Animated movies for Adults (Not what you think!)

 I love movies but have over a period become a bit selective. It's not that I can't watch Commercial ones. I have divided movies into two categories. The ones we leave our brain at home and have fun and the ones which can be watched with them in! The third category of course is those rare ones where they make us both think as well as are fun! Tare Zameen Par, PK, 3 Idiots come to mind! 

One of my favourite genre is cartoons or to be more precise, Animations. While I still like a well done kids cartoon like Transformers (Original Cartoons), Ducktales etc. I somehow love the new ones which aren't designed just for kids. Some are designed for both while nowadays there are enough viewers for some to be made exclusively for Adults. The concepts are complex, themes are at times very dark, sexual content is present where necessary (though not the prime drive of the movie) and blood and gore come in as well.

 Shrek I think was the pathbreaker with a movie having ( to use one of their own phrases) layers like an Onion! 

On one layer is a story of a reluctant and bitter Ogre setting out to protect his swamp. At another it's about pushing beyond our comfort zone to find who we are ( and love!). At yet another level it's a hard hit on societal standards and how the "Ugly" is shown as "Bad" and Vice Versa and how in most societies, the niceties, primness and pretty faces cover a deeper level of ruthlessness and real ugliness. 

And then if the movie has one of the most iconic songs, many fart jokes, the Legendary Eddy Murphy as "Dunkey" and superbly choreographed action scenes poking fun at some of our pop culture movies ( like the scene where the Princess does a copy of Trinity from Matrix by freezing mid air while the camera pans) the movie is bound to be satisfying on so many levels! 

Of course, the painting / animation / VFX have to be good too! 

But some recent animations which have taken the pure artistry to a whole new level are The Dragon Prince (Studio Mir!), Arcane, Spiderman Into the Spiderverse and Across the Spiderverse.

In each of these, it feels at times that every frame is an art work worthy of printing and pasting on a wall! 

The Dragon Prince: 

The sheer bright colours, the beauty of the world built, the scale of each painting blows ones mind! How cute and adorable many of the characters are drawn and the sometimes super complex paintings, the sometimes intentionally simple frames with hardly any depth makes great viewing! 

Add to this, the complexity of the story, the world building happening in parallel. The really dark and large scale consequences of the powerful people making simple decisions of hate based on fear and you have as amazing a world as you want in a fantasy story! 

You have even the worst villain have redeeming traits. You have most of the heroic people also having anger, short sight, bitterness and even arrogance at times. 

I LOVE ( not love, LOVE) how they are able to show ideas as black and white while still keeping the characters as gray! 

The next Sub-Genre if we may call it that is the For Adults Animations. Arcane, Paradise PD, South Park all come to mind. Some are purely focused on the adult comedy. Like South Park, Paradise PD. The Animation there needs to meet acceptable levels. The enjoyment is in the ridiculousness of the scenario, the dialogues and the mirror they show to society. 

Then comes stuff like Arcane! Like Dragon Prince, just the scale of artistry blew me away! As a non-painter I'm not really an artist in any sense (Except Literature maybe?). But even for me, the artistry was at such a superlative level, I would just pause the screen and enjoy one "Screen" for sometime. The bright and colourful "above ground" city, the dark and drab lower ground world. The seemingly nice and beautiful people, well dressed and well mannered above contrast with the "Dog eat Dog" world below where every character is out for his own growth. 

Then, as the story evolves, you start seeing the Humanity in those below and the cruelty in those above. And the worlds reverse! You see the top world survives by exploiting those below! Behind the facade of genteel lives is a iron clad fist willing to take whatever they need at whatever cost to the other simply because they have a "right" to it! 

And in all this I have not even started to get into the story!

So for those who enjoy good story telling combined with great cinematography ( That's the equivalent to awesome frames I think?), do give these and many more Animations a viewing. 

ENJOY!

An understanding of Society - Capitalist turned Socialist

 This is an attempt to document my slowly growing understanding of society, what's wrong in it and why there are no easy solutions ( but there are solutions!).

