A genius called Sreenivasan

If someone were to talk about the superstars of Malayalam cinema, only two big names come to mind. Mohanlal and Mammootty. But there is another actor who may not be as glamorous as these two, and yet a superstar in his own right. He is short, dark, does not look anything like someone who should be in front of the camera. Apart from being a brilliant actor, he is also an amazing story writer, screenwriter producer and director. And when you see his movies, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

He is Sreenivasan.

The supporting actor or the comedian or the funny con man, whichever role he plays, he is impressive. Sometimes he is right there getting punched, embarrassed, making silly faces and dancing with his two left feet. And sometimes he just touches the heart with his deep, thought provoking movies and stories that are unforgettable. What amazes me most is the way he humors himself. Several movies written and acted by Sreenivasan are masterpieces but I cannot resist mentioning two particular movies that showcase his witty side. One is Vadakku Noki Yanthram in which he plays a husband who is so conscious of his average looks that he suspects his wife of having an affair and how he ends up looking totally idiotic in front of his wife and family. This movie won him the state award. Another movie worth mentioning is Paavam Paavam Rajakumaran- my personal favorite. This movie is about a simple, stingy bachelor –played by Sreenivasan, who shares his rented house with 3 other guys and how these guys cheat him into falling in love with a girl. Hilarious and at the same time a powerful performance by Sreenivasan. He doesn’t mind debasing and humiliating himself on screen to get his thoughts through. Which actor would risk that these days?

A serious comedian and film maker who is not here for glamour and not here for minting money. He is here for a sole and a responsible purpose- to entertain. And he is a genius at it.

Trip to Aurangabad

Our trip to Aurangabad was an alternative since we had originally planned to go to Matheran for the weekend. But I'm glad we made it there. I had read about the beauty and importance of the Ajanta and Ellora caves in my text books way back in school(these are one among the World Heritage sites), so we decided to check it out. To reach Aurangabad, it took us a five hour drive from Pune. We checked into our hotel ( Lemon Tree) and after a couple of hours of rest and lunching, we went to see the Ellora caves which are just 35 kms from the city. I suggest you get directions before driving as the directions on the road are not clear, and you are often left to wonder whether you are on the right road or not. On reaching the Ellora caves, we hired a government guide who first led us to the Jain caves.

Here let me brief you about the Ellora caves. There are a total of 35 caves here out of which some are Jain caves, some Buddhist and the rest Hindu caves. The largest and most beautiful of all the caves is the Kailasa cave( Hindu Cave). Since the Jain caves are the farthest, we were suggested to go there first. Our guide led us from one cave to another and I was impressed by the marvel of the people way back then who made these beautiful caves by hand and without any help of the equipments that we have today. You gotto see it to believe it! I was already thrilled by the first cave that I couldn't wait to see what was in store for me as we moved further. After the Jain caves, we drove to the Buddhist caves. The 10th cave here is the only “Chaityagraha” which has a Stupa standing in the middle of the cave. This was primarily made for the monks to chant mantras and when the guide demonstrated by chanting “Om” , the cave was filled with his echoing voice. If one person could make this effect, imagine what numerous monks could do! And finally we reached the biggest and the most important cave of them all. Kailasa cave. You cannot and shouldn't miss this one. And boy, was it crowded!! All the photos that you see describing Ellora are form this cave. It took us one hour to cover just this one cave. Now this particular cave is not carved from the inside of a rock, but looks something like a rock temple. There is a Shiva lingam in side this temple ( hence the name), which is sadly being misused by our very own people. It was not a pleasant sight to see instant “pujaris” appearing and performing pujas and collecting money, when this is an important world heritage site which doesn't deserves to be contaminated with agarbattis and kumkum! Anyways, that was the end of Ellora.

Since we still had time on our hands we went to see the “Bibi ka Maqbara” built by Aurangazeb which is a sad replica of the Taj mahal. Now anyone who has seen the Taj cannot bear the look of this structure. It is not maintained well and looks so dirty. I just hope that people visiting this maqbara don't assume that the Taj would be something remotely similar!!! No people, Taj is something out of this world and something to visit before you die!! After taking a couple of snaps and purposefully wandering ( for the heck of it) we headed back to our hotel. We had our dinner and relaxed by lazing by the pool at night. Ah, superior bliss!!!

