The ordinary and the extraordinary

The other day I watched the film Slumdog millionaire.

Irrespective of its 8 Oscars, it is not a kind of film you can rub your seat off and walk away and forget before the popcorn digests out. It asks some compelling questions, particularly if you are an Indian, even so if you are presently living in the land of the film's director. I was watching from both those perspectives, which was an interesting and a precarious one.

Against much nationalist cry of portraying India negatively, the truth is that there does exist a slum as portrayed in the film. The film was not made in an erected-set, but real-life slums and roads, amidst the squalor and wretchedness of places which our fellow-brothers and sisters call 'home'. There are other ways to explain away the slums, but that is a debate for another day.

The film is a climax to a stage in India's growth where "India is at the centre of the world" (direct quote from a character in the film). Westerners view this fast-changing India with as much intrigue as chagrin. After about 115 minutes of the movie, when you reflect on what the movie actually wanted to say - "hope" is what clamours above many other close contenders.

From the sidelines of the movie, I unearthed an artiste called MIA who is my today's epitome of hope. MIA is the stage name of a Srilankan singer called Mathangi Arulpragasam. She incidentally was nominated for the Oscar for 'O..saya' with AR Rahman, making it a தமிழ் sweep of some sorts, which few people would have noticed. 'Paper planes' is another song from Slumdog Millionaire which is rarely talked about compared to 'O..saya' and 'Jai Ho'. That song is a MIA song which AR Rahman has used in this movie and also remixed. All this bloomed on me only when I saw the film and heard the songs in the context (typical of ARR songs!). When I read about Mathangi's life I couldnt find a better epitome of hope. Technically, a refugee - who went on to become a global rap and hip-hop star. More and more incidents like these are etching that strong belief in me so deeply that, you dont have to BE anybody to achieve anything. Anybody can achieve anything. The moral of the story is "It doesnt matter where you start from, but it does matter where you are going and where you reach". This theme is of course,more glamorously paraphrased by Silambarasan in one of his movies.

Unknowingly like a dog returning to its drinking bowl, this theme seems to recur again and again in my blog. Maybe years of pessimism needed this spell to instill some hope in me. While I am saying this, I need to recognise that we should continue doing the ordinary stuff, however boring - for the extra-ordinary to occur. Susan Boyle became extra-ordinary, because for more than 30 years she was doing the ordinary job of singing in clubs and pubs. While I have become more or less convinced of the pronounced role of luck in people's lives - both the presence or absence of it - luck by definition requires a basic degree of perseverance, I guess. We could say Frieda Pinto of Slumdog Millionaire, is very very lucky to reach there. But she had to have a basic requirement of being a model (the ordinary) to get noticed to catapult her into the extraordinary (of a Hollywood star). That motivates me. What I do today, may seem boring, repetitive and monotonous. But I have to continue doing this consistently and better every other time - for something extraordinary to occur, if at all!

For the record - Danny Boyle has been directing and producing films for the past thirty years!!! Were the 8 Oscars pure luck or a gift to somebody's perseverance? Difficult question, eh! Likewise AR Rahman wins an Oscar for what I would say is a Kindergarten rhyme by his standards, when so many of his masterpieces did not reach those heights at all.

I am now learning that those 'ordinary' masterpieces were needed to lead him to that 'extraordinary' Kindergarten rhyme, promptly titled 'Jai Ho'!!!

இன்னிசை மட்டும் இல்லையென்றால்.......

I am beginning to learn why more art and literature have born out of grief, bereavement and sorrow than joy and mirth. Another song which swept me off my feet and again it is to do with pathos. For some mad reason, unfathomable even to the best of my rational cognitive abilities, these songs give me an intoxicating effect. I know I am walking through a scary path and I still enjoy the thrill of being absorbed into this vortex. As I dont know the effect of drug, alcohol or smoke's intoxication I imagine it should be somewhere comparable to this(Other more experienced veterans could enlighten me!). The first kick - the thrill of the adventurous journey - the spiral of the vortex - and the want for more and more and more and more!! Although most of the times I am caught unawares, I can tell its coming..Premonition, may be! or Providence!

For a 100 songs which people murmur during their daily chores, less than 10 would be a chirpy song I guess. MSV once said that their is no melody without melancholy. For some reason people like a longing, ஒரு ஏக்கம், sometimes not even knowing what they are longing for, but all the time loving that ஏக்கம். Although I am not a fan of overtly mushy, emotional songs - songs like எவனோ ஒருவன் were written for moments like these - and I am living that moment. In a quaint sense this phase has been a very nourishing, creative phase. And almost every other time, a sense of pathos accompanies that by serendipity or by default. Or maybe by design. When I think of the world's greatest books and literature written from prison cells - alarm bells are ringing for me!!! "எந்தன் சோகம் தீர்வதற்கு இதுபோல் மருந்து பிரிதில்லையே" This intoxxxxicating மருந்து called கலை."கேட்டு கேட்டு நான் கிறங்குகிறேன்"

I am unearthing these songs which I have heard many times before, like a lost treasure and dusting them down to sit and drink them, literally, particularly during a dry, parched season. The same unnoticed words hit me like a spear now, wrenching the deepest emotions out of me. Cinema for all its vulgarities and commerce, can still be a veritable celebration of arts on a grand scale is a soothing fact during these troubled times, in a world driven by self-aggrandizement and avarice.

God has given me many crutches to help this staggering journey of mine here. I am thankful for all of that. "ஆனால் நிச்சயமாவே இன்னிசை மட்டும் இல்லையென்றால் என்றோ என்றோ என்றோ இறந்திருப்பேன்". For a person who was never able to deal with loneliness, one of the reasons I married at 25, I value these crutches greatly. I appreciate their meaning. I revel in their use. Through a medium like this I recommend their use to others. சில நேரங்களில் நானே யாசிக்கிறேன், நானே வாசிக்கிறேன், யாசித்ததை வாசிக்கிறேன், வாசித்ததை யாசிக்கிறேன். சில நேரங்களில் சில மனிதர்கள்ன்னு இதைத் தான் சொல்றாங்க போல.

I am recording these emotions, more like a journal for me. When I come out of this phase and read them, they might sound silly, as it might to present readers, who are not into this inebriation. But atleast they would remind me of a person who would well out with tears at the slightest provocation.

"அந்தக் குழலைப் போல் அழுவதற்கு அத்தனை கண்கள் எனக்கில்லையே"