Rajitha - The Ugly Side of India

I am generally sick of Indian media high on sensationalism and low on facts. But, NDTV suprised me with this good piece of journalism. More power to them for this and hope they do more.

On the other side, I felt so sad at the plight of this poor kid. The physical scars would heal probably but can not even imagine the scars on her soul. Some really are apparently children of a lesser God.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/videos/video_player.php?id=1224938

Where is CRY when you really need them?

An over-examined life

"An unexamined life is not worth living", so said Socrates. I have always been fascinated by this quote but never really felt that I understand its meaning. I do not know why but for sometime now, this quote keeps coming back to me for one reason or another. I am still trying to figure out its meaning and hope to have some idea sooner rather than later. The blog is my way of thinking out loud this puzzling but fascinating philosophical quote by a very learned man.  

While I think about this quote, I start having more questions than answers. Unfortunately he did not say how much to examine your life and when to stop examining your life. When does it start to become an over-examined life? Is an over-examined life easy to live? I always took this quote to heart and even today try to do some soul searching almost all the time. Am I doing the right thing? Am I behaving like a reasonable person with good moral and ethical standards? This continuous soul searching has made me feel good deep inside about myself even though more often than not I have had to walk an extra mile to live up to these high moral and ethical standards.  The more important question comes when I see all around me events, people who clearly are not subjecting themselves to high standards. I ask myself ,"are they examining their lives? Probably not but they seem happy, and enjoying life like they are supposed to enjoy one precious life. So how come their life is not worth living?"

Brokeback Mountain

"I wish I knew how to quit you"

The dialogue has been ringing in my head since I finished watching this movie tonight. What a movie! While the movie was playing, I was totally spellbound, touched and transported in the Wyoming ranches, so good was this movie. So vivid, I could smell it. So real, I could feel it. So heart breaking, it might have been me. After long time, a movie felt so good, so real and so sad. Words fail me but I feel it. I could only wonder at Ang Lee's genius in amazement. I wish I could make a movie like this. When the credits started rolling, I could feel the pain, the longing and what-could-have-been feelings of Ennis Del Mar as if it were happening to me. What a tragedy. When a movie hits me so hard, then I know I watched something special. Heath Ledger, RIP. You were just amazing.

When I think about it, I never gathered the courage to watch this movie till now. I did not know whether I would be comfortable watching two cowboys in love. But now after watching this movie, I could only marvel at the way Ang Lee had treated such a sensitive subject. The movie is about love, never-ending longing and suffering for a love lost forever. How must it feel to know that only if you had a made a different choice, trusted your gut feeling and feel it with your every breath. What if Enniss had gone to Mexico with Jack? What if Jack had not died? Would the story would have been as touching as it was with Jack being dead in the end? I do not know...I can only wonder...

I love good movies but I always try to balance my thoughts at the end saying to myself, its just a movie. However once in a while a movie comes along which makes me vulnerable and think about life, universe and everything. It was one of those few..I mean love happens...by design, by fate, by circumstances...don't know why but it happens...it could be coined gay, lesbian, straight or whatever but its just love by different name...why would one be better than the other...all should be allowed to blossom equally. Why should Ennis and Jack have a fear of retribution from society? I wish it was not the case in our society but then I have seen so much of ungodly acts happening in this world in just 30 years of my life that I am almost beginning to question the very existence of God too. I wish I could meet God and get all answers directly from Him rather than through his interpreters. On top of my list would be though a question from my childhood. Whenever I used to gaze at stars lying in the paddy fields in my village, I would wonder how far I can go in universe....where does it end? I have not found the answer till now, so I guess all my answers would have to wait too..I wish I could meet God and have a one to one talk. I hate myself when I begin to delve into this existentialism questions and theories. But it always happens at the end of a movie I really like. Brokeback Mountain again made me realize how powerful the force of love could be and how helpless you could be when you have lost your love forever. I guess there is a Brokeback Mountain inside all of us, a person whom we would like to come to, but of course some never do. 

I wish we knew how to quit.

Thank you Ang Lee for such a wonderful movie.