VILLAGE JOURNEY

Naimisaranya

Naimisaranya

Naimisaranya or Nimsar or Nimkhar is a place of great sanctity, situated 20 miles from Sitapur in U.P. Many of the Puranas were written here. Its distance from Sandila station is 24 miles. The word Naimisa can be spelt in two ways as ‘Naimish’ and ‘Naimeesh’. One legend is that Pitamaha Brahma sent out a ‘manomaya wheel’ after saluting Mahadeva. It went on moving at various places and its rim was shattered at the place now known as Naimisaranya. Sages followed the course of that wheel which was as bright as the Sun, and they stopped at Naimisaranya where the rim of the wheel was shattered. This sacred place has a belief that those who stay here have no fear from Goddess Kali. The Puranic reciter, Sauti Ugrashravas, recited the Mahabharata to the Sages, here. The place has many sacred tanks and temples. In Ain-i-Akbari, the famous book on the Mughal ruler, Akbar, the Great, Nimsar finds a beautiful description of it. The reservoir, mentioned in the book is ‘Chakra Tirtha’. It is the place where the wheel of Brahma fell. It is also the place where Lord Vishnu flung his discus at the demons. The Chakra Tirtha is hexagonal in shape. Some other tanks worthy of mention are the Pancha Prayaga, the Godavari, the Kashi, the Gomati and the Godavari. The famous poet, Surdasji spent some part of his life here. The place finds a frequent mention in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and most of the Puranas. Vana Parva says all ‘Tirthas’ are concentrated at Nimsar.

                     

This place is described very holy on earth and is stated to be very dear to Lord Shiva. There is a belief, which says, it is meritorious to have a bath in the sacred tanks of this place, on Somavati Amavasya. I have also been to Nimsar and taken this holy bath, which blessed me a lot. A Parikrama Fair is held in the month of Phalguna, every year and is believed to be very beneficial. People from all over the world come here during this period for the grace of the Lord. The chief temple of Naimisaranya is of Lalita Devi. Naimisaranya also has forests, which has been an abode to about 60,000 sages. Another famous orator, Romaharshana, also known as Suta, recited various Puranas, here. In Vayu Purana, it is stated that it is the duty of the Suta community to maintain the lists of the Kings. They have to recite the Itihasa and the Puranas, as a ritual. It is the essence of the Puranas, which has made this place of so holy. This famous pilgrimage is all year busy with tourists from the world over, who come here to offer prayers, bathe in the tank and wish for their desires from the Lord.

STYLE

Taaron Mein Akela Chaad Jagmagata Hai;

Mushquilo Mein Akela Insaan Dagmagata Hai;
Kaate Se Ghabrana Mat Mere Dost;
Kyunki Kaaton Mein Hi Akela Gulab Muskurata Hai!

Sazzaa Ban Jaati Hain, Guzree Huye Waqt Ki Yaadein;

Jaane Kyun Matlab Ke Liye, Meharbaan Hote Hain Log!

Us Ke Chehre Ne Humain Tanha Kardiya;

Warna Hum To Apne Aap Main Hi Ek Mehfil Hua Karte Thay!

Kaise Bhula Doon Main Usko;

Maut Insanon Ko Aati Hai, Yadon Ko Nahi!

me

TITANIC REVIEW

A Film Review by James Berardinelli
United States, 1997
U.S. Release Date: 12/19/97 (wide)
Running Length: 3:14
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mayhem, nudity, sex, profanity, mild violence)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Bernard Hill, David Warner
Director: James Cameron
Producers: James Cameron, Jon Landau
Screenplay: James Cameron
Cinematography: Russell Carpenter
Music: James Horner
U.S. Distributor: Paramount Pictures

Short of climbing aboard a time capsule and peeling back eight and one-half decades, James Cameron's magnificent Titanic is the closest any of us will get to walking the decks of the doomed ocean liner. Meticulous in detail, yet vast in scope and intent, Titanic is the kind of epic motion picture event that has become a rarity. You don't just watch Titanic, you experience it -- from the launch to the sinking, then on a journey two and one-half miles below the surface, into the cold, watery grave where Cameron has shot never-before seen documentary footage specifically for this movie.

