CWG - 2010

The Common wealth games

The controversial and much maligned Commonwealth Games in Delhi (CWG-2010) has finally came to an end. The great sporting country Australia once again asserted their supremacy by topping the medal tally. Despite heavy odds and adverse conditions (and withdrawal of top-athletes), the Kangaroos dominated the show even with a 2-nd string side. The medals also rained cats & dogs for the host country India, and still they could only finish 2-nd. But the local-media ignored the achievements of the Aussies (and also winners of other nations) in their desperation to make a celebrity out of each & every medal-winner of the host-country. At least for a week - even those who otherwise not interested in sports also joined the band-wagon - blissfully ignoring the fact that standard of the competition was quite low. Thankfully, the hype surrounding CWG-celebrities may not last long. The Asian Games which starts in a few weeks time will give a clear picture about where Indian sports stands. It's also a time for Indian sports to get rid of their tag of being "tigers at home, kittens abroad".

Tail-piece: The games-mascot "Shera" (tiger) was utter flop, esp. considering that "Appu" (elephant) the mascot of 1982-Asian Games is still popular.

CIRCUS

Has Come to the Town !

I celebrated my birthday in a unique way - by going to watch circus which has come to the town.

No, I'm not refering to the Commonwealth-Games 'circus' which has commenced in Delhi a few days ago. After all, it is nothing but an 'extravaganza' put up by the organisers to impress their masters. The common-people were largely excluded from it and the athletes were mere puppets of the show. (But more about it on a later post.) I'm refering here about the real circus - the world of trapezes, acrobatics, contortions, jugglings, clowns etc.- performed by a few unsung heroes and heroines, far away from the glitz & lime-light, untouched by cheap-nationalism or jingoism.


In this internet-age, anyone with a good broadband connection can enjoy the best of world circus - whether it is Russian , Chinese or European. And not to mention the regular fair which appear on various TV-channels nowadays. But to see a circus performance , very much in flesh & blood under an old-fashioned circus-tent, is something no amount of technology can substitute. You watch - without any care of hours passing by - these practitioners of' mother of all performing arts', as they stretch the limits of human-body into new heights , giving an excellent display of arts and sports combined.


I am watching circus after a long gap. In the 90s, I used to watch it almost every year. I well remember, in 1996 I drove a long 80km to watch a circus ( which featurd Russian artists), then drove back the same day, then ran out of petrol & gas-stations, and was forced to put up in a motel till next day. But it was worth all the trouble - that brilliant performance by the Russians are still fresh in my memory.

Compared to those in the 90s, the one I saw on my birthday was no mega-event. But still they could boost few new-items which made it a worthwhile outing. They also featured few foreign artists too. A gruop of African acrobats displayed their wonderfull rhythm and athleticsm. Nepali contortionists showcased the best of Chinese acrobatics. A lone Russian - a stunner a la Anna Kournikova - dazzled to perform beautifull ring-dance - one of the best I've seen. Among the host-country, there was a martial-arts from Manipur with their breath-taking performances.

The use of animals in circuses always make me uneasy - particularly wild animals. Over the years, this pratice have been curtailed for good and this circus is no exception. But there were elephants and camels whose presece is not very comforting for a modern viewer. But still, no circus is complete without birds, dogs and horses.

This is the first circus I'm watching after the theatre-workshop I participated (in 2007) with French artists(which included circus performers too). So I was looking at various technichal aspects of each performances - like the props,body-language,music, lighting, costumes etc. In many ways, it was an eye-opener: despite the onslaught of technology (including 3-D) the significance of a live-performance is still strong as ever. I shall call on all my friends and well-wishers to encourage and promote such live-performances - circus, theatre, music or sports - and shatter the myth that only those who appear on TV or films have got talent.

Last year I celebrated my birthday by throwing a party to friends and cousins.(I had my reasons to celebrate.) This year I wanted it to be low profile, but these artistic, athletic and flexible performers made it a memorable day.

GYPSY KINGS

Makes A Comeback

lyrics of "Bamboleo" :

Ese amor llega así de esta manera
no tiene la culpa,caballo de danza vana
porque es muy despreciado por eso
no te perdona llorar
ese amor llega así esta manera
no tiene la culpa
amor de compra y venta
amor en el pasado.

