Ek Thi Daayan

I happened to be at Chennai and thought of going for a movie. Tried to get the ticket for Iron Man, but failed, returning from the cinema hall without watching a movie sounded more like returning from the battle field without fighting so I ended up watching the film ‘Ek Thi Daayan’

Logically it does not make any sense regarding the existence of spirits and ghosts. 99% I am convinced that these are products of imagination. But at night, especially after 12.00, I am not too sure about logic and my conviction. The remaining 1% becomes the risk factor, why to take a chance? And I end up avoiding going to haunted house at night.

There is a similarity between me and the hero of the film. The hero as a young boy reads and obsessed with books on Daayan, I too was obsessed with paranormal psychology once upon a time. It literally converted me from being rationalist into super-naturalist. Supernatural phenomenon invariably invokes fear, and one ends up doubting the reality. When a Dracula visited me to bite me, I woke up from that dream in terror. That was the day I decided to give up reading paranormal psychology and return to normal psychology.

Therefore I could identify the fear and terror experienced by the hero. But the similarity ends here; I did not date any Daayan like our hero.

The hero is afraid of Daayan, so he attracts the attention of Daayan, and marries the Daayan. At the end he kills the Daayan in order to save a boy. Daayan needs to sacrifice 12 year old boy to retain her youthfulness. Since the hero does not want to remain young forever, he thwarts the plan of Daayan. Then the boy and the hero live happily ever after.

The film highlights few points:

1. All women are not Daayans, but some are and you cannot differentiate who is Daayan and who is not. The safest way to protect yourself from the onslaught Daayan, is avoiding all women. In case you want to have girl friend, then follow the second point.

2. Beware of women with long hair, because the power and life of Daayan is in the hair. So regularly take your girl friend to a hair dresser.

3. If any lady maintains her beauty for long period of time, they may be Daayan (Hemamalini, Reka get qualified by this rule to be Daayan, we need not worry about this, it is Dharmendra’s trouble)

Apart from the points mentioned above, the movie offers nothing. Some people were frightened at some point of time. For me everything looked like comedy, I was trying to get frightened but I could not.

Listen

In the Chinese pictogram, the word listen is composed of three different characters (pictograms) – eye, heart and ear.

True listening is not merely using ears to here, but observing with eyes and keeping open the heart. Only when one listens in this manner a real change is possible in oneself

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Emotional disposition plays an important role in understanding. Without it every thing we hear and see will remain knowledge and information and they are powerless in bringing transformation in oneself.

Quantum physicist knows exactly what a mystic understands. But the mystic lives entirely in a different realm of existence, where as the physicist lives exactly like you and me.

We too can become a mystic provided we add two more steps along with hearing in our act of listening – keen observation and open heart. The problem in doing this is that we will become incapable of judging and gossiping about others, so we may end up sacrificing lot more fun in our life and start loving people and that is not much of a fun..

Children Vs. Adults

Children know the secret of handling any forthcoming disaster. They think about crossing the bridge only when they reach it. They do not sweat over and rudiment unnecessarily over the unavoidable problems and tragedies of life. No planning, no scheming, they just react. Just before the event of pain, they feel sad and shout and scream, even five minutes before they can laugh and enjoy the moment, it is all fun but for few moments of suffering.

Where as the grown ups, undergo tremendous amount of mental agony just thinking about the problem which will occur one year later. Those few moments of suffering and pain is lived for the entire year, we extent the period of suffering as long as possible. We imagine, grumble and curse thus transform any small negative event into a tragedy of the century.

As children our strategy of encountering problems was straight forward, simple and effective. We never allowed it to spill over into the realm of fun and joy. As grownups, we indulge in too much of planning and have become the schemers, and made life as miserable as possible.

Children’s style of facing the happy events is just opposite to their strategy of facing painful events. In case of joyful events, they anticipate and wait eagerly for it, thus they extent the joy and happiness and stretch it as long as possible. And the grownups rarely extent the happy moments, they think being happy is childish and being miserable is the sign of maturity.

