The Lives of Others

Righteousness: This is what is beautifully portrayed in this German classic movie. The movie focuses on a cultural scene in Germany during the post 1980s, when the Stasi rule prevailed and the country led by hoodwinkers. A very reliable Stasi agent (Ulrich Muhe) is assigned the task of surveillance, under the name HGW XX/7, of a Socialist play writer and journalist (Sebastian Koch) (it was Communist rule so it wasn’t uncommon for the ministers to bug Socialists’ homes and charge them for going against the government). This writer’s girl friend is a prominent actress (Martina Gedeck) who stars in his plays. The Minister (writer’s political rival) also fancies the actress.  Muhe, although he plays a communist in this movie, gradually begins protecting the writer and his writings against the government. As the surveillance progresses Muhe discovers that Martina has been secretly having intimate relations with the Minister, although she is repulsed by him. She is forced to obey him as he could easily destroy her entire acting career. Muhe brilliantly exposes Gedeck’s infidelity to Koch but also realizes Koch and Gedeck are deeply in love. Despite the cheating, the lovers stay together and she stops seeing the Minister. Muhe realizes the true intentions of the Minister to overthrow his rival, Koch and have Gedeck for himself. Meanwhile, one of Koch’s close writer friends, who has a ban on his writing, commits suicide shortly after Koch’s 40^th birthday party. Furious, Koch decides to publish an article on the concealed suicide rates in Berlin from 1977. He mainly focuses on Albert as the subject and the abuse he faced by the government. He publishes it anonymously using a smuggled typewriter given to him by his accomplices (all legal typewriters were registered and the government would eventually trace the article to its writer). The higher Stasi officials pressurized by the Govt., charge Gedeck with illegal drug usage and get it out of her the hiding place of the typewriter at Koch’s. The brilliance here is, the interrogation was carried out by Muhe; he leaves as soon as it’s over and picks up the typewriter as Koch as no idea of Gedeck’s fickle-mindedness and believes her to be his ‘guardian angel’ (seriously?!). The Stasi officials, having failed to find the typewriter, leave Koch’s and right then Gedeck, out of guilt, runs out of the apartment and into a truck bam: she’s dead. The mission is closed and Muhe’s career comes to an end and he becomes a postman. Koch finds out later from the Minister himself that even he was bugged all over and the Govt knew, in entirety, his plans and that they would’ve nabbed him if found that he was the writer of the article that caused unrest amongst ministers. A mirth Koch, refusing to believe all this, looks for more info at the research dept and finds out about the agent who kept an eye on him. He goes to meet up with the agent but for some reason he doesn’t approach him.

Two years later, Muhe sees a book by Koch titled ‘Sonata of Good Men’ and on the cover page inside written “To HWG XX/7, with gratitude”.

What is amazing about this movie is Muhe’s strong sense of justice and his principles which never let him steer the wrong path no matter who he’s working for. The Communist/Socialist labels didn’t matter to him when it came to doing what’s right. In the end the Minister’s decadence is outlined by the fall of the Berlin wall. A truly emotion-stirring movie!

Impulsive!

I thought my next post would be on a topic I'd decided to write on since a long time and took a lot of prep... but life inspires you in so many different and unexpected ways (even though this is relatively miniature compared to other scenarios) and it's inspired me to write this impulsive article.

Young adults getting into relationships nowadays in the Indian scene is very common; in the suburban areas too. Most of them are in it because 'the others' are in it. This is seriously laughable and makes me so SO angry at times that I have to literally count backwards starting from some large random number to calm myself down! They need their parents' support in many ways while in college and it's not right to hide being in a relationship from parents (which most do). Seems like they have all the time in the world to devote to this so called 'relationship' but no time to learn (I won't say study: it's not what we should do). Most of them do NOT have the strong mindset which is a much needed and important prerequisite for a relationship. This, then leads to break-ups... destroying friendships, making it uneasy for mutual friends to spend time just because of two people. No matter how much the two people say it's okay and that they're 'moving on' it'll never be the same, ever again. If there's one thing I've observed over the past 3 years it's that things never are finished with an ex and always lead to mental imbalance and stress- ultimately disrupting all the plans one might have had for him/herself for his/her career or whatever. People tend to forget the world when they're in relationships... do things out of the ordinary- unnecessary things- for the other. They forget who brought them into this world, who loves them the most... I personally think if anyone faces a problem of this sort, it'd be best to talk to the mother. I'm not saying fathers aren't a good idea but mothers have an upper hand. It seems as though they see right through the problem and set it right for their child in no time (This comes from the numerous discussions I've had with my own mother!).
If two people are genuinely interested in each other why not test their love and wait it out till they're independent and are able to handle things on their own? Why the urgency? Why not talk directly to the guy's or girl's parents like civilized people and avoid all misunderstandings? Parents will definitely see the love through. If it's real they won't object it. After all they too want their child to be happy, in the end. I don't think religion should interfere. It's very easy to say this, I know but that's what I believe. You fall in love with a person. Not with his/her religion or anything else. It's silly how a couple can fight over silly issues of naming of a child or the traditional ceremonies in their respective religions etc. If one's sensible enough, all these diminutive problems will be avoided. The world and the couple's relationship will be all the more better!
If religion does pose a problem though, it's just that the elders need convincing. It's all about convincing and patience (you might be thinking what the heck does this guy know?! talks as if he's a pro! Indeed, I'm no pro but this sort comes from situations I've seen and hear people discuss in my family). On the other hand, if it's one way traffic (I think you know what I mean!) there's no rush needed. The focus should be on one's career for the time being, say until graduation and then approach the parents' of the person you like and talk it out. Nobody would want their child to spend their life with a useless bum! (referring to guys here, of course:)). If the person you like isn't ready for all this use it to your benefit and build yourself, achieve things, make your parents proud. They should matter first! If the person's really meant for you, you will be united without doubt. Faith is the deciding factor. I hope this helps all the people who want to find the right mate or who knows who the right mate is but the timing's just not right at the moment (I really do sound like a grandpa LOL).

