ARTOPINION: SHIP OF THESEUS

Spoiler alert: The opinion is subjective and shall be understood only after one watches the movie.Pictures shared are from the screenshots of the movie.

If you are a person who's on an internal journey to understand your purpose of life with an intensive perception of your own limited thoughts, then Ship of Theseus is the movie you shall want to sail through.The film which is completely non-manipulative makes you contemplate on the journey of your vehicle in the so called passage called LIFE.

Before sharing my understanding about this movie,I would like to underline the philosophy of Plato's "Allegory of the cave",in his book Republic, that resounded in my mind as I sat engrossed in the film.Basically the key note I understood was "We are all seekers of the same process in different forms".The director Mr.Anand Gandhi, gives the visual metaphors thoroughly to understand this keynote.Be it the reference to Suskind's novel "Perfume", Charvak's "Worm Karma theory" or Navin's grandmother saying "All that had happened...because you decided to do something about it..",reflects the human conflict of existence vs existing.

The movie opening with the "Ship of theseus",greek experiment of identity revolves around the authenticity of our thoughts with the real time world experience we have in our daily lives.In a way,it can also be seen as the progression of human species from a cave man to the modern hypocrite by sophisticatedly leaving our connection with our inner self.The main characters of the film namely Aaliya Kamal(played by Aida-El-Kashef),Maitreya(Neeraj Kabi) & Navin(Sohum Shah) brings in the different blend of authenticity to the movie.To delve into the details of the movie,the characters reveals for itself as follows..

Aaliya,Maitreya and Navin who play the central characters of the movie are connected by a single fact.They are the recipient of the organs donated by the same donor.The Ship of theseus experiment of identity which says,"If each part of the ship is replaced by the new one,what that remains will be an old ship or the new ship?" is the knot of the movie.The centre stage of the film's idea revolve around the plot of our identity and its perception.The authenticity of the self is constantly expressed throughout the movie.

 A blind photographer: 

Aaliya when asked "Do you feel limited by anything" replies ,"No..why" and later expresses her thoughts of "why one should be limited by anything?", makes us contemplate about our nefarious thoughts on gender,God,laws etc .Whether these are limited only to our perception or have we been conditioned to live as per these limitations. Similarly, the flick of the visual metaphor in the last part of Aaliya with the lens cover falling into the flowing river, also gives an idea that we all are one in the flow and our own limitations are assumed to be so in the natural flow of life.

A Jain Monk: 

Maitreya is the central portion of the film in both ways ,as in, his story among the three gets narrated as the second one.A Jain monk who believes in soul but an atheist is a flavor of each one of  our resemblances when mirrored within.Maitreya who believes in "karmic record" of every particle in the Universe goes to the extreme of death just to hold on to his thought of divinity of soul.

The interesting conversations between Maitreya and Charvaka is a scintillating experience,particularly the one when Maitreya is in his death bed.The story line is completely non-manipulative but it makes us travel into the exploration of ourselves.The basic idea of how far can a man go to keep sticking to his idea of authenticity which in the material world has no factual verification.

A stock broker: 

Navin is a typical cynic who runs in this world which is centred around the concept of materialistic derivation.However,only when he gets to know about the stolen kidney that's being transplanted in one of the operation,he gets the feel of how things work.He chose to stand to fight for justice and in this path understands the difference between various real scenarios.The side kick character who plays the friend of Navin, sparkles laughter with the thought proviking dialogue "I am stuck".

As a final ensembled piece,the scene where all the three along with the other recipients of the organs meet,the visuals of the donor who was seen exploring a cave is shown.One can link Plato's Allegory of the cave to the last piece of this narration.It ends as an open book where we are free to write our own understanding,thus excelling as a marvel of art.

Thoughts to ponder:

1.How do validate the authenticity of art? How come one's limited in expressing in one's own views?Where does our concept of free will die/originate?

2.If you are so sure that an after life never exist,neither a heaven nor a hell,would you still be praying to the so called DIVINE?

3.What impact a man's change can make in the whole world? Our existential record doesn't even last for a millennium whereas the Universe is beyond the age of our imagination.So what are we trying to formulate in this world?

