What movie had a dumb concept but great execution?

 The Ruins (2008).

A group of friends go on a trip to Mexico. They hear about a secret abandoned Mayan temple. Being young thrill-seekers, they set out to explore it.

There's trouble as soon as they get there. The locals are at their heels. Aggressive. Yelling, threatening them with guns and machetes.

It's a good choice on the filmmakers’ part to not include subtitles to what the locals are saying. It serves to make us as scared and confused as the friends are. (I don't know if other versions provided subtitles. The one I saw didn't. By the way, they're speaking a native Mexican language, not Spanish).

Why are the locals mad? What are they yelling about? Is the temple sacred? Is no outsider or even just anybody allowed to go up there?

If the locals were trying to stop them from going into the temple, they failed tremendously. All that display of rage and hostility only served to send the thoroughly intimidated friends right onto it to take refuge.

This is where they meet the real big bad.

What's the dumb concept here?

Killer plants.

Not as in plants that are awesome at being plants, though that does sound like a cool concept; it's as in plants that literally kill.

Dumb as in it would be hard to take a plant as the bad guy seriously. To end its little reign of terror, you'd probably just need to hack it down, or set it on fire, or simply just walk away. It's a plant; what's it gonna do, grow menacingly after you at a deadly speed of 1 centimeter per week?

Unless...the plant is given super-plant powers such as unnatural speed, or maybe the ability to shoot poisonous darts at will. Which, in this case, the vine does have such abilities. Ha! Well, that's convenient. Now we're talking.

Even so, how would a killer vine look like in a movie that tries to take itself seriously? Like a live-action Goosebumps episode? A Jumanji movie?

So something for kids, then? It's still a bit unserious.

How is this one executed perfectly? For starters, I don't think it's perfect, just pretty decent.

The vine is terrifying, for a few reasons.

One, it eats people. Yes, the vine loves animal flesh, humans not an exception. Dead or alive. Clearly an unpicky eater.

Two, any cut of the vine - no matter how small - can slither its way into your flesh through a wound or an orifice and thrive in there like a worm from hell.

It seems to produce some kind of substance that makes its host numb - unable to feel that it is in there -, and, it makes them delirious.

Three, the vine can not only produce sound but perfectly mimic it as well. Uses this to manipulate people.

It can move around fast (otherwise none of this will work). Four, it seems to know when its being watched, or when someone can see it, so it mostly moves in the dark or out of our sight.

And five, like the Cordyceps fungi, it seems to be able to control the actions of its host, to some extent.

The locals have set up camp surrounding the temple and seem to be on guard for when they come down.

The friends are trapped. Given their reception of them, the friends don't exactly think they'll be greeted with warm hugs if they relent.

Plus, it's already a bad sign that none of those locals will put one foot anywhere near the structure.

It doesn't really scare me as much it just thoroughly disgusts me, the vine. It proves itself to be a formidable bad guy, however.

I read a good theory that says the locals weren't trying to scare the friends away; they were trying to force them onto the temple and keep them there, giving enough time to the vine to feast as it pleases.

Maybe they are not necessarily scared of it; maybe they are its caretakers, ensuring that everyone but their own people keeps its hunger sated. It could be anything from a pet to a god to them.

Still, the fact that the vine can live in a person and perhaps thrive elsewhere - wherever that person goes to - suggests the locals were trying to stop it from spreading this way.

Perhaps they were trying to save everybody else all along, and keep the vine restricted to the temple.

Which movie had an amazing concept but poor execution?

 Ra.One (2011)

On paper the film has a great concept which could have been made into an enthralling film - a game with a stronger villain than the hero; and the digital game turned ugly. But the film despite its brilliant special effects had a pathetic screenplay.

I mean why the stereotypical South Indian characterisation?

Why Kareena Kapoor's character was made any annoying woman using weird abuses

Why so much vulgarity in a children film? B**t slaps, voyeristic gaze etc for cheap laughs (who in their wild thoughts believed it to be funny?)

(All this distracted the film from its core concept)

There was absolutely no need to add the rubbish masala elements. The strength of the film was its technical features and the film wastes its first hour doing absolutely nothing about it. G.One comes so late in the film that the audience is bored and frustrated by then.

The first two rounds of game between Ra.One and G.One were great and offered great visuals and action. But why so lame finale? The last round should have been the most complex and filled with elements. Instead they killed Ra.One so easily through shootout. The film didn't end on the same high as the 2nd half promise.

The film had good music, great VFX, good potential, but the screenplay was messy and all over the place. SRK was bad as Shekhar eating noodles with Dahi, Kareena was annoying and so was the child actor. He couldn't pull off the emotional gravitas of a boy losing his father and trying to bring back G.One to life.

The cameos were largely wasted. Priyanka, Sanjay Dutt and Rajnikanth added nothing to the story. They looked like cheap thrills rather than anything substantial to the plot.

Where does this concept of Chaya Sita come from? (Valmiki Ramayan has no mention of Chaya Sita, only some Puranas have).

 ‘Chaya Sita’ is described in Adhyatma Ramayana.

