Movie: Piku

I catch up on movies very late. I have in general stopped going to the theatre to watch a movie. Not a conscious effort, but it just so happens that it has slipped way down in the list of things that I do. I do catch up on some movies, months or sometimes years after they have been released.

Recently I watched the Hindi movie Piku, on Netflix.

It turned out to be one of the best Hindi movie watching experience I have had in a long time. Deepika, as the daughter who is tired of her hypochondriac father, Amitabh, as the chronically constipated complaining father and Irfaan Khan, as the taxi stand owner, who drives the above mentioned duo from Calcutta to Delhi, integrate as the characters they play seamlessly.

It is a funny, amusing, poignant and aesthetic movie with excellent screenplay, performances, photography and music.

The songs Bezubaan, Teri Meri Baatein, Lamhe Guzar Gaye and Journey song are captivating with soulful lyrics and rhythm. They are absolutely my favorites right now, on my playlist.

Haunting and lyrical - beautiful short stories by Yuri Kazakov

I found the book 'Autumn in Oak Woods' by Yuri Kazakov, published by Progress Publishers, at my in-law's home library, when I was in Madurai this summer. There are 12 stories in this collection. I don't think I have thought of any book as beautiful before. This book is beautiful. The writing is haunting and lyrical. I fell in love with the writing even though it is a translated work.

Some stories happen in fishing villages and in wilderness in Northern Russia. Some are set in Moscow and some around the country side of Moscow. There is a similar familiar voice throughout the book. There is pain, love, and melancholy in the stories. There are unsaid words, unfinished relationships. The stories have vivid descriptions of settings and emotions. Then there is alluring, romanticized description of nature, wilderness and music. Nature especially. You can perceive the love for it throughout the book. The North Sea, cabins, shacks, fishing villages, islands up north, rain, snow, river, Milky Way and northern lights all come alive and enchant.

My favorite stories were 'Nikishka's Secret', 'Adam and Eve', and 'Blue and Green'.

In Nikishka's Secret, Nikishka, an 8 year old boy goes to see his father, who is out fishing in the wilderness, on horseback. He goes along the sea, watching rivers flowing into them, along mountains and through the forest, taking in the view. The story ends with him, his father and their dog gazing at the Milky Way at night. The description of which is enticing.

Adam and Eve, is about a disgruntled painter from Moscow, who moves to an island up north, looking for some inspiration to paint. One night, he happens to watch the Northern Lights shimmering in the sky which enamors and moves him.

Blue and Green is a poignant adolescent love story.

The thing I liked most about the stories is that they are not resolved in the usual pattern. There is no definitive ending. There is no happily ever after. The words start, flow, bewitch and then they stop.

Book: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The crux of the book is the love story of Ifemelu and Obinze who grow up in Nigeria. They fall in love, but their life splits path when Ifemelu gets her student visa and leaves for America. Obinze ends up going to UK and lives the life of an undocumented immigrant.

The powerful parts in the book are the experiences of Ifemelu as a Non-American Black immigrant in America and struggles of Obinze as an undocumented immigrant in London. Ifemelu struggles in finding her way, navigating through the culture in America, while trying not to lose her identity. She starts a blog, writing about her experiences as a non-american black, feeling the weight of her race for the first time, which she didn't have to care about back home in Nigeria. Obinze meanwhile goes through perilous life of an undocumented, in London. The book has many characters across US, UK and Nigeria, adding depth and dimension. 

Ifemelu and Obinze eventually meet back in Nigeria and contemplate a future together, each changed by their own experiences, but still in love with each other.

Adichie's insights and her immense command in putting them to words, unapologetically and genuinely was brilliant. This is probably the most imposing contemporary immigrant story I have read.

Book - Gods, Kings and Slaves: Siege of Madurai by R. Venkatesh

This book is a historical fiction set in 14th century India. The story travels through the lives of Veera Pandyan in the south and of Chand Ram, a boy in northern province of Gujarat under Rai Karan's rule, who ends up an eunuch slave and rises as Malik Kafur, general under Alauddin Khilji, in the north.

It was an interesting read, the narration is short without elaborate descriptions. The story moves quickly through the years spanning the entire life time of Veera Pandyan and Malik Kafur. The author leading the story from the point of view of these two characters, given his account on how their love, tragedy, ambitions and failures led to shape history, highlighting historical events and sprinkling them with myths. As someone who enjoys this genre, I liked the book and it being South Indian history, was added bonus.

The book gives accounts of Alauddin Khilji and Malik Kafur's campaigns in the north and south. It also touches on their crushing the Mangolian invasions in the north. The following are some of their campaigns that are mentioned in the book which paved way for Malik Kafur to reach Madurai.

• The conquering and plundering of Gujarat in 1299 by Alauddin's generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. (Rai Karan escapes and his wife, Kamala Devi gets abducted)
• The successful expedition to Deogiri (The Yadavas) in 1305. 
• The siege of Warangal (The Kakatiyas) in 1311, where Pratap Rudra ultimately surrenders and gives up immense wealth including the famed Koh-i-noor diamond.
• The fall of Dwarasamudra. The Hoysala King, Veera Ballala, gives up wealth and becomes a vassal.

In the south, after the fall of Chola empire, the Pandyans rule the Tamil country with Madurai as the seat of their power. The Cholas are reduced to vassals, the Hoysalas and Kakatiyas are kept at bay and Cheras are allies. There has been no war for years, having no major enemies, the war tarnished Pandyan empire under Kulasekhara Pandyan enjoys years of peace. Only trying to show their power, by invading parts of Lanka. Civil war brews as Veera Pandyan (the illegitimate older son of Kulasekhara Pandyan) and Sundara Pandyan (the legitimate younger son of Kulasekhara Pandyan) yearn for the throne. The civil war weakens the already complacent Pandyans further and makes way for Malik Kafur to weave through the Pandyan Kingdom using Dwarasamudra as the launch pad. His army traverses through Chidambaram, Srirangam and finally to Madurai plundering the temples on the way.

The book wraps up hurriedly in the end, with more historic accounts on events that followed after the first wave of invasion of Madurai by Malik Kafur in 1311. The Pandyan rule is reduced to shambles by two more waves of assault and leaves Madurai under Delhi Sultanate rule and later under independent Madurai Sultanate rule. In 1372, the Vijayanagar Kingdom led by the couple Kumara Kambana and Gangadevi, sweep the south under their control, which then lasts for three centuries.

I am glad that I read this book before I started reading 'காவல் கோட்டம்' (Kaval Kottam), the Tamil book that won the 'Sahitya Akademi' award in 2011, which picks up from the arrival of Vijayanagar Kingdom, and traverses the history of Madurai, up till the British rule. I have just started reading that book. It is dense and not a light read like this one and understanding this previous history has been enormously helpful.

Yard tales.

When we bought the house we live in, it was winter. We actually moved in on a Christmas day, few years ago. As naive, new home owners we treaded gently around the house, to get to know it. It took me years to get familiar to the space. There is a lot of getting to know each other moment that happened through the years. This is one of the first and my favorite.

After the first dark, bleak few days of winter after we bought the house, this was the first flower to bloom in our yard (planted by previous owner). I did not find out the name of the flower until recently.

Galanthus Nivalis or Snowdrops

It greets me every year, at exactly the time, when I get tired of winter, to cheer me up that spring is around the corner.

Galanthus Nivalis or Snowdrops