IFFK'09

The year 2009, for me, is ending with the International Film Festival of Kerala in Trivandrum. It was indeed a great joy to be a part of IFFK once again, though this time movies that can be classified as "extra-ordinary" were missing. In 2007 we had "Pan's Labyrinth", "Bad Education", "XXY", "Talk to Her", etc., and in 2008 we had "The Class", "Kedma", "Laila's Birthday", "Bad Habits", "Katie's Sister", etc.; they all gave me unforgettable feelings. However, such movies are missing this time, or else, perhaps, I have missed to watch them. Movies were "good", but none of them were "excellent" or "moving"; they were unable to catch my breath!
Of course, Goddard's "Pierrot Goes Wild" was a different experience. Then there was the South African "My Secret Sky" by Madoda Ncayiyana; it was quite refreshing; great direction; great acting by child actors; excellent--Yes!
"Step into the Darkness" was very nice and contemporary. "The Moment of Truth" and "More than a Miracle" were very charming. I watched two Malayalam films: "Pathaam Nilayile Theevandi" and "Sufi Paranja Katha". Both were not up to the standard. I wonder how the first one got the award for the Best Malayalam film in the festival; may be others are even worse. I would like to advice the actors, especially Jayasurya, to watch "My Secret Sky" and learn acting from those child actors; I have nothing to suggest to the director, because the direction was nothing above mediocre. The film was full of unnecessary dramatic sounds in every scene; perhaps, they were trying to compensate poor acting and direction with sound, thereby trying to bring the effects whatsoever they intended!

Dedicated Film Lover: We watched "My Secret Sky" sitting on the floor! (My friend Vimal in picture).

Due to some health reasons, I missed "The Antichrist", which has made some waves among the audience; some even fainted by watching it! Many criticises this movie saying that it is a violent movie with the overones of sexual acts. From what I know about the theme, I believe that people are missing the message; they still live caught among the confusions of morality and mediocrity.

Still I enjoyed the festival, for it is not only about the movies, but also roaming around in Thiruvananthapuram, rubbing shoulders with film-lovers! And, for me, it is very great and nostalgic to spend time in a Malayalam speaking land at least for a few days. If I am in Tamil Nadu, I have to construct the sentences in Tamil before I can speak, otherwise it is English. But it is a very delightful experience to speak without searching for words and caring for the grammar. I know that this is very typical for anyone who is staying away from home for a long time; yet, this is special for me because, now, I am experiencing it.

Tamil Nadu's "activity based learning" gets recognition from China

Yet another reason to smile: "China seeks state expertise on activity based learning method" (ref. The Hindu, Front page, Nov 16, 2009, http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/16/stories/2009111657980100.htm).

Tamil Nadu government and education department can be very proud of this, along with the central government; and thus, all Indians can too. The Hon. Adviser, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Tamil Nadu, Mr. M.P. Vijayakumar says "... The Chinese delegation was impressed with the way our students of government schools were enthusiastic in classrooms because of the interactive learning and teaching style". Once again, this proves the importance and efficacy of activity based learning.

Kerala has a state designed system of similar kind for government schools. It is called District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) and is supported by the World Bank. People were very scared of this system, and still they feel that this system will only spoil the education of the children who study in government schools. They feel that the rich people will send their children to private schools, where DPEP is not established, and the poor students have to "suffer from DPEP". And they feel that teaching students through "dancing, singing, collecting all the unwanted stuff from the surroundings, etc." will make them morons!

I don't know what is the difference between the activity based learning in Tamil Nadu and DPEP. However, I believe, from my own experience, that learning by doing is more effective than learning from the usual lectures and through writing exams. If I take the sum of all what I have learned, say in engineering, the amount I learned from lectures will be insignificantly small; I learned more myself by direct reading, thinking, experimenting, and discussing with my peers.

I hope things will change and education system will improve. In fact, I know teachers who are steadfast in changing their own teaching methods to make learning process more effective. However, sadly, a vast majority still believes that "we can only teach, it is the student's responsibility to read the books and learn by himself/herself. And if they do not come up to a good level, it is because they don't have aptitude and ability, or because they don't work hard".

I wish to quote what Dr. K. B. M. Namboodiripad, who is the dean of Amrita School of Engineering, Kollam, used to tell us, when I was a lecturer there: "So far teachers have been focusing on the quality of their teaching. Our objective is to shift the focus from teaching to learning". How thrilling, intelligent, wise and moving are these words! Aren't they? Yes, like those of Karl Marx's: "Philosophers have defined the world in many ways. The point is to change it".

