The Bow

The film takes place on a boat floating on an unnamed ocean, on which lives an old man (Jeon Sung-hwan) and a young girl (Han Yeo-reum, also in the director’s excellent “Samaria”). The old man plans to marry the girl, who he supposedly found some ten years earlier, and who has never left the boat, as soon as she turns seventeen. It is a date the old man eagerly awaits, even counting down the days on a calendar. The old man’s other prize possession is a bow, with which he protects the girl, as well as using it as a musical instrument.

The two make money by hosting
fishermen, and by telling their fortunes using the strange method of the old man shooting arrows at the girl as she swings in front of what appears to be a Buddhist painting on the side of the boat. Their idyllic existence is troubled by the appearance of a young man, who falls in love with the girl and accuses the old man of keeping her prisoner. Slowly, the girl starts to assert herself, and as the wedding day draws near, tensions mount and confrontation appears inevitable.

The story itself deals with many of the themes which often run through Kim Ki-duk’s films, primarily in its examination of love through the concepts of ownership and trust. The relationship between the old man and the girl is complex, and even as the film progresses, and it appears that the girl is indeed kept against her will, Kim never offers any easy answers or condemnations. The old man and the girl’s affection for each other and co-dependence is made all the more powerful by the fact that neither speaks, and the way in which Kim allows subtle actions and glances to illustrate their emotions and motivations is extremely skilful, and never feels forced.

Since the fishermen who come to the boat are generally perverts who are constantly trying to grab the girl, her relationship with the old man has a strangely innocent aspect, and though uncomfortable, never feels overtly aggressive or exploitative. In fact, the old man’s role of protector, driving away the letches with his bow, and the tender love he clearly feels for the girl, generate considerable sympathy, and even when the young man appears to challenge him, it is far from clear who is truly acting in the girl’s best interests. This moral ambiguity is fascinating, and presents the viewer with a set of intriguing characters rather than a set of obvious heroes and villains.

What goes around comes around!!!!

Song with beautiful lyrics... love it a lot!!!

Friends....my view

How many friends have you made by now and how many of them are you still in touch with?? Thought you were inseparable during the school days or your early college days but now you don’t even say a ‘hii’ to them when you see them online.... Or should I say they don’t bother to do the same. Any way round even though the internet has brought everything close I can still say that its due to this internet we have lost the respect to the same old friends.... When we were in the same college we chat all day long with our friends.... when we move out of the college slowly we lose touch... we know whenever we need them we will find them online... for some reason or other we don’t feel the need of taking their help.... or we find some new friends to discuss our issues with. Then we move into a new college and we find new friends there and think they are the coolest so we stop thinking of our old friends. Life goes on.... we completely forget our old friends only thing that remains is the online sign we were used to see on our messenger. Is this what it should be like?? Long have gone those days when old friends use to write letters to each other.....we don’t even buzz each other these days. Well instead of blaming it on anything else I can say it’s in human nature. When we think about our old friends sometimes we feel really bad.... How good those days were.... How much fun it was...Can I go back to those days again???...these are some of the questions which come to our mind... but can we really afford to do it?? Back in our mind we know it’s not possible and the best way is to carry on with our life the way it is. We should take it this way... those were ‘The days’ of our life ,no matter how much we feel like going back to them we should think that all the friends we had or we will have were part of our life and no matter good or bad they were they taught us something invaluable.You just take whatever you think is good and forget the bad things.Making friends is matter of learning. We meet different people we learn their perspective we broaden our level of thinking which ultimately teaches us a lot. Everything what we do can be related to a friend. For e.g. I have a friend who use to take me to temple on every Saturday... now even when he’s not with me I still see to it that I go to the temple every Saturday. One of my friends had a habit of saying ‘WTF’ and slowly everyone in our group was saying the same thing....lol.Friends give us the moments which we would cherish throughout our lives and those moments will give us the courage and experience to overcome the future. Now coming to me I made lots of friends .I use to speak with everyone in the college. But only 3-4 of them are still in touch with me. The rest have moved on. I enjoyed being with them, learned a lot from them...they might have learned few things from me...and after college everyone was gone. That’s it!!! The one who wanted to stay in touch still call me...even I call them. Guess God still wants us to learn more from each other. He he. Life goes on....you make friends you forget them, it’s a part of life...there’s nothing to feel bad about it. Everything what happened had a purpose and everything that has to happen will have a purpose.... and let’s hope the purpose is good. Just remember someone up there is watching us and never do such things which won’t allow you to look into your own eyes. Finally every battle in life has to be fought alone. ..Obviously it’s always nice to have someone by your side... friends can give courage, support, guidance.... but the result will always depend upon what you do all alone.... Remember it was all alone you came and all alone you would go!!!