Burma Bazaar, Chennai

Along with my friend I wend to Burma Bazar at Chennai. Actually I had no intention of buying anything, I was just an accomplice. But when I saw a shop selling mobile phones, I realized that I need to buy memory card for my mobile phone, and purchased it immediately. The shop keeper performed the task of inserting the card, and I took it without further checking whether it is working properly or not.

Then we moved to another shop that was located far away since my friend wanted to buy DVDs and he was busy seeing the collection. And I was checking my mobile and the memory card, and I was shocked to see that mobile was not recognizing the memory card. By then I could not remember the shop where I had purchased the card due to short term memory problem which I suffer occasionally.

And I requested another shop keeper to find out what is wrong with the memory card, he opened it and put it back and it started working perfectly. I thanked him, then started seeing the products he was selling, and ended buying head phone from that shop.

Now what I cannot understand is why on earth did I buy the head phone which I did not need? I have already two head phones and was thinking of getting rid on one.

May be because I was feeling obligated to him since he helped me to fix the phone. In order to reciprocate, I ended up buying a thing that I needed least. What a way to say thanks.

Gratitude out of guilt feeling is dangerous, it is suicidal. 

Intergroup sensitivity Effect

Sarah Esposo of the University of Queen land, asked the Australians to evaluate the Statement “Australians are intolerant towards indigenous people and immigrants”.

Some participants were told that the statement was made by natives Australians (in-group) and other participants were told that the statement comes from foreigners (out-group).

The statement was supported by one of the three arguments:

• A weak argument mainly giving opinions and hearsay.
• Very strong, arguments, quoting research studies and government's statements and policies.
• No arguments at all.

Now here is the findings, when the statement is attributed to native Australians (in-group), strong arguments indeed had convinced the participants more than the weak arguments. and they were expressing the need for changing the policies in favor of migrants and indigenous people. and they expressed solidarity with the migrants and indigenous.  But when the statement is attributed to a foreigner (out-group), whether the argument is strong or weak did not matter at all and the participants remained skeptical about the statement till the end.

Objectivity depends on who says it whether it comes from the friend or the enemy. The group to which we are associated influences our mind to greater extent. If a person is not clear about his or her individual values and convictions, he or she will be easily swayed by the statement coming from the in-group and closed and suspicious to the statements made by out-group.

Being part of a group, clan, caste, religion etc is witnessed from the ancient time. It has served well when we lived in dangerous times - providing safety and support in terms of shelter, food and mating companion. But in today’s context if we derive the personal identity only from the group to which we accidentally belong, we are at the verge of becoming a fanatic. Beware of any isms, including patriotism.

Interpretation Matters

Martin Seligman and Ed Diener wanted to decode the mystery of happiness. He and is research team identified group of people with high happiness index; they were basically happy people in their life style and in dealing with the world. And they selected other people who were anxious and depressed most of the time, means who were very low in the happiness index.

The research team observed for a longer period of time their life style and how do they deal with all things they come across. The research findings highlighted important findings:

•  Everyone experiences negative emotions: Both the groups experience more or less same number of negative events in their day today life. It is not that the happy people are surrounded with rosy things and the depressed ones are with dark cloud.

•  Different cognitive interpretations (pessimists vs. optimists): The important difference between the two groups was the ability to interpret the events either with hope or hopelessness. The first group when they encountered negative event, they were affected by it, but bounced back within no time. They saw them as transient and momentary; they coped with them and made it positive with a sense of humor  Where as the similar negative events were perceived by the second group as if they are permanent and they are always unlucky.

• Self-fulfilling prophecies: sooner than latter, the first group started seeing the problems as opportunities and their belief made it so eventually. The second group started ruminating and their fear become true due to the self fulfilling prophecy

How you interpret the events matters most. Even superficially and artificially try to find positive things in the negative situation, your mind eventually moves in that direction. It is all about training the mind.

Robert Kennedy

It is interesting to observe how inheritance takes place. Robert Kennedy’s father, Joseph Patrick Kennedy, was a successful business man, but known for chasing every woman on the planet. John F Kennedy inherited it as his life’s mission, but Robert Kennedy his younger brother stayed away from women, and was very faithful to his wife. Even Marilyn Monroe failed to seduce him.