Bembele bembele
bembelebem bembele bembele
Bamboleo bambolea
porque mi vida yo la quiero vivir así
Bamboleo bambolea
porque mi vida yo la quiero vivir así

No tiene perdón de Dios
tú eres mi vida, la fortuna del destino
en el destino del desamparado
lo mismo ya que ayer,lo mismo soy yo

No te encuentro l'abandon.
Eres imposible no te encuentro de verdad
Por eso un día no cuento si de nada
Lo mismo ya que ayer,
Lo pienso en ti

Bamboleo bambolea
porque mi vida yo la quiero vivir así
Bamboleo bambolea
porque mi vida yo la quiero vivir así

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTrIFMVKQD8 ("Bamboleo" by Gypsy Kings)

movie review : Karate Kid - 2010

by DJ Synth-bach

Martial arts movies, along with American-western are my favourite genres. I have hardly missed the best and worst of them. I grew up on a staple diet of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies and nowadays I'm a fan of Jet Li. Watching martial-art movies brings me the memories of my hyper-active teenage years.

One of my favourite martial-arts movie is No Retreat No Surrender(1986). To make this movie, it's director, the reknowned Corey Yuen took inspiration from an earlier movie called Karate Kid (1984). Corey thought Karate Kid too slowpaced and made a fast and funky version which became a cult-classic. In the 2010 version of Karate Kid, I expected similar pace and sleekness typical of all martial-arts movies. But it was rather missing.

Kidstuff
Karate Kid-2010 turned out to be yet another movie with all hype and no substance. After all, is this a movie ? It could have well been a documentary or a 30-minute TV-episode, or even shorter - a music video. ( Infact, internet-search reveals that the director is an accomplished music-video/short film-maker.) I must warn the hardcore martial-arts movie fans not to be befooled by the trailers and patronising reviews. At best this movie could be watched in the comfort of your living room, and not at the theatres.

Jackie Chan the actor
The only highlight of the movie, apart from a crash-course on Chinese culture, is Jackie Chan's acting skills. He proves that he can act even in a non-martial arts movie. But at times he looks jaded and disinterested. Jackie Chan fans will miss the unbridled energy characteristic of his movies. Being a filmmaker himself, Chan must have caught in two minds about the outcome of this movie. His worries were not misplaced.

Lacking punch
The boyish-hero of the original Karate Kid was a typical 80's kid (like me) who exuded innocence despite his vulnerability. The 'hero' of 2010-version is spoilt-brat with a chip on his shoulder. The audience would n't have minded if he got beaten up - no matter in China, U.S or Africa. Infact, I thought the performance of boy who acted as bully more convincing.

Misfired launch ?
Despite a high profile launch, debutant Will Smith's son (what's his name ?) fails to impress. He obviously lack the natural acting ability of his father. Atleast he can take solace that many martial-arts stars are poor actors. And being a star-kid, he will not be lacking in oppurtunities even if he continues to be mediocre. Let's hope Hollywood will not take cue from Bollywood and set up star-dynasties, and there by blocking the entry of real talents.

Harmony & discord :

in music and in nature

An year long festivities, exhibitions and cultural programmes have been inaugurated in Bengal to mark the 150-th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Continueing with my posts of Tagore's Selected Letters, the great polymath who invented Bengal's own music idiom - 'Rabindra-sangeet'- compares the distinctive styles of Indian music and European music. The Letters are written while touring to his family-estates as a manager, living in his house-boat off the Padma river.

Shelidah (Bangladesh)
10 August 1894

Last night the river woke me with a violent bubbling that made the boat billow in the swell - probably the inrush of a freshet: a thing that happens almost daily in this season. As I sat listening I suddenly had the impression that the whole river was alive and highly agitated. Through the planks at my feet I could clearly sense the gamut of ceaseless movement below : tremors, quakes, upheave and downturn, as if I were taking the river's palpitating pulse. The disturbance must have been quite something to set the water racing so wildly.

For a long time I sat on a bench beside the window. Outside was a hazy light that made the excited river look even madder. The sky was spotted with clouds. The reflection of a particularly bright star glimmered on the waters like a gash of agony. Both banks were dim and drowsy with slumber but between them surged an insomniac restlessness.

The day-world calls to mind European music with its various concords and discords, orchestrated into a great, purposeful ensemble. And the night-world is like the sphere of Indian music with its unadulterated melody, sombre and poignant. Both move us, though they are in striking contrast. And why should they disturb us ? Pairs of opposites lie at the very root of creation : king and queen, night and day, unity and disunity, the eternal and the evolving.

