Cast Away

It’s Saturday afternoon and I have nothing concrete to do. I see the contents of my hard-disk .Yes; I’m in the mood to watch a good movie. A friend gave me a couple of new stuff and one of this movie was called ‘Cast Away ‘ .The protagonist was played by ‘Tom Hanks’ and directed by ‘Robert Henrick’. Well I heard it was a classic and decided to watch it.

It began with the protagonist being this employee of Fed Ex who was obsessed with time and wanted to ensure his delivery standards were impeccable. Well yes, fair enough. He was a workaholic and due to which most of his relationships were put on the back burner. Correct, not correct, don’t know? To each his own.

Then comes the day when he was summoned to Malaysia to check on the processes there. As the aircraft was flying over the Pacific Ocean, it suddenly faced a deadly storm .The aircraft succumbed and so did the fed ex employees in it. But fate had a different story for ‘Chuck Nolan ‘(Tom Hanks). He managed to survive with this float and was thrown on a desolate island.

Now begins the real story. No job, no people, just sheer him and the island. In the beginning he’s desperate with several attempts to get help. However that seemed futile. He even tried to kill himself by hanging himself with a rope .But the branch broke, thus another reminder to him that he was meant to live. He accepted his fate and chose to move on. Some Fed-ex packages were sent to the shore. Most of the items inside seemed useless (divorce papers, video tapes, girls dress, volleyball). However, most of these things become useful when there’s absolutely nothing to your aid. As he was dying of hunger he had to make do with whatever was available. He satiated his thirst with coconut water and learnt the art of nailing fishes. To add on to it, he learnt how to make fire purely out of wood and friction. Something that we read only in our history books but never experienced. He also managed to extract his own tooth and became his own dentist. That sight was disgusting as blood gushed out and that pain put him to sleep. Compelling times enforces compelling remedies. The volleyball turned into his best ally, at all times whom he could confide into everything. He called it ‘Wilson’. This is the best part about the movie. The relationship between the man and inanimate object is woven so well .It actually seemed so beautiful. Nature and he merged as one entity. He made weather charts and could forecast what was coming. Something that most us would not be able to comprehend as we are too busy to watch nature closely or we have sabotaged to it to an extensive level.

Four years that he lived there, he craved for his loved ones .Something that he did not value too much with his job .He cherished them now even more. More so, he thought it was about time to take the risk and venture out of the island .Isolation was something he could not deal with anymore. He managed to make a raft with logs tied together .He used the video tapes for it. A plastic plank found on the island was used as a sail. He managed to construct a pretty formidable structure. Made me wonder and understand, that our brain is a beautiful faculty and can be used in the most creative manner when needed .It prompts you when desperation or need glides in. He tied his ‘Wilson ‘securely to the raft as he was his only companion. He managed to sail quite a distance but lost ‘Wilson’ in the journey. Four years had made him tired and weary and so wasn’t alert enough when Wilson moved away. When he woke up to realize it, he was shattered. His emotions were so real ,it made me want to cry too.

Finally, a ship located him and took him back home. Most of them had assumed he was dead. The fed –ex team hosted him a grand welcome back party. But he did not feel ecstatic to be back as his long time girlfriend had married someone else because of his long absence. Her photograph was the sole inspiration for his survival on a lonely island .Coming back and not having her felt void and ruthless. Made him question the very purpose of his existence.

This movie probably dint have the perfect ending, although I loved it thoroughly. It had so much silence unlike the chaotic movies today .But it brought in a lot of meaning .Every emotion was captured so well .His transition due to circumstances was enthralling and kept me captivated throughout. From the first time he eats a ‘raw fish and crab ‘to how conveniently he knives out blood from his palms to create Wilson again.

From what I gather from the movie is, we as human beings feel it’s easy to conquer nature and make it dance to our tunes. But nature will always take its course. The storm brought the protagonist to live like the most primal human being .That’s how perhaps people lived once upon a time until we ushered in technology and probably will live like that again cause nature will have its threshold. Also how important it is to nurture relationships and value it because it’s painful when you get isolated and there’s no love .That the basic most thing in our DNA.

This writer has somehow visualized it perfectly and the director has executed it carefully capturing every nuance of movement and emotion. This movie is certainly an impressionable one and will always be on my ‘all time favorite list’.

‘Not Phony’

Well writing a blog at this time at night may just seem gibberish. But I seem to have the intense urge to tell you what it’s possibly like to live without a mobile phone for like the last five whole days.

