We are the World

I still remember it was 1991 and I was in third grade. Probably standing 4 feet and (maybe) 8 inches tall on a big podium with 24 other kids from my school. I think we were a mix from third and fourth grade. We all were divided into groups of five and the group arranged in a semi-circle with a mike in front of each group. If you have the mental picture set, you can very well guess that I might be referring to some sort of choir I was a part of. It was the annual day of our school (1^st December, every year) and we were performing the song 'We are the World' in front of a big audience. Each one of the group was supposed to sing a stanza from the song, in cycle and whenever the chorus ( we are the world) came, every one sang together. Each of us kid was also holding a flag for a different country. I was holding Italy. I still have the picture of the entire performance group. I still remember the unending applause from the audience after the performance was over. This was my very first stage performance ever and I shall never forget it. This is also one of the very first songs that I remember completely. I had no idea about what the lyrics meant but I had it word-by-word.

I did hear the song a couple of times later and came to know that it was written by Late Michael Jackson and performed by a group of great singer the world have ever seen. In the year 2005, during my training days in Trivandrum, we had a cultural show put together by the fellow associates – Elektrika. I did gave a rather forgetting performance on stage that day. As a part of group song, there was this group who performed the song. It was so refreshing to listen to the song again after a long time. They were all dressed in black and white, which reminded me of my third grade show where we performed dressed black-and-white. I simply loved the song and to my great surprise, I still remembered it verbatim. It was an awesome feeling. The performance was very well received by the audience (from all who knew it and who didn't). Last week, the 'Class of 2010' presented the cover version of the song at NBC (Winter Olympic 2010) as '25 for Haiti'. Rekindled by the great singers of our generations, the song is dedicated to the Haiti victims.

I have a knack of analyzing the lyrics of any song I hear. The greatness of 'We are the World' just doesn't lie in the music. It has a very simple yet so deeply affecting lyrics. It signifies the unified diversity and world harmony in set of simple words. It also glorifies the aspects like hope, confidence, courage, care and peace that makes a human humane. I don't know if its because of the two live performances I have seen , the visual cortex in my brain registers the song with the color black and white. I would like to attribute this to the one-world-one-view aspect of the song. The beauty and magic of the music and words combined together touches the hearts of the people who hear it for the first time. There are only a few things that you remember even if you come across it after a very very long hiatus. Things like the childhood lullaby, taste of you favorite food, your mother-tounge, prayers you use to enchant, voice of your closed ones,your national anthem...etc etc. You remember these things because they are very close to you heart. Something similar is with this song for me. I dont know why, but I remember this song completely whenever I hear it after however long break. It envisions the world as a single 'entity' without any borders and fronts. This song , as I call it, is the anthem of the entire humanity.

For the original version of the song click here

For the new version (25 for Haiti) of the song click here

*****Ankur

The catch-and-release success...

Success is nothing more than the mere feeling of a much desired (and worked-out) achievement. Big or small, it doesn't really matters as its the stimulant for the moment, at that moment!! And here is a small, yet so stimulating story of my success!!

Its an half hour past my dinner and I am watching the amazing Tina Fey in '30 Rock'. Its really very hard to notice in the running frame, but my uncanny knack of getting out-of-focus draws my attention to a small can of soda kept at the backdrop. And all of a sudden - I want Coke. I look at my watch. 21:53 and the seconds counter increasing 22, 23, 24... The nearest target: wending machine at the laundry. The laundry auto-locks at 10 PM. Gotta make up my mind...Will I or won't I ?? lets see! All I need is a dollar and 25 cents. Lets search. I know I don't have that in my wallet (Damn the plastic money!!) I start looking on my table. The open box above the stack of Harry-Potters. I can easily spot 3 quarters. No big deal. Then there are like a zillion pennies. Amidst these, I see a small dime. Score!! Thats it - no more luck. The watch says 21:55 and 43,44,45... Next Room - Top of TV. I grab my phone and leave the room. Had I have more time, I would have vowed over my blood that I will not return to the room without a can of Coke Zero. Thanks a lot that there was no time for such stereotype crap!! Over the TV I can see a quarter and two dimes. Thats it!! Now the race is not only to the Shrine but also against the time (how poetic!!)

I get out of my apartment. Guess what. Its also drizzling!! No time to grab my sheeter. I take the stairs down. The drizzle is icey. The glow button on my watch indicates 21:58 and 6,7,8...I just run across the parking space towards the laundry door. At the door, it hits me – is it 10? Should I look at the watch or try the door? A little torque on the door knob and I shall know if it will open. And it does!! I run to the machine. The sound of the coins going in one after other - the machine dispensing the bottle - a small twist on the neck of the bottle - the low sound of the gas release – ohh thats a sweet harmony!! Who cares about the drizzle, about the show, about anything else! As the sugarless aerated drink runs down my throat I get a feeling – I have to write about this!!