These were some of the mind opening thoughts that happened to me while I was watching the movie and was left awestruck in the way in which it made me think.The artistic excellence of the script and its screenplay is that not for once did it preach you the way to be.Like earlier mentioned,the movie ends in an open note and we are free to find our own answers.To sum up,Ship of Theseus is a journey every one of us need to take in this ruse of ideological standby.

Reference to Visual metaphors:

Aaliya preserving her authentic control over her photography by covering her eyes: Reference to our limited way of looking at things and our assumption of having a control

How our views get widened when we get out of our doors....

Stuck in the middle of searching The self

Finally going one with the flow

How we are so glued to our rusted ideologies

The path and the progress

We considered ourself aloof in the dimensionless space

I am stuck reference to life's situations

The realisation of existence vs existing

Plato's Allegory to the cave

THE PARADOX OF LIVING A LIFE

Quite often in life we come across in life phases and incidents that make us question about "Existence".We struggle to find out a place in this Universe.The external stimuli of education,career,relationship etc create a herd mentality among us that we often fail to think what are we running after?We fail to understand that self satisfaction is more credible than a false appraisal from our society.

On the other hand,people also say "Follow your heart","Believe in ambition" and to develop a strong optimistic code of life.The path to glory will never be easy.It is clearly to be understood that we are tremendously influenced by the things that lie outside our sphere of living.This is what is said to be the paradox.The process of recognition and forceful stress to achieve this false  applause from the society.We all are the passengers in the train of life and we could see and understand the Universe from within the window shields of the train.Th train here is the fast moving civilisation in its technological upfront.However in a dimensionless space of spirit  no such movement occur.The paradox happens,its the time that flees and the soul that stays.

Similarly the lure for living is often counted by the luxuries one can afford.A well civilised pattern has designed this sophisticated way of living for which most of us aspire.Establishing connections with the fellow beings have now become limited to adorable wadrobes and the glamourous social media interactions.We feel elated when our ideas are pinned,liked,shared etc.Stating the truth,one has to agree that these are mere interactions of establishing a self pride.Marketing of self in a world where we are ourselves the products,is the strategy we are following in the recent years.

Then where is life and its paradox? It lies deeper within when we realise our temporary stay in this world and raise beyond the strings of attraction we hold on to ourselves.Love all but without expectation.Learn to love your inner self so that you can shine externally too.Only by being selfish towards oneself can one be unselfish.The statement stands for itself as no single being in this world wants to be bad and do good to others.You can make others happy only by being happy.The paradoxes of life and living hangs by a thin thread of our viewpoint about Universe.At the end each of our lives will be swayed by the fragrance of time.Why then so serious in this middle of journey???

Tying the Knot

"When the night has come,

And the land is dark,

The moon is the only-Light"

No relatives, no friends, no neighbours except a close knitted family.They had known each other for a long time and they felt it was time.She knew his intense passion with a pride exuberance .He knew her longing to be herself and was willing to lose himself to win together.Now with the third round around the fire,he would be hers and she would his better part of each other.The perfect scene for a love extended arranged marriage.

The late evening was calm and was greeted by the faded sky.At the end of the room was a lantern lit to spread the light of the love sparkling with joy.Outside the room was the moon lit sky and underneath the naked sky was an angel standing whispering to the waves.Its a beautiful feel to absorb love of the loving person as an observer than to possess love as a chained treasure.He knew this and was standing at the other end of the portico completely absorbed in the observation of her whispering to the waves.No traffic,No noises,none.The moon,the sea,the lantern and them.The fragrance of the sea enthralled his nostrils but was very soon subdued by her fragrance of rose scent.She hummed her happy song and came near him only to be silence.Both gazed at the sea.She looked even more elegant with multitudes of simplicity in her eyes and expression.She was her and he was him.He turned his head and said "Welcome".That was a soulful acceptance of her into his life and the to be lived life thereafter.

