IF by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you   

    Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

    But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

    Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

    And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;   

    If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

    And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

    Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

    And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

    And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

    And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

    To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

    Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,   

    Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

    If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

    With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,   

    And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Films:A visual treat

I was very young when my grand mother used to tell me stories.I remember being wide awake although she did so that I can sleep well with happy thoughts.I remember having goosebumps everytime justice prevailed in a story and how in the end everything was supposed to have a morale or an experience.The concept of film-making is the same.Using all sensory signals,story,scripting ,brilliant screenplay and acting being one of the medium if not all.However that would do gross injustice to the magic it creates,the dreams it builds,the make believe ,the inspiration,the learnings which can only be possible through a feature film.How do you expect a medley of strangers sitting in front of a giant projector in a dark room laughing at  the same jokes,becoming emotional in some sequences,getting angry at the same characters waiting for redemption and by the end relating to some character which stays with them in some way.Why are there ardent critics and ardent fans of the same experience.It is because it is supposed to be an experience ,a story.Some love it and some love to hate it.I am an ardent fan of Tom Hanks more so because of the movie "Forrest Gump" which ranks top among the best movies ever made.If you have managed to catch this movie you cant help but not relate to "Life is like a box of chocolates,you never know which one you gonna get" or "Run Forrest Run" whenever you are cursing fate or whenever you are looking for that extra little motivation in your life.It works for me.May not work for someone else.Once again.The word.Experience.Thats film-making.The art of film-making which is now an industry originated first in the form of drama when aspirant artists,authors and actors  looking for a creative high used to orate stories in front of live audience which slowly evolved to enacting make believe scenes  enhancing the audience response.That evolved into today's theatre ,a breeding ground for today's actors to enhance their skills.There are no retakes here,no editing.Just you and the audience.Theatre evolved into film-making to make that extra effort plausible for the audience to come in and love what they see.The special effects,the VFX,the action sequences are an obvious ploy to commercialize the same but you cant disagree that this only makes the experience of spending two hours of your day  better.Then there is love.Yes ,love.There I said it.So many industries work and have jobs because we humans have emoting capabilities unlike any other.We love,we hate,we get angry.The myriad of emotions can best be summarized in one basic human emotion:loving someone and the need to feel loved.But no industry understands it better than the film industry.The films now categorised as comedy,thriller,suspense,state of affairs,romantic comedies were once just plain and simple love stories.Casablance.Check.Sleepless in Seattle.Check.No one knew Romeo-Juliet,Heer-Raanjha,Sohni-Mahiwal that well before there were films.There were stories.There were the audience.It enthralled many generations before.It enthralls today and we believe the concept of story telling in a film which we consume as entertainment continues to enthrall millions in the future too.