Slumdog Millionaire - Movie Review

As an Indian myself, I can see why the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" would disturb most Indians. And going by the comments posted on the Internet, it indeed does.

To our collective shame, the movie depicts the stark reality of the life of a homeless child from the slums of Mumbai. And for the British Director, Danny Boyle to be able to accurately reflect that child's life in India, seems to most Indians like we are washing our dirty linen in public and hanging it out to dry under the world's eyes. That is exactly what the movie did - hung our unmentionables out to dry in the world's laundry line.

Slumdog is a hard-hitting movie - a difficult movie to see, especially if you are very imaginative and sensitive. But it is also a must-see movie, if you want to know exactly how the less fortunate people live in other parts of the world.

India, with the dubious honor of being the world's largest democracy, obviously has her unique share of challenges in taking care of some of her most vulnerable population - the women and children. That challenge is truly revealed in the movie. To all those not familiar with life in India, who have watched or will watch Slumdog, I will say this: all that has been depicted as the life of a youngster living in abject poverty in India, is indeed real. There was no artistic license used by Director Danny Boyle to enhance those horrors.

The movie is about a child of the slums of Dharavi, one of the world's largest slums. The main protagonist is Jamal, played by Dev Patel, who works as a "chai boy" (tea boy) at one of the call centers. Patel has excelled in his role. He emotes beautifully and is very effective in accurately portraying the pain of his life. I cannot do justice to this review without mentioning Jamal's 2 younger selves.

The role of Jamal as a 10 year old is played by the cute, round-eyed, and most adorable cherub, Ayush Khedekar. Ayush, with no acting experience under his belt, has done an exemplary job. As an young teen, the role of Jamal is played by Tanay Chedha, also performed very well.

The other main protagonists are also less known or unknown actors with little or no experience. Frieda Pinto is gorgeous and sweet as the adult Latika. Her younger selves, Rubiana Ali (a real child from the slums of Dharavi), and Tanvi Lonkar have also done a great job. So has Azharuddin Ismail (another child from the slums of Dharavi) as the youngest Salim. Azharuddin has accurately portrayed how a child from the slums needs to be a fighter in order to survive the harsh realities of life.

It is to Director Danny Boyle's credit that every single actor in this movie has performed par excellence. There is no slowing of pace in this movie. You dont have the luxury to think while watching. Everything moves at such a fast pace, that you will be on the edge of your seat throughout the duration of the movie. The music, handled by India's favorite music director A.R.Rehman, is also fabulous. I love happy endings and this movie ended with the much anticipated song and dance sequence that is a must in every movie that has Indian actors. The grand finale song was fabulous, upbeat and victorious.

I cannot end without mentioning what has been my biggest nightmare about the life of vulnerable children in India. The depiction of the character of "Maman", the guy who lures kids off the street and miams or blinds them in order to make them more pitiful, so that he can get more money when they go out begging is India's most terrifying, shameful secret. I must confess, that I hid behind my coat and did not watch when the scene of blinding one of the children was shown.

I am certainly very empathetic to India's social challenges. I do believe that despite all that the country has had to face since independence, it has come a long way.

But, as Robert Frost put it, we all have "miles to go before we sleep" - this is not just India's problem, it is the mankind's problem to deal with. If we are to progress as humans, we need to take all our folks with us.

Profiting from Tragedy - the Caylee Anthony doll

The commercialization of civilization.

It is a shameful time. A time to reflect about how low things have sunk. And how crass and how utterly mercenary some people have become. How they think that material gain excuses any insensitivity to the pain of others.

I was shocked that a business from Jacksonville even thought they could profit from poor Caylee Anthony's death, when I read this post on CNN: Outrage halts launch of Caylee Sunshine doll. The post went to explain that the public was outraged that Jaime Salcedo, president of Showbiz Promotions created a doll called Caylee Sunshine. I am glad that people stood up for what is right and denounced this act of profiting from tragedy. It tells me that there is some hope left for us. That there are still good people around.

