THE CAT AND MOUSE GAME

In praise of a rib-tickling cartoon series Joseph Barbera, one of the two creators of the cartoon series, Tom & Jerry, passed away last month at the age of 95. The other member of the duo, William Hanna, died in 2001 aged 90. One is likely to feel perhaps that these two lived to a very ripe old age because of their actively imaginative minds or perhaps their wild and wacky sense of humour. Whatever the reason, these two did make several generations of viewers laugh and guffaw helplessly as the cat and the mouse tickled their ribs repeatedly. Hanna and Barbera also created The Flintstones and Scooby Doo. These are funny too, but the Tom & Jerry fans place the cat and mouse well above the dog or the Stone Age man. Masterly inventiveness I first saw a Tom and Jerry cartoon in the early 50's. And since then I have been an avid fan. Even today I prefer watching a Tom & Jerry caper to the melodramatic TV serials or the fast-motion gyrations of the film hero and heroine, not to mention the thirty or forty "dancers" accompanying them in wild abandon. They are also funny in a way, but for all the wrong reasons. Tom & Jerry cartoons are not only hilariously funny, but also demonstrate a highly skilled approach to the medium. All these cartoons are not of uniform merit. The earlier cartoons produced by Fred Quimby and directed by Hanna and Barbera seem to be the best. An outstanding feature in these cartoons was the bouncy music of Scott Bradley. Later Chuck Jones started directing these shorts with music by Eugene Poddany. These were not as good as the older ones. After this came a series directed by Gene Deitch, where laughter was almost non-existent. I have a good collection of the Fred Quimby films in CDs and cassettes. Watching them frequently makes one see certain factors in the cartoons that attract one to them. The main theme in all these films is the underdog getting the better of a more powerful adversary. Since the audience sympathy is with the weaker of the two, we enjoy seeing Jerry the mouse overcoming Tom the cat. Jerry manages this with ingenious tricks and a brash cheekiness. The warmth of friendship Sometimes Jerry is helped by some friends whom he helps in return. In `The Flying Cat' a little bird helps Jerry. In `The Bodyguard' it is a bulldog called Butch. "If you need me, just whistle" says the dog, and Jerry spends most of his time whistling and getting Tom into trouble. Jerry's cousin who is a tough character comes to his rescue in `Jerry's Cousin'. A baby elephant helps too. Sometimes Tom and Jerry help each other against a common adversary. All this mutual help evokes a warm feeling in the audience. The ending of the film is like a wish fulfilment for the viewer. The Fred Quimby productions were very high in technical values. The drawing, the animation, the sound effects and the music - all blended beautifully to create masterpieces. They won seven Oscars. Perhaps the greatest of these films is `Cat Concerto'. It is a work of genius that won an Oscar. Tom is a pianist giving a solo recital. The way he bows to the audience, his eyebrows going up and eyelids drooping superciliously prefaces the fun to come. He starts playing a classical piece, Hungarian Rhapsody. Jerry having a nap inside the piano is disturbed, and decides to wreck the performance. What follows is a hilarious alternation of classical and pop music. In the end, an exhausted Tom collapses on the keyboard, while Jerry quickly dons a dark coat and takes a bow. The great inventiveness of this film lies in the way in which a well known piece of classical music is given a twist to suit Jerry's mischief. My wife and I sit and watch Tom & Jerry as often as we can. Sometimes visitors observing our pastime wear a quizzical look as if wondering what two senior citizens are up to watching kid stuff. But we go on as usual even at the risk of being dubbed juvenile. J.VASANTHAN (e-mail: jvasanthan@sancharnet.in) Date:13/01/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/01/13/stories/2007011300380400.htm

