My trip to Europe

I just got back from what is possibly the best vacation I've ever taken. A year ago, my friends and I were planning to take a trip to Europe. The plan was to visit as many countries as possible, on a shoestring budget. A few weeks before we were to book our tickets though, for various reasons, my friends bailed out. I didn't want to let this opportunity go, however. I thought to myself - why not go to Europe solo! After giving this thought serious consideration and weeks upon weeks of planning the entire itinerary on my own, I booked all my tickets and hostel reservations. I was all set - to go on a solo trip for the first time in my life, to a continent I was almost completely unfamiliar with! I was excited, obviously, but not without an equal measure of trepidation. But, excited nonetheless!

I started my trip off in one of my most favorite cities in the world - Paris! I visited this city exactly a decade ago with my family, but discovering this city on my own was something else entirely. Walking along the tree-lined Haussmannian boulevards of this city, enjoying a scrumptious baguette sandwich and an omelet for breakfast, traveling around the city in the underground metro (something I got very comfortable with in every other city I visited), these were some of the quintessentially Parisian things I enjoyed doing every day of my stay here. I was also lucky to make close friends - both Parisians and travelers like myself - to travel around the city with. In my five days here, I got to visit popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame (just a couple of weeks before the tragic fire broke out), the Louvre museum, and so on, and I got to do a few things I was personally interested in, like enjoying an evening stroll through busy Montmartre or visiting Jim Morrison's grave. Most European cities, in general, have impeccable public transit systems, but the one in Paris is probably the most convenient and travel-friendly. If you're lucky enough, like I was, you might even get to enjoy the music of an accordionist or guitarist whilst walking through the serpentine tunnels of Paris's underground! I might've only spent five days here, but I feel like I could've spent a lot more time here. It is true that Paris is the easiest city in the world to fall in love with. I'm definitely coming back again, and again!

The Eiffel Tower, Paris

I then traveled to London on a bus, a journey that was fascinating for many reasons. Not only does this bus go through the Channel Tunnel, but it is also probably the first time I've ever taken a bus that crosses an international border and a time zone! I'd never been to London before and I wasn't really sure what to expect, but it's an understatement to say that I was blown away by this magnificent city. London, being the multi-dimensional city that it is, has something to offer to every kind of tourist, and that's something I got to explore during the three days I spent here. I got to visit the classic tourist spots like Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the British Parliament (I was fortunate to witness the House of Lords and House of Commons in session!), and such. I visited places of architectural brilliance, like St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tate Modern museum, and the many bridges of London, including and especially, Tower Bridge. As a cricket fan, I got to tour the historic Lord's cricket ground, which was fascinating: I got to see the famous Lord's long room, the dressing rooms, the famous Lord's balcony (where Sourav Ganguly infamously waved his shirt back in 2002), the ground, the stands, and the impressive Media Center opposite the Pavilion. The travel geek in me really wanted to visit the Greenwich Observatory, where I got to stand on top of the Prime Meridian line, which separates the world into the Eastern and Western hemispheres and is where the true Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) is calculated. Perhaps my favorite part of the city was discovering London's rich pop culture history. I got an exclusive tour to the first Hard Rock Cafe that ever opened, in London, where I got to hold (and try my hand at playing) guitars that were once owned by legends like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and so on. I then visited the famous Abbey Road crossing, which is a zebra crossing outside Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles did a photoshoot for the cover of their eponymous album in 1969. The best part was when I visited No. 3, Savile Row, which is a non-descript building and today houses an Abercrombie & Fitch. But it was on the terrace of this building that the Beatles gave their final performance in 1969 before the band broke up a few weeks later. For a Beatles fan like me, this felt more like a musical pilgrimage: it was overwhelming! I hope this is the first of many visits to this city, and I can't wait to come back.

