kundun and coetzee
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8/9/2019 Kundun and Coetzee
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Aarefa Johari [email protected]
Rockfansin theWesternsuburbsnolongerneedto godowntowntoenjoytheauraofa musicstore.
Theynowhavea swankynewmusichavenrightin themiddleofS VRoad.
Called Musicians Mall, this musicstore is a branch of its larger coun-terpart at Charni Road, which inci-dentally, is the citys largest musicstore at 1,500 sq.ft. Weve launched
here specially to give the youth ofthe suburbs easy access to our
store, said Rishab Bhargava,director of the store.
Thestoremayhavea hiddenstock of all kinds of Indian and
Westerninstruments,but atfirstsight,itsan electricguitarparadise.
Theyhavethemin everyconceivable
shape and colour, and boast of beingthe only store that keeps a stock ofJoeSatrianissignatureseriesof Ibanezguitars.
TheMall is alreadyattractingvar-ious elements of the musical kind music studios that hire instruments,studentswho canlearnthe drumsandguitarinsidethestoreitself,and mostof all school and college kids who areallowed to jam on the guitars anddrumsforfree aslongastheydontget too rowdy.
The atmospheres perfect for any-onewhowishesto getoffthe bustlingsuburbanstreetsand enjoysometimeof musical peace.
Tasneem Nashrulla [email protected]
FLUKE
Atoilet seat is generally not con-sideredto bean outletforcre-ativitythatis. Butfor artistRashmi
Dogra,evena commodebecomesa can-vasfor art.At herone-month-oldstoreFlukeinBandra,thetoiletseatis paint-eda brightfluorescentgreenwith colour-ful birds and flowers. And if you dontwantto betaking a dump onfloraandfauna, Dogra will hand paint your potwithyourchoiceofcolours/graphics.Infact,she personallydesignsand paints
everythingfrommirrors,chairs,lights,wallets, bags, and even fridges. Theoptions are limitless she says, andwhen you find a light fixture made ofpainted pails hanging overhead, youtendto believeher.At Fluke,everythingishand paintedand everythingsonsale,(exceptthe toiletseatandthe cashreg-ister). Travel wallets with roses andBuddhas, a mirror with a melancholicgeisha on it, wooden racks held up bymulti-hued peacocks, a fridge withabstractdesigns;Dograsart issplashedon every conceivable object from anoriginalgramophoneto aself-designedmagazinerack.SaysDogra,Icanper-
sonaliseanything forclients. Forinstance,IpaintedaclutchforFarahKhan(direc-tor)with herdaughtersnamesoneitherside. Using Italian automotive paintandlacquer,Dograsquirkydesigns andartwork can transform even the mostutilitarianobjectintoafascinatingcen-trepiece. Even the humble hanger hasa majesticpeacockhead. Prices rangefromRs600to Rs15,000+.Ordersneedtobe placed atleasta weekinadvance.
ubercoolIF YOU ARENT IN ON THIS,YOU ARENT IN ON IT AT ALL
12 | H I N D U S T A N T I M E S , M U M B A IS A T U R DA Y, S E P T E M B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 9
do YOUR WEEKEND FIX
instore
Karthik Balasubramanian [email protected]
MartinScorseseisa spiritualman,nomatterwhattheamoraluni- verse of The Departed or
Goodfellasleadsyoutobelieve.His first
hit,MeanStreets,featuredahero, Charlie,whotook HellFireliterally.
In The Last Temptation of Christ,Scorseses tackled themyth ofthe sav-iourandhumanisedhim,madehim vul-
nerable. In Kundun, he makes a livinglegend,knownto befallible,an imageofperfection.
The young Dalai Lama is almost abratatagethree.Tibetanmonks,seek-ingthe reincarnationof theearlierLama,showhimthepredecessorsglassesandwalking sticks,andthe boyclutchesallthe right articles and shouts mine!The monks neither question that this
mightnotbe theDalaiLamanordo theystressthe miracle of reincarnation.
The young Dalai Lama is beset byproblems far beyond his intellect, butwithinhis wisdom:ChineseatrocityandTibets backward economy. He has toascend to his duties much earlier, 16rather than the usual 18, and only hisreligious insight helpshim seethroughChairmanMaosoily promises.After afaileduprising,feverishand exhausted,hehasto fleetoasylumin India,wherethefilmends.
