The Mahabharata -Shiv K. Kumar

This was the third Mahabharata that I read this year - the first was a 900 page tome by Kamala Subramaniam, the second a slim version by Shanta Rameshwar and now the third, by well-known Hyderabadi writer Shiv K. Kumar. Poet, Padmashri awardee, novelist and a man of words, 91 year old, Shiv K. Kumar contains the Mahabharata to 356 pages and writes with feeling and emotion - and does not merely narrate the story. It is told well and simply and is a good story to read, well-told by a master.

Harper Collins, Rs. 399, 356 pages

There are no grandiose departures - the story is told as it has to be - yet it is stylishly told. For instance there is a description of Duryodhana looking out at the sky on the evening of one of the days of the war, wondering at his fate, and it is a poignant moment that gets you into his mood.You know exactly what he is feeling at that moment! And many such moments too. The dialogue between the characters makes it more lively and human and not forced and contrived.

The questions asked by the Yaksha to Yudhishthira are probably best written in this book among all others I have read. I reproduce some of the excerpts of the question and answer session from the book.

"What flies faster than the wind?
The human mind.

What makes a person truly wealthy?
Contentment. For an avaricious man is like someone riding a tiger from which he cannot dismount. The more wealth one acquires, the greedier one feels.

What is the essence of happiness?
A man's ability to transcend all opposites - success and failure, light and shade, birth and death, gain and loss.

Who is a man of faith?
One who surrenders his will to the Supreme Creator without any reservation. Such a person does not lend himself to argument or dissent.

Who is truly virtuous?
One who practices what he preaches, for the gap between precept and deed is often unbridgable.

Which of the two is greater - wealth or health?
Health, for even a pot of gold cannot salvage a patient from certain ailments.

What is it that makes a true Brahmin and a true Kshatriya?
Knowledge of the Vedas and the power to translate their teachings into righteous conduct is what makes a genuine Brahmin. A Kshatriya is one who is fearless, and is always willing to protect the weak.

What is it that excels even the sun's brightness?
Truth, for its light shines perennially, during day and night.

Who offers solace to a man on his deathbed? 
Dharma - the good deeds he has done during his lifetime.

What is it that makes one's life pleasant and enjoyable?
Friendship with a virtuous man.

What is it that makes a man agreeable to others?
Abandonment of pride.

What emotion may be likened to madness?
Anger, for it makes one lose one's mental balance.

What is it that would prevent a man from entering the portals of heaven?
Attachment, for the way to divine bliss is disengagement from all worldly entanglements.

What is poison? 
Lust, which destroys both the body and soul.

What is true knowledge?
Realisation of one's own self. The voyage within one's own being leads one to true knowledge.

How can one recognise a true Brahmin?
By his righteous conduct, not by his birth or caste.

What is it that uplifts a man?
His gratitude to others.

What is it that enriches one' soul?
Charity - for while giving enriches the soul, taking impoverishes it.

What is it that sustains man through every crisis?
Patience and faith in God.

Which of the two - thought or action - helps a man achieve divine bliss?
Either of them, for both are interested. Thought is action is an embryonic form.

Among the events in the Mahabharata that always choke me are Karna's death and Abhimanyu's death - two huge points in the course of the war. And the unsung Ghatotkacha who threatens to end the war himself and forces Karna to use his Sakthi. Despite being told simply the story comes alive because you can imagine the characters are people as you read and certainly visualise what is happening. Good read and a difficult tale well told.

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Top 10 Ads - The Ones I Can Never Forget

Here are the top 10 ads that come to mind. Stuff that brings a smile types.

1) Wills, Made for Each Other: This was a print ad and showed a man and a woman walking on a beach. To me this was the epitome of romance then, in the early 80s. So impressed was I that I actually cut the ad out and put it under my mattress where it lay for many years. The ad and the brand stayed alive since then.

2) Amul Ads: Almost all of them - the ones on the hoardings - made me wonder how they could think of such wonderfully creative lines so consistently. Sporting events, political events, everything was fodder to the Amul ads. Instant recall of ad, brand and product.

3) Murphy baby: Even before the 80s, in the old magazines of the late 70s one would see the Murphy baby ads, and well everyone loved the Murphy baby who is now immortalised with the movie 'Barfi'. Sweet and charming, it is a face that one cannot forget. Instant recall of brand, ad and product.

4) Liril: The Liril ads, bold for those days, of a vivacious girl bathing under a waterfall, dressed in a bikini, was as fresh as the ad maker must have imagined. Th girl was spontaneous and one could feel the freshness of lemons, the thrill of a waterfall. The jingle, the music 'laa,la,laa,la...' and the ad when seen in the movies was stuff that lasts forever. Also there was that rumour that the model died after she contracted pneumonia owing to her frolicking in the rain. The Liril ad was never the same though they got other models.

