Little did I know what I was getting into on my trip to Payammal from Irinjalakuda two Sundays ago, 23’rd February to be precise. Having made an aborted attemtp to visit “Shatrugnan Swami” at Payammal earlier, this time I was determined to make it and so I start early for the day. I was later told that a bus going to “Mathilakam” via “Edakkulam” was the one to take and that it would depart at around 8:30 AM. I did as advised and did board the bus on time. I did mention to the conductor to inform me of the “Bus Stop” at Payammal. Thanks to him and a passenger I got off the bus at the right stop. The temple is still a 800m walk to the temple from the bus stop. Had a nice little chat with someone from the bus till the temple (ok, pretty young girl, who happened to be an ex-St.Josephite where I was currently teaching). The temple is the smallest when compared to the temples of the other brothers namely, Lakshmana, Sri Rama and Bharatha (in the order of increasing sizes of the temples) but an important one nevertheless. It is considered very auspicious to visit all four during the “Ramayana” month by noon. I was not looking for a 4-Temple visit but it happened that day, thanks to His Grace. But there were other surprises, read on!
I was on time for the morning Darshan of “Shatrugna Swamy” but just when the “Nada” or the door of main deity was being closed, two people stepped arrived. There was a lady (dressed in white Sari and I should have realized why she was dressed that way) accompanied by someone who I guessed was her son. There seemed to be a “buzz” in the air on their arrival. Within a short while the “Nada” was closed and it was a good decision I did not leave the temple premises when the “Nada” was closed. I had been at the temple for just a short while anyway and didn’t want to leave. After the the doors were opened, I paid another visit inside. Meanwhile I already noticed one person in the temple tell the lady and her son, “I have watched you on T.V…” and I gradually get the feeling she may be a popular figure but I couldn’t figure for what. As we were all leaving the temple I heard them talk about Moozhikulam, Lakshmana‘s temple. It was here I thought I would ask them if I could join them. “Are you going to Moozhikulam?” I asked. “Yes” came the reply from them. “Can I join you?” I asked. “Sure” came the prompt reply. I felt blessed. Their car was emptly anyway and could take another passenger as well.
It was only during the journey and in conversation with the son (whom they were adressing as Jishnu, actual name Uthrajan) that I came to know that his mother Ramadevi who had given birth to quintuplets (4 daughters and a son) and was well known all over the Malayali world. She raised the children single-handedly after the passing away of her husband. All 5 children went to the same school, same class (probably same section too) though now they have varied interests and therefore have qualified for their specialized jobs. The four daughters are all getting married on the same day, same time in April and the best part is that I was being invited too. What an honour!
I only pray the wedding goes well inspite of the Corona virus problem.
We reach Moozhikulam just in time before the temple closed its doors. What another blessing! Two temples down and I was slowly beginning to wonder where we are headed next. I couldn’t believe when I was told they were driving to Guruvayoor via Thriprayar. I asked if I could be dropped at Thriprayar and to which they gladly agreed. My other choice would have been boarding a bus at Mala to IJK. So after the darshan at Thriprayar I would have time to visit Koodalmanickyam and make it a complete “Naalambalam” visit, Wow!
The only gripe was that I reached Thriprayar at noon and the temple “Nada” was closed though I was allowed to sit inside the premises, which was good. So I wait till 4:45 when the doors open, have my darshan of Sri Rama and head back to IJK to visit Koodalmanickyam and there’s my story of visiting all four temples in a day. Was dead tired by the end of day!
P.S – Except Koodalmanickyam men can wear Pants (trousers) at all the other temples. Of course shirts, tees need to be removed at all temples.
Jesus! Honestly what guts! Full credit to Anwar Rasheed and the writer of this film, Vincent Vadakkan for a movie as this. It was my first day, first show probably for the first time in my life and I have been dying to get this review out. In fact I am wondering why Christians here in Kerala weren’t offended by this film, or probably they are. I know one lady who walked out of the film. I’m told it hasn’t been released in Chennai and I wonder how the Christians there are going to take it, if it does get released there. Such miracle healing shows are almost legend in Chennai and other parts of Tamizhnadu.