Where as Robert Kennedy’s son, Robert Kennedy Junior, was just opposite to his father, developed the hobby of winning over many women. His second wife, Mary Kennedy, who was suffering from borderline personality disorder – extremely creative and loving at times, and extremely dependent and aggressive at other times- reached the advanced state of disorder due to the junior Robert Kennedy’s extramarital affairs and committed suicide.

Parental figure plays vital role in shaping the character, but towards which direction is decided not by the parent but by the child. After all we are not 100% brain washed machines, there is an element of free will.

Life of Pi

This film explores the most difficult concept with the child like curiosity and succeeds completely. Everyone must watch it and reflect about it for some days if not for months. Watching it itself an experience of great importance.

Hero’s father is a rationalist, mother a devotee of Vishnu, and his elder brother is a normal guy. But he is a seeker of different realm. Hero’s original name is Piscine Molitor Patel, since friends in the school nick name him as pissing Patel, to avoid further humiliation and ridicule he renames him as Pi, and gives a convincing mathematical explanation. This act alone defines his character, not running away from the problem but encountering it with creative solution.

He is a real chip of his father. His dad avoids all religions, and he falls in love with all religions. The only way to experience the reality is either reject all believe system or embrace all. Wearing just one glass will make us color blind.

The real drama is displayed, when the ship wreck happens, Pi is the lone survivor, after the 227 days ordeal in the ocean. How did he survive is the main story of the film.

In fact, he narrates two stories to a writer. One is shown to the viewer, where he along with the tiger, spotted hyena, an injured zebra, and an orangutan. Hyena kills the zebra and orangutan, and the tiger kills the hyena. Finally he is left with tiger that is waiting to kill him for food, and he has to safe guard himself from the hungry tiger and the furious ocean. This is story of love, courage, intelligence, compassion and above all hope.

The second story, that he literally narrates and not shown as visual, takes place and gets over within 5 minutes. It is a normal ship wreck story where a decent human being learned to do the barbaric deeds for the sake of his survival, that is kill rather getting killed and consume the human flesh to continue to live. Four people are in the life boat – Pi, cook, sailor with broken leg, and Pi’s mother. The cook allows the sailor to die of injury, and then kills the mother when he tries to kill Pi, Pi accidentally kills the cook, then consumes for his survival.

Both stories have many things in common – there is a ship wreck, the hero loses all things and all his family members, suffers for 227 days and survives and both stories do not answer why the ship wreck took place.

After the narration of both stories, he asks the writer (also the viewer), which story do you want to believe? The writer answers that he like the first story, and the hero says that is the way to find god.

Events and facts are meaningless; it is the interpretation what matters. How do we see the life? Is it a story of love, compassion, courage, intelligence and hope or is it story of survival of fittest and dog eats dog narrative?

God lives in the interpretation and not in events and facts.

If you do not like the theological undercurrent of the film, do not worry, the visuals are breath taking, so you will not regret watching it.

Delhi

I casually switched on the TV, which I don’t do during day time, and the scene was very disturbing. Young people have gathered in thousands and the police was throwing gas cannons and water over them. My first thought was that once again people of Egypt are protesting against their government. It took a while to realize that it is not happening in Egypt but at Delhi.

It was a pleasant surprise, this generation youth is always perceived both by academicians and others as the generation who can think only about their carriers and their extended self, and they are numb towards social consciousness. It is great to see that myth being broken squarely and once and for all.

I have taken part in few protest marches both in Delhi and Patna, the usual reaction from the onlookers was one of pity and anger, they used pity for us because we were wasting our time and they used get angry because we were wasting their time. Today what we see is the total involvement of everyone present there, both onlookers and protesters are having the same dream of standing by the victim (name is not known but given a name Amanath by the media).

Amanath is the Rosa Park of USA who kick started the civil right movement with her courage and resilience, what we lack is Martin Luther King Jr. to take forward the struggle.