When asked about his profit motives, Mr.Salcedo demurred, saying that he was only doing a public service. He was donating money to charity. But, was he? The dolls were priced at $29.99 and he was planning on donating $3 to charity. He had not even identified a charity for donation yet.

Regardless of whatever excuse Mr.Salcedo has come up now in the face of public uproar, the very thought that he even took this idea to fruition is sickening and insensitive.

This is what commercialization of our civilization has done to us. Look around you: Bernie Madoff, John Thain, Joseph Bruno, Ted Stevens, Jack Abramoff, Citibank Jet purchase with public money, AIG spa treatment with public money, and now hundreds more scams being revealed.

We've gotten so deep into consumerism and materialism that people don't matter anymore. Nothing matters except money. That's what got us in this economic mess. The greed. The corruption. The insensitivity. The lobbying. The racketeering.

Maybe this is our time to stop and ponder about our missed path.

It's not welfare as long as it is corporate welfare! :)

...So commented a fellow about Huffington Post's article titled, "Citi Jet Purchase: $50 million, 12-seat plane despite $45 Billion Bailout".

I completely agree. There's a different standard out there when it comes to Corporations and Corporate bigwigs. It doesn't matter if they've been and continue to be irresponsible. Doesn't matter that they've made bad decisions. Doesn't matter that they feel entitled. Doesn't matter that they lived life large and enjoyed all the money in the good times and didn't save up for bad times. Doesn't matter that they ran their companies by over extending their debt...

In America, Corporations can do no wrong and are never punished.

It is the people who carry the brunt.

- Bought a home that was within your means but got taken in by an unscrupulous mortgage lender who saddled you with a fancy mortgage instrument that "balloons"?
Hey! you should have done your homework!

- Been absolutely responsible with your money, but now have lost most, if not all, of your hard-earned 401(k)?
Tough luck, mate! No one could have predicted this!

- Been very careful with your home purchase but the value of your home has fallen so much that you've lost all your savings?
Sorry, old champ! That's life!

- Got laid off because your CEO spent the company money on refurbishing his office and now cannot pay you for the honest day's work you are doing? Lost your health insurance since you don't have a job and now cannot pay for your terminally ill wife's treatment?
- Buddy, this is a capitalist society. Don't expect welfare!

But, if you are a bigwig in a Corporation, just go wailing to Washington with a begging bowl.

"Baawwwwlllllllllll! The economy tanked. No one could have predicted this. We cannot run our business. We didn't foresee this. HELP US! Bail us out so that we can continue to squander the common man's hard earned money. "

And the poor sucker taxpayer will come to your rescue.

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Tamil Movie Review - "Villu" - watch at your own risk!

Friday night was, unfortunately for me, nostalgia night. I wanted to hear someone speak my mother tongue, Tamil, so I succumbed to the nostalgia and dragged my unwilling husband to see the new Pongal release Tamil movie called "Villu". I went because of the the famous names associated with it - actor Vijay and actress Nayantara playing the lead roles and actor Prabhu Deva foraying into Direction for this movie.

I want to give you some positive feedback and so I have racked my brains all night. Ah! I got it! I heard people speak in Tamil! And at the end of the movie, my husband and I (when we finally figured out the story line) got to spend another hour discussing how the movie should have actually ended: with the sandstorm revealing Vijay's father's body, buried all those years ago, and Vijay finally cremating his father's body with honor. My husband was of the opinion that it too, would have been incorporated, had the Producers not run out of money! :)

The movie was splice of nearly every imaginable scene ever played in a Tamil movie and some of the horrific atrocities committed on women in most Indian movies.

MGR's old films were spliced in and copied; there were animated cows dancing, kicking and spewing turd on the very boring Vadivelu (I would like to meet the person who still thinks he is a comedian!); animated beehives falling, with animated bees stinging real people; German men who believed that African Chimpazees can look and speak like humans and who gyrated badly to Tamil movie songs; fat women bathing; a blue ray disc that was a blue CD stored in some blue room accessed via a blue corridor; thugs who wanted to abduct a girl on her wedding day; army officers who suddenly became rich thugs and lived in Germany...

