The Book of Eli -- "It's Not just a Book, it's a Weapon"

 

Tag Line: Some will kill to have it. He will kill to protect it.

Watched this movie 2 weeks ago in Glasgow Cine World.

The Book Of Eli tells the story of one man,  Eli  (Washington), who must cross the United States and head west to an unknown location, all while protecting a book, with his very life. Along the way he enters a small town, run by a not so nice Gary Oldman. Oldman is looking for a book, one that will give him the power over people. It just so happens that Washington is carrying the one book that he seeks. Thrilling cat and mouse sequence ensues.

According to Eli (Washington) they live in a world that is a result of some kind of nuclear fallout. It is never fully stated, but bits and pieces are thrown out there for the viewer to fill in the rest. Many people thought this happened because of the bible and religion. So every known copy of the bible was burned. Every known copy except for the one Eli has. So he walks west with it in his bag, for 30 years no less.

The Hughes brothers paint their film in dull burnt grays and browns. It fits the apocalypse feel that the movie if obviously trying to go for. The earth is scorched, the characters search for water and trade boring things as if it were currency. The attention to detail in the set design, costumes and overall atmosphere ire great. They also never let their stars overpower the film. I give them, and the leading actors credit to this.

Washington does excellent in this role. He's getting up their in age and seems to be able to do martial arts with the best of them. In the supporting roles are Gary Oldman, who returns to his true form as the bad guy, and Mila Kunis, who seems to be showing people she actually has acting chops. Oldman doesn't overact in his usual villainous way (The Professional). Here he seems restrained, yet still eerily creepy.

When the credits first started to roll, I was a bit upset with what the Hughes were offering us. But upon further reflection and reading up on what other people's thoughts on the ending were, I've come to appreciate it more. You are set in this world with them and understand it completely. The film doesn't really push many religious overtones on you either.

Check out The Book of Eli, even with it's obvious apocalypse movie clichés, it's a good flick.

Independence

నాకు అప్పుడు 12 సంవత్సరాలు అని గుర్తు.. బయట పిల్లలతో కలిసి ఆడుకొని చీకటిపడే సమయానికి ఇంటికి వెళ్ళా.. అప్పట్లో మా ఇంట్లో గడియారం లేదుగా.. సరైన సమయం తెలీదు.

వెళ్ళేసరికి మా నాన్న ఇంట్లో దీపాల వెలుగులో (మా ఇంట్లో కరెంటు నేను నాన్నని అయ్యి , మా నాన్న చనిపోయాక వచ్చింది.) ఎవరితోనే మాట్లాడుతూ.. రేపు మనకు స్వాతంత్రం రాబోతుంది అని.. ఇంకా ఏదో చెబుతున్నాడు.. నేను సాయంత్రం ఆడుకుంటుంటే కూడా ఎవరో ఇద్దరు నడుచుకుంటూ వెళ్తూ, రేపు మనకు స్వాతంత్రం వస్తుందని మాట్లాడుకుంటూ వెళ్ళారు. అప్పటికి మనలని బ్రిటిష్ వాళ్ళు పరిపాలిస్తున్నారని మాత్రమే నాకు తెలుసు.. ఇంటికి వెళ్ళేసరికి ఇంట్లో దీని గురించి మాట్లాడుతున్నారు.

కాళ్ళు చేతులు కడుక్కొని ఇంట్లోకి వెళ్ళగానే అమ్మ అన్నం తిను అని అన్నం పెట్టింది... నేను అన్నం తింటూ వాళ్ళ మాటలని వింటూ , ఒక్కసారిగా వాళ్ళ మాటలకి అడ్డం వస్తూ..నాన్నని అసలు స్వాతంత్ర్యం అంటే ఏమిటి? అది ఇప్పుడే ఎందుకు వస్తుంది? అది ఇంతకు ముందు మనకు లేదా? ఒకవేళ వుంటే ఎవరు లాగేసుకున్నారు? అసలు బ్రిటిష్ వారు ఎందుకొచ్చారు? మన స్వాతంత్ర్యం వాళ్ళ వల్లనే పోయిందా? అని ప్రశ్నల పరంపర వేశాను..

