The Third B'day and a Beautiful Gift

Today Vanity Moments turns three. The blog, which launched on experimental basis in July 24, 2007, with the single purpose of featuring my Shankhumugham video along with a screen made script written in English for the non-Malayalam speakers was initially named as ‘Droplets’. Only later, the blog turned out to be one of the ‘biggest boasting stations in the blogosphere’, which featured sequence of boastful recollections from the blog owner (that’s myself).

The initial purpose of the blog was, as I said before, to act as a mediator in bringing my Journalism day project Shankhumugham beach video to the world of travellers. I was happy, when the video was awarded a consolation prize in the Kerala Tourism–YouTube video festival and I was expecting a memorable gift from the government. I was offered a one day & night stay on a houseboat in the famous backwaters of Alleppey as the prize when I was actually expecting something that I can keep as a memento for a life time.

The offer for a houseboat trip, which was initially allotted for 1 pax did not make me happy. ‘What would I have done alone on a houseboat that floats in water with no hold up?’ I asked myself. However, I decided to accept the facility and planned to get one professional camera as I thought that taking photographs of the journey will be the only resort to escape from the boredom. But, later Kerala Tourism decided to give the facility to two persons, that means, the winner can take one more person to the boat.

I contacted one of my best friends, (who secretly appears in some of my previous blog posts) who after spending the college days with me had left for Cochin City pursuing a promising career. Over the phone, hilariously he replied ‘so you want me to act as your girlfriend, since you have none!’ I also remember the funny comment made my previous boss, ‘if you had married, you could have taken her for a honeymoon trip at the cost of the government’.

However, the day was 11th July 2010. While taking some photographs using the professional Nikon camera (thanks for my friend in Thiruvanathapuram for giving me the camera), my travel partner reached Alleppey beach on a prior-fixed time and we went to the ATDC houseboats at around 11 O clock. Despite of the lack of any documents proving my prize, we were welcomed warmly by the three staffs of the houseboat. We embarked on a sightseeing journey through the backwaters and I felt it as something like a journey that made by the Grecian King Ulysses during the legendary period.

Our houseboat darted slowly through the heart of the backwaters touching many places including Pallathuruthi, Kainakari, Vembanad Lake, Chambakulam, etc. We also had a brief visit at the Chambakulam church during the evening mass (it was a Sunday). Our camera helped us very much in collecting the wonderful stills of the destinations. In the noon time we had a wonderful lunch with Karimeen fry, salads, curd, lassi and a pineapple specialty.

In the evening we returned via a short cut to our starting point and finally anchored there in the night. After supper we went to the deluxe a/c double room, which was allotted for us and it was about 11.30 pm when we said good night.

In the morning at 5.30, we woke up as both of us had to go to our own offices since it was a Monday with its usual blues. After our breakfast we began to say good bye to a few wonderful hours of my life. Our Grecian journey now comes to an end, I thought, but this time there was no Troy to be captured, no Paris to be defeated and no Helen to be retrieved. 

This prize was for my Shankhumugham video, which was aptly titled as "This Beautiful Land," and let this post be a "Beautiful Gift" to my three year old Vanity Moments blog.

Making of Ee Manohara Theeram

The past is a tale. One can write about his past life experiences in the format of a well-packed suspense and terror-filled story so that no reader would even imagine that the narrated incidents were once happened in the writer’s life. But it is different, when we write about our present ongoing incidents. Instead of the nature of a story, writing about the present incidents usually assumes the nature of documentation.

I don’t know how many of you have seen my amateur attempt of making a short video on Shankhumugham beach in Kerala. I have posted the entire script of that video titled ‘Ee Manohara Theeram’ (This beautiful shore), which happened during my journalism student days in this blog itself. One can see them by visiting the first post of this blog or simply clicking here. You necessarily have to read the post, because watching the video will not give you the required effect as it is in Malayalam. Now, you might ask me, what the relevance of this post is. There is a small reason; the video has won a consolation prize in the recent video festival organized by Kerala Tourism and YouTube, which invited amateur entries from across the world and the first prize has been won by a candidate from Lisbon.