The Shard, London

From London, I flew to Frankfurt - the Rheinpfalz region of Germany. I traveled to Kaiserslautern, a quiet town, where my cousin and his wife reside. With them, I traveled to the beautiful Heidelberg castle, nestled snugly on the hills that overlook the vast Rhine valley. The funicular trains we took to get to the top of the hill where the castle is situated were marvelous. From there, we traveled by bus (again, cross-country; I was getting used to this now) to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is one of those cities one doesn't go to visit tourist attractions; it's a city that one absorbs and takes in. Every street in this city looks like it came straight out of a Van Gogh or a Rembrandt painting. It's also a city of great contrast - on one hand, you'll find peaceful canals and small lanes that run alongside them, and on the other, you'll find the hectic main streets of the cities shared by cyclists (there are tons of them in this city), trams, cars, and pedestrians. It always feels like at any point in time, if you're not aware of your surroundings, you're at risk of getting run over by someone. I remember getting heckled at by a cyclist for coming close to the cycle lane; there are just so many things happening at once, it can drive you insane at times. It kinda reminded me of the chaotic streets of Bangalore, so I got used to it quickly during the four days I spent here. The Rijksmuseum and Museumplein right in front of it are vast and magnificent. I was really keen on visiting Anne Frank's house and the Van Gogh museum, but reservations had already been made all the way until the next month. So we decided to simply walk around the city center, visiting Dam Square, the National Monument in front of it, and the busy road leading all the way to Amsterdam Centraal Station. The Red Light District (or De Wallen) is close by and is probably one of the most appalling, but at the same time most captivating things I've seen so far. The Eye film museum and A'dam lookout tower on the northern banks of the IJ river were very picturesque; even sitting by the banks of the river was a sight to behold. We also got to travel outside the city and explore the countryside. The Keukenhof Tulip Gardens are a must visit. I'm usually not one to visit flower gardens, but the vast, rich, and colorful expanse of Keukenhof is truly a sight one should see in person to experience its beauty; you can spend a whole day here and feel like you haven't seen enough. Another town we visited was Zaanse Schans, a quaint settlement built in the 1960s along the banks of the river Zaan. This town is known for its many iconic windmills, built all along the river, to harness Holland's famously windy weather to generate renewable energy for the country. The Netherlands is a beautiful country with so much to explore, I simply loved my time here.

Heidelberg Castle

Jordaan, Amsterdam

I then traveled back to Germany to visit Berlin, where I had a whirlwind of a couple of days. Berlin's S-Bahn and U-Bahn railway system made it very easy for me to get around the city in little time. I got to visit Alexanderplatz, where Europe's tallest tower - the Berlin TV tower - is located. What really interested me though were the landmarks in central Berlin. My first stop was the iconic Brandenburg Gate, which is perhaps to Berlin what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. There's so much history at this place, it's incredible - Napoleon led a victory parade here, leaders like Ronald Reagan and JFK delivered politically-charged speeches here, and parts of the Berlin Wall were first torn down here. After spending a good amount of time here, I walked along the main boulevard through Tiergarten (a central park in the city) to the Victory Tower. This tower is cast of solid gold and was erected way back in the 19th century. I went all the way to the top of the tower and got a bird's eye view of the sprawling city. Unlike most European cities, Berlin is a vast expanse stretching farther than the eye can see. From there, I headed down to the French square of Gendarmenmarkt, and the nearby Checkpoint Charlie. This checkpoint is perhaps the only surviving border checkpoint between erstwhile East and West Berlin. It was fascinating to stand at what once was termed as the 'Iron Curtain' by Winston Churchill. What I remember was that just as you enter erstwhile West Berlin (the American side), you'll immediately find a KFC and a McDonald's, which I found hilarious! From there, I proceeded to the impressive Reichstag building, which houses the German parliament. Once again, I got to see the parliament in session, and sweeping views of the city at night. The next day I visited the East Side Gallery, which is essentially a one-kilometer long section of the Berlin Wall that still stands today with very interesting graffiti on it. Next, I headed to the Berliner Dom cathedral, which is probably one of the largest domed cathedrals I've seen. I then went to Potsdamer Platz which is a business district of the city, great for having a good meal. There were sections of the Berlin Wall here too, and I even got to visit the theater that hosts the Berlinale Film Festival annually. From there I visited the nearby Jewish Memorial Museum, which is perhaps one of the most somber, and heartbreaking experiences I had on this trip. My biggest takeaway was that close to six million Jews died under the Third Reich commanded by Hitler. All in all, Berlin to me felt like one big history lesson. In the short time I spent in this city, Berlin impressed me the most of all the cities I visited.