I'm a 40+ person with a small business in manufacturing and who also is part of an NGO in the education field. 

I have grown up with what I would now call a very privileged upbringing. It wasn't too fancy. But we went to a good school. Never had to worry about food or money at home. Had tons of books at home, extra tuitions for Maths, Physics and Chemistry ( even though we were academically good) and so on. 

Ok. So compared to today's levels of multiple tabs and phones, AC buses and AC classrooms, BTS themed birthdays et al, it wasn't much. But ( I later realised) it was sooo much more than what the average Indian got. (The average could be defined by Median or Mode. )

So in my teens and twenties ( which is probably equal to Teens in terms of exposure for an insulated Indian child), i've always been pro-Capitalism, pro-"Merit", against Reservation and a HUGE fan of the Ayn Rand school of thought. 

I mean, it was obvious to me. An upper class student could not get into my college with a rank of 10,000. An SC student got in with a rank of 40,000! How much more blatant could the discrimination be?

Aah! The confidence of youth! ( Not to mention the Ignorance!). 

Luckily for me, I had good friends in College. So what our education system left out, I learnt from them over many a bottle of cheap liquor! ( Where we all  get our education! 😆)

I realised that for "merit" to apply, there has to be the same starting point. I cannot claim merit when I have had good schooling, extra tuitions, parents not giving ANY work at home ( walking the Dog was my "Chore" which I cribbed about ( and the occassional getting Kariyapak from a neighbouring tree!).

I learnt how culture plays a role, caste plays a role in your awareness! I had Engineering as a target from my 8th class when one of my cousins got into Engineering. ( Medicine was out because of a Biology teacher I hated! Life decisions are based on such wonderful analytic thinking!). 

I later learnt that even relatively well to do friends from business community got to know that there is an Engineering Entrance exam called EAMCET only after they finished their 11th! 

I learnt that the SC friend of mine was the first person to become an engineer from his entire extended family on both sides of his parents! 

I learnt the Govt. schools they studied in - in their childhood -  didn't have proper seating, leave alone teachers! That even their English Teacher didn't know English!

I learnt that some of my classmates came from such poor backgrounds that they studied from borrowed books in the Library! 

That was when I first heard about Ambedkar and his writings. That was when for the first time, I started analysing things from the societal and sociological perspective! 

I realised so much of what we are taught in schools is just milestone facts! 

It was then that I started understanding the social and economic fabric of our world!

The true learnings follow in the next blogs!

Of Bikes, Butts and Butterflies ( Or, The tales of a fat biker!)

This is about an amazing bike trip taken on an amazing bike with an amazing person!

Now that I've set low expectations, let's move on. :)

THE Bike

The Bike in question is a Triumph T100 Bonneville. A relatively unassuming looking bike ( at least for a person who has drooled over the flashy Ninja and Hayabusa) until you ride the monster! With 900CC under your seat and an 80Nm torque at the twist of your wrist, this baby is one that will thrill you to the core!

Initially when my dad wanted to buy this bike, I wasn't really impressed and thought that while this wouldn't be my choice, its good for him to fulfill one of his long term wishes. But once you drive it ( in any modicum of open road) whew! It's a leashed monster!

Weighing around 220 Kgs by itself, this baby is a handful to hold on to! Add to that it's tendency to jack knife when you're making sharp cuts at zero speed and it needs some good limb strength to drive her.

But all that is moot when you're on the road! But more on that later!

Butts:

I would'nt like to butt heads with those who disagree with this in the heading, but there is a dire need for it ( as you shall soon see!). 

It is said that one does not know the value of a part of the body unless it isn't there! To reverse the quote, one does not know how weak a part of the body is unless it's overused! 

 

An amazing fun trip by day, a night of sleeping on your stomach cos.... But definitely worth it!

One of the really sad things about it was that since the human body is not designed aerodynamically, a lot of insects kept smashing into the helmet at a time. 

After sometime realised many of those were butterflies. :(

Kept trying to justifying to myself as "The circle of life" but made me realise how much humans actually disturb the environment. 

