatre where some old movie’s playing.
These, all, are possible for us and are in our reach except for the fact that we make ourselves busy and think that doing something to please your heart is purely a wastage of time. In this busy world, buying yourself your dream bike is very simple but sparing a few minutes for your inner joys is very tough. All I say is:

“It is your destiny. Only you have the right and potential to change it”.

నీ తలపులు

పాలుగారే పాపాయిలు
గుర్తుచేస్తారు నువ్వింకా నాతోనే ఉన్నావని
నిర్మలమైన నీలాకాశం
గుర్తుకుతెస్తుంది మన పరిచయం మచ్చలేనిదని
చల్లని పండు వెన్నెల
గుర్తుచేస్తుంది నీ తలపులు నను వీడిపోలెదని
గలగల పారే సెలయేరు
గుర్తుచెస్తుంది నీ అందెల సవ్వడి నా గుండెలోనే పొదిగి ఉన్నదని
దూరాన కూసే కోయిల
గుర్తుచేస్తుంది నీ మధురభాషణలు నా మదిలో మారుమోగుతున్నాయని
ప్రియా, ఎందుకు నను వీడిపొవు?
లేక కలలోనైనా ఓసారి కనిపించవూ?

EVIL DEAD

As stated in my previous posts, horror movies have become a must in my weekend schedules. This weekend, I decided to buy something old and effective instead of all those new and boring flicks. So I bought the ever green “Evil Dead” series. I’ve already seen all the parts but it’s been long back and when I saw it, I was too young to understand it completely. So, last night, I watched the first part quite eagerly. Even though the ghosts looked a bit comic, it has its very own thrills and chills. The makeup seemed to be one of the worst(this movie’s pretty old), but maybe its the best of its times. The camera work and sound effects are fairly good enough to compete with the modern day techniques.
Coming to the story of this movie, it’s about five youngsters, two males and three females, who plan for a holiday in a deserted farmhouse in the woods. They reach their destination after a near-miss accident. They find a hidden cellar which contains a book bound with human flesh, a tape player, a gun and some other random items. The tape contains the voice of a man who claims to be investigating the evil forces. The voice recites some chants which can bring the evil forces into life. And the rest is history……. You can watch the movie, if you give value to the sound effects rather than the ghost visuals, on a lazy evening with a couple of friends.
By-the-way, does any of you know that the writer and director of this movie is the acclaimed Sam Raimi(the Spiderman fame)??????

Chandamama

Can you remember your childhood? I can remember a lot about it but I seldom think about it. Then, there was this little thing which made me recollect most of my childhood days and feel light at heart. This thing or this book, to be precise, can seen at almost every bookshop in India but we rarely notice it. This is the “Chandamama” book. It’s a monthly magazine that was every child’s (at least in my generation and before) dream book. In my childhood, I used to look forward for the day it reaches the local library so that I can read it before my friends. As days passed by, TV and comics took its place and also with the increase of study burden (hahahahaha), I lost track of it.
It was only after I came to Bahrain that I restarted my relation with it. Each book shop selling Indian magazines and books get some of these but the Telugu edition comes in a very less number. I made a pact with one the shop owner to keep one aside for me as they get sold out like hot cakes. Now, the book is more like a childhood friend for me rather than just a book. It helps me to be in pursuit of being a true Indian. The best part of my relation with this book is I don’t keep it with me once I finish reading it but I circulate this as much as I can among the children I knew so that it helps them build their morale and remind them of their roots.
People who don’t know about this book might be wondering at this juncture about this book. It’s nothing but a compilation of short stories for children paired with a couple of serials and some interesting facts along with a little dose of general knowledge. The best part of this book, according to me, is the “Vikram-Bethaal” stories. This series is running from the day one I started reading Chandamama. I don’t know when this series started but this the first story I read in every Chandamama. This series is a compilation of short stories with a moral question at the end and a wonderful answer to this question.
And finally, do you know that this book completed 60 years in July, this year????? This is definitely a genuine landmark for the great book. I hope this book celebrates many more occasions like this. Long live, Chandamama.

కుళ్ళు జోకులు

మొన్న ఒక సారి నా ఫ్రెండు ఒకమ్మాయికి ఫొన్ చేసినప్పుడు ఏవో మాటల మధ్య “నా మెయిల్ ఆఫీస్ లో ఎవరూ లేనప్పుడు చదువ్. లేక పొతే కంపు వచ్చి చస్తారు” అన్నా. దానికి తను విరగ బడి నవ్వేసి “మీరు ఇంక ఆ కుళ్ళు జోకులు ఆపరా?” అంది(ఏదో నవ్వు రానట్టు). ఆవతలి వాళ్ళు అలా నవ్వుతుంటే మనమెలా ఆపుతాం? అప్పుడే సరదాగా ఈ బ్లాగులో కుళ్ళు జోకుల గురించి రాద్దాం అనుకున్నా.

