Of Stars and Hyperbole

It's never about the view.
Always about the perspective.
But, nothing truly acquires significance of any kind without a context.

In this trail of thought, along the queues of people trying to get home on the last but one day of the year, the word, star got stuck in my head.

Had some interpretations that caused friction enough to not be sucked into the quick sand of my multitude of muddled mindlessness:

1. Stars- the twinkling types that sometimes you get lucky enough to see in the afternoon sky, a lovely image, with a half washed away painted moon in the light blue sky
2. Stars - stare at the sun long enough peering through fingers with your eyes half closed
3. Stars - actors and their much awaited (by whom and how come) crap
4. Stars in real life, best friends at one stage and strangers at another, what motivates them to become so different from what you remember? Did you also change that much?
5. Christmas Stars - To all the places decorated with the hullabaloo.

Really what's with such blatant marketing?
Restaurants and Cafes playing carols in the last week of Christmas but never do we hear Vakratunda Mahamaya or Aygiri Nandini during the hyperbole of Chaturthi or Dussehra?
Every radio channel celebrating and wishing their listeners
Every brand marketing Christmas ideas, are you really that stupid? Diwali is the biggest most expensive festival in India, or did you think your targeted average middle class consumer is so psyched to spend at the end of the month and end of the year for a holiday that holds no significance except that it is a chutti?
Oh and before I forget, the sales galore everywhere for Christmas and New Year, seriously when did the common man have any money left at the end of the month?
And why would anyone spend so much on clothing that will be locked away in a couple of months or maybe more or did everyone forget that Winter is a short and mostly non existent season in many parts of modern day India?

For the sake of full disclosure, words such as signal, signage, stifle, stupor went in but the nursery rhyme enthusiast in me got stuck with this!

Slummatters

A friend asked me for my opinion/feelings about Slums, and I was surprised to know that I did have a collection of easily recall-able images and a surface recollection led to this.

Passing through a scenario of despair every single day would certainly have made me immune and indifferent to it, at least thats what I expected.
Even a thing of beauty becomes commonplace after a while, but somehow a thing that is so filled with reasons for anger or pain doesn't create apathy.

Finer details come to the surface.
There are men who come across as wastrels or louts but suddenly some faces seem less drunk and more like honourable men who are ready to take risks and work harder than any of their little better to do counterparts.
Children who seemed half dressed and starved suddenly seem more mature, more at home with the aspect of hunger and poverty, more patient that makes their innocence even more precocious.
The women who sustain for their families their entire lifespans, instead of being seeped into bitterness smile in flashes, smiles that speak of servitude and in spite of that a deeply rooted faith that there will be better days ahead, never mind that it is the next generation.

The place itself has a living throbbing quality to it, that is unmatched by even the most busiest roads and neither by those parties with the highest noise levels, the kinds that go on to the wee hours of the night without a wink.

The streets might be littered, and might not be streets at all but the locally available stone or cement slab that was just put together, a street worn down to more pebble than mud and tar or might just be plain, tarnished earth, but still have enough light to guide you gently.

Stolen electric lines, criss crossing to form a canopy that will beat the trellises we design, naked, dangling bulbs that are light every fifty or more paces provide better lighting than the main roads.

In a place filled mostly with despair and unbridled examples of life lived on leftovers, the doors are left wide open, not because they have nothing to lose, but because they are more willing to welcome life and the problems it brings, and more than anything else, because they know how to share.

Time, water, food, money, emotions, you name it and they will teach you how to give and how not to fear taking.
And not just with other people, but also with animals and all other forms of life.
Dogs do not go looking for garbage and are friendlier than the ones we feed Pedigree.
Birds do not need cages, but come back here because they are sure to be fed and not shooed away.
Plants are watered the day they have some, but somehow they sustain long enough till it comes.

The examples are endless and instances are many.

However, the most important facet that strikes me about slums, is how confident they are in the face of the worst forms of adversity.

Caste/religion, sex and money, the three most important ruling forces in a country like ours, those that seal the fate on every person, leave these people unperturbed.

Come calamity, caste disparity or be it a case of superiority, the inhabitants of these slums, are if not cool, collected, in terms of their wits and in terms of choosing their people too.

I agree, not all is glory but the fact that even if they do not overcome a problem, they have learnt to fight it, keep it at bay and if nothing else works, stick together and learn to live alongside it, this grit is what keeps them ticking.

A united front and the live and let live policy, something the rest of the society can certainly use, what say?

Not in so many words!

As I watch more and more TV these days, whether I'm waiting at a dentist's or at a restaurant or in a line at the billing counter, I find myself waiting for the programme/ song to end and for the commercial break to begin..
Why? Since I'm never too tired for a tirade, let the rhetoric begin...

Small is beautiful, Less is more...

"eppudu occham annadi kaadanniya, bullet diginda leda annadi"

This being the presiding rule of thumb in today's life and media, and sometimes where the bullet isn't just a metaphor, the fifteen seconds/minutes/days of fame has to be the most aspired for ambition in most lives today.