5) Nirma: The ad runs through your mind and on television even today - 'Rekha, Jaya and Sushma..' and company who are thrilled with using Nirma and the little girl who twirls into a photograph as the jingle plays on in the background. Cannot ever forget the brand, the product and the ad.

6) Vicco Turmeric: The visual of the girl who is getting ready for her marriage and how her skin is glowing after being treated with Vicco Turmeric and the jingle in the background about 'Vicco Turmeric Ayurvedic Cream..' is something one cannot forget.

7) Thums Up: Perhaps the line that was so apt and perfectly researched - especially for the 80s people. Thums Up never went down so well as it did with some food and friends for anyone of those days. That was a brilliant campaign which was later killed by Coke with its adventure series for Thums Up. No one understood Thums Up better than the original creator of 'Food, Friends and Thums Up' and the ad did send a thrill up the spine when we watched it in theatres.

8) Charms: For the first time a cigarette came with a denim kind of a colour in the ad and it was interesting. the line 'Spirit of Freedom' was equally apt. Charms, the college fag, and an improvement over Charminar had the irrepressible Charu Sharma diving off a board into the swimming pool (he was a national level swimming champ then and a good looking guy too).

9) Vodafone's Zoo Zoo's and the Hutch Dog: Both in one because Hutch became Vodaphone later but both brilliant for brand recall, product recall and ad recall. Zoo Zoo's were simply fantastic in educating us on the various features of Vodafone while the Hutch pug not only educated us about those cute, ugly dogs but also that Hutch follows you everywhere. Pity the service did not match the ad.

10) Fevicol: I am always fascinated by Fevicol's ads which always come with great creatives - that of an overloaded truck with Fevicol painted on it - yeh jod nahin tootega - and others (the one where the little kid keeps wandering off until his mother puts him on a Fevicol can, the Fevikwik ones about the fishing rod) were simply superb. Will always remember Fevicol in such circumstances.

Those that missed are certainly Surf's Lalitaji, a Cavenders ad of a guy shooting at clay pigeons that used to be played in the local theatres in the 80s, Idea's rather irritating Sirji ads and so on. Next, to do a series on unforgettable ad characters (Sirji, Lalitaji, Onida's devil and others).

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Barfi - Movie Review

'Barfi' is sweet - as the name goes. But not Oscar material. It is nice and good value for money and has some fine performances.

'Barfi' is Ranbir Kapoor, a deaf mute, named after the Murphy kid (needless controversy with the Murphy people but I am not sure what the controversy is about because everyone got enough publicity including the forgotten Murphy kid - where is he now?). Barfi is also a happy-go-lucky, whisky toting, heart on the sleeve chap on a bicycle who has a car driver father (Aakash Khurana) in Darjeeling. Enter Shruti, pretty face Ileana, who is also entering a loveless marriage with one corporate type (read a handsome someone who has no time for wife and is possessive and restrictive) and Barfi falls in love with her and proposes to her etc. Now also enter (sometime later after all the Chaplinesque gags with Ranbir and the local police inspector who has by far the biggest role in the movie) Jhilmil, Priyanka Chopra, the autistic child of an avaricious father and a socialite-type mother. Jhilmil is growing up in Muskaan a special place, with a special grandfatherly man taking care of the kids as his own.

Now we go back in the story to when Barfi threw his shoe in the air to catch Jhilmil's attention and they had fun as kids because Jhilmil is Barfi's Dad's car's owner's daughter. Jhilmil is brought out of Muskaan to be with her indulgent grandfather and well - grandpa dies - leaving her all the money in a Trust. Father is not happy and fires all servants including driver who promptly has a kidney attack and that ends Aakash Khurana's role, standing up. Barfi has to raise Rs. 7000 for the operation. Sometime then Jhilmil goes missing and it appears that Jhilmil has been pushed into the river in the car. Barfi is now prime accused of kidnap, murder, bank robbery and some other heinous crimes. (Barfi is however presented and looked smarter than all these hare brained schemes he comes up with and fails).

Anyway sometime before or after (I fail to remember now) Barfi rescues Jhilmil and sets up house - without marriage - in Kolkata. There these two are happily living - I found that difficult to digest - a guy who could not raise Rs. 7000 is now taking care of an autistic girl in a city like Kolkata and actually earning a living! Anyway he bumps into rich girl Shruti again who comes to his shop (that's odd too, since his shop is down market stuff) and all three are running about eating gol gappas. Jhilmil cannot eat gol gappas and gets angry with Barfi. And Shruti who is all the time flashing her sexy midriff at her Barfi. And Jhilmil goes away. Out comes the shoe and Barfi starts flinging it up and down again - but this time to no avail.

