Criminality

Two months earlier, the makeshift prison near a trading post in the colony had been stormed by a team of seven native men. Women and children, of three villages' worth of wives and children of indentured native labourers, had been interred in the prison as hostages. The five guards on duty that night had had their necks twisted as the inmates were stolen into the night. The local army garrison was called in and within two hours the barges that transported the fugitives were ambushed. In the kerfuffle, five of the conspirators, including the ringleader, were apprehended. The next day, they would be shot.

At the colonial capital, the warden watched the ringleader. The ringleader knew his sentence and that it would be before any trial, but seemed indifferent to his fate. The warden threw him a smirk, unfurled the day's papers that he had tucked away under his arm, and read the headlines out to him.

"From the opinion columns: Jungle prison raid not justifiable by law," he read. "Any threat to the harmony of the society in the Colony must be swiftly and severely dealt with." Thousands of miles away, respectable townspeople read the same columns and nodded to each other in agreement, finding it easy enough to accept an image of unscrupulous, thieving natives before getting on to their daily business.

"This is criminality, pure and simple," interjected the ringleader. "did they remember to put that sentence into it?"

"This is criminality, pure and simple," opined the director of the rubber trading company at the other end of the world, after hearing news of the audacious prison break and pressured to give his comment to the reporters. "It must be punished to serve as a warning to the others, and reasonable policies instituted to prevent its relapse." His audience murmured approvingly, happy that someone is out to speak the truth.

The warden's eyes met the ringleader's, and they laughed. "Yes, they did," replied the warden, as the rubber baron's comments were printed on the adjoining page of the warden's papers. Later in the night, the warden offered to join the ringleader in his last meal. They toasted every criminal: every murderer, insurgent and malingerer that walked under the sun, and proceeded to drown themselves in generous helpings of liquor and sarcasm.

The Perfect Villain

The perfect villain is Mayilvahanam, lawful rowdy extraordinaire, in Hari's 2010 film Singam, portrayed by Prakash Raj

The other day I went with my friends to watch the Hobbits, where the dragon Smaug was a total disappointment. Blowing hot air around in an archaeological excavation site seems to be the best that it can present. On the other hand, I never cease to wonder at the villain of the hit Kollywood epic Singam, a story of the testosterone contest between this fella and the likewise insanely charismatic policeman Duraisingam. Let me now give a (suitably brief) overview of why he totally trashes Smaug (although to be fair, Smaug is quite a straw-man).

ONE - Primary role in the film. As an unusual approach, the movie places primary focus on Mayilvahanam rather than the policeman, whose name I have temporarily just forgotten. The movie opens with his fake heart attack and ploy to ensnare an opponent gangster, whereas Duraisingam is only introduced afterwards. The movie seems at some places less of Duraisingam's exploits than it is about the fall of Mayilvahanam.

TWO - Capability. Mayilvahanam is portrayed as an extremely competent gangster. The aforementioned mind game overture that marked his entry is just one side of his canniness. In addition, he holds real sway over the politics of Chennai and Tamil Nadu, having dipped his fingers in almost all construction projects in Chennai even being close personal friends with the Tamil Nadu home minister.

THREE - Deviousness. The narrator describes Mayilvahanam as a "lawful rowdy", as he never openly breaks any law. His main source of income is from blackmail, by threatening to blow the whistle on people cheating on taxes. The carefulness with which he conducts his activities is well-illustrated. After an operation in which he threatens to kidnap the son of a businessman, a subordinate was severely berated of having shown his pistol in public. Dirty work such as murder and kidnapping are relegated to subcontractors. Legal counsel is sought from a lawyer (!) in his inner cabal, who ensures that the boss himself stays out of trouble.

FOUR - Popular support. The contest between Mayilvahanam and Duraisingam is also partly a contest for followers. At the beginning of the film, Mayilvahanam enjoyed enormous influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and even beyond (e.g. Harbour Shanmugam's gang in Tuticorin and the gang in Andhra Pradesh who facilitated his attempt to escape the country). In a way, the turning point of the contest and the coup de grâce to Mayilvahanam's reign in Chennai came about mainly through the police officer's systematic rehabilitation of his followers.