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin

From Berlin, I flew to Copenhagen, where a cousin of mine showed me around the city. We started off at Copenhagen City Hall, which was massive, and had marble busts of some of the city's famous citizens like Neils Bohr and Hans Christian Andersen. From there we walked to Christiansborg Palace, and then on to the Church of our Savior, a church famous for its tall and iconic spire that offers incredible views of central Copenhagen. We could see not just the city, but even the windmills on the Oresund strait that separates Denmark and Sweden, and even the massive Oresund bridge that connects the two countries. After braving incredibly chilly winds at the top, we walked over to an interesting district of the city called Christiania. This is a neighborhood that has its own set of rules and regulations and is technically not a part of the EU. Walking around Christiania felt like walking in a different country, and needless to say, the air was filled with the stench of all kinds of intoxicants. After visiting a few cafes in the area and trying some Danish pastries, we walked towards Copenhagen's harbourside for lunch. Then, as we were walking to Nyhavn - one of the city's most photogenic neighborhoods consisting of beautifully painted buildings along a canal - the clouds above cleared up and we were met with brilliant sunshine and clear blue skies. This made Nyhavn look even prettier if it were possible. Then, we walked to Rosenburg Palace and took a bus to the harborside again, where we were greeted with the most beautiful sight of cherry blossoms. It was the first time I'd ever seen cherry blossoms, so it was quite the treat. Just a few hundred feet away was the famous Little Mermaid Statue of Copenhagen, which was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen of Carlsberg in the early 1900s. We then visited Amalienborg, which is the Queen's residence, and took the train to Norreport, which is a large sprawling part of the city lined with cobblestoned streets and upbeat markets, restaurants, and clothing stores. It felt like one of those fancy Scandinavian neighborhoods you'd find James Bond walking around. After spending a fleeting 24-hours in Copenhagen, I took a bus across the Oresund bridge to Sweden, leaving me wishing I had an extra day in this beautiful Danish city.

Nyhavn, Copenhagen

My first stop in Sweden was at the seaside city of Gothenburg. One of my closest friends from college lives here and offered to show me around the city. I experienced a taste of impeccable Swedish hospitality when I learned that in every Swedish restaurant, coffee is free and unlimited! After a wonderful lunch, we climbed up the nearby Skansen Kronan hill that offered beautiful views of the city and had waffles at a cafe on top. We walked around the city more, took a ferry on the Gota river to the impressive Alvsborg bridge. We watched the sunset at a hillock right next to the bridge, walked around the peaceful suburbs of Majorna before taking the train back to my friend's house. All in all, it was a much-needed peaceful day in Gothenburg. The next day, I took an express train to Stockholm, my final stop on this magnificent trip. I first visited the Stockholm City Hall, right by the banks of the Norrstrom river. This is the building where the banquet for the Nobel Prize winners takes place. I then walked down to the Vasa museum, which is probably one of the most interesting museums I've been to. The museum houses only one artifact - a ship, and a massive one at that. It was a ship that took two years to build during the early 17th century and hailed to be one of the greatest ships ever built at the time. However, on its maiden voyage, it sunk after having sailed only a few hundred meters. It was recovered from the seafloor in the 1960s and was transported to the museum's current location, very close to where it sunk. I got to see the ship in close quarters, and an informative documentary film taught me a lot about not just the ship, but about Sweden during the early 1600s. From there I took a train close to the city center where I visited the Stockholm Concert Hall - the venue of the Nobel Prize ceremony! In the evening, I strolled down to Gamla Stan - the oldest part of Stockholm - located entirely on an island in the river. This part of town, is essentially, like Europe in a neighborhood: complete with cobblestone streets, narrow lanes in-between, tiny houses, cafes, and stores, and bustling crowds walking the streets and having a joyous time. Walking the streets of Gamla Stan, is in itself, one of the best experiences in Stockholm. The next day, I visited Storkyrkan (the oldest church in Gamla Stan), the Den Gyldene Freden, which is the oldest existing restaurant in the world, and the Nobel Museum. The Nobel Museum was a blast for a history geek like me - I got to see the original petri dish wherein Penicillin was discovered for the first time by Alexander Fleming, the original paper on the General Theory of Relativity published by Albert Einstein, and other interesting artifacts like letters written to Francis Crick, John Watson, and Einstein, among others, by the Swedish Academy, indicating the conferment of the award to them. After spending a few more hours in the beautiful Gamla Stan, it was finally time to pack my bags and catch my flight back home. I didn't feel like going back, it all happened too soon. But, as they say, c'est la vie!

Avsborg Bridge, Gothenburg

Gamla Stan, Stockholm

Making the decision to travel solo is probably one of the best things I did. Traveling across an entire continent for twenty days on my own on a tight budget has given me so much confidence, I now feel empowered to travel anywhere in the world. I got to see a city/country the way I wanted to see it, at a pace I was comfortable with, without the restraint of depending on someone else, ensuring I made the best use of my time. I also got to make new friends and met friends I never thought I'd meet again, and shared experiences with them that I will cherish for a lifetime. After coming back home, I really missed the life I lived for three weeks - waking up early in the morning, traveling around the city I was in for 12-14 hours straight, and coming back feeling exhausted, but in a good way, and with the promise of another day as exciting (and probably in a different city) on the morrow. I recommend traveling solo to those who have always wanted to try it, provided one has done enough preparation and research beforehand. It's safe to say that this is a trip I will remember for a long time to come.

Play On: A review of a stage production at college

It’s a rare occasion when a stage production genuinely leaves you laughing in splits, and Play On was one such exception. This is a play about many things, of the comedy of errors involved in the production of a play, of the friction between an actor’s hubris and a director’s vision, of the creative differences between a director and a manic-obsessive playwright, of a dedicated crew’s yearning for appreciation from the cast, and everything in between. In the first and second acts, Murphy’s hand seems to play a significant part, as everything that can go wrong, does go wrong. The actors carrying an air of authority, seeming to know it all (except their dialogues), the director’s constant struggle with the actors to extract immaculate performances and his race against time to do so, the back-stage crew’s intermittent interruption of rehearsals and the production manager’s continuous frustration with everything, it’s a complete mess. To top it all, an obsessive, erratic, and cringe-worthy playwright arrives on the scene, squealing her opinions on the play’s current state of affairs, suggesting amended dialogues and plot-points, only adding fuel to fire. Things are a dead-end even up until the night of the play. In the third act though, during the premiere, the actors’ performances digress even more so, a fact oblivious to the audience savouring the antics on stage, and the drama originally envisioned by Gerry takes the form of a hilarious situational comedy.

The performances were memorable and outstanding by all members of the ensemble, something that has come to be expected of Rotoract every year. Nothing seems to go wrong for Ameya, who plays Gerry, with yet another excellent performance. Jashan was amazing as the sardonic Saul, with his snide comments and a drunken persona reminiscent of Bachchan’s in Amar Akbar Anthony. Elisha, as Polly, and Prasanna, as Henry, were hilarious as the elderly couple. Even Shantanu and Devika were relatable as struggling, insecure actors, and their affair is very convincing (wink wink). But the performance that took the cake was Sameera’s portrayal of the mercurial Phyllis Montague. The little nuances in her performance like her sudden changes in tone, the shifting of her eyeglasses, the constant nodding, and even staying in character while seated below the stage made this portrayal indelible. What is admirable in the screenplay is that the audience may easily confuse an error committed by the actors as an accident, though it is well within the script, and is integral into making the audience believe that the actors (played by the actors) were incompetent. Also, the inclusion of the audience ourselves as a character in the third act is subtle, and crafty. The costumes set the tone for each act, especially in the final one; the pieces worn by the actors were impeccable. The only complaint this time was probably the production design, which is only rudimentary and is a little less impressive this year. Another concern was the lighting (or the lack of it); the shadows cast on the screen at the back were a little distracting. Blemishes aside, all credit goes to the director Aayush for his vision and execution, and for bringing it all together and making it work, just unlike Gerry.