But an overall wonderful trip with dad. Need to do more together!

The Price of Honesty & Idealism

This is a topic which has for various official reasons been haunting me. Today I was both happy and sad to see somebody else with a even higher level of honesty who - at least in the short term - paid the price for his morality!!

I was reading up a post on the IIPM ponzi scheme and how it worked. While it was a good read on what happens within many Corporate Organisations that "work" the system, there was nothing very astonishing there for me. However what shocked me was this link to an article by Mr. Gaurav and how IIPM had arm twisted IBM for the sole reason of being the employer of Gaurav! Gaurav clarified that what he had written was his personal view on his personal blog and yet IBM was forced to the extent where they - in the most favourable scenario - did not refuse his resignation!

Please find below the write up by Mr. Gaurav on why he had to quit IBM!! A more clear cut case of bullying can't be found in any school yard! Kudos to Gaurav to have the courage in his morals ( and his ability) to stand up to this! I truly hope that life has good things coming up for him to make up for what it has put him through!

http://gauravsabnis.blogspot.in/2005/10/update.html

 

There are so many such cases of Individuals standing for what is right against "The System". It could be a large Corporate, it could be society in general or the biggest Baddy of all, the Govt. 

 

We know of Wikileaks and the illegal but very moral actions that he took and the devastating consequences it has had on his personal life. 

 

Closer home, we see the cases of the BK16, of even Chief Ministers and Dy. CMs ( Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia) where the system has decided to put aside nuance and come down to brute force. 

 

One of the cases which has personally affected me the most is that of JNU Scholar Umar Khalid. 

 

Now before I go into his case, let me talk about my background. I come from a moderate Brahmin family - in the sense that we don't greatly practice Brahminical values but still identify as Brahmins. 

So a lot of the typical Hindutva talking points have been thrown in and around our Social circles. The "Ghetto" mentality of Muslims, how "All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslim" - evidence to the contrary being 'selectively ignored'.

One of the biggest talking points was "Where are the Liberal Muslims? Why don't they speak up against the extreme elements of their community?". A statement which has now become so ironic ( considering how most of Hindus have ignored - if not lauded - the growth of Hindutva hate) that it borders on the farcical. 

In those days, I felt this was a kind of fair question. Where indeed were the Liberal voices? Either they weren't there or were too scared to speak up against the extreme elements. 

Then comes Umar Khalid. A Muslim Scholar (Scholar in the Secular term, not in the Imam type scholarship), in a relationship with a - GASP! - Hindu woman. ( Don't you dare start the BS Love Jihad story here!)

A secular Hindu who has unabashedly spoken up for the Constitution being THE ruling document of the nation. 

 

A voice of reason and of non-violence. Not just non-violence but of love. Of the Gandhian form of Ahimsa where he said Ahimsa is not just an absence of violence. It is not a passive negation of violence but an active push to it's opposite - Love! 

Umar spoke of a nation shared together where all come together to help the less fortunate. He did his PhD Thesis on the circumstances of the Adivasis of Jharkand. 

You could not find a better poster boy for the "Liberal Muslim" us "Regular Hindus" were in search of. 

So by all the definitions above, he should be somebody we praise, we elevate to a position of adulation. We showcase to our fellow Muslim citizens as an ideal to aspire to. 

What, instead , did we  - as a nation - do to him?

We booked him under the most stringent anti - terrorist law on the flimsiest of pretexts!

Knowing that his Muslim identity precludes him from sympathy and empathy from the majority community, we (Or more accurately our "representative" Government) used him as an example to the protestors, a whipping boy if you will.

He has spent the last 4 years in jail with ZERO progress in his case. His various applications for bail have been rejected. He has been villainized by the majority as anti-national - without knowing ANYTHING about the case and where not possible, wilfully ignored. 

What then can we expect from the rest of the Muslim community when we clearly show them what happens when you - as a Liberal Muslim - speak up?

Do let's think about it.