--Sandeep Palakkal

What I see out my window: A photo by Sandeep.

Nov. 12, 2009,
Chennai.
In the last June Sandeep woke up to a usual hot lazy Saturday morning. He opened the back door of his hostel room and witnessed a beautiful scene of love. And he captured it. It is published here: http://whatiseeoutmywindow.blogspot.com/2009/08/sandeeps-temporary-view-in-chennai.html

Ekakiyute Nottepusthakam: A Malayalam Blog from Sandeep Palakkal

Palakkal Times,
9th November 2009.
by Staff Reporter.

Chennai: After maintaining his English blog http://sandeeppalakkal.blogspot.com for longer time than he expected, Mr. Sandeep Palakkal has launched his second blog, now in Malayalam, here this evening.

Palakkal Times caught him this evening for a brief chat about his new blog. He said it was his long cherished dream to start a Malayalam blog, but he was caught up with the struggles related to his studies, research and work. However, he feels that time will not wait for anyone, and if you want to do something, now is the time for it. He adds that he can't wait for any more, at least in this case. His first blog is a tribute to his mother tongue, and he feels this is the right way he can start his Malayalam blog. He talked about his feeling of alienation from his land, people and, furthermore, his language. He believes that this blog will act as a consolation for him as he can still write in his language what he thinks, feels and enjoys. However, he feels that there is nothing special about this blog as there are "talented Malayalam bloggers" around the world with whom he cannot compete.

His blog address is http://entenottupusthakam.blogspot.com/. He explains that "ente nottupusthakam" in Malayalam means "my note book", which he chose as a coinage to his English blog title "Notebook of a Lonely Wander". When asked whether the readers can expect good articles in his new blog, he replied that he was not worried about it, and his sole intention of writing is "not to be read, but to enjoy the inexorable pleasure of writing".

Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja: A movie

Wonderful! Excellent! Spectacular! Adjectives fail me to describe this work of art: Pazhassiraja, a Malayalam movie about the King Pazhassiraja from Kerala, who fought against the British East India Company in the beginning of 19th century, it is directed by Hariharan for M.T. Vasudevan Nair's script. I am not the one who can write reviews of movies. Let me attempt to describe how I enjoyed this movie.

From beginning to end the movie is tight, breathtaking. Every scene has suspense, and I had to eagerly wait to see things happening. Direction is really good, so disciplined and careful. The movie was more than three hours, but I never felt bored (I was reminded of "Seven Samurai"). The director Hariharan has used every character in the movie very well. Everyone has definite roles except for Dora Baber, I don't know why she got a place in the movie--is it for creating some sentimense? However, the character is funny.

The cinematography is excellent. There are a few visually charming scenes throughout the movie. Especially, there is always the presence of the forest in the movie, which is exploited well. The scene in which a white horse is running through the river, Mammootty taking bath in the river, the camera work in the scene where the "Pazhassi pattalam" (the army of Raja Pazhassi) is shown at the Telecheri fort while the King Pazhassi signs a treaty of peace with the British are very good. And there is the introduction of Sarathkumar--excellent. The fight scenes are also very good.

Regarding acting, I have nothing to say. Every actor has done his / her part very well. Sarathkumar is really fantastic. From his introduction to his death, he was like a fire on the screen. His body structure, agility, proud look, everything is superb. (While watching the movie my mother asked me who that actor was, she felt he was a good actor. I told her, in fact, he really is. This is the debut film for Sarathkumar in Malayalam.) And there comes Padmapriya. Maybe, a female character doing so much stunt is for the first time in Malayalam cinema. She has put immense effort into every scene, especially in action scenes. Has she dubbed for herself? Her Malayalam is not natural but good. If she has dubbed herself, great--keep it up! Characters played by Suresh Menon and Manoj K. Jayan are also good. Suresh Menon is becoming better and better, he has to put more effort to improve his facial expressions. However, compared to his other movies, he acted very well in this one. I have nothing to say about Mammootty, I could never say if he was acting--so natural a performance. Excellent are the performances by other actors like Devan, Suman, Jagathy Sreekumar, Jagadeesh and the actors who gave life to the British characters.

I will never forget the fight scenes. They looked really real. Swordfights by Mammootty and Sarathkumar, and fights using bow and arrow by Manoj K. Jayan and Padmapriya, are taken well. The director and stunt director have taken much care to make the scenes natural, fierce and real. We can really feel the spark when two swords are crossed.

The end was nice though I have the opinion that it resembles like the end of the Hollywood movie "300".