The parallels that Play On draws from Alejandro Innarittu’s Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) are unmistakeable. The relationship shared by the actors, directors and crew is reminiscent to that shared by the characters in the Oscar winning movie. Like the film, this play is an ode to the stage, to the joys of rehearsing and its pains thereof, to the night of the premiere and the thunderous applause that follows, and to the dedicated people involved. Congratulations to everyone from the production of Play On, and I can’t wait for what’s in store next year.

   

Kumara Parvatha

I just came back from the hardest, but most spectacular trek I've ever been to, and there's no better way to end this long spell of blogging dormancy with a post on one of the tallest peaks in South India, standing tall at almost 5800 feet above sea level, Kumara Parvatha.

Of all the peaks of the Western Ghats I've been blessed to visit, none has seemed more daunting and impossible, but more beautiful and majestic than Kumara Parvatha. I had decided to join my friends on the trek only an hour and a half before the train journey to Subrahmanya, the town located on the foothills of the mountain. I stuffed a few clothes, a towel, an umbrella and my headphones, and ran toward the bus stop, and we caught the next bus to Mangalore. We left for Subrahmanya late at night after a horrendous delay at Mangalore's railway station, reached in the wee hours of the morning and spent the night at a lodge near the temple. The next day, a brilliant sunshine and the sacrilegious chaos of devotees greeted us. After a scrumptious breakfast of Masala Dosa, Upma and some coffee, we bought a few more essential supplies like glucose powder, fruits and chocolates, and by 9 AM, we were on our way. A tiny, meandering asphalt road just behind the temple premises lead us to the start of the trek, some 1.2 kilometers from the town. There it was, an innocuous, three foot tall metallic gate painted in green and yellow. Beside it was a notice board confirming the starting point of the trek. A dense canopy beyond the gate looked frightening. I had heard stories about this trek ever since I started the chapter of my life on this side of the Ghats, and here I was, right in front of the gate, about to embark on one of the greatest adventures of my life, and I felt like turning around on my toes and sprinting back to town. Fortunately, friends make things like these a lot less daunting. I took a few steps forward and before I knew it I was already deep inside the forest. I looked back and I couldn't see the gate. It was six kilometers of tropical, murky, humid forests ahead of us. Luckily, the trail was riddled with tiny pebbles and slightly bigger boulders, and losing sight of the path ahead was impossible. About two hours into the trek, we stopped by near a waterfall for a drink, and that's when the trek was put into perspective. Apart from all the accolades the Ghats receive from all over the world, including a UNESCO World Heritage Site tag, there's one problem with this place I've had an issue with since my childhood and have a deep, and scathing hatred for. Leeches. Leeches everywhere. They seem to spring out of no where, it's just ridiculous. One moment you may seem like nothing's wrong with your shoe but a few seconds later there are five or six of these diabolical freaks of nature crawling their way in, through your shoes and socks, piercing your thick skinned legs, and sucking on your blood. When I was twelve I remember seeing four unnaturally large leeches clinging on to my blood-stained feet on another trek in nearby Coorg, and that image flashes before me every time I see leeches. Somehow with great skill I managed to expertly flick them off of my shoes using twigs dangling from a nearby branch. We then decided to quicken our pace, though the trail got steeper and and more jagged. With every step our feet got heavier, our breath thinned down and beads of sweat trickled down our foreheads and into our eyes, burning them. But fear kept us going.

