Preview to A New Life!

I'm two days old in this quasi new life I've adopted! The weather is a bit nippy but it is a relief from the scorching dry heat of Hyderabad. Virginia has lull that surrounds her , quite comparable to the one back home but her abundance is overwhelming really. Vast expanses of oaks and pines skirt the sides of the eight lane highways, the cupcakes here give watermelons a complex and even the sun greets me everymorning with a fullness about her. The sunshine right now though is rather misleading, it tempts the non resident to take on the great outdoors but hits you with cold burst of reality! Wear a jacket just to be on the safe side.

This postcard perfect neighbourhood is eerily peaceful, eerie not because of gothic like architecture or shadow coated streets but because it seems as though all familiar ambient sounds have been stripped. No beeping horns, no obscene gargling from the neighbour's house, no phones ringing...just the sound of birds that look as sweet as their song! These are things that rejuvenation is made of!

The Upside of Down

Ever since I can remember, I have lived a life of no complaints. Survived an appalingly normal childhood of bruising knees and extracting smiles, when Happiness of the purest, most unadulterated kind was the only beverage to sip on. An observant, absorbing analyst was being conceived.

"Complicated" is an ugly term for an uneasy existance and adolescence is never the best period to encounter emotionally/mentally/physically (take your pick) dilemmas for the first time. As an adult, I loathe complications as they are completely avoidable if they occur outside the realm of health and finance. But the scientific mind believes that everything happens for a reason, so they are inevitable and completely essential. The menial road bumps that were once etched on a lesser aware mind as traumatizing tear enticers are now shelved away to be laughed and blushed at over come long awaited reunion.
What ever happened to the depressing bouts that followed a comparison of two unique lives subject to differing circumstances?
Now that the secret is out, is Love really waiting to be sumbled upon? And further more, after the mis step, is it always worth pursuing?
Family was never the immediate enemy, but a socially abiding one threatens to disrupt.
I have no regrets growing up but I wish I did, so that I could whole heartedly want to return to ungirdled youth.
There existed a phase where materialistic luxury override absolute effort and sincerity, a time when money spent could purchase Guilt. Now money spent only creates guilt.

I am no longer becoming. I have arrived. And just when scholastic documents could prove otherwise, my education has only just begun. I have a life of no complaints but if ever the dubious moment surfaces, it only reminds me of the little things human beings do to wear as medallions in a battle against the only element that binds us all at every moment, regardless of location, status, colour or religion -- Imperfection.

Excessive Sunlight isn't all about burns and cancer!!

An extremely close friend of mine sits upon his bed, half stoned, half asleep. We talk about everything and anything that comes to mind and sooner than later, we arrive at the topic of must-see movies in town. Living in Colaba,the best site for Mumbai's bargain shopping, access to cheap DVDs lies a stone's throw away, so count on him to have known it all. His beady eyes light up as begins to narrate the plot of "Little Miss Sunshine" and soon the intoxicated lull erupts into a hysterically animated story telling session.
"The grandfather.. oh man! is he funny! he dies and they put him in the trunk with pornographic magazines thrown over the sheet that covers him... and the dumb cop doesnt even see him."
"Oh! and the son doesnt talk.. he's taken a vow of silence until he gets into flight academy and hates everybody"
"The sister only cares about her beauty peagant and rehearses day and night. You have to watch it man!!"

Before I knew it, I realized watching the movie might be useless as he couldnt help but tell me the entire story...actions and all!! A week later my friend passed away and all that was running through my mind was how happy the movie made him.

I watched the 2006 release, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris and true to my friend's word... it was hilariously moving! The story about an emotionally fractured family echoed plotlines of "American Beauty" but avoids the tragic end to culminate in the joy and importance of family, however extended and demented they maybe. In the role that won him the Oscar this year, Alan Arkin's brief yet unforgettable role as the coke snorting, porn viewing, war-reminiscing Grandpa manages to tickle everybody's funny bone. Toni Collete and Greg Kinnear make it extremely easy for audiences to lap up a shockingly realistic marriage secrets and oppositions included, never once making you want to vomit or roll eyes. Steve Carell takes on a what begins as an extremely morbid role, disturbed and depressed but eventually turns into his characteristic sympathetic comedy that appeals to any close knit family as gradually the borders of comfort and love are highlighted.

