Life. Freedom. Choices

Human beings are creatures of choice. In life, you always make choices - based on what you "know" at that point in time.

The path you take, will then be constrained by the choice you've made. When you make the choice, you've committed to following that path until you come to yet another fork on the road - another choice. Not taking a particular road is ALSO a choice you make - consciously or unconsciously.

The only possible "freedom" that you could possibly really ask for - is the freedom of choice. After that, you are just a "slave" to your choices. The only real freedom is the freedom to choose what to do next.

And when everyone has that freedom, choices can be conflicting and there may be constraints that you may CHOOSE (again) to live with.

The word "live" here is literal and figurative. Society as a whole - to preserve itself - may make a choice, to limit some choices. Those who hold the key to these special choices, the those who have the power to limit your freedom as a consequence.

So, in a social situation, where you are a part of a bigger whole, the only possible definition of freedom is, in my opinion, the freedom to choose what bounds to be bound by.

And every single "self-help", "improvement" or "philosophy" is eventually just making you aware of your power to choose, or "influencing" your choices.

The only possible way to "be completely free" is to dissociate yourself from the society, do nothing, stop thinking and just vegetate...

All iz wail...

When faced with the opportunity to watch a movie made by someone who has made movies which are fun but sensitive about our society at the same time, and in which one of my favourite actors has the lead role, I would be an Idiot to say no...

However, I did feel like a bit of an Idiot AFTER watching the movie. I went in expecting something much better than what was dished out.

3 Idiots is the story of three would be engineers with different backgrounds and different reasons to get into the premier college of the country. The premise of the movie, while borrowed from five-point-someone, is still wonderful enough to incorporate the director's take on a lot of problems plaguing our education system. And the setting is flexible enough to do this in a manner which is funny but respectably so.

However, the script and the screenplay leaves a lot to be desired. The movie starts off reasonably well, but very early in the movie the "pencil" joke sets the tone for things to come... That's got to be one of the oldest jokes in the world and not something you'd expect from someone who has given us Munnabhai. As the movie goes on, it has its moments. However, the difference between those other Hirani movies and this one lies in simplicity.

3 Idiots tries to tackle TOO many issues all at once - societal pressure of success, the education system, student anxiety and peer pressure, poverty, and in the process loses the one thing that had been evident in all Hirani's other movies - namely a taut, single-track story line. In the process of trying to do this in an entertaining way, Hirani loses the plot and the movie moves along in jerks. Stereotypes are the mainstay of most movies - they make a character easily identifiable. However, there's a thin line between them working and being insensitive. In more than a few sequences, they border on insensitive. Sequences while individually funny, seem forced, cliched. And in the end, the movie attempts to be simultaneously funny and serious, simultaneously sensitive and frivolous, simultaneously ideal and practical and in the process ends up being neither here, nor there.

When a sidekick (Chatur) ends up being the best character in a movie - you have a problem. He steals the show over the three idiots even though he is supposed to lose in the end, he wins in the acting department. The acting - while competent, is nothing extraordinary. Boman Irani is wonderful but loud in some cases. Rancho was supposed to be the soul of the movie - this ideal student who thinks differently, has fun, has a soul and is a top student as well. He hardly is - in fact this is one of Aamir's weakest performances. Sharman Joshi has had a better outing than Aamir. Everyone else chips in fine.

The movie has its moments. Its genuinely funny in parts and make no mistake, I laughed. However, given a choice I'd rather watch Munnabhai MBBS again, than watch this movie. If I want to watch a medley of funny scenes without taxing my brain, I'd watch a David Dhawan movie.

I'd give it a 3/5 if I am generous and all the credit it gets is for the star-cast and production values, with some for trying hard and for being a little funny. But to be honest, aal iz naat well!

Yanni Voices (Review...)

I first got introduced to Yanni when he performed at the Taj... It was a time when music meant Annu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan and the like, AR Rahman was a novelty... and EVERY song which was not Hindi, was English. There was a lot of hoopla around him performing and I HAD to see what all the fuss was about.

That one hour was, well, interesting. The music was different - there were no lyrics, the music was in layers, and it evoked feelings like no other. Without knowing the technicalities of what I was listening to, I was hooked! I bought the Sony BMG audio tapes of the man's music - the ones that cost ~100 rupees, with those big plastic covers. I bought a walkman because no one else seemed to appreciate the music as much as I did. I devoured as much of Yanni as I could.

Over the years, Yanni's music has evolved. From being piano-centric, it became more orchestrated, as he experimented with sounds, vocals and energy. However, what I loved was that it was instrumental largely. The vocals, if any, were supplementary and didn't take center-stage.

