Close to nature: à la française

As the world goes ga ga about environment, recycling and all the other jargons that is equivalent to going back to nature, I wonder how many of us actually in our personal lives try to consciously live a lifestyle which is closer to nature. I know it is tough considering that we live in a world becoming fast consumeristic and commercial, where things like plastic bags and mobile phones (which use coaltan, a mineral that has the whole of Africa in conflict) indispensable. In the case of mobile phones, I am amazed at the rapidity with which individuals change their phones. I, as I am end up developing a personal relationship with mine and each change is traumatic. I am sure all the world's anti-globalisation, environment activists send their messages from the latest blackberry's.

In this regard, I have observed and appreciated the French. There are many French people who do not have mobile phones, or for that matter an email-ID, who use a bike to go to work and use cloth bags for shopping!! Trust me, for all the glamour that the French symbolize they seem to be the most simplest in the world, who believe in staying active to stay fit, but without going to the gym. The French idea of exercise is climbing moutains, especially, if they live close to any of the mountain ranges in the South of France, like the Pyrénées or the Alpes. In fact, living close to the alpes for almost an year I have trekked up some tough terrains during the summer and skied down some slopes in winter, gone on balades in Spring and now in automn, just to look at the colours and pick the fruit of the season, be it prunes, apples or even nuts, with many a  French.  Going to the mountains or just walking is something that even the young are encouraged to do as such outings are organized frequently in the youth hostels. The idea of an active life is further reinforced when after every advertisement for a artificial drink like Coca Cola or candy it is announced: Pour votre santé bougez plus: Exercise more for better health, or Pour votre santé mangez au moins cinq fruits et légumes par jour : For your health eat atleast five fruits and vegetables each day and many other messages. There is even a programme at the governement level called the Programme National Nutrition et Santé: PNNS which advocates good eating and living habits. 

For all the globalization happening in this world, the French still love to dine on food produced on their terroir. Eat the fruits picked from their gardens and buy bread from the local boulangerie (bakery) and of course, cheese and wine, à la française. Of course, it is not that people don't buy food from Carrefour, but that kind of shopping is looked suspicious upon by many french people who believe in développement durable and giving the local producers, who grow their foods without chemicals, their due. Thus, local markets which open early morning uptil the afternoon are the spots where the French like to pick up their lettuces and tomatoes.

Of Men and of Gods: Death at the Doorstep

How would you feel if you are in a situation when death is breathing down your neck and all you wish to do is wait for it to strike? On the night of 26 and 27 March, 1996, eight of the ten French monks were kidnapped from their monastry in Tibhrine, in the Atlas mountains of Algeria, North Africa.  Their heads were recovered on 31 May, 1996.  The death of the eight monks shocked France and since then became a black page in the history of Franco-Algerien relationship.  14 years after this incident, in 2010 French filmmaker Xavier Beauvois tries to recapture the last days of the ten monks as they continued to serve the village in Tibhrine as the monastry had been for the past 50 years since its establishment in 1938.

Des Hommes et Des Dieux (Of Men and Of Gods) released in 2010 won the Prix de Jury écumenique at the Cannes and was released on September 8. Since then the French and Maghrebine audiences who lived through the 10 years of civil war and Islamic terrorism in Algeria haven’t stopped raving about it. It’s a film that is growing popular with each passing day.

Beauvois, while capturing the stark landscape and the local customs of Tibhrine, has masterfully etched out the dilemma of the 10 monks who are unsure of whether they should continue serving their mission in Tibhrine, considering that the wave of Islamic terrorism was wiping out anyone or anything that was being considered unIslamic. Even as the monks are caught in the quagmire and weigh the pros and cons of returning  to France, their head Christiane (Lambert Wilson) strongly advocates staying in Tibhrine and continuing to serve the people as that is what they had promised their life to.

The monks continue with their daily work of giving medicines and helping the local village folk with their day-to-day problems and worries. The villagers in turn are grateful for their presence and insist that, terrified as they are, they find support and strength in the presence of the monks in the village.  And slowly, all the monks come to agree with Christiane, that the mission of their life is to serve the people of Tibheria. That is their promise to the Almighty and they should be able to stick to their promise come what may.

Meanwhile, the Algerian army and officials try to warn the monks of the danger that looms large. However, their devotion to their purpose continues. In fact, their decision to nurse a wounded terrorist only makes them look like allies in the eyes of the Algerian army.

The film is a fine representation of Christian life, purpose and faith especially in the face of danger. The discussions on the purpose of their mission are enlightening and fills the viewer with courage, as fear threatens to set in. At the same time, Des Hommes et Des Dieux is also a window to the reign of terror that swept through Algeria in the 1990s, a phenomenon that the world doesn’t know much about.  Many thousands were killed and massacred because they were suspected of leading  ‘unislamic’ lives. Overall, a great and enlightening watch

Published on 3rd November, 2010 at Passion for Cinema:
http://passionforcinema.com/of-men-and-of-gods-movie-review-death-at-the-doorstep/

Lost Summer

The Radio Post

I have always believed in the radio. And now as I am buried neck deep in my mémoire (masters dissertation in the French University system) about the radio. Something that I wrote long ago seems to gaining an all new meaning in itself. It is finally about 'how' you listen rather than 'what' you listen.

