KRITHI

ANNE FINCH-THE COUNTESS OF WINCHILSEA In her A Room of one’s own Virginia Woolf mentioned a few women writers who made the road smooth for her to stride on.She asserts that since her predecessors initiated the change to break the stereotypes, writing became a piece of cake for her. Perhaps one of the first women who tilted her pen towards the emancipation of women from the fetters of Patriarchy was Anne Finch.The question is-What has an Eighteenth Century poetess to do with our present reality?Currently most women enjoy the privileges to speak,to write ,to dress as they please and even to raise their voices against injustice.But this is a very recent development!The result of centuries long revolution and rebellion!There was a time when women were barred from literary circles and labeled hysteric when they attempted to transgress the boundaries.But then comes a Countess who was brave enough to voice her love,agony,loss and devotion in the midst of political and social negle

My uncle who is three years elder to my mother was getting married while I was in third. As a part of the same, my grandfather decided to build another floor to his house(my home). Rooms were being painted, floors being tiled, Grandmother started planting flowers in the yard, our dogs were moving out, Amma started wearing churidar, Mithu got his cycle, I got a new study table and a geometry box. We were a family of seven back then,our home was never silent, for a long time I thought you only get a room to yourself once you're married. Uncle being the one who is getting married was privileged to move upstairs, his was the only room with an attached bathroom. While he went out during the day to get stuffs for his room, I would sneak in to play in the shower. I would run to Mithu saying "yo, we can make rain inside uncles bathroom". The bathroom we had downstairs was attached to the well, while my mom sat in one corner washing clothes that the marriage brought

               TO SHAKESPEARE,WITH LOVE The title is akin to E.R. Braithwaite’s autobiographical novel To Sir,With Love isn’t it?Yes! When I crafted the title , this novel came to my mind and I thought to put down a few words on it as well.This novel recounts the story of a teacher who successfully tamed a bunch of good for nothing students with his unconventional teaching techniques.One remarkable quality in that teacher is his patience!Ultimately, the students couldn’t help but love the teacher whom they hated the most…All student will have and should have a teacher of that sort-constantly monitoring them,inspiring them,encouraging them and ofcourse putting up with their occasional or frequent follies.This is one of the best teacher-student novels in English Literature and my favourite of the like(other than this) includes The Professor by Charlotte Bronte. Well! If you ask me to describe Shakespeare I would say “What a piece of work is [THIS] man!How noble in re

ഭയത്തിൽ നിന്നും ആകുലതയിൽ നിന്നുമാണ് തന്റെ നിലനില്പിനെകുറിച്ചു ഒരാൾ ബോധവാനാകുന്നതെന്ന് തത്വചിന്തകനായ സോറെൻ കിർക്കെഗാഡ് പറഞ്ഞിട്ടുണ്ട്. അപ്പനെ ബഹുമാനത്തിലേറെ ഭയക്കുന്ന ജോജി, എന്നാൽ തന്റെ ഭാവി അപ്പനാൽ ചോദ്യചിഹ്നം ആകുമോ എന്ന ആവലാതിയും അവനിലുണ്ട്. എന്തെങ്കിലുമൊക്കെ ജീവിതത്തിൽ നേടണം എന്ന് ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന ജോജി, പക്ഷെ എന്നും അപ്പനിൽ ആശ്രയം കണ്ടത്തേണ്ടി വരുന്ന അവസ്ഥ.  ശരിക്കും ആ വീട്ടിലുള്ളവരാരും സ്വാതന്ത്രരല്ലായിരുന്നു, അവഗണനകളുടെ കൂമ്പാരമായിരുന്നു അവിടം. സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യം തേടിയുള്ള പരക്കംപാച്ചിലിൽ ആർത്തിയുടെ കിരീടം അവരോര്തരും ചൂടിയിരുന്നു, ഒരുപക്ഷെ ജോമോനും ആഗ്രഹിച്ചിരുന്നേക്കാം. എന്തിനോടും ആർത്തിയില്ലാത്ത മനുഷ്യരില്ല.  മൂന്നാമത്തെ പ്രൊഫസി ആയിരുന്നു ഡ്യൂക്കിന്റെ മരണം, രാജ്യത്തിന്റെ തലപ്പത്തിരിക്കാൻ മാക്ബെത്തിന് ഡ്യൂക്കിനെ കൊല്ലേണ്ടി വന്നു. തനിക്ക് ലഭിച്ചത് പോരാ ഇനിയും കൂടുതൽ വേണം എന്ന ചെറിയ കുട്ടിയുടെ വാശി തന്നെയാണ് മാക്ബെത്തിനെയും കൊലപാതകി ആക്കിയത്. അധികാരം കയ്യിൽ കിട്ടിയാൽ താൻ സ്വാതന്ത്രരാകുമെന്ന് വിചാരിക്കുന്ന വിഡ്ഢിയായ മനുഷ്യരാണ് നമ്മളിൽ പലരും. ജോജിയിലും അത് തന്നെ കാണാം... നമ്മളെ തന്

