Interstellar Review - Spoilers Ahead

The premise is nothing new. The world is ravaged by war perhaps and food is scarce. Agriculture and survival is the main focus of the people on Earth. We then shift camp to some farm in the US where wheat and other crops are destroyed save for Corn. Mankind is at the threshold of existence. No light is thrown on the reason for this scarcity. But that really doesn't matter here. Interstellar is not about what happens on Earth but about the future without it. As the hero says "Mankind began on Earth but it doesn't have to die there".
The visuals of IS has a lot in common with Gravity. Stark scenes of harsh sunlight reflecting off of space stations set against the gorgeous background of planets and and stars, Icy terrains , mountain tall waves and  the narrow, dull interiors of a spaceship that reminds us of Gravity. The scene where Matt Damon is blown off a spaceship and the transition from the screaming wind when the airlock breaks to the silence that depicts the fact that he is now into space where sound cannot travel is all handled wonderfully. Visuals were always a strong point of Nolan's movie and IS spares no expense in this regard. Those close up shots with gorgeous lighting, the wonderful shots of planets makes you want to watch IS many times over in a cinema. And Nolan in his typical "fuck the norm" fashion shot it in  regular 2D effectively doing away with the eye pain inducing gimmicks( Again Nolan is one of the few directors along with Tarantino who still shots his movies in film).

Nolan juxtaposes the survival of the species with the emotions between individuals. Characters are not just skin deep but have intentions and emotions that often conflict with their responsibilities. Matthew McConaughey wants to finish off the mission quickly so that he can get back to his daughter, Matt Damon is haunted by the ghost of aloofness and Jessica Chastain is distraught at her father for leaving her yet desperate to get back together with him. It is a soulful tale full of emotions although it can be a bit draggy at times.

The science team seems to have done their homework very well. The shot of matter swiveling around a super massive black hole is said to have been rendered with the help of proper scientific equations and took around 800 TB of data to calculate. I am reminded of George Clooney's dialogue in Gravity "Cant beat the view".

The movie Looper has a good albeit tough to understand explanation of Time Travel and its consequences. Bruce Willis travels back in time and affects the past and events that are changed in the ripple causes him to lose previous memories and "remember" the new ones as they are formed. In IS though it is told that humans have transcended into higher dimensions that allow them to travel through time like they travel through space and communicate with 3 dimensional human civilization using gravity. They create  the wormhole through which humans can travel to another galaxy to resettle and assist the hero and his daughter to derive the equations to manipulate gravity to launch mankind en masse into space. Here is where a conundrum presents itself. How could humans help out their past survive an apocalypse in the past if they do not have a way to survive it without help from the future in the first place ?? Someone somewhere might have an explanation and I reserve the right to change my opinion when I get a better explanation. This is a major chink in the armor of Interstellar, which although not fatal is seriously distracting as one cannot help but notice this after it has been pointed out.

Summing it up, IS is "The Turn" in the 3 parts of a magic trick, where the director seems to showcase something wonderfully impossible and delightful at the same time. 165 million dollars have gone into making this visual extravaganza. "The Prestige" is the storyline, the one that tells that this a human story, bringing us back to the ground. I wouldn't want to give this movie a rating. Movies are very personal and cannot be reviewed objectively. Apart from its lack of explanation of the time travel part and the rather longish (3 hrs) screenplay Interstellar is just what is expected of a director of Nolan's caliber.

Unreal Elections. The truth is closer to fiction

A schoolteacher of mine once quoted this when she was reading out a Premchand story to our class

"Satire is a sugar coated quinine pill."

I don't remember whom she credited for the quote. Quinine pills were used to treat malaria during the 19th century (maybe even now, I don't know) and were known for their bitterness. It's a funny thing all cleansing foods and medicines are bitter in taste.