.. నాన్న నా వైపు చూసి ..చెప్పడం మొదలుపెట్టాడు.." బ్రటిష్ వాళ్ళు మన దేశాన్ని అక్రమంగా ఆక్రమించారు ... మన దేశం లోనే మనల్ని పరాయివాళ్ళు చేసి.. మనల్ని బానిసలుగా చేసి మన దేశ సంపద అంతా దోచుకుంటున్నారు...." అని ఇంకా ఏదో చాలా చెప్పాడు... అప్పటి నా వయసుకి ఆ మాటల్లో బానిసలు, ఆక్రమించడం లాంటి ఇంకో రెండు పదాలు అర్థం అయ్యాయి .. వెంటనే మరి మన దొడ్లో పశువులకి స్వాతంత్ర్యం ఎప్పుడు అని ఒక్కసారిగా అడిగాను?

ఆ క్షణంలో నాన్న నా వైపు ఆశ్చర్యం మరియు సందేహంతో కూడిన చూపు చూడడం .. మరు క్షణం అమ్మ నన్ను కేక వేయడం .. తక్షణం నేను అక్కడి నుండి అమ్మ దగ్గరకి పరిగెత్తడం జరిగాయి. అమ్మ నాకు పెరుగు వేస్తూ ... దొడ్లో ఆవులను విడిచిపెడితే ఇలా నువ్వు రోజు తినే పెరుగు, పాలు ఎలా వస్తాయీ? అందుకే వాటిని కట్టేసాము అని చెప్పింది.. దాంతో నేను ఓహో ! అని ఇప్పుడు అర్థం అయ్యింది అమ్మా ! అన్నాను.. " ఆవు నుండి వచ్చే పాల కోసం మనం ఆవుల్ని కట్టేసినట్లు, బ్రిటిష్ వాళ్ళు కూడా మన దేశం నుండి వచ్చే ధనం కోసం మనల్ని ఆక్రమించారు కదా " అని కనుబొమ్మలెగరెసాను.. అమ్మ విసుగ్గా అలా కాదురా... అది వేరు .. ఇది వేరు.. పశువులతో మనకున్న ప్రేమ, ఆత్మీయ సంభంధం వేరు... అని ఏదో చెపుతుండడం.. నేను నిద్ర లోకి జారుకోవడం జరిగిపోయాయి.

ఆ తర్వాత రోజు మన దేశానికి స్వాతంత్ర్యం వచ్చింది. ఆ తర్వాత కొన్ని నెలలు గడిచిపోయాయి.. కాని అప్పటి నా వయసుకున్న ఆలోచనకు మాత్రం .. మా ఊర్లో పెద్దగా మార్పేమీ కనిపించలేదు. మా మల్లి గాని నాయిన రోజూ తాగి వచ్చి వాళ్ళ అమ్మని కొడుతూనే వున్నాడు.. ఇక్కడ వాళ్ళ అమ్మకి స్వాతంత్ర్యం ఏం రాలేదు అనిపించింది... అలానే మా ఊర్లో దొర, మమ్ములను ఇంకా బానిసలుగానే చూస్తున్నాడు. అగ్రహారపు వీధుల్లోకి మా మల్లి గాన్ని రానివ్వట్లేదు. కాకపొతే ఊర్లో ఒక్క తెల్లదొరలు మాత్రం కనిపించట్లేదు., అప్పుడే నాకు మా పంతులు చెప్పిన గురజాడ గారి "దేశమంటే మట్టి కాదోయి.. దేశమంటే మనుషులోయ్ " అనే గేయం గుర్తుకువచ్చింది... .. అప్పుడు అర్థం అయింది .. "మన దేశం లో మట్టికి స్వాతంత్ర్యం వచ్చింది... ఇంకా మనుషులకు స్వాతంత్ర్యం రావాల్సి వున్నది అని"...దాని దిశగానే.. మా మల్లి గాన్ని తీసుకొని.. అగ్రహారం దిశగా.. నా అడుగులు పడ్డాయి....

-the writer is Nikhil, an engineering graduate, presently aiming for Indian civil services

Email: nikhild11@gmail.com

It is Just Not a Four Letter Word

It is just not a four letter word
It is highly irresistible, where I feel deep inside
It is now a days a way of my life
It is the image that haunts my sleepless nights


It is not just a four letter word
It is the place I love to hide
One may call it a shelter; I call it is my home
It is what I always see shining in my eye

It is not just a four letter word
It is what I hate; Or maybe I'm just jealous
It is peice of Heaven or may be sometimes deadly hell in my mind
It is like the full view of milky moon, with out any marks

It is not just a four letter word
For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. But for me heaven is where IT is.
It is a text book where you get to know what can be a hell
It is also like a beautiful snowball that falls from heaven

It is not just a four letter word

Let us Demand an End to This Hunt -- Part 2 ( K. Balagopal, Originally published in Telugu in Andhra Jyothy, September 23, 2009 )