CHILDHOOD GAMES

There was a wide variety of games for children to play those days Those days, many many years ago when I was a small boy, there was a lot of open space for us to play in. Close to our house in Kovilpatti there was a huge maidan where the boys of our street played football and hockey. Wide open spaces for playing Every house in the street had a huge compound where also we could play games like tennikoit, kabadi (called chadugudu those days), marbles and hide and seek. We also used the road which was usually deserted except for an occasional bicycle. Motorbikes and scooters were unheard of. And there were only two cars in our town which plied in a different area far away from ours. On the road we played games like chillaankuchi and kambuthenni. Chillaankuchi was a game that had a slight resemblance to cricket. A short stick was used to hit a small piece of wood. There were fielders who could catch it and declare the hitter out. There was something like running between wickets and scoring runs. But it was a native game and much older than cricket in our area. In kambuthenni all the players used sticks that were about four feet long. Lots were drawn and the loser had to lay down his stick. The others had to push it along with their sticks while the boy with the grounded stick tried to touch them. The players had to touch some stone or rock with their sticks to become immune. The technique was to approach the stick from two or three sides to make it easier to dodge the boy. When he has succeeded in touching someone, he will have to bring the stick back to base without drawing his breath - somewhat as in kabadi. On moonlit nights we played games like hide and seek, or guess what. In the latter game things were divided into six sections - man, woman, child, animal, vegetable and mineral. By asking a series of questions one was supposed to guess what had been thought of by the group. This was the only game in which girls were allowed to join us, and they did very well too. The girls played some games among themselves. These included skipping, pallaanguli and a game called paandi, which involved a lot of hopping on one foot. For windy and rainy days Sometimes we played with clockwork toys like a somersaulting motorcycle. Every time there was a heavy rain many ponds formed in our neighbourhood. We used these for sailing our paper boats. My grandfather once bought me a very beautiful clockwork motor boat. Immediately after the rains stopped we took this boat to the ponds. The boat had a propeller and a rudder, and when we plied the boat in the ponds, many local people gathered to watch. We also utilized the rains for `bathing'. We stood under the cascade falling from the roof. My child-like grandmother also romped about with us in the rain watched by her adoring spouse. On windy days it was kite flying. We made our own kites which rarely flew steadily, but that was part of the fun. The indoor games we played included carom, snakes and ladders and a card game called literature, which was meant to improve one's memory and thinking ability. Once when I was about four or five years old my grandfather challenged me to a game of marbles. He couldn't squat like I could, but stood bent double and played. He groaned and grunted, but played on gamely till the end. I won, and thought at that time that I had really won. Later I realized that he must have deliberately lost just to make me feel good. When I think back upon that time, I am struck by the wide variety of games that we played. They were of all types, and tested various skills in us and paved the way for healthy competition and general camaraderie. The only game that we did not play, and never thought of playing was cricket. Well, times certainly seem to have changed! J.VASANTHAN jvasanthan@sancharnet.in Date:10/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/02/10/stories/2007021000470400.htm

REMEMBERING Dr. T V V

A multifaceted model for youngsters to emulate Sometime in 1986 I was on the lookout for a house on the ground floor, since my physician had advised me to avoid climbing stairs, following a heart problem. I was told that there was a house available for rent owned by Dr.T.V.Venkatesan, and situated just adjacent to the house where he lived. I had heard a lot about Dr.TVV. He was an eminent dermatologist, and a pioneering one in Madurai. He had won many accolades not only in his profession but also in the clubs he belonged to. He was the District Governor of the Lions Club and during his tenure his district stood second in the entire world in membership growth. He was an important member of the Madura College Board. Later, I heard that he had missed the President's Award by a whisker. A quiz contest So I approached him with some awe and trepidation, wondering whether he would give his house to a non-vegetarian. But my fears vanished because of the warmth with which he greeted me. When he heard that I was a professor of English, the conversation took an entirely different turn. " `To be or not to be, that's the question' who said that?" the doctor asked. "Hamlet" I answered. "All the world's a stage"? "Jaques in `As You Like It' " I said. And for the next half an hour the Shakespeare quiz went on. The doctor didn't ask me whether I was a vegetarian or not, whether I belonged to this religion or that. He didn't ask me how many people were there in my family - the usual questions that landlords ask prospective tenants. But with the doctor it was Shakespeare all the way. And thanks to the Bard, I was given the key to the house straightaway. When we moved into the house — No.21, Jawahar Road- Dr.TVV was there to welcome us. And later he periodically visited us for a chat. During one of these visits he showed me a photograph of himself as Mark Antony striking a dramatic pose. He had done this bit of mono-acting, delivering Antony's oration, in club meetings. I was surprised by his zeal in playing these roles - something surprising in a medical practitioner. Later, I heard that in a conversation with someone close to him, he had said, "Whenever I do anything, I totally surrender myself to it. There may be some in the audience who joke and laugh about me later, though they applaud while I perform. But I don't care. They are the Roman mob, more to be pitied than condemned. Medicine is my profession, but all the other things - Lionism, education and acting - are my escapisms." Unfortunately I never had an opportunity of seeing Dr.TVV perform. Folk tales But, I heard him narrating folk tales with great gusto. Those days I used to go for walks in the Race Course. Sometimes Dr.TVV joined me for a short round. On these occasions he told me some tale or the other. The one he seemed to like very much was about a man who had new trousers made, and found that they were three inches too long. He asks his wife to reduce the length by three inches. She excuses herself saying that she is too busy. Next he asks his sister; and she too declines giving some lame excuse. Then he asks his mother, and she too backs off. Later that night when everyone sleeps, the wife feeling bad about dodging the job, takes the trousers and cuts off three inches. After awhile the sister does the same, and then the mother. When the man tries it on the next morning it comes down just to his knees. The doctor called this "operation without cooperation". At home, while at dinner, the doctor regaled his family with witty conversation about sports, education, politics etc. He also organized contests for them and awarded prizes. He joked and laughed and played with his children, grandchildren and other young relatives, thereby giving them a healthy view of life to be lived with joy. The doctor often said that he would like to die with his boots on - right in the midst of working. And so it happened. On 1st December, 1994, he attended on a patient and then was getting ready to go for a Board meeting in a college when he had a seizure and passed away within a couple of hours. He was 78. J.VASANTHAN (jvasanthan@sancharnet.in) Date:24/02/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/thehindu/mp/2007/02/24/stories/2007022400290300.htm