We Indians are under the rule of night; we are besotted with the eternal, the One. Our melodies are intended for the solitary individual; European music is for the multitude. Our music removes us from the domain of everyday joys and sorrows to a region devoid of company, as aloof as the universe ; the music of Europe revels in the perpetual oscillations of the human condition.

Sufis of Sindh

Whispers of the desert
poem by Fatima Bhutto
Excerpts:

Karachi air
Breathed in through the lungs
Is sickly sweet
Like honeycomb left out to rot
In the warm, unrepentant heat.
Or else,
It is thick, smoky
Like mesquite
The evening scent of garbarge burning
At the first break of dusk’s early light.
Mynah birds and ravens caw
A jealous chord
Singing to the street.
At midnight
I can hear the poor sweeper man
Sweep sweeping
The moonlit littered roads.
I sleep in bed
Covered in a sheet of sweat.
There is no electricity now
In this deadened August night

I trawl
Middle Eastern airlines, terminals and luggage belts
Stuck alongside students,
Honeymooners in black robes and white thobes
And slave labour, working through the night.
Hiding my name on my boarding passes,
A thumb obscuring the sight of letters, destinations and foreign nights
And inventing new fictions,
Identities
And family trees.
My legs are close to clotting
And my bags unnecessarily heavy.
Qatar, Etihad and Emirates
I count them off as lovers
I use in desperate times of need.,
Flying out every month
Pretending that I’m free,
Subsisting on airline meals.
Parting from Karachi
At departure gates
And onwards worldwide.
I wish it well
My love unkind.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

MANGO

Monsoon season is the season of mangoes in the tropics. Mangoes of all sizes and shapes flood into the market. The following is description of mango from the pages of history , extracted from two books I have in my library.

The Voyage of John Huyghen van Linschoten : Containing His Description of The East (from old English translation of 1598)

Mangas (mangoes) groweth upon trees like Chakka(Jack-fruit) trees . They are as big as a great Peach, but some what long, and a little crooked, of colour clear green, some what yellowish, and some times reddish : it hath within it a stone bigger than a Peach stone, but it is not good to be eaten. The Mangoes are inwardly yellowish, but in cutting it is waterish, yet some not so much. They have a very pleasant taste , better than a Peach, and like Annanas(Pineapple?) the most best and the most profitable fruit in all India, for it yeildeth a great quantity for food & sustainance (of the countrie people), as Olives do in Spain and Portingale.

They beare fruit upon trees, from April to November, according to the situation of the place. Those which grow in the West(coast) are smaller but of better taste & flavor; within they have a small Nut, or Kernell. Another sort groweth in Balagatte , and those are the greatest, for there are of them that weigh two pound & a quarter, of a verie pleasant taste. So are those grow in the Kingdome of Nisam Sha (Hyderabad) and like unto them are the Mangas of Bengala, Pegu and Malacca. The shel of them being taken off, is eaten in slices with Wine, and also without Wine, as we eate Peaches, they are also preserved; the better to keep them, either in Sugar, Vinegar, Oyle or Salt, like Olives in Spaine, being a little opened with a knife, they are stuffed with greene Ginger, headed Garlik, Mustard or such like, they are sometimes eaten only with Salt, and sometimes sodden with Rice, as we doe Olives, and being thus conserved and sodden, are bought in the market.

From the autobiography of Zahiruddin Babur (1483-1531) - the founder of Mughal[Mongol] Empire.


Anbah (mango) is one of the fruits peculiar to Hindustan. Hindustanis pronounce the b in its name as though no vowel followed it (anb); this being awkward to utter, some people call the fruit naghzak, as Khwaja Khusrau (Amir Khusru[1253-1325]- poet) does :

Naghzak-i ma naghz-kun-i bustan
Naghztarin mewa-i-Hindustan.

[Our fairling (ie.mango), beauty-maker of the garden
Fairest fruit of Hindustan.]

Mangoes when good(ripe) are very good, but many as are eaten, few are first-rate. They are usually plucked unripe and ripened in the house. Unripe, they make excellent condiments, are good also preserved in syrup. Taking it altogether, the mango is the best fruit of Hindustan. Some so praise it as to give it preference over all fruits except the musk-melon, but such praise outmatches it. It resembles the kardi peach. It ripens in the rains. It is eaten in two ways : one is to squeeze it to a pulp, make a hole in it, and suck out the juice - the other, to peel and eat it like kardi peach. Its tree grows very large and has a leaf somewhat resembles the peach-tree's. The trunk is ill-shaped but in Bengal and Gujrat is heard of as growing handsome.