Unreal Elections starts in the typical Unreal Time fashion, a gag on the Congress Party portraying the dumbness of Pappu and the sycophancy of its workers and leaders. Digvijaya Singh later in the novel refuses to accept any person into the Congress election campaign team unless they have perfect scores on their Sycophancy Aptitude Test (SAT). The Prime Minister goes missing for 4 months when a cabinet reshuffle letter is sent to all the leaders of the Congress Party without the name of the PM. Only when the PM's signature was need to dismiss 2 cabinet ministers is it known the PM hasn't been seen in his office for the past 4 months. Sanjay Jha and Mani Shankar Aiyar, remark about the brilliance of Rahul Gandhi even in the most dire of situations. Sonia Gandhi ala Cersei Lannister style does everything in her power to ensure that the heir apparent becomes the Prime Minister. The rest of the Congress leaders do their very best to impress Rahul Baba to ensure their seats of power for the next 5 years.

Things on BJP's side are a bit better although not as well as they would like. Advani waits forever to see his day on the Iron Throne. His protege himself however proves the usurper with the entire party supporting his claim to the throne. He calmly counters Congress by allowing Rahul Gandhi to run amok, for everytime Rahul Gandhi speaks, Congress loses 10,000 votes and BJP gains 20,000. 

The Third front is made of disgruntled regional parties  lead by Prakash Karat. A ragtam team is hurriedly assembled as the third front, by bringing together even warring opponents like DMK Supremo Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha, Mayawati and Mulayam and an attempt to sow the seeds of harmony between CPI(M) and TMC ( Mamta  Baneerjee cancels the meeting when the Burger she was eating at McDonald's had Mayonnaise allegedly made by  a Mayo-ist) turns disastrous. The third front bicker and quarrel among themselves to select a third candidate for the PM and finally unite against a too righteous and condescending Yogendra Yadav from AAP.

Tired of the constant TV debates, the nerve racking routine of 2002 accusations, Arnab's "Nation wants to Know" , the entire media industry and the parties agree to a televised national debate between NaMO and Rahul. The third front announces its own debate on the same day at an alternative venue. 

I wouldn't spoil everything for you. Buy or borrow the book and read it to find out what follows next. For regular UrT readers ,the book is as good as the posts on the website. The authors have not lost their sense of humor in the transition between blog posts and a full length book. UrT is usually accused of siding with BJP at the expense of AAP and Congress. Rest assured that no party has been spared. Unreal Elections makes fun of each and every party at whatever available opportunity. Many pages left me howling like a Hyena, in the middle of the night, to the chagrin of my mom. Unreal Elections is a true laugh riot.

However, I found it a bit disappointing that a significant portion of the book has been recycled from previous UrT posts. Not to say that they are boring, it is just that I was expecting a completely original book that was totally different from the blog in terms of content. Regular UrT readers might feel that the book is just a condensation of the posts  UrT columnists since the time of Vadra-DLF scam. Nevertheless, this is still a good book and rare one in India's current literary landscape. I wouldn't call it an easy read as plenty of words found only in GRE word lists are peppered all over the book , leaving you hunting for the dictionary late at night.

The sugar coating of the Quinine pill vanishes quickly, leaving a bitter taste behind. Although the book makes you laugh till the very end, one soon realizes the horrible state of vote-bank electoral politics and the rampant corruption in our system leaving a bitter after note.  Despite 66 years of Independence, we are nowhere better than under the Colonial rule. India is still corrupt, ruled by an elite group of individuals that ignore the condition of a billion people except once every 5 years to rule for another 5 years. Dynasty rule still exists in the world's largest democracy and its citizens are designated to remain mute spectators in this game of musical chairs. The message of Unreal Elections is hidden beneath the layers of comedy and satire.

 "Liberty will not descend to a people. A people must raise themselves to liberty. It is a blessing that must be earned before it can be enjoyed"  

Kudos to the Unreal Times team for making a wonderful book . I would also like to point out that the book is relatively cheap at Rs.232.At the time of writing of this blog post, Amazon.in also offers free shipping.

PS:  Penguin books was started with the intention of producing cheap paperbacks available anywhere to be enjoyed by people. Unreal Elections is one of the few books in Penguin's catalogue that fulfils the mission of Penguin. The rest of the books are priced in such a way that only onion barons can call  them cheap.  

I hate writing

I have come to a conclusion.  I hate writing.

