Beach Bytes and Bites

 

It was holiday yesterday, and also a much needed break from incessant rains that have lashed Port Blair for almost the entire month.  My friend took advantage of the weather and sailed off to Havelock and Neil islands – he was cooped up at home sulking ever since he arrived. I tried my best to be lazy and not move a limb, but didn’t work.  So, agitated, I decided to tidy up the place (a Herculean task).  I have recently moved in, and have made next to nil efforts to arrange things.  The entire place looks as though a storm has passed through.  The leaking ceilings too add to the charm of all that.  All efforts to get them fixed before I moved in had failed. 

But, staying in on a holiday is a sin – it’s better to stay in on working days and pretend WFH! So, I asked my colleague if we could head out to Bada balu.  Senthil has been here for quite a while and has explored most of the places (and may have even done a second round too).  He suggested we go post-lunch as he was occupied in the morning.  I agreed.  2:30 we started from my place, despite my back choosing to act up right after lunch, and me almost wanting to say, “Let’s not go today”. But, I chose to stay quiet, having used that excuse once too often, and endure the pain a bit.  It sure was no haseen dard though!

Badabalu beach is off the Chidiatapu road.  You take a diversion to the right, just after the Symphony Samudra Resort (heard good things about it), drive for a while, and then walk on a gravelly, rocky, slippery path for about 2km.  Rains had ensured there were puddles to play in, slip into, and generally make myself look sillier than I usually am.  Promptly, on the way, I slipped, traipsed, did a dance, trying to find my balance (ikigai?). Thankfully, Senthil isn’t butter-toed like me.  He’s firm-footed, and also offered his help, and saved me from multiple steps on the cowdung strewn all over the trail. 

When we arrived at the beach, it was low tide.  There was not a soul in sight.  It offered us greater space to explore, some lovely vistas to view and hum happily, and even pick and choose the shells Senthil wanted to carry back.  We even waded into the warm waters of the sea, and found a crab nipping at our feet! The cute rascal tried to escape before we could click a few snaps, but Senthil’s dextrous feet ensured the crab wouldn’t dig a hole and get away.  Google says the crab is lady crab or leopard crab of the North Atlantic waters - wonder how it reached here though (if true).  There were some plovers too, but it wasn’t easy to capture them on my phone camera. The best was watching some hermit crabs exchange shells and walk around. 

There was a lovely piece of driftwood that invited me to sit on it and pose.  It wasn’t easy to climb over though – blame the sand! But, climb I did and pose too.  Senthil said he too had posed the same way the first time he had come to this beach! Some things have to repeat.  We took some pics of the landscapes around, and decided to head back.  It gets dark early in Andaman (earlier if it is raining) and I didn’t trust my vision to be of any help once it was sunset.  Regardless, we could only reach back our starting point of the trail walk after sundown, all thanks to the slushy road. 

While the beach was all fun, the sand flies weren’t.  I must have endured at least two dozen bites all over me.  I am cursing the flies and scratching furiously as I type this.  Most Andaman beaches are notorious for sand flies.  Carry your insect repellent (if you’re a magnet for bites, like me).  Badabalu is a beauty to be explored during low tide.  Carry a towel if you want to get into water and play! Oh, yeah, don’t forget to carry water, even though there are no thirst-traps!

Jawan: The North-South Spectacle

The hype that has surrounded the movie pre-release has been phenomenal. Even the reviews and reactions after its release two days ago have been nothing short of a positive tsunami. Jawan has opened to the biggest opening ever, and no negative publicity appears to affect the cine-goers. Having missed watching Pathan in the theatres, I chose to watch this movie before the staple turned stale. 

Jawan can be best described as the North and South coming together to make the biggest of all masala movies. One which has every ingredient needed for a mass entertainer. A never-say-die hero (or make it two), a bevy of beautiful females who also are capable (hmm hmm), some love for nation, some foot tapping music, a bit of comic relief, and loads of villainy and anti national stuff. Mounted on a modest scale, it tries to portray Shah Rukh as an one-man destruction army that can survive anything and everything thrown at him - from bombs to bullets, bikes to babes, nothing fazes him.  It is directed by the Tamil-Telugu film director Attlee, has Nayanthara as the female lead, and Vijay Sethupathi plays the antagonist. Deepika Padukone appears in a rather long guest appearance. Throw in some more actors and actresses for good measure - Santa Malhotra, Priyamani, and more. 

