Cars

* Warning: May contain spoilers*

It is strange that this post started with the above line. Have yet to decide how the entry would go. Japan is playing Croatia in the background.

The thriller for Cars does it no justice. I am talking about Cars, the movie that combines cars and small town America. Saw the thriller prior to the screening of The Da Vinci Code. My mind dismissed it off as just another movie about appreciating the smaller things in life. Until I read the reviews.

I know many people place little faith in reading movie reviews. But the trick is actually to find a reviewer with the same taste as yours, or failing which, the exact opposite will also suffice.

The movie was worth every cent the ticket costs. It handles heavy duty topics about how the old always makes way for the young, about how quickly the flow of traffic can change a place, about being good in what you do, about taking things slower and see the roses, about how winning is not everything and yes also about appreciating the finer things in life.

It made cars, a very physically tough object, appear so emotionally vulnerable. It engages you on almost all fronts. It satisfies both the visual and the emotional. You can practically feel the G-force as the cars negotiate the bends. (If you have gone karting, you would know what I mean) You literally feel yourself punching the air in the finale scene.

Finally, as all good movies should do, it makes you ponder about things. To all the drivers out there, when was the last time you took the car out just for a spin, with no destination in mind? Or will you spin me the same old reason that oil prices are at its all time high? Have you done it before when prices were not at this crazy level?

I have. Alone. The first was when I just got my license. And many other times followed. Mostly it was on the way back and you just feel like taking a small detour. Others, it was when the mood seizes you and you feel the mood to drive. There is a certain thrill when the engine comes to life and your fingers grip the steering wheel. Then you release the handbrakes and move where the fancy takes you. Now perhaps you understand my fascination for the motorcycles and Vespas.

And yes, you do not have to have the weight of the world's worries burdening your shoulders, or crying out a broken heart to do so. The best drives are when you feel at peace with yourself, when you wish to spend sometime alone. Leave the alcohol to take care of the others.

Did you see the scenes when Hudson Hornet taught Lightning McQueen how to negotiate the bends? Or how quickly the cute little Italian car changed all McQueen's tires during his pitstop? These are what I call masters in their crafts. Just like the old Chinese adage about a scholar in every occupation.

Have you wondered how the economy today has brought us to the point of generalization? Save for professionals and the bottom rungs of the working ladder who can create something with their bare hands and imaginations, most of us have almost no skill to speak of.

My maternal grandmother who did not receive any basic education was a good cook. I used 'was' because she has lost sight in one eye and can no holder wield a wok. Till today, I have not tasted a rice dumpling better than the ones she used to make when I was young.

One of the drivers in my monopoly has perfect control of the car. He knows the precise timing that the engine will bite if the accelerator is depressed. He can squeeze into the most impossible spaces in traffic and perform the most exquisite lane changes.

Other than them, I know of people who have the gift of the gab and earn a living through sales, people who can take wonderful pictures when given a camera, people who play such a mean game of pool via a perfect control of the cue ball, people who can conceptualise designs for empty spaces in their heads, and people who can make crafts with their hands.

Yet here I am, with my university degree, and unable to even crack an egg.