Goodbye long sentences. My brain can no longer concentrate on them.
Goodbye tough words. My brain isn't too worried about the nuances. I get the gist.
Goodbye philosophy. You are mostly bullshit.
Goodbye opinion. Your statistical significance is so low that even Frodo will have to bend down to see it.
Goodbye morality. Thanks to you i get into a "who has a bigger moral penis" competition with people on the INTERNET.
Goodbye Grammar. You will be obsolete in a few years.
Goodbye issues. Who cares about you?
Goodbye scandals. You will be replaced by larger, grander successors.
Goodbye politics. I could never figure you out.
Goodbye computer. You ruined my chances into IIT and crore scale dowry.

Protecting the women of our country

Today I saw the short film That Day after Everyday , by Anurag Kashyap .
No , I couldn't watch anything beyond the first few scenes. I know for fact that what was depicted happens in my life . I have seen people behave just as bad as this and worse . It makes me feel ashamed of being a man .

The end was lifting . The women strike back  at the men who make fun of them and harass them . They take the law into their hands and reply in kind to the treatment they are dealt with .

That ,dear Gentlemen is how we must empower our women . Not by locking them up inside our homes after the sun goes down. That was how the cavemen worked , hiding their families after dark to protect them from wild animals . We live in the 21st century AD , not BC .

The kind of ways in which the men of my city protect their women folk is surprising . The colleges do not allow girls to leave the campus after 7 PM , robbing them of plenty of chances to enjoy the city life and have some wonderful moments in their college life . The responsible  middle-aged uncles take up their tasks as vigilantes of Women safety by harassing couples in parks , especially after the sun sets . Do you think chasing of couples will protect your women  ? You are just setting an example to other men that women can be dominated and brought under their foot. That they ought to be treated like pets . Sitting when commanded so . Chasing away couples will only make women take more foolhardy risks when it comes to going out with men and choosing the wrong guy. They cannot explore options .You cant stop the hormones of the age. Instead provide your daughter with a safe way to choose her man .  Tell her that it's okay to go on a date . but ask her to provide you with the full details so that you can know where she is . Give her a reasonable time to come back to home . Do not protect your daughter . Instead teach her responsibility and maturity .

As a guy , I have come up with some ideas concerning women safety that I'd like to share with you all . I believe that some of these simple ideas might help promote the safety of women in the city
1) We need a community watch . I am not sure if we have one in Coimbatore . The basic premise of community watch is as follows :
             in every area of the city there are sure to be responsible men . Each such man can take up the duty of patrolling his area in shifts , ala night watchman style. The men can be trained and authorized by the police to use force when necessary . The contact no and details of all those men of a particular area can be given to women from that area , so that they can ask for help or escort when arriving late at night or when they are being harassed by unwanted elements

2) Instead of shutting off our women behind locked doors at nights , we can provide them safe rides back home . Do we stop traveling because it is dangerous and accident prone ? We takes steps to reduce accidents and improve safety on the road. Similarly , we can instead provide women night time buses manned by women
  a) designate a hotline similar to 108 or 100 that can provide immediate assistance to women . the assistance can be some sort of transport to and fro to their residence .
 b) have buses at night that ply at regular times at night for women. designate some bus stops as meeting point for women at night . Provide that bus stop with 24x7 lighting and a phone with  a direct connection to the hotline .Some study in some american city (google it ) showed that women are less likely to be harassed when they the perpetrators feel that they are in the spotlight. use this psychological tool to prevent potential harassment .
c) Hostels , do not lock in women into campuses . We feel sorry for them for missing out some of the best things in the city . Night life is a part of every women's life just as it a part of ours. Provide them with buses or run regular trips to the hostel like buses within IIT-Madras at late night .

3) We have to understand that protecting women from harassment is not a short term fix . It requires patience and reprogramming centuries of  a male dominated culture. We need to weed out things in life that despite our most vehement of protests ,affect the way we judge women .Masochistic ads for deodorants ,all those crummy skin cream ads for example . I dont say that we ban those . Just ignore them .Do avoid the talk that we have about women and how "slutty" they are getting . Asserting her independence is not "sluttiness" .  Going out with many boys is something you need not concern with .

We need to think of women as people , as beings with emotions and needs .Not some prize to be protected and married of and get done with . They are not tools in a trade of prestige and class. Virginity is not a gift to the bride groom for taking the burden of your shoulders . The woman is not the box that carries it . So stop thinking like a caveman and start thinking like a person of the 21 century ; civilized and cultured.