I was never a movie person until I watched this one. I still recall the first time I happened to see this masterpiece. I have no intention to ask you, "Hey have you watched this film?"..... I just want to let you understand that if u haven't, then it's a loss, indeed a great one.          I   am Kalam- The title says it all. The movie portrays the story of a boy named Chottu who works in a Dhaba in Rajasthan. Rapidly, he gets adapted to the new situation. He gets to know new people and enjoys his life pretty well.  Right from the beginning, Chottu is shown as a boy who has an immense passion for Studies and reading. Even though he gets no chance to attend schools, he does well in managing multiple languages.           It's in the meantime, he witnesses a TV broadcast where he sees people's president, Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam for the first time in his life. He derives inspiration from A.P.J. That's when he decides to change his name to Kalam. Once h

'പ്രസ്താവന ' - സി അയ്യപ്പൻ  ആത്മാഭിമാനത്തിനു വേണ്ടിയുള്ള കരച്ചിലും പല്ലുകടിയും ആണ് എന്ന് രചനകളെല്ലാം തന്നെ. പ്രേതങ്ങൾ പ്രതിരോധത്തിനും പ്രതികരണത്തിനും ഉള്ള ഉപാധികളായിട്ടാണ് ഞാൻ കാണുന്നത്. ചത്തവനെ കൊല്ലാനാകില്ലെന്ന തിരിച്ചറിവിൽ നിന്നും ഉയിർ നേടുകയാണ് പല കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളും. കഥകളിൽ മിക്കതും പ്രേത ഭാഷണങ്ങളാണെന്നും പതിതരുടെ സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യാ ഭിലാഷത്തിൻ്റെ ഭാവനാത്മക സ്വത്ക്കാരവുമില്ലാത്ത ജീവിതം മരണ തുല്യമായതു കൊണ്ടാണോ അതെന്നുള്ള ചോദ്യത്തിന് സി അയ്യപ്പൻ നൽകിയ മറുപടിയാണിത്.മലയാള കഥയിൽ ദളിത് ജീവിതത്തിന് ഗണ്യമായ ഇടം നൽകിയവരിലൊരാളാണ് അദ്ദേഹം .അയ്യപ്പൻ്റെ എല്ലാ കഥകൾക്കുമുള്ള മുഖവുരയായി വായിക്കാവുന്ന രചനയാണ്, ഒന്നര പുറം മാത്രം വലുപ്പമുള്ള പ്രസ്താവന എന്ന കഥ.     യജമാനൻ മുഖത്ത് തുപ്പിയപ്പോൾ ആത്മാഭിമാനത്തിന് മുറിവേറ്റ ദളിതൻ തീ തെയ്യമാവുകയാണ്. കോപം പട്ടിയുടെ പുഞ്ചിരിയായി കാണുന്ന മേലാളനു മുന്നിൽ ,ചത്ത കീഴാളൻ മൂന്നാം നാൾ പട്ടിയായി ജനിച്ച് പ്രതിഷേധത്തോടെ കുരക്കുന്നു. വിനീതവിധേയനായി നില്ക്കുന്ന പട്ടിക്ക് ചോറുംപാലും എല്ലിൻ കഷണങ്ങളും കൊടുത്ത് ചങ്ങലക്കിടാൻ ശ്രമിച്ചപ്പോൾ എതിർത്ത പട്ടിയെ യജമാനൻ്റെ മക