Attlee borrows heavily from topical incidents to create his movie. You have farmers suicides, waiver of bank loans of large industries, polluting industries (Bhopal tragedy too), corruption in elections, tragic deaths of children at hospital for want of oxygen, corrupt arms suppliers. Each of the incidents is used to create a montage of sequences that further the movie to its climax. These set pieces also happen to be the highlights of the movie - excellently written and exceedingly beautifully choreographed. He also brings in token women’s empowerment by creating a group of fighting femme fatales that are behind SRK’s plans and successes. 

Jawan tells the story of a son out to avenge his parents’ honour. The senior SRK has been branded a ‘desh drohi’ though he was an upright army officer. In the bargain he also delivers vigilante justice. SRK acts as both father and son. Deepika is paired with the elder SRK, and Nayanthara makes her debut in Hindi as a police officer out to nab the vigilante. 

The movie has one of the best ever opening sequences and introduction of hero. It also keeps the pace all through the first half, not letting off the accelerator. It entertains, makes the audience cry, laugh, and seethe in good measures all through. The set pieces are well mounted - be it the one on the metro or in the hospital or the barren cotton fields. Everything moves like a well-oiled machine. Everyone plays the part superbly too. And, you expect things to get bigger and better. 

It’s in the second half that the movie begins to unravel - both its plot and the hold over the audience. It gets bigger but not better. Sequences get clunky and villainy becomes parody, failing to instil fear or revulsion. Logic - which shouldn’t be looked for in mass masala movies - becomes even more scarce. Hitherto empowered women suddenly become bystanders, with nothing to do. A lot of characters that are added to the milieu too become just cardboard cutouts as the climax looms. But, all that thankfully gets saved by SRK in his senior avatar - cigar smoking, weapon-wielding, deadpan and yet absolutely charismatic.  

The movie has stuffed in a lot of socially relevant messages. Farmers’ plight, corruption in all spheres, medical care woes, and so on. They all reach the audience because they’re relatable thanks to the recent happenings. It is also being commented that it’s SRK’s way of getting back at his detractors during his  son’s arrest on drug charges. The dialogue ‘bete ko haath lagaane se pahle baap se baat kar’ has gone viral. Usually Hindi movies with political messages do not do well at the box office. Unlike in the South, where audiences love them. Even ‘Nayak’, did below average business. The last time a political movie was a hit was possibly in the 80s. ‘Jawan’ appears to break that jinx.  

While SRK is a scene stealer as the dad, he looks terribly jaded as the son. Time for him to look for roles that suit his age than play a young protagonist. But, his fans will neither notice nor agree. Nayanthara looks gorgeous and matches SRK step for step in a duel. Sadly there’s little scope for SRK-Nayanthara chemistry. And her screen time suddenly vanishes as the movie hurtles towards climax. Ditto others - Sanya Malhotra, and company have little to do after the beginning bright spots. Deepika has an extended cameo. She looks ethereal in every frame, and her acting is competent as usual, but half the time could easily have been chopped off on the editing table - just adds to the bloat. The biggest disappointment of the movie is Vijay Sethupathi. As the antagonist, he’s rather tepid. It surely is one of the portrayals he would soon wish to forget.  Background score works well and so does the photography. Not much good can be said about the songs by the Tamil sensation Anirudh Ravichander - mostly needless, and certainly no ear worms. 

The final verdict? It begins with a bang, and goes out with a whimper. A roaring start ends in a tame meow. Should you watch? Go for it to be entertained. You’ll not be disappointed there. Just leave your sense of logic behind and do not look for plot-holes; you’ll find ones the size of the craters on the moon. Enjoy the wild ride. 

The Politics of Religion

 Udhayanidhi, son of Stalin, the CM of Tamil Nadu, and a minister himself in his father’s cabinet has stirred a hornet’s nest, with his remarks on Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism. At a writers’ conference, he said the religion needs to be eliminated as it is fundamentally opposed to equality and social justice. Unsurprisingly, the comments have kicked up a political storm. Some critics have even interpreted his comments as a call to exterminate Hindus. Udhayanidhi has tried to clarify his remarks, but the criticism continues unabated. And not without reason. 