The Son of God is in your face
Offering us eternal grace
If you want it you've got to believe
'Cause being free is just a state of mind
Just put your faith in God
And one day you'll see it

Music? Lyrics? Or both...?

I'm pretty sure there's not a single person in this generation who's not into music (of course, I wouldn't classify rap as a category of music. I think it's 'crap' without a 'C'. Anyway it's a personal opinion).
Different kinds of people obviously have different views on whether they prefer music over lyrics or vice-versa. Luckily I have friends who belong to both sorts and I get to watch them make a ruckus over the issue and be entertained (hah!).

The famous Grunge God, Kurt Cobain always paid more attention to the composition of the song. He believed lyrics would second the music. A newbie, trying out different genres would listen to the music first and not care much about what the song means; which of course makes sense. But there would be a LOT of competition from the instrumental musicians! Not to forget the Pianists.. people who orchestrate etc...

On a different note, Led Zeppelin's lead vocalist Robert Plant believed lyrics played a very important role in a song but he wouldn't weigh either one of them over the other. His love for lyrics is reflected in every single song. Some were very mystical... some on love... some on heartbreak... some describing a woman... - he was versatile.

Whatever the case may be, a song without lyrics wouldn't be as much fun! I do love instrumental music... they're refreshing. But after a while you need songs from which you can interpret stuff. People who love poetry will love listening to the lyrics of a song and not it's music alone. It also gives a hella good insight as to how the lyricist thinks... the use of words... the mindset... (I can go on and on and bore you to death). So listening to good music is really necessary, leaving out the ones with hatred, anger, satanism... because the kind of music one listens to is what defines that person the most...

An overview...

In case you're wondering what my screen name's all about- "Rene" means Rebirth in French; it's also the name of one of my favorite Mathematicians/Philosophers; "1729" is Ramanujan's number (Another favorite M). Now, trolling off the nerd-talk, I'm gonna post about the thoughts I ponder on the most in my head... Excepting National Politics and Football, of course!

Then, as it was... Then again it will be
Though the course may change sometimes, rivers always reach the sea.
These lines from the song 10 years gone by Led Zeppelin express some really deep thought, which may seem really simple to digest at first glance but actually roots out to more.

Studying "Engineering" (that's what my college calls it) has been a complete contradiction to what I'd imagined before entering the stream. Facilities: top notch. Teachers and Curriculum: avg. The only class I've enjoyed to the fullest in my 4 semesters of study is the Fluid Mech class and the Machine Design class- both by the same teacher- but of course in consecutive semesters. He reminds me of my Calculus teacher from my younger years: innovative, adaptive and most importantly practical! (Undoubtedly the coolest teacher). His classes are where I realize that I'm still doing Engg! Well, I guess this is what exposure to foreign education system does to a person. Not that our systems have no hope. They have a serious pitfall, but what bugs me is its reluctance to change: the teachers from yesteryears just don't budge. If, even with the changing technology, we learn the same stuff which they taught two and a half decades ago, I don't think we are benefiting ourselves in any way. No updation of knowledge is done, in any sort, by them. Laboratories have machines, some of which are very well maintained, most of which are outdated and some others which don't even function properly- the same ones we operate and get "accurate" results. LOL! To top this, we even learn CAD theory which has trivial algorithms from the '70s and '80s.

Nincompoop-ism at it's height, I must say.

The Other Side: 

Majority (>85%) of the students who enroll are rich, stuck up kids who have no seriousness, no idea where they're headed and no zeal whatsoever. With plenty of "moolah" at their dispense, they spend all their time in "chilling out" and partying. Without a proper filtering system for the acceptance of students, anything and everything related to the college's academics etc. will head downwards exponentially. It's the Couple hub, literally!
Relationship- A couple hand in hand with their PDA running loose in the campus- Wrong. The very definition of a relationship is being horribly cliched. There's no telling even if a person likes another for sure, because of what most do. Anyway, patience has no place today. Getting to know someone is out of the criteria. Just end up being a girlfriend and a boyfriend (Epic fail!)- these are the most "fashionable" words of today, at least that's how I put it.

Changing the system is out of the question. If it's good, we're lucky. If it's bad, well, we'll have a lot of work to do.