Switching Languages

Well, it's not the first time to happen to me, but many times. I feel it is very strange. Sometimes, I also feel that people are strange. I don't really have an answer for this. But, I am never concerned about it. I just accept it as a joke on my part :)

First time it happened to me in my college during my first year of engineering. It was a mechanical lab session where all the students where are asked to solder some pieces metal together in order to form a required shape. I went to the lab assistant asking for more pieces of lead. You know, we had to melt those pieces, using a soldering gun, on the joints. I said, "Sir, box khaali aagide, Lead pieces illa. Nanage innu swalpa beku." in Kannada (The box is empty. There are no Lead pieces. I need some more). He stared at me with a great surprise. His eyes were bigger than they were. Now, I was surprised to see him taken aback wondering what made him to be surprised. I knew something went wrong. But what was it? He cleared his throat and finally he said "Hmm, tum  ek-do minute ke liye wait karo, mein leke aatha hoon." in Hindi (Wait for couple of minutes, I'll get them). This time, I was surprised to see him reply in a different language. I was about to say "OK sir, thank you" in Hindi when I started stammering because my tongue finds its difficult to switch languages quickly. I managed to say "Ada...ba...than...ka..da..", then tried very hard to stop talking and  managed to mute my voice. Later, I kept wondering - I think he understands Kannada, but he is unable to speak it or did he think I didn't know Kannada? What makes him think so? After a short while, I thought latter was true when he was talking to his colleagues in Kannada.

Later today a similar thing happened when I was waiting at a bus stop. It was quite late. I was doubtful whether I could catch a bus this time around. I asked a man who was standing close to me, "Sanjay Nagar ge hoguva bus sigabahude, eega?" in Kannada (Can I get a bus which goes to Sanjay Nagar by any chance now?). His quick reply was in English, "I am waiting for the same bus. We will be lucky if we get one. Time is already up. We might have missed it, but I am still waiting for it hoping that I did not miss it!". I nodded approvingly. This time I made sure my mouth is shut not to speak out anything! I was little surprised. It reminded of the situation which happened during my engineering. Again, after a while, I saw that man talking to a fellow passenger in Kannada.

These are the instances I can remember now. There are many more if I recall. There must be something about me that makes some people decide that I am a non Kannadiga. Am I so different by looks to some people that they fail to recognize me as a native Kannadiga? What's on me? I don't know. I just let it go. As long as it's not bothering me, I enjoy these moments and laugh about it. On a final note, beat this tongue twister:

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Platform #23

June 9, 2011, 10:00 PM at Majestic (KBS) Bangalore - platform #23. I was stressed out because of work, very tired, impatiently waiting for the bus to take me home. An incident took place that lasted for less than ten minutes.

I saw an old woman - probably between 75-80 years of age, grey hair, wearing thick specs, old cotton saree - stretched out her arm in front of a young man. She was given one or two rupee coin. She thanked him and started approaching me. I generally don't entertain beggars of any kind, because I have the feeling that the money I give them is not being used constructively; most of them end up in spending money on bad habits like smoking, drinking, etc and most of all these people are ill mannered.

As she came limping towards me, I observed her features; she was very fragile. By her looks I could make out that she was not a beggar herself (I don't know how I deduced that). She stretched out her arm. I saw extreme emotional pain in her face so vividly that tears filled my eyes almost instantly. I am typically a man who doesn't lose control over my emotions in situations of this kind. I really don't know why I was so much occupied by her appearance. Thoughts like "She might have been dismissed by her family. She does not have anything to feed herself" flashed my mind. I observed that her thumb was twisted. I opened my wallet, and placed a 10 rupee note in her palm. She waved her hand with gesture that said “Thank you & God bless you" and she left. I couldn't stop thinking about her. I looked around. I was almost on the verge of crying. "How could Rs. 10 help?! Its nothing! How is that old woman leading her life? Why is the world so cruel? Why is God troubling such people in a bitter way? Why is life so unfair? Why, Why, Why?" - all these questions struck my mind like thunder bolts. At this time, my fatigue was gone. I was very much disturbed and extremely moved by her condition. "Do something to help her! Do something! What do I do? OK. I will give her another 100 rupees!" She was moving away toward another platform. I ran behind her, caught hold of her, held her hand and I placed money in her palm. When I returned, unanswerable questions struck me:  "Will that money really help her? Will it be sufficient? I mean, does it serve her food to satisfy her hunger for days? If yes, for how long? May be for maximum of two days. And what will happen to her after that? How does she spend rest of the days left in her life?" I got lost in these stabbing thoughts for some time.