FIVE - Humanness. Mayilvahanam's is not that of a out-of-control other, indifferent to human emotions. The grief that came from Duraisingam's execution of his brother is especially poignant when it was coupled with his flailing emotional pleading to the police officer, saying "He's a family man!" The fall of Mayilvahanam is hence a thoroughly personal defeat, much more than it is a simple curbing of a natural force as the slaying of a dragon or putting off a forest fire. The presence of his redeeming qualities also justified Duraisingam's prevailing intention to rehabilitate rather than to eliminate his opponents, and to make his fall even more of a tragedy.

It should not be judged that Smaug was written by someone with half a brain; Tolkien had written his novel for children, who are generally not supposed to have learned about "economic crimes" and other such complicated nonsense, and Peter Jackson probably have much more enthusiasm for big fireballs than making characters seem convincing, which also makes some kind of sense. In the contest between Mayilvahanam and Smaug, however, it is the former who wins by a landslide by being an interesting and engaging villain.

Tamana

Your quest is my objective, as long as I live,
Of you alone I talk, while I have a tongue.
God knows how it all may end,
Impatient am I, intemperate he.
For you alone I yearn, if yearn at all,
You are my desire, if I harbour one.
Much have I travelled in the garden of this world,
Peerless is the flower of friendship in its scent and hue.
A blessing is the sense of sight, the sight of friends a boon,
You and I will cease to be, once our eyes are shut.
Who else, o Dard, should my eyes accost?
He alone is present wheresoever I look.

-- Khwaja Mir Dard (1721-1785)

An Outdated and Disorganised Account of my 2010 Trip to Irkutsk and the Baikal

The approach to Irkutsk

10 July 2010: Flying In

Summary:
0100 - 0700: Flight SQ800 from Singapore to Beijing (Singapore Airlines)
1100 - 1500: Flight HU7967 from Beijing to Irkutsk (Hainan Airlines)
1500 - 1700: Russian customs hell
1700 - 1900: Long taxi ride to Listvyanka
2000 - 2200: Random new friends dragged us onto boat, force-fed us local cuisine and tequila.

Let's just say that the plane passes through a lot of China before it reaches Irkutsk... The first flight brought us to Beijing, which means I huiguo'd again for a little while, and again enjoyed the assortedness of the country... nevertheless, Beijing (at least where the airport is at) seems like one of the less messy places in China.

Flight SQ800 landed in Beijing Capital Airport, in the new terminal featuring extravagant archirecture for inspiring awe in foreigners.
Terminal 3 has a skytrain from the gates to luggage collection, which is good. It is also a 20 minutes' drive from the other terminals, which is not.
Flight HU7967 took off from Terminal 2, through gate no. f-ckall and a ferry bus whose driver was asleep for a good half-hour while we waited.
The flight was delayed. I regrettably did not take note for how long, but I fell asleep and the plane was still on the ground when I woke up. It was speculated that an official might have been making a visit to the airport. The service on board this flight was good though, better than any other flight I've been on this year.

The airport was pretty small; only 4 counters served the incoming flight, and each person in the queue took ~5-10 minutes getting their pages stamped. People are taxed by the organic produce they bring into this part of the country, and some travellers from China (who are wont to carry all sorts of random produce like fruits, peanuts, cucumbers etc. around) become especially vulnerable at this juncture.

11 July 2010: The Town of Listvyanka

Listvyanka town is a smallish town on the coast of Baikal, ~70km southeast of Irkutsk city. It sits near the lake's southwestern end, and occupies 6 inflowing streams out of the 3000+ that flow into it.

