Tuesday, December 29, 2009

On Avatar

The special effects are so dazzling and the digital world of Pandora is so bewitching that one postpones the niggling feeling that this is a story that reeks of Judaeo-Christian simplification of a heathen world. Poor, simple-minded, artless children of nature, tramelled under the foot of a superior race of humans (all Americans, mostly white).

Whilst the innocents talk environmental cliches, the one neat trick all Pandorans have is the tassled synaptic ends that act as USB connectors to a massive Central Consciousness Centre (Oh! Sri Sri, we missed your gabble!), which later reveals itself as a large tree built with Faerie Lights. This idea is a cool one and would have been plausible had the contrast between the simple-mindedness of the ten-foooters and the sophistication of the inter-synaptic connections not been too great. Imagine! The Pandoran Pterodactyls, the 6-footed horses (more like Threstals, really), all were instantly docile the moment the mutual tassles connected; imagine the transformation of the 'soul' from a human - an alien race - to an ten-footer (though Sigourney Weaver does not make it): breath-takingly advanced. (One curious aside: I don't remember any Na'vi eating in the film. There is only a brief shot of the gurrl drinking off a Pandoran lily and that was more to show her limpid eyes and trembling lips than victualising)

To then imagine the same people to go into that chanting trance like the chak-chak dancers of Bali and to seek a messiah to emerge from the enemy race. Of course it had to be the Human who would tame the red Pandoran pterodactyl! (How could we have doubted that!). Ah! finally a person who shows the poor natives what the real stuff is about. Poor duds, what did they know! Well. dunno about you, but I found it a tad too similar to the telling of the history of the heathen world from the eyes of Roman Catholic conquistadores. A history that still helps the West stereotype just about everything that is Eastern, and hence by default, Dionysian.

Look also, at the other actors: the military commander of evil intent - he seemed to have not a single redeeming bone in his body - the glowing facsimile of Lucifer. Along with Ribisi (Phoebe's kid-bro from Friends) they were more the Judy and Punch from the neighbourhood Pantomime. There is a moment where Ribisi is shown to be in two minds, he seems unsure. Hopefully it is meant to portray an inner turmoil. We have no way of getting any deeper for this nano-second of insight has not been developed further. The commander suffers from no such pussy-footedness. He is of the brawny Republican mein - perhaps a Cheney in one dimension?

What boggles the mind is that such majesty of technical sophistication in the film was matched with the characterization that only a Jellyfish would consider nuanced (hang on! perhaps that's insulting to the Cniderians, maybe the amoebas then?). The story could still have been a simple one (well, there's only so much one can absorb after being bedazzled with such digital artistry), but surely some realistic layers could have been introduced in the Humans and the Na'vis? Some controlled nuances of the heroes and villians? (did you see a baaaaad Na'vi? No, only one who is jealous and blinded-by-love). It would then have been a memorable movie.

In the end, all one remembers is the awesome spactacle of Pandora seen through 3-D glasses. Nothing more.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Rajkot Drama

825 runs scored in under 8 hours. 15 wickets given scoring them.
One team lost by 3 runs.

A remarkable match. Because in the end it was not the 414 that India scored that won them the match. A huge score by any reckoning. Yet, one cannot say that it was the scoring of 400 that led us to win.

Nor was it the 411 that SL scored chasing. Under any circumstances one would have thought that a team scoring 400 would have won. Well, they didn't.

India won because it held its collective nerve in the last two overs. So it didn't really matter to all of us who were watching if the score was 400 or 200. The important thing in the 50th over was was that Ashish Nehra should not give a 4 and should preferably take a wicket every ball. I did not think of 414. And I bet you didn't either. It was all about Nehra bowling those yorkers and SL not being able to score of the last 6 balls. The actual score was inconsequential; it could have been anything!

However the match will always be remembered, not for its close verdict, but for the two teams that scored 400 apiece. In a way it is fair - after all, we have seen so many close matches with all kinds of scores. But nail-biters with 400 runs apiece? well, just 2! This and the one that SA and Oz played in 2006.

The cynic would say that there now is no need for the bowler. They anyway get carted for boundaries. They might as well have bowling machines instead. Yet while watching this match, it is impossible to imagine India winning had Zaheer and Ashish N. not bowled those yorkers in the last two overs.

However, the credit, 100% credit, to make this match a nail-biter goes to the SL team. As Sanga said, they did not, 'roll over and die' (haha, Oh! the wit of a budding lawyer) thinking of chasing 414. They matched India blow for blow and held a slight advantage at the 35 over mark.