The bus I was waiting for finally arrived. It took sometime to pull myself all together. I still had some kind of guilt feeling that I did not help her much. Extreme thoughts like - "I should take care of her. I must do something for her betterment. Life is really cruel. We die for eating junk food and buying trendy clothes, but just look at her. She is not having another pair of clothes to wear or money to feed herself. Is God here to help her?" - passed through my mind even after the bus started its journey couple of minutes later. All these feelings came directly from my heart. I could feel the difference! I pity her.

Honestly, I really don't know what turned me so much. I wrote this post as fast as I could not to miss out anything that had happened and to read it again and again just to remind myself "Be happy with whatever you have" and "keep helping people as much as possible".

*    *    *

Next morning, I was getting ready for work. I stood in front of the mirror. I asked myself "Was that really you last night? I don't think so... with those tears in your eyes... I can hardly believe it! I mean, I don't know." I discussed with my sister-in-law. She said "It's a good thing what you did by helping her! I have done it myself couple of times. I completely understand your situation. But, some people don't agree and think that we are crazy. It's really hard to watch people in such conditions. Now, let it go.”

До свидания

What else can be a better occasion when Federer is playing Nadal in Men's Final of Roland Garos 2011. Nadal is leading the way till now: 7-5, 5-4. 

Meanwhile, I am putting down my tenth post here and I want it to be special. While my sister-in-law is busy preparing dinner, she scolds my niece furiously because of her carelessness, my nephew slid down the smooth floor, hurt his head and gave a shrieking cry of pain. Oh no! What's this? It started raining at the French Open now :( Play stopped! When will it resume?

What should I pen down here? Now, the highlights of the game. Cool, I missed watching the first set. Wait a minute! What else is remaining now? - The IP datagram header, the routing protocols, etc, then the transport layer; I wonder how long will that take? Man! I got so much to study. When will I complete this? Wow! How cool is that drop shot! Federer is always good in this. Now then, where was I? Hey, who's that blonde? Its a tie breaker for the second set.

Let it take time. I will still be getting the better of it. It will always good to learn these things whether its fruitful or not. Play resumed. An engineering graduate should know the network stack. Well, better stop writing this useless post; either watch the game or go back and study. Federer lost the second set. :( That's it! I will sign off. I will better watch the match. Hoping that he will make a comeback! I wonder whether that blonde went. Will the cameraman focus her face again?

*    *    *

That was all that was running in my mind for an hour. Are you people wondering what could be the meaning of the title of this post? Or you might be lost in guessing the language of it :) Its a Russian phrase for "Good bye", pronounced as Dus-vidaniaya. I thought about it from the Bollywood movie by the same name. In the movie, it somewhat relates to the meaning: "10 things to be done before you die". Mind you, its no good bye from me so early. I am sure there is lot ahead. By the way, Nadal won; 7-6, 7-5, 6-7, 6-1. It was a good fight though! And this is a good movie to watch. This is rumbling of thoughts in my mind when its not in a place this time around.

Movies with a "Difference"

INCEPTION. One of the most intelligent movies in recent times; with its out of the blue concept and confusing screenplay makes the movie more remarkable and wonderful. I consider it as one of the masterpieces of modern cinema. But, most of the Indian audiences didn't understand this movie.  May be because, they expect the screenplay to start at one point and end at another point, linear format. If you jumble few scenes here and there - non linear format - they lose track of the movie.

