The Prime Gaana with Saavn

While Amazon Prime Music comes free with your Prime subscription, I wanted to see a world of music offered from India’s premier music services – Saavn and Gaana.

I was a user of Apple Music and wanted to try something else, after I switched to an Android phone (a story for another time). While I still hold my breath for Spotify to enter India (in vain…yet…for God knows how much more long) and Google Play music not seem to be promising with a flat unattractive interface, Saavn was the only one left for me try beside Amazon music which was another flat, everyday-same looking lifeless interface.

Saavn turned out to be good with it’s suggestions, mixes and bottomless discovery playlists. I loved it for a while, though I felt the interface to be cluttered in comparison to Apple Music and smeared here and there with Saavn originals which I don’t really care about. For a while, I paid for pro and was happy with it and never thought I would give Gaana a try. Jio and Saavn merged and I got the 90 day pro trial at the same time I took Gaana for a spin.

Gaana was not very impressive at first and I thought I would give up on it in less than 2 weeks. However, I saw that the browser support from Gaana is far better than Amazon and Saavn. I got HD quality music while Saavn tops at 128 Kbps on the browser. Where Gaana stands out is it’s sound quality in comparison with Saavn and Amazon. I do feel the difference somehow, at least for most part the streams in Gaana are better tuned for quality in comparison to Saavn. At 399 per year, it became an offer that I cannot resist and signed up quickly.

While Gaana and Saavn has a cluttered interface, Gaana stands out in quality and Saavn stands out in discoverability and playlist formations and Amazon fares in neither, except for being free with Prime. But all of this, if Spotify goes live in India sooner or later, Spotify may become a cult icon here and it could be cool to subscribe to Spotify than other services. All 3 of the services – Gaana, Saavn and Amazon should really be scared of Spotify if they score in usability and coolness factor, no matter what the price would be for the subscription. It’s time they focus on the user experience and begin to stand out or risk losing soon.

Ajith Kumar

Thala, as he is fondly called is a Tamil Actor, aged 47 and simply calls and presents himself with the same age in his movies, as the story goes. His name also appears in the title card as just his name and without the tag that most of the South Indian film stars proclaim it on. There must be a reason why this person is more than adored by his fans. He is all, by himself with not even a special name tag in his movies.

This post is not a review for Viswasam. I don’t think it needs to be reviewed. It is just a normal Family entertainer on relationship, with fun elements and sentiments. You can probably compare it to a Hollywood Christmas holiday movie for the whole family to watch, except it is for Pongal. What’s wrong in having such a movie, it’s fun. Even Arnold has done such fun movies that we loved in the past.

Nevertheless, Ajithkumar was one person who stood out from the beginning with his famous Vaali and Dheena. He quickly charmed himself out of the Chocolate boy roles before it was late and made his mark. Kollywood had enough chocolate boys in those times and they have all but vanished. Ajith began to pave his way with trials and tribulations. I was a fan since his Vaali and Dheena days, though there were experimental let downs for me in between like Citizen, Red. But when he came back with Billa, Kireedom, Varalaru, it felt good that he was there and still there, relevant and good enough for all his fans.

A simple anecdote in one of the theatres in Madurai goes like this. There was a trailer of the Movie “I” in the breaks and not a soul made a noise. Then came the teaser for “Yennai Arindhaal…” and came the loud roar of fans, made me ask “Where were you guys all the time …!”

A lot of physical pain didn’t deter him. He simply worked through and kept himself straight and honest. He was probably the first to come with the undyed look in Mankatha and made it a special trademark, Salt and Pepper. He even calls out his age frankly, like who cares and his charisma stands out more than anything through his age. It is tough for him to do action and dance and yet he does. Above all, he has multitude of things to keep himself occupied, right from Cooking, photography to Racing and now unmanned aerial vehicle, drones.