Which is why I would have given my MoM to the 160 by Dilshan. Maybe the adjudicators could have been cheesy and given it jointly to Viru and Dilshan? This SL team is a proud team and Sanga is the most gracious of leaders. Perhaps is is better to not rub in the salt and give this the flavour of a 'consolation' by going joint or giving it to Dilshan. You know what? I think, it's fine that SL walk away with the head held high and without people throwing scraps at them.

It is amusing to see Mahi do the deliberate nonchalant act after we win. He does this after every match of consequence. It looks cool. Suits Mahi.

One last thing. I don't want to make a big deal out of this. But I can't help mentioning that the last two Test matches and this ODI were far more riveting and satisfying than the two 2020s. I'm just saying...thats all.

:-)

Well, in the end we won. Good for us.

Thai Pavilion after the makeover

I had dinner last week at the Thai Pavilion. Long had I wished to go, and this article by Vir Sanghvi tipped it over. I had to go. At least to see the coloured glasses by Super Potato. It's not fair to talk about the decor - after all Thai Pavilion is known for its food. The coloured glass jars - rows and rows of it filling up an entire wall - seem to be 3/4th filled with rangoli powder. Cute.

Now to the food.

The build-up was immense. Just last week I had read that it is the top five destinations in India - with Bukhara at the top and TP third. Till the last week, the only Thai places I had eaten were: Thai Ban (several times), The Thai Restaurant next to National College in Bandra Linking Road (now closed; I forget the name), A Thai joint in San Dimas, Calif, US; and a few Chinese eating paces that also serve Thai.

The water being served was directly bottled from the Himalayan springs. So much for the build-up! Tom Kha first, then Som Tam. The soup was nice; bland-ish, not hot enough and the veggies were - well, normal. Did not spot anything that surprised me (pleasantly!) and made me say, 'mmmmm. hhh, mmmm'. I did that on 5th Dec. when served with the T. Kha at Thai Ban.

A decidedly tepid start, I thought.

The papaya salad was, again, ok. Nothing that one did not expect a posh and famous place to serve. It was again bland-ish. The the papaya gratings could have been a tad finer and perhaps the peanut a little less coarse. Definitely more lemon juice, and a little bit of magic perhaps. Well, I had to rely heavier that I would have liked to on the sauces provided.

The portion was small considering it cost INR 500. (In fact all the portions for whatever we had that night were just under what one would expect. Hmmm. Not that we are big eaters. One likes to see a surfeit, I guess! After all there are doggie bags to consider)

By this time I was apprehensive that the meal was going only in one direction - down!!!

Then came the raw mango and water chestnut salad. Nice. But too simple. Just two basic tastes and two basic textures: the mango and the water chestnut; sour and bland. One thought it could have been made faaaaar more interesting. After all a Thai kitchen probably has the most astonishing array of condiments, sauces, dips and relishes. Once again, we all got too busy with the (four, yes, only four) sauces at the table. I asked for more - and was given a bowl of garlic in chili oil. Nice, but not Thai enough. The nam pla, though, was excellent!

By this time the main course had been ordered and we were looking at each other with trepidation. Oh Lord! What a disappointment!! I was already making mental plans - perhaps it's still not too late to nip in to Thai Ban.... perhaps one should call them, just in case...

Then came broccoli in some kind of a black-bean based gravy - very dry and aromatic. It was delicious! It went just perfectly with the plain rice. The black bean paste was flavorful, light and it did not have the bitterness that the Chinese one has. The garlic was just right. The dish was sweet and succulent and lovely!

Revived, at last!

Then came the old favourite. Green curry with veggies. It was fantastic! The best I had eaten. It had pieces of okra, plantain, barbatti and it has lots of flavours that kept popping and bursting in my mouth.

I left it mid-course to try the Phad Thai, thinking that it would be good to leave the tastiest for the last. Well the rice noodles was terrific as well. The textures were varied and perfect, the taste was fresh, the gravy was savoury enough to satiate my Indian palate. It was great! Only complaint - the portions! Oh! Did I already say that the portions were small?

Hmmm.

Well, it didn't take long to finish the noodles and get back to the rice and the green curry. Thankfully, the rice bowls seemed to be like Draupadi's - the spoonfuls kept dropping on my plate. Usually, I eat till I'm just over a-half full. That night, I was maybe a little over that. So yes, it was a nice meal, in the end!

And BTW, the service was chaotic at times, but the main server was knowledgeable. He stopped me from ordering a perfectly ghastly affair of batter-fried squashes (I have a horror for batter fried stuff), and recommended this-and-that-and-the-other. Good!

Learning: Do not order starters in this new Thai Pavilion. Go straight for the jugular. Score: 3.5/5