"Hollywood movie Inception, with its mind-boggling train of events culminating in an open-ended climax that many failed to comprehend, has not only become the topic of discussion on social networking sites, but has also spurred online sales of the movie's script, besides spurring people to watch the movie again. Several sites have also spawned on the Internet trying to explain the movie's complex plot." - The Hindu Business Line, Bangalore. Read more

Adding to this, guess what's worse? If they fail to understand the movie, there are theories by columnists about various interpretations of the movie. I believe, when you accept the plot where the movie is set, then it requires little more concentration to listen to the dialogue and some memory of yours to remember the scenes which are already gone past. Trust me, the story is very plain & simple. Here are some theories: Click this (P.S. If you haven't watched the movie, then don't read this, it will mislead you!) I am sure you will find many other theories related to this movie.

The obvious question arises to common man is why movies are made which are difficult to understand? I, being a movie buff and a Christopher Nolan fan, hate watching a movie which is nowhere different than any other movie. The director, apart from entertaining people, expects us to understand the intelligence involved and the efforts put by the entire crew (actors, editors, cinematographers, etc)  to make the movie successful.

I am very glad to say movies like Memento, The Prestige, Inception are not made in India. Otherwise, these movies would have failed to run even for a week - a disaster at the box office! Who says India does not have good directors? There is Vishal Bharadwaj, who made movies like Omkara and Kaminey and Guru Dutt who made Kaagaz Ke Phool. Just watch these movies, you will certainly love them. The screenplay is unique and this makes these movies different. The performance of these movies were average at the box office.

"The theme and tone on this movie were ages ahead of the Indian audience of the 50s who were used to simpler plots and storylines. The underlying tones of the film were complex and the story was controversial for the time." - Wikipedia on Kaagaz Ke Phool. Read more

What most of the Indian audiences want is a bunch of romantic movies with stories that end in tragedy with a happy start or vice-versa and screenplay as told in fairy tales or in bedtime stories. People! make an earnest attempt to accept change, have new ideas and most important - Evolve! Then, there will be new things in your life. Finally, I would like you guys to take a leap of faith and leave you with this interview clipping.

This post is dedicated to Christopher Nolan & all his movies!

The Devil's Son

This blog post is about the book that I read few weeks ago; Chengiz Khan - The Devil's Son by Vassili Yan (translated in English by Linda Noble). Vassili Yan is a Russian scholar whose journey & research led to the development of this epic chronicle.  I am writing this not only to recollect the facts what I have read, but the essentials of the main character: Chengiz Khan.

The book is very beautifully organized. There is no trace of Chengiz Khan in the first sixty pages of the book. It starts with a journey of a dervish from Baghdad in search of knowledge. He enters Gurjung, the capital of  the rich empire of Khorezm: The greatest Muslim Estate. it starts speaking about the mighty ruler, Mohammad Shah Khorezm, portraying him as the child of the almighty. Then with these introductory lines, behold Chengiz Khan:

"Who does not know of Temujin-Chengiz Khan! I left him. He does not forgive those who dare stand before him without bowing their servile backs! He avenges the willful, he hunts down those who once fought him and slays their entire clans down to the last infant!" - A prisoner fled after the battle.

At this time, he had already captured Europe and China. Army of just 60,000 soldiers, he was able to destroy armies of strength 2-3 lac and consequently conquering half of the world invincibly. Very wicked & cunning in approach & extremely disciplined by his virtue. He was the one who first united the Mongol tribe: Tatars, who were quarreling among themselves earlier, brought them together and led them way forward. The Tatars, being grateful to the the Khan, were very loyal & faithful to him. His people always had the pride of being ruled by a great leader. He himself chose the commanders of  his army. He named himself as Genghis Khan or Chengiz Khan at the age of 50. Chengiz means "from the eternal skies". He was earlier called Temujin.

“It is not sufficient that I succeed - all others must fail.”