Another thing not to forget to write down is the dialogues. Once again M.T. Vasudevan Nair proved his mettle by using the Malayalam language in the most elagant way. Each dialogue is beautiful, poetic, sparkling and unforgettable.

Someone asked me if it is an art movie or commercial movie. What can I say? I can't distinguish. It is a great work of art, and it is commercial--it attracts people, that's all. Any way, I experienced multiple goosefleshes throughout the movie. And there were long-standing ovations and whistles for every stunning scene, performance and dialogue. I think most of the applause went to Sarathkumar as he had to put more stunts and fights than anyone else in the movie. I confess that I want to see the movie once again.

While searching the internet, I discovered this blog: http://malabardays.blogspot.com/. The blogger Mr. Nick Balmer claims to be the great great great great nephew of Thomas Harvey Baber, the British sub-collector of Thalassery under whose command Pazhassiraja was killed eventually in 1805. Thomas's account of Pazhassi's death is put up by Mr. Balmer in his blog.

Paragon of stupidity...

Thus leaves me yet another month: October.  This month I have done a lot of blunders.  Very frequently I was caught up in awkward situations, and most of the time, my reactions were shamefully foolish.  This reminded me of the limitations of life, as I have written in a previous blog.  Maybe, I will argue that the knowledge of my limitations helped me to accept my foolishness, overcome it and stay calm.  It helped me not to loose my self-respect yet.  In the past, it was my arrogance and self-pride that helped me to stay calm in difficult situations.  But in situations where I look foolish, arrogance will not help; on the other hand, it may aggravate my shame.  This is where self-pity, not in the usual sense, but in the most profound sense, helps me stay calm.

Self-pity, for the weak man, is self-denouncement or self-negation, but for the strong, it is the knowledge of the "edges"--the boundaries, the limitations.  At the same time a strong man will also be aware of the opposite--the limitlessness of man.  Furthermore, only he / she who is aware of the edges knows how vast is the space contained by the edges.  This is very similar to my other favourite thoughts: "only he / she who is aware of the meaninglessness of life knows its meaning," or "only he / she who understands hate knows what is love."  Am I talking about the opposites here?  No, I am just saying there are no opposites--there are only duals.

Thinking about it, I am reminded of a few lines I read a few years back:

"What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! --and yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me--nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so."

--William Shakespeare

After all, quoting a man with rich words is much better than writing it down in my poor ones.

--Sandeep Palakkal

"Enlightenment..."

Thor... placed the horn to his lips... . He drank with all his might and kept drinking as long as ever he was able; when he paused to look, he could see that the level had sunk a little, ... for the other end lay out in the ocean itself.

–-P.A. Munch, Norse Mythology
AMS Press, New York, 1970.

Have you ever thought of the amount of all human knowledge so far? Have you ever felt the urge to learn it all? How much can we learn? How much we already know? What is the percentage of all knowledge that we can get? For example we know (at least vaguely) that,

1. Everything around us is made of atoms.

2. There are some particles called electrons.

3. Opposite magnetic poles attract, and the like ones repel.

4. While inhaling atmospheric air, our lungs absorb oxygen.

5. Plant and trees are living beings.

6. Sun light, when passed through a prism, decomposes into seven colours.

7. Fourier transform of a signal represented in time gives its frequency components.

8. Music can be compressed to MP3 format so that the file size is reduced.

9. Every living being on earth has to die.

10. 1+1 = 2 and 1x1 = 1.

Can I ever complete this list? I wonder and wonder about the amount of knowledge we have.

Yet the beauty is this: it is more important to understand one thing rather than knowing it all. This is what my teacher told me today, "Sandeep, you may read a lot and know a lot. But it is when you re-derive your knowledge you really understand them. And enlightenment comes through understanding."

 A particular knowledge may be known to man for a long time. That does not mean that you have understood it. You understand is a different case. And when you understand it in your own way, you see the real beauty--this is the joy of learning.

--Sandeep Palakkal

True Friend

In Malayalam, we have a proverb:  "chengathi nannayal kannadi venda" (i.e., if your friend is good, then you don't need to look at the mirror).  I understand its meaning in more depth now.  However, it is an old proverb, and it is the modern times now.  Hence, I would like to add more to it.  For, there are different types of mirrors now.
A true friend
1. should act as a magnification lens (convex) for you to help see distances unknown to you; helps you to grow more, warns you about the pitfalls on your path and helps you guard yourself,
2. should act as a diminishing  lens (concave) for you against others' blames and scorns at you; insulates you from the pains of the world, by helping you not knowing what you don't need to, and
3. should act as a plain, clean and unbiased mirror so that you can look at it and know more of you, what you are, where you are, including your qualities as well as your limitations.
Besides, a friend should support you in all your deeds, always, at the same time warning you against wrong moves and actions.
I hope my true friends will warn me when I act without reason, boast of myself in any ways, claim myself great and knowledgeable, and against my cupidity, unjustifiable desires and arrogance. I also hope that they will support me in my constructive biases, attitudes and arguments towards life, without which a life is never a life at all.

