Hope Lies Eternal - or Does it?

Where is that Hindustan of yore, where Happiness and Harmony reigned?
With Human beings as free as Homing birds in a Harmless atmosphere?
Humaneness has disappeared, as the present day stands exposed!

Heinous crimes against women - molestation, rape and violence go unpunished.
Their perpetrators dance in glee, their bloody Hands will never be shackled,
Hungry bloodshot eyes rove around for more Helpless victims.

VIPs ride over security guards in their Hummers, not even a Hum is Heard,
Men with brothers in High places, thrash men and run them over,
Have these criminals imbued with Hubris, lost their fear of justice?

High handedness goes Hand in Hand with the powerful on ivory thrones,
Castes cast aside decency, khaps Hinge on blind patriarchy.
They slay the non Hearers, justify their actions, wreak Hell on the Hapless.

New Heads come to the Helm, and Hack away relentlessly
At the branches they sit on, cutting the Hands that placed them there,
They work in a Hurry, Hamper progress, to line their own pockets.

Those in the Higher echelons open their mouths, Hurl abuse at the opposition,
Harass those who have Harmed them and Hound those who have not,
Sowing Hatred, intolerance and racism, with egos as big as Houses coming in the way
Of progressive Harmony. The news channels Hit out at Holy cows, point fingers at news makers,
News anchors turned self appointed kingmakers, spew "sound and fury, signifying nothing".

Hindustan reels about Haphazardly, Harassed with non issues that touch not the common man, who stands, mute,
Hand on Head, looking on in Hopeless apathy, while communal fires break out, rage around him,
Even as he faces the Humongous monsters of Hunger, poverty, inequality and injustice that Hassle him,
Along with debt, inflation and unemployment - each one a Hell trap threatening to suffocate him,
His 'Happily ever after!" will come one day, maybe when his soul goes into the ever after...

And to end with the words of the great Bard himself, who spoke of Honourable men and spoke of them most Harmoniously,
"O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts, and men have lost their reason."

Disclaimer: Despite the sombre mood which made me write this poem, I still concur with Alexander Pope, who said:

                                                               "Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
                                                                Man never Is, but always To be blest.
                                                                The soul, uneasy, and confin'd from home,
                                                                 Rests and expatiates in a life to come."

          

                                                                                  

And at the very end, there is a wonderful quote by one of the greatest statesmen who ever lived, who made his life an example to a world that needed him desperately. If each one of us could take his words to heart, the world would be a much better place.

Gene Kelly - Showman Extraordinaire!

                                                  Gene Kelly - Dancer par excellence, Film Actor - 1912-1996

If there was one man who transformed the style of dancing in Hollywood musicals, it was the mesmerizing and vibrant Gene Kelly, who moved around like a panther and created his own niche, a niche which many tried to fill after him as well. Gene had the special talent to fill the screen with his energetic persona, but he also interposed mass movement and was the moving spirit behind many popular dance musicals of the times.

Born on August 23rd, 1912, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gene honed his dancing skills, even as his friends played baseball, and did performances with his brother, Fred. He ended up on the Broadway stage, where he found himself very much at home, and in 1942, he got his big break, making his movie debut against Hollywood's darling, Judy Garland, in For Me And My Gal.

Fred Astaire was the dancing star who reigned supreme. Gene had developed his own dancing style by then. Gene would go on to say, "All of my dancing came out of the idea of the common man." Maybe this is why he had an immense mass appeal, one that ensured that in 1951, he received an honorary Academy Award, not only for his versatility as a singer, dancer, actor and director, but also for his spirited attempts at choreography.

However, in 1952, the true brilliance of the man was revealed in a musical that will forever be etched in the minds of all movie goers as his masterpiece - Singin' in the Rain. The umbrella sequence in the rain, where Gene sings the title song is one of the most ebullient scenes ever in Hollowood history, a scene inspired by the idea of free spirited street children gambolling in the rain. This number is now showcased as the signature tune of the American film musical and continues to be a reaffirmation of life every time it is shown to an adoring public.

                           Photographs of the man who proved that he had the genes of dancing in his blood!