He was smart in striking a trade deal with Khorezm Shah that ultimately led to war. The strategies employed by Chengiz Khan where impeccable during 1200s. For instance, making the enemy chase a group of Tatars and later the enemies were ambushed from all sides and slaughtered, putting the captured prisoners who are physically strong in the front line of battle, exploiting weakness very quickly and exercising psychological warfare; he used to keep craftsmen alive (who used to make armory, garments, etc)  and butcher rest of the people and the city. Handful of women and children were spared, so that they can spread the terror of Chengiz Khan in other places. So, when he invaded the cities, people would easily surrender. For quick mobility, all horsemen had spare horses at stations and horsemen jumped from one running horse to other along the way thereby covering long distances in short time. At night, every horseman and soldier would light five-six flame torches, which would appear to the enemy that their force was almost five times larger than it actually was!

"At military exercises I am always in front, and in time of battle am never behind. In the space of seven years I have succeeded in accomplishing a great work, and uniting the whole world in one empire." - Chengiz Khan

"He who wishes not to cling tight to the sword's black hilt will fall victim to the sword's sharp blade!" - a saying

The Khorezm empire constituted the wealthy cities of Samarkand and Bukhara. Both are the largest cities of Uzbekistan. Gurjang, Bukhara and, Samarkand being the richest city, were plundered by Chengiz. He was also very impressed by the architectural beauty of the Samarkand that made him keep monuments unharmed. He ultimately conquered the complete empire easily which was under Khorezm Shah's rule. Jelal ed-Din Shah, son of Khorezm Shah was the only one who successfully escapes, unites scattered soldiers and defeats one of the Mongol detachments. Later, he was unable to keep his army united for long. Khorezm Shah, the emperor with great stature, tired escaping from the Tatars, flees to an island in Caspian Sea filled with lepers, with his body decayed, dies in vain.

"All who surrender will be spared; whoever does not surrender but opposed with struggle and dissension, shall be annihilated." - Chengiz Khan, during the war with the Khwarezmian empire

 "What is there in the city of scorpions and tarantulas, when there is no unity even in the face of danger?" - Jelal ed-Din Shah, mightiest son of Khorezm Shah Mohammad

Now again there is no trace of Chengiz Khan. He sends his two eminent commanders in search of Jelal ed-Din Shah. They come across a river: Kalka which connects Russia. As usual, the commanders take advantage of the situation being the Russian princes fail to stand united against the enemy. It was a fearsome battle that lasted for few years. The Tatars were successful in taking control of whole of Russia. The Tatars proceeded to Hindu Kush where the weather conditions did not suit them. So, the Khan orders the entire army to return to Mongol.

According to historical study and research, Chengiz Khan's military conquests were frequently characterized by the wholesale slaughter of the vanquished. It has been estimated that his campaigns killed as many as 40 million people based on census data of the times.

The last part of the book describes the final days of Cheghiz Khan and his desire to become immortal in order to conquer other half of the world. He calls upon a wise ascetic who resides in Chinese mountain ranges to develop a medicine which will make him younger. The saint convinces the Khan that there is no such thing that can make a man immortal. He resolves to die at the age of 65. Till today, there is no clue of his tomb.

"When I die, don't reveal my death in anyway. Do not weep or wail, so that the news of my death should give our enemies reason to take heart or rejoice. When the Khan and the Tangut inhabitants come through the fortress gates with gifts, pounce on them and slay them!" - lasts words of Chengiz Khan

The powerful portrayal of Chengiz Khan is justified as he appears only in the middle portion of the book and nowhere else. He never enters the battle field till the end, he orders his loyal and able men to do the job instead. His leadership was a noble one. Its a fact that there are descendants of Chengiz Khan exist even today. Lately, I get alarmed when I see Chinks wandering here and there on the streets.

Genghis Khan - A prolific lover: An international group of geneticists have found that nearly eight percent of the men living in the region of the former Mongol empire carry y-chromosomes that are nearly identical. That translates to 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million descendants living today. His descendants extended the empire and maintained power in the region for several hundred years, in civilizations in which harems and concubines were the norm. And the males were markedly prolific. - National Geographic News

The narration style is unique, unlike any other book. Initially, I found it difficult to get hold of the storyline. Later I was sucked into it! All readers who love to read real war stories, an episode of history is here, this "must-read-book" is the best pick :)

Further reading:

Battle of Khorezmia
Mongol military tactics and organization
Battle of the Kalka River