Into the wild

Man, after a long time there is something worth seeing. This movie was on my hit list since many days but did not get a chance to see it. It's rated at #137 on imdb, but its worth a top ranker. Anyways, who the hell cares about rankings? It's about a graduate student who turns down his normal life and becomes a voyager and then a super tramp ( Alexander Supertramp rather !) I was lucky to see it with subtitles which created a permanent reflection on my memory. I will never ever forget those great dialogues. If you like nature and if you feel great serenity by being close to it, this is THE movie for you. It's not just about the nature and about an urge to cross almost every human limitations to meet the eternal joy, but it has got a standing of its own.

I generally like out of the way movies, the ones with different story line and plot. And this one came with a complete package - eye catching cinematography, ultimate screenplay and lovely music; philosophy + drama + biography, what else can you expect from a movie. More than everything else, I really liked the message that the audience get ( or at least what I got). I initially used to think that one needs to live a highly materialistic life in order to get away from it, sounds somewhat similar to Osho's principle, whatever. And I somehow always used to think that materialistic people are happier than their counterparts. But when I saw this real life story, it changed my look towards the world. You know what, there is always a deep and mystic relation between human and nature, but we ruin it by our so called mannerism and principles of society. We look at everything, literally everything with a predisposed mind that we could not see something beyond certain limit, we judge people by the look they wear, by the language they speak, by so many things that we sometimes forget that human is also nature's creation and it has some instincts of its own, just like the free bird who lives its life in a way the nature has told it to do, in pure organic form. There are no boundaries, no false limits, no 'so called' fear !

Into the wild is a great movie and I really loved it. Some people might find it boring or a little bit slow, but that's how things happened in Christopher McCandless's life and I really respect him for whatever he has done. In fact, somewhere in my mind there is a rebellion who wants to go to the remote place without having any connection with the world. I don't like to replicate things but think this is a place where I should post some really good dialogues, see if you can find some philosophy behind it.

There is pleasure in pathless woods ,
There is rapture on the lonely shore,
There is a society where none intrudes,
By the deep sea and the music in its roar ;
I love not man the less, but Nature more.

- Lord Byron

Rather than love, than money, than fairness, give me truth

- Thoreu

I will miss you too, Ron. But you are wrong if you think the joy of life comes principally from human relationships. God's placed it all around us. It's in everything. In anything that we can experience. People just have to change the way they think about those things. You ought to put a little camper on the back of your pick-up and go take a look at some of the great work god’s done out here in the American west.

TWO YEARS HE WALKS THE EARTH. NO PHONE, NO POOL, NO PETS, NO CIGARETTES, ULTIMATE FREEDOM. AN EXTREMIST. AND AESTHETIC VOYAGER WHOSE HOME IS... the road. Escaped from Atlanta. Thou shalt not return ‘cause the “west is the best.” And now after two rambling years, comes the final and greatest adventure. The climactic battle to kill the false being within and victoriously conclude the spiritual revolution. Ten days and nights of freight trains and hitchhiking, bringing him to the great white north. No longer to be poisoned by civilization, he flees, and walks alone upon the land
to become lost in the wild.

HAPPINESS ONLY REAL WHEN SHARED.

CALL EVERYTHING BY ITS RIGHT NAME.

What if you saw me running into your arms... Would you see then... ...what I see now?

- CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON MCCANDLESS.

First post from America

Finally I reached US safely. Wednesday, 6th AUG - 2008 is going to be one of the most memorable days in my life. I came before two days in Mumbai and stayed at my uncle's place. Every day in last week I could see mixed emotions on my mother's face, little bit happy but more worried face. Her son is going to study abroad and doesn't know when he will be back. He doesn't have a cell phone to reach and doesn't have much money to spend. His son called her once when he reached airport but couldn't speak for more than a minute in four quarters of a dollar. The Internet is well developed these days but she doesn't know how to contact him through it. With the help of my brother she tried a lot but alas ! the place where I belong has got a load shedding of 9 hours and also the timings does not always match. When I talked to her on gtalk, she could listen to my voice but I did not. So, my brother typed in her words and I replied via my voice chat, so nice way to talk to your dear ones ! I could have bought a calling card or cell phone but looking at its prize I didn't feel doing so. Poor me !

Something about the first air travel -
I did not have a jet lag even though the flight was late by four hours. On the airport my cousin gave me lots of instructions of where things are and where should I start from, what should I do and what I shouldn't at custom checks. I was a bit numb while leaving my family but kept my face smiling ( didn't want to increase the intensity of my absence ). Didn't even cry since when I am here in US. The flight was good ( didn't have any benchmark to compare since this was my first air travel so felt quite okay. ) I did not like the vegetarian food served in flight and the entertainment facilities. Watched Kung Fu Panda for some time but somehow it stopped in between and did not come up again. After trying whatever I could, got fade up and slept for about 8 - 10 hours. I was feeling bit cold so wrapped up the blanket all over and had a nice sleep, in the mean time my friends kept on looking for me all the way but could not see my face :-D. After completion of formalities and custom checks at Newark Airport we stayed for an hour or so and got into the bus which was arranged by our seniors.