Finally, after three hours of climbing out of the infernal forest, I could see the light. A dazzling blue sky and blinding sunshine tore through the canopy and a vast, green, lush valley welcomed us. After another hour of walking on a grassy trail with a slight ascent, we reached Bhattaru Mane (translates to Bhat's house), a trekker's rest stop. I've never eaten a meal that tasted better than that lunch in his place, after such an exhausting three hours. We then washed our faces, filled our water bottles, freshened up and resumed trekking. The weather was kinder now, thanks to the altitude, almost 2300 feet from above sea level, compared to where we started, which was 300 feet. The mountain was now visible, though clouds smothered its peak, and naturally, we stopped a few times for some pictures. From now on, the trek was steeper, as if it wasn't steep enough, and the trail was even rockier than before, but the views behind us were breathtaking. As every hour passed, we got closer to the peak, At one point, when we looked behind us, there were these gigantic, monstrous monsoon clouds, looming not so far away, making its way toward us and the peak at an alarming pace. Like an enormous blue whale, a few hundred feet away, swimming toward you, somewhere in the depths of the Arctic. It was a spectacular scene, one I will never forget.

After three and a half hours, we reached the peak of Shesha Parvatha, a sister peak of Kumara Parvatha. The peak is perched on top of a cliff so steep, the drop was probably a 1000 feet straight down. Everything was visible within a fifty kilometer radius, and the views were spectacular. An entire layer of clouds were beneath us, like a scene one would observe when looking out of an aircraft. We only had a few minutes for photographs, when those huge monsoon clouds rolled in and reduced our visibility to possibly 20 meters at best. We then climbed down from Shesha Parvatha, retracing our path, and after about half an hour, reached a spot ideal for pitching a tent. It was flat, relatively smooth, and there weren't any steep slopes in the nearby vicinity. So by about 5.30 PM, we halted our trek, pitched our tents and snuggled inside for some well deserved rest. After passing around snacks like chips and cookies, and exchanging a few horror stories, we decided to lay down and rest our eyes. Things were put into perspective once again when the heavens opened up and it started pouring down heavily, a few hours before midnight. I had never been so frightened in all  my life and I didn't think I'd make it till next morning. What if the rain washed the tents down the cliff? What if the incessant wind blew our tents away? What if an elephant or a tiger (perfectly credible examples of the fauna associated with the mountain) attacked us from the nearby forest? We were the only trekkers who had pitched their tents near the peak that night, and the nearest help was almost a two hour trek downhill. We even had plans of going back down the next morning as the trek uphill would get harder if the trail was slick and slippery. To make matters worse, freezing rainwater started seeping through chinks in the tent's fabric, making it almost impossible to sleep. I was wide awake until after midnight when, as fate would have it, the clouds dispelled as quickly as they had arrived, and it became quiet once again. I convinced myself that everything was alright, and all my friends were asleep. So I closed my eyes, curled up and managed to get a decent sleep.

I was chilled to the bone next morning. It was probably seven or eight degrees outside, the clouds had cleared and a magnificent sunrise was on offer. We quickly readied ourselves, packing only essentials like water and some snacks in a bag, zipped up our tents and started the climb up. We reached Shesha Parvatha, again, and stopped for a few more pictures, again. The clouds caressed the peak of Kumara Parvatha, slowly rolling down and away beside a steep cliff. The only thing between the peak we were on and Kumara Parvatha was almost an hour of an uphill forest. A much denser forest than before. And forests meant leeches. Big ones. We did the only thing we knew - run. We sprinted across boulders, tree roots, a wet and slippery forest floor smothered with moist leaves, maybe a few snakes and plenty of leeches. I had my twig ready once again, in case those suckers did manage to climb on, and boy was it handy. My friend did get bit in between his fingers though, and it was a nasty wound, with blood all over his palm. At the end of the nightmarish forest was a steep rock face. We managed to manouevre past it by holding on to shrubs on the side and circling about the face, After that, we found a steep boulder path taking us to a point just before the peak. The last hundred meters was only slightly steep, similar to walking up a ramp, with every step more tiring than the last. The peak was now clearly in our sights, and it was just like walking up a stairway to heaven.