She knew the depth of those words for she knew him far better than most others.She said "I believe you".The late evening slowly shifted towards great dusk and then to twilight dawn.The sea roared calmly,the moon smiled sleepily and the lantern went to sleep.They were standing at the portico silently immersed in the sea of love.This moment was meant to be.The heart tone was never played loud,never applauded loud but the musical notes were exchanged in silence.The knot was tied to set the love free.

HE MET SOUL AS HE WALKED UPON THE PATH

A single desire when taken out shall burn your idea of reason to flames.The midpast 12 night moon lit sky shadowed it's light under the cover of the dark clouds.Ryan stared up straight for about forty minutes simply watching the hide and seek of the moon.The intense desire of running amok behind fame,pride and money all seemed useless as he stared with a naked vision upon the sky.A never revealed truth hidden well in the civilisation dawned in his mind.We all are seeking what is to be sought in the external world rather than the internal one.The world was,is and will be a mystery to explore.The trends and the trend setters shall be the ruling guide for running the society.In the plane of Cosmos,the earth is just a non-axiomatic entity enclosing more than a billion human lives.In every aspect of life,the acts are dictated by our own thoughts,which in a very phased manner has been disciplined to seek external recognition.We are never fulfilled.We are never empty either.That's the knot for misery in life,Ryan concluded.This sudden thought of his made him feel a burden being lifted off from his mind.Now the moon came out from the clouds with its sparkling smile.Ryan realised him being a part of everywhere.He understood that he's essentially a vessel containing the forces of nature with a pumping heart and a thinking brain.The question of ultimate realisation emerged.What am I?Where do I go and Where did I come from?.The silence in the air gave the answer.Nature resides within and you are part of everywhere.You came from nowhere and you go nowhere.You were,are and will be here except for your thoughts and shape.The blissful nature soul met it's part via a human body.It's funny when one thinks that someday he will be a part of nature,one with the dust,shall become a root of the plant or the feed of a microbe.However,one never thinks that he already is a part of nature,fed by the germs in air,strangling upon the realm of superposition.We formulate theories about death,life even after life only to cope up with the false control of ours over our existence.We create models,life imitating technology,the supreme creation title etc etc only to suppress the thought of ignorance.Exploration though always is an essential feature of man kind,the ego of creation has left us seek answers only for the temporary questions.Life lies in the zone beyond our much imagined scope.The grand design of Universe needs a humble mind of acceptance and understanding.The concept of free will shall never be realised unless you let of the "I" within You.

Embracing the Paradox-The within and without.

Aloneness is a state of grace.The subjunctive placebo we all want to realise in this world is our existence,not physically,but by a strong and grounded soulful connection.The search for happiness is often done outside its lost circumference.Happiness is always within and it is in its very state lying dormant inside each one of us.Often the cross roads of the philosophies such as duality and the atomicity brings to us the thought process of our existence.When looked upon the surface,you start digging deep for answers.You assume a state of introspection,a controlled way of expressing things and an ardent disciple of various techniques.Again,this assumed state repress the state of simply being.You become lonely and think you are in the right path,but what you actually do is punishing or training yourself to be lonely.Lone and Alone are two different things.Lone is a misery ,alone is a grace.You can be among the crowd and yet be graceful in your aloneness.That's because you are aware of self and your connection with the Universe.You hear it's calling,you talk to self,you admire your existence,you move away from external recognition.These signs require no validation from the external.You enter a relationship.You are you and you lose nothing because you are only a giver.Well,that sounds impossible in this fast running of human race.But we have had the examples of Buddha.The entire aspect of his was to be free from misery.And he eventually did by "Just Be".In the aspect of search for the self,it's better to be a Buddha than a Mahavira.The middle path is always the best,as you are not subjected to the oscillation of pendulum motion.The state of being is a paradox,you will have to be without appendages to be within yourself.The flow is natural and so is life..