About seniors -
Three cheers to you guys ! You are so helpful and understanding that you almost made us feel this country as a home away from home. I really appreciate your help since the first day when we new students contacted you. Thanks for taking your time out of your busy schedules and helping us in every single thing which could have been a disaster without your help. I am looking forward for continuing this tradition ahead when I will be at your position after one year.

Some updates -
I am done with getting my student ID card, which means I could travel all over the city using the buses for free of cost, I could use internet facilities and of course ring up people in America from free phones available in the university. I really like the idea of free phones, I must say ;-) I am quite settled now and got a rented 5 BHK apartment with my room mates, costs 275$ ( including heat, water and electricity) per head, each of us have a separate bedroom and a common hall, kitchen. Two of my room mates are first time away from home and adjusting the turns of five people in one toilet + bathroom + basin room is going to be a real challenge and fun :-D

Looking forward for learning lots of new things which in turn means making lots of mistakes !

Clearing the last hurdle

Yesterday was a big day for me. After going through a painful process of applying to universities, waiting for their admits / rejects, gathering hell lot of document to prove that you are financially strong to survive in States; I was at the last resort yesterday - The Visa Interview. I remember someone saying, appearing for GRE and TOEFL is just the beginning, I whole heartedly agree to that statement now. This process has taught me lots of things of how system works and what it takes to leave your country and go to some unknown place for pursuing your educational interests. Right from getting the study material, preparing and appearing for exams, sending application packets, shortlisting universities, selecting between admits and not crying over rejects; I have got a lot of support from people around me and that's why I feel very much fortunate today. I messed up a lot in between the process, sometime I made terrible mistakes but somehow by hook or crook it got carried away; though I have to pay the prize of my laziness and nonchalance. For someone this post might seem like exaggeration of my feelings but it isn't, if you were at my place, you must have felt the same way. If you are unknown of the minute details and intricacies that needs to be cleared or thought of while / before appearing for a visa interview, go see someone who has gone through it.

I made some mistakes while filling up an online form and that delayed processing of my i20. This was essentially the reason for taking the visa date in July, ideally people get it done in 1st or 2nd week of June or beforehand. But what generally / easily happens with people never happens with me. This is a general observation and I have many experiences to support this argument. This D-Day interview was yet another story to tell. Before going to the consulate, everyone prepares the answers of standard questions and by the wish of almighty, they are asked same questions. As I said it earlier, it didn't happen with me. I was standing last in a queue of 7-8 candidates and everyone in front of me came out with a granted visa in a very short time, none of them had to show any documents. As it happens always, I was standing last and was thinking that they ( visa officers ) can't just let people go merrily without being asked tough questions. Being the last man, I knew that I will have to go through a tricky interview. As I entered in the visa interview compartment, I was welcomed by a middle aged (around 55 years) , fat white woman. She was wearing spectacles and has got a typical style of looking through the passage between eyebrows and the glass. I did not care about her looks as I was known to such styles since my school days, many of our khadoos teachers used to stare like that. But contradictory to what I perceived , she was totally different. She was very well mannered and pleasant, she did ask me lot of questions which don't fall in the list of FAQ's but never ever I felt myself uncomfortable while answering them. In fact, I was very confident, looking directly into her eyes, fearless. She even cracked a joke in my interview, which I did understand and I responded by smiling back, but somehow she knew that I was not in the mood of appreciating jokes at that time. 'I was just joking, please don't take it seriously' was her response to my reaction. Sometime back I used to think of what must be going on in the visa officer's mind ( I am even planning to do some research in this area !) , so that I can use it for my interview. Everyday they take hundreds of visa interviews, ask lot of similar questions and get similar answers always. It's not at all bad if someone enjoys pulling the legs of the candidate at the time of interview. When she joked and I replied back by smiling to it, a thought just passed through my mind - 'Maam' how about exchanging our positions? How about me asking you questions and cracking jokes? How about me deciding your fate of being there or not being there in United States... ' I am quite sure, if I would have been sitting at her place, I could have done lots of mischievous things.

So, after a rapid fire interview ( it lasted for around 300+ seconds including my answers, which were often precise except at few places. Later when I calculated the time, the rate of asking questions came out to be 1 question per 2 seconds) , it was a time to hear the golden words, words that I read lot many times in other people's visa interview experiences. ' Alright Onkar, I am granting your visa. You will be flying with your i20 and will get your passport back in 3 working days through courier. Wish you all the best in your master's studies, have a nice time'. I felt great after hearing it, and thanked her for her kindness. After many days, I did something which was very satisfactory.