He is a person living by his own ways, being honest to what he does and says and doesn’t put out anything superficial or hyperbole. It is what it is for him and that’s it. I have driven through the street in which he resides many times unintentionally (not recently though) and I keep seeing this – “Live and Let Live” with symbols from religions.

I think he just wants to be a Human being and not make a big deal out of whatever he does. Probably why there are fans who love him much. He is intriguing, a unique personality and he has made his mark in his own way. That is why he is

Ajith Kumar

Traffic on an empty road

It should be fairly easy for us to drive on a free Indian road on holidays like today, the pongal festival.

But on the contrary you see loose traffic conditions with vehicles of all size exhibiting freewheeling randomness beyond the point of prediction. It is hard to go by and navigate such a traffic condition as there is too much space to show speed and break traffic rules like driving on the wrong side and jumping red lights

While we complain of traffic jams or heavy traffic, empty roads are also as scary in India as the heavy ones. A light amount of traffic is still required to keep some sanity in place and have some amount of bearable (dis)orderliness.

Happy festival times !

Petta, a 2 in 1 film

Rajinikanth’s movies in the early days had a way of story telling with style and humour that would be easy for the audience to digest and relish, whatever the base genre may be – family, action, crime.

How did Petta do this in 2019?

Well, in popular photo editing softwares there usually is a feature with which you can blend 2 images by sending one to the back and bringing another to the front and setting transparency. 2 Images blended into 1. Karthik Subbaraj as a Fan simply brings forward the Rajinism of the Glory days to the front and hitting it right out of the park with the Superstar. But he also manages to keep the background pinned and weaved with the essence of “A Karthik Subbaraj Padam” making it a 2 in 1 film.

The tools the director uses it for making this a 2 in 1 film is widely seen. A long array of actors who simply play to the part and leave the screen when done is simple and appealing, while the General audience may consider them wasted frames, I see them as cherries on top of the cake (No one to blame because, we expect all famous actor characters to be strong and play till the end and appear in some sort of a group fun photo event in the end, a stereotype that the director has avoided).

The photographers work with moving angles, low light shots, silhouettes, rich colours, hard lights in dark scenes, special techniques are his aides making the film rich looking. The soundtrack that blends with the frames and bringing the right emotion. Songs that are enjoyable but quickly come in and go without disturbing the plot much. Last of all, the action sequences are not the mindless ones. They are clearly plotted by the protagonist and it is portrayed how he thinks through it and how he uses the environment spontaneously like a real fighter. This is not just Rajinikanth, you can see a great team work of Rajini fans at play.

A general comment I heard before I saw the movie was a great 1st half and a long and average 2nd half. The 2nd half though I agree could have been quicker, it needed the drag, to plot and sketch the revenge and keep us diverted of the twist. Remember, this is a Karthik Subbaraj padam of the superstar, so it takes time to sketch it. The director plays the intelligence part through the Thalaivar in such a way that an obvious surprise that becomes guessable in the 2nd part of the 2nd half, is merely smoke screen to deviate us from the ultimate surprise in the end. 2nd half drag is the one you would expect so in a clearly made Revenge flick of the director’s one of the favourite – Tarantino. There is no sentiment. It just turns out to be bloody and gory in the 2nd half with no regard. If you like Tarantino, you are bound to like this one because, Revenge has to be awaited for the right moment with the right ways.

Karthik Subbaraj has brought the best from the Superstar in a unique way that he always wants it, leaving the movie with 2 signature. One of the aged Superstar, who we can now tell after this film that there is one and only and no one else who can come and claim Superstardom (Rest are Kozhandaigala!) and Two the maker of Pizza, Jigarthanda who wanted to take Tamil cinema to the modern level and that is the way it is

… A Karthik Subbaraj Padam of the One and Only Superstar.

Jallikattu and A Weapon called Choice

Choice is always ours to make. The latent weapon in us and all of us, is what we choose consciously, not what we fall prey for.

