The Wolf and the People

Old Wolves Die Alone, it is said,
In these Mongol Plains so far up North,
For In this time of grief they bed,
Farewell, to their King who had led them forth.

It was he who united them,
Temuchin was his name,
With three Yak Hair and sturdy helm,
He rose to Genghis fame.

Alas, Old Wolves have to die,
For Younger ones to pine,
And Great Khan had them left them by,
To let young Khubilai shine,

Some wounds go too deep,
And cannot be mended by time or word,
It was the the hour to put their Lord to sleep,
With his Land, his people and his sword.

He was placed deep in Mongol soil,
This was the part played by Men.
But the Horses too wanted to toil,
And so It was to begin.

Tens of thousands came forth,
From Old stallion to baby fawn.
And strode over now dry earth,
Up until the break of dawn.

And in the morning when the Red Rays swept,
A lonely camel here made its way,
Over Khan's tomb as she wept,
Was sealed his grave, with teardrops, in his final day.

A little thing called love.

He loved her with all his heart. They were in a relationship for five years now and had withstood their share of rough times. For better or for worse they were still a couple and very much in love. On the 21st of December, she got an e-mail saying that her application had been accepted at a University in Spain. He was distraught.

He cared too much for her to stop her from pursuing her goal. Neither was he able to let go of the fact that maybe she was wanting it to end. He was a mess. Over the next few weeks, he went from denial to depression to anger. All while not trying to act like he was a wreck. Because thats what guys do.

It was the eve of 12 February.He dreamt about her and some Ronaldo look alike going to a bull fight together and cheering for the bull while he was the matador. He woke up with a sweat at 5 in the morning and had a moral epiphany. He was going to propose to her even if it meant a life long of heart break if she ever did say "no".

They were going to meet at the airport for the send off. He kept the ring inside the prettiest purple case, in his coat pocket. It was raining.She said her good bye's to family and friends while was a silent spectator at some distance.

The call for boarding was announced and she was walking up to the restricted entry point where he was standing. They hugged. She seemed unusually happy for someone leaving her boyfriend for 3 years. He looked into her eyes. ' She is pursuing her dream while I am watching mine standing in front of me and not being able to do anything about it. I am pathetic!'.

He decided not to go through with the proposal. He said his good byes once last time and turned around to leave.

He felt the people in front of him smile. Wrought with grief and slightly confused, he turned back facing the entry point.

She was kneeling with a ring in her hand. " I knew I was the one who had to do it".

He accepted.

Broken Glass and Drugs

Look at you, You Son of a Bitch!

No work, No family, No life.

With No money, No soul, no, not an inch.

Go Kill yourself! I would, if I had so much strife.

Do you remember the time,

When your life was devoid of this much pain?

A time of Love, A time of Joy,

Until you started to do cocaine.

What does it feel like now? Does it give you peace?

I bet it makes you happy!

Yeah right If it did give your grief some release,

You wouldn't be talking to me, cut all over and in your nappy.

They miss you, She is willing to take you back,

and the kids want to hug you like before.

But you are here, in some dingy shack,

Drawing lines and cutting yourself , wanting for more.

You are gone, you are lost,

There is no hope left in the world to make you reappear.

For why would you be hearing all of this, if you weren't lost that is,

From your bathroom mirror?

htnakirs

Avatar - The Review.

Before I begin this review, let me say that watching 'Avatar' in 3-D is the ONLY way to watch it. Avatar 2-D just doesn't do. The 2D version does no good in helping you spot minute details nor does it make you perceive 'depth' ,which pretty much defines AVATAR as an animation masterpiece.

So say no to 2D!

First off I would like to paraphrase a statement made by a reviewer - " Avatar would not be nominated in any of the acting categories but It will pretty much lap up every technical award. It is movies like these that make the audience realize the significance of Technology in cinema.". I have to agree with him.

Also, I would like to answer some FAQs first off for people who have better things to do than reading a review.

1. does Avatar live up to all the hype and hoopla that been going around for nearly a year ? Most Definitely.

2. For those methodist freaks - Does it have a good story backed by a brilliant screenplay and editing? yes.

3. And finally, Is it groundbreaking?? U BET!!!!!

Moving onto the review :

James Cameron's latest installation, 'Avatar' is strikingly contrasting with his previous ventures, but matches them in grandeur. Known as a Legendary filmmaker in the movie circles , he is an inspiration for mainstream film directors/critics Peter Jackson, Steven Speilberg, to name a few. Here is the synopsis of the movie :

Jack , the protagonist is a crippled marine who is promised with new legs by his boss colonel () for delivering intel about the 'Na'vi', an alien race existing on the planet Pandora. He is made to join a cabal of Na'vi researchers who have developed technology to transfer human consciousness onto Na'vi bodies, the latter being their avatars.The humans intend to establish their dominance on Pandora by evacuating/exterminating the Na'vi population.

While at first Jack takes his job seriously, he falls in love with the Na'vi way of life and becomes their savior against the 'sky people'(a.k.a the humans).

Yes its that simple a story! But the awesomeness of the movie rests on how it is executed. The screenplay is racy during the first half of the movie and appears to slow down during the second. But note I said 'appears to'. I find the change of pace necessary to warrant the plot. People who expect to witness a transformers style movie will feel let down by the 2nd half.