--Sandeep Palakkal

Tears, silence and some pessimism

On October 5th, 2009, I  woke up to the terrible news of  a huge flood that badly affected Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.  The photograph in the front page of The Hindu daily was very much disturbing.  No other photo of any calamity or anything else has ever wounded me so deeply before.  Expressing courtesy to The Hindu, let me add a copy of the same here; it is small and of low resolution, unlike the one in the hard copy of the newspaper.  The same, along with that day's news is available here: http://www.hindu.com/2009/10/05/stories/2009100557090100.htm.
The caption reads like this: "SHATTERED HOPE: A woman cries on seeing her submerged house at P. Garlapadu village, about 180 km from Hyderabad, in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday".

I invite you to take a close look at the picture, see the heartbreaking sorrow on her face.  This is not from a movie that I watch sometime: this is real, so chillingly real.  I don't know why I was deeply hurt by it...  I sat on my bed, wordless, looking at the picture for quite a while.  My mind was trying to imagine what all agonies were going on in  that poor woman's mind.  She must be one from that vast majority of the Indian population who struggle for their everyday meal, who don't have time, knowledge, patience and privilege to think about what people like me are worried about: faster internet connection, technology revolution, IT parks, economic recession, the poor quality of roads, whether Shashi Tharoor was right to use the word "cattle class", whether drinking coco-cola was unhealthy, if Indian movies are up to the mark from the international perspective, whether "The Name of the Rose" is the best novel I've ever read, whether ancient Indian contribution to science and mathematics is rightly acknowledged, whether finding water in moon was important to science at all, what are the best skills an engineer should possess, and so on.  All she used to worry about was just the everyday meal, not even about her children's education or diet, for they were too luxurious for her to afford.  Now, she has lost everything --- everything she has built on through years of hard work, which she can't even dream of doing again.  The loss of all hopes, all dreams, and the knowledge that she has no chance of being happy ever again... a bunch of emotions this emptiness can create in you --- this is what I can read on her face.  She, as her belongings, is encountering a horrifying state of oblivion from which there is no escape.  All she can do is just cry helplessly --- and that is what she is doing.  I feel deeply wounded, very deeply wounded....  I am more and more ashamed thinking of the privileges I am enjoying in this world, and all my complaints, anxieties, self-pride, self-esteem, self-respect, are belittled and silenced at once in front of her tears.

Time and again, we have said that India is yet to grow like the US or UK or France or Malaysia etc., that we don't have good facilities, that our people have no civic sense, that we have no self-respect and so on.  Now I understand the cold reality of the Indian situation, or broadly the human condition on earth.  And I understand my nation, its limitations and its poverty unconditionally.  I am just silenced, and I have no more complaints but only an inner awareness of a new enlightenment on the need to make India, not a super power, a hub of technology and science and business, but, at least, a place for humans to live, loving each other, without the need for  an unjustifiably herculean effort to do so.  She will be (is already) an inspiration for me throughout my life.

--Sandeep Palakkal

On Mullaperiyar and then, on an old brotherhood: continued...

To my previous article "on Mullaperiyar and then, on an old brotherhood", I would like to add something.  This issue should be seen in the light of the recent flood in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and the Telungana Rashtra Samithi chief K. Chandrashekhara Rao's allegation that it was due to the bad and unscientific irrigation works ('Jalayagnam') motivated by bribery and corruption of the late Y.S.R. Reddy-led Congress government that was truly responsible for it, and not the nature's fury.  Whether this allegation is true is yet to be established.  However, taking a disillusioned look at the presence of corruption in the Indian government offices and politics, it may be reasonable to argue that there is a significant probability that this allegation could be true, or something like this can happen.  Forget the corruption story.  Think if something similar happens in Kerala due to the raising of the water level as TN advocates.  Think how horrifying it would be.  Think how much damage it can cause, not only to the lives of the human beings living around the dam, but to the relationship between the states and its peoples!  It will be a great damage to India as a nation.  It is time to take a responsible decision and to act.