A frog that jumps in hot water, immediately jumps out, but put him in a glass of cold water and heat slow and steady, he will be fine until he gets really burnt. This is the same with Jallikattu ban. Jallikattu ban is only 1 nail in a large coffin for the oppressed by the wealthy and powerful.

I am being generic here as “Oppressed” because it is not just isolated to one community. It happens across the world, to all, to those who are “small”, those who are not in power, or not related to the powerful (and may be the wealthy as well). It is driven by the corporate strategy of Growth in profit margin and business expansion. Sadly, at the cost of sacrificing our own people and the culture.

The corporate owns everything. It wants to derive money out of everything we use and everything we do. Unfortunately, most of us remain ignorant (or consider themselves all known, while being ignorant, which is more dangerous), to the extent that, we consider Facebook and Google as free.

I don’t mind paying for a service or good, if it appeals to me and if it is of use. But if you deprive me of my own, and then sell me what I already had in the first place, that is a problem. If you are a good ethical trader, sell me things that benefits me, not for the ever expanding profit that you would like to achieve, at any cost, going to any extent and destroying my own resources and people.

Here is the Weapon that we all have. The weapon of choice. We can choose whether we want to buy and use. Look all around you and you will find we are already sold to many. Our life belongs fully to the corporate. Our Rice and Sugar is whiter than ever and our body and mind has only turned darker. It is our choice to choose our Food and things right, for ourselves and set example for our children to follow. This is for all the oppressed, small, average normal people all over the world like us, not just for one community.

The Weapon of Choice is yours. It is time to wake up.

(If you get a chance, watch Michael Moore’s “Super Size me” and you will understand what I am saying)

The Elevator Traffic

The success of an Average Indian is determined by how much he can beat the traffic, or so feel that illusion. It is just one of those feelings of I did it, so we can keep our head high and walk from the parking lot to the lift with pride.

“You know what, there was such a rush today on the road, being Monday and all, but I think I maneuvered it, I made it. I beat the traffic today and I am the king”

Only to find an eager crowd of half the office, waiting to board one of the 6 lifts, summoned by that little up arrow button. Now, how do I beat this traffic !

It is really easy, you just stand near the lift where you can see the up arrow indicator glow, showing that this will come up next. Except, after 60 seconds it doesn’t and the crowd keeps thronging on that one lift with light on the up arrow. It’s like the whole crowd cheering in a stadium for this one lift to open up. You only keep hearing the dings but it just doesn’t open.

At this point, you give up and move around to bet on another of the remaining 5 lifts. But which one, the odds are almost equal on a sunny weather monday morning, and I can’t risk the one hope that most of the office has pinned on to the Lift no. 6.

It doesn’t disappoint, it opens up. But, it indicates that it is going down. Very well, most of us stick to logic and respect the direction of journey of the lift and allow it to pass down. But of course, we have that clever person in the crowd, who decides to take the trip down in order to go up. Wait, did this just sound philosophical, go down to go up ! Of course, he had followers, This is India.

The rest of us are now opinionated as we hitch our ride on another lift, genuinely going up, respecting the direction of the lift. But one can never tell, who reached before. Was it the one that went down first or was it the one that came later to go up. We all go up in the end anyway, whether you break or don’t break the rules ! Again, I am sounding weirdly philosophical !

In the end, the fact that one thinks that we beat the traffic in India, is merely an illusion. You get caught in any of the light, be it the Traffic lights or the Elevator Lights !

To Netflix or Hooq or Prime

Let’s cut the chase and get to the point. Consider the below as only my personal opinion coming out of my purpose and usage and nothing too elaborate, of course obviously this is for India.

