Of rebels and rebellion

Dedicated to a certain ‘Rebel’.
Imagine a world – a world complete with perfection. A world without rules. Where everyone is immaculate and behave very nicely. No manipulation or insensitivity. Utopia of the present day era. Where the system is free of all loopholes. Where there is justice for all. Where everyone can do as they please and choose to make the decisions. Nice thought na? Okies now get back to reality! Wake up and smell the coffee!!!

Has anyone ever wondered why utopia is impossible? It is because in this universe there exists a hierarchy. A hierarchy of authority. Those who donot possess it, covet it more than anything, promising at every instant an optimum utilization of power.

Then there are the people who are actually powerful. Who have the power of choice. They can either choose to use it or abuse it. But to err is human right? God created us as a species of inadvertently self absorbed lot of creatures who only think of their feelings and their lives. Like The Beatles once sang – “I, Me. Mine”. So its clear. The system is in chaos. The architect/god is in a dilemma. When there is a shift towards one extreme, there comes another mighty power to defy this one, the power of rebellion.

So what does a rebellion mean?

A rebellion is – mutiny, revolution, uprising, etc. could bore ya with a bunch of words from the lexicon, but I choose not to.

So who starts a rebellion?

Duh. .. a rebellion is started by a rebel. Now let’s proceed to the next question.

So who is a rebel?

A rebel is a – avant-garde, a mutineer, a radical, a revolutionary.

Why does a rebel rise up from the majority?

Of course in some cases, a rebel is a martyr – some one who gives up all of his life and desires and dreams and dies for others. But in most cases, rebels are just your good old people who rise up against the system.

Why do they do that?

Tealspeak [influenced highly by matrix, though] : any system exists like an equation. When there are people who take crap and more crap from others, they are the ones who are hopelessly submissive to the present state of the system. There ultimate purpose is to balance the equation.

But the rebels on the other hand, bend and break every rule in the book. They are the anti-bodies of these afore mentioned species of low-lying scum mongers. The ultimate purpose of the rebel is to unbalance the equation. And screw those who say rebels don’t have a cause. Of course we do.

Where there is anarchy, there is mutiny. It may not be in a pronounced form, but its there.

Be a rebel, loose control.

Inqualab zindaabad.

Stoic without a sense of purpose

What are we but mere puppets in the hands of fate? No matter how hard we try no matter to what extent we go to achieve our aims and goals, at the end of it all, none of this is possible without this one word – ‘purpose’.

Now all you go-getters don’t loose patience, I can quote Neo from ‘The Matrix’, when he is confounded during his meet with the ultrakool Morpheus.

Morpheus: Do you believe in destiny, Neo?

Neo: No

Morpheus: why?

Neo: Because I don’t like the idea that I am not in control of my life.
So are we really in control of our lives? Or is there a sinister force working at all times, weaving our meagre existence into a cosmic conspiracy?

What is purpose?

To quote Agent Smith from his amazing monologue in ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ – “It is purpose that defines us. It is purpose that drives us, that guides us. Without purpose, we would not exist, Mr. Anderson. I am here to take back what you took from me … purpose”. Throughout our school lives, we are forcibly thrust in to a mold, typecast into a stereotypical school child. Mostly , stifling our inner child and massacring our zest for life. We are made to slog and are nearly broken in mind and spirit by the time school is over.

Then comes the all important crossroad – the transition from school to college. Most school kids are clueless are about most good opportunities or rather have been cut off from the real world, imprisoned in a prison for their minds. Then comes the hesitance to choose the way out of the maze. There seem to be many alluring ways out of the spider web, but ultimately, good ol’ folks at home continue with the type-casting – thrusting the dreamer child into an abyss of hundreds of thousands of professionals.

Even those of us who actually do manage to escape the hexes and sphinxes and all the spells of the world, may or may not be the paragons of their fields, but there lives will never be devoid of satisfaction or pride. Since they do what they choose to do, and are not hopelessly plugged into the system.

After a struggle to stay afloat throughout the degree – being earned with much despise, we are as clueless as ever. We are lost. We are hopeless. Without a sense of purpose.

It is purpose that defines us, that drives us, that guides us.

Without a sense of purpose, we are nothing but sitting rocks.

Without a sense of purpose, we are void, we are vacuum.

Without a sense of purpose, we are alone …

Hail Queen Alanis

“I’m broke but I’m happy; I’m poor but I’m kind

I’m short but I’m healthy, yeah; I’m high but I’m grounded

I’m sane but I’m overwhelmed; I’m lost but I’m hopeful, baby…

Coz what it all comes down to … is that everything’s gonna be fine fine fine

Coz I’ve got one hand in my pocket, and the other one’s giving a hi-five…”

This is one of my all time favourite songs. Alanis morisette is the queen of alternative rock. Her poetic sense mixed with female angst and cynicism have given a few fans like me some really memorable tracks. Most tracks from Jagged Little Pill and Supposed Former Infactuation Junkie are really really good. And a recently recommended alanis to a friend of mine who listens to her music quite a lot nowadays! Alanis and her music in a way describe the power woman of the present day era. The woman who doesnot go about in her cutesy way of saying “oh since u left it’s like I’m lost blah blah blah .. no sunshine blab la …. yeech !!!”