Via Darjeeling

Saturday is the best day of week for me now, earlier it used to be Sunday until I started working. It starts at 11 o'clock and ends at 12 o’clock; you are just at the beginning of a nice weekend. This Saturday was one of the most boring days however. I don't know the reason but may be it was cloudy and almost all of my friends were busy with something. Me and my room-mate decided to go for a movie. As we ran through stupid films and there endless insane narrations / promotions in Pune Times, it was really hard to find a good movie. But we are so determined and hopeful that we decided to go for it anyways. Via Darjeeling was selected mainly because it's a Hindi Movie (my roomie's primary concern, he can't tolerate English movies unless they are action packed ) and the star cast. Kay Kay Menon, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Sandhya Mrudul and Sonali Kulkarni was a solid combination I guessed. But initial half hour was enough to prove that I was terribly wrong. A boring Saturday morning followed by dose of crappy movie ruined the whole day.

The movie starts with a quarrel between a hired car driver and Kay Kay. It doesn't stop with few heated exchanges but goes on and results into some serious repercussions. Kay Kay and Sonali's honeymoon turns into a nightmare when Kay Kay goes missing. Sonali calls up a police inspector (Vinay) to investigate the case. Upto this level, the film is tolerable but it looses the track when the story suddenly moves to a small get together in Rajat Kapoor's house where Vinay narrates his experience to the group. Then there is a series of endless, illogical and irrelevant discussions. Each one of the group members is from a background somehow related with media and they each narrate a plot of what could have happened to Kay Kay. The movie is a poor mixture of their views about the characters and nothing else. The songs are ultimate examples of how things could be misarranged and lyrics are in any aspect not related to the theme. About acting, everyone played their part but no one is really mentionable. About the overall plot, its very badly arranged, the characters look like not attached to each others and there seems to be a shade of artificiality in acting. The dialogs are so shoddy that at some time audiences feel that they could have written in better ways. On a positive note, the director has shown something which is new to Hindi cinema but the presentation could have been much better.

Few lessons that I learnt:
1. Do not judge a film based on it's cast.
2. Do not go for a movie when you are not sure if it's worth watching or not.
3. If you have an intense desire to waste your Rs. 150/- ; bring some good food, eat and sleep.
4. Always prefer a little nap over any film.
5. English / Marathi movies are generally better than Hindi movies ( this in fact is my opinion since start and Via Darjeeling has made it even more stronger).

ice'2008 digital short film festival

I have never been to a film festival before. It's my friend Waghya ( Amol Waghmare) who took me to my first film festival. The "Catalogue" of the movies to be screened created some interest, at least the plots of some of the movies looked good. They were casting top 5 films that received various awards. After a small introduction to ICE (International Cultural Exchange) and their initiative in promoting and celebrating the quality cinema in genre of digital short film, the screening started. "Hridayattileykku Oru Madakkayatra" was awarded as the best film and there were few other films got awarded in their own category.

Honestly speaking, I did not like all of them. I do respect the hard work and money that these film makers have put in converting a passion into something worth seeing, but I was surprised how some films got awarded. I don't understand film critics and don't have an eye of jury but for a common man like me, some of them were of a very average class.

The 5 films were :-
1. Naanum - Me too : (10.10 min)
An unborn child wants to live with her mother and family but her father doesn't want the breed of pre-marital relations. The child was too cute but overall film was not that good.

2. Life In Sine : (08.45 min)
The title seems catchy but the film isn't. A story of a patient whose mental stage changes from one to another and how a small thing makes an impact on his life. The small thing is a small bush which the patient used to water turns into a dead plant. It has to be one of them, either the film is too good or I don't have an appetite for such movies.

3. Kya Aam Admi Surakshit Hai? : (19.50 min)
Looks like a pretty serious film from name but turns out to be a comical portrayal of how media shows simple things in dramatical ways and make people believe in it. Points to be mentioned are the coverages shown of the local, national news channels whose names sarcastically resemble to news channels we see these days. The news reporter and their style, the comments of people and leaders are fantastic. Worth to be screened in a film festivals.

4. An Insight - Beyond Headlines (19.56 min)
A serious documentary on the burning issue, SEZ. A small group seeks opinions of the people who are actually affected by SEZ (includes people from Raigad, Mundra port ). Some real information which we don't see on channels and don't read in newspapers. Appreciable efforts for bringing out bitter realities behind the national policy of SEZ.

5. Hridayattileykku Oru Madakkayatra (15.00 min)
The best film (which is also the director's diploma project) of the festival, and certainly deserves the reward. 'Theyyam' is a ritual dance form in the northern region of Kerala. The story revolves around a life of 'Chemmaran' the Theyyam player and his family. 'Prabhadhan' (his son) is going abroad discarding his father's wish of making him a 'Theyyam' artist. The first scene tells that this movie is special and made by hands of an adept director, Abhinand H Kumar. It shows the father coloring himself and preparing for a performance. Then in the second scene there is a lovely use of camera which shows different stages of father's life (His son goes abroad, gets a citizenship, marries a German girl, becomes father, the couple splits apart, son decides to come back home with his child). The last scene is also good when the father asks his son to dip into a kunda to become sacred again and the son after bath, turns into a Theyyam player.

In all, a good experience. I wish ICE a very good luck in future and hope to see some great short films ahead. Good work ICE, keep it up !