For 650 per month, Netflix is steeply priced for the Indian market. The Movie content is not very enticing and obviously there are some neat good TV Shows that you can watch. I loved Netflix though for their quality streaming and 5.1 sound via Chromecast. Their HD Quality is awesome and Dolby Digital Plus sound is very intriguing. Netflix is definitely the service for someone who wants quality in their content and who are glued to some of the specific TV Shows (Originals they say). Not for those like me, who end up watching a 90 minute movie over a 2 week period with 5 breaks in between. Not that I am as busy as the Prime minister or a CEO, but just that the 3 year old simply wants to rule the house and begs 50% of my time and I spend the other 50% trying to protect the 10 year old from being tormented by the 3 year old. In the end, I watch a movie like a TV Show with 10 minute episodes. So Netflix is a no go for me, at least as of now and I stopped. If I need a specific movie from this decade then I simply rent it from Google Movies.

For 499 per year (or 999 per year from next) Amazon Prime is practically free. I mean you can watch Kabali in 1080p HD and that alone is worth the 499 that you pay. Sadly, No chromecast support means I cannot easily get it on my TV or my Home theater. Right now, Amazon prime is just a comfort watch on my phone or iPad or on the Computer. I seem to like Lethal weapon, Gortimer Gibbons (along with the Kids) and of course the biggest and the baddest of the shows – The Grand Tour, The only “Auto Journalism Humour” Genre TV Show in the whole known world. Amazon Prime sticks with me, but I wish for a cleaner device support to get it on Home Theater with 5.1 sound. Or just sell us that Fire TV or Fire Stick TV in India and we can give it a shot.

Hooq, surprisingly seems to be not a bad option for 200 per month. It has good quality content (and by good quality I mean Big Bang Theory and Friends). But I see it lacks in stream quality and no support for 5.1 sound. Hope they upgrade, soon and if they do then Netflix will be only worth its originals. Hooq is on trial and hope to keep it, if I begin to see improvements in future.

Hotstar is not considered as it has Mono sound and we are in 2017, not 1950’s.

To The Crazy ones who change the World

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, one of the first few things he did was to make this ad campaign – Think different. An ad featuring the crazy ones who can think crazy enough to change the world we live in.

We have come across them in our lives. They have made us. They have moulded us. They have transformed us. We are probably what we are because of what they did. They are not the popular ones, They are the ones who made the Popular ones…

Our Teachers.

If it was not for her, we wouldn’t have learnt computer science early in our school days. We wouldn’t have read newspapers in our morning assembly and relayed some tough words for us like Gloucestershire. Our English wouldn’t have been decent enough for us to make a living with a multinational company. She transformed the whole school in the late 80’s and 90’s and made us come out of just the mother tongue and the state language.

Our first line in programming “10 REM ADDITION” was the first step towards what we call “the IT Industry” now, made possible by him. With just a Genie key board, TV and a Cassette reader. GW BASIC.

He would walk in and we would expect to be read from a book. But he brought us a Cassette player and taught us French the harder way. Listen, grasp the words, say it, pronounce it. We couldn’t forget the Indicator joke each time he told – “Ca va, Ca ne va pas …”

Because it wasn’t just about reading the experiments and writing them in the exam. He kindled us by making us think what happens when you turn on a torch light, run at more than the speed of light and see. You see yourself turning on the light. We wouldn’t have understood zilch of Interstellar, if not for all the physics.

And so on and so forth…

This world is filled with a whole lot of crazy geniuses who look simple and regular for all of us. They are hell bent in doing only one thing in our lives. To change us, to transform us, to make us not what we want to become, but what the world needs out of us.

To all of them … The Teachers.

Happy Teacher’s Day !

You make the World better.

The fanciness in the simplicity of Idly Dosa – iD

In the 80’s and early 90’s the meaning of restaurant for us as kids was to go to a simple “hotel” and have Dosa and Idli, may be end it with Badam milk or Rose milk. Puri, Chappathi were fancy. Biriyani meant only for non-veg days. Compare that to now, our generation is exposed with too much variety that Idly and Dosa have become too simple.

iD is a brand that used to sell readymade flour for Dosa and Idli, and may be chappathi and paratha ready to cook as well. I had less hope and fanciness for the brand, before I discovered their new outlet at Neelangarai, ECR. I was simply not expecting it to be this.

