पुरुष - A Hindi poem on Men for International Men's Day

Image created by Bing AI

मेहनत जिसकी रीड की हड्डी, धैर्य जिसका बल,

कर्म की पथ पर चलता वो है पुरुष अचल ।

अपने लक्ष्य को भेदना, अर्जुन से है सीखा,

पर उसके मन की वेदना का सार किसी ने न देखा ।।

एक तुला के कांटे के सामान,

करता है वो परिवार का संतुलन।

अपनी आशा, आकांशा और सपने का त्याग कर,

करता है वो समाज की तपिश का आलिंगन ।।

एक बेटा, एक पुत्र, एक भाई,

यही नहीं, वो है एक आज्ञाकारी जमाई ।

दिन, रात, महीने और साल गुजर गए,

पुरुष खड़ा रहा, और समय के दूत चुपके से निकल गए ।।

वो सोचता रहा की उसकी अर्धांगिनी कभी तो पारवती बनेगी,

पर आधुनिक काल में केवल काली की छवि रहेगी ।

ऐ पुरुष, तू शिव की तरह हलाहल का पान कर,

संघर्ष क्षणिक है, अपने कर्म से मानवता को प्रणाम कर ।।

आनंद बोड़ा

Surrender

This poem is written on the context that Lord Shiva gets impressed by the incessant focus and hard work of a very knowledgeable and scientific man and gives him Darshan in his dream.

Fig: Meditating Shiva created by Bing AI (Prompt: create a meditating image of Hindu god Shiva on mount kailash. His disciples are saints, monsters, bulls and common people. They are in a worshipping pose towards him. Shiva is in a meditating state.)

My curiosity and the will to know,
Made me question, reason and question the flow.
Driven by logic, I debate with the divine;
He answers patiently just before 03:59.

Oh! I find him calm, serene and yogic,

His aura is beyond human logic,

I have my doubts and knowledge clouts my mind;

I ask him, where do you live and how do I find?

Giving me a look of aplomb;

While his devotees prop out of a catacomb,

He tells me gently, "I will answer your questions."

Suddenly, my heart is filled with mixed emotions.

He returns to a meditating state -

I don't know, why it feels he has no date.

He opened his eyes and spoke, "OM" -

My mind got inundated with pathway to freedom.

The voice trickled down my spine;

Healing my nerves, blood vessels and the dynastic line.

The answers have come, I don't need to ask;

I surrender, Sensei - unto you, I bask and task.

Anand Bora

Review of "Hereditary"

Hereditary comes across a movie which should be on your list if you are a Horror movie lover. I am writing this piece so you know already that I love horror movies a lot. To put into perspective, I have already watched 55 from Top 100 horror movies list from IMDB which would be close to 5500 hours of my life. 😀

Getting back to the movie, I watched this 2018 movie on Prime Video recently and it was really good in terms of concealing the antagonist or the demon in this case. Just after finishing the movie, I felt that I had watched an amalgamation of the “Wicker Man”, The Holy Mountain and a tincture of “The Shining”. If you read about those movies or watch them, you will realise what I am talking about.

I want to talk about the BEST parts in the movie which are really good and worth mentioning.

The SOUND DESIGN - Oh! I love the Sound Design in this movie. Very few horror movies bring out the right music to compliment the scenes of the movies. Lewis Goldstein and Tom Ryan have done a splendid job on this project. The sound design is eerie, contemporary, tribal and creepy, all at the same time. I really enjoyed it on the IEMs I used to watch the movie.

The SCRIPT - A very novel approach to horror movie making by mixing a lot of ingredients like paganism, slasher effects, brute force and dreams/nightmares. The unpredictability of people being killed is an icing on the cake and adds a modern and novel approach. There are occasions where the script brings out the emotional part of the characters within a family in a brutal way which is justified by the actors with all its merit. Bonus points on the miniature art concept and connecting it to real life. A scene which shows how the mother laments the death of her child by re-creating the miniature version of her accident, must be a brain child of a genius and vastly experienced writer. The suspense of hiding the main antagonist is also brilliant and the scriptwriter has done a tremendous job here.

The ACTING - All the Actors are Fantabulous. I think this is the first movie of Toni Collette which I have seen and I am already a Fan. She delivers emotions on the screen like a rainbow formed with mercury, transitioning effortlessly from one emotion to the other. Gabriel Brianne and Alex Wolf have been tremendous. This movie must have re-defined Alex’s career and he is on his way to do much larger projects. But one actor whose name I don’t know creates an impact in just one scene with his gaze (pictured below). Although, he comes for another single scene later in the movie too.