I have no doubt that when these many young people come together for a cause, they just cannot fail in a democratic nation (of course it is possible only in a country like China). We will find a satisfactory solution to the six monsters who committed the crime. But the important thing is that the fire Amanath has set in the hearts of young generation must continue to burn and redefine our way of life. I hope it will…..

Question the Question

John Kotter, A professor at Harvard Business School, Studied the   1974      batch Students. He observed their life and achievements for 20 Years. All of them were driven by motivation to succeed. And invariably they have reached financially successful state of life. Then He noticed that 5% of the students were Super Successful. Their achievements were extraordinary, not only in their financial status, but also with their relationship-family, friends, relatives...

He wanted to find out what made them so extraordinary? All students were bright, had good background, and driven by the high need for achievement, then what made only few of them to be super Successful? When he studied them more closely, he found two characteristics which distinguished them from the rest:

1. Self- belief: they strongly believed in themselves and what they want is within their reach. They had dreams and they firmly believed that they would achieve them.

2. They constantly asked questions, no matter who is the other person - boss, son, subordinate, wife...       they continued to remain curious. Their education had not stopped with Harvard degree; they continued to learn things with a childlike enthusiasm. Not satisfied with the accepted answer, they asked questions tirelessly.

The another word for living dangerously is asking questions with the desire to find answer, then question the answer to reach the higher level of understanding. The art of asking question is a journey, it never ends. Conclusions and answers are destination, if you are happy with the answer, your journey is over and destination is reached. The story is over. If you are not happy with the answer yet settled with that answer, then also you have reached the end, certainly it is a sad end. What to do, we need tragic stories too to entertain our mind.

Spring summer fall winter and spring

I wanted to watch this film from the time I heard about it, but could not get it with English subtitle. Watching a film without understanding what is spoken is a dangerous endeavour, glorious misunderstanding happens by default.

When I was studying at 5 std, I watched the film “Sholey” without knowing Hindi, and mistook gabber singh for a Naxalite, the guy without hands as the villain, the exploiter of the people (what to do, police has such a reputation), Dharmandera as the comedian and Amitab as the deaf and mute, then narrated the story to my friends. They believed since they did not the film. How true is the statement - among the blind, one eyed becomes the king.

That time on wards I decided not to watch a film if I do not know the language. Finally I could get the copy of the film with subtitles.

The Movie is a Visual treat. It touches your heart effortlessly. A soul searching film with the aesthetic of high order. Symbols abound, and the interpretation is left to the Viewer. The film is like a poem, leaves you to come up with your own meaning. The director narrates the story without any imposing anything. No beginning, No end everything is Cyclical.

Life is being explored with different Seasons. Every season has its own pleasure and pain. Joy produces pain for others, Lust produces pain for the self, Attachment produces pain for all, and Wisdom produces Compassion and the end.

Life is the hero; Time and change are the villains and Friends. We constantly live in the Twilight Zone, Can move towards light or dark. Neither darkness is familiar nor the light, Yet we have to make the choice. But take the responsibility and Pay the price, explanation, Justification are waste of time and energy.

Having a master is not enough; he can guide but can't live our life. The tragedy of life is that Wisdom flowers only after the experience. Going through the hell and heaven is the only way to go beyond them. A true master allows us to be in hell with compassion and in heaven with understanding. He never gives up the hope in us, even if we have given it up in the film, In the first Spring, the child ties a fish frog, Snake with a Stone. In the second Spring, the child feeds fish, a frog, and a snake with a Stone. Cruelty Increases with each new generation. What is not shown is that Mastery too increases with each new generation.

Don't miss this movie. If you don't know Korean, make sure that you get the film with Subtitles. 

Bigger the tragedy lesser the Suffering

Pain is real, Suffering is illusion. Pain is physical, suffering is psychological. Pain is caused by external realities, suffering in produced internally by the mind. Pain is healed by medicine; suffering is cured by understanding and acceptance.

People say, the world is going to end. It is an old Joke repeated periodically to entertain the idle Mind. Hollywood has made enough money by making movies on this topic. Sometimes super intelligent being come from Mars to destroy the earth, Other times it  is the prediction the Mayan Calendar or by some mad Scientist. As long as USSR Was powerful Nuclear War was another threat projected for the end of the world. It looks like the world was us to live in a state of fear.