A fresh new clean looking space with rather good

iD Restaurant, Neelangarai, ECR

interiors and a kitchen that stands in the middle of the dining hall.

For any restaurant before you get into the bells and whistles what really matters for all of us, is the food. iD ensures you have taste and variety of Idlis, Dosas, Appam, Uthappam, Paratha, desserts and beverages. We had Mushroom masala dosa, Pesarattu, Appam, Mini Idli and of course the Classic Idli. To put it simply, iD would join the list of frequently visited very soon for the great tasting food served in clean sterilised steel plates and cups.

Kitchen in the middle of it all

The service was good as well as efficient. One person, in our case it was Karuppasamy who took and managed our order, but the service of ordered items were done by whoever was available to serve. This ensures efficiency by distributing the “servers” across tables and decentralizing them from serving only 1 table. Sorry to sound like an IT guy, hey that’s who I am !

I would have to say that this place would be worth a visit than the usual likes of Hot chips, Saravana Bhavan or Sangeetha. They have good Breakfast and Lunch options and timings as well. In fact, I may return later to try their dishes during breakfast and their advertised veg meals (Rs. 150/-) for lunch, may be some other day.

The price is on the higher side, but not by too much. You get what you pay for in terms of the cleanliness, friendly staff, quality service and tasty food. (You don’t get those fast cooked half white Dosas like the others). The interiors and ambience is pretty good, but it can get very noisy due to lack of sound absorbing elements. Wall paintings, sound absorbing boards/panels, playing music through good quality speakers will ensure quality ambient sound levels. The outlet also has ample parking space with Valet service.

If you live by the ECR areas or pass by that side, iD is a place to visit for your simple meal/tiffins.

A First bill in my life that had this than the amount

Finally we were treated with a bill that first read the pleasantries and not just the food bill. They sure mean service as their strength and I with them luck, to stand by what they believe in. Because, restaurant business is a crowded space and differentiating in whatever aspects you can, makes you stand out and makes people come back over and over again.

There is fanciness in simplicity.

Reviewed in Zomato with a rating of 4.5

 

Music sans wires

It was the eve of Christmas 2015 and little did I know that I would walk into, of all the places in the mall, The Bose Store. Bose is not my favourite. I just feel they are too pricey and sickeningly lifestylish. You can get better sounding gear for less or same price.

But, Life always surprises you and so did the Bose Soundtouch series Wireless speakers. Beware that this is only an user opinion and not an expert review. After using it for nearly 8 months now, I can only say that the Bose Soundtouch 10 wireless music system is an integral part of my daily music experience.

(Courtesy: Bose India)

It was quite a lucky encounter actually as I took the Soundtouch 10, 20 and 30 for a spin. 10 is the cheapest and 20 is pricier with Display unit while 30 is the humungous hulk. I had points from my credit card and it was redeemable at the store directly. I couldn’t hesitate purchasing the 10 as I took it for some spin with Hello by Adele, Mazhai vara poguthe from Yennai Arindhal and the Theri theme.

Strengths:

1. Deep rich bass for the size of a dictionary and weight of just over a kilo. The booms in Theri theme went so deep and wide from the rear firing port. Quite unexpected.
2. Voice and mids were quite stable at normal volumes – 50 to 60%, although going above that could be taxing to ears. But surprisingly it sounds very rich for such a small system. Perfect enough for Ilaiyaraaja Music.
3. Highs could beg for more. But for casual listening from a small aesthetically shaped unit that can blend over your bed side table or your book shelf, this is plenty you can get. Beatles, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd etc do sound well enough.
4. Apparently this is the “Best Value” Wifi/bluetooth enabled speaker in the market. Sonos or other similar brands would cost higher and not easily available here in India.
5. Presets. I just love them. You can mark an album or playlist to each number on top and it will simply play it when you choose any of it. Very handy feature and I have an album set for each selection.
6. It does Flac/Alac and High res – 24/96. Who would have thought ! If your wifi signal is weak it may stutter but otherwise it streams it rather beautifully and definitely sounds “hi-res”ish !