But Alanis says it this way:

“You seem very well, things look peaceful

I´m not quite as well, I thought you should know

Did you forget about me Mr. Duplicity

I hate to bug you in  the middle of dinner

It was a slap in the face how quickly I was replaced

Are you thinking of me when you f*** her 

And every time you speak her name

Does she know how you told me you´d hold me

Until you died, ´till you die

But you´re still alive ...“
from ‘You oughta know’ in the album  MTV Unplugged 1999.
[One awesome concert, that one 😀 ]

This is alanis morisette’s lyrical sense for you, ladies and gentlemen.
 How about this one, what do you sing to a guy you don’t like who hits on you?

“Like any uncharted territory

I must seem greatly intriguing

You speak of my love like

You have experienced love like mine before

But this is not allowed

You're uninvited

An unfortunate sight

 I don't think you unworthy

I need a moment to deliberate “
from Uninvited in the album  MTV Unplugged [1999]

How about this one? It’s a classic and one of my all time favourites –

“Well life has a funny way of sneaking up on you

When you think everything´s okay and everything´s going right

And life has a funny way of helping you out when

You think everything´s gone wrong and everything blows up

In your face"

from Ironic in Jagged little Pill [1995]

 Btw, Teal is Back!!!

Teal talkies: ‘ SAW ’

Regular movie buffs would’ve judged the genre of this movie by the title itself. Yes, it’s supposedly ‘horror’. And judging by the junk that comes out nowadays in the name of ‘horror’ one would think this is one of those arbitrary teen-slashing kind of movie. Right? Wrong.

This is where ‘SAW’ does the googly. I was in the mood for some mindless horror. And my sis had borrowed this DVD from a colleague of hers. So I thought, why not give it a shot. And the movie was quite surprisingly, would say average. Not good. Average. The movie starts with two men chained up in diagonal extremes of a public bathroom near the sewer management of a big city. They are initially clueless about how they came about being chained. One of them is Adam, a young photographer who is callous about his life.

Or quoting the murder, ‘apathetic’. The other is a surgeon, Dr.Lawrence Gordon, played by Cary Elwes [‘the crush’ and ‘robin hood : men in tights’ fame]. He is having a rough time with his wife and is unable to devote time to his family. The movie leads us through a chronological cycle of utterly gruesome murders – which are not technically murders, because the victims killed themselves in the attempt of escaping from the trap set by the sick psychopath. From a guy who bleeds to death after being struck in a web of barbed wire, to a guy who is burnt alive. The best is the account of a girl who has a device locked around her mouth that would permanently rip her jaws apart, if she failed to acquire the key from her ‘dead’ cellmate. The dead cellmate is a guy who has been paralysed by drugs and so is alive when the poor girl tears his stomach and fish through his intestines to retrieve the keys – she survives, though.

Allrighty, that was pretty gross right?? The fundamental element of this movie is grotesque, grotesque and more grotesque. Now for every murder or chain of murders there must be a motive, right? The sicko at work is a guy having a tumor in the frontal lobe of his brain. He picks people ‘who donot appreciate their life and the blessings’. These people aren’t essentially acquaintances. The movie ends in an uncertain note. Where the surgeon has to crawl through the room [after cutting his leg in order to free himself from the leash] and the sicko locks up the public bathroom where the photographer [no no, he is alive, but shot. Not maimed, though…] is left behind.

The ending is left to the audience. Either the surgeon goes out, gets help and saves the photographer. Or, the sicko catches up with the surgeon and kills him before he can get any. Meanwhile … the photographer is eaten alive by the sewer rats???

Ok ok, don’t start puking now. I know this whole thing is kinda gross. And people, for your information, the ‘dead guy’ lying down in the pool of blood between the photographer and the surgeon is the murderer, or should I say, maniac?

Statutory warning:

This article is strictly for the people who have already squandered 2 hours of their precious lives watching this ‘masterpiece’.

Teal’s rating:

* * * / * * * * *

Can a quiz speak a 1000 words??

You scored as Peter Pan. Your alter ego is Peter Pan. You are a child at heart. Anything you believe is possible, and you never want to grow up. Sleeping Beauty 75% Peter Pan 75% Goofy 56% The Beast 56% Donald Duck 44% Cruella De Ville 44% Cinderella 38% Ariel 31% Pinocchio 31% Snow White 13% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego? created with QuizFarm.com

Miles to go before I sleep

My dear blogbuddies and readers,
I am indeed grateful to be amidst you all. But I have reached a crossroad in my life where I have to get past a few storms and climb a few peaks. But there aint no mountain high enough or aint no river wide enough rite?
For reasons known and unknown I have decided to close doors on this platform on cyberspace. I hope to catch you all in month or two. May god keep you all happy and content. But fear not,
Teal will be bach!!!

Let me sign off with the classic climax of “Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. “

Godspeed.