For all the virtues that one finds in Sanatana dharma (or Hinduism), it has its fair share of ills. Ills that have not vanished even as the world has progressed immensely on the front of discrimination. The biggest problem with the religion is the caste system, one that is defined by birth and cannot be changed. The system - borrowing from a work of the later-Vedic or Puranic ages, Manu Smruti - establishes a clear superiority of one person over another just by the factor of birth and no other qualification. The rigidity has ensured its robust survival over millennia, and continues to thrive even to this day - with the so called upper castes proudly declaring their caste status everywhere. 

The corollary of the caste system - post independence - is the system of reservation that has been introduced to uplift the socially oppressed classes (or castes) of people, through earmarked seats in education, government jobs, and even electoral representation. This reservation too finds no favour among majority of the upper castes - they deny the existence of discrimination, stating it was an invention of the British. Also, criticism of reservation indicates the inherent feeling of caste supremacy - and people of lower castes cannot be intelligent enough to secure education or jobs without state reservation. (I will not digress on this further because the debate isn’t about reservation). 

It’s not like caste system had not found opposition earlier. There were social reformers through the history who tried - in vain - in bringing the castes together and establish an egalitarian society. Basavanna of Karnataka is one shining example.  However his efforts turned into a separate community instead over time after his death, and even became an upper caste in the religion - such a travesty.  In Tamil Nadu, the rise of Periyar provided a great impetus for the socially oppressed castes. But, that movement has not eliminated caste bias or discrimination in the relatively forward state. A recent survey by a leading media house showed that over 75% people prefer arranged marriages and to marry within their community. 

Also, hardly a small section of the followers of the religion know it and the books. Most of the knowledge that a Hindu layman possesses is second-hand (or third or fourth). Hindus follow customs that are handed over to them by their previous generations - parents and grandparents.  There is no imparting of systemic religious education among Hindus. Most practising Hindus would not know even a line from most of the books that are considered holy - be it the Gita or the Vedas. Add to this, all these books are written in a language that is long dead and which was never the common tongue, Sanskrit. Even though there are translations available today in the local languages (and English), the scriptures are neither read by the majority nor is there any interest in their learning. There’s a blind reverence though of the Sanskrit language thanks to its inaccessibility; it is referred to as the language of the gods. (No wonder the script is called, Devanagari - a script also used by most Indian languages, barring the Dravidian ones). 

Add to these issues, the prevalence of a pantheon of gods and goddesses that keeps expanding, scores of blind beliefs that are strengthened through customs and practices. 

Prima facile, there is truth in the criticism of the religion by Udhayanidhi Stalin. However, his remarks are intemperate and do not behove of a politician-cum-public servant. As a Minister and people’s representative, he is entrusted to protect the interests of all people, regardless of class or religion. When he bats for the elimination of a religion itself, he undermines the principles of the Constitution that he has sworn by.  

Udhayanidhi’s mother herself is a practising Hindu. Recently she was in news for donating a golden idol to a temple. I do not know if his religious beliefs - if he follows one or is an atheist. If he were a rationalist alone and not a public persona, he could get away with his opinions and criticisms of Hinduism. As a Minister and a leading politician of a state, it is condemnable. 

The country is already in the throes of majoritarianism, with religious divides being made important each day. People are being influenced to vote on religious lines than issues of development. These remarks would only strengthen the rabble rousers on both sides of religious divides. They would exploit these words for nefarious gains and political mileage.  Every major organised religion has its ills to deal with. Islam or Christianity, no exception. With his remarks, Udhayanidhi has brought the discourse down to the level of trolls that indulge in religious-baiting that abounds on social media (and mainstream media too, with debates on how Hindus are in danger in their only land).  Already his remarks are being twisted to appear that he is seeking to exterminate Hindus. 

The need of the hour is for other political parties and politicians to dissociate from Udhayanidhi’s remarks and not defend them/him. It would be wise if Udhayanidhi withdraws his own remarks and tenders apology. His defences of remarks would only further vitiate the debates that are sure to arise. Hinduism surely needs to reform itself for the centuries to come. Just like every other religion in the country. Responsible leaders should talk about what could be done to make the country a better place socially and economically than indulge in painting religions as absolutely diabolical.