If relationships are all about who 'wants to take care of whom' and who wants 'to be taken care of''it all fits in. Ileana wants to take care of Barfi (possibly because it gives some meaning to her otherwise meaningless life). Barfi would like to take care of Jhilmil - because no one is taking care of her - or so he thinks (she's smarter than she looks considering that she chooses him to her maid). Jhilmil would like to be taken care of either by the Muskaan people who love her a lot or by the smitten-by-Ileana Ranbir. So it makes sense that Shruti takes care of Barfi who takes care of Jhilmil. All's well and that ends well.
The movie is fun. But it rambles on in a flashback within a flashback to the presnt and so on until you stop bothering about where you are. Whatever suspense they tried to create was just not worth it because at that point you really don't care too much about Jhilmil. It is only somewhere near the end that the relationship between Barfi and Jhilmil comes alive and tugs at your heart but by then the movie is almost over. The relationship between Shruti and Barfi never makes sense in any way nor  does it come alive. Frankly I would have been quite content to see the relationship between Barfi and Jhilmil - that was really cute. Now what happens when Jhilmil is finally discovered at Muskaan as 'alive' is anybody's guess. Does the old man go to jail? Does the father go to jail? How come no one knew that she was in Muskaan - you cannot really hide her? The only thing we know is that the two got married and never had kids.

Fine performances, especially by Ranbir and Priyanka. Ranbir gets into Barfi's shoes without missing a step and you wonder at the talent of this boy as he leaves you with no other image of Barfi than of what you see on screen. Priyanka in a deglam role of Jhilmil is fantastic. I love the way she experiments and she is an actress that one cannot take lightly. Ileana is fine, good looking and the kind anyone would fall in love with in Darjeeling. Must commend Anurag Basu for trying something new (despite all the accusations of being inspired etc) as well and something that makes sense and for trying hard not to fall for the cheesy drama one could fall prey to with a deaf-mute and an autistic. So much so that you almost forget that Barfi is actually a deaf mute. Recommend - certainly. It's a fine watch. But the big question. Would I watch it twice? Not me.

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A Doctor's Anguish as a Patient, for the Patient

Dr. Srinivasan Krishnan is one of the most affable, approachable and gentle doctors (he is my nephrologist) you can find around. He was in fact referred to me by another doctor and what I found of Dr. Krishnan put me greatly at ease. He is available, approachable and has this wonderful way of putting you at ease instantly.

But recently he was diagnosed with colon cancer and is undergoing treatment. He wrote about his experiences, his thoughts on how much doctors can do so much more for patients to make them feel more at ease. I reproduce what he has written (a month ago) as it is and one can hear the anguish in his voice as he worries over how much more he could have done, doctors can do.It is a wonderful, heartfelt and touching piece of writing by the sensitive doctor.

Close encounter  with Yamaraj----Lessons learnt

- Dr. S. Krishnan

Three days of symptoms -severe abdominal cramps, constipation and mild distension. That’s it. I was in for a deep shock. As the Gastroenterologist decided to do a sigmoidopscope in an unprepared bowel, my thoughts were racing. Just reassuring myself that nothing can go wrong with me. And lo behold – the next minute my world came down crashing. I could see the concentric growth on the monitor, occluding my  descending colon. The subsequent events unfolded at a rapid pace – surgical resection, chemotherapy , FOLFOX regimen in full swing. As I (and my family members) gradually accepted the reality – my moods went  through phases of disbelief, anger,denial, feeling of why me?, despondency and  ultimately meek submission and acceptance of the inevitable.

No matter how scared or overwhelmed we feel  the emotional trauma and its effect on the psyche, time is a great healer. We adapt to the circumstances and move forward. Probably that is the way it should be.

After two rounds of chemo, since my blood counts were behaving well my doctor permitted me to attend o.p for an hour everyday before I could turn insane, sitting at home.

I realized how important each complaint was, however trivial they may seem. I understood nausea, anorexia, fatigue – all these terms. I also realized my folly in ignoring these in many till a few months back. Now ,When I inspect the vascular access , the counter punctures, the minor hematomas etc  I feel the pain. I realise that this is their life-line, It certainly deserves tender loving care.

While interacting with the dialysis patients I  have started realizing the subtle signs of depression. Non compliance to the dialysis schedule and the medications/ irregular follow up, were also related to the emotional disturbances which we very often overlook.  I could see the enthusiasm with which my Dialysis medical officer would correct the UFR, calculate the spKt/v, dialysis prescription to achieve a ‘good’ dialysis. Little would he analyse the QoL.  The medication prescription written very often resembles a mini pharmacopeia . How often have we analysed their sleep disturbances,, social support and quality of life of the care givers. I feel, I could have done better .