Love

Ninetanks

The Reluctant Optimist - My views on the AAP movement

An introduction: I am a thirty something small time businessman and big time cynic. Well educated ( in the Indian degree / Post Grad sense) yet despondent on soo many fronts. Now to the article

I have from quite sometime been very cynical about the chances of any drastic improvement in India whether in terms of Government or bureaucrats or politicians or the general public changing their usual lazy, corrupt short cut seeking ways and - till very recently - I have had very sound reasons for doing that.

In such a scenario when one man stood up and said that now that everything that I have tried to do to change the system has not worked, I will enter Politics ( observe the Capital P), the ultimate citadel of corruption, my casual reaction was " Aaah, yet another idealistic fool walks to his doom". A feeling of a Frodo entering Minas Tirith. 

Imagine my shock when in Tolkein style he came out - relatively - triumphant. He could at least make it to the CM seat! However, to me the bigger sign of change was the one paper article which said "Officers in various government departments are burning old files out of fear" on the very day Arvind Kejriwal took his oath as CM! That was when the actual affect of the ripples were starting to be seen! 

Unluckily I have had my share of experience with Govt. Departments ( from some of the best to the undeniably worst - Coal India!). So I have some inkling of how brazenly they do what they do. And there is no combination worse than bureaucracy and corruption! Not ANFO, not a ton of Potassium and water, not a psychopath and a machine gun! Nothing! They have such unbreakable belief in their armour of documentation that there is nothing you can do but bow to them! 

To see such people shaken out of their apathy and false righteousness! ( The logic they follow being: " Politicians and the people above us eat so much more, that justifies our taking whatever we can as it's still lesser than what others are doing"). That was the time I started taking Kejru  seriously!

There was still this eternal mistrust which has been ingrained genetically in us - probably from the time our ancestors saw their own people selling our secrets to various ( then) outsiders - from the Mughals to the British.  There was this strong perception that he too is a player in the game, come in with his own "angle" to be got! 

What I didn't get however was why would somebody with something to gain give up a cushy government job in - of all places - the Income Tax Department and go out to take on an all but impossible task of cleaning up politics? As an IRS official he can make crores of rupees by just letting people know when he is going to be absent! ( I've seen such offers given so that the Officer In-charge of the day can then be bribed to get the file passed!). So money is probably out. I thought maybe like most other people beyond a level, money doesn't matter. Maybe it's power! 

But logically even that didn't seem to make sense! For however a megalomaniac he was ( is ), it is impossible that he could've predicted that they would do so well in the elections! Especially before he even started a political party! I'm sure he would've been welcomed with open arms into any party ( Congress or BJP) if he had wanted to join them then! So there were safer, better ways to power. 

That only left ideals. Still I wasn't a big fan. I've seen many idealistic persons fall on their face ( including yours  truly) simply because of their inability to overcome reality in what they aim for! So ideals without competency is of no use. So I decided not to get myself too worked up and went on with my usual struggle for existence. 

However, when he actually showed that he could do it! He could mobilise people, he could build a team from scratch, he could fight an election at - probably - 1/100th the budget and still come out a creditable second! 

Something was however still holding me back! Probably the middle class mentality of "Why get into something like this unnecessarily. Let's stick to what we are doing" thingy. 

What however shamed me into becoming - ever so slightly - more active was the reactions and the accusations that were thrown at him and his party. The tone was abrasive, the logic was trash and the manner in which each minor infraction was analysed, blown up and distorted was so wonderfully professional that if it wasn't towards such a horrendous end, one would've sat back admiring the wonderful manner in which it was done! 

Some of the points thrown ( and swallowed by our "educated" classes) bordered on the ridiculous! He is corrupt and not a keeper of his words because he took a 5 bedroom apartment! REALLY? As a small businessman, I live in a three bed room and claim my right saying that I have worked hard for it! And you're grudging a Chief Minister a 5 bedroom apartment? Especially when it comes to light - much later on a blog online - that his wife is anyways eligible for a 4 bedroom house as an IRS officer! Come ON!! We're in a country where we get confused on how many zeroes to add when we're talking of scams! ( 1,76,000 Crores comes to mind!) And here we are grudging a guy 1 extra bedroom because he became CM! 

