Dancing With Tears In My Eyes

BBC carried this series called "Day in Afghanistan: Daily Lives". The (really terrific) idea is to document one day in the lives of different Afghani people: teachers, dairy farmer, orphanage head etc.

Here's one that caught my eye ("Naseer Mansoor, 15, from Mazar-e-Sharif"):

"All the boys were making jokes and laughing because the teachers weren't around."

So now boys raise hell in the schools of Mazar-e-Shariff. How cool is that? Freedom tastes sweet. (Moral dilemma #1 for me: are wars inherently evil?)

But this next one is even cooler:

"I am really looking forward to going to the party. But there's one problem. My family always force me to dance at wedding parties, but I am not a good dancer. I've tried but I have failed. One time they put me on the stage and I just couldn't do it".

Naseer, you speak not just for yourself, but ALL boys blessed with two, sometimes even three, left feet.

Even my family often forces me to dance. Not just one time, but several times they put me on stage and only after half a bottle of gimme-whatever-that-is is consumed, can I dance.

Here's to Naseer Mansoor, to freedom in Afghanistan and to all my brothers who have tried to dance but failed.

And Nothing But

Bombay police recently administered sodium pentathol, aka truth serum, to Bombay's Public Enemy #1, aka Preeti Jain. Why?

In a narco-analysis test, a suspect is injected with sodium penthanol, a chemical that numbs powers of perception and supposedly makes it difficult for a person to lie during questioning.

Does it really work? "[the police] have received some interesting leads", says the Police Chief.

I had *no* idea Indian police makes use of such *interesting* techniques to get to the truth. Are there any guidelines that regulate the use of such techniques?

Portrait of An Artist As An Old Man

"Madadayo", (which in Japanese means "Not Yet"), was Akira Kurosawa's last film. He was 88 and probably a tired man. Suntory whiskey can do that to you. But "Madadayo" offers no such clues, for it opens wide its arms and embraces both life and death. This is no sentimental look at a life well-lived, neither is it pessimistic. It is simply beautiful. You wonder, was this written and directed by the same man who attempted suicide in 1970?

Most of us know at least one venerable, all-knowing Guru. Whether a favorite teacher from school or a music teacher, these were people with a fine mind whose influence on us extended well beyond the narrow circumference of their chosen subject. The protagonist of the film, a German Lit professor, is such a teacher. His students love him dearly and go to great lengths to make his life after retirement secure and comfortable.

Mr. Kurosawa simply observes the Sensei's life with its ups and downs. A house is burnt down, a cat is lost, a garden is built, a big mug of beer is had....tiny vignettes that are small films in themselves. But look past the surface and you will see deep observations on identification and attachment. Enjoy the warmth and lightness with which Mr. Kurosawa handles the interactions between the sensei and the students: they are filled with humor, grace, wit and startling zen-like wisdom at times.

There are some who find the film sentimental and consequently, find it "too" accessible. I am not one of them. "Madadayo" is a great director's great goodbye. If you have never seen an Akira Kurosawa film before, watch "Madadayo" and get to know the great Sensei.

Why OBL hates MTV

Syed Firdaus Ashraf learnt that Osama hates MTV.

When asked why, Osama is said to have replied

"man, they hardly play any videos anymore. I hate watching those reality shows. I wish they would play more Mili Vanili and Mariah Carey videos. I hate emo and I hate democracy and freedom of press too, though I hate emo more"

The Unluckiest Madrasi In The World

Rediff ran this headline: "The Beatle from Madras" but left the HTML tag intact: "Pete Best, the drummer the Beatles forgot". Of course, the Beatles forgot no such thing. They dropped him is what they did. You don't just "forget" a full-grown drummer.

But here's an interesting insight: ...the boy from Madras whose mother told his bandmates remarkable stories of living in India.

So did Mrs. Best's stories of India lead to John and George's infatuation with mysticism and India? That cannot be confirmed, nor have I read any references to such stories in the biographies, but like many stories in Beatle-mythology, only two people in the universe know the truth.

Generation D(eaf)

Remember that hoary cliche enacted by all stadium and arena-playing rock bands everywhere: "I can't hear you!", at which point the audience is supposed to drown out an electrically-powered PA system with a spectacular off-tune rendition of the chorus?

Turns out it may not be an act. He really may not be able to hear you, thanks to loud headphones.

My (g-gge-gen-) generation was probably the first one to plug one of them into over our ears. A favorite trick was to turn up someone's volume wheel all the way to MAX before they put on the headphones. It would be doubly funny if the cassette in the player was something like Van Halen's first album (where do you think Robert Zemeckis got that joke from in Back to the Future?) But eventually for most users of the Walkman, the volume wheel would be turned up slowly, notch by notch, as the music got louder and harder and your parents' cries to "do your homework" had to be quickly and efficiently drowned out with soul-rattling guitar. And later, when the Blueness of Our Souls and the Despair in Our Hearts had to be erased with a carefully chosen album like "Dark Side of the Moon", headphones were a damn necessity.

If only deafness turned us into another Beethoven!

What Was That Again?

Steve Wynn, talking to Charlie Rose on PBS, about his hotel-casino: "I want it (the hotel) to be a destination. Because a destination is a place people go to be in".

What is the sound of one hand clapping? If you don't care where you are going, any road will take you there. We are searching for a black cat in a black room, only there is no cat.

Given enough Coronas, infinity is attainable.