                    BICYCLE THIEVES Bicycle Thieves is a 1948 film by the pre-eminent Italian director Vittorio De Sica.Cesare Zavattini’s screenplay,an adaptation of Luigi Bartolini’s novel of the same name along with De Sica’s avid desire to depict Italy’s penury and unemployment after the Second World War brought about one of the most prominent Italian Neo Realist Films ever!This movie gives us a Melancholic Pleasure.You might wonder why did I use an oxymoron to describe this film.It’s because, this movie leaves the audience in tears but it doesn’t stop us from watching it over and over again. Well! Why do we binge watch a movie which makes us burst into tears!That’s because of the tragic pleasure it imparts,this mechanism of the mind is elucidated in Poetics by Aristotle.In a nutshell it goes something like-When we watch a Tragedy we give an outlet to our emotions and we get purged or cleansed and become more ‘ happy-go-lucky’ individuals.Reviewing

It's quarter past 12 and here I am with a dry throat, aching head, sunken eyes and a mind questioning its capabilities. But still, I feel like giving a form to the incessant thoughts that had been sedimenting in the inner vicinities of my heart for the last couple of days. From that very safe womb of our mothers', we all stepped into this world, full of beauty, charm and audacious adventures. But when we steadily climb the ladder to adulthood, we start witnessing this so-called 'beautiful world' slowly transforming into a world of competition, comparison, judgements and preconceived notions. Let me tell you something about the book I finished reading a few days back, 'The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak ( a book that some think that I haven't even heard of). This book has a soothing sensation as it speaks of all kinds of love. And the best thing is the way the story is told, throughout the book I just loved the way the writer combined the stories

I admit that it's been a while since I posted something here. Not just a bit, tomorrow it's going to be a month. Still, Better late than never.  It is after thinking a million times about what to write... I landed upon this bizarre motion. How about writing on something that I hate? Let's raise a toast for the topic - Comparison.           A simple 10 letter word that has the potential to irk me to hell! Let me make myself clear. Here, my intention is not to have a writing on finding resemblances amongst one another, but about the odds, one should always look for. It doesn't matter whether u look into yourself for that or in others. It's devastating to infer that majority of us still compare one or the other in any possible way. It all starts from the simplest question ever like ... Why don't you study like him/her.. Why can't you speak English ( or any other language as far as concerned )..again pointing towards a person who has grown up in a di

Of the Nataraja in the Class, the Elephant in the Room and the Writing on the Wall                                              - Nym Nym Dear Pathu, while dedicating this bit to you, I never thought that it would veer towards and explode into something much more than a mere love letter. Not that the love in the air will be overshadowed by anything greater but that it reminded me of two great litterateurs in the first instance itself. One is the effervescent Faiz Ahmed Faiz who wrote “Mujse Pehlee si Muhabbath Mere Mehboob na Mang’ and the next that Sultan of the written idiom, Salman Rushdi Who penned the line ‘If love is not the whole earth and the sky above it is nothing, worse than dirt’. Yes, Pathu, words are all I have always had to take hearts away! The Boyz’ Zone! But as is said it’s only words! The bubbles…they break, leaving us glum faced, shattered, and dismayed. But sure you know one thing Pathus, it’s not just the songs tinged with love or loss that you post in

