The Last Night

Don’t go, my love!

Not today, not this night

Remember your promise?

How can this be right

                 Times are indeed cruel

                Oh God give us courage

                But I still don’t get it -

                Why all the killer rage

Torn by this nasty war

The nation lost its beauty

You must go rather far

Be bound by your duty

                The mind accepts it

                Being, after all, shrewd

                The heart vetoes it

                There in comes the feud

I am lost, totally speechless

With you gone, why this life

I am pained by distress

To get through this strife

                Journey to battlefield

                To fight them; to attack

                But what would it yield

                If you did not come back

We will win this war

I am sure about it

But what of me?

Did you think a bit

            Promise me, my love

On this very last night

Our love for each other

It always be bright

Silent Chaos

Around 10 AM, December 29, 2004
Stanley Hospital, Chennai

Priya (full of dried tears) : “Doctor, it has been more than two days since my husband was admitted here. Can you tell me how his condition is? Please do let us know whatever it is”
Doctor Samuel : “Madam, you know very well that we are trying our best to save your husband. But he is not the only patient here suffering after the calamity. We do have thousands of other patients to look after. Please try to understand”.

So saying, the doctor walked away. Priya collapsed back onto the chair once again, prayers finding their way towards God, out of her mouth.

“God, please don’t let my husband die. Take mine instead. He is such an amazing human being and you know that. How could this happen to him? You have already taken my child away from me. Not my husband as well. I still haven’t mourned my daughter’s death. He and I would do that together. Let him live, atleast for this. Please, God. Please. Spare my husband’s life. I still haven’t given him his birthday gift. It still lies underneath our bed. I want him to get back home and hunt for it himself. Take my life. I am content with the time we have spent together. I am more than willing to die. Take mine, spare him. Let him live. You know, he has always told me that his lifelong ambition was to go on a trekking expedition along the Himalayas. Let him achieve that first. Let him live. God, please save him. Please, let him not die. Take mine instead. Please ! Please ! Please !” – Priya’s mind was torn between an array of emotions. The tears seemed to have a free flow down her face and they seemed not to cease ever. Her beautiful face was a complete mess. More than anything, she was completely alone. No one was there to give her even a moral support.

Around 6 AM, December 26, 2004
Along Beach Road, Marina

“Appa, appa, anga paren (Dad, look there)” – Akshara pointed somewhere to the right.

“Aksha, chumma iru. Daddy vandi ottaren la (Aksha, keep quiet. Daddy is driving, right?)” – Rahim moved Akshara’s hand back.

“Illa pa, anga perusu perusa ala varudu (No dad, I can see huge waves there)” – Akshara did not stop.

“Adhellam onnum illa kanna. Ala perusa than varum (No my dear, waves will be huge)” – Rahim smiled at his daughter’s innocence.

“Sonna kelu pa, idhu rumba periya ala. Nee paren oru vatti (Listen to me daddy, this is a very huge wave. You see there once)” – Akshara insisted.

“Enna kanna nee. Seri pakkaren iru (Ok, I will see, my dear)” – so saying, Rahim turned his face. He was terrorized by what he saw. He had never seen such gigantic waves, in all his life. Hell, he had not even heard of them. By the time he could even react and turn his bike, the waves caught up with them and completely swept them off.

Few minutes later, TV channels blared the flash news – TSUNAMI STRIKES INDIA.

Around 8 AM, December 26, 2004
Stanley Hospital, Chennai

The ambulance rushed into the hospital, with a few patients alive and mostly corpses.

Those alive, were put onto stretchers and rushed to the Emergency Ward.
Those not alive, were assembled in the mortuary.

“Nurse, quick. Put him on ventilator. I can see an injury to his head. Lets see if there is any haemorrhage. Lets start all emergency procedures” – Dr. Samuel rushed his assistant. Once on ventilator, the doctor hastened to look into the wallet he had retrieved earlier for any ICE(In Case of Emergency) numbers.