Alok's Date!!!!

Alok was the only bright spot in r group during the junior college days...he was only the one who had a girlfriend!!!! Well talking about are group....Rohan now and then had a lots of difference...he wasn’t at his flirting best then and me as usual I was a shy guy like am still....

So let me continue with the story of Alok’s date. Our semesters were just over and we had Diwali vacations starting. Now vacations to Alok who had very recently hooked up with a gal was like hell. He thot he was so in love with that gal that he couldn’t last for the dreadful 22 days of the vacation...the late nite calls and hrs of chatting online couldn’t help him either so he decided to go out with his gal. After careful planning it was decided that they would meet in Thane near Talao Pali... (Couldn’t think of any better place??)!!!!!! That day Alok ,me and Rohan met near my building r usual meeting point and he said he was going out for a date....and we both were like wow man at last someone from our group was going on a date. Immediately a question followed from both of us WHERE?? And Alok was like ' Jaada dur nahi re idhar hi apna Talao Pali'....hearing this me and Rohan were like Huhhhhhhhh!!!.Rohan said 'Abey ga#$% itni mast item patayi hai aur tu usko Talao Pali bithayega...saale koi mast movie dikha...hotel jaa candle lite dinner pe'...Rohan so much sounded like a pro. I agreed with him coz wot else can I add. That comment from Rohan had Alok thinking for a while, he looked serious...and then he opened his mouth to say...'saale paisa upar aya hai kyaa?’ Hmmm that was a typical Alok answer a future CA to be and currently a guy madly in love..lol. We couldn’t say anything coz it was his gf and their date....so it was decided they were going for a date day after tomorrow.

Next day.

As usual we three met in the evening, Alok looked tensed....
We asked him...'Kya hua be tera Mooh latka hua kyun hai?? '
Alok said 'arey yaar bohot bada lafda hua...woh item ke saath uski friend Anee bhi aa rahi hai...ab kya karu main?' hearing this we couldn’t stop laughing but then Rohan said 'arey bol na tere gf ko date pe jaa raha hai humlog ....teri friend kyun chahiye phir...usko call karke bol mat aa karke.'
Alok couldn’t agree more but said, 'Yaar main bola usko par woh bolti hai ki nahi meri friend bohot protective hai woh mujhko akeli jaane nahi degi....' .Now it was turning in a circus. I said,’waah kya dosti hai dekh....nahi to tu saale ladki patayi dost log ko bola bhi nahi aur jab date pe leke jaane ka time aya to humlog ko bol raha hai...thu hai tere upar.'
Rohan continued (he sounded very serious) 'Alok tu tension mat le main hoon na...main solution dhundta hoon. Ek kaam karte hain main bhi aata hoon tere saath....tu tere item ko sambhal aur main uske friend ko sambhalta hoon’. I looked on....Rohan sounded very serious (ha ha). Everyone bursted in to laughter. Alok said, 'Sahi hai re...mujhe malum nahi kya tu kitna harami hai...' But then Alok had no other options he had to agree Rohan’s idea. So it was done Alok was going on a date with Rohan, Anee and his gf!!!! Everyone was looking happy especially Rohan...with a Grinch like smile on his face.

The day.