How savvy businessmen make these Christian Ministries into money making Juggernauts is what the movie describes vividly though there is a story line which again was not the “main thing” for me. How millions are fooled into believing these ministries is the highlight. And these fake men pull it off with drama, staged healings, emotional tugging at the hearts, song, music, dramatic special effects and whatever it takes to fool people in the name of God, and in the process amass huge amounts of money. Some are brainwashed to such an extent that they even refuse hospital treatment of their sick ones thinking the healing power of God will help.
Fahadh Faasil does a stellar role and there are stellar performances from other cast and crew, notably Dileesh Pothan and Gautam Vasudev Menon who does his first good complete role compared to the cameos he does in his movies. The only let down was Nazriya whose character gives away whenever she resorts to her childish antics (that she is popularly known for) which doesn’t do justice to her role in the film. On the other hand someone like Andrea Jeremiah (Annayum Rasoolum) would have nailed this character.
“Rush’s Neil Peart is no more…of brain cancer, he was 67”. I wake up with this message on WhatsApp yesterday from my friend Shaji Samuel in the U.S. My day of mourning begins. The next thing I am doing even before I start for the day is checking for “News” of his passing away online. Why wasn’t there any news of his illness? Reminded me of Freddy Mercury‘s passing away in 1991. I had just joined my first job then and I didn’t want to go to work that day. The Band’s official announcement of Neil’s passing away is on their website at www.rush.com.
You say you listen to rock music. You say you don’t know Neil Peart of Rush. I am sorry, “You don’t know rock music”. In fact you haven’t listened to rock at all.
You are learning to play drums. You say you don’t know Neil. You don’t know how much of a better drummer you will be only if you knew him. Neil inspired millions to take up drumming. Mike Portnoy the legendary drummer from Dream Theatre was such a big fan, he would actually go for Rush’s concerts to watch Neil (there is a YouTube video of Mike attending one such concert).
First time I hear about Rush is at school (VanaVani, IIT M), way back in the early 80’s when my classmate K. Shivakumar used to brag that Rush was the greatest band in the whole world. His brother was in the U.S and he had music sent to him from there. The name Rush was stuck in my head though. While at college (MCC but always hung out with my friends at IIT, M) I listen to songs “Fly by night“, “Cinderella Man” and “Bastille Day“. I am not very impressed and then in 1986 I listen to a complete album, “Permanent Waves“. The mark that was left in my mind by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and that one hell of a drummer Neil Peart, was of course, “Permanent for ever”. Thanks to “Bond” Sridhar (the wealthy dude on the BSA Bond bike from Alakananda Hostel pursuing his B.Tech Mechanical) who could procure us any album under the planet. I, Shaji Samuel and T.P (T. Parthasarathy) the other dudes from IIT M would spend hours of our precious time listening to Rush though TP would eventually move on to more heavier music later on. By the time we got to “Moving Pictures” Rush’s mark on our minds were indelible. Though “2112” ranks as the fav first album of many a Rush fan (actually it’s the official Rush initiation album) for me it was “Permanent Waves“. Other classics just followed “A farewell to Kings“, “Hemispheres“, “Caress of Steel“. These are of the more Prog Rock kind. Even “Signals” retained their former sound but succeeding albums didn’t do the magic for me like these did though flashes of brilliance always came shining through. Though Alex and Geddy’s contributions on these albums were brilliant it was Neil that outshined with his impeccable drumming. Show me one Rush fan who will say “No” to this. Though I did love and admire several other drummers (Steward Copeland in particular for his style), Neil was undoubtedly a “Drum-God”. Still recall Alex Lifeson mentioning in The Rush Rockumentary how Neil beat the crap out of that drums when they checking him for auditions after their first drummer John Rutsey was being replaced. John Rutsey himself is also no more having succumbed to diabetes and other health issues in 2008.
I recall another incident. While in the U.S. many years ago a colleague would mention how in one of the 2112 concerts he had been to, Neil’s drums were connected to lights, one drum to a light. Each light would light up only when he struck that drum. At the height of his solo it was unbelievable to watch the number of lights that would go “on”. Wish someone had made a video of the same.
Neil’s life was not without personal loss and tragedy having lost a teenage daughter in a car accident and his former wife 10 months later after his daughter’s accident, to cancer. It was almost the end of Rush when these incidents happened and Neil went on a hiatus. But he bounced back.
Even the drums he played will miss him because there is no drummer who can play them like the way Neil Did.