ARTOPINION:பேரன்பு

புரிதல்  :

நீ வாழும் வாழ்க்கையின் தேடல், இயற்கையுள் தங்கியிருக்கும் நீ கொடுக்கும் வாடகையை பொருத்தது.இயக்குனர் ராம் அவர்களின் சிந்தையில் உதித்த பேரன்பின் வெளிப்பாடே இந்த படம் என்பேன்.தினம்தோறும் வாழும் வாழ்க்கையில் நாம் வாழ்வியலை மறந்து போகிறோம்.ஆண்,பெண்,திருநங்கை,களவு,கோபம்,நாய்,பூனை,செடி,அமீபா,வைரஸ்,கோள்கள்,

திசைகள் ஆகிய அனைத்திற்கும் வசிப்பிடம் ஒன்று தான்.ஐந்து உணர்ச்சி உறுப்புக்கள் வெளிப்படுத்தும் சிந்தனை திரவியத்தின் கலவையே-நாம்.இவை அனைத்துமே இயற்கையுள் அடங்கும்.இயற்கை என்பது மறுதலிப்பது ,புதிரானது ,கரை சேர்ப்பது ,கற்பனைக்கு அப்பாற்பட்டது.இந்த அளவு கோளில் காலமும் பொருந்தும் .இயக்குனர் ராம் அவர்களின் "பேரன்பு" அப்படிப்பட்ட களங்கமில்லா உணர்வுகளை கலங்கிய மனிதர்கள் வாயிலாக பிரதிபலிக்கிறது .ராமின் "பேரன்பு" என் பார்வையில் ....

பரிதாபமும் இயற்கையும் :

மனித மனம் அமைதியான கடலில் அமாவாசை அன்று பொங்கும் அலைகள் போல.அது தன்னிலும் சிறந்தோர் என்று எண்ணுபவரை பார்த்து பொறாமை படும் ,தன் நிலையில் கீழே உள்ளோர் என்று நினைத்து சிலரை பார்த்து பரிதாப படும்,குறை தன்னிடம் இல்லை என்று உறுதியாய் நம்பும்.அவ்வண்ணமே "தன் போல் இல்லை " அல்லது " நல்ல வேளையாக தான் இல்லை " என்று எண்ணி பரிதாபம் கொண்டு உதவிட முயலும் .ஆனால் இயற்கையோ பரிதாபம் இல்லாத ஒரு பச்சோந்தி .அதற்கு மனிதன் வகுத்து வைத்த இந்த நிலைகள் தெரியாது.ராமின் படைப்பில் இந்த மனித இயல்பும் இயற்கையின் பாகுபாடின்மையும் பாத்திரங்களின் வழி பிரதிபலிக்கின்றன.இங்குள்ள அனைவருமே உடைந்த பாத்திரங்கள் தான் என்று ஒவ்வோர் நிலையிலும் இயற்கை வெளிக்காட்டும் படி பேரன்பு வெளிப்படுகிறது .

ஹார்மோனும்-இயற்கையும் :

காதல், கோபம் ,ஆசை ,அழுகை போன்று காமமும் ஓர் உணர்ச்சியே .அது பாலின வேறுபாடு கண்டு ,கண்ணின் கீழ் அகன்று ,தோள்,மார்பு ,கை,கால் ,முகம் என நீண்டு கலவியில் முடிகிறது.ஓர் உயிர் தன்னிலிருக்கும் ஆக்கும் சக்தியை உடலின் தேடல் மூலம் வெளிகொணர்கிறது .ஹார்மோன்களின் வாசிப்பில் அவரவர் காமத்தின் வீரியம் வேறுபடும்.அந்த வாசிப்பின் கோளாறுகள் தற்கால நவீன நாகிரகத்தின் வெளிப்பாடுகள்.சிந்தையால் தொடுவதும்,சிந்தித்த பின் தொடுவதும் ,சிறு தீப்பொறி தீர தொடுவதும் ,சித்ரவதை செய்து தொடுவதும் காமமே .வீரியம் தான் வேறுபடுகிறது.இதில் குடும்பம்,கலாச்சாரம்,சமூகம் என்று உறைகள் போட்டுக்கொண்டு காமம் நடனம் ஆடத்தான் செய்கிறது .இயற்கையோ பாலின பாகுபாடு இல்லாதது .அதன் காமத்திலும் காதல் உண்டு .இயற்கை தன் படைப்புகளுக்குள் பாகுபாடு பார்ப்பதில்லை.உணர்வுகளை பொதுவாய் வெளிப்படுத்தும் இயல்பாய் அனைவர்க்கும் கொடுத்துவிடும் .பேரன்பில் தேங்கிய உணர்வுகளின் வழி ,அமுதவனும் சரி ,மீராவும் சரி ,பாப்பாவும் சரி,தங்கம் என்ற ஸ்டெல்லாவும் சரி இந்த இயற்கையின் முன்னால் தத்தம் இயல்புக்குள் சிக்கி அலைகின்றனர்.நாம் அனைவருமே அவ்வாறுதான் .