The exquisite Debbie Reynolds was nineteen to Kelly's forty, when Singin' in the Rain was made. Gene made her work very hard during shooting and she admitted, years after, that "The two hardest things I ever did in my life are childbirth and Singin' in the Rain." When Gene passed away after a couple of strokes on February 2nd, 1996, there was a whole galaxy of mourners who wept. Among them was Debbie who told the Press, "There'll never be another Gene. I was only 18 when we made that movie, and the hardest thing was keeping up with his energy."

Here's the link to the brilliant performance by Gene Kelly - the memorable song which lent its name to the title of the landmark movie. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1ZYhVpdXbQ

The FINAL Nail

                                                                                The Deity - Bhagawati

Kerala is known for stories of Yakshis (blood sucking female spirits) who appear in the guise of voluptuous women to entice susceptible young men. Gupthan Namboodiri was one such young man who was on his way to visit his friend, the erudite Kosapilli Namboodiri, who was also known to practise the occult arts.

The young man walked through a dense forest, lost in his own thoughts, when he suddenly heard the melodious chime of anklets. In a clearing, he saw before him, a comely maiden, attractive enough to lure him. She had long black hair that covered her back, and eyes that were like bottomless pools to drown a man in. Luckily he was carrying a copy of the Devi Mahatmyam, a treatise on the Goddess Herself, and the Yakshi could do him no harm.

                            http://www.artistrising.com/products/192634/Yakshi-Female-Deity-Summer.htm

His friend, Kosapilli, discerned that his friend was in danger. So he gave him a magical towel that would protect him from the vengeful spirit on his way back. This time, the young man was on his guard, and when he saw the Yakshi, he took to his heels, and ran all the way to the Chottanikkara Devi Temple. There he threw the towel outside and rushed into the temple compound.

However, since the towel was no longer with him, the Yakshi hurled herself at him, catching hold of his feet. Gupthan cried aloud for help, and the Goddess Herself, hearing his cries, appeared as Kali, and cut the Yakshi into several pieces. She then threw the pieces into the Temple pool, which turned blood red in colour. Even today, the pool is known as Yakshikulam or Rakthakulam (loosely translated as 'the Yakshi pool or the bloody pool').

The other legend is that the Goddess washed Herself in the pool, and hundreds of years after, a devotee named Vilvamangalam fished an idol of Kali out of the pool.

The Chottanikkara Temple is a significant Devi temple, located near Ernakulam in Kerala. Bhagawati is worshipped in Her three forms through the day! She stands resplendent as Saraswati, clad in white in the morning, and transforms into Lakshmi in crimson at noon. By evening she takes the form of the awe inspiring Kali, all dressed in blue. Lord Shiva is also one of the deities worshipped here.

This temple is unique in that it is a haven for people who suffer from diseases of the mind. As one walks along the compound, one finds women and men in various states of hysteria, battling their personal demons, running around or swaying from side to side, their long hair tossing around wildly. A chant of 'Amme Mahamaye' resounds as the devotees pray fervently for the cure that only the Goddess can deliver. 

The daily Valiya (Big) Guruthi Puja is an awe inspiring sight. The afflicted women are made to stand in front of the shrine, and at the appointed time, they are witness to the deity's anointment with the guruthi, a liquid that is made from lime and turmeric, and turns blood red in colour. They go into a trance, swaying from side to side, their movements getting more and more frenzied, till the final moment when the Goddess releases the evil spirit from their bodies and they are permanently cured.

The Valiya Guruthi Puja

A huge Pala tree stands, statuesque, at the furthermost section of the temple, its vast canopy shielding the temple. When one looks closer, one notices thousands of long iron nails, which have been driven into its trunk. Legend goes that, in the past, the afflicted people would rush towards the tree, and in the frenzy of their illness, would hit their foreheads against its trunk, driving a nail into it, and keep hitting it incessantly, till the whole nail was driven right in. Then they would be taken back to the shrine, with bloodied foreheads, where they would pray to the Goddess, their illness having been plucked out by its roots and thrown away.

The Pala Tree covered with iron nails

Faith plays a vital part in these cures. There have been cases of patients with schizophrenia, epilepsy, neuralgia and such illnesses having been cured by the Goddess. People with weak hearts are advised not to visit the temple as the sights might prove too harrowing for them. In the month of Kumbam, which falls in February- March, it is believed that the Goddess appears for her ritual bath (aarattu), blesses Her devotees and returns to the shrine.

Epitaphs That Said it All!

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out alive anyway.” Elbert Hubbard certainly had the right idea when he put forth this quote. There are many people who went gently into the good night, and yet did so with good humour.

 For example, Winston Churchill, who was known for his quick wit, left behind a cryptic comment on his tombstone.

“I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.”

Frank Sinatra, the singer with the golden voice, seemed determined to outdo himself in heaven perhaps, as his gravestone read

“The best is yet to come.”

William Shakespeare, who shook up Elizabethan England with his prolific offerings, obviously did not want to be disturbed after his death. His epitaph must have discouraged many a tomb robber, as it proclaimed

The writer. Billy Wilder, seemed determined to poke fun at his profession even after he was no more! 

Graveyard humour is always black hued, but some of the tombstones are downright funny! Like the ones below:

And the next one takes the cake!

Other famous personalities said it the way it was. 

And our very own Steve Jobs, whose headstone seemed eerily apt.

Robert Frost remained poetic till the end.

 "I had a lover's quarrel with the world." And Spike Mulligan amused an entire nation with his tombstone quip below.

The above quote was deemed funnier than Oscar Wilde's "Either those curtains go or I do."  And here are a few more notable examples.

The Irish have always put things perfectly.

Finally that one quote that is so apt for the virtual world today!

And who could end this piece better than Mel Blanc who used his legendary voice to bring alive many of the Warner Brother cartoon characters. He ended the performance of his life with Porky Pig’s signature line.

Dear Diary!

My mother was a great one for diaries! She loved writing down everything that happened in her life, pages and pages crammed with her neat meticulous hand, with an element of drama that seemed to be part and parcel of her life. By the time she was in her thirties, she had a cupboard full of diaries, yellowing notebooks creeping upwards, as though they wanted to claw their way to the very top. Maybe if we had had a chance to read them, we would have known even more than we do about our firebrand mother, who believed in living life to the hilt.

However, none of us ventured beyond Page 1, which had graphic comments like "Keep your nose out of my affairs, if you don't want it cut off!" - much akin to the Queen of Hearts in Alice's Wonderland whose catch phrase was, "Off with their heads!" Another comment was frankly derogatory - "Nosey Parker, venture not beyond this page!"

So when my parents bought me a brand new diary, with a lovely red and gold cover, asking me to record my daily routine, I knew exactly how to start, "Nosey Parker!" was my first inscription, scrawled in bold black letters with a tinge of red and gold to go with the cover. That was when I hit my first road block. What on earth would I write about? Nothing earth shattering ever happened to me! How on earth did Mom write in so many diaries when I could not go beyond the 'Nosey Parker'?

The first few entries reeked of excitement. "Dear Diary, I got up at seven today. I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I had eggs for breakfast. I put on my uniform and went to school!"  Anne Frank had said it so much better!

This exciting pace continued, till I got tired of my own mundane posts. I longed for something wild and exciting to happen to me. Maybe a lion would wander into my classroom... but what if it devoured me? Where would that leave my diary writing? Or maybe my favourite actor would come to town and ask to meet me! Why on earth would he even deign to look at a pimply, bespectacled little girl, was the question that never once occurred to me. I didn't have to worry my head off about it because that date never happened!

I tried to draw events that took place in life. My class teacher, who wore a crisp cotton sari and handed a cane like a pro, was one of my first attempts. When I had finished with her, she looked like nothing on earth, in a sari that looked like a Roman toga and a nose that was more aristocratic that the original. One of my friends grabbed my diary, looked at the drawing and whistled. "Wow, your Julius Caesar looks very authentic!" he drawled. That broke my heart and brought an end to my artistic doodling.

After long gaps in the narrative because I had not written in ages, I came home from school one evening, bubbling over with excitement. I rushed to my room, picked up my diary and sat down to write. I finally had something momentous to describe. 

"Dear Diary, I had the most incredible conversation with my friends this morning in school. Akash said that tomorrow, the world is going to end! So I am sorry, but that means that I will not be able to write my diary from tomorrow onwards. So goodbye, dear Diary! This is THE END!"

The world never ended, but with those fateful words, my diary writing certainly did.

                                                                  The End