నవ్వు నాలుగు విధాల చేటు అన్నారు కొందరు. కాని అదే నవ్వు నలభయ్ విధాల మంచిది అంటున్నారు శాస్త్రవేత్తలు. మనం నవ్వామా లేదా అన్నాది ముఖ్యం గాని ఎలా నవ్వు వచ్చింది అన్నాది ముఖ్యం కాదు. నవ్వటం ఒక కళ ఏమో గాని నవ్వించడం అంత కంటే పెద్ద కళ. ఏ మధ్య కాలంలో బాగా ప్రాచుర్యం లోకి వచ్చింది “కుళ్ళు జోకులు”. నన్నడిగితే ఇవి వెయ్యడానికి ఎంత టాలెంట్ కావాలో ఒక్కో సారి ఇవి మనసారా ఆస్వాదించడానికి కూడా అంతే టాలెంట్ కావాలి.

ఆసలు ఈ కుళ్ళు జోకులంటే ఏమిటి? కొంచెం హాస్యం, కొంచెం వ్యంగ్యం కలిపి వేసే జోకులు కొన్ని ఉంటాయి. ఇవి వేసినప్పుడు కొంచెం కంపు వస్తాయి గనక వీటిని కుళ్ళు జోకులని అంటారు. అవతలి వాళ్ళు ఇందులో ఉన్న సున్నితమైన హాస్యాన్ని గుర్తిస్తే పర్లేదు. కాని వ్యంగ్యాన్ని పట్టించుకుంటే మాత్రం గొడవలు ఐపొతాయి. అందుకే వీటికి సమయం, సందర్భం(టైమింగ్) చాలా ముఖ్యం. ఇవి వెయ్యటానికి కావల్సిన లక్షణాలు
1. కొంచెం చతురత
2. కొంచెం వ్యంగ్యం
3. కొంచెం టైమింగ్
4. కొంచెం లోకజ్ఞ్యానం ….. మొదలైనవి
ఇప్పుడు మచ్చుకి కొంచెం కుళ్ళు కంపుని ఆస్వాదిద్దాం….. అదేనండి, కొన్ని కుళ్ళు జోకులు వేసుకుందాం.
1. మొన్నో రోజు జిం లో ఏవో మాటల మధ్య మా కోచ్ “Enjoy sir. Today is your day” అన్నాడు. దానికి నేను అదోల మొహం పెట్టి “what is this, sir? I thought today’s Thursday, right?” అన్నా. పాపం, అప్పుడు చూడాలి అతని మొహం…..
2. మా ఆఫీస్ లో ఒకాయన పచ్చి శాఖాహారి. ఏవో మాటల మధ్య నన్ను కూడా మాంసాహారం మానెయ్యమన్నాడు. కొన్ని రోజుల తరువాత మానేసావా అని అడిగాడు. దానికి నేను “మానేసాను సార్. నిన్న రాత్ర్రి నుండి తినలేదు” అన్నా. గురూగారు మళ్ళీ నాకు ఏమన్నా సలహా ఇస్తే ఒట్టు.
3. క్రితం వారం తెలుగు కళా సమితి లో ఏదో ప్రొగ్రాం ఉందని వెళ్ళాం. వచ్చేటప్పుడు ఇంకొకతన్ని మాతో రమ్మన్నాం. తను నడిచి వెల్లిపొతాను అన్నడు. అప్పుడు మావాడొకడు “పర్లేదు సార్, వచ్చెయ్యండి. డిక్కీ ఖాళీయే” అన్నాడు.

పైన చెప్పినవి ఏవీ పెద్ద సూపర్ జోకులేమీ కాదు. అయినా అవి వేసే టైమింగ్ ని బట్టి అద్బుతం గా పేలతాయి. అందుకే కుళ్ళు జోకులు అమర్ రహే!!!!!!!

SAW

Watching horror and thriller flicks has almost become an obsession for me in the recent past. One horror movie every weekend is a ritual for me. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen quite a big list of these but nothing could really satisfy my thirst for a good horror movie – something which scares me and entertains me at the same time.

Two nights back, I brought SAW on rental. I’ve heard quite a few praises for the movie but somehow I’ve no interest in this movie. So as usual, around 10 PM, I started watching it. Immediately, I forgot all the surroundings and switched off my mobile. Something told me that this is the one. You can’t call it a complete horror movie but it’s a horrific thriller. I never heard of the director or any of the cast of the movie (except Danny Glover) but still I was awestruck by the creative mind of the makers of the movie. The sadism they showed in the movie made me close my eyes a couple of times. It was clearly a movie for the grownups (but not for weak hearts) and there’s no scope for sex in the movie even though it was clearly marked 18+.