The town consists of one main axis (Ulitsa Gor'kogo), along the shore, and 6 valleys that reach inland.
They don't seem to have names, and so I name them according to street name, from east to west:
1. Partisanskaya Valley, at the eastern edge of town. The place is full of folks who look asian, and I'm just going to assume that they're all Buryats, them being the indigenous race of that part of Russia. A Buryat sacred place (oba) also happens to be there, as does the Solar Observatory.
2. Gudina Valley, next to the fish market.
3. Chakayeva Valley, with the war monuments. My hotel is situated on the shoreline between (2) and (3).
4. "Big Valley", the widest valley in town, with Saint Nicholas' Church, bad roads, heaps of horse manure, etc.
5, 6. 2 small, random valleys, beyond which the Baikal museum sits. The town ends here, giving way to another entity called Nikola, where nothing much ever seems to be happening.

Nikola

 
12 July 2010: The Folk of Listvyanka

I am only in Russia for a week, and so have to curb my urges to traverse vast expanses of Siberia on rail (and then try to impress my friends on the "Cities I've Been" map). But never mind. If we stay in this village for a week, at this rate we'll get to know the whole village, and that is not a bad idea too.

Met the Doctor from Irkutsk and his wife, plus a friend from Angarsk (or was the Doctor from Angarsk?), plus a family from Moscow on the balcony of Hotel Mayak. They were in a super good mood. The mood was so good that they dragged us onto the boat and rammed local cuisine and hard liquor down our throats. I must remember to note this funny little ritual the Doctor used as a seal of friendship.
1. Lick the back of your hand and sprinkle salt over it, then lick it again
2. Take a swig of tequila (or whatever beverage)
3. Eat a slice of lemon
It didn't make anyone any more drunk, but it's very interesting.
We were still sane enough to stagger back into the correct room, thanks be to God, thinking what a fortune it is for us to be experiencing Russia in such a short while after touching down in the country.

These were only the visitors, though. The locals are more persistent, and keep coming back after we first get to see them, like recurring characters in a story.

With the Boatman Dude on the Baikal

13 July 2010: Baikal

Expenses for 13 July:
150 rub. Map of Irkutsk and Lake Baikal on the flip-side
100 rub. Map of Listvyanka
300 rub. Bicycle rental (2 hours from 1210h to 1410h) from Big Valley
240 rub. Entrance fee for the Baikal Museum
10 rub. Pack of napkins

 A bike trip.

14 July 2010:

Preparations for the conference banquet, where we snuck home a bottle of free vodka

--

16 July 2010:

Ad hoc Irkutsk City Skirmish:
Start: Hotel Delta, Ul. Karla Libknekhta; from exit turn right
1: Turn right into Ul. Sof'i Perovskoi (direction is SW) (1330 hours)
1a: Lunch at Shanghai Cafe at junction with Ul. Partizanskaya, run by a family from Yanbian (the Korean prefecture in Jilin).
2: Ul. Sof'i Perovskoi leads into Ul. Podgornaya, a very run-down part of town
3: Ul. Podgornaya leads imperceptably into Ul. Timiryazeva.
4: Turn right into Ul. Lenina, a main road of town.
4a: Lenin statue at junction with Ul. Karla Marksa
5: Turn left into Ul. Karla Marksa
5a: Tsar Alexander III statue at end of street, beside the river, and also the Regional Museum.
6: Turn right into park area alongside Gagarina Boulevard. (direction is NNW)
7: Gagarina Boulevard becomes Ul. Tsesovskaya Nabyerezhnaya after the bridge across Angara.
8: Turn right at the first small alley
9: Turn left at alley's exit into Ul. Surikova (direction is ENE)
9a: Past the city's Coal Plant(?), a small park can be seen, plagued with newlyweds. 2 cathedrals and 1 church adorn the far side.
10: Across the park, go south down the far side. This is Ul. Sukhe-Batora
11: Turn left into Ul. Rabochaya.
12: Turn right into Ul. Proletarskaya (direction is SE)
12a: This street is interrupted with a pedestrian mall, where the circus sits.
13: Street ends at Ul. Karla Marksa, cross road and enter Ul. Fur'ye (slightly to left)
14: Street ends at Ul. Dzerzhinskogo, cross road and enter Ul. Chekhova (slightly to left also)
15: Street ends at Ul. Timiryazeva, turn left.
16: Turn right into Ul. Karla Libknekhta, back to hotel. (1915 hours)

Yeonbap

Arranger’s notes, 23 September 2013 

The concert, 18 September 2013: GENUS has pulled off another successful concert this semester in UCC Theatre, the one titled EMCC Food For Thought. It was marketed with a gigantic ice cream in the poster, conveniently despite the fact that ice cream was not one of the featured delicacies in the concert (but ice cream can go with all of them… it can be argued that way…). Yeonbap was second to play in the line-up and was generally well received by the audience and ensemble members.

