SOME BIZARRE NEWS & A BIT OF ECCENTRICITY

I am afraid that some of my friends are proving to be my muses for some of my blogs, once too often. But I am also glad, that at least this way I get inspired to write, with no offence to them in particular. Just recently, I received two links about a same news item from my cousin in the UK which I found very bizarre but anyway they made for some amusing reading. As such I posted the links on my Facebook wall to share with my FB friends. But the reaction of some of my friends (interestingly all in their forties, I doubt what became of the adage : 'Men get naughty at forty' ) to these links was pretty abashed, unforeseen and negative as if I had offended them and they were some kind of soothsayers. Or were they trying to scoff at me in a pretentious manner before the FB community that 'Yours Truly' was having a mortifying effect on them ? I will never know the truth but I would like to believe it that way. Their reaction was as grotesque and eccentric as the news item itself. Here, I am not trying to defend myself but just as a rejoinder to their comments, putting across the fact that I am no loser who thrives on any kind of voyeuristic pleasures.

To me, if a particular news article (be it on any subject) poses some interesting fact, then I definitely like to share it with my friends. Due to this instinctive nature and not because of any other misunderstood reason, I had shared the links on FB. However, now I truly believe that some people lead a dual life, one which appears so artificial on social networking sites and the other which is diametrically opposite in person. I'm afraid that such people are not going to win very many friends with this sadistic approach. It will be definitely better for the entire FB community, if they can make some real, debatable and meaningful comments apart from the obvious funny and light-hearted ones. You guessed it right : I am slightly miffed and confused at such meaningless eccentricities.

The links pertained to a recent news about an all nudist hotel coming up in Germany. A few commented that I was fascinated by nudists camps and frustrated like the Germans and my next trip would surely be to Germany. Ha...Ha. No doubt I was fascinated by the bizarre news item (but certainly not for the experience) and so just because of the curiousity quotient attached to such news items, I shared the link to it. The news read something like this : " In what is claimed to be probably the world's first, a nudist-only hotel is all set to open in Germany.Yes, you have heard it right. All the hotel guests will be required to leave their clothes at the reception while checking in and must be naked at all times when on the premises -'or they will be required to leave.' the Daily Telegraph reported. 'We hope to open as soon as possible. It will be the first comprehensively nudist hotel in Germany,' a staff member of the planned Hotel Rosengarten in the black forest town of Freudenstadt ("Town of Joys"), Silvia Probsthain said.The hotel rules state that all guests must put towels on chairs and lounges before using them, that there would be no sexual harassment and that all sexual activity in 'commonly accessible rooms' is strictly forbidden. Those who disobey will have to put on the ultimate badge of nudist dishonour-clothing-and leave."

The Germans are quite infamous about their views on nudity since the German FKK (free body culture) movement was founded in the 1920's and later banned by the Nazis for reasons of immorality. Still about 40000 Germans take holidays every year on nudist beaches in their own country and nearby Croatia. Last year a German travel agency organised a nudist plane trip from Eastern Germany to Usedom, a Baltic resort. Passengers had to dress before leaving the jet. And even Americans are not far behind. A recent news item in one of our national dailies reported that Nude Yoga has become a latest fad among international celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry, J.Lo, Naomi Watts, Nicholas Cage and the like. The technique involves practicing conventional yoga postures without a stitch on so as to liberate oneself from all inhibitions and help in unification of the mind, body and soul. That's what the exponents claim. Hence a number of Nude yoga clubs have mushroomed across the US and are actually creating a stir. Then last Sunday, protesters, mostly women across seven cities in the US walked naked through the streets demanding equal rights for women to go topless on the beaches. They were celebrating "National Go Topless Day" to honour Women's Equality Day at Venice Beach in LA and promoting the idea that women have the same constitutional right to be bare-chested in public places as men.They say, "If men can go bare-chested on the beaches, then why can't we ?" But to me this is nothing less than perversion and gimmickry. However still, doesn't all this news make attractive reading material to normal human beings for a change ? We all look for an interesting change of thought during a hard day's work. There is nothing sinful in that :-).