It has some of the best twists and turns I’ve seen in the recent times. I bet no one can guess the climax of the movie unless they hear it from someone before watching the movie. It has all the ingredients of a true pot-boiler. And the fact that it was a very small budget film compared to all other stupid horror flicks that I’ve been watching for quite some weeks made it more interesting for me. You won’t believe me if I say that once the movie’s finished, I was looking at my legs before getting up to switch of the idiot box(you’ll know about this once you see the movie).

It was of no surprise that I was back in the DVD shop yesterday looking for SAW 2 which I watched last night. It was also equally good as the first one. Equally good twists and equally good sadism and equally good entertainment and equally new star cast and equally good sound effects. I’m looking forward to watch the third edition of this movie tonight unless I go out.

My toys

As you all know, children like toys and they like to have as much toys as they can. But, now-a-days, elders too have toys and that too, some which they can never miss. They never treat these as toys but in fact, as accessories. The only difference is these toys are a bit sophisticated and they come with a price tag. Yes, I’m talking about the things that we use in our daily life, like mobiles, mp3 players etc.
Even I own quite a few of them and the days have changed so much that I cannot imagine life without them. Let me list a few of them:
1. My watch : It’s the age old CASIO calculator watch. It’s gifted to me way back in 1998 by my uncle. In those days, watch like that is a distant dream. I used to flaunt my watch too much before my friends in those days. Now, the watch became old but believe me, I never changed the battery in that. I sometimes think of buying a new one but I can’t imagine my hand decorated by some other watch.
2. My mobile : It’s a Sony Ericsson K750i. It was the latest mobile in market when I bought it. And that the first big thing I bought for myself with my own earnings. Maybe that was why I like it very much. It got an excellent 2 mega pixel camera, a wonderful mp3 player etc. My friends and colleagues change their mobiles often but I’m more than satisfied with mine. It fell once from a colleague’s hand and bounced back such that he caught it on the bounce. Still nothing happened to it. Wow, it was like having a faithful dog never leaving your side. I listen to songs, play java games, watch videos……… still, it never let me down. I’m a proud owner of this gadget for more than 15 months.
3. My laptop : Hmmm, this was the biggest deal I’ve ever done. I never thought I’ll own one till the day I bought it. It’s a HP Pavilion dv2000 series one. A wonderful machine running on Windows Vista. I can’t write much on this as I’m using this for a period of 4 months and there’s a lot that I need to know about this. All I can say is, it’s a wonderful machine and it gave me the ultimate gaming experience.
4. My mp3 player : This was gifted to me by my close buddy about 2 and half years back. I never heard about the brand, Macvision but I cherish every song that I hear in that. There were many pleasant nights when I used to plug the earphones to it and enjoy the music along with some book. I love to hear songs sung by my favourite Sonu Nigam and Hariharan in this gadget.
5. My home theater : It’s branded GEEPAS which I very rarely hear about. And it’s the cheapest of the lot when I went to buy a home theater. But still, it gave me the best experience of watching a movie in room. My best experiences with it are watching horror movies and hearing rock music.

These are some of my favorite toys and I hope this list increases soon.

Johnny Gaddaar

Last night, I felt bored in my flat and thought of watching some movie. I checked out the listings and found that “Johnny Gaddaar” was playing near my flat. As the reviews are good, I thought of taking a chance. So I went to the 8 30PM show with my roommate after eating sambar-idli. I always tend to eat light before watching a movie as I’m a lover of pop-corn and hence I can gobble some while watching the movie.
Now, coming back to the movie, I found that it was interesting right from scene one. The movie started with a tribute to the master of suspense, James Hadley Chase. And the director’s devotion to him was visible throughout the movie, right from titles to the climax(which will definitely ignite some memories if you’ve read any novels of James). And even the novels of James Hadley Chase were shown at least half a dozen times in the movie. The movie opens on a rainy night in a police van (a group of policemen discussing about the first night of a colleague) and then the murder of a stranger by another stranger (none of their faces are shown to maintain the suspense). Then the titles start, which will remind you of Sin City or some Quentin Tarantino’s flicks.
Johnny Gaddaar is the story of 5 conmen; Seshadri, Shiva, Prakash, Vikram and Shardul. They hit a deal which will make each of them richer by 5 million rupees in about a week. Vikram, who’s the youngest of all, has an illicit relationship with Minni, Shardul’s wife. He plans to escape with the entire booty so that he can move to Canada with Minni and start a fresh life there. He kills Shiva accidentally in this process which leads to a lot of twists and turns. He has to eliminate each of his friends as a result of this. This is roughly the main plot of the story but the way it’s executed makes the movie-goer sit on the edge of his seat and watch the proceedings.
This film is no-doubt a thriller, but of a different kind. You know who the killer is, but what happens in the next frame and the frame after is the real nail-biter. After watching the movie, if you feel like you just saw some Hollywood flick then you are not-at-all mistaken. The screenplay of the film is outstanding and the plot is never boring. How each of the conmen comes to know the truth(but each in a different own way) is very convincing and novel. The taking is excellent and there are some scenes that made an impact on me like:
1. The police interrogation scene in which “Bangalore” spills out the victim’s mouth.
2. The way Shiva accidentally falls and bangs his head to the wash-basin of the train.
3. The scene showing the way Prakash’s car was pushed into a trench and how it slowly immerses in water(the best shot scene of the movie).
4. The dream sequence of Shiva coming to kill Vikram.
Performance-wise, Dharmendra is limited to a few scenes, but he does well. The main protagonist, Neil Mukesh, had the best debut of recent times. Rimmi Sen does justice to her role even though she doesn’t have much scope. The other actors too played their part well. The director had cleverly revolved the story between some 8 people and everyone got their own importance. Overall, “Johnny Gaddaar” might not be the best of thrillers but definitely, it tries to induce fresh life into the boring list of Bollywood thrillers. It’s definitely worth a watch and you wouldn’t regret watching this.
Dialogue of the movie: “It’s not the age, my friend. It’s the mileage”