Add to all that, the lead female role played by Nayantara was some kind of nightmare. It appeared that Nayantara had been directed to display all the navarasas (nine emotions - love, hate, disgust, cruelty, kindness, courage, wonder, sorrow and fear) in 9 seconds. Her face contorted every ninth second, making the scenes she was in, a blur.

Vijay, who played the lead male role, did what he is usually good at - danced around, acted tough, and looked good. It appeared that in one of the dances, Prabhu Deva (the dancing maestro, who has unfortunately strayed from his real talent as a dancer and actor) has danced and superimposed Vijay's face. It made for weird scenes of a body juxtaposed horribly with the face. In addition, the dance steps were repetitive. When the step was performed for the first time it was cool. The second time it hit me on the head. The third time, it drove a nail through my heart. Enough!

Prabhu Deva is a much better actor and dancer than he is a director. I implore him to switch back to his original career. I used to love his acting and really enjoyed his dancing.

The film was disjointed and muddled. The comedy made me want to cry. The editing was choppy. The story line was tired. It was the longest 3 hours of my life. I wanted to walk away 10 minutes into the movie, but by then, my husband was in the mood for being a sleuth so we stayed in order to see if we could eventually discover the existence of a story line. To Director Prabhu Deva's credit, we finally got the story (I think!) by the time the curtains came down 3 hours later.

I guess I could have reviewed this movie with one sentence: if you plan to spend $8 on this movie, don't!

Buy a burger instead, and call me if you want to hear spoken Tamil!

Walll Street Fiddles as America Burns!

We Americans have our very own reincarnation of Nero - The fools at Wall Street.

Nero, the fifth and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty was known for his tyranny and extravagance. But, his greatest claim to fame was that he fiddled while Rome burnt!

Our Neros think John Thain's (Merill Lynch's CEO) profligacy is warranted and a "just a drop in the bucket" compared to the money that Merrill Lynch makes each quarter.

I wish the Wall Street types who said this would do their homework first. Merrill was posting losses every quarter. There was no money being made. Merrill was laying off employees in order to save money. And John Thain was preaching to his leftover employees to CUT spending while he refurbished his office!

Is this the reason why we are all in this mess? Because the CEOs who are hired by corporations dont think they need to do their homework before spouting nonsense? Because they refuse to face reality? Because they are so puffed up with their own importance that they think they are worthy of an office costing $1.22 million?

Because they continue to fiddle while America burns?

If they don't have bread, let them eat cake!!

Quick! Whose were these famous last words that triggered the French revolution? Who was sent to the guillotine for saying this?

- Marie Antoinette - the French Queen!

And again, quick! Who has Marie Antoinette reincarnated as, in this life?

Guess? Can't guess? Are there too many top executives in America who fit Marie Antoinette's utterly tasteless, utterly stupid, utterly self-centered, utterly crass and utterly greedy life style?

Here is a hint:

- Guess who, while cutting off his employees lifelines by laying them off work by the thousands in order to "save" the company, was simultaneously spending $1.22 million of the same company's money in refurbishing his office?
- Guess who had the company pay $87,000 for an area rug for his tender left foot in his office?
- Guess who needed another area rug for $44,000, for his other tender foot?
- How about a mahogany pedestal table for $25,000?
- What about a 19th Century Credenza for $68,000? A sofa for $15,000? Four pairs of curtains for $28,000? A pair of guest chairs for $87,000? A George IV Desk for $18,000?
- How about the ultimate slap on our faces - the $35,000 toilet bowl, paid for with our retirement savings?

And on and on, until the bill came up to $1.22 million?

Ah! Got it now, did ya!