சமூகமும்-இயற்கையும் :

தனி மனிதர்களால் ஆனது சமூகம் ;ஆனால் சமூகம் கூறும் வழி கட்டாயமாய் நடக்க வேண்டும்படி செய்வித்தோர் சாத்திரம் கண்ட பண்டிதர்கள் !!ஒவ்வோர் உயிரும் தனக்கான கோட்பாட்டில் வாழ ஆசை படுகிறது .அது ஏதுவாயினியும் சரி .ஒரு கண்ணாடி தொட்டிக்குள் வாழும் மீன் போல தான் நாம் அனைவரும் உலகை பார்க்கிறோம் .தன்னை போல் உள்ளோரிடம் நட்பு கொள்கிறோம்; தன் வழியாக வந்தோர் என எண்ணுவோரிடம் பாசம் பொழிகிறோம்;வரையறுக்கப்பட்ட பாதையின் வழி நியமங்கள் தவறாமல் வாழ முற்படுகிறோம்; நாம் காணாத ஒன்று தென்பட்டால் அது இயற்கைக்கு புறம்பானது என்று அதனை வெறுக்கிறோம்.ஆனால் இயற்கையோ வரையறை கடந்தது;மனிதனால் இடைப்பட்ட எல்லை கோடுக்குள் அடங்காதது.முழு நிர்வாணமாய் வசை பாடும் ஆணையும் ,மாராப்பு விலகி நிற்கும் பெண்ணையும் ,முழங்கால் அளவு உயரமுள்ள உயிர்களையும் சமமாய் பார்ப்பது.எல்லாமே இயற்கையின் படைப்புகள் தான் ,எண்ணிக்கையில் மட்டுமே வேறுபாடு .பேரன்பில் தெளியும் பாத்திரங்கள் பல நாம் அன்றாடம் கடந்து போகும் மனிதர்கள் தான் .நம் பார்வை குறுகியதாலோ என்னவோ நாம் அவர்களை பார்ப்பதில்லை .

பேரன்பும்-இயற்கையும் :

அலறும் சிந்தைக்குதான் அமைதியின் வெளிச்சம் தேவைப்படும் .கதறும் காதுகளின் வழிதான் மௌனமான அன்பின் பிரவாகம் பிறக்கும்.மனிதனாக வந்த நாம் ,என்று  நாமும் இயற்கையின் ஒரு துகள் தான் என்று மனதில் ரீங்கரிக்கிறோமோ அன்று தான் பேரன்பின் பாத்திரமாக மாற முடியும்.இயற்கை நடத்தும் நாடகத்தில் நாம் அனைவருமே உடைந்த பாத்திரங்கள் தான்,அதில் நிரப்புவதற்கு ஏதும்  இல்லை; இயற்கை நம் உள்ளே தீராத அன்பின் வடிவத்தை ஒளித்து வைத்து வேடிக்கை பார்க்கிறது.அதனை உணரவும்,வெளிக்கொணரவும்,அமுதவனின் வாழக்கை போல பன்னிரு அத்தியாயங்கள் நமக்கும் தேவைப்படலாம்...ராமின் பேரன்பு, பிரதிபலிக்கும் கண்ணாடியாய் என்னுள்ளில் ...

