It has become a fixation with me to complete reading Ponniyin Selvan. Reading five volumes of what appeared as a serial in a magazine in the 1950s (first time ) is not a joke I am beginning to realise. But the grip of history on our minds is amazing and I am totally fascinated by this tale of the cholas...
The story flows but in fits and starts and there are long pauses and descriptive passages to keep the reader engaged which you wish would pass so that you can get to the story.. in any case, it is an amazing read and right now, in the third chapter, I am so so so happy to read about Poonguzhali: The brave girl, in love with Ponniyin selvan, enthrusted with the job of safely smuggling PS to a Buddha Vihar, flouting the attempts of the rivals to arrest him or harm him.
The normally staid Kalki must have gone overboard with this Anubhavam I guess, he waxes eloquent about the night and the earth's love affair and teh scent emanating from the Thaazampoo shrubs lining the canal, the starlight and the treachery of the Earth, stole from its lover by the break of day!!!!!! The sad thing is Ponniyin Selvan sleeps through all this and our heroine only gets to gaze at him with all her heart....
Hmm. 2 1/2 down, 2 1/2 to go, but I'm determined to finish this and put it on my list.
06 May 2011
28 April 2011
On watching Il Postino
Barely recovering from watching Il Postino... what a tribute to poets and poetry...
It will take time for me to recover from this film enough to write about it.
THE STORY
For those who have not seen the film... The Poet Pablo Neruda is in exile and takes off from his native country, Chile, to stay in an italian island until the ban on his entry is lifted. Most of the people in the island are illiterate and so a postman is needed to serve the mailing needs of just the poet and his wife. The villagers, especially the postman and the post master are excited that so famous a man should be staying in their village.
Slowly a relationship develops between the postman and the poet. Infected by the poet's love for imagery, the postman starts writing poetry. He befriends the poet, who also helps him in his budding romance with the village belle. Interspersed with the story of their romance is that of a right-wing politician who is trying to win over the villagers from their affinity for the communists.
The postman gets married and Neruda is his best man. Soon, exile over, Neruda has to go back to his hometown and a year passes by. There is a demonstration and the postman is killed in the firing on the communists. Some years later, Neruda visits the village hoping to meet his old friends, but the postman is no more. He has to make do with meeting his wife and child.
The film ends with Neruda walking on the shore of the beach, remembering the days he spent with his friend and a poem of his flashes on the screen. The poem is about How Poetry came to him...It could be written by the postman himself...
SOME COMMENTS
Somewhere deep the postman touches you with his poetry and idealistic ambitions. Still I can't forgive the director for killing off the postman at the end. Or is it that poetry can never be born without a death happening inside you at the very least.
Pablo Neruda's poem appearing at the end of the story makes you feel that like in Borges' story, where the writer meets himself from a time in the future - his future self, here too, the postman was Neruda too, and the older self came to him to waken him to poetry.... Well. it must be good to have your future self come in and tell you to buck up or else you will miss the nobel prize!
Well that was a happy way to see the death of the postman, but the line on the video cover still beats me - it says "Romantic Comedy" ... WTH????
It will take time for me to recover from this film enough to write about it.
THE STORY
For those who have not seen the film... The Poet Pablo Neruda is in exile and takes off from his native country, Chile, to stay in an italian island until the ban on his entry is lifted. Most of the people in the island are illiterate and so a postman is needed to serve the mailing needs of just the poet and his wife. The villagers, especially the postman and the post master are excited that so famous a man should be staying in their village.
Slowly a relationship develops between the postman and the poet. Infected by the poet's love for imagery, the postman starts writing poetry. He befriends the poet, who also helps him in his budding romance with the village belle. Interspersed with the story of their romance is that of a right-wing politician who is trying to win over the villagers from their affinity for the communists.
The postman gets married and Neruda is his best man. Soon, exile over, Neruda has to go back to his hometown and a year passes by. There is a demonstration and the postman is killed in the firing on the communists. Some years later, Neruda visits the village hoping to meet his old friends, but the postman is no more. He has to make do with meeting his wife and child.
The film ends with Neruda walking on the shore of the beach, remembering the days he spent with his friend and a poem of his flashes on the screen. The poem is about How Poetry came to him...It could be written by the postman himself...
SOME COMMENTS
Somewhere deep the postman touches you with his poetry and idealistic ambitions. Still I can't forgive the director for killing off the postman at the end. Or is it that poetry can never be born without a death happening inside you at the very least.
Pablo Neruda's poem appearing at the end of the story makes you feel that like in Borges' story, where the writer meets himself from a time in the future - his future self, here too, the postman was Neruda too, and the older self came to him to waken him to poetry.... Well. it must be good to have your future self come in and tell you to buck up or else you will miss the nobel prize!
Well that was a happy way to see the death of the postman, but the line on the video cover still beats me - it says "Romantic Comedy" ... WTH????
22 April 2011
Cat Island Pictures in Today's Hindu
Today (22 April 2011). There are two photographs of Cat island in the pages of the Hindu. they look like the before and after pictures in a VLCC advert, only reversed! The before is a lush green lake area with many winged visitors, egrets, pond herons etc, the after is the aftermath of a oil slick wash up. A pathetic grey dirty landscape more sickening for its monotony of texture than absence of birds or grass. When is Chennai going to hear this wake up call to protect its vanishing green cover?
Yesterday's post on my blog had some pictures of the Pallikaranai marsh that resembled the Cat island pictures very closely, happily they looked like the healthy one. But already troughs are being dug around the edges, how long before the concrete overtakes and buries the reeds of the marsh?
In March 2011, there was a fire in fifteen places on the marsh that destroyed a lot of the bird life and greenery. Will the government take steps to protect the marsh. One organisation that is involved in protecting this marsh is Care Earth. Care Earth represented in this case by Ranjith Daniels, is an organisation involved in educating and training tribals around TN in matters of conservation. In the case of the Pallikaranai Marsh, they work with the TN Pollution control board.
Yesterday's post on my blog had some pictures of the Pallikaranai marsh that resembled the Cat island pictures very closely, happily they looked like the healthy one. But already troughs are being dug around the edges, how long before the concrete overtakes and buries the reeds of the marsh?
In March 2011, there was a fire in fifteen places on the marsh that destroyed a lot of the bird life and greenery. Will the government take steps to protect the marsh. One organisation that is involved in protecting this marsh is Care Earth. Care Earth represented in this case by Ranjith Daniels, is an organisation involved in educating and training tribals around TN in matters of conservation. In the case of the Pallikaranai Marsh, they work with the TN Pollution control board.
20 April 2011
Birds of Pallikaranai Marsh -April 2011
A swift look at our feathered friends on a summer evening. We were lucky to catch sight of Egrets, Herons, and Moorhens flaunting their summer plumage and gathered in groups enjoying the greenery. Some summer flowers add life to our balcony...! Too bad the birds flew away when I got close... I had to make haste and shootthem when it was still possible, which explains why some pics are blurred!
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