First of all kudos to Anthony Maras for making a film of an incident of which a movie, “The Attacks of 26/11” by Ram Gopal Varma and a documentary “Surviving Mumbai” were already made. The documentary was the inspiration for the making of this film. For many who do not know of what actually happened, this film is certainly an eye-opener.
Watching a movie as this one wonders if what the NRA is doing in America can also be good for us in that that one is actually tempted to go and buy a gun to fight these brainwashed cowards who attacked us and caused so much harm and suffering in 2008.
The movie may not be perfectly historically accurate and it also doesn’t mention or show the various Policemen (encounter specialists) and Commandos who sacrificed their lives in the event but it still does a good job of capturing the horror of what the victims would have gone through in an event as this. One reviewer on Wikipedia has written about Hotel Mumbai, the following, “Sitting through the harrowing events again nearly a decade later could hardly be described as entertainment, and the film plays to many of the same unseemly impulses that make disaster movies so compelling, exploiting the tragedy of the situation for spectacle’s sake” but then how else can one explain the horror of this incident. Watching this movie is certainly not like watching a fictional “Rambo” or “John Wick” movie. This is what took place and this is how many of the victims actually suffered.
The acting is top notch with Dev Patel, Anupem Kher and a good list of international stars delivering gripping and stunning performances. The movie actually is a year old and the theatrical release has been delayed in India.
Even now, I keep pulling my son Chaithanya’s leg saying, “You were just an hour or two away from Maradona when he was opening Chemmannur Jeweller’s showroom in Kannur and you missed him.” Chaithu was vacationing in Kerala and he knew all about the superstar footballer’s visit. Even Mammooty and Mohanlal fans wouldn’t gather this much to watch their favourite actor as did Maradona’s fans who came from all over Kerala. Two of them (not confirmed) even had a heart attack.
Back to the documentary film now playing in theatres in India. The presentation of the documentary is good, very similar to what Peter Jackson did with the “They Shall not grow old” documentary on the World War 1 veterans in that that there aren’t any personal interviews with people talking to the camera about Maradona. Whenever a voiceover occurs only a mention in titles is made on screen as to who is speaking. Considering the amount of free footage still available online it is surprising some very important footage was left out, particularly of a crying Maradona after the defeat in the 1990 World Cup Final to Germany. It was a heart wrenching moment for Maradona fans all over the world. Germany’s defeat in the 1986 World Cup Final was avenged but only with a controversial penalty kick in favour of them. It was really no big victory. Claudio Cannigia who alongwith Maradona won most of the games that year was out on yellow cards. Argentina entered the game with four players suspended and ended it with nine men on the field, overall losing over half their squad due to injury or suspension. They also should have been awarded a deserving penalty but that didn’t happen. But what was not mentioned in the documentary is the fact the Maradona was fouled over 50 times in the 1990 tournament, a world record. Every team including Germany (Guido Buchwald was the guy for the Germans) had at least one player to mark Maradona. Such was his stature in the tournament.
One annoying moment was at 1:45 of the film when there is a shot of Maradona at a Christmas party. For over a minute the camera just focussed on his face, Maradona seems to be intensely thinking and looking into some void. It is a painfully tiring scene and one that could have been replaced with the one (from the 1990 world cup) I mentioned earlier. Two lovely instrumentals end the documentary. They have been composed by Antionio Pinto. They are available on Jiosaavan. Overall, a must watch for Maradona and football fans. To quote the current Argetinian legend Messi, “Even if I played for a million years, I’d never come close to Maradona. Not that I’d want to anyway. He’s the greatest there’s ever been.”
Is God this benovelent? Oh Yes, He is! When U2-clone “Coldplay” performed in Mumbai in 2016 I had expressed my disgust of the U2-clone-band in this post and guess who comes to perform in Mumbai three years later, U2. Can it get any better?
Very sadly I will not be making it to the concert as I will not be able to postpone my trip to Sabarimala which falls on the very next day after the concert. During the 42 days of fasting leading upto the pilgrimage one is not supposed to indulge in such festivities either. Though initially I took the concert as a blessing from Lord Iyyappa, I have some other big reasons too for not going and maybe I’ll explain them later. As I write tickets can be purchased till the end of today via the Phone Pe app. From October 1 it can be purchased online from Bookmyshow (app or website). For those of you who don’t want to miss U2 in India, here’s your solid chance. Don’t let go!
Recent Comments