నాకెలాంటి అమ్మాయి కావాలంటే.............

1. ఐశ్వర్యారాయ్ లాంటి వాళ్ళు అస్సలు వద్దు(కాపలా కాసుకోలేక చావాలి)
2. తనకి నాకంటే తిక్క ఉండాలి(ఎంతో చెప్పలేను. ఎందుకంటే తిక్కొమీటర్ ఇంకా ఎవరూ కనిపెట్టలేదుగా)
3. వర్షం మొదలైన వెంటనే బయటికి వెళ్ళటానికి సిద్ధంగా ఉండాలి(ఐస్ క్రీం తినాలిగా)
4. నేను పాత పాటలు వింటున్నప్పుడు టీవి పెట్టకూడదు(మరి అప్పుడు వినలేనుగా)
5. నేను ఆఫీస్ నుండి రాగానే టీ పెట్టి ఇవ్వక్కరలేదు గాని నన్ను పెట్టివ్వమనకుండా ఉంటే చాలు(మరి మనకి వంటంటే భయంగా)
6. వంట మాత్రం అద్భుతంగా చెయ్యాలి
7. పార్టీలకి, పండుగలకి చీర కట్టుకోవాలి(నేను కూడా పంచె కట్టుకోడానికి ట్రై చేస్తాలే)
8. తనకి మంచి సంగీతాభిమానం ఉండాలి
9. వెన్నెలలో కూర్చున్నప్పుడు చలి గిలి అనకూడదు
10. నేను తప్పు చేస్తే కొట్టినా పర్లేదు కాని నేను తప్పు ఎందుకు చేసానో కూడ కొంచెం ఆలోచిస్తే మంచిది

ఇవన్నీ రాసాక ఒక సారి మళ్ళీ చదివా. అప్పుడు ఒక బుల్లి సందేహం కలిగింది - "నాకు ఇప్పుడప్పుడే పెళ్ళి అవుతుందా??"

P.S. ఇవన్నీ నాకు తనలో కావల్సిన లక్షణాలు. అలాగే తనకంటూ ఏమి ఇష్టాలు ఉన్నా వాటిని నేను కూడా ఖచ్చితంగా గౌరవిస్తాను.

New Vocab

I’ve heard about new languages like what they say Hinglish(a mixture of Hindi n English). Thanks to the Bollywood, this language is growing like anything. And people from Hyderabad are very much aware of the mixture of Telugu and Hindi there. But a new vocabulary for an old language!!!!!! I never heard of this until I got a job. I’m talking about the English used by our bosses.

Scene 1 : Boss says “You are working hard”. Don’t take it as it is. Beware of the storm come. It actually means that he’s going to whack your bottom about some work you recently finished.
Scene 2 : Boss says “The weather is pleasant”. Don’t fall into this soup. It means you are going to work overtime until the weather in your brain changes.
Scene 3 : Boss says “We are a team”. Don’t feel proud of your colleagues. It means boss’s going to assign most of his work to you.

All are cleverly concealed phrases which seem to be harmless but they have the potential to grab all your free time. I believe these are not just the words used by my manager but they are, in fact, used by most of the management people. I don’t know from where they learn these things. Seems that whoever gets the managerial position inherits these phrases just like that!!!!!!!!! Now, even I’m wishing “when’ll I learn this language????????”