Weakness:

1. I felt after a few months of usage, I could have got the 20 which has the display with clock and artists/song. The 20 also sounds richer and better.
2. Bose probably doesn’t want to pay Apple, so they had stopped Airplay from this version on. This I miss badly as I have to bluetooth it instead of Airplay which is better streaming quality.
3. No support for Apple music. Again I have to Bluetooth it. Give me a choice and I don’t want to use Bluetooth at all for my Music, but at least it is better that Bose has done a decent job to tune it better.

Overall, this is a good music system for your Bedroom/study room listening. Obviously you can buy more than one to make it Multi room listening, but I just haven’t started believing in the euphoria of Multi room listening yet !

Halena …

And as I typed Halena, WordPress tried to correct it to Helena.

If you know the song All rise by Blue or if you get a chance to hear it, you will know the origin of the song June Pona by Harris Jayaraj from the movie Unnale Unnale.

I am not sure if Halena is an extract from a Spanish song, it could very well be, but the tune seems to set in your head. A slow hip hopish romantic duet served Harris style is very catchy and foot tapping. Do listen !

Other songs in the album will probably take a bit of time to catch up on me, but Halena seems to rhyme in fast.

Movie: Iru Mugan by Anand Shankar. I wouldn’t underestimate this movie as Anand Shankar’s Directorial debut Arima Nambi was quite a surprise package, which moved tightly frame to frame till the end.

and it’s Vikram … Who could have missed his one man show in “I”.

Would it help ?

We have learnt about the cold war in history. But we only tried to an extent write a few paragraphs for a 10 mark question, that may be left in choice. The understandings and implications are hard when you actually see it through a movie when you grow up.

There are no weapons but even an act of a surveillance hovering around enemy territory to take pictures is an act of war. The Soviet and US during the 50s differed in their nationalist ideas and any move that they could make between each other to gain the upper hand is what it is all about. A Cold war, a war on superiority of information and knowledge over each other.

That’s it. And how worse it could feel …

Spielberg’s Bridge of spies shows the tussles of an unlikely insurance lawyer hired as a defendant for a Russian spy in the court of justice of US constitution. What is merely an eye wash to support the constitutional rights of fare trial, becomes serious. One wouldn’t understand why Jim Donovan, the protagonist (played by Tom Hanks) had to take the defense seriously, after all he is a Russian spy and not in the interest of Americans. You may come to know when he meets the Judge at his residence.

What happens next in Germany with the backdrop of the Berlin wall incident is an extremely intense drama that you may not have expected. Only Spielberg could make this, or may be Zemeckis. Tom Hanks was easily Jim Donovan without a doubt and he made all the conversations interesting. Very interesting, you can actually learn and apply these negotiation skills at work.

This movie is obviously not made for everyone, but on a patient evening with nothing bothering around you, you will like it because of the central characters and their depth surrounding the story.

Luckily, Bridge of Spies is coming up on Zee Studio HD this Aug 15th at 1PM and 9PM and I would say don’t miss it.

For the love of Spielberg and Hanks, a True story portrayed very interestingly.

Would it help ? When you watch it, you will know.

Since the 80’s … Untouchable … a.k.a Kabali

Kabali is an intensely laid out gangster drama that Rajinikanth need not have acted.

And yet …

One must be wondering what went into the mind of Rajini when he selected this script. The ever shining superstar gracefully let Kabali take over the Rajini and presented the audience with something that they probably did not expect to see. It must have been a bold decision and quite a transforming one for the actor. It is relishable for some of us who liked him in more characteristic roles like Mullum Malarum and Dalapathi.