Wading through the airwaves
Long before the days of FM, I used to sleep with my radio — especially during the cold Delhi winters. Once the lights were switched off for the night, I would sneak the radio into my blanket and rotate the dial until I found the right station. The most frequent one I encountered was BBC, with its signature tune setting the royal stage. My mind would conjure images of guards marching in front of Buckingham Palace. Soon the news would light up parts of the world in the dark warm shelter of my blanket. The droughts, military coups, festivals, football matches...Letter reading was a great way of getting to know the world. Once, an Ecuadorian woman wrote that if everyone listening to the programme at that particular time would jump they could create an earthquake. Wonder how many listeners jumped at the presentator’s prompting!

Another channel that I would bump into was the Voice of America. America, now obsessed with terrorists, broadcasted some interesting programmes on faith over VOA. Other voices that I encountered were Radio Deustch welle and Radio France. Sometimes I would catch faint strains of Radio Iran, or Iraq. At times, alien noises from Korea, China, Japan.
Our good old AIR wasn’t dull either. However, what irked me the most was that they would whet my curiosity with the promise of the latest song and then start reading out the names of those who had made the farmaish (they still do this!). By the end of it, my curiosity would be dead. But there was one programme whose long list of admirers didn’t irritate me and that was ‘For The Forces’. It is difficult to explain whether this was because midnights found me high on patriotism, or because of the Air Force background of my parents, or because of the chirpy presentator who read out all the letters with elan or because of the Western music which was played on the programme.
Today, there are radio channels galore, with the latest music and whacky RJs. But nothing matches the excitement of finding crystal clear voices after a wading through the crackling, incoherent airwaves. I am sure Karen Carpenter would agree!
Published in The Indian Express September 16, 2005

Harragas: Hop(e) on a boat

This one is for all those who thought that France is the country of romantic literature, quaint old cities and cheese and wine. It's amazing how European language learning books, in their BD style can give us a rosy picture of life in Europe. The one thing that it doesn't tell us about is presence of scores of illegal immigrants or sans papiers (without papers) on this continent, most of them from erstwhile French colonies of Africa - Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria. Some come by plane and others by believe it or not - a boat. It is not exactly the poverty in their country that makes them to take such an extreme step - it is the misery and the hopelessness generated by the Islamists in these countries that render young people hopeless. Radical Islamists have made the presence of any cultural life impossible and almost all cinema halls in Algeria are destroyed by them, there are no proper housing facilities and young Algerians almost never get a visa to a European country. These factors make life miserable, making young Algerians want to leave their country by hook or crook, just to experience a life of freedom and well being. And that is what makes them to take the radical step of crossing the Mediterranean sea and coming to France, Spain, Italy and Greece.

One recent Algerian film that focuses on this phenomenon is Harragas. The word in Arab means - those who burn - implying those who burn their Algerian papers before they make their journey to Europe. Directed by Merzak Allouache, a well known Algerian director, the movie opens with the suicide of a young man in Algeria. Beside him is Algerian identity card - torn to pieces. In his suicide note to his sister he says  - If I leave I die, If I don't leave I die too - so I just die. The heartbroken sister decides to take the boat with her boyfriend to Spain, despite the warnings of his friends that the journey might be tough for woman. The young Algerians are joined by another group of four from Western Sahara. However, on the appointed day the boat is taken over by another desperate man, who kills the group leader and takes his place on the boat. The journey begins - on the first night the group manages to float its way under the nose of coast guard ship. By the second night the gun-totting group leader who keeps insisting that he needs to reach Spain by hook or crook is thrown of the boat in a tussle with another conservative Muslim young man - both drown. Next morning the boat runs out of fuel and the youngsters discover that there are no oars in the boat. After hours of drifting pointlessly one (particularly good at swimming) decides to swim his way to the coast. Time drifts and the young couple decide to plunge into the blue Meditteranean sea. The four Africans from West Sahara who have no clue about swimming are left to their fate. One of them loses his mind and plunges into the sea only to drown. Finally, the remaining three spot a distant vessel and wave their hands. The film ends with a lifeboat approaching towards the boat. By the end of the film we know that known of them really made it to Spain as they were all expelled or imprisonned for illegally crossing the borders. The film closes with information about the 1000s who take the boat and only the few handfuls who finally make it to the European coast. Basically, the act of crossing the sea is Harragas. Harragas begins with the dry desperation of Muslim Africa and moves on to the beautiful Meditteranean sea where hope floats and desperation drowns. The director successfully manages to etch out the motivations and frustrations of each individual on the boat. However, the one aspect that the director missed out was underlining some reasons why young Algeriens want to leave their country. The film has some beautiful shots of the Meditteranean and for once we know that its blue and torquoise waters are witness to the brutal realities of life.

The experience of being 'Phished'!

