Food Crisis

Some things don't change. Or should I say the more they change, the more they remain same. In spite of traveling on a regular basis and possessing excellent packing skills, which can rival any super hero on various accounts, in addition to an elephantine memory, I forgot to stock up one of the essentials while shooting outdoors- Sunblock.

I was shooting in the sun for five days which included so much traveling that I felt like bad news visiting villages across Uttarakhand. The lack of protection from sun ensured that the protective layer...wait this is my skin we are talking about...

There isn't any protective layer!

There is just a layer and may I add it's not as resilient as you'd believe it to be. The entire skin peeled off. First it stung. Then it started resembling cling film on some sandwich. Slowly but surely the skin came off. First there were small but significant eruptions. what followed was a bloodbath, which can't be described here. Like some S&M freak I self clicked and have photographic evidence. Don't worry I shan't torture you. But you get the idea. Hence forth either I'm going to cap myself up or go bonkers on industrial strength sunblock.

But things do change. The one change that I saw on this shoot wasn't anything short of a marvel. This documentary that I was shooting for is about an innovative method of cultivating rice and it's called System of Rice Intensification. Under this a farmer needs lesser water, lesser grains and the produce is almost 60-80% more. what's fantastic is that the work required- sowing, water, weeding- is all 80% less than the conventional method in addition to the grain being bigger as well as insecticide free! Rather than planting a handful of saplings the farmer just plants ONE seed in a place and yet the produce is better and the yield is more.

The process is rather simple- soak seeds in water for a day. Then sprout them before sowing them in a nursery. While transplanting use a marker to mark sqaures on the field which has very little water; sow one sapling rather than a handful at each intersection of the square. The farmer just needs to weed the field every 10 days over a period of 30 days. After this you just watch the rice grow. Scientists believe that SRI could actually be the solution for the food shortage in the world. Eat your heart out George W! Read this article from New York Times to get more information on SRI. India is adopting this method for wheat and other grains as well and it's being done by the people from People's Science Institute.

The shoot was really tough but it all seems worthwhile keeping the subject in mind. Also got an opportunity to cross the (in)famous Tehri Dam. I really don't know what the hell the dam is used for- the reservoir is far from full, there is no movie like water-gushing-out scene happening...nothing. Bu it's a scary sight to say the least. Imagine there used to be a entire town that got submerged; what you see above the water was formerly the highest building of the town.

Overkill

Too much of anything can be bad. Every one knows this but no one seems to follow it. The best example of a sensory overload is the distribution of information. Nothing beats it. There is no dearth of information and there is no end to its flow.

Look around and everything reeks of information overkill. Buy a simple chewing gum and suddenly you are a better person, information wise! Information has never had it better since the Internet came to rule our lives. People, me included, not only read newspaper(s) at home but love to devour the online edition of The New York Times. We subscribe to the newsletter of e-zines as if our lives depended on them. We believe that news alerts on the cell phone is what makes all the difference.

Why?

Information, my friend, is king, queen and just about everything in the between!

Like everything that goes up, information overload is bound to come down as well. The wheels are already moving. There is an advance on cutting down on information to make life better. Bloggers have started unblogging- completely stop blogging and also removing posts from cyberspace. Some have also started to withdraw from social networking sites and delete their online identities. This is to make life better, easier by using relevant information. See what excess can do?

But…I don’t think that the real reason to do so it that there is too much information.

I sincerely believe that most of the times information doesn’t really reach people. If there were really an upsurge the why is that in last week I came across three people who had no idea about Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders? This is after all the news channels and all the newspapers (pullouts included) went hoarse talking about SRK’s new tamasha! The weekend newspapers all featured news about St. Stephen's having trouble looking for a new Principal but some former students (who think they are kings of information superhighway) were clueless about the whole damn thing. Some time ago a friend who is in the film business was unaware that Jodhaa-Akbar, just about the biggest release of the last six months, was already playing at a cinema near her.

A friend was raving about a book that promises to change lives and it suggests avoiding information that you really don’t need. I like that notion and can live with it. I think maybe these people are already putting it to use. How the hell would SRK and his innuendos make any difference to our lives?

So now I read a book, get more information, then use the information to lose extra information while people whom I’m suggesting these tips to are doing just the same and are happily ignorant about the darn book…

Wow!

click...

Image Courtesy: www.weblogcartoons.com

Heath Ledger

Death has a way with things. Many cultures are of the opinion that everyone should witness a few deaths besides their own and learn something from the experience.

Heath Ledger might not have been the greatest actor of all time, he wasn't even my favorite but his death came as a shock to me. First and foremost I never knew that he was just 29, I thought he had seen it all and must be pushing 40 (but that's a different story). I think it was the manner in which I got to know of this actor's death that caused me to stop and think about things around me.

I was checking my e-mail on my PDA and an alert from New York Times revealed that Heath Ledger was found dead. I remember feeling a little queasy. It might sound a little strange but it was as if someone I knew had died. The mind played a few tricks and hit the refresh key on all the deaths that I witnessed over the years. I was 10 or 11 when a very close family friend died. I remember hearing the news and wondering how'd one feel when life leaves the body? That made me realize that things will come to an end some day. My maternal grandfather had a second lease of life after a kidney transplant and carried on for almost 6 years before dying. He did some of his best work during that period which he called ‘second life’. His death made me realize that very few people get a second lease so one must make the most of the ‘one’ life. My paternal grandmother succumbed to illness after a long battle. Her life made me believe that one ought to live a full life even in the face of adversities.

Mr. Ledger's death affected me in more ways than I could even imagine. For a week after that I was thinking about his films. I read up a lot about the last few days of he lived; he was a very brave actor. In addition to a career-defining role in The Brokeback Mountain, Mr. Ledger was all set to reprise The Joker in the new The Dark Knight, Batman film. The Joker is no easy role mind you, for one you have to deal with the ghost of Jack Nicholson who portrayed Joker with such élan that anyone filling in his shoes would be fighting an almost lost battle. According to reports not only is Mr. Ledger's Joker different, it's darker and some believe even better than the real thing. Brilliance often commands a heavy price and the role took its toll on the actor. Mr. Ledger stayed alone in hotel for a month and didn't speak to anyone in order to prepare for it. No wonder critics were considering him the Brando of a new generation. Once the filming got over depression took over adding to the sadness of loosing his daughter after he separated with his partner. He resorted to anxiety pills almost 7 different varieties were found in him.

Was it really required of Mr. Ledger to push himself to the limits for a mere film role? He considered his work to be of poor quality and wanted to push the envelope a little more. His Bob Dylan in I'm Not Here stands out even as there are 5 other actors who portray the same role in the film. In his death I, for some strange reason, have realized the importance of being happy and getting along. Everyone wants craves normalcy around them selves but no one wants to be normal for wasn't normal supposed to be boring.

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

To an Athlete Dying Young- A. E. Housman

Image Courtesy: www.thedarkknight.com