Scorseses Kundun has none of thedirectorsusual predilections.The scenesseem captured rather than construct-ed,thereareno rapidcuts,andnoneoft he b ri ll ia nt d ia lo gu e t heis famous for. But this reveals a fideli-
ty to his subject, and his film mirrorsthe elegiac wisdom of the DalaiLamahimself.
ACCSSETRA
Forthosewhowantto piecethem-selves together Nidhi Agrawalspersonalisedpuzzles arethe way
togo. Underher Accssetrabrand, thisdesigner will use your photograph toturninto a puzzle.Shecan personaliseblankets,aprons, cushionsand lampswith photographs. She can even cre-ate customised board game. ThinkMonopoly Mumbai style withChurchgateStationand Juhu,replac-ingNew YorkAvenueand PennsylvaniaRailRoad. PricesrangefromRs 1,200to Rs 15,000 and orders have to begiven at 10 days in advance.
WHERE: Call Nidhi Agrawal on9820644124
thefilm
Of Chinese whispers
Karthik Balasubramanian [email protected]
There is an unbroken line of lonesurvivors in Western literature,fromDefoesRobinson Crusoe,to
Gilliat in Victor Hugos Toilers of theSea, to Knut Hamsuns Glahn in Pan.Their only foe was implacable nature,whichtheynegotiatedwiththesimplesttools.
Defoewrotewhenthe worldstillhadgreat empty spaces, but for CoetzeesMichael K, bornin Kafkas20th centu-ry (from whom Coetzee borrows theK),livingaloneisimpossibleina dystopi-an,civilwar-tornSouthAfricaand teem-ing withdisplacedmillions.
Michaelis borndim-wittedandhare-lipped,andis raisedin ahomefor retards.When his mother is rendered invalid,theyheadbacktotheirhomeinthe veldt(theAfricanplains)in themidstof civil
war,but shediesen route.Michaelleads
a prelapsarian existence, living off theveldt,growingpumpkins.
But soldiers capture him and throwhimintoarefugeecamp,whereherefus-estoeat,yearningforhispumpkins.Thedoctor is first intrigued, then awed byK. Michael may be a simpleton but isnot immoral. His love for freedom isunyielding. Heescapes fromeverycampheis throwninto.Heplaysdumberthanhe really is to escape detection. Theharshveldtnearlykillshim,but atleastheis free.Coetzeesstyleis harshlysim-ple,mirroring theveldtssparseyet fer-tileplains, andmakeshis heros sereneconviction at the end feel like a nour-ishing, hard-wonharvest.
Coetzees survivor always looks toreturntothegoodearth,bringingDefoesvision full circle.
Navin Kumar [email protected]
Ofall theWeb2.0websitesthatthriveon user-generated content, nonehave generated as much bile as
EncyclopediaDramatica(ED forshort).Thewebsiteis awiki(whichmeansany-onecancreateandedit entries),andmod-elsitself onWikipedia. However,insteadofscholarlyarticles,userswrite anythingthats funnyand offensive. Accordingtothe creators, it is made in the spirit ofAmbroseBiercesThe DevilsDictionary
T
r
ol
l P
ara
d
i
s
e:A person who inten-
tionallypostsnasty,stupidcommentsoninternet forums in order to provoke anangry,emotionalresponseis calledatroll.Trolls usually get themselves banned.
Excepton ED.Here, trollscometogeth-er to brag about theirexploits andcon-tinuethegoodworkbywritingthemostoutrageousmaterialon anykindof sub-ject. Heres a sample from Ayn Randentry: Ayn Rand married strugglingactor Frank O Connor in 1929; as Aynwasa power-mad feministwriter,Frankquicklyassumedtherole ofb***hto his
domineeringwife.Thatsoneoftheprint-ableparts.On theinternet,anylaughteryouderiveat someoneelses expenseiscalled a lulz (a corruption of lol). ED is
fullof people whodiditfor thelulz.C
ul
t
ur
eH
u
b:EDis probablythe onlyplacewhichcangiveyouacomplete guidetothingsgoing ononline. Ifyouwanttoknowaboutthe howcansheslapvideoorwherethephrase Ihear youlikemud-kipscamefrom, youcantgoto Wikipedia.ED has the most complete record ofmemes(packets of culturalinformation like videos, catchphrases or photos thatbecome popular)online.In its arti-cle about itself, it claims EncyclopediaDramaticais acentralcatalog fororgan-isedreferencepagesaboutdrama,memes,e-palsand otherinteresting happeningson the internets. It also claims that itsthefinalarbiterof truthandhumandes-tiny, and can be used to settle any dis-pute, anywhere, evar (sic). If youwantto know more about the way the inter-
netcommunity talks/thinks/spells (evarisacceptable),reada randomarticleandclick on the hyperlink of any word youdontunderstand.