That day we all met in the morning to play cricket. Alok came hurriedly with his bat and just threw it in one of the corner. I was like aaila isko kya hua be wapas...saala apna cheez ko itna sambhalke rakhne wala aadmi apne bat ko fek raha hai!!! Then apna Rohan started..'Abhi kya hua be... kya apne maa ko bhi leke aa rahi hai kya teri item...(and then he looked at me smiling) ...phir tu aur teri item...main aur teri item ki friend aurrrrrrrrrrrr(with a pause) Siddharth aur teri item ki maa.' and both of them started laughing with me abusing them with my typical style. 'Accha to kitne baje jaane wala hai tu date pe Rohan ke saath' I asked Alok. 'Teri @#$#^%%^% Rohan ke saath nahi jaa raha hoon meri item ke saath jaa raha hoon Rohan ko to majburi se leke jaa raha hoon.....khali fukat ka uske aane jaane ka kharcha bhi nikalna padega mujhe........' Alok said and we started laughing. 'Thik hai re tujhe sham ko dekhta hoon main abhi hass ke le', Rohan said.
We all went home. Suddenly at 4.30 I got a call from Alok and he sounded worried...'Arey jhol hua Rohan nahi aa raha hai, uska koi kaam nikala hai....tu ayega kyaa?' hearing this I was more worried than Alok.....my reaction was 'main?? ' .....'haan tujhko aana hai...mujhe 5.30 ko building ke niche mil.....6 baje pochna hai thane main', Alok added. Sooooo now it was Alok’s date with his gf.....Anee and Siddharth. It might appear a good chance for any guy...and actually it was but the problem was I don’t talk much.....what would I talk with that gal. I was no Rohan who can talk and talk with a gal.....and come out with even her mom’s number. But then I had 2 go. I was there on time and Alok came as if he was ready for a big wedding. It was decided we all will meet near a temple and then go to Talao Pali.

We reached near the temple 10 mins earlier. We waited for quite a while and then I heard a voice...' aaaaaaa jh$%^& ' it sounded similar. I looked around but couldn’t see any known face. The voice came again...'abey @#$^&** idhar udhar kya dekh raha hai....idhar dekh'....I knew who was the person. It was Rohan!!!! Alok saw him and said, ' ga#$&* idhar kya kar raha hai?’.’Tere saath jaane ke liye aya main.Tujhko akele chodke kaisa jaa sakta hai main.dost hai tera', Rohan said. The look on Alok’s face said it all........the guy who was so desparate to meet his gf was looking as if he wanted to say....'Item gayi bhad main chal ghar pe jaate hain'. But then he couldnt.....The gals came half an hour late. Alok had a beautiful gf.....but her friend....she appeared as if she was a bodyguard from TOPS security. Her biceps were bigger than Rohan’s and mine combined with a stomach which can easliy eat two tandoris. 'Okkkkkkk shes yours', I said to Rohan and he replied 'nahi re alok ke gf ki maa chalegi'....I kept looking. After a friendly hii and hello...and a brief introduction we walked towards Talao Pali. Throughout the way Alok was looking towards Rohan and me and gesturing us to talk with Anee so that she would leave them alone, but the gal was dedicated she didn’t leave the back of her dear friend. Rohan tried to talk her away from Alok and his gf but to no avail. Every efforts of us were going down the drain. But then a dog came as a messiah from heaven....and he started barking at Anee. He started following her and jumping on her. Me and Rohan couldn’t stop laughing. It immediately reminded me of the AXE advertise where gals start following the guy who sprayed AXE only difference here was the gals were replaced with a dog and that guy with Anee ...can’t describe the look on Alok’s face...he was ecstatic. But then a angry look from his gf made us stop laughing. We shoved off the dog.

