Slumdog Millionaire

I just watched Slumdog Millionaire and I think this was one of those really classic movies after a long time... It is a story about a teenager who grew up in the slums of Mumbai about to win 20M in 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' and how he got there. (I will avoid talking much about the plot as I think you should all go see it!)...

It was sad but at the same time it was a story of love, hope and survival. I know that some critics say that the story line is highly improbable, but in a way it's like a fairy tale where it might not happen in real life just as it is, but is a story of how love will conquer all and of hope...
But at the same time it was also showing the life of slum dwellers, and beggars... what I've seen often in Sri Lanka... It also spoke of one of the issues I often have when I see beggars, cos I feel so sad, and want to give them money, but if I do, am I giving it to the poor girl or boy or to some enterprising rich man trying to profit from the misfortune of the poor... I guess the best thing might be to give food, or things that they can consume, rather than money... It is one of the difficult things for me to see the poor, I feel so blessed, yet there seems little I can do to help I can give food or money for one meal, but what happens after?

I'll end this post with the famous line 'if a man is hungry don;t give him a fish, teach him how to fish and he will be fed forever'. I really do admire those that put this into practice and start organisations to help the needy. I guess this is one of the reasons why I like working for the Not-for-Profit sector, as it feels that you're doing something for the 'greater good' even if in a small way.

Barrier Free Communication

I just watched a movie called “Who gets the house”, I don’t think it’s a very famous movie but it had a really interesting concept.

In it this kid develops a theory called “Barrier Free Communication”. He believes that we only hear what we want to hear and that in the first instance itself if we don’t like someone or have some kind of prejudice against that person, we’ve already decided that we won’t like what’s being said and don’t really listen. So he decides to test this theory by blind folding two people who hate each other and changing their voices through a ‘voice emulator’ to sound like someone they like. Then he tells them to get to know each other and try to find things in common, just no personal questions which would give-a-way the identity of the other person. Since they heard the voice of someone they liked they started on a positive note and went on to realize that they had things in common. So finally when the blind folds are removed the enemies became friends. Using this method he managers to get his parents who are on the verge of divorce to really listen to each other and make up…

Obviously this wouldn’t work with everyone and sometimes there are real reasons for people to dislike each other, but I feel that as the father said at one point “We see what we choose to see”, if we’re looking for reasons to dislike someone we’ll find them and vice versa. Often I have made up my mind about people way before really getting to know them, and stuck to those prejudices in spite of this person doing things proving the contrary.

Of course you can’t go through life wearing “rose tinted glasses” I learnt that lesson the hard way soon after I started uni and realized that everyone is not genuine in their intentions… At the same time you can’t got through life in “black tinted glasses” either. I find myself sometimes failing to acknowledge the good things that people I don’t like do… I guess the secret to a happy life is to find the correct balance and try to look at the world objectively…

I was just reminded that I should start to look at the bright side of life again. I know that my profile says this about me but I seem to have forgotten it due to the frustrations of life…

Water

I went to see the movie “Water” yesterday. It’s a Hindi movie filmed in Sri Lanka, set in the 1930s during the rise of the independence struggles against British colonial rule. The film examines the plight of a group of widows forced into poverty at a temple in the holy city of Varanasi. We see this world of widows in the ashram through the eyes of Chuihya (Sarala), a eight-year-old widow sent to live there after her husband dies. (I just checked on the net and was appalled to find that even today people still give girls as young as 7 or 8 in marriage to much older men in many parts of the world… Often due to poverty the parents of the girls agree)

I had a few nice pics from the movie but had trouble attaching them today, I'll try that later. You can click here for a few photographs.

Eight-year-old Chuyia (Sarala) first appears at the moment her father tells her she's been widowed. Though she hardly even remembers being married, she is suddenly cast into an awful lifelong limbo, sent to live in an ashram with 14 other widows, all dispised by "respectable" citizens. Sarala’s acting was Brilliant. She´s cute, energetic and the perfect choice for the role. In real life, Sarala is a Sri Lankan and cannot speak a word of Hindi. Her work in Water is the complete memorization of lines from their sounds. Water was so very moving and at one point I had tears in my eyes. Despite the depressing theme of the movie, there are moments of comedy and great love.

It really did make me think of how far we women have come… I know that still there are many women suffering in silence due to the many injustices of society, but I was thanking God that I was born in this century and place where we are given almost equal status. I say almost cos still especially in the field of engineering, I feel that there are many who think that we cannot measure up.

There is one quote which really struck a cord. As Chuiya enters the Ashram, one of the widows tell her "A wife is part of her husband while he is alive, and when husbands die, god help them." What I noticed was that these women themselves had just given up and accepted their fate. It took the arrival of little girl to ask questions as to why they were treated this way… That’s how it is with many injustices in society… It always gets set because the victims choose to submit unquestioningly. I know that this is much easier said than done and if I had been born in a different century in a different place I wouldn’t know what exactly I would have done either…

Madagascar

Just watched this last night and it's a must watch for all you animated movie fans. (if you haven't already) Loved the Penguins and Mort the Mouse lemure!!!!

Here are some cute quotes
Julian: Shh! We're hiding. Be quiet everyone. That includes me. Shh! Who's making that noise? Oh, it's me again...

Maurice: What if Mr. Alex is even worse then the Foosa? I'm tellin' you, that dude just gives me the heebiedabajeebies!
Julian: Maurice, you did not raise your hand. Therefore, your heinous comment will be stricken from the record. Does anyone else have the heebie-jeebies for Mr. Alex? No? Good. So shut up.

Marty the Zebra: You're biting my butt!
Alex the Lion: [with Marty's butt in his mouth] No, I'm not.
Julian: What is a bite on the butt amongst friends? [shakes his tail at Maurice]


Did you know that there are real Fossas. (pronounced 'foosa') I just searched the web and found a pic of one. They're a mix between a dog and cat.






I also found a pic of a mouse lemur ( isn't it really cute :0) )