I was a ‘phoneaholic ‘like most people nowadays as my eyes yearned for the sight of the phone every few seconds. I had to reply to every whatsapp message spontaneously. Saying this I recollect a lot of people warning me about my phone addiction and how it could perhaps just disorient me. But that’s obviously something I chose not to take seriously. Then finally life chose to teach me to live without it.

In the beginning when I left my precious thing in the cab I cursed my luck to no extent. Filed an ‘FIR’, checked on the new phone models and the constant ‘feelers’ of me wanting to check on my phone. No focus at work. Felt completely entrapped and compelled to feel recluse .For a day I felt like the wild animal trapped in the cage, nowhere to go. I felt completely isolated and lost cause that was my only access to mobile information. However the more I thought about it, I realized something very essential just happened. Life just asked me to shut up and take that needed break.

 Slowly and gradually it felt nice. It gave me the space and time to introspect and know what’s actually happening in my life. I was so caught in the maze of the phone that I lost out on so much precious time. It gave me the time to read or spend more time with family. It actually helped me eliminate some amount of clutter in the head.

While reminiscing, I recollect my childhood days when we were so technology deprived .However we managed to be more active and connected. I still managed to be way closer to my friends. The relationships were deeper and more meaningful .Today even with the best of technology kids have become more petty , trivial and fragile in their relationships .My conclusion being you don’t necessarily need technology to maintain or have beautiful relationships if the intent behind is positive.

I still don’t have a phone as I write this, however I certainly know it has taught me to be more judicious in the future. However enamored you may be with the recent technology, it is bound to lose its novelty.

Currently I am in a consolidated period, wherein I’m grateful for the loss of my phone .It has taught me how to save up on so many things more precious and valuable. If people did survive once upon a time happily without the luxury of this technology, we too can. Not that I’m against any of it, but the balance usage of it becomes imperative.

Pointers to mull over:-

*mobile phones are a luxury not the dictator of your life*.

*Simplicity today is rare. But I’m positive in times to come it’ll be a more valued entity*.

*Everything is a cycle. What happened in the past is destined to repeat in the future*

(Cause we come from nature and we will merge back with it).

I really hope that you all validate the same and perhaps let me know if you have experienced the same ever.

Markets ,Success and You.

I am a part of the financial markets; at least that’s what I console myself with. And I love it. Not just because it’s glamorous or an opportunity to earn a quick buck, but cause it’s the best teacher. There are days when I’m thrilled and top of this world and there are days I feel like I rather not live. I sway than the worst times in the volatile markets. Markets get affected by every sentiment and emotion and so do I. But the point remains is that worth it. Does any one prefer a volatile market .Not really? (Maybe the derivative guys but mostly not) .So do I want to be that volatile market. Obviously not.

As an investor it is the fundamentally good stocks that people look at .It is the stock that has sustained for years .The main reason being its consistent and sound. It’s a disciplined entity. Its important that you become that stock .That stock which people have cherished over years and made ample money for others. How does that happen? .Its the faculty called ‘mind’ that needs to be trained. It has to be nourished with the right goals with strict discipline. It is something that you need excessive control over.

Letting it trail and dominate can lead you to that downtrend. I have learnt couple of things the hard way and I still will continue to. It is that dedicated ‘focus ‘with absolute ‘planning acumen’ that will give you that boost. The markets highlight the very same thing. The one’s who are disciplined with their timing and have the focus of their targets, are the ones who manage to make some money. (As they say nothing comes free).

Another thing that I was thrown light upon recently was the concept of ’technical analysis’. I do feel lucky that I’m learning from the best guru of ‘technical’s who’s none other than ‘Dr. C.k Narayan .And I’m the happiest cause I get to interact with him daily .The funda of this concept says ‘price is everything’ . It intrigued me highly but slowly and steadily it made a lot of sense. (Read about it if you can). However I correlate this price to a’ character ‘. The price is the character of the stock. It gives you a gist of the stock. Likewise for a person the ‘character’ is most important as it forms the yardstick for the future .Its a gamut of lot of actions .A good character in the long run is likely to gain .That’s nature.

So at this stage, I look at it this way. Can I at the end of my life ‘write a book ‘on something similar to ‘efficient market hypothesis. Life will be like the markets with its ups and down, but you have to be the stock that’s resilient. Life is not perfection; it has to be converted into one. When circumstances are not in your favor, you have to be that ‘Negative beta’ stock which still sways the other way round.

Success is a relative term but it will only be the asset of the few who possess the above.

(Written to motivate you and me.)