Extracts from a Banaras Diary ...Part I...

Reading a book, especially one which you've been trying to find a copy of for a long time, is a source of immense pleasure. Currently, I'm privileged enough to indulge in this pleasure while reading Satyajit Ray's "Our Films,Their Films". Amazingly, after a number of failed attempts, I got hold of a battered first edition copy of this gem of a book while flipping through cheap pirated versions of contemporary novels in a roadside book-stall at Gariahat. What were the odds???!!...weird ..eh??.

Right from the first passage, I've been thoroughly amazed at the brilliance and insight of each and every article in the first part of the book,namely,"Our Films".So, I thought of sharing a few excerpts from my coveted possession for fellow Ray lovers who haven't had the chance to read it (also partly because I don't really have an original post right now [:P]).

The following passages has been taken from Ray's diary while shooting for Aparajito(The Unvanquished) during March,1956,in Banaras.

"March 1,1956-- Set out at 5 a.m. to explore the ghats.Half an hour to sunrise,yet more light than one would have thought,and more activity. The earliest bathers come about 4 a.m.,I gather.The pigeons are not active yet,but the wrestlers are.Incomparable 'atmosphere'. One just wants to go on absorbing it, being chastened and invigorated by it.The thought of having to work-planning, picking sites and extras, setting up camera and microphone, staging action- is worrying. But here, if anywhere, is a truly inspiring setting. It is not enough to say that the ghats are wonderful or exciting or unique. One must get down to analyzing the reasons for their uniqueness, their impact. The more you probe, the more is revealed, and the more you know what to include in your frame and what to leave out.
                                                         In the afternoon, the same ghats present an utterly different aspect. Clutters of immobile widows make white patches on the greyish ochre of the broad steps. The bustle of ablution is absent. And the light is different, importantly so. The ghats face east. In the morning, they get the full frontal light of the sun, and the feeling of movement is heightened by the play of cast shadows. By 4 p.m. the sun is behind the tall buildings whose shadows now reach the opposite bank. Result-- a diffused light until sunset perfectly in tune with the subdued nature of the activity. Morning scenes in the ghat must be shot in the morning, and afternoon scenes in the afternoon.




March 2-- Explored the lanes of Bengalitola. Those of Ganesh mahalla are perhaps the most photogenic. What makes them so?-- The curves in the lanes, the breaks in the facades of the houses, the pattern created by the doors, windows, railings, verandahs, columns ... here the light is qualitatively unvarying, and one could pass off a morning shot as an afternoon one.
                                                                                                                                                  We chat with the people of the neighbourhood and they promise cooperation. Where would we be without it? We are in fact at the mercy of the residents here and must deal with them with utmost caution. The smallest faux pas and the whole arduous enterprise may be wrecked."


TO BE CONTINUED.....

"Aila......No SACHIN ???!!!"

With the enormous amount  of runs Sachin Tendulkar has been scoring throughout the past year,the master blaster's fans around the globe have had more than enough reasons to celebrate.He also swept the coveted ICC awards this year,sending his fans into a double frenzy.However,with the recent uproar over Sachin's exclusion from XYZ magazine's  "100 Best films of the decade" list,Tendulkar fans may have just gone too far.

XYZ magazine recently released a list of the best 100 movies from the past decade,leaving Sachin fans all over India outraged.The cause of the uproar, seemingly, was the absence of Sachin's name from the list, with angry fans not ready to come to terms with the basic fact that Sachin Tendulkar is NOT a film.Experts justified the fans' anger, stating that Tendulkar fans scan effectively every list published over the world searching for Sachin's name in them, and have ample reasons to be disappointed if they do not find it.

Fans displayed their rage by arranging dharnaas,burning public buses and occasionally burning posters of films included in the list. Protests spread across the country,with the demand of  Sachin's inclusion at the no.1 spot in the list. Many of the fans were heard screaming,"Who is this City of God? Is it's batting average better than Sachin's? And what about Lord of the Rings?? It doesn't even come near the number of centuries Sach has scored! Are we supposed to believe that these lousy films,who haven't even played one bit of cricket in their lives,is better than Him? What a joke..hmmmpf !! ".
The repercussions were felt across the web also.Tendulkar admirers started posting angry protest slogans on various websites (occasionally totally out of context) and spreading Rajnikant jokes replacing Rajni with Sachin .Cricket discussions boards on certain sites also saw heated debates, which quite often ended with a sludge of half-remembered statistics and a general consensus on the uselessness of Ravindra Jadeja.


This unforeseen drama has triggered a bigger national debate concerning the discrimination between films and cricketers and whether they should be treated equally.TV news channels across India have started airing live phone-in shows ,namely, "Films,Cricket,God" and "Movies,Sachin,Recession,Michelle Obama,Mango Fruity...err.. what were we discussing??", with cricket analysts such as Celina Jaitley,Dino Morea,Shilpa Shetty and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

"I look forward to a day when films and cricketers would be considered equal and will not be discriminated on the basis of petty batting averages,box office collections,no. of centuries or no. of Oscars.I'm sure a day will come when Pan's Labyrinth could be the opening batsman for Australia or  Kevin Pietersen could win a Golden Globe award", remarked Shilpa Shetty,thrilled at the prospect of edifying viewers with her cricket-intellect once again. Mr.Morea was busy flaunting his newly acquired 10-pack abs through a transparent tee, while Ms.Jaitley could only utter the name of her next film, when asked to remark.

Commenting on the situation, Mr.Sidhu hollered ,"Wallowing in foolishness,my friend,is like a rhinoceros in an African bog! When you are eating with the devil, you've got to have long utensils!", leaving everyone else in the studio scratching their heads.

Amidst all the brouhaha,even Sachin could not retain his typical calm composure.When first informed by a reporter, he squealed, "Ailaaaaa!" and fainted, leaving whole of India wondering which side of the argument he was on.


P.S.-All characters in this article are fictitious.If they bear any resemblance to anybody in real life,it should be taken as mere coincidence. And,it's a satire.....if you still didn't get it! [:P]


To the reader--If you like the piece,please post comments and follow my blog. Even if you don't like it, please post comments pointing out where you feel it didn't work. Cheerio!






 

New year resolutions...and illusions...

Ahh...finally..my first blog post is here! 

The idea of an online avatar of my queer journal entries has been subject to my procrastination for almost two years now....and now at last on this unique date(1.1.11 that is..) I'm about to embark on a journey into the blogosphere! This sounds quite exciting, but knowing myself as well as I do,I may just lose interest and stop posting after merely 2 posts...but for now let's kick away any pessimism and hope that I keep posting(however infrequent the posts may be).

So..my future readers..let me give y'all a head start about what I'm gonna be writing about.My life essentially revolves around five things,namely,cinema,cricket,heavy music..booze and fag. [:D]..and as you may have guessed,my posts will primarily concern the first three things on the list...and occasionally,the most entertaining soap-opera..Indian politics.

And hence....here I am...taking a new year RESOLUTION--"I'm gonna have an honest shot at blogging and will NOT pussy out after 2 posts and zero followers"....and sincerely hoping that this doesn't end up as another new year ILLUSION(P.S.-Last year my new year resolution was to kick the butt...and I ended up spending more on fags than on basic food....sounds a bit far-fetched but it's true!).

Cheerio folks..and I hope to come up with my second post pretty soon!

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