(Please read the 1st part)
http://nishanthdongari.blogspot.com/2010/02/let-us-demand-end-to-this-hunt-part-1-k.html


The rulers of India have gained a new courage after the fall of LTTEs army. Our rulers have also begun to believe that Peace Talks and Political Solutions are not necessary in militant political struggles, and that with firm resolve, such groups can be physically eliminated. The resolve to eliminate the Maoists, who have already been declared to be the pre-eminent threat against the countrys internal security, has thus been strengthened. Ordinary people might indeed wonder if the immorality of the ruling parties, their unfair governance, and economic systems that are perversely feeding the growth of inequalities, are in fact not greater dangers to the internal security of the country.

But what the current home minister Chidambaram, who is also the ex-finance minister and one of the architects of the countrys development policy, knows is that leaving aside the issue of internal security, Maoist presence can inhibit the attempts to extract the enormous mineral resources in the forests of Central India, and use them for development. While Maoists have not necessarily obstructed on all occasions the presence and expansion of capitalists in the areas under their dominance, the anxiety is that the fear that the Maoists might do so will inhibit capitalists from coming forward to invest in the area.

These, all together have led to the process of Maoists elimination. Chidambarams challenge (delivered without ruffling his toothpaste smile in the least), that Paramilitary units and Cobras trained in guerilla warfare will be launched in a massive fashion to physically annihilate the Maoists, is now being implemented. News trickling in about the recent Dantewada shootings reveals that the decimation of Adivasis might be the meaning behind this elimination. And the Maoists are speaking the same language as well; they are issuing a counter-challenge to the government about their own prowess.

Only the second day after Chidambarams proclamation that paramilitary units would be launched in Aabujmadh, they have killed police in large numbers in Rajnandgaon. Those that have chosen the path of armed struggle can hardly avoid fighting when warfare arrives at their door, but they must not do anything to invite a battle whilst living amidst the people. They should do whatever they can in order to prevent it. What must in fact be done can be debated extensively, but the real
question is about ones attitude on the matter. Maoist leaders do not like such questions. Whose side are you on? they ask.

If you were to recognize not just political partisanship but also a partisanship of values, we could reply that we are on the side of Justice. Justice mostly lies on the side of those that are fighting for the people, but when they start prioritizing their political objectives over the welfare of the people, one cannot but call it injustice. And then there are also those that ask How long can the government remain a silent spectator? It is one thing to fight militantly for the sake of peoples needs, and it is another to launch an armed challenge to the sovereignty of the state.

Even those rulers that can tolerate the first cannot tolerate the second. They ask whether even the Maoists can be expected to behave differently should they come to power tomorrow. This is a fair question, but the only answer that can be given by advocates of democracy is that any challenge must be faced in a democratic fashion.
When the 11th planning commission, seeking a solution to this, appointed a committee of experts, they concluded that the only way to face the Maoists democratically is for the state itself to create through the use of state sovereignty whatever rights, freedoms and opportunities that people had gained through the Maoists.

There is no evidence that either Manmohan Singh or Chidambaram have read those submissions. Finally, as always, the conflicts of Dantewada district have begun to echo in Bhadrachalam district. From Chintoor to Vajod, the police are forcing the Adivasis to come to police stations, and are imprisoning them illegally, and are torturing them severely in order to commit them to the legal process.

It was only when Komuram Narasimha Rao, a resident of R.Kothagudem colony, committed suicide on the 7th of this month, out of fear of what else the police would subject him to, that the world came to know that the Police of Charla had hung him on a hook and beat him to a pulp, after they had tied up his hands and feet. One can imagine what the situation is like in Dantewada when it is like this in Kothagudem. That is why it is important that we raise our voices to demand that the government stop this hunt, just as it is necessary to ask that the Maoists behave in a manner that would put pressure on such a direction.

Let us Demand an End to This Hunt -- Part 1 ( K. Balagopal, Originally published in Telugu in Andhra Jyothy, September 23, 2009 )

Green Hunt has started. The program of elimination of Maoists that Home Minister Chidambaram said would start in September, and then postponed to November, has started in September as originally planned. Given the low reliability of reports emanating from Chhattisgarh, the numbers published by the press as to how many Cobra Soldiers have entered Dantewada district, how many battalions of paramilitary units have been sent by the Center, what kind of fatalities have been caused by the
shootings on both sides, etc. might not be completely true.

