Pasanga

9th grade - we were asked to help in moving the new notebooks to the library on the 3rd floor from the ground floor. we formed a chain and started passing notebooks from one hand to another. one bright idea during the whole execution and we pushed a few notebooks into our classroom. no one from the staff noticed and 30 notebooks were in our hands. but there was someone accounting for it somewhere. the next day we were all standing in the assembly hall in front of the whole school.

7th grade - i still remember standing in front of the principals room with my dad. my friend and i had done some mischief during science class and triggered a big commotion that someone decided to complain.

8th grade - my friend copied an expected exam essay question answer on his test notebook's last page and then forgot to tear that page off before handing over the notebook. the teacher accidentally found out and gave him a zero for that test.

7th grade - i was on a casual running race with my friend and when we were almost close to finish, i ran close to him and did a smart leg trip. he fell down and was badly hurt.

10th grade - my science teacher asked my friend who was sitting on the first bench to tuck in his shirt. obeying her, he immediately unzipped and started tucking in. she got furious and made him stand outside the class without his shirt on.

Pandirajan's directorial debut for the movie PASANGA, although set in a small town, brought back all those wonderful years in school.

PASANGA - as the name suggests, is all about kids, their lives in school, friendship, inter-gang rivalry, mischievous children playing spoil-sport and double gaming on each other, competition, their influence on parents lives and vice versa, ambitions, expectations when they see people around them, the list could go on.

Anyone who has been seen life through the eyes of a middle class family can definitely understand the vibrations this movie sends out. Of course, the director had to add an element of romance to keep the audience interested. Otherwise, I would have been bored with just the kids fighting with each other.

Anbukkarasu joins a corporation school in a new town. He is a super achiever and very down to earth. Jeeva, Pakkada and Kutti Mani are the trio who hate Anbu and there starts our story. Small skirmishes between Anbu and Jeeva's gang lead to even the parents shouting at each other. I am sure that we have seen a lot of this even when we went to school.

Meenakshi Sundaram (Anbu's uncle) and Sobikannu (Jeeva's sister. saw her last in the movie Saroja) bring a smile to the whole movie. Their love story has been dealt with simplicity and fun. The exchange of dialogs using cell phones is highy innovative and impressive.

The kids are the central theme of this movie. Playing small games, inducing jealousy between each other are part and parcel of the movie. The movie goes on to tell us that the emotions that the kids go through are quite the same as we do. Ours is a bit more magnified. Trying to put honey on the head of the guy you hate to make his hair go white or setting up an elder cousin to punch the guy on his way back from school or asking some random guy to chant some hymns to ensure that your rival fails in class - I am sure that all of us thought of some thing or the other, to oust our rivals in school.

The rivalry goes a little further. The parents start hating each other initially until an honest conversation between the two dad's brings the families a little closer. The kids still remain enemies. The love story unfolds. The parents decide on a wedding. The kids dont like it. Whether they remain friends is the remaining part of the movie.

James Vasanthan's music is definitely a treat. "Oru Vetkam Varudhe" - the romantic number is simply beautiful. The background score fits well into the scheme of things, especially when it comes to the fights between the kids.

Kudos to the director and cameraman for having given this movie a natural yet professional touch. Nothing looks very funky or unbelievable. Its just what you'd see in school or inside your house and its right there on the screen. No overacting from any of the kids. Powerful dialogs and the delivery from all the kids is amazing, as professional as any seasoned actor in the industry.

Overall: Great entertainer and a must for all parents and children.

Poem: His Pet

Without any fear
and immense delight
he found his new friend
who'd be his best companion ever!

every morning
at the call of the birds
he would run to the door
and shout - "Blacky!!!"
at the top of his voice

only to see
the thumping of the tail
one big hug
to the patient saint bernard
for him, this big buddy
was just like a soft toy

lazy afternoons
were always at the doorstep
with a parle in hand
he'd place his head
right on its neck
thinking it was a bolster

Fiction: Summer Holidays II

Continued from Summer Holidays I

Ramesh and Murali were back in the house. The house, although was nothing in comparison to the ones that landlords owned in villages, was still like a palace to the children. City was crowded and packed.

From door at the entrance, you could see the other end of the house. It was a straight path. The children used that like a running track. The path was also obstructed by steps. The steps were the bifurcation points to various rooms. These steps were the hurdles and Murali was a master in taking a leap across every one of those.

At the right side of the house was the cow-shed. Ramesh was scared of the cows. Earlier, it wasn't like that. When he was three, he did not know what he was doing and he actually walked up to the cow. The animal went for him and he was thrown over onto a small haystack that was lying nearby. From then on, he was not allowed to get near the cows. But he still loved watching them. Everyday morning, Ponnamma Chaechi* used to milk the cows. Later, Saami, their grandpa, used to take some of it to the temple for the morning rituals.

At the left side was the storage house. This housed the coconuts and the grains. Everyday morning, the workers used to come to the storage area, pick up the grains in a sack, take it to the open area in front of the house and spread it under the sun. At almost mid-day, the grains looked like tiny pieces of gold.

The area that surrounded the house was almost 3 acres. There were just trees around - coconut, mango, jack-fruit. Then crotons, wild flowers, jasmine decorated the front portions of the house. Saami used the jasmine for his everyday puja at home.

Grandma called the children for breakfast. Breakfast was simple and healthy food. Porridge made out of par-boiled rice. Breakfast was a whole new event for the children. The fun part was about having the porridge. Cups to hold the porridge were made out of leaves from the jack-fruit tree. The children took a lot of interest in plucking the leaves. Then Ponnamma Chaechi* would make a small cone out of it and bind the ends piercing a small stick in between.

It was soon time for some more activity. The large wooden swing in the hall was the next target.

*Chaechi - elder sister

Fiction: Summer holidays - I

Green, green and green everywhere. That small village in Kerala. Two more months for the monsoon. The cool weather was just setting in. Few more minutes to sunrise and in that dim light, you could see the tiny roads with farmlands on either side. The village was ready to begin a new day. Men, women and children were walking to the bathing ghat near the river. The women and children had a separate bathing ghat. "Don't go too far into the water Murali. The crocodile will catch you!" - said Gita Atthai*. It was her technique to keep the children from going deep into the water. But Murali was determined to take a good swim. It was his summer holidays, away from home and he knew that he will not get the freedom to do anything anywhere other than at their Atthai's home. Murali and Rajesh (his brother) were totally excited. Atthai's home and village was like a camp site for all their escapades.

Ramesh was busy. He had a new toy for himself. It was a large coconut leaf. He was using it like a vehicle. Sitting on the thicker end, he would give a signal to Pappu, who was his friend at the village, to drag him over a short distance. It was total enjoyment for him. The city paved no opportunity for such small pleasures.

Playing time near the river was over. The children started walking back to their house crossing the fields. Shankunni, a farmer in his forties, was busy working at the field. The field was full of tapioca. He saw the children walking across the field. He waved to them, quickly pulled out some fresh tapioca and took it to them. Everybody at the village respected Murali's grandfather. He was called Saami (colloquial for Brahman). Most of the land that the farmers plowed belonged to Saami's family. The children of the house were a delight to the villagers.

The siren from the nearby factory had just sounded. That was a signal to most people. The three sirens for the various shifts in one day signified morning, noon and evening for villagers.

*atthai - dad's sister