*****Ankur

The Art of Story Telling...

What is story writing? How important is story telling? What constitutes a good story? How does an original story impact the readers over an inspired one? How important is character definition and depth? Are all stories interchangeable between written and visual media?... well there are so many such questions that comes to mind and if you go around asking different people, you will get a good and diverse set of answers. So lets analyze and put what I feel about the “Art of Story Telling”.

Without getting into the complexity of trying to define what a good story is, lets focus on how it is written. I always imagine good stories been written on a wooden desk , under a study lamp with a cup(s) of coffee and littered notes around, usually quite (or a forced aloofness) , a window view etc etc. I am pretty sure this is no longer the case but again this is how I “picture” J K Rowling writing the great Harry Potter. And I still feel that a comfortable ( natural or simulated) environment is very necessary to transit your thoughts perfectly to the word processor (or paper..seriously??). This constitute as a catalyst to the story telling aspect. Ideally you would want the complete story to be clear before you start writing it. But this almost never happens. Most of the time you have a beginning and a list of discreet events that might happen as the story progresses. Often you dont have an end but the very idea of the plot is tempting enough to start. This is the point where the two fundamental aspects of story telling comes into play – Patience and Planning. The concept of “Boy Wizard” struck to Rowling on a train in 1992 but it took 15 years for the story to complete. And we all know how it turned out. Who says creative work cannot be planned?? ask J-Ro!!

A good story need not always be an original one. I have read/seen so many great stories that have been told again and again. Someone once told me that there a only a finite number (say 15) stories ( which I would like to call as fable-framework) known to mankind. All the stories we experience are derivatives from one or many of these frameworks or other derivatives. It the way you package (or encapsulate) the derivative which makes a story good or bad. For instance I cannot even count how many plots (or sub-plots) I have read that is clearly inspired by 'The Godfather'. Yet a lot of them are great and entertaining. Once we have a theme and the story has started, the big question comes in how to keep it gripping till the last page (or the last reel). This is the toughest part. Mathematically this is a cross product of planning and the square of creativity. You might be very creative, but if you rush it, it might not come as expected. On the other hand you can also have great planning skills but if you lack a well defined and completely covered plot, it is bound to bomb. Avid readers, who have read the 'Twilight' series might see this, as the books start getting less and less gripping as the series progresses.

Another important aspect is the character definition. A good and well defined set of characters add so much dimensionality to the story. The consistency in the character is very important. This consistency is directly tied what is happening to him/her in the story. Failing to do so results in what is known as 'cranky' character. I noticed this very clearly in Twilight with Jacob's character which undergoes so many changes (book 2-3) which was not handled very well. Something similar was experienced by Harry Potter but was graciously blended with the story ( book 4-5). Another excellent example of great characters blending with the story is TV series 'Lost' , which also happens to be one of my favorite stories of the contemporary. Then comes the question if all stories interchangeable between written and visual media? The answer is yes/no/maybe. It depends. When you read a story, you are watching it with your contemplative eyes. On the other hand when you are watching a movie ( based on the same material), you are looking at it with the director's vision. If the director's vision is better or same as your, you will like it (like say '300'' ) else it could be another 'Dresdon'. However there are some books that I feel are very hard to put into silver screen like 'Watchmen' ( although kudos to the efforts, it couldn't have come better than what it did) and there are some movies that would be hard to put on book like 'Avatar'. Emotions are something which can be easily expressed in words and action is something that can be best expressed visually. I have a theory that its always easy to write a good drama novel and make a great action movie. Trying to do the reverse with these takes a good skill from the director and writers. But again there are stories that have everything and done great in both medias ( the Star Wars canonical).

The software engineer inside me defines a great story as a design pattern which should be 'open to extension but closed to modification' i.e. it should be a story complete in itself but can also serve as a universe for other spin-offs/fables to thrive. Other can just take something and develop there own complete story. The magical world from Harry Potter, the far-far-away galaxy from Star Wars, the middle earth from LOTR , the multi-verses from DC cosmos and Pandora from Avatar are all examples of such universes. This extensibility makes a good story a great story!!

This post is particularly my viewpoint and as a side note, I can be very well wrong as I am no great story teller. I have tried to explain the art with science and mathematics. But the very fact that I am using logic to explain an art might make the whole premise wrong to start with. Nonetheless, this is how I feel and see the elements of being a good raconteur.

*****Ankur