On our second day we couldn't visit the Ajanta because it is closed on Mondays. So, we drove around the city and had some fun in the hotel. We were supposed to leave on the third day, but before that we decided we just had to check out the Ajanta. And we drove off. It took us 2 hours and a couple of wrong turns(thanks to the road instructions!!!) to finally get there. By the look of it Ajanta seemed much bigger than Ellora. To reach the caves you have to take a bus and ride up to the caves. No private vehicles are allowed to the top. We reached there, bought a copy of the Ajanta caves from the Archaeological Survey of India counter and headed straight above. There is a little climbing to do before you actually get to the caves. Some info about Ajanta. There are a total of 28 caves here, some finished some half-finished. The Ajanta caves were re-discovered unlike Ellora. Meaning, the Ajanta were there all along but since huge trees had grown and surrounded the caves, none of it was visible unless it was accidentally stumbled upon in the early 19th century. These caves, in all, form a horseshoe shape and down below runs the Wagholi river. Since we had a time constraint ( as we had to get back to Pune the same day) we decided to visit only the important caves. These caves are all Buddhist caves, similar to Ellora, but you can see fragments of paintings too. Paintings done with natural colors which are wearing off, due to age and more importantly negligence. Nevertheless, if I had returned home without visiting Ajanta, I would have missed it big time! I am glad I made it. By the time we finished our little trip on the top and returned to out car, it was noon. And from there we headed straight to Pune and reached home by night.

Phew!!

Frankly, I never imagined our trip would go so well. Not only was it a nice change but it also helped me reunite with my old love, something that I had forgotten and let go during my busy life. Archeology, historical art and architecture. It reminded me what getting in touch with our past meant. This trip was wonderful and has left me wanting for more.

Update

It’s been long since I wrote something on this page. Have been busy, lazy, depressed, worried….everything but creative! It feels as though so much has happened in the past few months, and yet, practically speaking, my life is just the same. Well, of course, the experiences were not the best, but I must say, they were so many that I didn’t realize how time flew.
As of now, things are starting to get a little better, (touchwood!) and I just hope that I don’t get back to my old self again, which I hate. When I say my old self, it is definitely not like me at all. It is some superficial control on me, something that takes me over and makes me do things that I don’t want to, which I regret later. Hope “she” never returns.
Ok, so now I’m looking forward to this break, I’m going home actually, but again I won’t be able to freak out coz I have my exams round the corner and I have lots to do. So I just hope that the change of place and change of activities would do me good.
So goodbye to the old year that made me miserable and here’s to the new one that, hopefully, would begin on a positive note…….Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all!!

Not-so-perfect!

Yes I have heard this before that life has its ups and downs. And it’s the “downs” (which occur too often!) that gets to you but we need to be patient and let it pass. But, like any other philosophy of life, it is better said than done.

When you are having a bad time, nothing seems to work. Instead, it just gets worse till the time you don’t remain capable of proving your sanity to yourself (which, let me tell you, is the worst part!!). You blow your head off but the problems just keep adding up and piling up like colorful scoops of ice cream on top of each other…...not as yummy as it may sound!

But, practically speaking and having learned from past experiences I can say that the truth does lie in the fact that the sun needs to set for it to rise again the next day. And it’s only when you know what darkness is that you will appreciate the significance of light.

Naah, I don’t want to turn this into some kind of a weighty message…..nope! Just wanted to point out that if you are having a bad day, just remember that it’s not going to stay forever. Simple!

Snowy

She was cold and lost. She lay there, cuddled, in a cardboard box when I first saw her. She was small, a beautiful white in color and that’s how she got her name, Snowy. She was kept outside one of our hostel rooms. When enquired I was told that one of our hostel mates had found her wandering alone in the garden the previous day and because it was really cold outside she got little Snowy in. The news of Snowy’s arrival spread so fast that within minutes a crowd gathered around her. Everyone wanted to see the cute little kitten. She sat there, inside the box, looking at us with her big round eyes. She was a beauty! But when someone would come near to touch, she would move to a corner of the box and ‘meow’ them away. So, not wanting to frighten her further, we let her be. During the two days that she stayed with us, she was all what we would talk about. Every now and then someone would buy her things to eat and we were pleased to find that she was getting used to us. But then, we had to let her go. Snowy was a baby. She had to find her mother. And she would have to do it on her own. And so, after two memorable days spent with her, we let her out in the garden. But she just stood there looking at us in question, not knowing what to do. When she didn’t budge, we gave her a slight push towards the bushes, indicating that she should be going that way. And then suddenly as though she heard something, she jerked her head and dashed away towards the bushes. We believed that she returned to her folks and we ourselves, returned back to our rooms.

