Blue and Bright

Other wonderful works of Etushi Toyokawa include Tell Me That You Love Me - Aishiteiru to Itte Kure 1995 (Remade into Korean in 2023  as Saranghandago Malhaejweo) as seen below

Boo Jeong's conversation with her Dad at the bus stop...she just articulated all that I am feeling now. About feeling like a failure, wanting to quit my job, wanting to take up a more menial one yet fearing becoming poor and dependant.

I wondered who was the writer who captured my inner depressive's thoughts so well and found out it was, Kim Ji Hye. But what struck me more, like a hammer on the head, was who the director was. Hur Jin-Ho.

Not surprised at all now, his female lead in Happiness also seemed to feel what I felt then.

And about Hur Jin-ho's work this description by film critic Kim Ji-mi in Korean Film Observatory magazine (No. 23) is so very true

Sir (2018 film) is a watch I don't regret. 

And yes, thanks to the Netflix blurb I knew they'd fall for each other, the suspense of the movie was only about the when and the then what? 

And of course I am not at all disappointed with the slow buildup to that one moment that changes everything for them - it was a very rewarding wait. 

Then once the initial euphoria of rooting for a love-conquers-class story died down one realizes that even though the sensitive, gentle, kind Ashwin may seem to be the progressive, accepting hero; it is actually Ratna who is the hero of the movie. She reminded me so much of Jane Eyre.  Ratna and Jane Eyre both dreamed of more but wouldn’t compromise on their ideals. 

“You’ll feel the longing.”, that’s what a friend told me as he lent me his ‘In the mood for love’ DVD. And oh was it a hard watch for me, my insides were knotted with pain as I waited and watched with the man and the woman.

Then recently I found my insides knotted again with the same feeling as I watched Kagaz Ke Phool. 

This song from the movie, is haunting and if you’ve watched the film the poignancy of these scenes will leave you a hot mess of tears and sorrow. They meet again this time their roles reversed fortune-wise and oh the beating his pride has taken. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZ3S4-bm70s

You sense also her love and helplessness in the face of his self-respect in the lyrics.

What a beautiful hand Time has dealt us

You're not Who you were I am not Who I was

Our restless hearts Meet now As if Never apart

You're remembering So am I As we walk A few steps together

This lovely young man is no more. He tried. Ah what sad news!

His films were not my cup of tea but he was still a delight to watch. I have only just checked out his Instagram account, the man was not fluff. 

Rest in peace Sushant Singh Rajput. 

I was finally able to reread this eulogy written by Ashok Soota in memory of V.G. Siddharta.This paragraph struck me as so poignant, “When I asked Siddhartha why he had turned his back on a strategic sale, he said that many of the founders were young and had a career path ahead of them. The more senior founders may never get another job. This was the empathy behind his decision." 

Poignant because the founders Siddharta spoke for then, turned their backs on him when mounting debts made him sell his stake in Mindtree to L&T. Those founders especially the man who gave himself the title of “Gardener”, didn't really care in return.  Sure, Siddhart’s CCD did get sole rights to spply coffee rights to all Mindtree’s offices but surely that did not justify the stupidity that Bagchi and his marketing team displayed in the run up to the L&T buyout of Siddharta's stake. Rember how Bagchi went positively Bollywood and dialed up the drama then?

Employees were also emotionally manipulated to tweet in solidarity against L&T  And  Karthik Srinivasan of  Ogilvy was not wrong here when he said,  "I'm assuming the internal teams (HR) is perhaps asking employees to tweet”. Unfortunately, some young employees got too carried away and their vitriol for L&T on social media did nothing to help Mindtree’s case. And despite all the founder’s shenanigans, L&T took over MIndtree, the founders were all kicked out and today everyone who begrudged Siddharta's decision to sell seems to be leaving too. Maybe there is justice beyond the grave.