Atlast we reached r destination .......TALAO PALI. We sat on the benches Alok taking care that Anee didn’t sit between him and his gf. Now talking about the place..it was a beautiful lake like thing....with couples sitting everywhere....boating....and yess long queue of cars in front ,heavy trafffic and a beggar bothering us!!! Now what was unique of this beggar was he was like a salesman who will keep on arguing with you till you buy his product. The beggar wanted his 50 paise at any cost....but Alok as I said was a future CA and he knew how to save his money. The beggar kept on poking his feet but Alok didn’t budge. Atlast Rohan pitied the poor guy and gave him a coin....but wait it was a 5 rupee coin!!!! I just gave Rohan a look and said in my mind...'saala humlog ko kabhi 1 rupai ka chocolate nahi diya aur is bhikari ko 5 rupai ka coin!!!' hmmm it seemed somehow Rohan was impressed by the biceps of Anee. He fancied her I thot. Can’t say anything about Rohan. Rohan saw me and said 'arey tu kuch bol naa yaar...itna chupchap kyun betha hai?' So I asked her about her college...and studies. (Typical of me)...Rohan added 'kya re interview le raha hai kya uska?' and the gal started laughing. That was the 1st time in the whole evening we saw her actually laughing. Looked like even she was impressed by Rohan’s witty comments.

Meanwhile Alok seemed happy atlast. It was 8 already and we (Rohan and me atleast) expected that we would go into a hotel and eat something or have a ice cream at least. But there were no such signs from Alok who seemed 2 busy with his gf. But then we had are stomach 2 take care of.....with our conversation going nowhere....Rohan and I decided it was time to move. But it needed some planning. Rohan as clever as he is said to me....'ek kaam kar tu iss jaadi ko paka main Alok ko thoda ishara karta hoon'. Meanwhile a chanawala came their and Alok bought everyone of us chanas. How happy we were.....but we were on a mission. Rohan tried to say something to Alok thru signs...dont know how much he understood. Then I started talking with Anee(Rohan looked amazed and came and sat besides me) I knew I had to bug her so much that she herself would say that it was getting late and it was time to leave. So the master was in action....heres how 'hey I never saw this hotel before....it’s beautiful isn’t it, is it new?? (Pointing towards Namaskar hotel) we all know that Namaskar hotel is one of the oldest hotel in town. But who cares. I continued...'even the building looks nice.....the color really suites it.' Rohan murmured slowly from back ' haan yeh hotel mere baap ka hai aur yeh building ko color tere baap ne maara hai'. The gal was already started looking bored....and I was happy. so I continued.....'Hey you r from XYZ college so u might be knowing Reena (a friend of mine born just then), she’s from C division.'.....she replied ' There’s no C division in r college. We have only 2 divisions A and B.' Immediately a voice came from background...'Kitne fekega...bass hua...woh samajh gayi tu paka raha hai'. so I kept quiet for a while...and then Alok himself said it was late and was time to go. So we said bye to eachother......and then the gal said 'Lets meet again someday'....and Rohan and me were like.....Sure. Any day.

By the way I forgot to tell u Rohan got that Anee’s no. and actually called her once or twice. Might have even gone on a date with her. Only God knows.

The little Kashmiri boy

His mother got married at the age of 12 with a gun held on her head.Her husband was a terrorist.She was abducted by her husbands brother and was forced to marry him.By the time she was 25 she gave birth to 4 children.The eldest being Rozzy her daughter who was 11 year old and next one Arif who was 9 year old.Arif had 2 younger brothers.

They lived by the lake in a small hut made of metal sheets and few wooden planks.It was their home....His mother had a dream of buying their own piece of land some day but most of the money they earned was spent on food.Arif's father had abandoned them.He was already married when he married his mother.He use to come once in a month and demand money from his mother and beat up everyone.Arif knew that his father was a terrorist... noone liked him... not even his youngest brother who was just 4 year old.

Arif's mother use to work on a Charkha to earn some money but it was not enough to feed everyone, so his mother bought an old boat for Arif so that he could use that boat to sell vegetables in the market.It had become his daily routine selling vegetables and then taking all his siblings to the school by his boat.He use to earn 40Rs everyday most of which was spent on food and school fees.It was his mothers dream that all his children should be well educated and become a respected citizen unlike their father.Arif had realised this and did everything he could do to support his mother.Being just a 9 yr old boy his courage was unmatchable.He was single handedly raising his entire family.