Religious leaders too cited Scriptures time and again to frighten the common people regarding this issue and it was good for their business and invariably made lots of money.

But why are we afraid of the world coming to an end? In fact we should feel happy about it. When death comes to an individual person, he or she has nothing more to lose, so he or she neither has pain nor Suffering, but it creates lots of suffering among that person's near and dear ones. Though it sounds ridicules, we have got used to it. We show our love for the dead by crying thus creating lots of noise pollution. This suffering is unwarranted but since culture demands it, and not much harm is done by crying and beating our chest.

But think about a day, where everyone is dead. Nobody is going to feel pain or suffering. It will be the day of peace and harmony, a day when the classless society is finally established.

When a tragedy occurs to an Individual, he invariably feels it is not fair, and asks the question: "Why me?", though he does not spells it out, his whole being echos the question: "Why not others?". And it brings in mental turmoil and sufferings into his life. But if everyone is affected by a tragedy, it means nothing; there will be pain but not suffering.

If everyone fails, then no one minds it. It becomes a joke. So end of the world means equal distribution of tragedy. It is an occasion of pain without any Suffering. Pain without Suffering is a time to rejoice, a Sign of enlightenment and an absolute liberation.

Eggs and Personality Type (From The Telegraph)

A person’s favourite way of eating eggs can predict their personality type, their job and even their sex drive, researchers have discovered.

Using sophisticated maths and a process known as data mining, scientists have uncovered a statistical relationship between a person’s character, lifestyle and social class and whether they like their eggs boiled, fried, scrambled or as an omelette.

In the new study, the research team found that poached egg eaters are outgoing, listen to upbeat music and are happier, boiled egg consumers are disorganised, fried egg fans have a high sex drive, scrambled egg aficionados are guarded and omelette eaters are self-disciplined.

Readers of The Daily Telegraph were shown to be most likely to prefer poached eggs.

The results were released to mark British Egg week, which starts on Monday. Researchers questioned 1,010 adults across Britain who answered queries about key aspects of their personality, as well as details about their lifestyles, family, and the way they prefer to eat their eggs.

The study was commissioned by the British Egg Industry Council and carried out by Mindlab International.

It was discovered that the average poached egg-eater is likely to have two children and no more than one sibling and is more likely to be a woman than a man. Boiled egg-eaters had a tendency to be careless and impulsive.

Fried egg-eaters are most likely to be younger and male and most frequently found among the skilled working classes.

Scrambled egg-eaters are more likely than other types to be in managerial or senior-level jobs and also to own their own home, and omelette eaters are likely to have a tidy home.

The Red

When I was in college if any one wears red colored shirt or t-shirt, all others use to make fun of him, calling him the brother in law of Govinda. The color was identified with villagers. I too have ridiculed this color when Kingfisher air host (Girls) has this as their uniform.

Behavioral economists, who study the effect behavior on economics, have studied the color red. The have found if the waitress in the restaurant, wears red color shirt or skirt, she is likely to get higher tips from male customers than other color. It works in the similar fashion if she has something in red color on the head (clip..). But it has no effect on female customers. And this does not get attention neither from male or female customers, if a waiter (male) wears red, may be bulls’ attention he will get unconditionally.

When a girl blush, her cheeks become red, seeing this men’s heart melt. This unconscious process may be the culprit for getting high tips when a waitress wears something in red. To find out one more reason, refer any book on evolutionary psychology.

Women like men wearing dress in red provided those men have higher social status. This does not sound much of a research. May because the color red is connected with blood and valor.

But one thing is sure just the color red will not save you and make you rich and attractive, just look at the condition of Kingfisher Air-line.

Suffering

Sufferings and pain of other people create different reactions in different people.

If it produces pleasure and joy, then you are a sadist. The world has to be careful with you. Eventually you can become a monster.