Before Maricha and Ravana arrived in Panchavati, Sri Rama had Sita seek shelter with Agni and replaced her with an illusionary Sita

Lord Shiva said—'Oh Parvati! Here, becoming aware of all the conspiracies of Ravana, Sri Ram advised Sita when they were alone, 'Oh Sita! Listen to what I have to tell you. Oh the auspicious one! Ravana will come to you disguised as a mendicant. Hence, by my orders, you must enter the holy fire leaving behind your lookalike shadow in this hut, and stay there in the fire in an invisible form for one year. After that, after the killing of Ravana, you shall get back to me once again.’

Hearing these words of Sri Ram, Sita did as she was told. She became invisible in fire, leaving behind a shadowy Sita. Then that Maya-Sita saw that Maya-deer, came to Sri Ram and smilingly, politely said to him, 'Oh Sri Ram! Look at this golden deer which is adorned by gems and jewels. Ah! What marvellous spots are there on his body and how fearlessly it is wandering and frolicking here! Oh Lord! Tie it and bring it to me; let it by my playmate'.

• Canto 7, Aranya Kanda, Adhyatma Ramayana.

It was Maya Sita who was abducted by Ravana as per the text.

After Ravana had been slain, Maya Sita disappeared during the Agni Pariksha and was the real Sita once again appeared

Oh Hari (Sri Ram)! You had created an illusionary/shadowy Sita for the express purpose of destroying (i.e., killing) Ravana along with his sons, kiths and kins and comrades etc. Oh Lord! By doing so, you have removed the burden of this earth.The illusionary/shadowy Sita who was like an image of her real self has vanished after having accomplished the task for which she was created.’ Hearing these words of the fire God, Sri Ram worshipped and honoured him with great delight and a joyful heart and then he gladly accepted Janki (Sita) who was most happy and cheerful (at this happy turn of events).

• Canto 13, Lanka kanda, Adhyatma Ramayana.

Many Puranas like Skanda, Kurma, Devi Bhagavata and Brahma vaivarta also mentions this story.

How old is the "concept of India as a country"?

 Possibly a couple of millennia old. And on a much stronger ground compared to most other countries as it is strongly tied to the religion.

Recently I was teaching my 5 year old daughter the basic geography of India. I began with the rivers of the land — Ganga, Yamuna, Kaveri etc. Before I could finish, she immediately caught on as she was taught an ancient mantra from age 1:

गङ्गे च यमुने चैव गोदावरि सरस्वति ।
नर्मदे सिन्धु कावेरि जलेऽस्मिन् संनिधिं कुरु ॥

O Holy Rivers Ganga and Yamuna, and also Godavari and Saraswati,
O Holy Rivers Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri; Please be Present in this Water (and make it Holy).

The geography lesson of what are the largest rivers and biggest mountains became easy as it was ingrained as part of our daily religious worship. Unlike in other major religions and major countries, in India the religion, culture and our identity as a country are deeply intertwined.

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Countries can be defined in terms of politics or through religion/culture and it is latter that last much longer. The Jews could get back to their land after 2000 years as their concept of country transcended politics and etched in religion.

While India is an exonym and doesn’t appear prominently in our local texts, the alternate term “Bharat” appears very prominently in ancient texts. This is an official name of the country used in the Constitution. In our local languages such as Hindi, “Bharat” is the predominant term used for the country.

And the boundaries of Bharat are quite well defined over the millennia that is consistent to this day. Here are the key sites of the country as defined in the ancient epic of Mahabharata.

Every morning across the country the temples begin their prayers worshipping the waters with 7 rivers that defined the land of India to the present day [with just one replacement of Saraswati with Brahmaputra for modern day border adjustment]. Dharmic people in the south include Ganga and Kashi in their prayers while Dharmic people in the north pray to rivers such as Narmada, Kaveri and temples such as Rameswaram.

The largest epic of the country [possibly the longest epic in the world] is the Mahabharata — the story of Bharat. The epic battle in that epic involves kings across the present borders of India.

1400 years ago the great Hindu saint Shankara deeply strengthened the religion and for this he established the key borders. Look at the present borders of India [in Saffron] and how the ancient saint setup his key monasteries.

It is these cultural boundaries and religion that was more relevant for an ordinary person’s life as opposed to what king or landlord to whom you paid taxes to. These were mere administrative entities and not defining your identity. Thus, Dharmic people paid taxes to local kings, Turkic origin Mughals, English company etc at various points of time, but none of those entities really impacted their identity.

While Shankara scaled the Himalayan peaks, he never even attempted to cross the river Sindhu [Indus] or take the boat to nearby Sri Lanka. These were geographically more accessible than the Himalayan peaks, but not culturally relevant for him.

When Shiva worshippers pray to the holiest forms of Shiva, they refer to the 12 key sites that once again define the cultural boundaries of India.

Some zealous Hindus to to the extent of claiming every land near as part of our political geography and this is misguided. The lands to the west or north of present India had very little religious significance for the religion in a long time.

CONCEPT OF EMOTIONLESS INVESTING TOWARDS CREATING EPIC WEALTH

 Live example: Reliance Power a bankrupt company has rallied by 69% in one month.