Like everyday he made his way out of the busy waters by his boat and reached the market,he dropped all the vegetables to the seller and sat down to rest a while.Suddenly he saw a small puppy besides him... he seemed to be alone,his mother was nowhere to be seen.Little Arif asked the man nearby where was that puppy's mother and the man replied that his mother came under a car and had died.Without any second thoughts he took that puppy with him.Everyone was happy to see that puppy but Arif was worried whether his mother would allow him to keep it.Somehow his mother let him keep the puppy.... they named him Rocky.Everyday all his brothers and his sister use to play with Rocky.They had nothing to play with... the little dog had become a part of their family.Arif use to take Rocky with him when he went to the market.The puppy had become his best friend.

Winter had come.Arif alongwith his brothers and sister were returning from school.It was getting darker and Arif had to make sure that they reached home safely.Everyone got down from the boat.Little Khizar Arif's youngest brother started searching for Rocky.He shouted his name but he couldnt hear Rocky.Arif knew something was wrong.He searched everywhere but he couldnt Rocky anywhere.Next day he searched for Rocky again and he found him lying down beneath a tree.Rocky was no more, he had suffered the same fate as his mother.Arif buried him near his house.Next few days were difficult for everyone but life had to continue...

Winter was getting stronger but after so many years life had become a bit stable for Arif's family.His mother had just got new sweaters for everyone.Everything was getting fine.That night everyone sat outside the house after dinner and enjoyed the peaceful silence of the valley.Little Khizar pondered at the sky pointing at the sky and asking mother whether it was his little friend rocky.After some time everyone went inside and slept.Around midnite Arif heard some sound.... the ground was shaking... he thought it was because of some kind of explosion.He woke up his mother... by that time the sound had become louder and all the vessels had started falling down.His mother immediately knew it was an earthquake.She took everyone outside and after few minutes their house crumbled down.It was one of the biggest earthquake which had hit Kashmir.Many had died but somehow Arif's family survived.They had lost the only thing they had their home!!! They spent next few weeks in the nearby mosque alongwith their neighbours. But Arif knew they had to return to their house. He took his boat and started selling vegetables as he did earlier. After few weeks he rebuilt his house... everything returned to normal slowly.

Months passed by....It was Eid!!! Arif took everyone to the city. He took his brothers to the biggest mosque in Kashmir and offered prayers their.His mother was happy that her son was taking the responsibilty of everyone.Eid passed by and slowly the life in the valley was returning back to the routine.One day Arif returned home from the market and saw few people standing outside his house.He asked his mother what was the matter.His mother burst into tears.It was one of the most biggest challenge Arif had come across in his life.The people who were standing outside their house were from the government authorities.They said that their house was unauthorized and had to be pulled down. It was something that Arif couldnt do anything about. His mother had lost all the hopes. The Home they had built out of their blood and sweat was to be brought down again. Arif looked at his Mother and his siblings , he had tears in his eyes. He sat in his boat and looked down at the water as he moved through it... he saw the reflection of the blue sky in the water as he moved on and suddenly their was a spark in his eyes...he stopped crying as if he had decided from now onwards this sky was his shelter and this lake his home.He went home and calmed down his mother and assured her everything will be fine.He took his brothers and sister in the boat and moved on.....




This is a true story which was shown on Discovery channel's show "Rhodes across India".

The cameraman asked Arif if he was granted three wishes what would he ask for...arif replied he wanted a house,10 lakh rupees and a Maruti car. The cameraman later asked him what else would you ask for and Arif innocently replied you had asked me only for 3 wishes and they are over.Then the cameraman said suppose you were given more wishes then what would you ask for?? Then Arif replied he wanted a music player,toys and a Shikara

Looking at his reply i wondered how many 9 year olds would ask for a house when asked about their wish.... most of the replies would be icecreams and chocolates.... but due to the hardships he had gone through he asked for a home for his family and only when the cameraman asked him about his other wishes he said about the toys and musicplayer.Hats off to the spirit of this kid!!!

Hey guys my dream in the paper!!!!!!

Check this out..d story abt my dream girl which i published earlier is in the paper...well they have edited it a lot.. but anyways am happy. :)

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com//artMailDisp.aspx?article=11_12_2008_547_003&typ=1&pub=264