Finally, we made it. We were on top of Kumara Parvatha and had just completed what many consider to be the hardest trek in southern India. It was a glorious morning. There were smaller peaks and petite hills as far as the eye could see, when looking northward and southward. This was obviously the western Ghats. Clouds covered most of the flat coastal plains, almost five and a half thousand feet below us, in the west, and the lush green valleys of Coorg, forming the edge of the remarkably elevated Deccan plateau, lay in the east. We sat down, clicked a few pictures, took in the sights, and lay down on the grass. I looked up at the skies, looking back over what we had achieved. The metaphor of life being like a mountain to climb sadly didn't escape me, and at the risk of sounding didactic and preachy, I guess there really is no mountain too tall. When I saw this beast of a mountain way back in Bhattaru Mane, some three thousand feet below, I didn't think I'd be able to climb it, and yet, here I was. The biggest reward we received for climbing up was the view from the top, and the memories we made in the process. It was totally worth it. I closed my eyes and smiled. I was happy.

The Greatest Film Ever Made

I know I watched this film almost 47 years after its release, and despite some of my friends' constant imploring me to watch this film as soon as possible, I’m glad I did so last week.

This is probably the greatest experience I've ever had while watching a movie.

2001: A Space Odyssey is an prophetic film of epic proportions. To say that this is one of the greatest science fiction films made is an understatement. Questions of psychology, machine intelligence, human exploration, and their raw animalistic ethos intrigue the subconscious, along with fascinating, yet dark visuals and spectacular sequences set in space and on land. Apart from its appreciable scientific accuracy, the film is a profoundly visceral experience that cannot be found anywhere else. It's amazing how close to real life director Stanley Kubrick made the film seem. The film released in 1968, in the heat of the space race, and just one year before the giant leap of mankind. Since there weren't enough space-related imagery and definitive physical or metaphysical boundaries to the realities of space, there was a very thin line, but a line nonetheless, dividing Kubrick's titanic imagination and the physics of space, and devising a believable storyline that would remain oblivious to the numerous imminent space endeavors and stand the test of time was challenging. Kubrick teamed up with science fiction pioneer Arthur Clarke to help publish a novel of the same name that many say was loosely based on a previous short of his, 'The Sentinel', although Clarke vehemently opposed this in a foreword to the special edition of the book published in the eponymous year of 2001. According to Clarke, Kubrick had already ‘devoured entire libraries’ and had become an ‘expert’ in science fiction before they had first met. A screenplay was later derived from the novel and the film was released a few months before the book.

Let me delve into some of the many aspects of this film that have deeply moved me.

Firstly, the accuracy with which Kubrick has showcased space, an esoteric subject at the time, is admirable. Kubrick’s pedantic nature is visible in every aspect of the film. He makes use of Strauss’ Blue Danube to paint an elegant picture of space, right after the ‘Dawn of Man’ sequence, and the scene wherein the Pan Am jet docks into the space station is majestic. The lunar surface depicted in the film is dry and dusty, and a generally jagged landscape, not even close to a departure from the actual lunar surface. Even the real astronauts that landed on the moon a year later concurred with the film’s depiction. The gaseous forms of Jupiter’s clouds are stunningly close to the real one. And arguably, the star gate sequence could probably be a product of anyone’s imagination, given that space researchers aren’t close to deciphering the physics of these space and time bending portals. The sound design is also impeccable. The scene in which Dave re-enters the Discovery is testament to this. The silence is formidably deafening when Dave ejects himself from the space pod and enters the ship, and the sound that follows of the emergency doors closing is equally startling. The production and costume design in the scenes inside the space stations naturally suffer from a hyperbolic and optimistic envisioning of the future of space from the perspective of a naiveté generation, but it still remains believable nonetheless. The same follows with the birth of the star child. Even the dull dialogues between the astronauts reflect the way of life in space. Kubrick’s awareness of the importance of grounding space travel to its physical conformities, in contrast to allowing artistic imagination getting the better of the subject, makes this picture relevant even today.

HAL 9000 is the artificial intelligence system that controls the Discovery One spacecraft headed for Jupiter that claims to have never failed in its short history. Douglas Rain, who provided its dry, scathing voice, has probably created the most memorable nefarious character of its time. The scenes in which HAL is a part of provide a cautionary tale about the infiltration of technology into human endeavors. Masterful camera tricks transform this quasi-innocuous machine into a passive but ruthless monster. HAL seems miffed with humans performing even the simplest of endeavors. The shot in which the astronaut Frank Poole streaks across space when HAL snaps the cord connecting Poole to the Discovery is deeply inflicting, just like the subtle murdering of the hibernating scientists.

