Clint Eastwood

I have met him many a times, and even stayed with him too. But then I noticed the uncanny resemblance and outlook only during my last visit to New Delhi.

I was staying over at Jacob uncle’s place, and over lunch he was sharing his experience. He was recollecting how when he was a bachelor he used ride 150-160 km daily on his Royal Enfield – Bullet. He narrated an incident when, he had just returned from one of his such trips, and suddenly remembered he forgot something. He immediately turned his bike to fetch it. One of the trucks had just dumped a fresh load of sand on the road, which uncle didn’t know. He lost his balance, skidded and fell down, with the Silencer of the bike on his calf muscle. Unable to lift the bike himself, he took help from the passersby. He was on his feet again, met the doc, and returned to his room. Next day morning is only when he realized, he was hardly able to keep his feet on the ground. It required two weeks of bed rest to recover.

While he was narrating the story I looked at his limbs, I looked at his hair, I looked at his facial feature, I tried to imagine a younger him. And then I saw his current self. He looked like Clint Eastwood. His grey round neck T-shirt and khaki trousers reminded me of Clint Eastwood from Gran Torino and his Bullet escapade reminded me of Dirty Harry. Its uncanny, both the resemblance and that I didn’t notice it before.

Devassy

To know Devassy, you should know where Devassy lives, who are the people around him, why he does what he does, the weather, the language, the religion… You need to know that he lives in a small village of Chittattukara, the village not far from the sea, where the soil is as white as the sand on the beach and that his village, like any other village in Kerala, is covered with thick tropical vegetation. You also need to know that the people in this village share very symbiotic links to each other, their lives are dependent on each other socially and financially. The lives of people are discussed at the local tea shop “chaya-kada” with as much fervor as is Obama’s visit, economic recession and the political tyranny in the state. For someone like Devassy and many others who have lived for generations together in this village, the name Chittattukara becomes not just an address, but it is an identity that all of them carry; the very identity of the person being incomplete without it. And it takes years to be a part of this big family and household of Chittattukara village, it requires living there, participating in the village festivals, getting drenched in the same monsoon which comes every year, getting scorched in the hot summer sun and taking turns to bathe in the ponds, when bathing was more of a social thing than just a private affair.

And no one is a stranger here, everyone knows someone who knows you, and so you are always welcome. The theory of Six Degrees of Separation feels all the more so true here.

Devassy is the local vegetable vendor, who also doubles as the local grocery guy and the one who could tell you if the last bus to Thrissur has left or still expected. He is a small man, not quite tall, fair, with eyes that speak volumes about what he can perceive, hairy, in fact a very hairy chest, which you can mostly see, as he would rarely wear a shirt. And the most unexpected of all his traits is his voice. You would expect a regular man’s voice, but any stranger would be surprised by his deep baritone voice.

What are some of the things you associate with a person who is a shop keeper. If not anything, at least that he/she is interested in you buying more of his/her stuff. Devassy, unlike other shop keepers is not pressing you to buy more. He would just give the exact amount you need, no pressing for fresh bananas, or hot crispy chips just arrived…No gimmicks, no pitches what so ever. You ask him to pick the fresh bananas, he will use his discretion to pick the best, not using his skills to push away the riper ones. So you get what you ask for, from all that he has to offer.

Devassy’ s shop is right across the bus stop, which means invariably all the travelers get down and aboard the buses from there. The more friendly ones, would come over pick day-to-day groceries, share the tales from their visit, ask of what’s happening and the life goes on. Rain no rain, his shop’s open, people no people, he is around.

Devassy’ s daughter got married last year. The social customs force him to send her daughter with generous gifts of gold and money. He just has enough for everyday, whatever he saves is too little for what the marriage requires. He borrows, he mortgages his house, he is happy his daughter is married off to a good family. But then his days of hard work and labor continue.

What do some of his fellow villagers to make him like this. They take undue advantage of his goodness and keep forgetting to pay their bills for months together. Devassy continues to be the gentleman he has always been, for him the people of his village are his family, and what meaning is an account with family members. With growing unpaid bills, his liabilities are getting surmounted, he is under tremendous stress.

He being Devassy, continues to believe what he has always believed…Father Alphonse.

God’s Mischief – Book + Movie

Author: M Mukundan
Translated by: Prema Jayakumar
Cast: Thilakan, Raghuvaran, Srividhya
Director: Lenin Rajendran

The Malayalam version is called – ‘Daivathinte Vikrithikal’; and the English version – God’s mischief. Well, the title itself declares what is in store. I saw the movie by Lenin Rajendran, first. I was moved by the awesome performance by Raghuvaran. Later when I read the book, whenever I read Father Alphonse, there was only one picture in mind, that of Raghuvaran. Vineet, plays Sasi/Shivan, and the same happened for him too. Srividhya, somehow didn’t fit my description of Maggie and so did Thilakan as Kumaran.

Raghuvaran’ s voice is his trademark; along with his frame. Who else could play Father Alphonse? I thought for a long time, did you think of someone?

The strong allegiance to the people and the land of Mayyazhi stand out. I am not able to express in words, how it felt to read the narrative, and repented of not knowing how to read Malayalam.

The movie treats the story slightly differently, but as M Mukundan himself worked in making the script for the movie, I am sure there are its own reasons. The cinema history has otherwise seen irreconcilable differences between film makers and authors. Stanley Kubrick and Anthony Burgess.

Raghuvaran, M Mukundan and Lenin – hats off to you three.

Serious Men

Author: Manu Joseph.
Win: The Hindu Best Fiction Award

When I picked ‘The Serious Men’ from Landmark, I read the back cover, saw Manu’s profile, read the first few lines of the novel. I knew, this is the pick for my day. First chapter into the book, and I was 100% sure, it was indeed delightful. Fondness for Mumbai and adequate dosage of humor, were the first things which attracted me. Well, then this is the first time, I am seeing and reading about the lives and thoughts of the scientists in this light. In complete rapture, I savored very page.

Later when I saw Manu was shortlisted for the award, I was like wow. Till then I didn’t know about Manu or about his book received by the critics. So when I picked the book, it was the book that spoke to me, and not the reviews. Anyways, the reports did not mention Manu as the touted winner. I somehow kept the disappointment to myself. I tried reading about the shortlisted books and the other writers, and somewhere I wanted to Manu to win. It was quite biased, as the other authors I read before were Anjum and Upamanyu.

I was traveling when the results were announced, and my joy knew no bounds when I came to Manu won. I feel the sense of having enjoyed the book, which was certified by the critics later, was the reason of this euphoria. The same happened with Johnny Cash too, will tell about it later.

So here’s to the new writer on the block, Manu. Stay the same.

Equus

Troupe – Jester Productions
Directed by – Daniel D’Souza
Cast - Daniel D’Souza, Eammon Ennis

On Friday, amidst the hopping over at friends place, when we reached at Rangashankara 3:30,I found it almost empty. Only to realize that the 3:30 show was for Saturday, and not Friday. We return on a Saturday evening for almost a packed show.

When you see the psychiatrist rambling about the horse and the boy’s unexplained proximity and obsession, it sounds vague and obscure. Now for the next about an hour, the play takes you back to what all happened before that in a flash back mode. Then it completes the cycle and brings the play to the present to-day status and carries on. Then everything appears cohesive and linked. Excellent performance by the cast, minimal pseudo acting, minimal forced attempts to show style. The play weaves a great and intense narrative into an thought provoking act.

Also the play indulges into quite a lot of issues of conflict on morality, religion, sexual preferences and the parenting. A play which requires the needed sensibility and background to appreciate the subject.