With a little effort it might not be impossible to ascertain the number of soldiers involved in Green Hunt, but the same cannot be said of the number of deaths in this operation. The presence of a dead body proves death. But the authorities in Chhattisgarh take possession of the dead bodies of only their men, perform Panchnama and postmortem and hand over the bodies to the families of the dead. The bodies of Maoists and their sympathizers are often left in the forests as fodder for wild animals. This was standard practice until about a year ago; only recently and on certain occasions, it appears that some of these bodies are also being brought and Panchnama performed.

If those that have died are not armed naxalites but are in fact rural villagers, then leaving their bodies behind in the forest is the smart thing to do from the governments point of view. Even if the bodies are those of armed naxalites, the opinion in Chhattisgarhs ruling officialdom seems to be that the corpses of traitors deserve neither the usual dignities accorded to the dead, nor their labor for the performance of such dignities.

In the war against the LTTE in Sri Lanka, when evidence was uncovered through the Panchnamas performed on the bodies of dead Tamils that they had been killed by torture, the government of that country ordered that bodies of Tamils could henceforth be buried without the performance of Panchnamas. While the constitution might impede the passing of similar orders by our own governments, the Chhattisgarh government is implementing the same through unwritten orders.

Newspapers are reporting that that the government of Chhattisgarh has passed orders banning media personnel from even approaching the areas of operation. Raman Singhs government seems to believe that such a restriction is necessary to obscure whether it is armed naxalites or their Adivasi followers that are hunted through Green hunt. If the media has the courage to defy this restriction, they can win.

This is because the Supreme court has declared, in the very early days of the drafting of the constitution, that freedom of the press is part of an individuals freedom of expression. This right can only be regulated within the bounds allowed by the constitution, and that too through specific enactments, but the government does not have the right to ban the media by Government Orders, without showing any reasons for the same. Not that it is possible to emerge alive after arguing about the Constitution with armed Cobras that are blocking the way, but at the very least
we must know that it is illegal to place such restrictions on the media. If not, and if governments, one after the other, start placing restrictions and ban the media, then its a great loss for Democracy.


What was begun by the Left government in Lalgarh is being continued by the government in Chhattisgarh. It appears that Sri Lanka has provided inspiration in this matter as well. In the last three months of the battle against the LTTE, the Sri Lankan govt. did not let the media enter the northern part of the country. The intentions of the Sri Lankan rulers become clear when we see in the internal correspondence of United Nations officials that about 20 thousand Tamil civilians were killed during the period of this ban on the media. Sri Lanka has now been mentioned twice, but the story cant be complete without a third mention of it.

(Continued in the part 2)
http://nishanthdongari.blogspot.com/2010/02/let-us-demand-end-to-this-hunt-part-2-k.html

I Loved You So Much... and Now I am Missing You

I have been waiting for you with bated breath to lay my hands on you.

God listened to my prayer and the beauitiful day arrived - the day when all the stars lined up and gifted you to me.

I was flattered by your exotic looks and cherished the most memorable experiences in my life what not, we got wet together in the heavy rains (how romantic was that) relished the ambience during the lonely long drives in the dark nights...I was in ecstasy whenever I kept my hands on you and all my worrieswere already forgotten.

But, why do all good things come to an end.

The day has arrived. You are leaving me, I loved you so much and now I felt something lancinating at my heart. I saw the guy coming, who is going to take you away from me. I was a total stranger to you when the guy placed his hands on you and it awoke the sin of jealousy in my heart.

I knew that I was your love and you never meant to heart me.

Nevertheless, you have to leave my love..............

as I sold you (my motor-bike) for Rs. 20,000 :D.

I sold my bike while I was leaving IIT Bombay after my graduation. Really I miss my bike and those long drives on Bombay express highways.

First Night

Day: Sunday

Time: 7:30 PM

Place: some IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) campus

Sweet voice from outside the classroom "Sir, would you come out for awhile. You have got an urgent call, take that call in the office."

He is a sought after Controls Professor in Mechanical Engineering at IIT. He frequently takes extra classes in the LATE evenings. He comes out from class room. Moving in the long quiet thrid floor corridor and waiting outside the lift.

She shamelessly caught him from behind. He struggled to releasehimself. He surrendered. She dragged him into the lift. She hurriedly planted kisses on his cheeks, neck, ears and lips. He grasped for breath. She holds his collar, pulls him towards herself and whispers:"Cruel Man! I shall wait for you in your library at home." He is startled.

She giggles and runs away. The flower in her long tresses falls in thecorridor. He picks it. It smells of her. The corridor is filled withher fragrance. He returns to the class. He considers distributing the test sheets ready with him. Instead he suddenly dismisses the classand picks his bag. As he rushes to the parking area, he prays no one –students or the peon – recognized his

................................