Ah, the Indian mango season!

Once again it’s that time of the year when one can see carts and loads of mangoes everywhere- different varieties of them from all over the country. Just yesterday my mom-in-law, hubby, son and I drove to the ever so famous Natural ice cream shop because we knew some “mango specials” would have arrived. And to our (and our taste bud’s!) pleasure we found that we weren’t wrong. As we were waiting in the car, my hubby got us mango fudge. First a layer of mango ice cream, and then freshly cut mango pieces topped with a huge scoop of mango ice cream again. The sweet taste of mangoes is something every Indian craves for. And I’m no different! I had my first bite of the fruit and my mouth savored the juicy and delicious taste that satisfies me each and every time I have it. Within no time, we had emptied our bowl and needless to say it was an ultimate contentment attained. But the good news is that this is just the beginning and there are lots more variety of mangoes to come during this season. And I eagerly await the same.

Welcome, O king of fruits!

Reverie

Gia ran towards the door but couldn't help getting drenched all over. It was pouring, literally, and Gia was wondering when she had last seen the rains so bad. She waved at John who had so kindly offered to drop her home, at this late hour. John waved back from inside the car and drove away. Gia turned towards her door and after fumbling for a few seconds, found the keys to her home. Home. Yes, this was her home. She lived alone, all by herself, but she was never lonely. She liked being alone. Friends would drop in occasionally but she loved to have her home all to herself. It was her cocoon and she felt the same warmth as she feels everyday when she opens the door as she did today. It was dark, very dark inside. Gia switched on the lights. She threw her bag on the table and slumped down on the couch. She was tired. She closed her eyes and instantly was summarizing the day’s events……getting late to the office thanks to the traffic, problems with team members, Jenny, her sister, upset for not having called for more than a week……. It was when this train of thoughts ran through her mind that she first felt it. She felt someone…someone in her room. Gia opened her eyes but saw no one. She listened, but didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was her imagination. She sighed and closed her eyes again. “I am tired!” she told herself. “Am going to hit the bed earlier than usual tonight…” And there it was again! The same feeling! Gia sat up. She looked around, but all she could see was the big window of the room which opened to the lawn. The curtains were flying from the storm outside. It looked eerie but Gia assured herself that there was nothing wrong. With the little courage that she had she got up and was just about to move when she felt the presence so close that she turned. And then it hit her. She felt a mass of emotions overpowering her. Gia closed her eyes. She saw flashes. A happy life, filled with laughter and joy, and then the excitement and pleasure of falling in love, the dreams of a beautiful life together, the ugly face of deception, tears, frustration, anger , and then…….betrayal! Gia opened her eyes. She was gasping and had tears in her eyes. She realized that someone was trying to tell her something. Unwillingly, she closed her eyes again. As if someone was influencing her. She could see clearly now. The evil face of a man, who had his hands around a woman’s neck, strangling her! The woman was holding onto him when she pulled out the golden chain that was dangling from his neck. It had a beautiful pendant with an “R” embossed in it and painted with a light shade of pink. Gia could feel the agony of the woman, not the fear of death but the pain of being betrayed by someone she trusted the world with. Tears ran down her face. She didn’t want to control them…she let them flow…and then… everything went blank.

When Gia opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the couch with a splitting headache. It was 7 in the morning and she slowly sat up and thought about last night. She raked her brains enough to make sense out of it and finally labeled it as a dream. A dream that seemed so real that she had almost believed it!

The next 2 months were regular and nothing out of the ordinary happened. Then one day she received a parcel form her Aunt Ann. There was a small box and a letter. Gia sat down to read the letter first. Aunt Ann always wrote lengthy letters. She had moved into her new home and found the neighborhood quite satisfactory. Also, Uncle Henry had been making new friends to bore them with his old war time stories! And then the letter ran with the little events taking place in their new home. While concluding, Aunt Ann wrote that when she was moving her things from her old place, she had found her mother’s souvenir and that she thought Gia might be interested to keep it. It was all that was left of her mother’s remembrance. Gia put down the letter and took the box in her hand. She had always been fond of her mother and anything belonging to her would definitely be dear to her. She couldn’t wait to see what was inside and opened the small maroon box. And as she opened it, her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe her eyes! There, in the tiny box, lay a golden chain and a pendant with an “R” embossed in it and painted in a pink shade.