Looks like Madame Antoinette didn't learn even after being guillotined in her previous incarnation. Reborn as the asinine Mr. John Thain, CEO of the sunken Merrill Lynch, Johnny boy had the tremendous gall to spend $1.22 million on trivialities whilst laying off hard-working Americans who worked for him. He actually committed crimes of commission worse than poor, stupid Marie Antoinette's crime of omission.

At least Marie just sat in her ivory tower and didn't realize what her people were going through.

But John? Oh John! Don't you understand? Didn't the people's wrath teach you anything at all? A whiff of honor? Some integrity? A dash of empathy? A small modicum of decency? No?

Well, John - Did you know that an honorable captain sinks with the ship? That is why he is CAPTAIN. He saves all his people even when he goes down.

Not you, Johnny! You sunk your people while you feathered your nest.

Walk the walk, Mr. Geithner!

I confess, I do not know much about Timothy Geithner, except that he is President Obama's nominee for Treasury Secretary. I have heard that he is highly qualified to head the IRS and lead us out of this economic mess.

I have also heard about his "innocent" (quote Sen. Max Baucus) mistake in not correctly paying his own taxes for 4 years in a row, which makes me wonder how credible he would be as the head of IRS. After all, this is the position to which we are all ultimately accountable to, for filing our own taxes!

As a country, our strength lies in the fact that we respect our leaders very much and entrust them with enormous leeway to make decisions on our behalf. Maybe because of this and because our leaders have the ability to impact so many lives with their decisions, we hold them to higher standards than we would an average Joe. We expect them to have earned the right to make decisions on our behalf. That right comes with an enormous responsibility. While I agree that no one can be infallible all the time, just look around and see the havoc that has been wrought in these past 8 years because we have not held our leaders accountable to walk the walk.

Granted that there were extenuating circumstances to Mr.Geithner's oversight. Granted Mr. Geithner is an upright, forthright and very knowledgeable individual. Unfortunately, the mistakes made are not only very recent, they are in direct correlation to the job he is seeking. And that job is of enormous importance to this country, especially at this period in history.

Life is such...There are some mistakes that cannot be rectified because they are so context-sensitive. If a fighter pilot loses concentration for a split second, his plane can crash, killing him and others. There is no condoning that mistake. But if a desk worker loses concentration for more than a hour, it wont matter at all. Mr. Geithner's mistake must be viewed in the context of the job he is being asked to perform. It could probably be condoned were he to apply for any other position in the Obama team. But, Treasury Secretary making this mistake? Its like the babysitter pinching the baby first and then rocking the cradle.

Nothing personal Mr.Geithner, but as an average citizen, I think its time we held our leaders to the same standards they expect of us.

Pardon Mr.McCain, your slip was showing! :)

I like John McCain. I think he's cool. But wait, I think he's cool now! Not during the long-drawn out election battle.

That was the time I was dismayed by him. He didn't seem authentic. Everything around him seemed contrived and it showed. His slip, unfortunately, showed. In British parlance, a slip is what a lady wears under her clothing... the chemise, the petticoat. And McCain's slip showed, embarrassing him and us!

As a brand new US citizen, I was completely, devoutly and mesmerizingly obsessed with the election. When I first started following the election on CNN, I wasn't really clear about the difference between the Republicans and Democrats. I wasn't sure what each party's special vices were.

As an Air Force brat, I was a prime candidate to vote for John McCain. My childhood was spent in Air Force camps all around India. My father was a decorated war hero, a man who considered honor above his life and a fighter pilot like John McCain. John's story resonated with me. I knew what it meant to be live in the midst of war. I know what it means to lose a family member in the service of the nation. I know first-hand what it takes to keep a nation safe.

But then, I watched in fascination as the election battle heated. I didn't miss a single debate, a single SNL episode and my TV blared CNN 24/7. I watched as McCain lost his focus, his very integrity, as he chose Sarah Palin as his VP.

I was an Obama fan right from the start. In spite of that, because of McCain's stature and the stories I had read about his honor and integrity, I was willing to suspend judgment and give him a chance before I made any decision.

And then McCain chose Sarah Palin as his VP.