I had written the script of the documentary in a few hours’ attempt and though I was a frequent visitor of the beach in the evenings, I visited it again to inquire about the place’s history and peculiarities. I visited the public library in Thiruvananthapuram and collected a little historical information. After writing the script, I rehearsed my self in front of my friend and the mirror so that my effort of presentation would be easy.

On the day, I made myself a little bit more ‘handsome’ and on a car allotted from my institute I visited the Shankhumugham beach with the cameraman, camera and tripod. We started shooting in the morning and it was easy for me to face the camera as the place remains usually unpacked during the day time. The support from the car driver was memorable, who helped me carrying the tripod even though it was not part of his assigned jobs.

After collecting some different visuals of the beach, I decided to shoot the parts in which I appear for giving details of the beach. We successfully shot the portion where I make the entry into the frame from the right hand side on the backdrop of the sea at a distance. Then we moved to the ritualistic platform for the temple proceedings, where also I had to face the camera. Then there was the Shankhumugham Sagara kanyaka (virgin of the ocean), the sculpted figure of a nude mermaid. Actually the video starts from her face. Then we went to the sea pier, star fish restaurant and the fishing nets. We got some accidental shots of a flying bird, a plane and some Korean tourists, which were not in the script. We left the beach in the noon time planning to come back at the time of the sunset.

We came back in the evening and the beach was crowded fully with visitors. I had changed my dress for the sunset portion of the video. With my innate shyness, I successfully shot my final ‘face to the camera’ at the time of the sunset. We returned after shooting the sun setting to the sea being covered by dark clouds. My job behind the video is those of directing, script writing, dubbing, presenting, video graphing (a few shots), and even the job of camera assistant. Fortunately, it did not need a light boy; otherwise I had to do that job also.

At the editing table, the editor was very co-operative; he easily understood my demands and which resulted in better outputs. He added good background music. The video ends with my comments from the background of the visuals. I dubbed for it in the studio, and he chose one from many of my raw materials.

My friends and gurus appreciated me for the video and they also suggested some errors and betterments. The video was well received in the internet, with many good comments and many video sharing sites and private site owners featured it in their sites. When Kerala Tourism announced such a competition for the amateur video makers in association with YouTube, I hesitated to apply. But, only later when they extended the last date for a few more weeks I applied it with my usual last minute hurry.


NB: Though I did it as my course project, the examiners did not evaluate and thus I didn’t get a desirable result in exams.

Left, Right...Left, Right!

The Memorable Birthday Wish time.

A student of visual journalism sharing the class space with seven others to make a total of eight. Since we were visual journalism students, we had a special subject to study, the history of cinema. We got a superb teacher, Louis Mathew, who in every aspect was an appropriate one to take classes on cinema. The historic film persons like Orson Welles of the Citizen Kane, whom he introduced to us through his memorable lectures and charming film slides were truly inspiring.

One day on a class time, he hurled towards us a seemingly aimless question after telling a parable. The parable and question somehow went like this:

“Look, here is a man traveling on a cycle and on the opposite side there is another one travelling on a car. They collide each other but nothing happens except that both of them find themselves with a broken tooth each... “

What a situation, we wondered.

“…Look, so this is the situation. Both of the accident-victims have the same loss. There is no difference in that. But here is a variation in the situation. Let me make all of you a part of this story. You are the judge and you have a thousand rupees exactly to share between both of the victims,” he explained the story.

Glancing over a row of opened mouths, Louis continued, “I want an answer from you all; how will you share the money between the cyclist and the one with the car. Will you share it fifty-fifty or will you give someone a little more than what you give the other one?” he looked at everyone of us over the specs one by one inquiringly.

I had no doubt, and at once I said, “Why doubt? It is fifty-fifty, it does not look like big problem, because justice cannot be biased.” I cleared my view point.

But to my amazement, every other one of the class unanimously opined that they would give more money to the cyclist.

“Why?” I wondered.

To my embarrassment, Louis said, “If I was the judge, I would have given more money to the cycle rider.”