Kabali did not want to be seen as just a Robinhood style crime lord who saves and protects his folks, but he was seen as the yearning one. The one who lost his life that he loved before becoming the Gangster. The longing and anticipation intensifies on the news of his wife and daughter. Kabali takes over Rajini fully in such scenes. The sighs, the facial expressions and ultimately the walk into the field and letting out oneself and the final
reunion was totally off the Rajini charts. In fact there was no Rajini and only kabaleeswaran, not even the Kabali, original Gangster.

Ranjith’s intention was clear enough to not just show the Gangster, but to show more of the man behind and the family he sought in a social setting in Malaysia. Commendable.

Background scores are usually tailored for Rajini’s presence but Santhosh Narayanan clearly wanted to stand out with the slow themes of Vaanam parthen, The romance with Maya nadhi tunes and ultimately the heavy guitar riffs for the Gangster Kabali. None of them had Rajini signature and they were wonderful and fresh in that way for
Rajini and Kabali. The Kabali Swag goes top notch on the Roof top party when Kabali walks in. Can I get a separate CD for the BGMs alone please ? I would buy one for the retail price if available.

Ranjith has used the Supporting cast from his previous movies Atta Kathi and Madras, but they were no more than a long cast shadow that disappears in the evening sun. None of them touched and were probably over shadowed by the importance of the central characters. Tony and Kishore were not a matching Villians for Kabali, as much as Anthony was for Baasha. Yogi was a surprise and Radhika apte acted naturally through her eyes.

Above all, Rajinikanth comes out with an epitome of acting, not satisfying the regular punch dialogue loving fans, but more for the fan base who loved him through movies like Dalapathi. It is evidently natural that Rajini shed Rajini, in every scene. After all, it is not in every movie that Rajini gets beaten, injured, shot at, over and over. Not at all.

Ranjith did well with Rajini. A Gangster drama that Rajini need not have acted and yet Ranjith made it to stay strong only through Rajini. A Paradoxical non-blunder.

Kabali, to be watched again after the Rajinism expectations fizzle out, to understand and enjoy the real story behind.

Spoiler: It was only logical for the lawmakers to strike at the root. After all, It was under the good natured human, Tamilnesan that the Gangsters of Good and Evil formed and it is only going to be of the same way under Kabali as well. It was not a choice but more of the right action that had to be taken. Tiger became the unsuspecting pawn for the last frame.

 

Relax…Let it be…

New year resolution. That means, you swear by something on Jan 1st, the New year day and then you mark it as resolved by Jan 2nd. So, 2016 with the pretext of not taking any resolution, I am actually taking a non-resolutionistic paradoxical resolution:

Relax…Let it be…

Ok, but it doesn’t mean that I am just going to Relax and let things be as it is. It is actually a fantastic complex cosmological resolution that is far more simple and abstract than Zen. It is as vague as Arthur Dent not getting the hang of Thursdays. Now, I am not making any sense.

Let’s say I have a list of steps to do for accomplishing a particular idea or a thing on a particular day. As a first step, while I make plans, I need to keep myself open to the fact that plan gets screwed up all the time. That means, I start by not expecting the steps to happen as per the plan at the same time or in the same order or both. This is the part where I need to “Relax”. This is compulsively complicated for many of us modern workers, because we have goals and chase targets. We get shit crazy when things go out of our hands and lose control.

Relax and only try to do the next possible logical step. Add hope or faith that it will get done eventually as part of your list of steps. Either that, or it will find a logical day for completion and somehow fit into the bigger realm of things. The idea is to focus on the next logical step like Thala Dhoni.

Now, the part where I need to “Let it be” is the craziest because I cannot let anything in the world to be what it should be, including myself. Some say “Let go”, for me it is outright blunder because when you let it go it goes nowhere, just hides in a convenient place in your mind. So “Let it be” is about consciously putting it in your mind and not worrying about it. Phew, wish I could really be able to follow this so called “Let it be”. The feeling is more like you had a heavy tasty meal but you feel blocked by the gas and then you execute this universal “Let it be” rule, you belch out the enormous sub woofer sonic gas and then you start seeing roses and daises out of the Joy of relief, from gas.