Retail investors will get lured toward this stock.

Why should a retail investor not think that this bankrupt stock can continue to rally and even rally by another 50% in just the next 15 days?

Such thinking has 0 logic and 0 basis attached to it but it can still happen.

So what should any sensible retail investor do when they see such bankrupt companies rallying magically?

You should do the same BORING, REPETITIVE stuff which giant investors do.

IGNORE such stocks completely.

Continue to buy stocks like TCS, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Pidilite Industries, Page Industries, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle India and continue to secure your future by ensuring that you lose no money either by getting into bankrupt stocks or through overtrading.

All you need to do is to:-

1. Shortlist 8 to 10 sunlight sectors.
2. Sectors like FMCG, IT, Chemicals, and Paints are some Sunlight Sectors.
3. Completely avoid Sunset sectors. Sectors like Airlines, Infra, PSU Banks, Power etc.,
4. Give up on the thrill of penny stocks like Reliance Power, Vodafone Idea, IOB etc.,
5. Then invest with composure in the shortlisted sunlight sectors.
6. Focus on remaining diversified by never putting all your money on just one stock.
7. Focus on creating a long-term eternal portfolio.
8. A portfolio which can happily compound by 15–17% annually for 25 years.
9. This ends all doubts for you. For clues, some stocks are discussed below.
10. Stocks like TCS, Asian Paints, Pidilite, Bajaj Finance, Infosys, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement etc.,

Finally, one last crucial concept that you need to remember during your investment journey is to never sell in a crash. Never panic, also during the normal investing and holding days focus on reducing your transaction costs. This simply means avoiding selling your good stocks frequently. So, stocks like TCS, Asian Paints, and Bajaj Finance are life shares. They do not deserve to be sold and purchased daily.

BUT

What to do if a good stock crashes by 50% on sudden news?

Be calm. Read. Understand the core issue involved. Then if it genuinely looks ominous leave the stock on every rise. This is a rare possibility. Still, you need to be prepared. If you look at the history and the fundamentals of stocks like TCS, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Pidilite, and Nestle India you will realize that these companies are more than 30 years old. That is why such declines are rare in good stocks but still, one should be prepared.

Let me also assure you that if you select 18 to 20 good stocks and invest in them then you are bound to make money and 1 or 2 stocks not performing well even after all your hard work, diligence and research in portfolio building is a normal thing and a part and parcel of investing. So getting it 100% correct is tough. So, I hope this write-up constructively helps you. I wish you well in your investment journey.

Disclaimers: Views shared are personal. The stocks discussed by me are all a part of my portfolio. Please consult your financial adviser before taking any investment decisions. Take my write-ups for informational and educational purposes only.

ಟೈಮ್‌ ಟ್ರಾವೆಲ್‌ ಮಾಡಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯಾನಾ?

 ಟೈಮ್ ಟ್ರಾವೆಲ್ ಎಂಬುದು ಕಾಲದ ಯಾನವನ್ನು ಸೂಚಿಸುವ ಒಂದು ಕಲ್ಪನೆಯಾಗಿದೆ.

ಪ್ರಾಚೀನ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಗ್ರಂಥಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲದ ಯಾನದ ವಿವಿಧ ಉಲ್ಲೇಖಗಳಿವೆ, ಉದಾಹರಣೆಗೆ ಮಹಾಭಾರತದಲ್ಲಿ ರೇವತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಬಲರಾಮನ ಕಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲದ ಸಾಪೇಕ್ಷತೆಯ ವಿವರಣೆಯಿದೆ.

ಆಧುನಿಕ ವಿಜ್ಞಾನದಲ್ಲಿ, ಸಾಪೇಕ್ಷತಾ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತ ಮತ್ತು ಕ್ವಾಂಟಮ್ ಮೆಕಾನಿಕ್ಸ್ ನಂತಹ ಸಿದ್ಧಾಂತಗಳು ಕಾಲದ ಯಾನದ ಸಾಧ್ಯತೆಗಳನ್ನು ತೆರೆದಿಡುತ್ತವೆ, ಆದರೆ ಇದು ಇನ್ನೂ ಸಾಕಾರಗೊಳ್ಳದ ಕನಸಾಗಿದೆ.

ವಿಜ್ಞಾನಿಗಳು ಕಾಲದ ಯಾನವನ್ನು ಸಾಧಿಸಲು ಅನೇಕ ಪ್ರಯೋಗಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ, ಆದರೆ ಅದು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುವ ತನಕ ಅದು ಕೇವಲ ಕಲ್ಪನೆಯಾಗಿಯೇ ಉಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ.

ನಾವು ಕಾಲದ ಯಾನದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಕಲ್ಪನೆ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ, ಅದು ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಶೋಧನೆಯ ಹೊಸ ಹಂತಗಳನ್ನು ತೆರೆಯಬಹುದು ಮತ್ತು ನಮ್ಮ ಜ್ಞಾನದ ಗಡಿಗಳನ್ನು ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಬಹುದು.