2020 Came with a Humble Message
(Author: Vikas Sethi) 2020 came with a humble message: “Little is more” by having us Value our Health, Value our Loved ones, Value our Planet,
A movie to welcome 2021 – didn’t go wrong with C/o Kancharapalem
Official Trailer: Thanks to COVID, had to settle for muted new year get together and celebrations. I was given the task to pick a movie to end 2020 and welcome 2021 with. Key criteria for the selection – it has to leave us with a high and in an upbeat mood. So, Paava Kadhaigal type movies are ruled out. One can always settle for safe list, movies from watched and
Paava Kadhaigal – 2 hits, 1 near miss, 1 fell short – a good start
Official Trailer: First season of Paava Kadhaigal from Netflix is out and has four episodes. First season explores the subject of honor. Family honor. Common theme in all the four episodes is that women bear the pressure of upholding the honor of the family. Or is it their bodies? As the mother from Vaanmagal episode says to her daughter your body is like temple. You need to protect it. If
Kamala Harris – Chain of Events
Disclosure: This article also published within the organization I work for. Posted here with permission from organization “I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice”
Soorarai Pottru – Soori, Sooran, and the Masses
Official Trailer: After watching the movie what stood out for me was Sundari’s character, from here onwards referred as Soori. While the story is about Sooran, genuinely heartening to see the effort that has gone in to give equal weightage to Soori’s role. A woman with a dream, a career ambition. A woman of conviction. Yes, we see them around us, in our family, in our work place, and in
Mookuthi Amman – Movie starts well and then falls in to easy villain and PSA traps
Official Movie Trailer: Mookthi Amman from RJ Balaji starts well, first 30-40mts of the movie worked effectively to setup the premise. We get introduced to Engels Ramasamy (get the drift?) and his family, mother, 3 sisters, and grandfather. Family struggles to make their ends meet and life hasn’t been good to them. Sample these: father has run away, gap between Engels and his last sister is 16 years, education stopped
Short Takes – By Years – Nov 2020
25 years of Kuruthipunal: A taut police thriller from Kamal, Arjun, and P.C. Sriram. Those who went in expecting a typical police thriller were in for a rude shock. Kuruthipunal, when it came out, was completely different from a usual police story movie from Kollywood heroes including Kamal and Arjun. With its hard to swallow realistic portrayal Kuruthipunal stands apart from movies that came before or after that where the
SPB and Edward Van Halen
Within a span of 2 weeks two of my favorite music legends, SPB and Edward (Eddie) Van Halen, decided to bid goodbye to this world. SPB’s struggle with COVID has been in the news, so was partially prepared I could say (no one is fully prepared for these things, we always hope there will be a miraculous turn around in the corner of our heart). But Eddie’s news came as
On Habits and Efficient Prisons
(Author: Jay Ramalingam) Good old chap Jeremy Bentham, in 1780s England, designed a clever prison building called Panopticon. He designed a prison to reduce the number of guards needed and their salaries. This design did not allow prisoners to know when they were being watched. Prisoners in such situations behaved well even when there were no guards watching. This made prisoners to become their own guards. Does this sound familiar?
COVID-19, WFH, and D & I Reflections
Disclosure: A modified version of this article published within the organization I work for. NOTE: D & I: Diversity and Inclusion, WFH – Work from Home It may be too early to say whether COVID-19 will be viewed as a significant event of 21st century when our future generations look back, but I am sure COVID-19 will be a contender for that spot. It has been more than 6 months