I felt isolated and glanced at every one to find at least one supporter among them.

Louis consoled me, “don’t worry friend, you are not wrong, but you are right”.

Dear blogger friends, I insist each of you to make your view point before reading henceforth.

I asked him, “Sir what you mean?”

He explained, “I mean what I said, when you answered that you would share the money fifty-fifty, it was not a wrong answer. You said your opinion from your view point and motivated by your own thinking, that’s why I said, you were not wrong, but you were RIGHT. You are politically biased to the right wing.”

Pin drop silence.

“In such a situation, I will give more money to the cyclist. Because I know that a five hundred rupee note is not equivalent to both the poor cyclist and the car owner. A person who knows this difference is LEFT and I am LEFT’, Louis explained.

“This does not mean that you are wrong. Both of us are right. The only difference is that you are RIGHT and I am LEFT.”

Now I understood, and was deeply consoled by his explanation. I know that my ideology is at some points slanting towards the right wing policies. Not in politics, but in every aspect of social life, that is my view point, I am a believer of the right wing ideology.

But, what was your answer?

A Memorable Birthday Wish

(Written on 7-4-2005 and mailed to many friends across the world)

As a ‘self-centered’ person, I am very much concerned about my birthday and such personal events. This narration is about the most memorable birthday wish that I ever received in my life. Today is my birthday, and no one knows in my class of Journalism this fact. Of course, I am very thankful to those who have sent me some B’ day SMS's to my cell phone and I know some of their Birthdays, for example, Georgekutty on this 13, Shan on August, Mahesh and Sony on a particular day that they don’t like to reveal.

Well…today we – I mean, my classmates and myself – were lectured by a true professional of Journalism, Mr. Joe A. Scaria, who is the Special Correspondent of Economic Times of Kerala region in India. His brother is very familiar to all, Mr. Hormis Tharakan, the former chief of RAW. Also, Mr. Joe belongs to my nativity, somewhere near Edamattom or Changanacherry in Kottayam district.

All right, as explaining several things Mr. Joe asked “Imagine a group of 25 persons, can you tell me the possibility of at least two persons’ BIRTH DAYS fall on the same day?”

As a Mathematics graduate, I at once stood up on my toes and said it is 2 divided by 365, though I was sure about the mistake that I have committed while calculating the probability. Some one answered it is 100%, and I do not know the motive behind his answer or how on earth he is going to prove his claim. (In every friendly group that I belong to, I have a competitor).

Mr. Joe’s reply made me happy “I would like to join the first group of 2 divided by 365 and I am sure that there does not exist even that much possibility. Because, it is almost impossible for two persons in a group of 25 to have same birthday, though there is a chance.”

He continued, “...but experts found that the possibility for two persons of a group of 25 to have the same birthday is 50%. Though, it seems incredible, I have been checking and verifying this fact by asking birthdays of students of journalism for the past 16 years. And amazingly from 14 out of the last 16 batches I got at least one pair of persons having the same birthday”

I made a ridiculous comment at that time which turned everyone into roaring out of laughing, “Sir, the reason is that in Kerala most marriages are happening in the same season”. Mr. Joe embarrassed and flashed a shy smile.

He said, “Well, let us examine this fact in this same batch, Ok, here are 8 students and please raise your hands if you celebrate your birthday in January”, no one raised hand.

“February…” two pupils raised…and Joe asked both of their B’ days to find both were different.

He asked “March”, only one raised.

“April” I raised. He just ignored, because I was the only one of the April category and asked the next month “May”. Before getting the answer he came back and asked me “On which date is your Birthday?”

The moment that I expected...and I answered with a slight excitement “Today”

“W...W...What?”

“Sir... Today”

Mr. Joe sighed and shook my hand saying “Happy Birthday Mr. Tom”...The most unforgettable birthday wish (because of its unexpectedness and charm) and I replied with Thanks a million. My classmates also began to say happy birthday to me.

Well my dear friends… That is the story of the memorable birthday wish, which I ever received.

Tomz

Photo: Joe in Class

Courtesy: http://joeourteacher.blogspot.com/