In each of his previous outings, Cameron has pushed the special effects envelope. In Aliens, he cloned H.R. Giger's creation dozens of times, fashioning an army of nightmarish monsters. In The Abyss, he took us deep under the sea to greet a band of benevolent space travelers. In T2, he introduced the morphing terminator (perfecting an effects process that was pioneered in The Abyss). And in True Lies, he used digital technology to choreograph an in-air battle. Now, in Titanic, Cameron's flawless re-creation of the legendary ship has blurred the line between reality and illusion to such a degree that we can't be sure what's real and what isn't. To make this movie, it's as if Cameron built an all-new Titanic, let it sail, then sunk it.

Of course, special effects alone don't make for a successful film, and Titanic would have been nothing more than an expensive piece of eye candy without a gripping story featuring interesting characters. In his previous outings, Cameron has always placed people above the technological marvels that surround them. Unlike film makers such as Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, Cameron has used visual effects to serve his plot, not the other way around. That hasn't changed with Titanic. The picture's spectacle is the ship's sinking, but its core is the affair between a pair of mismatched, star-crossed lovers.

Titanic is a romance, an adventure, and a thriller all rolled into one. It contains moments of exuberance, humor, pathos, and tragedy. In their own way, the characters are all larger-than- life, but they're human enough (with all of the attendant frailties) to capture our sympathy. Perhaps the most amazing thing about Titanic is that, even though Cameron carefully recreates the death of the ship in all of its terrible grandeur, the event never eclipses the protagonists. To the end, we never cease caring about Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio).



Titanic sank during the early morning hours of April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic, killing 1500 of the 2200 on board. The movie does not begin in 1912, however -- instead, it opens in modern times, with a salvage expedition intent on recovering some of the ship's long-buried treasure. The expedition is led by Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton), a fortune hunter who is searching for the mythical "Heart of the Ocean", a majestic 56 karat diamond which reputedly went down with the ship. After seeing a TV report about the salvage mission, a 101-year old woman (Gloria Stuart) contacts Brock with information regarding the jewel. She identifies herself as Rose DeWitt Bukater, a survivor of the tragedy. Brock has her flown out to his ship. Once there, she tells him her version of the story of Titanic's ill-fated voyage.

The bulk of the film -- well over 80% of its running time -- is spent in flashbacks. We pick up the story on the day that Titanic leaves Southampton, with jubilant crowds cheering as it glides away from land. On board are the movie's three main characters: Rose, a young American debutante trapped in a loveless engagement because her mother is facing financial ruin; Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), her rich-but-cold-hearted fiancé; and Jack Dawson, a penniless artist who won his third-class ticket in a poker game. When Jack first sees Rose, it's from afar, but circumstances offer him the opportunity to become much closer to her. As the voyage continues, Jack and Rose grow more intimate, and she tries to summon up the courage to defy her mother (Frances Fisher) and break off her engagement. But, even with the aid of an outspoken rich women named Molly Brown (Kathy Bates), the barrier of class looms as a seemingly-insurmountable obstacle. Then, when circumstances in the Rose/Cal/Jack triangle are coming to a head, Titanic strikes an iceberg and the "unsinkable" ship (that term is a testament to man's hubris) begins to go down.

By keeping the focus firmly on Rose and Jack, Cameron avoids one frequent failing of epic disaster movies: too many characters in too many stories. When a film tries to chronicle the lives and struggles of a dozen or more individuals, it reduces them all to cardboard cut-outs. In Titanic, Rose and Jack are at the fore from beginning to end, and the supporting characters are just that -- supporting. The two protagonists (as well as Cal) are accorded enough screen time for Cameron to develop multifaceted personalities.

As important as the characters are, however, it's impossible to deny the power of the visual effects. Especially during the final hour, as Titanic undergoes its death throes, the film functions not only as a rousing adventure with harrowing escapes, but as a testimony to the power of computers to simulate reality in the modern motion picture. The scenes of Titanic going under are some of the most awe-inspiring in any recent film. This is the kind of movie that it's necessary to see more than once just to appreciate the level of detail.

