Kinshuk Sunil

Recently a friend of mine introduced me to Kindo - a web service that helps you make your family trees. After trying the service for a few days, I will introduce you all to Kindo

With a simple user interface Kindo makes it really easy for you to add details into your family tree. All you have to do is enter a relation which are divided into: Dad, Mum, Brother, Sister, Partner, Daughter and Son. Then you specify the Birth Date, Anniversary date, Date of Death, and for living people you can also invite them to your tree by providing their email address (You can do the same for dead people too, but I don’t know what that would achieve). These invited people can now help you in designing the family tree. All people on the tree will have their own profile which can be constructed by the people on the tree and based on the provided information, Kindo prepares a calendar which will keep reminding you of all coming birthdays, anniversaries and such events.

Now, your family trees are not public. Only the person who started them (you) and the people you invited on your family trees will be able to view the tree. No one else. This is a nice security feature as I wont want my family details to be easily accessible on the Internet. And I assume I am not alone in wanting so.

However, what I am not sure of is the viability of Kindo in India. It is a service not launched specifically in India but available to anyone in the world and given the reach of Internet in the Developed Nations, Kindo is a great tool for families to connect and communicate, but in developing/underdeveloped nations such as India where the Internet is as not as rampant, we will have to wait and see the utility of Kindo.

Another challenge that Kindo faces from Indian users is - Even nuclear families in India have a huge united family in the background. A big unified family lives through a number of nuclear families. Now, when creating a tree with Kindo, you might be able to add all of these individuals on the tree and have a calendar of their birthdays, etc. But Kindo does not offer you anything more (not that I could se in these three days of my ‘extensive’ usages).

For example: As of now, my family tree constitutes of 62 individuals, out of which only 7 have regular Internet access and can contribute to my tree. Now Kindo does not give me any tools to communicate with these 62 people or even those 7 people. So, after a while of novelty - the adventure of building your family tree, it fails to keep you engaged.

All in all, I would want all of you to visit Kindo once and see what it can do for you.

God Bless. Peace.

Note: Please don’t take notice of my grammatical errors

I believe, Art is not just a form of entertainment. That is a misconception. Art is a tool to inspire and encourage individuals, and has been doing so evidently for centuries. Movie-making is an art too, and I do not refer to the documentaries or artistic movies. No! even Commercial Movies are an art piece in themselves. And nothing would be a better example of such art than Aamir Khan’s directorial debut - Taare Zameen Par: Every Child is Special… For readers who do not understand Hindi, Taare Zameen Par would roughly translate as: Angels on Earth.

That being said - Taare Zameen Par (TZP, now on… for typing ease) is an art piece, commercial art from Bollywood. I will roughly talk about the story first and then about the art. If you avoid spoilers, kindly skip the following paragraph, even though I do not disclose much.

TZP is the story of a dyslexic child Ishan Awasthi. How nobody realises that he is dyslexic and is thus performing poorly in academics and in life in general. Even though blessed with above-average intellect and a great painter for his age, he is regularly penalised at school for not completing assignments, flunking in tests, bunking school, etc. His parents and teachers believe that what Ishan lacks is discipline and thus he is sent to a boarding school, where in a stricter and harsher environment, and with the ignominy of separation from his family the creative boy becomes sorrowful and unhappy. Bursts on the scene a new Arts Teacher - Ram Nikumbh, who being associated with the Tulip School has a far better understanding of Ishan’s situation and has experience of helping dyslexic and retarded children. Powered by his compassion for the child, Nikumbh makes effort to recover Ishan from all the damage done to him and replenish his self-confidence. He succeeds obviously.

TPZ is a wonderful movie. The Acting is wonderful, Music is Excellent, Technical details have been taken well care of. The movie inspires you, makes you aware of the world most of us have to face due to the ever-running race of performance where only those activities are encouraged that have viable commercial future. It is a movie that, at least, every parent should see.

Story-wise, TPZ uses what I call the Disney Device to full effect. If you have seen the Disney Animation Movies, they had a pattern - the protagonist was orphan/separated from his family and initially faced hardships in life. Midway, due to the intrinsic values of the protagonist something good will happen to them that would change the whole course of their life: be it finding a magic lamp, or meeting your son from the future. In the meanwhile, Exaggerate the Negatives so much that the positive gets highlighted without any efforts and is valued as something very rare and special.

