The Sermon

I was watching a documentary called "Fish! A Japanese Obsession." Unusual one. Made by a British fisherman and travel writer who decided to travel to Japan to try and capture the essence of the Japanese love, or obsession, with fish. It followed his 6-week journey to various parts of the island nation that are associated with certain kinds of fish, fishing industry, traditions and various other fishy things. :) Found it rather interesting. For example, the statistic that this country which makes up 1/50th of the world's population eats 1/10th of it's fish was quite startling. So was the extraordiary lengths to which Japanese go to satisfy their craving for freshness and the taste for delicious but endangered fish. It is curious how the Japanese apparently revere fish and yet do not even think what their appetite/craving is doing to fish in general and esp. to those that are endangered.

Anyways, the documentary also briefly brought into focus some curious aspects of Japanese culture and got me digging into memory and thinking about various things associated with Japan - Samurai, Zen, martial arts, rice farmers, minimalism in art, super-efficiency, Japanese militaristic ambitions, it's place in the modern world economy and so on.

I suddenly remembered this Zen story that I had read once and liked a lot. As I recollected it, I thought I'd put it into my own words. Here it is:


It was dawn in spring season. The air was cool and life was stirring itself up for activity as the Sun made it's appearance.

Zen monks, fresh and eager faced, were sitting on straw-filled mattresses in a courtyard. The Master arrived and sat under a tree. He chanted with his head bowed and then looked with repose at the disciples.

As he was about to begin his sermon, a bird alighted on a branch above him. It hopped about energetically and broke into a birdsong. All eyes and ears turned towards it. The bright-colored feathered creature sang for a while and then flew away.

Turning to the monks the Master said, "The sermon for the day is over."


Liked it? I found some more nice Zen stories here.

Bob Dylan - Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie

Dylan wrote this poem as a goodbye/tribute to Woody Guthrie.

2 Solutions for 1 Problem (Abbas Kiarostami, 1975)

A short 4-minute film by the noted Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami. Loved the way he has managed to get across a multi-layered message using a simple plot. The audio-visual medium can be so much more effective when in the right hands. And I think that is what separates the masters from the rest. Whether in writing, music, art or films, the masters are the ones who manage to say the most with the least.

This one definately makes me want to see more by this director.

Ek Kavita

A 3-minute short film documenting hands. This won the award in the non-fiction category at a contest sponsored by Nokia.
Found it on youtube.com and loved it, so thought I'd post it here.

Putumayo's Dreamland

This one is about one of the most wonderful collection of songs I've come across. It's called "Dreamland" (by Putumayo) and is a selection of lullabies & soothing songs from around the world. Yes, lullabies! If you thought lullabies were meant only for kids, think again. This kind of music will soothe your nerves so much that you will want to curl up and leave behind your adulthood to escape into childhood dreams and memories. There's a kaleidoscope of soundscapes here which will appeal to everyone, no matter what their age, ethnicity or musical preferences.

I'll try to briefly describe each track so as to paint a picture of the album as a whole. Most of the tracks are not in English, but that seems to matter little. Music has it's own universal language which the discerning ear can instinctively understand. And that's how it is with these songs too. One wishes one knew the meaning of the lyrics on some songs. On the other hand, as one listens, one seems to get a sense of what a song is all about regardless of the language. And perhaps that is the beauty of listening to these. As Antoine de Saint Exupery said in The Little Prince, "... you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings."

1. Naïma by Angelique Kidjo & Carlos Santana -- This is a gentle and melodious lullaby sung by the West African singer Angelique Kidjo who wrote this for her daughter. Angelique's voice sounds so different here as compared to that on her other well-known songs like Babalao. You can feel the depth of affection and care coming through in her voice as she sings. At times, I've almost felt as though I am spying on her singing to her daughter! :) There is also some guitar work by Carlos Santana. Yes! Carlos Santana. Strange to think of him playing the guitar for a lullaby, no? It is quite inconspicuous though and does not try to take the centrestage from the vocals, which I guess is how it should be. :)
   
2. Ny Fitiavako an'I Mama by Eric Manana -- This one is my personal favorite on the entire album. (Naïma comes a close second). The singer is from Madagascar & has sung this in his native Malagasy language. It is not a lullaby, but a song dedicated to his mother. To the accompaniment of acoustic guitar, Eric Manana seems to be gently and powerfully declaring his love for his mother. I really wish I could understand the lyrics on this one. A reviewer translated some of the lyrics as follows: "You are my shelter from the rain / You are my anchor in life's ocean / I'll always need your love and compassion." I guess this gives some idea of the theme of the song.
   
3. A Lullabye by Teresa Doyle -- A traditional Celtic lullaby, this one is nice but not great. It does not have a tenderness and personal feeling similar to that which Naïma has. Overall, the song seems confused between trying to be gentle and cute, and also wanting to have a Celtic air, all at the same time. It is strictly OK. Just a personal opinion!
4. Thula Mama by Sibongile Khumalo -- This one is from South Africa. Dunno which language though. Good vocals with nice piano in the background. It has more of a somewhat operatic feel than a traditional African song. Comes out very well though.
   
5. Arriba del Cielo by Claudia Martinez -- Another awesome song. It is in Spanish and originates in Mexico. The title means "Under the Sky". It has been sung A Cappella i.e. - only vocal singing with no instrumental accompaniment.
   
6. Yi-Rrana by The Letterstick Band -- This is the shortest song on the album. It is in the traditional language of the An-Barra clan of Aborigines from Australia. The title means "Sunset". Very good vocals with guitar in the bacground.
   
7. La Vai Alguem by Virginia Rosa -- From Brazil. Language seems to be Spanish. Lovely lullaby with soft guitar & mouth organ as accompaniment.
   
8. Cradle Spell of Dunvegan by Lynn Morrison -- Best way to describe this song would be to say that it has a heavenly feeling. And it comes from the enchanting land of Scotland. It tells the story of a child born to a human father and a fairy mother. The fairy mother felt homesick, so the father let her return to fairyland. However, one night the fairy mother heard her child crying and came down from fairyland to sing her little one to sleep. What a gorgeous feel this song has! It soars.
   
9. Numi Numi by Tanja Solnik -- Don't know the what the language is on this one too. The singer is from America. It is a lullaby in a voice that seems to be softly urging a child to slip away to sleep. Or perhaps it is telling a story of something wonderful that has passed by or maybe something that the child will encounter in dreamland. Whatever it is, it's a nice song!
10. Cradle Song by The Sanshin Cafe Orchestra -- An instrumental from Japan. You could call it the odd man out in the album. It definately sounds like a lullaby though, as though telling the story of a little prince and his childish adventures. One hears the deep sound of the Japanese style drum at regular intervals. The leading instrumentals are using a Japanese stringed instrument called the Sanshin.
    
11. Canción Para Dormir a un Niño by Beatriz Pichi Malen -- Another personal favorite on this album. I liked the vocal style & the feeling in the singer's voice. It is in Spanish and the title translates as "A Song to Put a Boy to Sleep."
12. Durme Durme by Fortuna -- From Brazil. Like A Lullabye by Teresa Doyle, this one too, I think, is nice but not too great. Definately worth listening to though.
13. Lullaby by Zulya -- This one comes from the Republic of Tatarstan which is one of the little republics subject to the Russian Federation. LOL. I too had never heard of Tatarstan till I read about this song. Zulya is a talented singer. Am not very exposed to music from Russia or Eastern Europe, but this one has some similarity to the kind of haunting feel that the song Ederlezi by Emir Kusturica has as it starts off. There is another song by Zulya on "Asian Dreamland" which is also quite nice.
    

I downloaded this album for free using µTorrent. However, I would say that this album is definately worth buying if you are not into downloading music. Trust me, each song on this album is worth a million bucks! You would not regret spending on it. This collection was so well received worldwide that Putumayo came out with other selections such as "Asian Dreamland", "African Dreamland", "Celtic Dreamland" and so on. I am looking forward to hearing ALL of these. Asian Dreamland is already becoming a favorite of mine just like this first one of the Dreamland series.

Voces Inocentes

Saw this film yesterday. Had come across a review of it accidentally while searching for productions starring the beautiful Leonor Varela. :) She plays the role of Chava's mother in this film.

IMDB tells me this film (in Spanish with English subtitles) has 12 wins & 9 nominations. It has great ratings by viewers. Yet not many people seem to know about it. It did not make as much news as, let us say, Schindler's List or Life is Beautiful.

I guess this is probably Uncle Sam's doing. The film is set in El Salvador and makes no bones about the tragedies of civil war in that country in the 80's. It states how the US supported the Salvadorean army with billions of dollars in aid and arms.

The film itself is gripping and always manages to engross you. It is based on a true story. More importantly, it also makes you think real hard about the brutality and stupidity of war, which seems to bring out the worst in men. It does not rely too much on the depiction of graphic violence to do this, unlike the Hollywood flicks. The story is told through the eyes of Chava (Chavita) a 11 year old boy who with his family is trapped in a village that comes to be a central point of conflict between the Salvadorean army and the peasant rebels. Chava happens to be amongst the lucky survivors who lived to tell the tale. Other children, recruited to fight when they turned 12, either perished fighting or were shot dead by the army.

This film compares very well with a few other war related films that I liked a lot: No Man's Land, Turtles Can Fly and Doctor Zhivago (1965). Each is great in it's own way. They make you think real hard about war, which is just one horrible aspect of our society.

I think Voces Inocentes is a good example of how cinema can be engrossing and watchable while also being very thought provoking. Something different from the mindless entertainment that often passes in the guise of good cinema.

Intelligent Life

Me loves the way a cartoon manages to say a lot with some images and just a few words. Best thing is, it manages to be serious and funny at the same time. I love those kind the best. Peanuts by Schulz and Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Waterson take the cake in this category, though I am sure there are more who are also amazingly talented. Wish I was more exposed to this art form.

The one above made me think of something. Let us say some aliens decide to check out earth, okay? What do you think they would do next after checking out the state of life here? My best guess is that they would go off somewhere else thinking that earth is already dominated by some species not native to the planet. Too much of a trouble trying to dislodge them from that position. No prizes for guessing who this alien species is.

There's this famous quote: "I have seen the enemy! The enemy is us." To turn it around a little, I would say "I have seen the aliens! The aliens are us." :)


Here's a few more little ones that I love. (Click on the images to enlarge if the text size seems too small.)