If it brings back to you, memories of your personal pain and suffering, then you are born to be miserable. The world may misunderstand that you are kind hearted, but the fact is that you are a selfish snob, who loves to live in personal miseries. When you visit a patient in the hospital, your focus would be your past sufferings and not the present pain of the patient.

If it brings in you pity, then you are sympathizer. You console yourself declaring the world is cruel, and the other is blessed with bad luck. You carry on living as if everything is OK with you. It is a common man syndrome.

If it brings within you compassion, then you are the enabler. You make sure to do whatever you can, to correct the situation. You show it in action as well as in words. You share the suffering, and do the best you can. The world will be happy that you have visited the planet called earth at the right time and right place.

The truth we need to keep in mind is that we enact all these four characteristics, depending on the situation and person. When our enemy suffers, we display the characteristic of a sadist. When our family member is in pain, we become enabler. When a stranger is suffering, either we display the character of sympathizer or miserable.

It is only when we are enabler to the stranger; we truly become a human being. We are born as animal and our choices transform us as human being or a monster.

Black Swan

It was advertised as a psychological thriller, I had purchased the DVD long back, was waiting for the right time to watch the film. It was worth the wait. Brilliant story that deals with the psychology of perfection and achievement motivation. At the present day, when the achievement motivation is on rise and the world more complex and globalized, a film of this kind act as a warning signal. it deals with the peril of innocence when it meets the desperate desire for perfection and competition.

Innocence and corruption are two poles of a spectrum. What happens when one has to display both to win the race?

Nina’s mother is a failed dancer, like most of the parents she wants her daughter to succeed where she failed. At the same time, she wants her daughter to always remember the sacrifice she had made for her. So Nina seeks perfection in all she does especially in dance. Her role model is Beth, the reigning super star, who has perfected the dance of swan queen. The time changes and Nina is selected to play the main character. Beth who is the symbol of perfection and glory for Nina, is devastated and attempts to commit suicide, but survives the attempt and lives a miserable life.

The dilemma in front of Nina is: if I do not succeed I will be like my mother who sees herself as a failure and lives a life of misery. If I succeed like Beth, one day I too will lose the top position and live miserably like Beth. If you succeed you are doomed, if you fail you are doomed. Classical case of catch-22.

What a way to look at life, pessimism at its best. The mind is hard wired to notice negative things, since it helps us to avoid danger and ensures our survival. But when it is out of control, life can become a torture. If you enjoy, you feel guilty. If you are miserable, you feel bad. Nina has to play the role of swan Queen in the play. And the swan queen too faces this dilemma, and swan queen solves the problem by embracing death. Does Nina too follow the same fate? Director ends the film in a most ambiguous manner, letting viewer to conclude the story.

Veterans

At present I am staying in the community where veterans are living. Fr.George Hess, the founder of De Nobili Schools, Dhanbad, and Fr. Ed McGrath, one of the founding fathers of XLRI. Age catches up with everyone, whether you have done something monumental or just floated through life, lived like a spectator as his life passed through.

What surprises me is that students, who were taught by them 30 or 40 years back, remember them rather clearly and now and then come and visit them. It is not the subjects taught by them is being remembered, it is invariably the interactions they had with them.

They had accompanied them unconditionally, they had taken corrective actions whenever something wrong taken place, but never out of anger. They loved the work they did, and performed to their best. I am not saying they were without any faults, they had their share of frailties but when it came to students, they always placed them first.

Both are in their nineties, the common thread that one can see in them even now is the sense of humor. You can say anything to Ed McGrath, primarily because he has hearing problem and secondarily he can take anything as a joke. Very rarely I see him in a negative frame of mind. Though he is in constant pain, due to the old age his waist bones are weak and a source of continuous pain, he manages his life well.

They were happy when they were exceedingly busy and doing magnificent work, and they are happy when they are weak, old and doing nothing. The point I always believed that happiness is not a result, it is the cause. Happiness is a state of existence where one is grateful for all one has and hasn’t, and for all one is and isn’t.   

Depression

Long back, I met a young person in Pune. Working as an executive, athlete and doing well by any yard stick one chooses to measure. But he was depressed.