- Anunandha

 Let me begin by narrating an old story that many might have heard earlier. The story of a King who was diagnosed with a disease to which the cure was unknown. Sometimes, I get amazed by the 'exact same storyline with a different climax' clichē in fables and old tales. I mean, how many stories could one possibly make about a King who gets sick? But I guess the earlier people had an exceptional expanse of imagination and that they just lacked the skill to create a new background for it (or could it have been the lack of apt backgrounds?). So, as the story usually goes, they searched far and wide in the country and finally found a very wise person who knew a solution for salvation! The king had a rare disease that was found only in one in a million people (by the way, how does living in the most hygienic condition possible lead to these diseases?). The only known cure to this disease was to see the colour green and green only for a month and a half. Thus, it was ordered that the

       THE COLOUR OF POMEGRANATES The Colour of Pomegranates is a 1969 Armenian Surrealistic work by the virtuoso director Sergei Parajanov.The function of any work of art is either to please or to instruct,by instruct I do not intend the cliched notion of moralizing,but to teach the audience something new, and any work which satisfies both of the demands is a superior work.In that case,this movie which pleases both aesthetic and political audience alike is undoubtedly a lofty work!When we attempt watching this film for the first time we might not be understanding much details unless we know something of the Armenian poet Sayat-Nova and the Armenian director Sergei Parajanov.But the fascinating stills,captivating colours,subtle movements-in short the enchanting mise-en-scene makes the audience stand agog.Every gesture is well-crafted ,even a single glance of the protagonist is symbolic of something significant ,only that we might not discern it in the first screening. Costumes-One of t

- Syandhana 

              THE UNKNOWN CRAFTSMAN “There is a magic here in this film”-B.N.Goswami SATORI! If I’m asked to describe this movie “The Unknown Craftsman” by Amit Dutta in a single sentence-I would say “An architect’s quest for Satori.”Satori is a sudden revelation of truth or more precisely an enlightenment.In simple terms,I believe, both Satori and Epiphany means gaining a wider understanding of oneself and the world around.That is exactly the main end of education- As the motto goes….“Thamaso ma Jyothir gamaya,”where the subject entreats a spiritual figure to lead him from darkness to light.To understand the higher truth we should be alienated or distanced from this material world,only then will we be able to embark upon such a lofty venture.The anonymous architect in our story travels across Himalayas to find an impeccable location to build a temple. He wanted it to be an eternal monument of which an entire civilization can brag of.But this lofty end

കണ്ടതും മിണ്ടിയതും ചിരിച്ചതും തൊട്ടതും കെട്ടിപ്പിടച്ചതും കരഞ്ഞതും ചേർന്നുനിന്നതും അങ്ങനെയെല്ലാം ഓർത്തെടുക്കുക, എല്ലാറ്റിനും ചേർത്തൊരു കല്ലറ പണിയുക. ആദ്യാനുരാഗതിന് അടയാളം "ചെമ്പരത്തി " മുകളിൽ വെക്കുക. തിരിഞ്ഞു നോട്ടം അരുത് പോവുക. നമ്മുടെ, പ്രണയം മരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു "നമ്മൾ"മരിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു "നീ"ജനിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.       :കാർത്തിക തമ്പാൻ 

- Syandhana 

             JANGARH:FILM ONE Amit Dutta’s film Jangarh:Film One is a tribute to the late artist Jangarh Singh Shyam,so is this review.Amit Dutta explores the roots of Jangarh,traces the trajectory of his success and documents the memories his kith and kin have of him.They shared the memories of ‘him’ who left them without a parting word.He worked like there’s no tomorrow but infact he needed no tomorrow.Life attracted him towards her magnanimous bounty but death enticed him into a deceptive maze and he had no Daedalus to save him.Unfortunately he couldn’t get out of the woods(couldn’t he? or didn’t he?). He had everything to make laymen go green with envy but eventually he evoked their pity.Why Jangarh?Well! it’s easy to be an armchair critic sitting at home and commenting on other’s life !Let’s not make much assetions about his death.Let’s watch the movie! The opening scenes set the mood of the film by presenting a few momentous images of the village