Sunday, June 28, 2009

A world called 'Narnia'




Narnia is a fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis. I am amazed to confess that I like Narnia better than Hogwarts or any other place Rowling's Harry potter.

Narnia is a fantasy world created by C. S. Lewis as the primary location for his series of seven fantasy-novels for children, The Chronicles of Narnia. The world is so called after the country of Narnia, in which much of the action of the Chronicles takes place. In Narnia, some animals can talk, mythical beasts abound, and magic is common. The series tracks the story of Narnia when humans, usually children, enter the Narnian world from 'our world', or Earth.

It talks about many in depth issues which we overlook while reading. The Chronicles of Narnia is set in what seems to be an entirely different world from which we live in. It's creation, witnessed be the evil (the White Witch) , ruled by the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve (humans to be exact) and the talking beasts (the public of Narnia). The novel explores the major problem we face TODAY. Or should I say the history behind the world we live in today and its approaching destruction. The other lands that surround Narnia are :Archenland, Calormen, Eastern Ocean and the less explored places like the underworld, Western Wild, Ettinsmoor, and Bism (below the underworld).

The eventual destruction of Narnia can be seen as the coming end of the 'Earth'. So long ago a novelist in his fantasy probably foresaw this and tried to warn us. He took the approach through fantasy because he was scared that he might be see as insane if he came forward with this theory of world destruction. We did not see it coming until it was on the verge of irreversibility. Species of beautiful animals have gone extinct, the ocean levels rising, mountains cut down, water shortage, dark air, what else do we need to explain the evil deeds that we have done? people were happier back then before the wars, before industrialization! Human's greed has brought him to his death bed. It is not that we have realised the impact even now, because even now we are searching for alternatives and ignoring the nature. We are too busy enjoying our luxurious lives that we forget that tomorrow we wont be alive to enjoy them! Are luxuries more important than our happiness? There is a famous saying 'we search for happiness outside, when the real happiness lies with ourselves'. God cannot do anything if we don't do anything for ourselves, he can only show us the path. The path has been clear for many years now 'SAVE THE NATURE, SAVE YOURSELF'. Have we become so selfish that we don't care for our coming generation? What are we giving them education for, when they wont be alive to have a career!

As everyone says it is still not late. The eventual destruction is written! All we can do it to prolong it. And to give the next generation a better world to live in the best way is, well I wont go into all that, many scientists-socialists-academicians have already given us ways to extend our Earth's life.
~~Live and let Live~~



Friday, June 26, 2009

The Godfather(s)

That is quite an unusual description of a DON! Though Michel Corleone takes the empire after the Don's death, the Don remains the ultimate character in the entire series of the Mario Puzo's creation THE GODFATHER.

Vito Corleone is the head of theCorleone crime family, the most powerful Mafia family in the New York City area. He is depicted as an ambitiousItalian immigrant who moves to Hell's Kitchen and builds a Mafia empire, yet retains (and strictly adheres to) his own personal code of honor.


Vito "Godfather" Andolini Corleone
The Godfather trilogy presents Vito as the paradigmatic Mafia don. When placed beside him, Barzini lacks class, Don Ciccio looks cruel and petty, and Don Fanucci is smalltime and brutish. Even Michael, despite his tremendous successes, loses in such a comparison, as he appears lacking in warmth and joie de vivre. It is unclear whether we are to believe Sollozzo's words about Vito, that “the old man slipping,” but even if he is, even if Vito walks right into an assassin's bullets and survives only though sheer luck, he is still the Godfather par excellence. He is wise and intelligent, an excellent reader of others' intentions, and a smooth, subtle talker, able to convince with words, not only bullets. The most exceptional thing about Vito, and the way in which he most outshines his son, is the manner in which he conducts his personal life. Though a ruthless, violent criminal, Vito is also a warm, loving father and husband, and the paradox of his character is that it is precisely the warmth of his humanity that makes him appear superhuman. In his later years, Vito comes across as relaxed and playful, even mellow. He has lived a rich, full life and earned a quiet retirement. As a younger man, when he is played by Robert De Niro, he is caring and devoted but also silent and intense. Unlike Michael, he does not let this intensity eat away at him. There is never any tension for Vito between the two meanings of “family” (i.e. blood relations and crime family), and he doesn't feel conflicted about what he's doing. Only when he learns that Michael has killed Sollozzo is he noticeably pained. His intensity is that of a hard-working man, though one who still manages to come home at the end of the workday to spend time with his family. In short, Vito comes across as both the perfect father and the perfect Godfather, making him a difficult model for all of his children, especially Michael, to imitate.