He was emphatic and articulate, almost convinced me that there is nothing one can do about his depression. His arguments went somewhat like this: I was going by a bike, and saw another person of my age going by an expensive car. He must be a successful person, he might have done some thing right that is the reason he is having that life style. Where as I must have done everything wrong that is the reason I am going by bike. Therefore I am good for nothing.

I know that the mind is a strange mechanism; it can make a fool of Socrates. You can use logic to defeat it; but it can invent hyper logic to prove its point of view. Yet we can be sure that it always behaves with a purpose; invariably it operates with a definite purpose. And the purpose is protecting our survival and nothing more and nothing less. What is the best form of defense? It is avoidance. Avoid everything and everyone, there will be no danger, thus survival is guaranteed. Not a bad logic for the mind to use to protect us from painful realities and the dangerous world. If you avoid for a long period of time, there will be no danger but depression will set in gradually.

That young man asked me the question; what is wrong with him? I said that there is nothing is wrong with him, and just gave him the gyan on mind, a long explanation, when I realized my talk might bore him and increase his depression more, I stopped. Then I asked him what is it that which is giving him real pain, expensive car and rich young man are just metaphors and similes, they indicate some thing more concrete which you are afraid of facing. And what are the recent disappointments he has faced.

I had to leave for Mumbai that night, and we departed leaving the questions hanging around the atmosphere.

Angel Heart

Few movies disturb you, and linger around the mind for a long time. Without a question, Angel Heart is one of them. Keep away from the film if you are addicted to happy ending and can’t stomach hard hitting realities – blood, murder, incest, betrayal. It is a supernatural thriller with a gripping story line. Symbolism is used to the hilt. Every scene is open to multiple levels of interpretation.

It is not a new film, I happened to view it recently by chance. Performance by all actors is top notch, in a way everyone has lived his or her character. It is a dark film and deals with the dark side of us.

Our good intensions are often colored by primal forces. Good person is the one who is not aware of his dark side just like the evil person who is not aware of his good side. At the right moments, at the right place one is capable of doing anything – act of great sacrifice, cannibalism, incest etc...

Soul is used as a symbol of one’s own interior positive self. We know not the importance of its presence till we lose it. Once we lose it, we try our best to redeem it. Since short cut is what we seek to achieve our most cherished goal – power, fame and glory -, we invariably seek redemption too in short-cut. In that process, we complicate our life to the extent we know not who we are and what to do, in utter confusion we swallow and swallowed by our miseries, sorrow and self-pity.

If you are weak hearted, afraid of dark do not watch this film.

OC & D

Somehow courses those are practical and application oriented never attracted me. When the topics like HRA Audit or competency mapping were proposed for my PhD thesis, I literally ran away from the place. Theoretical, imaginative and far away from the utility concepts mesmerizes me. That is the reason I had to struggle reading ‘7 habits of effective people’ and ‘how to win and influence people’. Though they are path-braking books, since they deal with absolutely practical ideas, I used to get bored. I read them just for the sake of reading them; otherwise people might consider me as an illiterate.

Recently the coordinator asked me whether I would like to teach “OC&D” (Organizational Change and Development). Light years back I had studied the course as a student, and the professor who taught me was brilliant and I have lots of respect for him. But I could not remember anything apart from writing an assignment for the course. So I opened the text book on the subject to find out what does it deal with, and in the first lesson it elaborates the theory of change according to Levin. In summary it says that the change process is “Freezing, Moving and unfreezing”, it sounded to me like “Getting up from the bed, eating and going back to the bed”. To explain this process they have given big diagram with all kinds of squares and circles.

What really shocked me was that I was under the impression that this course comes under HR area, now only I was told that it comes under OB area. I always thought that OB guys are direct descendants of Sigmund Freud, and conveniently I omitted B.F.Skinner as part of OB field.

So if I have to teach OC&D, first and foremost I had to change my mental block that practical things are important in life. Teaching how to walk or how to swim also come under serious academic disciplines. And one should not look down upon these realities of life. And I should remember that if complicated things can be made simple then it is also possible to make simple things complicated.