“Rahim” – the doctor read out aloud. He rummaged through the wallet and found a picture of a lady holding a child. “Maybe his wife and daughter”, the doctor said to himself. He found a piece of paper with a mobile number written on it. He dialed the number.

Around 9 AM, December 26, 2004
Stanley Hospital, Chennai

Priya ran into the Emergency Ward of the hospital.

“Oh my God, Rahim. How could this happen to you? You, of all people. Why such a terrible punishment. Where is our daughter? God, why did you do this to my husband? Don’t you know he is such a good person? Why Rahim” – Priya cried her heart out. The whole atmosphere was nauseating. Priya couldn’t stop crying. She didn’t know what to do.

“Are you Rahim’s wife?” – enquired Dr Samuel, when he walked into the room, towards Rahim’s bed.

“Yes doctor. I am Priya. How is he? Please tell me he will survive. I cannot bear to imagine anything happening to him” – Priya pleaded with the doctor, her eyes full of tears.

“We are trying our best, Priya. But his condition is extremely critical. He has suffered from some haemorrhage in the head. We are trying our best to remove a blood clot. I cannot say anything for 48 hours”.

“Doctor, what about my child? My daughter Akshara. She was with Rahim” – Priya asked the doctor.

“Your daughter? Only Rahim was brought in here. No child was brought along with him. I am afraid they must have been separated. I hope your daughter will be found soon. Did you try to contact the police? Oh wait, is this your daughter, by the way?” – Samuel handed the photo to Priya.

“Yes Doctor. She is my child. Such a beautiful girl, isn’t she? Oh my dear, where am I going to find you? Are you still waiting for Mummy? Don’t worry darling, mummy will soon find you” – Priya was muttering to herself incoherently.

“Do not worry, Priya. I will see what I can find out about your daugh…” – Dr Samuel broke off, seeing that Priya was not listening.

Around 4 PM, December 26, 2004
Stanley Hospital, Chennai

“Priya, I am afraid I have some bad news for you, concerning Akshara” – Dr Samuel walked upto her.

“What! What is it Doctor? Is Aksha alright? Please tell me my daughter is alright. Uncle, please speak. Please Uncle” – Priya cried.

“I am sorry, Priya. Akshara is no more. I happened to see her … “ – the doctor could not complete his sentence, as Priya collapsed on the floor

“WHAT !! AKSHA ! MY BEAUTIFUL BABY. HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? UNCLE, HOW CAN MY DAUGHTER DIE? TELL ME. WHAT DID I DO WRONG? WHY IS GOD PUNISHING ME SO MUCH? ON ONE SIDE, I HAVE BEEN PRAYING FOR MY HUSBAND’S LIFE. HERE YOU ARE, INFORMING ME OF MY DAUGHTER’S DEATH. OH YOU POOR GIRL. HOW CAN YOU LEAVE MUMMY AND GO? WHAT WILL MUMMY DO WITHOUT YOU? WHY AKSHARA?” – her mind was racing.

“Something is not right. How could my daughter die? No, the doctor is confused. Or wait. Why should he be confused? Is my daughter really dead? Is my beautiful girl really no more?” - she could not comprehend her daughter’s death. She seemed hysterical, although she did not speak.

The doctors gave her a round of strong sedatives.

Around 1 PM, December 29, 2004
Stanley Hospital, Chennai

As Priya recollected the events of the past three days, she could not control her tears. Once again, she started crying. Besides, she was all alone.