The constant pressure to be nothing less than perfect and always emerge victorious is one that most children today can relate to with ease. As Richard Hoover shoves insane amounts of the " win-win-win" ,9 step strategy to success down his family's throats, the ironical failure to launch his own career as a motivational speaker gently caresses emotional chords of the viewers. Olive(Abigail Breslin), the young enthusiastic, innocent daughter, is smeared across a hostile background of beauty pageants that culminate in a ghastly Californian show of horrific, young girls doused in make up and artifice. Dwayne,played by Paul Dano is the Nietzche disciple under a vow of silence until he becomes an Air-Force pilot, the only thing he seems to love in the traumatizing world of adolescence, other than his younger sister. According to some critics the Hoovers' road trip to California vaguely resembles that made by the Joads in "Grapes of Wrath", but the crucial difference with the middle class Hoovers' is that the journey exposes familial problems that are addressed along the way only to emphasize the importance of Blood over the rest. It begins with the macrocosmic realm of flailing marriages, occupational stress,homosexuality, childhood dilemmas such as fitting in with societal norms and meeting expectations with the Arkin representing the futility of all of the above as he regrets having wasted his life trying to find solutions to such problems. As the family inches( literally) towards California in a dysfunctional Volkswagon bus, the story begins to focus on the microscopic issues that humourously address larger topics that are lucratively tied in, so that the unsuspecting viewer sees this not as a didactic ,know-it-all, happy-go-lucky flick but as a genuinely, touching film.

In fact there reaches a point in the film where one has absolutely no hope for a family that forgets their youngest member at a gas station and has to run beside the vehical only to jump headfirst into the car with a broken clutch but Faris and Dayton tastefully blend in sensitive moments of honest words of wisdom and encouragement to continue to fight against all that stands in their way and at one point, that includes hospital staff and law officers, to see the light of true, unfiltered happiness.

I don't intent on spoiling the watching experience any more than I already have, but this truly in one movie that holds a special place in my heart. It not only chronicles the emotional rollercoaster ride every family experiences but also keeps the memory of my eternally happy, ever smiling friend vivid and bookmarked for life.

Add or Subtract... Humans are not as good as it gets!

Genetic Variation or Mutation is a widely popular concept within all age groups. Children and their obsession with the four lovable crime fighting turtles, men with their comic book collections stacked in the garage and the elderly with their medical concerns praying for a medical breakthrough that might cure their biological deterioration. All of the above have direct relations to the scientific study of the arrangement of chromosomes and the process of meosis that determines each individual's genetic constitution.

I recently watched "X-men, The Last Stand" when the small yet unignorable group of superhumans really got me thinking about evolution and the possibility of "normal" man or woman being displaced by a far more potent species. On further research I was suprised to discover that the process may have already begun.

Recently a young boy in Germany, almost 5 years old, was found to have a strange physical condition, and has become the first recorded case of Human Genetic Mutation. The child displayed extraordinary muscular growth that was noticed when the boy could easily pick up a seven pound weight while the rest in his age group, fiddled with plastic alphabet blocks. Scientific Studies on the boy revealed that his DNA segment rejected the formation of myostatin, a protein that controls muscle development, leading to an uncontrollable and rapid muscle boost. Of course, there are concerns that the boy could face early health problems because of such an unadministered abnormality. At this point of reading the MSNBC article, I realized I was addicted and read several other articles on Chromosome Variations and the process of genetic transfer. Prophase, Metaphase, Meosis, Spindle fibres, DNA, haploid, diploid, Gamet, Mutagen, deleteion, inversion and mRNA later I was well equipped to understand the transfer process and realized how improbable my hopeful fascination for such powerful metahumans was because no variation within a particular species can result in a crossing over between any other species. Goodbye to the pizza eating turtles!

The Darwinian theory of Natural selection, better know as the survival of the fittest is still a seminal discovery, vastly used even metaphorically, but certains doubts about intraspecies evolution arose when I read this:

"Evolution requires billions of positive mutations in millions of different species of both plants and animals. Literally trillions of positive mutations would be required, and yet no one has been able to show one single, honest, convincing case. This completely extirpates the belief that evolution has happened by genetic mutation."

So how exactly did that single-celled micro oragnism come to be a complicatedly, intricate system of organs and nerves, that stands at the top of the evolution chain? Is Adam the only explanation for how we came to be? I refused to believe this, which once again threw me back to where i started.... Blind Belief!

The article talked about "Positive mutations" which are unheard of till date, but if every concept has a counterpart to balance life, the several negative mutations that plague medical research must hold hope for a gradual, yet plausible upgrade. Down syndrome, Limb distortion, brain malfunction, Cancer... all stem from an erroneous choromosome transfer. Reported cases flood in everyday from all over the world. So if the deletion in the genetic code by a mutagen could cause such a detrimal effect, perhaps the addition or inversion of a genetic code could equate Superman or Wolverine?

I do not stand alone with such faith. Fiction shares my newfound interest. MARVEL comics have relentlessly dished out characters beyond human science proving how hopeful the rest of the world is. In X-Men, they may have been a minority, analogous to the recent T.V Series "Heroes". They stand alone, afraid, divided and confused and yet, Mutants EXIST! The power in Imagination erases doubts that even science, the pinnacle of reason has failed to answer.

Heroes, verbally exalted, cinematically sensualized and verbally exalted again!

