Australia – Ramana's Musings

Legalese.

A friend has just sent me an example of legalese which he claims is the best that he has ever come across.

I confess that I am also of the same opinion.

After reading it, if you too are not, I will be very surprised. Moreover, if you can understand what the particular section of the act aims at achieving, please enlighten me and the other readers of this post.

Section 165.55 of Australia’s 1999 GST legislation.

“For the purposes of making a declaration under this subdivision, the commissioner may: (a) treat a particular event that actually happened as not having happened; and (b) treat a particular event that did not actually happen as having happened and, if appropriate, treat the event as (i) having happened at a particular time; and (ii) having involved particular action by a particular entity; and (c) treat a particular event that actually happened as: (i) having happened at a time different from the time it actually happened; or (ii) having involved particular action by a particular entity (whether or not the event actually involved any action by that entity).”

The Four Wives.

No, I don’t have four wives nor do I have any intentions of acquiring them any time in the future.

This video must be seen first before why I post it here becomes clear.

A lady friend of mine from Australia sent a clip similar to this to me on WhatsApp with the comment:

“Look after your soul mate. :-)” Knowing her as I do, quite whether the omission of the comma after the word soul, was deliberate is a moot point.

I responded with – “I don’t have even one wife, leave alone four. I look after my soul just fine thank you.”

She responded with – “I don’t have a wife either. So, I don’t have a choice. I AM my own soulmate!”

I wonder which wife is this one at the coffee table.

Charpoy.

Definition of charpoy

plural charpoys
:a bed used especially in India consisting of a frame strung with tapes or light rope

You will see the humble charpoys in almost all rural and semi urban homes in India.

On what we call dhabas here which are truck stops where long distance truck drivers stop for a meal and some rest, you will find a number of them in the front courtyards.

I personally cannot use them any more due to the condition of my hips, but they are very comfortable and act like hammocks in set frames.

This humble but ubiquitous piece of furniture from India has now gone global! At least a start has been made in Australia! The story behind this development has been nothing less than a sensation in the Indian media. The social media too has been very active posting the advertisement from Australia.

Lion (2016) Movie,

My children Manjiree and Ranjan insisted that I see Lion, and I am glad that they did. I would have gladly given it a miss had I depended on just the kind of publicity that it has received here. In fact, till I sat down to write this post, I did not even know that this film is a multiple award nominee and winner. I had vaguely heard that Dev Patel got some award for his performance in this film but other than that, I was totally ignorant.

Briefly, this is a real life story of a five year old boy from the heartland of India who gets lost, is sheltered in a foster home and eventually gets adopted by an Australian couple. He eventually returns as an adult after going through a traumatic life of memories, to find that his mother has never given up on him.

The story does everything possible to pluck at your emotional strings. Joy, amusement, anger, pity, frustration and so on and I must complement the director who has been able to do so successfully in his debut film. The child actors perform so well that they overshadow Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. The very effective music score at the background soothes and excites by turns and the overall effect is a pleasant experience, somewhat like a roller coaster ride that ends well.

If ever there was a movie that strengthened my belief in the theory of Karma, this is it. Many questions like why the young lad gets separated, and unlike more than hundreds of thousands of young children who go missing every year in India, why he gets adopted by an Australian couple, why the other child adopted by the same couple becomes a disappointment etc, can be answered only with the logic of Karma.

If you can, you must see it.

Incidentally, this is the third Indian film that has featured Australia that I have enjoyed seeing. I have written about UnIndian but not about Bhag Milka Bhag, a song from which keeps bugging me as an earworm on and off. Let me share that song with you.

UnIndian.

Two important factors made me want to see this film. The first one was that it had Brett Lee, the Australian Pace Bowler acting in it, and the second as it eventually turned out was that it was produced by someone known to me. So off I went earlier this afternoon with my partner in crime Ramesh, whose nephew had produced the film, to see it.

It is an Indo Australian romantic comedy film with an interesting story, great editing to keep it crisp and taut, good photography, some excellent acting and camera work. The direction is of a very high order and with that kind of a background, it has to be a great film. I would give it a five out of five rating and am amazed at the lacklustre response it has evoked among the Indian audience.

The surprise elements in the total package is the acting skill shown by Brett Lee and all the other names, none of whom are well known here. The humour is subtle and effective as is the script.

I intend buying the DVD when it is made available to see the film again and again. It was that good.

If you get an opportunity to see it, do not miss it. It is that good.

Ned Kelly – The Movie.

I cannot remember quite how I got persuaded to purchase a DVD of a film with Robert Duvall and Michael Caine called Second Hand Lions, but it must have been a strong recommendation from a friend. I had bought it bought it way back in April of this year and it just piled up with the various other DVDs that I have been buying over the last few months without finding the time to see them.

I finally got around to seeing it a couple of days ago and was quite pleased with it. I am not about to bore my readers with a review about it, but let me just say that I quite enjoyed seeing it.

When I opened the parcel, I discovered that I had in fact bought two DVDs to avail of a free delivery offer and so found another DVD inside. That turned out to be Ned Kelly a movie on a true story about an Australian outlaw of the late 19th century. The film was based on a novel Our Sunshine by the Australian writer Robert Drewe.

I am glad that I bought the DVD though I had no clue as to what I was getting into when I ordered for it. I am particularly impressed because it is an Australian movie and I haven’t seen many of them.

This is a remarkable story about how high handed misuse of authority by police officials drives a young man and his mates to becoming outlaws. Though full details are not shown, apparently in his lifetime Kelly had become a legend. The viewer cannot help getting involved with the underdog and wishing him success when injustice after injustice keeps piling up. The director has succeeded in that effort and till the end one keeps the faith that justice will prevail. That it does not in the end is neither here nor there, but the viewer is hooked from the beginning till the end. I have no hesitation in giving the film a full [rating=6] rating.

A very well made film with tight editing and some very good acting. There are moments when the background music becomes too loud and that is the only criticism that I have for the movie. If you get an opportunity to watch it, I recommend that you do for some emotional roller coaster rides.