Michael Corleone
Michael is cold-blooded, ruthless, smart, and determined. His ability to think clearly under fire, to be decisive, and to command respect makes him an excellent Godfather. Of Vito's children, he is certainly the best candidate to take over the family. But Michael was never supposed to get involved in the Mafia. He was supposed to become a senator, perhaps even president. Even when he does begin working for his father, he doesn't seem fully reconciled to the decision. He promises Kay before they marry that the family will become “legitimate” soon. Over twenty years later, in The Godfather Part III, he still seeks this legitimacy. Unlike Vito, who appears at ease in the role of Godfather, Michael is burdened by the responsibility. One senses that he views himself as a sacrificial hero, slaving away for the rest of the family, sacrificing his soul for the well-being of those around him. In many ways, Michael's story is a familiar one in American mythology: that of the immigrant's child. He achieves great heights of success, just as his hard-working immigrant parents hoped for him, but at considerable personal cost. In Michael's case, this cost is to his family life, as he loses his wife and children.
Michael can also be seen as a classical tragic figure. Immensely talented and powerful, he is undone by tragic flaws: his insatiable desire for vengeance, which creates a web of violence and recrimination that he cannot escape; his illusions of omnipotence, which blind him to the fact that achieving legitimacy is impossible; and his sense of being perpetually at war, which never allows him a moment of rest. At the end of Part III, Michael dies alone in the yard of his Sicilian villa. The death of his daughter, Mary, has sealed his fate, severing his ties forever with the rest of the family, the family that he tried to save and bring to legitimacy. Instead, he brought them only pain and death. If Vito is an ideal, almost romantic figure who might make the naïve viewer want to live the gangster life, Michael's tale has a corrective effect. His life is tragic and his pain immense.

Puzo created a character which made people think that there is (smallest) a possibility of something good in something bad. Don Corleone stands for the example of rarity!He never forced anyone, he was open to all arguments, he was the perfect Godfather. Michael despite of all his abilities and personality could never take the title of the Godfather, as there is a old saying great people are born once, I'd like to say great characters are made once. Michael was good enough to take the 'Don's' seat, but due to his initial lack in family business and continuous regret for life he could never become the Godfather.

I salute to the one of the most sought after yet complex character that ever existed in any English novel.


Congratulations!



This one is for you Appu Buddy!

I've been meaning to write this for a long time now, but you know the same old thing. I was waiting for the right moment to come, though I did not know what or when exactly this right moment was going to be. Now that you are nearing your 100th post on your blog I want you to know how proud I feel of you. I started my blog before you did and yet I am not done with my 50th blog post! And you are on the verge of hitting a century! That to with quality and NO rubbish. I've enjoyed reading every peace that you've written. I can't say all but MANY of them are heart's favourite. I am never going to be as good as you are, well we can't even put our works in the same league either, your works are so GROOVY, I am just a greenhorn!
I hold you as a 'True Believer' writter, everything that you wrote came directly from your heart whether it be those songs, tags, poems, convos, etc. Everything just made me understand you even better. Though I mus add here I knew most of them if not all, hope you agree.
We did not meet as often as we used to, I was afraid I might loose, yet again, another best buddy. But we stuck..lol...to this the blog of yours has contributed a lot!
I congratulate not only you but your blog -'Crazy Beginnings' on your 100th-post-birthday!(L.M.A.O.)

Love:
MRInal A.K.A. Princess Caspian

Monday, June 22, 2009

Solving the Past



The feeling that I dread the most is:
Loneliness.
The very thought of it makes me feel
Alone.

All this while
I kept questioning.
Why do people I love
cast me out of their life?
To this there is NO answer.

And when recently I lost another person,
I thought, why am I not feeling the loss?
Probably I saw it coming.
Probably I myself allowed it to happen.
Probably the person was NOT mine,
thus how could I loose him/her?
It is hard to let go somebody you love.
But I realised probably neither of us could ever be happy
if we stayed together.

This feeling of loosing did not fall on me like a bomb.
It was more like dusk.
I knew it was going to happen,
I knew I could not prevent it,
I knew it is the right thing.....because
I realised that person never reciprocated my feelings.
And when I turn to my past
I understand I myself never really felt the way I thought I felt!
That was complicated.
Another thing, the feeling was not complicated.
It was I who made the whole situation so complicated.

No. I am not talking about any boyfriend.
I lost a Best Friend.
Whom 'I' thought was my Best Friend,
but finally realized it was NEVER so.

For the first time I am not sad for such a thing.
Know why?
Because I, myself never thought she/he was my Best Friend.
Deep down in my heart I knew this relationship is fake,
but was afraid of acknowledging the truth.
And today I have the naked truth dancing in front of my eyes!

I still talk to her
but
not the same way.
The bogus feeling still exists.
No we are not friends any more....
We are just...
someone....







Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The Evil Twin

We know it is there. It is our dark side. It is our hatreds and our fears, our prejudices and our anger, the corruption of our souls. They are the embodiment of all we do not wish to be.

In many literary works this very theory is used with another name- 'doppelganger '. Not only in literature but theater has also tried its
hand in this genre, and quite successfully.


The reason I have taken this particular topic is -it is not about terrorizing people or horrorizing them, it is about making people realize that they are not perfect. Everyone has a dark side. The day we accept it will be the day when we can call ourselves WHOLE. The day we have to combine our bad and good self we will be able to call ourselves 'satisfied'. It is all about overcoming our fears, our prejudices and our anger. And the the best way is by becoming indifferent to our fears, keep aside our prejudices and think rationally and most of all pacify ourselves and avoid those 'angry moments'.

The so called 'Evil Twin' can give all of us a hard time. If WE don't it it will definitely find us. And then it'll be late. The evil in you will destroy you and before you realize you will be in the pothole of life. You'll lose everything slowly....

All the theoretical and literary works work in the same direction. The way to become 'whole'.Some of them are listed below:

Literary works-
  • Beowulf
  • Jane Eyre
Films-
  • The great Dictator
  • Doppelganger
  • Godzilla
  • Prince of Persia: The two Thrones
Television-
  • Charmed (the two part er episode-'It's a bad, bad, bad world')
  • Elizabeth Montgomery often played Samantha Stevens' evil twin cousin, Serena on the television series Bewitched.
  • In the television series I Dream of Jeannie Jeannie had an evil twin sister known as "Jeannie's Sister" or Jeannie II. Both characters were played by Barbara Eden.
Comic books-
  • Superman, Bizarro emerged as the first Superboy's evil twin.
  • Wonder Woman episode#175.
  • DC Comics (evil doppelgangers of various superheroes reside on Earth-Three).
Evil twins are everywhere. The best place to find it id WITHIN you. It is like your enemy inside you. It is just a matter of time that you go find you evil self or your 'doppelganger' (to give the horror effect) and tame it according to you. Just go ahead before it starts destroying your lives.

So, all the best. Go find your 'doppelganger'. :P







Saturday, June 13, 2009

Re-Discovering Self




I thought
I'd forgotten love
None the less
I thought I'd forgotten myself.

The thunderstorm surging outside
Reminds me the stillness inside.

And when I think of it
'M shocked to realise
I've kept myself closed
Finding myself padlocked on the road of life.

I face the thunderstorm.
I ask it-"What can I do to undo the past?"
It roars.
I get my answer.

I turn to face the 'inside'
I pick the brush that has dried over the year
I choose Red, Green and Blue
I try to shape my thoughts into it
'Not bad'- I think
And another realisation dawns
What I've missed of all
The colors!

I make colors now
Vibrant-Violet.
Soft- Mauve.
Harsh- Forest green.
Adventure- Turquoise.

The tree of life,
full of little lives,
each lived one at a time.

The ocean of love,
full with drops of love,
each drunk at a time.

The mountain of passion,
where the river flows
making its way through trees
to join the ocean.

I Re-Discover the lost self
In doing so I learn
What 'Re-Birth' is all about.

'M born
AGAIN.



Wednesday, June 3, 2009

True Colours




Fake, I shouldn't be.
Wannabe, I might be.
Original, I want to be.

No.No.
Not a fake surely.
No.No.
Not a wannabe.
I 'm what I was,
what I 'm, and
what I want to be.

Evil?Possibly!
Angel! They call me!
Different 'm truly.
Laughing? Funny, I might be.

But one thing is sure:
Original, I want to be.
I know
I 'm what I want to be.


Monday, June 1, 2009

Mother




You brought me to this world
with a vocation in:
Love, passion and
Compassion.

Holding and nourishing me
In your gentle arms
Telling me the Cinderella Story
Giving me the love Cinderella* was deprived of,
and a Anestassia* never thought of.

You make sure
That I get the the pick of the bunch.
You think of my future
As a fantasy come true,
of which Bell** is surprised too.

You never asked for any thing
But my Happiness.
You never wanted anything
But my Success.

You are Sun.
You are the Moon.
You the Rain.
You are the train
that leads to the right station without delay.

You are the highest mountain,
You are the largest ocean,
You are the wishing pond,
You are the Phoenix song.
You are the Hope.

I thank you Mother
for the Castle of Love,
for the love Cinderella was denied,
for the the dream that Bell only dreamed,
for the strength of Mulan***.

Thank you Mother
for
Everything.



[*Cinderella is the heroine of the fairy tale 'Cinderella' and Anestassia was her step sister.
**Bell is the heroine of the fairy tale 'Beauty and the Beast'
***Mulan is the heroine of the fairy tale 'Mulan'.]