(Clockwise) A bag,gramophoneanda pieceofart decorfromFluke
WHY WATCH IT NOW?Earlier thisweek,the DalaiLama,the spiri-tualand temporal leader ofthe Tibetanpeople, announcedhis decision to visitTawangMonastery, a disputedterritoryalongthe Sino-Indianborderin ArunachalPradesh.The DalaiLamaand Tibethaveendured muchunderChinesedominion,theDalai Lamahimselfhavingto fleeTibetat16 after afailedinsurrection.InMartinScorseses biopic, onesees a young,vul-nerable youngsterexpectedto carrytheweightof Buddhasheritage theDalaiLama isconsideredareincarnationof theBuddha andbattlethe Chinese.
TITLE: Kundun, 1997; DIRECTOR:Martin Scorsese; Available at BigFlix
TITLE: The Life and Times of Michael K.AUTHOR: John Maxwell CoetzeePUBLISHER: Vintage, 1983PRICE: Rs. 340AVAILABLE AT: Landmark, Andheri (W)
YOU CAN NEVER be too funky or tooradical. Two stores tell us how
Customised
haven
WHERE: Fluke, Shop no 7, RafiMansion, 28th Rd, Gurunanak Park,Bandra (W) Ph - 26438087
WHY WATCH IT NOW?The Nobel Prize-winning author, John MaxwellCoetzee, has been shortlisted again for this yearsMan Booker Prize. If he wins, it will be his third.Coetzee is one of the great writers of the 20th cen-tury, whose books reflect an unyielding rectitudecoupled with a tormented awareness of his owncountrys (South Africa) brutal history of apartheid.The Life and Times of Michael K, his first BookerPrize-winning novel, is his least political, a timelessfable about a simpletons attempt to survive in civilwar-torn South Africa.
A survivors story
Anything for a few lulz
thebook
Purva Mehra [email protected]
In mid-August,a newRadiohead
track called These Are MyTwistedWordsspreadlikewild
fireonthe web,leadingeagerfansto believe among other rumoursthat the English alternative rockband are preparing to releaseanother EP.
And while a new Radioheadalbumis always reasonforcheer,it doesn't make any of their pre-vious records redundant.
Take for instance Kid A, thebands fourth studio album andone that was the cause of muchcreative angst for Radiohead'saffected yet genius lead vocalist,ThomYorke.After emergingfromthe stupendous commercial suc-cess ofOK Computer(hailed asthebestalbumof 1997onvariouscharts), analbum thatregistered
Radiohead as the conquistadorsofmodern guitarrock,Yorkeandhis fab four found themselves ina period of musical infertility,one that would last three years.Inthe millenniumRadioheadfinal-ly emerged with Kid A, a recordin which they sought an alterna-
tivetothelabelofrockandarrivedat atmospheric electronica.
Inanattempttostripthealbumof emotion, the tracks becamemore minimally arranged andabstract as in Everything in ItsRight Place, In Limboand TheNational Anthem. Yorkes angeroverhavinglost controlafter OKComputerbecamethe essenceofKid A, lendingit aheavypsycho-logical bent. On more than onetracktheband startedona rhythmandletit continue andthewordsjustbecamea partof what'sgoingon,as evidentin IdiotequeandOptimistic. And eventual-ly Yorkesselfconscious exper-imentswith alienationdeliv-ered another keeper fromthe band.
HEADY STUFFHEADY STUFF
TITLE: Kid A, RadioheadWHERE: Rhythm Househas a special edition setPRICE: Rs 895
WHERE: Next to ICICI Bank, S.V. Road (Khar)WHEN: The store is open from11 am to 8 pm, Monday to Saturday.
virtuallytherewww.encyclopediadramatica.com
Music for the burbies
Colourful bags fromFluke.(Left)customisedpillowsfromAccssetra
themusic
TALK TO US
Do you think the Dalai Lamas story iswell represented in Kundun?
The Musicians Mall has all kinds of instuments but for an electric guitar fan, its paradise