I had heard of phishing mail but never gave much thought to what it actually meant. On the few occasions I understood its meaning it easily slipped out of my head. The meaning of phishing mail hit me hard in the second week of 2010. It was a Saturday night and as I lay on my bed with my laptop perched on my stomach when I got a phishing mail from Yahoo. All excited about switching to the new Yahoo mail, having recently deleted thousands of messages dating back to the past two years, I was in a mood to be e-correct this year, to clean my congested mail box. The 'YAHOO' message read: Due to the congestion in all Yahoo users and removal of all unused Yahoo Accounts,Yahoo would be shutting down all unused Accounts,You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your login info below after clicking the reply botton or your Account will be suspended for security reasons.

I don't know what got into me. Perhaps it was the excitement of having been invited to go for a raquette (snow walking) the next day, in the mountains, considering that it had been snowing heavily that week or perhaps it was the spirit of 2010 which didn't want to leave any work unfinished and any form incomplete that I did something that I would never imagine doing in my life.

I went ahead and 'completed the form' as I got a bit concerned about my 'account being suspended in case the Yahoo team found that it wasn't being used or hadn't been confirmed'. The next day as I descended from the fairytale like mountains, my cellphone had already received four missed calls and a message saying that somebody was misuing my Yahoo inbox by sending messages to everyone saying that 'I am in the UK and have misplaced my wallet and needed money to pay my hotel bills' from everyone on my mailing list. By late evening almost everyone I knew in the planet had called me to ask whether I was fine. Most of them had seen me in church that morning obviously couldn't believe that I had reached the UK by late evening.  Some thought I had been kidnapped. Soon I came to know that the 'e-pirate' had entered my Facebook account and was posting messages that 'I am in the UK and was in dire straits'. In short, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon which turned into a panic as all was roll down the mountains and take charge of my Inbox.

Once in my room, I immediately rushed to my computer, tried to login to my Yahoo account - realised it was blocked. Then I logged into my Gmail account and sent messages to all and sundry that my Yahoo inbox had been hacked and that I was not in the UK and that I was safe.

I got some interesting responses from my friends, some had been communicating with this 'e-pirate' and where spooked. Some of them where concerned. There were others who responded and even offered addresses and phone numbers in the UK that I could contact and get help. Some had understood that this was an e-pirate. In short, my inbox had got famous.

I managed to log into my Yahoo account after 24 hours after the incident and found the damage that had been done. Basically, this 'e-pirate' had sent messages not only to each and everyone on my mailing list but also some strangers. Some people had responded and couldn't believe it was me. I shut down my computer and all I wanted to do was go as far away as possible from it.

The next day when I tried logging in again I couldn't. The e-pirate had managed to log in again as he had registered his email ID in my account and he could got alerts whenever I made changes to my account. He could also log in to my account and change password. The e-pirate had logged in again with a new password and had deleted all the messages he had received in response and a lot of other messages that I had safeguarded as souvenirs. This time I went to the Yahoo account security section and removed his email ID from my account and changed my password again and it was only after that I got back my Yahoo account.

Harrowing???? Yes, indeed. I have been a state of shock since then, suspicious of the internet and its working.

I informed Yahoo of this incident and they have taken some measures to safeguard my account from dangerous spammers. As for phishing, I have been researching a bit. Phishing originates from the word 'fishing'. It is a fake email (like the one I recieved from Yahoo) that is sent by unscruplous elements to get gullible individuals into revealing their passwords or other private information about their email or bank accounts. I know there are scores of people, intelligent and much more e-savvy than me who are aware of issues related to internet. But then there are those who do not think very seriously about what they do online and can be very easily duped as they aren't very aware of the underlying issues related to this medium.

Avatar: Message in 3D

The more I watch Hollywood films, the more I feel that filmmakers write their scripts and time their releases according to political events that impact the world and the USA. The latest film that has confirmed my doubts is Avatar. For what would explain the release of this film, complete with visions of fantastic flora and fauna, on December 18, 2009, exactly on the day that the Climate Change conference culminated in Copenhagen with countries haggling over the level of emission cuts they would comply to. And I cannot put into order the kind of thoughts that crossed my mind while watching the film. Perhaps the storyline is a fantasy for the Western world, but not for many who live in Asia and Africa. The struggle of this animated group of tribals with a special language and lifestyle reminded me of the controversy over the Narmada Dam in India, where thousands of tribals have been displaced by the Narmada Dam; their natural surroundings destroyed, someone from Latin America may be able to relate the story to the destruction of the rainforest in their continent, an African may be able to link the story to a similar kind of exploitation and destruction of environment in their continent. If the USA really gets down to some soul searching it will find a similar struggle in it's backyard with the Red Indians, ditto with Australia who have suppressed the Aboriginals. So you see, it is not a new story for us but it certainly is a new story for the average Westerner who doesn't give a dime about where his coffee comes from or how many people where killed in Congo while mining the coaltan that makes the latest model of his cellphone work. If Avatar has a message then it is that of protecting the environment. The movie displays ongoing conflict between human and machine, technology and nature. The underlying message of the whole act of watching Avatar is: If you don't care for your environment you will finally have to just settle for experiencing natural wonders of this world in a dark theatre - with 3D glasses on.

Happy 2010!