The EDITING, COLOR GRADING, SFX and all major aspects of filmmaking are top notch. They keep the audience hooked with the streamlined storytelling.

Needless to say, there are blips which they should have looked at. The VFX at places seems very outdated. For example, the scene when Annie’s jacket catches fire, the fire seems fake to normal eyes. Some decapitation scenes and bodies look glaringly artificial. Color grading at some places during the climax is too dark. They show a lot of symbols in the movie but there is almost no explanation of them. They seem purely referential which in a way shows that the director wants people to make assumptions. They don’t mention how the actual possession happened, only the means are shown. Probably, that can be an inspiration for another movie 😀

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and it is definitely part of my all time horror movies to watch out for. After the movie, I tried to recall which movie might have been the creepiest I saw and the immediate answer was “Rosemary’s Baby”. Again, that is purely a personal choice and it won’t be fair to limit my answer to just one movie.

"Killer Soup" Review

Image Source : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killer_Soup

"It is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sounds and fury, signifying nothing." That's how the whole series ends.

How many times has a director been honest in summing up a story in one line at the end of the story. This is one such instance with the director feeding up a coagulated plot to the audience and summarizing the pain to the audience at the culmination of the story.

This review will be short and would save you the pain of dangling between ill placed cuss words and predictable sub plots which have been given the shape of accidents rather than intended homicide.

I was really disappointed with the plot and probably the writing. I have huge respect for people who write screenplay and stories and this in no way demeans the effort of writers of this one too. But I felt, that there has been a lot of patchwork in this story.  Good editing has been able to streamline the story and bring some sense but overall the audience feels like they have landed in no man's land.

The performance of all the actors is really good (of course they are very good professionals) but the real let down happens on the writing part.

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

I mean one of the protagonists, Prabhakar, died in the initial part of the story and is replaced by an impostor and none of his near and dear ones have an inkling that he is not the same guy. NOT EVEN ONE. Really? Although I am not a professional writer but I feel that for a thriller to work well, the sense of doubt and confusion is the biggest weapon. One of the old Hindi movies, Baazigar, camouflaged it very well and had that tincture of confusion all the time. Although the audience knew the culprit but the story still kept the audience engaged and hooked.

The role of Arvind Shetty played by Sayaji Shinde looked all the over the place. I really couldn't make any sense of it. A dominant businessman in whole of Tamil Nadu doesn't seems dominating enough. There are not enough extras around him to show his power and his appearances felt very weak. His last words while dying is a WTF moment and is a testimony of the weak writing. Probably, this character is the weakest character and should have been used more aptly.

This series feels like it belongs to Konkana Sen. Heavily dominated by her presence and the story revolves around her character in many ways. But her character is confusing as well. She has a dream of getting her own restaurant and to get that she involves herself in multiple murders and insane situations. Her character is really mean and bitchy and reminds me of Lena Headley's performance in GoT. Sometimes I felt she is like the shrewd Mom in Law from yester years who would go to any length to torture the daughter in laws. A completely non-compromising selfish antagonist vouching for a dream and cooking "Paya killer soup" for all and sundry.

I dunno what to say about Inspector Hassan's character played by Nasser. An investigation officer who is laid back to start with but becomes curious in a case after the loss of a bright officer in the case. He hallucinates all the time about the officer giving him clues every now and then. A great addition to the plot would have been that Hassan was always high on mushrooms. Would have been logical and creatively connected to the plot too.

There are many many bloopers and everything doesn't add up to be a cohesive plot. I am sure the writing would have been reviewed by so many people and many stalwarts but I don't know how people were convinced on the same.

But I really liked the technicalities and performances. Almost everyone has justified their part and nothing more can be asked from the BTS team as well.

Two standout creative approaches in the series has been -

1. Intermingling of Tamil and Hindi languages and trying to bridge the divide. Perhaps, a series gives more opportunities to do the same and cater to larger audience.  But this is important and really helps in improving and tailoring the minds of people watching the series.

2. The hallucinating character of Inspector Thuppali with a raincoat and persistent rainfall on him. A very creative approach to show how manifestations stick to people's mind in a particular way.

All in all, I really wanted to SOUP to play a more dominant role. Soup seems more notional and points to the "RAITA" in the family and of course the PLOT. The main character, SOUP, should have had more part to play but keeps begging for its place. As per the series, it is definitely DARK but not sure about COMEDY.

PS: This is just a small review of this series I saw. This is completely my independent opinion and outpour on the series. I really respect the effort people put in creating their vision into reality. I apologize if anything in this review causes concern or demeans anyone.

I wrote this small comment on Manoj Bajpayee sir's instagram as a very short review to bring out the comedy in the soup.