One of the most unique aspects of Titanic is its use of genuine documentary images to set the stage for the flashback story. Not satisfied with the reels of currently-existing footage of the sunken ship, Cameron took a crew to the site of the wreck to do his own filming. As a result, some of the underwater shots in the framing sequences are of the actual liner lying on the ocean floor. Their importance and impact should not be underestimated, since they further heighten the production's sense of verisimilitude.

For the leading romantic roles of Jack and Rose, Cameron has chosen two of today's finest young actors. Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo + Juliet), who has rarely done better work, has shed his cocky image. Instead, he's likable and energetic in this part -- two characteristics vital to establishing Jack as a hero. Meanwhile, Kate Winslet, whose impressive resume includes Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, and Jude, dons a flawless American accent along with her 1912 garb, and essays an appealing, vulnerable Rose. Billy Zane comes across as the perfect villain -- callous, arrogant, yet displaying true affection for his prized fiancé. The supporting cast, which includes Kathy Bates, Bill Paxton, Frances Fisher, Bernard Hill (as Titanic's captain), and David Warner (as Cal's no-nonsense manservant), is flawless.

While Titanic is easily the most subdued and dramatic of Cameron's films, fans of more frantic pictures like Aliens and The Abyss will not be disappointed. Titanic has all of the thrills and intensity that movie-goers have come to expect from the director. A dazzling mix of style and substance, of the sublime and the spectacular, Titanic represents Cameron's most accomplished work to date. It's important not to let the running time hold you back -- these three-plus hour pass very quickly. Although this telling of the Titanic story is far from the first, it is the most memorable, and is deserving of Oscar nominations not only in the technical categories, but in the more substantive ones of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress.
WRITTEN BY SHUBHENDU TRIPATHI (MR.36)

Shoes found during the rescue and recovery of the Titanic, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia 1998

Technological convergence

Technological convergence is the trend of technologies to merge into new technologies that bring together a myriad of media. While historically, technology handled one medium or accomplished one or two tasks, through technological convergence, devices are now able to present and interact with a wide array of media.

In the past, for example, each entertainment medium had to be played on a specific device. Video was played on a television by using a video player of some sort, music was played on a tape deck or compact disc player, radio was played on an AM/FM tuner, and video games were played through a console of some sort. Similarly, different communication media used their own technologies. Voice conversation was carried on using a telephone, video communication briefly used high-end video phones, facsimile copies used fax machines, and e-mail used a computer.

Technological convergence in the last few years has resulted in devices that not only interact with the media they are primarily designed to handle, but also with a number of other formats. For example, the XBox video game console has as its primary purpose the playing of console games, but it is also able to play back video and music and to connect to the Internet. Similarly, most modern DVD players are capable not only of playing DVDs, but also of playing music CDs, displaying photos from photo CDs, playing encoded video in formats such as DIVX or VCD, and playing DVD music.

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Technological convergence also leads to devices that are designed specifically to replace a number of different devices. The Apple iPod, for example, while originally conceived of as a portable music player, is now touted equally as a portable video player, photo album, and radio tuner. Cell phones, as well, have moved far beyond their beginnings as simple voice communication devices and now offer the functionality of personal music players, digital cameras, and text messenger systems as well.

The Internet is perhaps the most widespread example of technological convergence. Virtually all entertainment technologies – from radio to television to video to books to games – can be viewed and played online, often with greater functionality than they have in their primary technology. Communications technologies, as well, can be used, with the Internet replacing fax machines, telephones, video phones, and the postal service.

While technological convergence gives consumers the convenience of having many devices all in one, saving on both size and cost, there is an initial tradeoff in quality. When technological convergence first gives birth to a new multi-technology, the various technologies it is comprised of are usually at a slightly lower standard than independent devices. Usually within a year or two, however, this disparate quality is reduced to a virtually unnoticeable level.

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