That, has changed with his new Album - Voices. Yanni has collaborated with 4 upcoming artists (Nathan Pacheco, Chloe, Ender Thomas and Leslie Mills), who were told to come up with their own vocal compositions by using Yanni's music as a canvas. The result is a vocal interpretation of the music that I so dearly love. The album starts with Nathan Pacheco's interpretation of "The Tribute", a very opera-like song {understandably - Nathan studied Opera}. The album continues through the moods and ends with Pacheco's rendition based in "Adiago in C Minor", ending with an operatic feel like it started.

On the whole, it comes together very well - especially Chloe's songs (The Keeper being my favourite). It did take some time getting used to hearing voices where they were never expected though. And especially in case of Nathan Pacheco - the voices seem forced (in fact, the songs of "Tribute" don't lend themselves too well to vocal interpretation and Pacheco's voice seems to overpower the myraid layers of music that is in the score").

Overall though, the album is powerful and most of the songs picked have been the ones that you feel were crying out for an interpretation like this. Yanni says that the human voice is the most powerful and emotional means of communuication and on the evidence of this album, I'd largely agree. If you LIKE Yanni's music, you'll like Voices for the most part - do give it a listen.

PS: I hear that the Spanish version of the CD is better and there are a couple of songs in the Voices Tour that Yanni went on... Hopefully I'll get hold of those too.

Life..

There are times in life when you feel the fight is over... Times when you feel the writing's on the wall... That nothing matters at all. Don't be too hard on yourself. Don't give up. Get up and smile. Face life head-on. Because that's the beauty of living... to enjoy the good times, endure the bad times... and come out on top.

There are things that happen because you were stupid, and you made a mistake (or maybe two). Don't be too hard on yourelf. Everyone makes mistakes. And that's the beauty of living... to make mistakes and then be able to look back and laugh at how stupid you were...

There are things that happen because you did the best you could but someone or something else foiled your plans... Don't be too hard on yourself because you couldn't have done any better under the circumstances. Hindsight is 20-20 but there's a reason it's called "hind"sight. You cannot control the world. And that's the beauty of living... to show the world the finger, to know that you may not control the world, but the world doesn't control you either...

Life is unpredictable... And that's the beauty of living...

Purani Jeans...

The moment he saw them, he knew he had to have them. It was love at first sight. He made his move. And walked out with a new pair of size 34 jeans. He felt jubilant. Lucky. Satisfied.

It soon became his favourite pair. He wore them everywhere. With everything. Always. The jeans moulded themselves to his frame. They looked good. He marvelled. As did his friends. He took care of the jeans. It was the best thing he owned. It was perfect.

Things were fine. Then he had an accident. And the jeans had a tear. He was careless. He patched them up. They were still size 34. He still loved 'em. He just wore 'em less. Because they didn't look good any more. But it was the same pair of jeans. He grew older. And larger around the middle. The jeans stretched. As much as they could. But they were still the same (with a patch).

And one fine day... the jeans went out and a new one came in. Shinier. Bigger. Suddenly, these were the "old ones". They didn't look good. They didn't fit. They got dumped. Replaced. By a new "better" pair.

The jeans were still the same. Size 34. They never changed.

But something did.

Letting it go...

The intensity of it all surprised me. I took it as my good fortune. I ignored the warnings, AND the warning signs. I plunged. Headlong. I was so sure. It would go on forever, I knew.

But - and there's always a but - Things took a turn. They changed. I don't know when. I thought it was a guiding star. It was actually an oncoming train. And I was in the middle of the tunnel with nowhere to go.

I don't know why. Maybe it was me who was the fool. Maybe that was what they had planned. It doesn't matter. And I don't want to know. I don't want to fight any more. I don't want to try. I am tired. Spent.

It was good while it lasted. But it is time. To let go. To ride away. To let it wash over you. Rest.

Before you rise up again... to take consequences of yet another decision you make, yet another road you follow, yet another sign you ignore...

You live and you learn. Or maybe you don't learn. At any rate, you live.

Equality -vs- Freedom...

What do you value more? Freedom, or Equality? Because, if you think about it, they two opposing values...

Freedom would be having the liberty given to people to choose a shirt of the colour they like.

Equality, on the other hand, tries to ensure that everyone wears the shirt of the same colour.

So you see... promoting equality necessarily restricts freedom. (Yes I know it's not so simple, but think about the idea... or give me your definition of freedom).

Any set of laws (or to generalize, behaviour-inducing incentives) necessarily achieve a compromise between the two values. However, people are NOT born equal, only born free... Whenever the laws (policies?) tend more towards equality than towards a freedom, there seems to be a problem. (e.g. China, Russia, reservations, affirmative action to name a few).

P.S: I personally value freedom more than equality. People who value equality more... I'd like to know your views please. It would be interesting.