The background score accentuates the epic feel of the movie while also adding to the surrealism during the Na'vi portions. In short, out of this world! ( pun intended)

Performances are OK. Avatar is not an actors' movie.Sam Worthington is to be watched out for. He might just end up becoming another Christian Bale / Brad Pitt.

Animation/Special Effects : Avatar is the greatest movie ever made in the history of cinema, going by special effects alone. I am not going to say anything else.You have to watch it for yourself.

Editing : The editors have had a lot of time to do their job. It is par-excellent.

Ideology : If you would watch Avatar while not thinking about what the director is trying to tell you/ make you imagine , you would not be able to appreciate this masterpiece to the fullest extent. It is this latent factor that separates James Cameron from the rest of the storytellers.

To sum up, this is why I call the movie ground breaking.

Here it goes - Avatar can be interpreted in many ways : Written to highlight Imperialism,signifying the inherent lust for power/dominance in humans and so on. But I would like my readers to think of it as a CREDIBLE Science - Fiction plot. Star Wars worked because the world which it had created was almost flawless and most importantly all those aspects were included in some frame or the other i.e the detailing. Portraying a civilization takes this detailing to a whole new level as the writers have to pen down everything (right down to Na'vi accessories for example). And James Cameron has done this successfully and in some ways better than any movie ever did primarily because he took only one race into consideration. So you could imagine the amount of detailing that is present in the movie. Cameron has created a civilization from scratch and it shows in the movie. This is why it is groundbreaking.

Following his movies 'The Abyss' and 'Aliens' , 'Avatar' is THE definitive Science Fiction movie of all time.

Rahman spotted!

I just saw A.R.Rahman at Chennai airport at a distance of 2 feet for about half a minute. I wanted to say something but felt it would be weird. So I ended up staring with my mouth wide open.. I now feel that it would have gone down as more weird.

Father Armand

Here's to Father Armand,

On a snowy winter night..

It is sweet Christmas,

And he kneels with delight..

...but all is not right....

It was a cold day, It was a bad day,

And it had been this way for years,

For Father Armand was the only good soul,

In a land, lost to war-cries and tears.

For there was battle ; and death,

and all that came with it,

And poor father was all alone,

With his God, his will and his wit.

Then came a soldier, wounded in battle,

when Father was asking for grace..

for his people, for his lands,

and for the dead and their rightful place..

In came the soldier, straddling into the prayer hall..

and shouted , " Lord! Do you have a shroud of mercy at all?

For it is your children who are dead, your children who are dying..

And you are letting the city crumble to ashes in the fall ?"

Father raised him by the arm and led him to the Cross,

Upon which lay the Son of God, bound by nail - beaten by dross.

He soothed the soldier , saying it was all a big test.

"for the faith of the people ", and said it was for the best..

The city fell that night, its might defeated,

And Father began to question his belief..

For if there was a God who ever existed,

Surely, He would have come to her relief.

Shattered, Father retreated to his domus,

thinking of his inevitable death at dawn..

When he heard in some distance,

A cry of a baby fawn..

Down he went to the stables and found,

the baby fawn- awoken by a stranger..

Who happened to be a Woman,

In labor- shielding her offspring from impending danger.

He knew the enemy would never find them here..

He also knew what had to be done.

For the woman was in pain,

More pain than anyone.

And Father called out to the helpers-

the ones who tended to the soldier's wounds,

To help the groaning woman become a mother,

While he bore the stench of rot and blood from bodies on nearby grounds.

It was 2 minutes since midnight- the mother had become quiet,

When out came a helper shouting "Father! All's well!".

It was a baby boy and Father was ecstatic,

But even he was not prepared for what the maid was about to tell.

For in the dead of winter- at 12 on 25 December,

A matter of biblical mirth,

Father Armand was told that...

There had been a Virgin Birth.

htnakirs

Weekdays on rails...

A new day dawns, and he awakes from his bed,

Only to go asleep once again- u'd think he was dead.

Disheveled hair, untucked shirt, he runs to catch the train,

Trying to make up for lost time spent dreaming of winter rain.

He is late, as expected, and is last in line..

At the queue, under the callous sun - shining a bit too fine.

He pays his 6 rupees, and places the holy grail in his pocket,

And holds on to it for dear life, now he knows how the Templars felt.

For he is on a train, from Pallavaram to Guindy...

with the world and its people - some queer some dandy.

Following the clickety-clack of steel wheels, assisted by a zillion a banter,

He reaches his end of the cubicle, one share auto and 9 floors later.

He logs in, He starts his day, and all seems fine and gay,

With breaks in the morning, breaks at noon, breaks in the evening - well, a million breaks a day...

Till its time to end the play, for it is time to break away- It was a useless day anyway..

He take a bus back, crowded to the brim,

And he realizes that the population needs a trim.

Ten depressing kilometers and 30 rupees after,

He enters the hallowed portals of his house - his greatest disaster.

For while the rooms are neat and tidy, not at all unruly,

There is an unfathomable void, in the life of yours truly.

And he is alone, writing a poem in his computer- his one true love (and his bike of course),

When he should be doing great things, if only he had the resolve,the courage and the force..

htnakirs