I, maybe out of sheer enthusiasm wanted people to know the morbid extent to which Germans can go to fulfill their perverted pleasures in the 21st Century and certainly not what I intended doing :-). The Germans and now even the Americans are in fact planning to go back to their prehistoric roots when humans were bereft of any clothing. I may never muster the guts to come out in my birthday suit in my entire life but I get the inkling that my same friends who were surprisingly acting to have been appalled about my post referring to the nudist hotel camps could actually be the ones who would be game for such wild experiences ;-). Most others intelligently managed to refrain themselves from commenting on the links on my FB wall, lest their guilty pleasures would also become public prey. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So I would like to believe that when people dream about participating in sexual jamborees which can never be fulfilled, then they are the only ones who rant and rave about such activities in public. I am neither a dreamer of that kind nor a practitioner. Anyways, for those who never got a chance, I would still (even in the aftermath of some brickbats) call upon them to read if they wish to, from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/destinations/germany/article6016553.ece and sign off with a message for my muses : chill as the link was never meant for you, but try getting a life.

MMMOVIES, POPCORN & MORE...

After a very hectic month at work, all I can now think of is movies and more movies. So with this blog entry, I intend taking you on a brief journey of the engrossing world of movies and my own first-hand experiences which changed my life for the better. I must first admit that I am a total Hollywood movie buff and a very passionate one at that (similar to the appetite of some of the voracious readers). So passionate, that over the last ten years I have indulged in a fine home theatre and built a gargantuan DVD collection to save on the time and hassle (parking blues for sure!) of visiting the multiplex every now and then without regular company in tow. And the best excuse to own one is that multiplexes don’t run at my beck and call, whereas my home theatre does. So now I can watch whatever and whenever any number of times depending on the flavour of the day. I have noticed many affluent and the nouveau-riche owning the best of home theatres which are biting dust on their walls (I can exchange mine with them any day) as they are never viewed but just flaunted in their circles. However, I don't belong to that class at all. The visual medium is a truly enjoyable and gratifying exercise. As when one thinks of going to the Movies, then Popcorn, Coke and the Fun factor definitely come foremost to mind. But as my experience unfolds before you, then at the end of it all you would realize that there is a lot more to movies than just a jumbo popcorn. In my case the ‘more’ was and still is 'Enlightenment and Education', both with a big ‘E’, but not necessarily similar from the fiction/non-fiction books we all read. Some movies are a great inspiration to educate oneself on all that was undone in school. However, the so called educational movies I am referring to are not the boring documentaries but astonishingly, the mainstream Hollywood English films only and not the majority of bollywood trash we are subjected to more often than not. I have been watching the Hollywood stuff since the late seventies when I was in my fifth grade, but catching the American accent then was like a cat and mouse game. Still my interest in them didn’t wane and I continued my love affair with the enigmatic original stuff, Hollywood churned out year after year whether at Chanakya or Archana cinema in Delhi or on VHS tapes at home, many a times bunking school and college. I have very vivid memories about the first English film I ever saw. It was the John Travolta blockbuster “Saturday Night Fever” sometime in 1978. What a huge rage it was during those times. And you won’t believe it, that I had asked my favourite English teacher to get me the tickets for this movie as she used to stay next to Archana Cinema in GK-1, Delhi. She not only bought the tickets but accompanied me and my cousin for the movie. So as a bonus, even popcorn and coke was on the house :-).

But true independence as a Hollywood movie buff came much later, at the start of the new millennium in 2000 when I bought my first Sony home theatre and a TV to match. It’s another matter that both these purchases broke my back at that time. However, in hindsight it was money well spent. Since then my personal Hollywood DVD collection has swelled to over hundreds of titles (before my friends and relatives have other ideas, just wanted to clarify that I don't intend being in the renting or lending business though.…LOL). Moreover, I detest when people borrow my DVD’s and books but never return. My treasured DVD collection is spread across all genres from Action thrillers to Romance to Suspense and Horror flicks to War/Historicals and many famous classics. Earlier, I was mainly a fan of the action flicks as they are abound with fast paced screenplays and the accompanying car chases, fights, stunts etc. particularly look terrific on the big TV screen. Later in 2007, when I graduated to a larger LCD, I still restricted my DVD collection to a handful of action flicks and some classics. But then one fine evening while flaunting my new LCD and home theatre at a party, I had a very profound conversation with another movie buff. He had an excellent insight into the movies, Hollywood had churned out between 1940’s to 1960’s, a period abhorred by the gen-next and a lot others (including my wife) for being black and white and out of sync with our present times. But that was the time when movies relied more on outstanding scripts rather than the SFX (visual) effects of today and mind you some of them are really awesome and amazing.