As I look back, on the day of my surgery how well the nurses tried to pep me up, as I was wheeled into the theatre. How well they received me in the Surgical ICU, took care of all the lines with utmost care and concern. Each member of the team excelled in bestowing  that little extra tenderness.

I recollected my days in the bed with the continous chemotherapy pump set for 48 hours. I would eagerly look for the Oncologist to drop in and reassure me and my family members that all is well. That also made me ponder – how often have I sat down beside the patient and heard him or sat with the family members to tell  them about immunosuppresion.

The practicing nephrologist needs to be an all rounder – physician,well wisher,psychotherapist,and a good soft-spoken gentleman. Lets recollect our undergraduate teaching that health is defined as not only the absence of disease and infirmity but also the presence of physical, mental and social well-being. I reckon that our Post graduate training empowers us with lot of skill in tackling disease. Life teaches  us the rest – how to deal with people.

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'Stone in love' - Journey

I've been searching for a part of this song by Journey for years. This is the part towards the end where the guitarist takes off and goes off solo (you cannot miss it) and its a brilliant piece that stayed with me for some many years ever since I have heard it first. It brought much peace and focus to me in those years - in 1991 - if I remember well, when I was trying to find some direction in my life. To find sanity I would run a lot, play cricket games for MCC with utmost seriousness and listen to tons of music.

I had a cassette of Journey's Greatest (thanks to Kumar) and 'Stone in Love' was one of those fabulous songs along with great numbers like 'Separate Ways', 'Send her my love', 'Faithfully' and so many more. In fact I did not like the song - only that part with the guitar and would often hum it to myself to focus.

I most clearly remember using it to focus while playing a league match against RTC at what was then the RTC grounds in Parade Grounds - in a 90 over game and with a rag tag team - needed to get some runs and I got an unbeaten 100. For long periods during that innings I hummed that tune to myself to get out of spots of loss in concentration and if anything it was highly inspirational. Towards the end of the inning when all there is is peace, sweet sweat on the shirt, tired limbs and the slanting rays of the evening sun after a day in the hot sun. Brilliant!

I lost the song but remembered this part till date. Until the other day I searched for it on youtube and got the name of the song. Journey reenters my life with 'Stone in love'. Listen to it from 2.55 min onwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EgeUhMy5mM&feature=related

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Thought for the Day - It's not what you want, it's what you want to do with it

It's not merely what you 'want' that gets it to you.

It's what you want to 'do with it' that is the biggest factor in whether you will get it or not.

Often we put up our wish lists with all our wants. But the key factor between wanting it and getting it is the answer to this question - what do you want to do with it once you get it? If you are excited about getting it and have a myriad plans for it, then you are highly likely to get it. Then you have a story.

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We Bought a Zoo - Movie Review

Starring Matt Damon 'We Bought a Zoo' is a 2011 film (based on a real story) about a family that buys a zoo and runs it commercially. Benjamin (Matt Damon) is a writer who has recently lost his wife. He has two children, one teenager son who is a rebel and prone to drawing macabre drawings after his mother's death and a six-seven year old girl Rosie. After his son is expelled from school for his continuous spate of macabre drawings and also finding that his own writing is going no where, the sympathy-averse Benjamin quits his job, sells his house, and starts looking for a new place with natural surroundings.

He finds a property that appears perfect - the only thing is that it comes with a zoo that has about 47 species including a lion, tigers, snakes, a bear and so on. He has to maintain the zoo and the employees of the zoo. Benjamin almost gives up until he sees his daughter getting along with the peacocks - and then he buys the property. So the family moves in to the zoo, meets the zoo employees, headed by the pretty zoo keeper Scarlett Johansson. Escaping animals, rebelling employees, financial troubles, personal troubles, crooked inspectors are all thrown into the plot - and resolved. The zoo opens to a fine reception, family issues sorted out, son's drawings get better, he finds a girl friend, Dad finds a girl friend (zoo keeper), animals are happy, customers are happy and all's well that ends well.

I liked the concept of '20 seconds of courage is all you need...' to approach any situation. If you want to propose, make a cold call, ask fro something, handle something new or uncomfortable, cannot handle the tension - just hang in there for 20 seconds and hold yourself and that is what Benjamin says helped me face the grizzly or make a proposal to his wife. 20 seconds of courage then.

Sweet and cute, easy on the eye and the ear (good background music with lots of nice songs), gentle on the heart and certainly different 'We bought a zoo' presented its biggest surprise when I read the ending titles which said that the story is based on a real story and that the original zoo, the Dartmoor Zoo, was real. Now that was something. But as a movie it is nice and feel good and certainly one to watch on a nice Saturday evening with the family.

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