But I will be able to “Let it be” only if I “Relax” and I can Relax only If I “Let it be” ! There, I have now reached singularity.

Fulfillment

Modern civilization focuses a lot on acquiring wealth and enjoying the luxuries of life, simply because it has become easily possible for anyone with a professional degree to tread that path. While wealth and luxury is not anything wrong, there is a portion of life that needs to be looked at.

Fulfillment.

Your heart senses emptiness whenever you do things only for the sake of doing. You feel a drain in Energy and you attribute it to just making your living and say “I am supposed to do this to earn my living”. An article on Lonely planet couple of months back made me to think on this term fulfillment and it took me 2 months to understand it to an extent that I can write it here. The article was about an Italian cook who simply said “If I had the money to live, I will cook for free”.

Would you do what you love to do for free?

A recent episode of “Who wants to be a millionare” equivalent in Tamil aired with Actor Arvindswamy as the game player. He was largely a modest man that none of us knew him about. He made a simple statement towards the end, “Whatever you have or you achieve will rot someday including yourself, what matters is with whatever you have and whatever you are, did you make the best, did you have a fun and fulfilling life?”. Ask yourself and look around what you have. They will all decay someday. So go and make the best use of them right now, Don’t postpone your fun!

Let me point to our modern day problem. People are so mixed into the daily affairs that they fail to differentiate between mundane tasks and fulfilling ones. Here is a surprise for you, Every task that you do has an aspect that can give you fun, even if it is really mundane. For example, my job requires me to do Excel and Powerpoint work. While it may sound boring, it is actually fun when you look at how you can think and put your own formatting and presentation. It is a like creating an art on a canvas, free to do the way you want. The requested data didn’t change, but the paint and brush are mine.

By all means, fun is the one that leads us to fulfillment. When people say this hindi phrase “Mazaa aagaya” (means “Had fun”), it means they loved doing something that striked a chord in their heart and made it quiver and the simple phrase popped out as a form of expressing that. Fun is the simplest and basic form of having fulfillment in life.

Yes, you may ask what about ambition and charity.

Ambition or what people call Aim in life is just to give a serious face paint for the basic and core aspect of necessity – “Fun”. It is mostly influenced by successful people. You can find a hell lot of folks in the world who are influenced deeply by Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and then they formed their “Aim” in their life. What they don’t know is Gates and Jobs had fun in doing what they did and they never really would have thought their ambition was to get here. They may have been lead to this place step by step. So don’t rush yourself as well. Fulfillment is not about ambition. If you want fulfillment then think deep into your childhood. You will know that the things that you do to have fun gives you a good night sleep and pushing yourself for a career and ambition makes you lose sleep. If you slept well, it means  you did something fulfilling. Fulfillment is larger and beyond than Ambition.

What about charity? If you do this because you have extra money it is meaningless. But if you are able to sense someone in need and provide them with that, without a need to be recognized for your name to appear in a placard, that would give you happiness. This is also actually a kind of fun because it excites in a way for just doing it and not expecting anything in return. You just did it and you did it purely from your own will with absolutely no influence from others and also not because you got some extra cash this month. This is fulfillment, otherwise it is just a celebrity show off.

My friends, all these days, every single one of us have been looking for nothing but Fulfillment and giving several names to it. Some are after ambition, some think charity, some think family, some think career aspirations. At the end, none of them alone will purely give you any permanent fulfillment. The permanent fulfillment is only in the way you see and handle your life. Whatever you do, it has a serious aspect and a fun aspect. The fun aspect gives you fulfillment while the serious aspect keeps you straight and focussed. Both are needed and if you can direct serious aspects to your brain and let the heart see the fun, you will have a fulfilling life in whatever you do. You will not go after fulfillment once you begin to see this. I hope I made some sense.

Have a fun and fulfilling life.