KRITHI

       Floating Weeds (1959), a splendid filmic composition by the prolific Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu is unrivalled in its employment of deep focus, pillow shots and frame within a frame technique. This movie portrays the story of a group of wandering theatre artists who were well-known for performing Kabuki style plays(these Kabuki drams provided the primary inspiration for the Japanese films of 1890s). The exposition of the film includes the story of Komajuro, the owner of the aforementioned drama troupe who goes on to visit his former flame Oyoshi and their son Kiyoshi. This act of her beloved enrages Komajuro's current consort Sumiko. Envious Sumiko hires an indentured actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi and betray him eventually.            Contrary to their plotting, Kayo falls hopelessly in love with Kiyoshi and this subsequently upsets Kiyoshi's lofty aspirations for better education. Acquainted with this foul play, K...

| സ്വന്തം | വിവാഹത്തിന് ശേഷവും  സുജിത് ആതിയെ മറന്നില്ല,  പലപ്പോഴും തന്റെ ഇൻസ്റ്റഗ്രാം  വാട്ട്സാപ്പ് സ്റ്റാറ്റസിലൂടെ  അവനത് കൂടുതൽ വ്യക്തതയോടെ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തിയിരുന്നു ആതിയെ തന്നോള്ളം മറ്റൊരാൾക്ക്  ഒരിക്കലും സ്നേഹിക്കാനാവില്ലെന്ന്  അവനത്രക്ക് ഉറപ്പായിരുന്നു ,  അവന്റെ സ്റ്റാറ്റസ് കാണാറുള്ള  കൂട്ടുകാർ പലരും അവനോടു ചോദിക്കും, " ഒന്നും മറന്നില്ലല്ലെയെന്ന് ? " അവരുടെ ആ വാക്കുകൾ അവനു  നൽകുന്ന ആനന്ദം വളരെ വലുതായിരുന്നു,  മറക്കാൻ വേണ്ടിയല്ല അവനവളെ സ്നേഹിച്ചതെന്നും, ഒരാളെ സ്നേഹിച്ചാൽ അത്ര പെട്ടന്നവളെ  അങ്ങിനെ മറക്കുന്നവനല്ല സുജിത് എന്നതും കൂട്ടുകാർക്കിടയിൽ പോലും  ആഴത്തിൽ പതിഞ്ഞിരുന്നു, അതു കൊണ്ടു തന്നെ ആതിയുടെ പിറന്നാൾ ദിവസം ഒാർത്തു വെച്ച് അവളോടുള്ള ഇഷ്ടത്തിന്റെ ആഴം വെളിവാക്കും വിധം അന്നവനൊരു സ്റ്റാറ്റസിട്ടു, കാലം നിങ്ങളെ കാണിക്കും, ആരാണ് നിങ്ങളുടെ ഹൃദയം  അർഹിക്കുന്നവൻ "എന്നർത്ഥം വരുന്ന :  Time will show you, who deserves your heart" എന്ന് ! അവൻ പ്രതീക്ഷിച്ചതിലും  അപ്പുറത്തായിരുന്നു  സുഹൃത്തുക്കൾക്കിടയിൽ ന...

Today, let's divert a bit from the conventional book reviews that I usually pen... How about writing about something that I am obsessed with these days... Ok let's discuss that one this time.          It was a  few months back, I finally found my "obsession". At first, It was a bit monotonous. But as time passed, everything was bang on point. I wished we met earlier. But it's fair. Let's move ahead and grab our talk to the next phase.  With all your consent I am going to introduce you to my craze, my love,(It's obvious that this one is going to be eternal) The mighty AUDIOBOOKS!!!! . I know the majority of you thought the other way around.     Jokes apart... Let me simply explain to you why I adore these unique magical creations the most these days. Don't worry, I won't be giving you 'Five perks of listening to audiobooks', or you could say '10 Advantages of Audiobooks'- The typical cliche labels you could find online. N...

Red I had a colourless home, There resided a lot many colourless people Painting their colourless dreams On those colourless walls. But I was born red, And I was outside the ring.  Though they wrapped me in colourless clothes Tied my tongue, insisting that being coloured was weird, I was red. Don't ask me 5 W's and 1 H I was red, and was outside the ring.  Back then, I was colorblind, I guess. When I got out of that colourless haven, I saw only red people, And heard only red speeches Red is truth, Red is revolution, They said.  And on and on and on.  Years passed, and then, I could see colours, I saw not only red, But green, blue, orange and white as well.  And then I saw many coloured rings, Heard coloured speeches, read coloured books, And as always I was red I was outside the ring, But still, I was red.  And after 18 years, I was red enough, To be dragged inside the ring. And so, there I was. But inside, everything was not very red Atleast no...

     The concept of Nation, as contended by Ernest Renan, is a novel idea. Many scholars like Walter Benjamin, Victor Turner, Benedict Anderson inter alia have attempted to analyse nation. The very term nation both etymologically and conceptually proved to be a problematique leading every scholar, venturing to define it, into a labyrinth. Ernest Renan begins his essay What is a Nation? by voicing the confounding nature of nation "I propose to analyse with you an idea which though apparently clear lends itself to the most dangerous misunderstandings."(Renan 1). Elsewhere in Imagined Communities , Benedict Anderson also mentions the futility in defining nation "Nation, Nationality, Nationalism-all have proved notoriously difficult to define."(Anderson 19). Partha Chatterjee in his Whose Imagined Community?  talked of the perpetual perplexity associated with the concept of Nation " Nationalism seems to have regained sufficient notoriety for it to be l...

“To Thee thou hast drawn my Love, O Fakir! I was sleeping in my own chamber, and Thou didst awaken me; Kabir says, “Thou hast united Thy heart to my heart, O Fakir!”” (Tagore page 14 lines 1-3)                     Indians have known Kabir since infancy yet not every Indian cognizes the glorious splendour of this virtuoso. Over the centuries Kabir has been lauded as an exceptional poet-weaver adept in every enterprise, a Hindu-Islam saint -equally revered by the duo and an iconoclast revolutionary who was courageous enough to question the follies of his own creed. But a close scrutiny of his quintessence reveals him to be a seeker of Love. It was love which formed the kernel of Kabir's poetry. None could better portray Kabir than the  ‘Kabiguru’ Rabindranath Tagore ,who in the introduction to his The Songs of Kabir,  expounds Kabir's verses as the “Spontaneous expressions of his vision and his love” (Tagore 3) which ...

Clueless I was alone. My water bottle,Mizhiyil playing on Spotify, the silent classroom,the benches,desks, the blackboard with something scribbled,and the Christmas decorations still hanging on it,open windows and door, the bright light and a few bags gave me company. The music kept on changing. Numerous thoughts ran through my head. The last hope of expected ones arrival also drained. What am I doing? No idea.May be yesterday's headache's hangover, I guess (LOL). And then I thought of giving my write up a title. What would I give? I'm clueless. Wait, that too can be a title right? I mean, it makes sense. I'm clueless about what to write,I'm clueless about my life(well, people like me are clueless about their life), I'm clueless of everything. I guess there is no better title than this. Here I am, thinking about love (oh forgot to add I'm clueless about my love  because, " will I ever get a guy who can tolerate me?"). Sometimes having a...