The others were the U-Turn Kejriwal and the sooo many jokes! We are - again - talking of a political scenario in our country where our erstwhile beloved Megastar campaigned against the Congress, won his votes ( and his seat) and later conveniently merged with the same Congress! Where was the outrage? He wasn't called U Turn Chiranjeevi. BJP strongly supported the Reddy brothers ( it was openly known that they were close to Sushma Swaraj) and had to ditch them. Yeddiyurappa was removed as CM, formed his own party, spoke virulently against them and again joined back! Nobody calls eithe Yeddy or the BJP as U Turn! The Congress is indeed synonymous with it's symbol of "giving hand" ( Haath dena) and backtracking on each and every commitment given. Their number of turns in the Telangana issue would've been worth not just a U, but an A-Z turn! They could've navigated the entire Judge Harrison Highway Interchange in the number of turns they took! Nobody called them any names! 

All this reminded me of this old folk tale told to me long ago

There was once a beggar in a village who would go begging to two houses in a street. One lady always gave him alms, while the other always refused. One day as he came begging, the lady who gave alms said " I can't give you any alms today as my husband has come home and I need to serve him first". To which he replied ( a loose translation) " The lady who doesn't give alms anyway doesn't' give, you give alms everyday, what happened to you bitch?" 

Basically we've gotten so used to the mainstream parties backstabbing us, eating money, selling contracts, etc. that there is no shock or even a sense of outrage when they do it. But for a new comer - especially one who claims to not be like them - for him to make a genuine mistake?  ( or change his mind - like his decision to enter politics) NO WAY!! He's U-Turn Kejriwal! 

So yes, we cannot trust him anymore! I would rather scathe him with my scorn and my sense of betrayal when he resigned! Let us hold him accountable for having quickly resigned and take what the Congress says at face value - that IF the file had gotten central government approval they would've supported it. So what if they are the same people at the centre who refused to pass it? So what if even the much lamer version of the Lokpal bill was passed only when Congress saw that Kejriwal came to power on this massive sense of outrage in the people? No, we will trust and respect the "Lady who never gives" rather than respect what he had done or tried to do in 49 days! 

Note: All he did was resign - not eat money, not kill/ transfer an honest officer or anything like that - and the rest of us in India didn't vote for him, didn't donate money to him, didn't do anything to support other than to build up our own random expectations!

I could go on, whether it is about the Khirki Extension issue or the Rakhi Birla issue or any of the so many other issues raised against his governance! The simple question is would these things even be media worthy if done by a Congress / BJP guy? It would be run of the mill, not even worth the mention on TV, leave alone the bashing! 

I too started doubting my support to him when the Delhi Jal Board Chairman himself apparently said that Kejriwal's scheme isn't workable and would drown the board in debt! Then he gave the statistics in an interview! He said the Jal Board last year made 270 Crores profit! Worst case, that money will go back to the poor of the country! He then quoted another statistic wherein a Jal Board report itself shows the pipeline in a particular locality being fine and yet being replaced in a period of 4 months for a cost of approx. 400 Crores! ( Clearly done to benefit the contractor and through him the bureaucrats with their "percentage"). His point was that even if he is able to stop one such false work, he covers the money. The interviewer did not refute his facts. He moved on to the next accusation. No other party came back with data saying Kejriwal was talking out of his Nehru topi! They then said he's doing this as an antic as it still does not benefit those without meters! His answer that this will in turn encourage people to regularize their connections as they'd still get free water fell on deaf ears! 

This and many such allegations is what has made me today change from a "wise" and eternal cynic to a reluctant optimist! I still don't see too much hope for them. They will not win 272 seats. However, they've done enough to show us that those of us who inspite of the bleak world we live in have not given up our ideals, who still dream patriotically of an India which would be worth the many lives sacrificed for our freedom, we need to stand up and do what we can. I am reminded of the last lines in the movie Dev in the inimitable voice of the great Amitabh Bachchan where he says " The job of a warrior is to fight. It is not to think of the result. It is to fight till his very last breath even when he knows that failure is inevitable". While I might not go to that extent, I will not remain a silent spectator any more!