“How much my life has changed in two days. It seems so fresh in my mind, that Aksha was so enthusiastic about planning for Rahim’s birthday. Yet, my daughter is no more. Dear God, how could you do this to me? We were such a beautiful family. Aksha meant the world to both Rahim and me. Why did you take her away from me? Instead, you could have taken my life and spared my child’s. Why do I have to live, when my daughter is no more. Why did Rahim have to go out on that dreadful day? Oh My God, Rahim. Why do I have to suffer? Why won’t you come back to me quickly? Why give me all this pain? You know very well that you are my world. I have no one left Rahim. What would I do if something were to happen to you? Would I be orphaned yet again? No, I cannot bear something like that. Rahim, you better come back to me quickly. Oh God, what would I tell you about Aksha. She was such a lovely girl. Come back to me, Rahim. I cannot live without you. Remember all the wonderful times we spent together? The first time I met you at work, when you bumped into me and gave a sheepish smile? That’s when I fell for you. And now, you are here, fighting for life. Remember, when Aksha was born. You said, we would give the entire world to her? Now, she is no more, Rahim. Our daughter, our sweet Aksha, is dead. She is no more. And now, I am praying that God spare atleast your life. I am not bothered about mine. Let him take mine, but you should live. You are such a wonderful person. You have been good to people all through your life. You mean the world to me, Rahim. Have I ever told you how much I love you? You mean everything to me. I love you Rahim. I love you, my dear husba…” –

“Priya, can we talk?” – Dr. Samuel walked upto her.

“What is it doctor? Is Rahim ok? Please tell me his condition has improved. Is he out of danger?” – Priya was scared.

“Priya, I am afraid I bear more bad news. We tried our very best to save Rahim. But God has destined otherwise. I regret to tell you that your husband Rahim is no more” – the doctor spoke.

Priya collapsed that very instant. Her otherwise chaotic mind, was now completely silent.

Blogadda

3 - Why this kolaveri

After walking out of the theatre having sat through this movie, my only thought was - what would Kamal Hassan have to comment about the film. For one, his daughter is the lead female actor. For another, no-matter-what, he has to awww the film. Poor him !

3 is a classic example of how Tamil films can actually stoop to such unimaginable levels. Almost half a day has passed since I watched the movie and I still cannot figure out what the point of the film was. I doubt if I will. A friend of mine explained the reason behind naming this film so - it portrays the three phases of a person's life - school, college, post-marriage. Going by that logic, the movie did not seem to do justice to any of the three.

We have had heroes in Tamil films falling for a girl the very first time he sees her anywhere. Yes, that is part of the parcel. But the reverse is not so much. Atleast not after just staring at the hero a few times and suddenly the girl wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Imagine this. The guy and girl fall in love, and within a few frames (mind you, the story hadn't moved much), they finish college and decide to make public their love. And the guy is jobless. Thanks to a rich father, he gets his own flat, some weird-suit-wearing job, and he discusses business losses.

I have all respect for Kamal Hassan. Having said that, the only thing common between his acting and that of his daughter's is the fact that, when they both cry, you can hardly make out anything of what they say. Let alone the fact that Kamal is not so well-known for his crying skills. If one were to hope that Shruti Hassan would have improved her acting a teeny-tiny bit after the much hyped 7aum Arivu, don't get fooled. She hasn't. Not a bit !

Dhanush does make you tend to laugh at times, especially in the first half. Well, that half of the movie was atleast a bit watchable. Indeed, the first half was a remote bit interesting in a few scenes. Nothing more. The second half - well, I think it was made only because there had to be something after the interval. Otherwise, it didn't seem to make much sense.

The other seasoned actors of yesteryears like Prabhu, Bhanupriya, Rohini - well, they did justice to the remote role they had to play in the film. Sivakarthikeyan seemed to evoke a bit of humor, but he appeared nowhere in the second half, and by the time one is told the reason, it was way too late.

The last bit I wanted to mention - 3 has taken the sanctity of marrying to an all time low. I never did imagine that the director would make such a condemnable mockery out of the idea of marriage.

Music was a bit fine, but placed at the most inappropriate places in the film. The much hyped Kolaveri song actually failed to succeed visual-wise. It is sad that the young music director Anirudh had to actually debut his career with this movie.

Ayshwarya Dhanush can actually spare the Tamil film industry, to which her father has done much proud, by not making any more films. That is the least I would expect of the Superstar's daughter.

Overall - 3 : 3/100

PS : Purely my opinion