CREDITS:Google

JUST BE

I was recently asked,"How do I make a person to realise that I'm completely in love with her/him?".The question is puzzling as one cannot make another realise,the phenomenon of love is self realisation.Love liberates.In a way,the society has been so designed that love becomes concrete with a bonded relationship.True that,only if,both partners understand the process of love.Lust expressed via a carnal desire is just a lubricant to make sure that your body doesn't intrude your everlasting love.You stop thinking about sex after a certain age and your so called idea of love stops with that.This is because it's been the desire more than your soul that had taken a front seat.Your partner is no more new to you.But you still want to stay with him/her.You try expressing your love by whatsoever methods to stay in the bond.This contradicts the basic idea that "Love Liberates".Then how do you survive?..Love is the energy of spirit.It moves through us until we die but in different forms.In a way ,we all have been conditioned to express it only by establishing a bond.It never need to be done in that way.You can simply let go of an object and be in possession of it in your mind.Likewise,love can be an unwavering energy which can enrich your soul even in its absence.It is not limited to the rule of channelising it towards a single person.Love can be shared and yet be complete.Henceforth to express your love "Just Be" you and love the other to be their self.

FINITY: My understanding of Feminism

In the beginning was the word,the word was with God,the word was God.Like the imaginary lines of latitudes and longitudes,the civilisation has had a constructive relationship with the so called creator of earth.Strangely,the construction had been built on the strong notion of faith and sacrifice,restrictions and rituals,division and unity,ego and humility.This constitute the paradox of religion.From menstrual to masturbation,the processes which we never attained on purpose,have been kept aloof as "taboo".We never chose but we were born with these natural biological expressions.But Religion says "No".Humans are born rebels and Religion is a tool to tame them.Today as the world celebrates "Women's day",a deeply troubling question that hurls within me is "What constitutes femininsm?.Do we have attributes.Is the biological distinction a quality to it?.To be free spirited is the basic human nature and not to do so is a form of slavery.As I see women marching forward in each sphere,in the very limited perception of my understanding,I believe all that is required is to treat the thoughts of her as humane and deobjectify the myths surrounding the sexual orientation.We live in a very congested space of thought and to respect the fellow being as a "fellow" being is all that is required to make this world a better place.Beyond religion,society, attributes,thoughts and progressions,there's a space and it is the outlook you ought to see in a person.Under one note,treat your fellow mate as you ought to treat yourself and value a person as a person.Happy woman's day..

THE WHOLE HALF

They knew they weren't meant to be.But for 40 seconds they searched each other into each other.A part of him lives inside her and part of her in his.No,this wasn't meant to be.But the fanatic design of Universe's energy chart struck a chord between them.Beyond physical as it may seem.Right now,she knew what he would be thinking and he knew hers.What's this strange sound of hearts beating together.?A closed bond with no gap between.There was a feeling of rapidly moving chaos outside.But they were still.So close yet apart.Her breath and his ,intoxicated the space in between.So close yet different.They knew they will have to wait to separate.But how long? In the dimensionless space of the Universe,now,here,they were meant to be.Neither can avoid.And they waited.Reading,learning and breathing together.Love was in the chamber.And finally they departed,each enjoying their own space in this dimensionless Universe.Love was in the air.Never vanishing and never destroying.Happy birthday my twin brother wished Elisa to John,her other half of the whole.

credits:Google

LIFE AND INTERDEPENDENCE

As I did my morning ablutions,I suddenly felt a part of myself getting washed away.The staring face came closer and closer,with the riots of laughter ringing loud each inch closer to me.Its not the world outside that echoed but the eternal reverberation within made its presence by moving all along with the flow stream of blood.Not before,Not after,but right at that moment,a transcending soul left its cage only to return immediately.Life is Interdependence.You walk in and out of your self constantly by thoughts.The mere thought of 'what' creates ripples for many riddles.Just be.I am not what I think I am.I ought not even know what I am from.The Universe hears and you only dance to its tunes.It takes the loudest mind to experience deep silence.The language of silence speaks volumes and you shall hear it.The soul is never wandering, it is caged.To realise it,you need to be free.Only then your liberation from worries shall begin.Until then we are a plotter of our thoughts and prize of its defects...

credits:Google