So I gradually started doing my own research on the actors, directors and films of that era mainly on Wikipedia. Thereafter, I purchased some of the Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Rock Hudson classics and several other historical and war movies of that period. I enjoyed watching them all most days of the week, on my personal seven thirty evening show in the confines of my comfy mini theatre-like bedroom carrying over the backlog of some lengthy films to the next day(s) as I had strict orders from my wife and kids to vacate the room for their nonsensical TV soaps after nine pm :-). On a more serious note, the genre which has really intrigued me the most in recent times is definitely the ‘War and Historical’ category. As the cliché goes, “Rome was not built in a day” and how true it proved in my case. But it was well worth the wait to discover and realize the true potential of the Historical/War genre. I am completely enamoured by it and still continue to fall into its abyss. What an irony, as I use to dread history and the Battle names/dates in school. But now after exploring history through the creative and visual medium of films, I surprisingly (coming from an accounting background) have started adoring history, particularly of the World War era and the Roman/Greek Empires.

Now I would finally like to introduce you to some of the films which completely floored me and turned it around for me. I thoroughly applaud the style in which the American Civil War, the Russian Revolution, Napolean’s invasion of Russia and World War II have been beautifully blended with sweeping romances in ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘Doctor Zhivago’, ‘War and Peace’ and ‘Casablanca’ respectively.The serious issue of rape and racial injustice depicted in Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ was definitely some enlightenment. I also admired ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Alexander’ which gave me a lot of insight into Julius Ceaser, the Roman Empire and the Greek empire respectively. Then films like ‘Passion of the Christ’ apprised me a lot about Jesus Christ and Christianity. So did the conspiracy aspect of US President John Kennedy’s assassination and the ‘Magic Bullet Theory’(stating how a single bullet caused all the non-fatal wounds in both President Kennedy and Texas Governor John Connally) shown in the film ‘JFK’ is just mind-boggling to say the least. Enthralling films of this genre were also made later in the 90’s by renowned directors like Steven Spielberg and will continue to be made. My education about the Holocaust (a period during World War II when about six million European Jews were brutally killed by Hitler and the Nazis), Hitler, the Nazis and World War II stems a lot from two of Spielberg’s heart wrenching blockbusters, namely the ‘Schindler’s List’ and ‘Saving Private Ryan’ alongwith the classics, ‘Life is Beautiful’ and ‘The Great Escape’. I hardly remembered anything about the history of these menacing yet passionate times from my school days where history till today is all about learning by rote. This education though didn’t come by me in just two to three hours of watching each of these films. When a particular film floored me, then the curiosity to know more and more compelled me to research extensively on the wars, famous historical personalities, the era they belonged to and many other finer nuances. The resulting exercise led me from one page to another on Wikipedia thereby enriching my knowledge like never before. I somehow never missed reading the voluminous books from which these films were adapted. If ever it would be possible to travel back in time like Michael J.Fox in the 'Back to the Future' movies, then I would love to visit the pre and post-war eras.

As they say, God has given us only one life and it will soon be past, so we ought to take out time to indulge in activities we relish the most (which I definitely did) and will continue to take out with the added bonus of conquering new territory to augment my faculties. It has given me a high very difficult to describe in words. The phenomenal exercise of watching these great epics has endowed upon me some purposeful education and left me a more compassionate and peace loving person at the end of it all. I vehemently think our generation should thank their stars to have not encountered the ravages, miseries and atrocities of the World War era and pay homage to those who did. Although terrorism is a new kind of war to be tackled in our times and maybe best left for some other time on this blog.