Ashok Soota's article is important because it was published when no one wanted to even acknowledge an association with Siddharta - that a man as respected as Ashok Soota called out his friendship and admiration for Siddharta is a great example of what it means to be loyal. N.S. Parthasarathy another one of the founders also remembered Siddharta.

Contrast this with the “Gardener” Bagchi’s, KK Natarajan and Rustow Ravanan’s tweets from that day of Siddharta's death, it was BAU for these men - one of whom would write glowing essays on Siddharta and his work ethic earlier.  These guys who understood PR etc, could not bring themselves to condole the death of a man who stood by them in tough times.

For a while now, I had been posting screenshots of Twitter opinion differing from the stance taken by India’s ruling party on my WhatsApp status. The goal was to let people know that not all of us and our opinion were in agreement with the BJP ruling party’s agenda of casteism and religious intolerance. 

After the Delhi riots and as the Indian media started the witch-hunt of the Tabligi Jammat blaming them for the spread of the Corona virus in INDIA; I posted a message on how biased the media was. A colleague reached out to me criticising me for not hating the Jamaat too,

After that interaction I was sure we were doomed — I despaired at the rise of majoritarianism, the vilification of our own brethren on the basis of religion, the rising jingoism, the mostly right-wing stance taken by some colleagues and friends and people in my extended family too. 

I wrote about this conversation and my rising sense of hopelessness in a late night WhatsApp status post.Consoling me, a friend wrote back saying remember, “Most people are basically decent”. 

This article brought to mind his words from that night. “Because if there’s one thing we need in these times, it’s a hopeful view of humankind”. 

https://thecorrespondent.com/443/brace-yourself-for-the-most-dangerous-idea-yet-most-people-are-pretty-decent/58648416486-3d28ef1a

It may have been a movie about criminals and a crime, but what stood out was the kindness and grace of so many characters. It’s such a compelling watch because the story unfolds slowly, drawing in unsuspecting city residents into a web of intrigue; and leaves the audience hoping for a happy ending for them - well..except maybe one..or two of them...

Here’s a couple I loved in the movie - The inspector and his stiff necked subordinate; what do you make of this exchange between them? 

That the Indian police force cannot arm every policeman? That subordinate guy is inept with a gun? 

Events later show that subby’s always just been a loyal softy, throwing himself across his boss’s body to sheild him from snipper fire.

Additional reference:

The love and support Narendra Modi enjoyed at the beginning of his term as PM was unprecedented in recent history. Despite his association with the ultra-right RSS and the taint of the Godhra massacre, Indians of all religions were willing to give him a chance to be the leader he could be.

We loved and trusted him so much that we believed that demonetization was in the interest of the nation, even if it meant that some of us lost our grandparents when we couldn't furnish new cash notes at the hospital or lost our businesses - it was all for the nation.

So, imagine our disillusionment and disappointment after all the pains we bore, when this leader continues in his old ways of lies and hate. When he resorts to name calling of opponents, when he lies and fabricates facts at public rallies, when he is seen to be favoring his set of crony capitalists, when his coterie encourages violence against students and free-speech, when they piggyback on the army's achievement - he and the BJP have caused irreparable damage to all of us. We were all taken in by the lies fed by the BJP's hate factories continually churning out doctored photos and fake facts on previous leaders and administrations.

Instead, Mr. Modi could have used this opportunity and this love he had earned and this collective desire for change, to call on us to work for the country. A word from him and we'd have gathered to clean the Ganga, we'd have gathered to educate our fellow countrymen, we'd have contributed to help our farmers. Instead we got electoral bonds and paltry loan waivers and broken Ujwala yojanas.

Does he even know, surrounded as he is by sycophants, what an opportunity he has squandered? If he had exercised impartiality, grace and forgiveness; he could have been one of the greatest leaders of India, even greater than the object of his obsession - Jawaharlal Nehru.

But alas! Can a leopard change its spots? Or a chameleon not change color.

Je does the space-out.

Bayybeelaaa!