Life is a camera, Face it with a smile
A smile is like saying hello without any words.


Thursday 10 June 2010

The faceless acussations of facebook

Does a week go by without someone alleging something bad against Facebook? Is this media's way of grabbing our attention and making us read the news? Or is the jealousy rage rising, cos FAcebook is so successful?

The recent article on news.com.au, 'Facebook addicts can't relate', just blew the pipe for me. Clearly the person making these allegations has no clue or has never met a person with 900 friends on facebook.

"If you are not rehearsing looking someone in the eye in three dimensions, but instead you have 900 friends on Facebook ... one does question what kind of relationship they might be having,'' was the allegation put forward.

But this is crazy, I may have a fair while to go to reach 900 friends, but I know many other's well past this fanciful number. And I can assure you their social skills are great, and relationships are strong. You can't just randomly go an add 900 people, although you may add one or two, or a few more, and have a solely online relation that in their terms lacks 'empathy'. Its through meeting them in person that you get to add more people. So obviously some where along the line this person had met these 900 poeple.

the accusation of 'not rehearsing' is absolute attrocity. Shy people will actually feel like contributing online, and become more confident in meeting peole they've already met online, because the introduction is already done. And so what if we rehearse, doesnt that still help us in our interactions with others? Even before the net savvy days, people rehearsed to make face to face conversations, eg when they proposed, met an important person etc. So the fact people rehearse, if in fact they do this on FAcebook, can only be viewed as a positive.

We will all have the story, of meeting someone, forgetting, later finding them on FAcebook. See, fb actually encourages us to form a relationship and meet up with them later. Or how about the times, we've seen someone a 100 million times, but never had the opportunity to talk to them. Remember the times, you would have caught up with a friend, and started talking about what someone wrote on FAcebook. This just goes to suggest that fb even encourages conversations.

I'm an advocate for facebook, for the fact it connects people. There are disadvantages, no doubt, and it in no way replaces face to face conversation, but when this is not possible, Facebook is a great tool to facilitate face to face conversations.

Thus, 'YOUTHS hooked on social networking sites are struggling to relate' has no substance or merit. Facebook enhances relational skills, plus maybe a bit of stalking and bitching on the other side, but that's another blog.

Wednesday 9 June 2010

The defence of Vinaithaandi Varuvaaya

Okay this is probably like a really delayed review of this movie. So I shall call it my defence for the movie. There are many raving reviews for this movie on the net. However, I seem to have found so much more reviews dissing this movie. So this is my defence to those reviews, because this film absolutely touched me! Not to the extent Kanda Naal Muthal did, and and in no way will it make it to my top favourite movies, but it touched me because the movie was so realistic. Maybe, this is an additional reason people didn't like this movie, cos it was too real ,and they couldn't accept the reality.

Forgetting all shame, I have to say, I saw myself in Trisha's character. Yes she was crazy, and in my mum's words an absolute 'loosu'. But that's how some girls are. They feel incredibly loyal to their parents, and at teh same time have to deal with the pulls of an intensive guy like Simbu in the movie. Of course, girls think a lot, and will feel a 100 different emotions, and make a 100 different decisions depending on their compusure at that particular time. And that has been aptly covered by Gautham Menon.
This was the essence of the film, it was not that they were of different religion, that he loved a girl who was going to get married, he was younger etc. Of course these things have been showed in a 100 different other tamil movies. My justification for why the director chose to add these elements, was to show that even though these differences existed, they were not the cause of the problems, it was the uncertaity of the girl itself that was the prime cause.
Further, above all, I believe Vinaithaandi Varuvaaya was a movie meant to be critical of love, as well. Simbu falls in love with a girl, he has little idea about. Of course the love swept him of his senses. Havn't we all felt that at some point in our life? But the thing is, is this true love? He knew little about the girl. He just wanted to touch her, hug her, kiss her as he constantly says throughout the movie. It was about hormones, and the feelings we get in the spur of the moment. It's about attraction. And thus led to the amount of problems, because they weren't really in love with each other. Thus the question at the end by Jessie, 'Am I really such a good person?' was classic. Simbu's character had the view that Jessie was this perfect goddess throughout the movie, and thus her inconsistent actions with this perfect image, caused problems. Thus VTV to me, is also a warning that true love begins, once we get beyond this perfect image, and get to know the person, which neither Simbu nor TRisha did.
The only thing that was a bit cowardish of the director, was the dual meaning. I know Gautham wanted the ending where they seperate, why satisfy the rest of the audience with a movie ending, that removes the realism from the movie?
All in all, a movie to watch definetly once, for not entertainment, but lifes messages :)

Clash of Culture - Part 3

Sometimes I feel that Indian's abroad hold more orthodox views than those back home. But then, this directly conflicts with movie makers perspective that people abroad are more welcome to more conservative themes, and we get movies like kabhi alvedana, aimed at a NRI audience.

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Clash of Cultures- The yearning to pay!

I go out with friends. Who pays? Why is it such an issue with some people?
I go out with a group of friends, split the bill, awesome. Works brilliant. Or we all buy something, and share. That works too.
Then there are the times you go with just antoher person, where its easier for just one person to pay. The complicated times. Maybe I should never go on such occassions, but then these are the best times you get to know another person. Anyways, it would make sense to take turns at such occassions to pay. If you pay once, the next time, they should let you pay. Why do some people always insist they pay? and then use useless excuses that I'm a girl, they feel insulted, etc. I mean, come on, what abt my feelings and my worries that they may insult girls for never taking out their wallet? Why don't people let me pay sometimes?
I ask this having full well witnessed some of the worst fights back in India, of who pays after a lunch or dinner, especialy when you take extended family out to a restaurant. I supppose its associated with being Indian. Cos it works really well when I go to lunch/dinner with Aussie friends. I mean, even at a Bday dinner, there is not concept of 'treat' and everyone pays for themself. At a wedding, people are expected to give gifts that match the costs of the wedding per person. Although, I could never understand these concepts, nor agree with it; what happened to the moderate middle ground, where when you go on a normal day out, that you can pay sometimes. Special days, the pay is yours, no worries:)!

Tuesday 1 June 2010

There are people in this world who live for themselves. And there are people who pretend to live for others. And then there are the extremely rare few, who don't fit into either of these categories.

I am likely to fall into both the first and second, as a Y generation 'KID' in the consumerist society of Australia, very likely! But as usual, I'm being selfish and sidetracked.

I'm just grateful that I have had the honour to meet many who belong to this third category, who without their own knowledge care deeply about those around them. My only pity is that they are the least likely, to make a change and do something with their incredible, compassionate ability they possess. Why? And why do people in the second category, so easily, make the greatest changes?

Surely the one perrson who made me blog about this topic, will achieve in life, because the sweetness of that person, defies boundaries. Even in a game of Tabletennis, to read my mind and think of other's was absurd to me. But perfectly ordinary to him. I feel sad, to see him lost in his own mind. But I know the best is set for him. It is that inside feeling telling me. He will achieve his dreams, if for nothing else, but his big heart.