My origins are from a country that had elected a female Prime Minister in the 70s. I was happy about the fact that US finally had a woman in the top ticket. But, I watched in embarrassment as Sarah Palin stumbled through Katie Couric's very fair and relevant questions. Then I watched as she made misstep after misstep - the ostentatious wardrobe, paid for by the RNC, her war cries against Obama, her instigation of the crowd with tasteless innuendos... McCain, no doubt, did the right thing by supporting her staunchly, but as Sarah Palin showed her true colors of being totally unqualified for the role she was seeking to play at leading the nation, I began to question McCain's judgment. I wondered what motive he had for selecting her without vetting her credentials first.

Then, as the days passed, McCain seemed more strained, more lacklustre and more rudderless. He had lost the election even before the election came around, simply because he had lost his moorings.

McCain lost me the minute Sarah Palin displayed her inadequacy. Then he lost my vote over and over again as I saw how he conducted himself. I was especially dismayed when I read more about his wonderful reputation prior to the election. He was admired. People thought well of him. And now he had lost all that.

In my eyes, McCain's saving grace was his wonderful concession speech on the night Barack Obama won. He was gracious and large-hearted and sounded like the man people had been writing about. I was glad.

I am glad now too when I read this post on CNN's ticker: Ex-Obama foe plots comeback. I am ecstatic. I can admire John McCain again. And I do admire him. At 72, if I had the 7 houses, 11 cars and the money that John McCain has, I'd probably be lounging on a beach somewhere, ready to attain nirvana. Not John McCain. I truly believe he is working to serve the country.

The real John is back. Welcome Mr. McCain!

Alphainventions.com - Nice invention!

Some weeks ago, as I was posting on my fledgling food blog - Flog!, I suddenly noticed a huge spike in the hits on my site. Upon investigating further, I realized that a site called Alpha Inventions was trolling the blogosphere to look for blog authors who were logged in and posting new posts so that it could let readers know in real time.

I thought it was a fantastic idea. And since then I have utilized Alpha Inventions free posting feature to let my readers and new readers know that I have updated my blog.

I did read some comments on the Wordpress Forum from some of the members complaining that Alpha Inventions was messing up their stats because wordpress essentially counted every display on Alpha Inventions as a hit. However, I must say this in defense of Alpha Inventions: yes, maybe the site hit count may not be accurate, but as a blog owner, I should acknowledge the exposure it grants my blog. This exposure, albeit 5 seconds (click the Pause button, if a blog catches your eye and you find the 5 second flash so interesting that you want to read further), has brought me new readers and new subscribers. I am very appreciative of that.

As a blog reader, I also enjoy Alpha Inventions. In this huge blogosphere, there are so many interesting blogs which, due to the large competition get missed, but which are of great interest to me. When I go into Alpha Inventions to notify my readers about my blog updates, I also get to see who else had updated their blogs and I invariably find myself lured to their blogs. I enjoy the fact that Alpha Inventions makes it possible for me to notice so many new blogs that I might otherwise miss.

So, regardless of the fact that hit counters are really a bit skewed, (for God's sake, the hit counters are for the blog owner, so just discount the numbers and figure out your true numbers - no need to complain and make a ruckus about this when the benefits are so much more!) Alpha Inventions is indeed a very useful tool.

I highly recommend it - as a blog owner as well as a blog reader!

Pay to play!

One of my favorite Tamil movie scenes is a comedy routine, performed by the actor Vivek. In that scene, Vivek is traveling on a motorbike, when he is stopped by a cop for speeding. The cop asks him to dismount and starts writing up a ticket. Vivek is all braggadocio and he blusters to the cop, " I know the Police chief!". The cop immediately stops writing the ticket and starts groveling. Vivek then puffs up his chest and cannot stop himself from saying, "BUT, he doesnt know me!" To which the cop responds by thrashing him.