The song: Yeonbap was one of the soundtracks, composed by Im Se-Hyeon, that were featured in the Korean historical epic Dae Jang Geum. In this serial, a sad orphan Lee Young-Ae enters a palace, becomes a cook, plays palace politics, becomes a doctor, lands a handsome dude, saves the king’s life, and does other pretty interesting stuff. By far the most recognisable tunes associated with the TV show are Onara in the end credits and Changyong in the beginning credits. I chose Yeonbap here because it shows up whenever the stunt double does the cooking, and therefore is the most suited to the concert’s theme (food). Yeonbap itself is rather well-designed for this purpose; the melodic theme progresses from soft to loud, from an appetizer titillating the appetite to a main course so rich it immobilises the guests with satiation.

The arrangement process: The problem was to make it work for a guitar ensemble. Certain flourishes in the original soundtrack were deemed unfeasible and were cut out. House A was grafted into the beginning as an intro, and was an allusion to the melodic theme of Sasom Fågelen, a song by the Swedish singer Lena Willemark. House F was originally intended for Changyong but I later wrote in an angsty wailing number that I thought up out of nothing one sleepless night. House G mops up the residual bloodthirstiness of its predecessor with rumbling basses and contrabasses and eases its progress back to normalcy; I meant it as a nod to the compositional techniques employed by the (Australian) Crooked Fiddle Band to bridge different movements of set tunes such as What the thunder said. The rest of the song stays fairly faithful to the original. Most of the arrangement was done during the exam season of EPFL, where I was studying for a semester-long exchange program; it could have been due to the stress of the examinations that the middle sections were so strident and torturous. The arrangement was completed jubilantly by yours truly while in Brugg, a quiet and uneventful Swiss town where one can finally find the inner peace needed to do such a thing properly.

The performance: Peiqi, Wan Ching and Bei Ying were mobilised to play the drums, the peng ling, the sleigh bells and the cymbals. The cymbals needed a high-pitched, slightly subdued sound and a pair of cymbals the size of a palm was chosen. The peng ling took the role of the triangle, and a barrel drum laid horizontally stood in as an ersatz Janggu. Liangshan was the flautist, playing the Chinese flute (dizi) for the theme and the concert flute for house E, where the notes were too low for the Chinese flute. In bars 154-156, he has decided to play a shrill trilling note to accompany the guitars, which turned out to be so fitting that I forgot that it was not written in the score. Some changes in dynamics were suggested in the course of the rehearsals and these are reflected in the present version of the manuscript.

Technical stuff: Certain difficulties were encountered in the process of translating the scores into playing, which I should explain. The lightly damp technique employed by A2, P1 and P2 is to rest the fleshy outer rim of the right palm on the bridge when plucking the string, allowing just enough flesh to touch the strings that the sound produced becomes muted, but not so much that the sound stops short (as in pizzicato). The marcato bar combined with the staccato dot, seen in the B and CB/Gr parts in house D, denotes a mezzo staccato. Mezzo staccato notes are just slightly separated. In this case, I recommend a little emphasis to be put on the mezzo staccato note, and “bounce” the string with the left hand.

House E has been left at 3/4 timing in writing. In reality, all the sections behave as if playing in 3/4 or 6/8 timing at different times. Where I have tried to indicate accurately when the tune is in 3/4 and when the tune is in 6/8 in other houses, the situation in house E is beyond my sanity tolerance level, and so I apologise for any confusion about the barring of quavers here.