The story of heroes is meant to be shared, for how then do mortal, incapacitated men aspire to rise above impositons and restraints? Did Homer record tales of immense emotional drive purely to revolt against the stoicism of classic Greek texts or was it the first time ever the world witnessed a true tale of passion beyond limitations and plausibility? Such tales of uncontainable determination is what myths are made of, whether they speak of Hedonistic Gods who only aim to extract unquestionable worship or whether they follow the defiant, strong willed heroes who rebel against enforced suppression. It is precisely such defiance that elevates the king of Sparta to unfathomable heights, forever etching him in the archives of history as a personification of Strong Will against Supreme Power.

Leonidas, was a Spartan first and foremost, king followed soon. I could draw analogies between the unextinguishable determination he shared with a Macedonian ruler by the name of Alexander, both being relentlessly trained to become kings, both were unparalleled orators save for the Roman Marc Antony( my father's opinion never falters) who could snatch blue ribbon from them and both at some point of time let the fact that they were composed of flesh that could be cut into and blood that could be spilt, slip their hard heads. The crucial difference lies in the fact that Alexander knew not when to stop, he penetrated deeper into the spiral of ambition he created himself until anarchy, conspiracy and bad luck reared their ugly heads. Leonidas was not a ruler who dreamt larger than what was promised by the Greek code. He sought democratic liberalism for his people and despite the presence of an heirarchical reign, never made such distinctions obvious. Leonidas chased a promise not a dream.

Spartans were believed to be innate warriors, violent and crass, bold beyond the mind's fancy and skilled to perfection. After all , if you spent your childhood bashing in bones instead of sand, tasting enough blood to forget the taste of milk and taking on opponents ten times your size, there would be very little in the world that you feared. Frank Miller's novel "300" chronicles the battle at Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans refused to let their numeric insufficiencies outweigh their mammoth spirit and legendary strength. I am ashamed to say that i have not read the book, but in keeping with popular culture i have certainly watched the movie. A movie that stirred my deepest emotions allowing for Catharsis of fear and pity, a tragedy not of waste, because Leonidus lived out his legacy and defended his people till the last breath of air left his body, but one of loss.

The story when stripped of its captivating cinematic lustre, is basic. A deliberately angered individual is left to take matters into his own hands when faced with life altering choices, proves to be worthy of the title he holds as both king and soldier but is ultimately defeated but in death paves the way for a new beginning that his people can embrace with greater confidence. The alternating acceleration and retardation in the shot length allows for arresting attention where senses tend to be lulled or blinded... in most cases in the movie by blood.The movie despite is intention to adapt a known story, or valour against all hope must find a way to carve that intial into the bark , so that 300 men can find their "beautiful" demises.

Directed by Zack Snyder, the movie caresses visual senses like a satin blindfold. The shots are impeccably constructed to retain the effect of a Myth being unfolded, with its placid yet thick clouds , the luminous colour filters that enhance bold reds and oranges and further mystify blacks and blues, each sequence is like a painting infused with life. The Romanticized descriptions both on Snyder's part as a director and mine as a critic are essential in glossing over the simple legendary battle because it is in such heightened sensibility that lies that hard hitting sense of honour and courage that the Spartans lay their life down for. The movie succeeds in almost every sphere it glides into. The unexpressible grief in Human loss, the uncapturable depth of romance, one that is not permitted to wilt and thaw but is solidified in and only in the heart, never surfacing to the mouth, the incomprehendible pride that drives 300 soldiers to stand at the face of death and say "Come and Get Them", the corrput politics that lead nowhere and finally the circularity that each myth must attain in living on long after the story ends. The steady photography supervised by Larry Fong is commendable and in a post modern era it would not be inappropriate to applaud the graphic designer,Chris Watts for having done an excellent job in laying the viewer's interpretative complications to rest.

In terms of acting , I do not see the Oscars piling but it has nothing to do with the quality of acting. Gerard Butler is undoubtedly the hero and carries the limelight terrifically but apart from the intense and what could only be imagined to equate torturous hours in the gym in order to get those muscles to emerge and stay and his uncanny ability to bellow in a superbly comprehendible Irish twang, he merged into the Spartan glory that the movie perhaps aimed to highlight more than the character himself. As for the stiff upper lipped Queen, played by Lena Heady, she seemed to carry that controlled grief much like Maria Morgenstern, who played Mary in "The Passion of the Christ" whose repression spoke louder than dialogue could hope to extract. With nothing else to add to the actors credibility, the movie does wonders in encapsulating a concept rather than in creating a hero. The over-used plot of the underdog taking on the Superior Authority, falling short of complete physical victory but gaining infinitely in beating negative expectations to a pulp or in this case, slashing it to pieces only to build a fleshy wall as a reminder of their superhuman capability.
For if it was Miller's inetention to exonerate Leonidas, he would have titled his book, "King of Sparta" or something on such an individualistic level. Instead he glorifies 300 heroes, whose strength, commitment to both tradition and country exalts all 300 hundred , named and anonymous as reminders to push beyond barriers to live and die by what they together envisioned.
Are we questioning the potential in Collective Strength once again?.... I think so!