 

The other thing that changed me was his manner of facing interviews and the facts he rolled out! When one PM candidate refuses to give interviews - after his sweating, water gulping fiasco, the other becomes the George W Bush of India with his one interview in a decade of ruling, we find this man facing interview on interview, countering every allegation with facts and data and we still believe others and are not willing to give him a chance! 

Another final point in closure. I do NOT believe in all his policies. The concept of a local police reporting to the local Panchayat I think is extremely wrong! There is too much concentration of power. His approach of Soft Hindutva is sooo disappointing. His support of hyper patriotism too seems counter to modern thoughts. 

 

However, I believe that when the intention is right, they will change as required. He will - hopefully - take another U Turn there when he sees that what he's put in place is not working!

Jai Hind

Wake Up Sid!! - My thoughts on the movie

Just finished watching the movie Wake Up Sid. I could sooo identify with the earlier character!! The sitting in an exam hall, having futile regrets too late, the tension about passing and making all kinds of promises to god and self about how the next time will be better, until the next time....
The messy room, the self centred life ( part of which continues even today!!).

Also loved how the initial part of the movie focusses on the hep and happening club life types, but the later part shows them enjoying the much more wonderful yet simple joys of sitting on the ocean side, having a road side chai with someone, etc. It portrays different sides without castigating any....

Problem question of the movie being - what would've happened if Sid passed? Hmm...

but overall a very nice movie... I like.

It gives me a re-look at the various stages of my life. It gives me an assurance ( odd one though!!) that i'm not the only one to have been such an ass!! Most importantly, it gives me hope that I will find my metier too!! ( Though maybe i'll become like Sid's dad, my passion is somewhere, my necessities lead me elsewhere. And is that so wrong? It looks to be, but I don't know....

I think there should be a GO that says that people at 30 cannot be confused!! But I guess if there was, that'd just be one more of the essentials I would be bad at...

A definitely one time must watch movie. :)

The religion called Cricket!!

Let me start with a disclaimer. I'm not a major cricket fan. I mean that i'm not the type to watch a cricket match bunking college ( or office!!), I am extremely unlikely to watch anEngland-Australia World Cup final and I'm definitely not going to be caught even looking at the score of a Zimbabwe-Bangladesh Test match!

But there is something in the magnetism of the moment which pulls you in when either the match is of historic importance!! ( like the India Pakistan semi final which India won!! That we totally flunked the final was almost irrelevant!! :D) or when we are soooo in the flow that it's a pleasure to watch the perfection!! ( Like the India England series now!! ). There is always a joy in watching everything go right! Like the ideal day when everything is on time and is going your way!! ( which sadly never happens).

I'm sitting and watching India bat in a series they've already won, watching a match halfway through and actually having the confidence that this one too is in our kitty!! ( A luxury which Indians very rarely have!! We're known for losing games from every conceivable winning position!!).

Maybe I should stop my blog!! From the time i've started writing, we've actually lost 3 wickets!! 2 on back to back balls!! ( And the wickets of the well settled Sehwag and Yuvi, the player of the season).

But yet, it has been a really refreshing experience to see an Indian team play this way and usually when they say that sports represents life, one has always dreaded the fact that it might be true!! Whereas seeing the Indian team today, we're earnestly wishing it is!!

And of course the legends like Sachin make you change the way you look at not just the game, but at yourself and life itself!! What he tells you is sports is beyond life!! What you do in life ( which is basically whacking a piece of leather with a wooden stick!!) doesn't matter. What matters is how you do it! ( The fact that he is soo timid in real life is a whole another story).

All I can say is that seeing a resurgent Indian team at a time when India is much touted as being resurgent economically is a good sign to see. :)

Life looks good overall. :) (Fingers crossed!)

Finis