What separates TPZ from other movies is not its Story, Acting or Music etc. These are wonderful and of top-notch quality no doubt. But what really makes the movie into the experience it is are two things: Direction and Effective use of Special Effects.

Débutante director Aamir Khan has done an exceptional job. I have been a big fan of his since QSQT but this is not my bias showing. Perfectionist, as he is, Aamir Khan has really woven the movie in a manner where every one can associate himself with Ishan and feel his pain. This connect between the characters and the audience is very well drawn.

It is also one of those Bollywood movies that understands what Special Effects are and can achieve. There has been a trend in Bollywood, to use special effects only to prove that you can afford them or that the audience are always awed by special effects. But very few movies understand the reach and story-telling-effectiveness of special effects. The Special Effects in TPZ are a great tool to see into the person of Ishan, his world, his perspective. And thus, they act as a great directorial tool and constructs the aforementioned character-audience connection. Be it the Title Claymation that really sets the tone for the movie or the intermediate animations showing Ishan’s perspective or the final animation that shows how Ishan manipulates colors into a master-piece provide great insights into the character.

Being a Bollywood movie, TPZ is high on emotions… that’s what sells a movie in India, anyway. So take with you a tissue-box when you go watch this movie and even though the mother-son relationship is not a very big part of the story, yet the movie would make you nourish your relationship with your mother, esp the song “Maa“, which I have been listening to the past 3 hours (yes, I am a bit cranky). But go watch the movie!

And with this note, I wrap up this review-cum-rant. I have almost said nothing about the movie and yet in a way spoke something. But there was only one thing I wanted to say: Go watch the movie in the nearest theatre as soon as possible and don’t judge it by the flaws inherent to a Bollywood movie. Judge it by its message.

God Bless. Peace.

A soul stirring soft number with some really nicely played guitars and nicely sung by Enrique from his latest album “Insomniac”… Somebody’s Me… This is, after Do You Know… funny, I always like the Spanish version a lot more than the English ones even though I cant understand a single word.

You, do you remember me?
Like I remember you?
Do you spend your life
Going back in your mind to that time?
Because I,
I walk the streets alone
I hate being on my own
And everyone can see that I really fell
And I’m going through hell
Thinking about you were somebody else

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can’t breath without you, it’s lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see
That Somebody’s Me

How, How could we go wrong
It was so good and now it’s gone
And I pray at night that our paths will soon cross
And what we had isn’t lost
Cause you’re always right here in my thoughts

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can’t breath without you, it’s lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see
That Somebody’s Me

You’ll always be in my life
Even if I’m not in your life
Because you’re in my memory
You, will you remember me
And before you set me free
Oh listen please

Somebody wants you
Somebody needs you
Somebody dreams about you every single night
Somebody can’t breath without you, it’s lonely
Somebody hopes someday you will see
That Somebody’s Me

Also: Stay Here Tonight

Another beautiful number

I know it’s late in your time
And we’d been talking for hours here
You don’t have to tell me

I see that look in your eyes
And I know someone say goodbyes oh yeah
I feel it coming

And I hear you take a deep breath
And my hands are starting to sweat
I don’t want you to
I don’t want you to leave yeah

Stay here tonight stay here tonight
Just when you around me everything’s right oh no
Don’t leave me alone
stay here tonight stay here tonight
I wanna hold you in my arms show you worth that’s life oh no
I need you I need you

You crap your coat and I’m dying
But I know for years till deciding yeah
There’s nobodies moving
Time stops and everything’s quiet
I’m begging on for my life in you
You don’t even see it

And then you coming closer
And baby it’s not over
Till I hear you say till I hear you say
Goodnight oh yeah

Stay here tonight stay here tonight
Just when you around me everything’s right oh no
Don’t leave me alone
stay here tonight stay here tonight
I wanna hold you in my arms show you worth that’s life oh no
I need you I need you

Something about you saying is not
Something about you makes me feel like I’m nobody

Stay here tonight stay here tonight
Just when you around me everything’s right oh no
Don’t leave me alone

Stay here tonight stay here tonight
Just when you around me everything’s right oh no
Don’t leave me alone
stay here tonight stay here tonight
I wanna hold you in my arms show you worth that’s life oh no
I need you I need you

Stay with me tonight I need you
Stay with me tonight I need you
Stay..(fade out)

Next Up: I have to listen to the new Backstreet Boy’s Album… sad they broke up.. Kevin left and now Backstreet Boy’s down to 4…