...................................

..................................

new bride.

Wonder What !!! (The Professor has literally forgotten that it's his first night today)

War of the Sexes

John Gray famously said that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Maybe, that explains the inherent attraction between the sexes(at least that is how I console myself when I see my fellow friend making an ass out himself in the pursuit of a girl). Seen this way,girls have their work cut-out. They just have to EXIST (at least inIIT).

Yet an average IITian invariably doesn't have a girlfriend and isseemingly content with the status quo. Why, one may ask. The blame for the above maybe squarely put at the doors of a select few (here after called niraasha) of the fairer sex, who grace IIT with their august presence.

If Helen of Troy was responsible for the launch of athousand ships, then niraasha could definitely launch a thousand missiles. (or probably thousands of men without even life-jackets)(orwill definitely launch thousand asses on rafts)

In any fracas involving a female, an IIT guy's standard response is'let's make love, not war'. Maybe the following real life incidentwill demonstrate why my moto in IIT is invariably "always war".

The males were beaten by the females in the historic 'war of sexes' tennis game in 1970s. But in the 21st century war of the presentations, the males emerged victorious. This is how….

(In the words of mine… who calls a single female in particular 'niraasha'):

It all started out innocuously enough. Before the commencement of the conference we went on a tour of a nearby institute, where I had thegood fortune of reconnecting with a former friend. During the course of idle chit chat, she happened to inquire the identity of the person representing her institute. When I told her that it was Nirasha sheonly had a single word response "Yuck!", and then bitterly regretted that such a supercilious show-off and busybody was representing her college.

While I was willing to give the female in question the benefit ofdoubt, her behavior over the next few days only served to reaffirmwhat had been said about her. But the final nail in the coffin (so tospeak) was the result of an (unfortunate) meeting which I had with herthe night before the presentation.

Like any other self respecting IITian, my presentation was only halfdone. Yet when I went to the presentation room, I found her giving a mock presentation to an empty room. When I asked her if she could spare the laptop for some time, she put on her high airs and point blank refused to show any consideration. This pissed me off but I merely told her "I understand. You are famous". Now any other person would have understood the sarcasm behind the words if not the tone.Not niraasha, though. She enthusiastically affirmed the fact and then inquired who had put in the good word for her. I told her the names of two seniors from her institute, and that only served to increase her excitement and she went on to say "I love them and they are my bestseniors".

I thought that the farce had gone on long enough and roundly disabused her of the notion. I then clarified "You ARE famous, orrather (in)famous". Her face, at that point, was worth seeing(a trueKodak moment). She then asked me who the seniors were. I said, "Samepeople. Your best seniors". She in turn asked me, "kya kya bataya?". Itold her . Her response wavered from aninitial display of innocence to point blank refusal afterwards. To conclude a best-forgotten evening, I took the laptop.

Girls(some in particular) like to harp on gender equality but try toevade the issue when it comes to the crunch. Niraasha had been particularly vocal in voicing her doubts during other people's presentations (mine in particular). Yet when I tried to pay her back in the same coin during her presentation, she did not like it. I pointed out a no of pertinent corrections in her presentation, butinstead of taking it all with good grace, she tried to be sarcastic and repeatedly said, "As mentioned politely by <>". I interrupted her volley when she said it for the 3rd time and gently pointed out "notjust politely but rightly also" to the uninhibited laughter of theaudience.

I was prepared to field the usual volley of questions, and managed toconvince everybody, but Niraasha refused to be convinced. My response,which went on to become a legend, ensured that nobody asked any further questions. As far as I remember, this is the EXACT reproduction of my response to Niraasha, in front of the audience,VERBATIM:

"I have one example to convince Niraasha. I have a turbine at highaltitude. At that altitude my gas is 'Niraasha'. I am pumping Niraasha through the turbine from one end. At the other end I have vacuum pump and the pump is sucking Niraasha. Due to low pressure, collision distance between two Niraasha molecules increases. Now it can be clearly seen that my gas Niraasha is highly slipping at the walls.

"Continuous uninhibited laughter from the audience..her face was worthseeing..(One more true kodak moment)..after this in each slide of mypresentation I asked her "have you understood this conceptNiraasha..!

"Contninous laughter from the audince...her face, was worth watching(one more true kodak moment)..after this in each of my presentation Iasked her "have you understood this concept niraasha.."..her promptreply.."yes "..

The end

War of presentations

(Wrote in 2006 December)