The evergreen 'Dear Father'

I remember those days of the 90s when I was a teen and I developed interest in watching multilingual movies. During those days, Doordarshan used to run a regional language movie every Sunday from 2-5PM and this was available pan India. I have been watching movies in different languages since that time. This context is important as in today’s India language is no more relevant and with Internet and OTT available everywhere, the viewer can choose to watch what he wants.

Back to the point. I watched a Gujarati movie recently called ‘Dear Father’. I became a fan of Chetan Dhanani after watching the movie ‘Reva’ and I was looking forward to watching this movie. I was deeply impressed by his acting in Reva and I knew his performance would be impeccable in this one too.

The movie is about a small household of three people - father, son and daughter-in-law. A family where all the three members have different priorities in life and have a different perspective.  The movie starts with a scene where the father has fallen from the flat in the apartment and has been seriously injured and admitted to the hospital. Subsequently, a police investigation starts into the incident and Paresh Rawal sir (who is playing dual roles of the father and the investigating officer) takes over the investigation of the incident.

I am not going to spill over the beans on how the movie moves forward but I would definitely like to mention a few aspects about the movie. The performances of all the actors are fabulous and top notch. I couldn’t stop myself getting flashbacks to Paresh sir’s many more previous movies like Hera Pheri but he has excelled in the role of this typical Gujarati dad. There were a few scenes in the movie which are hilarious and thought provoking as well. The father-son banter over the 25 years of nagging with the females of the family is so indigenously Indian. The dialogues seem to come directly from the Indian homes. When I say Indian, I mean all parts of India. I have seen these kinds of similar issues in a Kannada family, a Telugu family, a Marwadi family and so on and so forth.

Chetan has been impeccable yet again with his performance. I think his strength is depicting emotions with versatility and owning the character. The character in Reva and the character in Dear Father are very different but you will realise that he fits right in. In the movie, he is the average husband who is getting pulled between his parents and his wife. Needless to say, this is the story of almost every husband in India. Trying to appease the parents and the wife is a mundane attempt all husbands make and fail. Chetan has clearly justified the role and fits right in.

The actress Manasi reminded me of so many Marwadi ladies in my family. The dichotomy of their lives to match the expectations of the family and also try to achieve their dreams. Manasi has nailed the role and the way she has portrayed the frustration of a contemporary Indian woman leaves an indelible mark on the audience.

I would like to appreciate the script and dialogue writers (Vivek Bele, Uttam Gada) of this movie. They have great insights into how Indian families run in today’s world. They have been able to bring out the originality of life in the script. How a major incident in the family connects the family back again. How a frustrated police officer relates himself to a case which he is investigating. The whole story has been intertwined in a lovely braid.

I had a couple of qualms from the movie which I would like to highlight. Since this was a traditional homely setup, I was quite surprised that the husband and wife scenes visiting their injured father was not shown quite often if it didn’t feel like they were too much concerned. The police officer role of Paresh sir approached very casually to the husband and wife, anytime and everytime. For example, in one scene, he entered their home without the permission of the family. But I guess, the writers can take the liberty of some creative freedom to connect the dots.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie. I kept that one minute scene between the father and son as my whatsapp status and I got so many replies from people asking for the name of the movie. So, do you see, language is not a barrier anymore. This movie took me back to the Malayalam movie “Android Kunjappan 2.0”, I watched last year. Funny how they are connected in subtle ways. They both evoke the right chords of connecting with your father and all the actors in both movies have done so much justice.

Thanks to OTT platforms, I think we will see a future envisioned by Chanakya of a unified Bharatvarsh.

Anand Bora

सफेद

 

एक सफेद कंबल, एक सफेद चादर,

एक सफेद दरख़्त,

एक सफेद "चस्मा"

और एक सफेद हम |

एक सिसक थी मेरी,

जो इसके दीदार से निकल गई |

एक अश्क मेरा कहीं ज़मीन पर होगा,

वो भी सफेद |

जाने कौन सा मौसम है ये,

मेरे दिल को कपड़े मे लपेट कर सो गया है,

वक़्त मे से ये लम्हा निकल दो,

तो ये ज़िंदगी भी सफेद |

एक अधूरी रात की सुबह हो तुम,

एक उदास गज़ल का मुखड़ा हो तुम,

ए सुर्ख बर्फ तू सोना मत,

क्यूंकी मेरे जज़्बात है सफेद |

आनंद बोड़ा

Amit's 10th

 Gifted to Amit on his 10th wedding anniversary. 

Visionary Dream

Sounds as it may,
The dream makes a noise;
The grey matter and the signals-
The manifestation is far from advice.