It is a hilarious scene, but also a sad scene, because that is the true state of affairs in India. You get by, by who you know. And you get by, by bribery. Your business runs on whose palms you can grease. You can get off the hook by paying. You can land jobs, movie tickets, seats in restaurants, big contracts, anything, by paying money. And in the Govt. there is a fixed price tag for every job that your elected officials are already paid to do. You need a passport? No problem, just pay an extra Rs 500 along with the passport fee. Everyone down to the office peon gets a cut. You need get approval on a real estate form for building your factory? No problem, just pay Rs 100,000 and it will get done.

Money just doesn't talk in India, it sings.

And people are so desensitized that bribery is no longer something to be ashamed of, corruption is no longer "under the table". In India bribery is a blatant, "Sur la table"! In your face!

So when I read the screaming headlines of the past two days: "Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich busted in an early morning operation because he was caught on tape negotiating to sell Barack Obama's old Senate seat" I felt a sense of deja vu. Been there, seen that.

But what I hadn't seen before was the media frenzy at Governor Blagojevich's brash and open misuse of power. As I watched the news media cover the whole sordid tale, the one thing that emerged was the indignation of everyone in Illinios at the fact that everything was "Sur la table". They couldn't believe that Blago, as he is fondly referred to, had lost all sense of dignity of his position, all sense of shame, any honor and any respect for the people he was representing. Blago so believed he was above the law that he openly taunted the FBI to investigate him and place wire taps.

As a fairly recent transplant from India to the US, I revel in and enjoy the cultural differences between the two countries. I found that one of most striking cultural differences is between the way Indians speak and Americans couch their words - it is simply the polish. It is a refined and genteel way of saying the unpalatable. Whatever Indians say bluntly, the Americans I know, will pretty the same thing up, and arrive at it in a roundabout manner.

Going by the media frenzy, especially on CNN, it appeared that Blago's crime was not just the fact that he was corrupt. There are other corrupt politicians. Especially other corrupt Governors from Illinois. Blago's heinous crime was that he was blatant: his every demand was open. His misuse of power was rampant. True to American form, the media came up with a "sound bite" in order to spare our sensibilities. Pay-to-play!

Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

...when we first practice to deceive!

Ramalinga Raju, the CEO of Sathyam mentioned in his now infamous letter to the Board of Directors of his company, that his fraudulent activity felt akin to riding a tiger. He didn't know how to get off and so kept riding it until he was forced to dismount.

Rhetoric aside, the very first time we make a CHOICE to deceive instead of doing the right and moral thing, we end up weaving a web that soon becomes hard to unravel. There is no way out of the snag other than to cut the string finally. And that is what happened to Ramalinga Raju. Sadly, his crime did not just impact himself and his family. His multitude of employees, shareholders, the Indian public and press - everyone has been affected.

The more power a person has, the longer the fall. And they take other innocents down with them. It comes down to my oft-repeated refrain - It is imperative that Corporations, since they actually are, ultimately a collection of individuals, have a social conscience. Something that will keep them honest, something that will alert them when they start to tread the wrong path - a path that will lead to everyone's downfall.

When I was working for a large Fortune 300 company, one of the annual goal setting exercises included a vision and mission statement. Now, if only the vision statement, in addition to the company's vision for its growth and financial bottom line, included a social responsibility statement, it would help keep the focus on being a wholesome company that is well-integrated and has a synergistic relationship with the society that helps it grow.

For, after all, which predatory relationship has ever prospered?

Corporations, like individuals, animals and the eco-system as a whole, need to function in a mutually symbiotic manner in their environment. Animals know that you cannot survive if you bite the hand that feeds you.

In the case of Sathyam and in the case of Bernie Madoff, both entities did not understand this fundamental fact - Society is the hand that feeds them. If they act in a predatory manner within the very society that breathes spirit into them, there is no way they can survive. They will be riding a tiger. And when they fall, they bring others down with them.

I urge the corporate bigwigs to incorporate a Social responsibility statement that keeps them on the straight and narrow path. Ultimately, it will benefit them.

All's fair in love and war and BUSINESS!!

