Monthly Archives: December 2011

The composition of Ikiru

As with Drunken Angel and High and Low, Kurosawa choose to break Ikiru in half. Like many other Kurosawa films, the discussion here is between real and illusion. In the first half, we see what is real- our hero’s reactions to his approaching death. The second half is illusion- the reactions of others, their excuses and their rejections. Perhaps for this very reason, the camerawork in the first half and that in the second half is different. Continue reading

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Citizen media and mass media

Albert Einstein had said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge”. People’s media is as old as civilization. It has always been there, while mass media came up only after renaissance. The dis-empowerment and injustice reinforced and sustained through mass media has always been resisted by civil initiatives for creating alternative modes of communication and information. Continue reading

Philosophy of riots

Riots are essentially modern and urban in nature. Historically, even in the worst riots, such as the ones post Babri, rural India was mostly quiet. Have you wondered, why it is so? This can be explained using clash of identities theory. Indians carry several identities, like religion and caste. Every once in a while these identities clash, leading to mass violence, especially when political leaders play identity based politics. Continue reading

A revolution apart

Other than the uprising, 1857 also marked a lesser known revolution in India. It was the year, the Calcutta, Bombay and Madras universities were established. ‘Revolution’ may be equated with violent and rapid change, but this was ‘the revolution‘ that was proactive, the changes which they unleashed were slow and incremental, but forward-looking. Continue reading

Technology for life…

As the year is coming towards an end, let’s look back at one of most inspiring events of the year. In July, when Mumbai city was sadly shaken by a series of bomb blasts, citizens resorted on technology to provide and seek help. Phone networks were jammed, and there was no way to reach anyone over phones. So instead, Twitter and Internet became the channel to exchange information. Continue reading