A recurring character in the film is the enigmatic black monolith. The novel gives away too many details, I’m told, and I haven’t read the book yet, but the film prefers to mask it with ambiguity. Classic Kubrick. The monolith appears to change the course of human history every time it appears, although where it appears from and how it does so is unclear, and rightly so. A particular scene I loved was in the ‘Dawn of Man’ sequence. How those agitated apes start screeching in cacophonous tones, and jump about at a slight distance around the monolith at the break of dawn, knowing very well that there was an inexplicable air of authority around it. How that dissonant howling in the background adds to the hysteria. And how, after a while, the apes curiously approach the object, feel it, and mellow down. I read that there seems to be some sort of religious significance in this scene, when the sunlight hits the monolith, something signifying Zarathusthra. Regardless, this scene was amazingly captured in one shot, and from one camera angle, and is probably the most impactful scene in the history of cinema. At second place is a similar scene on the moon, wherein the astronauts discover the monolith and attempt to touch it, setting off a deafening screech that probably opened up the star gate vortex near Jupiter. The terrifying howling in the background, mentioned previously, adds to the aura of the monolith, and strikes the mind with a hammer whenever it’s heard in the monolith scenes.

This Kafkaesque journey into the mysterious depths of space assures me that if there ever was a God of cinema that walked this earth, it was Stanley Kubrick. The subject that this story dives into is a serious matter, and it was dutifully narrated by a scrupulous Kubrick. I only wish he were alive in the year 2001, to appreciate the film’s far-reaching influence on space travel, and cinema.

Hello World

Hello World
Says the Computer Science undergrad.. Ha!
I was walking in a lusciously green and extensively huge park right beside the half-baked metro station in Jayanagar's 9th Block with my uncle when he decides to ask me,
"What do you want to do in life Krishna?"
Oh no.. Another conversation about existentialism and purpose of life, blah..
Normally, Giri uncle isn't the type of person I've had these deep conversations with anyway. It's usually the usual customers that usually ask me these unusual questions about my purpose in life - Amma, Appa, Ajji, etc. So naturally, I was amused..
"I don't know. I think I'll need a year to think about what I plan to pursue after undergraduation"
I just finished my second year and I'm interning at a startup headed by Appa and Giri uncle.
"Forget about your career, what do you like to do? What do you want the reason to be for you to wake up in the morning and get to work?"
Okay, finally someone's asking the right questions..
"I dunno.. If someone could pay me for every movie I watched, that would be great.."
I love watching movies..
"Then why don't you start a blog?"
Of course this thought had entered my mind.. Blogging, right.. But why didn't I start one then?
"Yeah, but the thing is I had thought of this just before my exams came up. Then after the exams, I came home and chilled during the entire month of May, and now June I ended up here in the office.."
Mind you, 'chilled' is just a euphemism for 'doing nothing'. Nobody can 'chill' in May in this god damned Indian summer..
Later on I talked about other interests of mine like traveling and reading, etc etc, and I thought that this wouldn't be a bad idea at all, one blog for everything, all adventures, experiences, thoughts, emotions, everything. A tool to transform even the mundane to the magical.
As Rooney Mara's character in The Social Network said, "The Internet's not written in pencil, Mark, it's written in ink."
Cool, so blogging is a means by which I can leave vestiges of my conscience, bare my soul, open to everyone's scathing judgements, blah blah, for everyone to see, with no means of controlling who derives what meaning from it. Kind of like a digital art form.
Does this make me an artist? Am I entitled to write whatever I can about anything I want? Can I exercise artistic freedom over all my work and let free will reign?
Maybe..
But it's worth a shot.
After I walked back to the office from the park, I opened my laptop and typed away, and just as I thought it would, I gained a sublime sense of satisfaction with each word typed. Joygasm.
Don't ask me why I've given this blog its name, even I don't where it came from..
Perhaps, I'll leave that for another musing
For now though,
Hello World