The layers of my dream;
Is it a vision or a hallucination?
Or a 'deja vu' from life.
It's a world of emancipation.

Time is perplexed in the dream,
Space unwinds to infinity.
The dimensions converge and diverge concurrently,
A platform of happiness and adversity.

The 'focused' dream with open eyes;
The vision of a 'logical' life.
The fog between the real and the imaginary -
Your mind is caught in a strife.

Semantics flow in the river of imagination;
The iteration in a dream is a 'fractal'.
My friend, your physical self is your Karma -
Create a dream and you are immortal.

-Anand Bora

Portrait of my daughter

This series of pictures shows how I was able to complete the painting of my daughter (done in Acrylic on Canvas 32.5" x 32.5")

REFERENCE PICTURE

The ART IN PROGRESS

The Start

FINAL WORK

Photography - Exploring the Lens

So, I have been out for long time. I need to get back to my writing but innovation is keeping me involved more than ever.

Meanwhile, I have been learning photography myself and honestly, it is fun.

Sharing my Flickr here.

Hope you like them.

You

Fiction or illusion, you belong to me.
The waves in my brain triggers a silence in your presence.
It is that inexplicable feeling, that insane serendipity --
My senses meeting yours.

Surreal or real, you belong to me.
You balance the warmth in my heart.
The intangible connection we share without cognizance;
My thoughts are not mine, but yours.

Time or timeless, you belong to me.
You are a part of me or I am a part of you.
I sleep, the body lives and you listen;
Existence is not mine, but yours.

Dimensions or spaces, you belong to me.
Your silhouette is a master's composition.
Organic as I am - you are life;
I am not mine, but yours.

Anand Bora

Lucky 7 as Friend

Aloo chops - the Indo-Italian way

Accidentally, I happened to make the most amazing Aloo (potato) chops I had ever eaten. It is Saturday and I wanted to go to eat Aloo Chops (quite a delicacy in East of India, also called Aloo Bonda in other places). So I decided to make these today. I wanted to add a touch of experiment and the outcome was delicious.

I had some Italian seasoning and red chili flakes sachets which were left over from the earlier times I had ordered pizza from Papa John's & Pizza Hut. I used them as well to create the stuffing for the Chops.

Recipe

For Stuffing

Ingredients

3 Big Potatoes

3 Green Chilies

1 table spoon Dry Mint Powder

Salt (as per taste)

3 Red chili flake sachet from Pizza outlet [coz I used them ;)]

3 Italian Seasoning

• Boil the potatoes and peel off the skin.
• Chop green chilies and mash the potatoes. Mix all the ingredients well in a bowl.
• Make small round balls out of the stuffing and keep aside.
• The stuffing is ready.

Cooking method

Ingredients

100 grams Gram Floor (Besan)

50 grams Corn Flour

1 tsp Carom Seeds (Ajwain)

1 tsp Cumin Seeds powder

Salt (to taste)

Water - 1/4th cup

Vegetable Oil - 1 Cup

• Mix gram floor, corn floor, carom seeds, cumin seeds powder and salt in a bowl.
• Add water and make a semi-thick paste but it should be on the watery side.
• Add the balls to the paste and roll them well so that the balls are covered properly.
• Boil the oil in a frying pan(kadai) and keep the gas intensity to medium.
• Now, add the rolls to the frying pan such that only 4-5 rolls are fried at a time and keep the gas intensity to low.
• Keep turning the rolls so that they get cooked in all parts.
• Once the rolls are light brown, take them out of the pan and keep on a newspaper or tissue to get rid of the excess oil.
• Serve hot.

Zombie Me

Made this on 'Rotten Friends App' on my phone. ;)

Derek O Brien - Ambigram

I have been a fan of Derek O Brien, the quiz master since long. This is for him. :)

Sangeet

This is a work in progress based on Newton Laplace equation. This is being done in acrylic on canvas.

Bharat Ambigram

'भारत' Ambigram. Dedicated to my country. :)

Ambigram of Google - 2

This is much different from the one I made here.

Iron Man & Hello Kitty in Acrylic

I did this painting for a very close friend who got married recently. Both of them like Iron Man and my friend likes Hello Kitty a lot. Hence, I gifted her this painting on her wedding. It is done in acrylic on canvas. For the first time, I am sharing a series of photographs which shows how I made this one. The total time taken to complete it was around 30 hours.

Sacred lamp

This is a painting based on the names of my best friend and his wife. Since he is a physicist, I thought of making a manifestation of Higgs boson [my imagination] on a lamp[meaning of his wife's name]. The boson is formed by the interference of the rays.