At the Statue

Finally, we braved the rough weather and storm threats to visit the iconic statute on the NYC waterfront. I have been here thrice and each time marvelled at the sheer size and the enormous planning and execution effort that went into creating this enduring vista for generations to enjoy.

The Bicycle Thief

This one is about the movie: The Bicycle Thief by Vittorio De Sica.
Made in 1948, this movie has been my dad’s favorite and I have heard him mention this name in my childhood. So last week, when hunting for movie DVDS at the Bridgewater Library in NJ, I spotted it and clung on to it for dear life.

The movie is set in a decrepit and seedy side of Rome and it is clear from the first frames that the movie has poverty for its backdrop. The constant crowd of miserable visitors standing for their turn at the clairvoyant’s living room is sure sign of a populace that is desparately hoping to ward off a dark future . A struggling family that sells its bed sheets to raise money for a bicycle tells you how immensely important it is to the breadwinner. The man is distraught when it is stolen and, with his son in tow, they scour the mean streets of Rome searching for it – it represents the family's only vehicle for earning a living and so the ground of their happiness. They do everything they can, turn every stone, and do things that only desperate people do when life seems to have forgotten their existence. The little boy “Bruno” who dutifully trails his father somehow senses the dad's anguish and wants to do what he can and the play of destiny positions him to keep his father from harm’s way. Bruno actually lifts the movie to an “existential” masterpiece that it is.

I notice that the movie is on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLQuSJGzR3Y&feature=related

So waste no time – have a dekko!

On Golden Pond

This is a movie that will stay with me till my last breath. It touched me as no other motion picture has. Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn have made this a movie to remember for a life time! I will say no more. Just get the DVD and view it. You will never ever forget it.

Conversations with Chuck Hillig and Peter Francis Dzuiban

I was lucky recently to be able to discuss my advaita questions with two renowned masters. The "interviews" happened on the NeverNotHere .com portal and I skyped in for a direct one-on-one. Those interested can listen to these talks on:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1956036
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1853726
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1853939

What the Bleep do we Know?

I found this DVD at a local Library. This is perhaps the first ever movie on the convergence of Science and Spirituality. To demonstrate this fusion, the director works on two separate themes – at one level the movie follows the life experiences of a speech challenged woman who has the artistic sensibilities and a childlike wonder for the world’s fleeting images and frames that are characteristic of a photographer and on another level the hard –fact based insights from world-renowned Psychologists , Philosophers , Thinkers , Neurologists, Anesthesiologists and Physicists are interwoven into the story. Amit Goswami, the famous Physicists is both simple and profound as he explains his “science within consciousness” paradigm.

Click here to leant more about this incredible movie