I read an article on Huffington post that caused me to step back and say, "What? Seriously? ONLY in America! " And then I read the same article on CNN and knew for sure it WAS a joke. Only, the joke was on US, the American people!

It was an article titled, "Porn Kings want bailout". Aside from the ridiculousness of the assertion that bailing out the auto industry and the financial sector somehow makes it alright for other "industries" to seek similar tax payer help, the saddest joke about this article is that no one questioned the enormous travesty of referring to the porn output as "industry".

For long I have felt that we are willing to make enormous concessions to businesses as long as they fulfill that one reason for their existence - making money. Money and the making of money seems to condone every mistake, every wrongdoing and every wrong purpose. It is indeed a sad day for us when we can accept the exploitation of women and teens in the name of money making and justify these businesses as "industries".

Adding insult to injury is asking for taxpayer bailout to sustain the "industry" in the name of sexual health for America.

As long as the focus of business is only money, we are going to get slammed in many ways by unscrupulous business men. Businesses and corporations need to have a social conscience - there is no way around that.

The Joy of Absolute Faith

Unlike Oliver Twist, the famed protagonist of Charles Dickens’ novel, Subbu, our cat, couldn’t ask for more! Subbu led an envious cat life – full of petting and feting and loving. He loved being welcomed with smooches and cuddles every time he sauntered into view. He loved our home and neighborhood. He had access to the wilderness he dearly loved, and enjoyed his daily romp in the woods. He loved to watch the birds all the while pretending he was a tiger crouching for his prey. And he loved to slink away sheepishly, if the bird ever dared to look at him. Life was fun. Life was enjoyable. Life was everything he could ask of it. Life was full.


Subbu couldn’t have asked for more.

And that was until 3 days ago when life decided to throw Subbu a curve ball. We closed up home and moved across the country. Subbu watched questioningly, as we loaded up our van with his food and water bowls and his meager possessions. And then he watched helplessly in dismay, as we dragged him squalling and mewling pitifully into the “big gray moving beast” – our van. He climbed on my lap and watched the moving scenery with rounded eyes, filled with fear and disbelief. What had happened to his wonderful life? Why was he cooped up and moving so fast? Where were these people whom he had once trusted taking him? Why couldn’t he go out and visit with his birds and bugs, deer and water fowl? Why couldn’t he spend his days snoozing under the desk with his paws up in the air? Why? Why?


And so, the first half of a day was spent with Subbu resisting and questioning and being fearful. Then came a time, sometime mid way through the day, when Subbu stopped resisting. He suddenly recalled that wherever he was being taken, he was being taken by people whom he loved and trusted. He retreated between our seats and settled in to snooze. Within a couple of hours he was relaxed and soon he was on his back, paws up in the air, sleeping in the abject surrender of one who had reposed his complete trust on his loved ones and knew he would fine. The rest of the 22 hour journey went fine – for Subbu as well as for us.

So, what is the moral of this story? How does this apply to us in these trying times?


We are now at a time in our lives when we know not why “bad” things happen and we know not why “bad” things happen to good people. All over the world, the global economy is melting and taking away livelihoods for millions of people. We watch as years of hard work, responsible behavior and hard earned savings vanish in a whirl of greed and corruption. We watch helplessly as the very same people who recklessly played with our savings, are being bailed out by the Govt. by mortgaging our future. The world seems upside down. There is war going on in many countries. Suffering does not seem to end. The world as we know it, is a fearful place and we live our daily lives, asking, “WHY? WHY?” Every single time we question, we resist the events in our lives and live out of fear and resentment. And lose the precious seconds, minutes and hours our lives to fear.

And spend our lives second-guessing the supreme power – the one who brought us on this journey. Like Subbu, we don’t understand why we are being taken to this place in our lives. If we too, like Subbu, stopped resisting and remember that we love and trust this supreme power to take care of us, we too, can lie back and relax with our paws air borne and let life take its course.


And, like Subbu, we too will enjoy the journey wherever it takes us.