From reality shows to being a participant of the numerous dance/singing/idol/stunt/talent competitions, it's not the title or the award but this that they all seem to really want.

And amidst all the players involved, the TV channel, the programme producers, the participants/actors, the so called judges, the Phone networks, the one player that seems to be making a direct impact and influence on the audience and gain from all this is the ADVERTISING sector.

Most ads today do not market their products or the brand image of the company but market a way of life that one should aspire for.

Since, the entire picture isn't possible, in most cases not immediately and in some not ever, the product becomes the sole goal for instant gratification.
A car company says they mean joy, a clothes brand sells appearances and in a country where we still have B/W TVs and six hour power cuts, there are advertisements to lure the working middle class families into high quality, digital output viewing, and its not TV any more but an experience to vie for.

The best advertisement in this category award certainly to our Mobile phone service providers whose service is shoddy at best and non existent ten kilometres out of the city precincts, rendering even the best 3G equipped phone useless.

Then there are ads that play to your other feelings, making you smile and also making you proud.
Ready made slogans about your rural counterparts, that no one, not even they themselves can paint in such bright and happy colours, and what is the best method for them, not to use a particular product but for the best method to live in this so called modern world and to emulate this frenetic pace of life that is headed nowhere.

Celebrities using their personal lives as attention gaining magnets, and ad makers bring in more children, attributing to the cute factor of an ad, ensuring it lasts longer in our memories, thereby guaranteeing that even if I don't really like the product, I will remember the product and try it out!

The newest trend also gaining interest and becoming a theme contender for most ads, is going Green.
And to their benefit, most of the people who go with the flow on this one, are ill informed and are so apathetic to the state of nature around them, that just by buying this so called green friendly product, they assuage their peer guilt.

And then come the entertaining advertisements, ads that we remember for the music, the style, innovation and the visual quality meaning not only the graphics but also the locations and the models both!
Again, providing the product maker/seller a solid hold on to people's subtler emotions therefore creating more sales.

A rough categorization now in place, I stop to marvel, not at myself, but at the reach of these teeny tiny videos, media that we are exposed to such an extent, that we cannot help but be influenced, and carried with the flow.

Then why is there a sense of being manipulated or is it just me being paranoid?

I am not sure what the statistics suggest but this player makes money, gets attention and also manages to entertain, unlike the shows themselves.

And this last factor being the part why they manage to influence people into buying what they are selling, not just the physical commodity but also the ideology that they are propagandizing!

Nevertheless, whatever the reasons, this portion of media is more powerful today than all our news channels and serials and everything on TV put together, because, they are precise and easy to digest, and what's more come with a delightful after taste that too with a flavour of your own choice and making.

And I'm certainly not complaining..at least not much!

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha Darlings!

Before I reiterate the fact that it's a different, offbeat, superb, awesome movie, let me just say this...It's pointless to make a movie of this sort for an Indian Audience at least in India.
Why?
Here goes:
The doors to the auditorium open, people are jostling, rubbing shoulders, carrying popcorn and beverages, talking about the weekend and tax payments, teasing, complimenting their friends and partners...pretty much normal on the surface...
Doing this whilst giggling as if caught doing something naughty, checking out others and sharing that camaraderie with strangers, winking and nodding...
Advertisements done, certificate comes in, people are still murmuring, chuckling and the titles come in, people are laughing, 10 mins in, impatient and jittery audiences begin letting out those tightly reined in thoughts,"Arre..aage badh, kuch kar toh sahi" and so on...
A kiss and a bedroom scene, audience is disappointed, no sign of sex so far...

Mid movie, a period of silence, after a scene that is very distressing, a character walks in, is jaunty and uses swear words, the audience is in splits!
Anticipation building up again, not for what promises to be an interesting storyline but for a sex scene, as the second part of the title promises...

Thanks to our conservative Censor Board, and here I have to say, I am not being sarcastic, merely truthful, thanks to them, the scene is limited and where some are cheering some are disappointed the second time around, and the sighs tell us clearly to what extent.

Interval ke baad, refreshed and ready to do some more munching, hopes anew, our folks pile back in eagerly and a tall, slender actress playing a wannabe pop star comes in and cheering again...

Loud amicable laughter is shared, jokes are made and yet no real scenes..
Movie khatam hote hote, the impact hits, a very subconscious message is driven in, (primarily because the conscious self is busy to grasp it), and we walk out.
Titles and the song, "LSD - Title Track", people are tapping their feet, clapping happily and nods of approval are passed all around.

All because the title of the movie and the hype about the ending titles track led them to expect and even anticipate explicit scenes, that too on the big screen.
I wonder why our folks think that a daring title is an invitation to legalised porn on 70mm screens?

This is in Multiplexes where tickets cost a hundred rupees or more, snacks cost another couple of that much used notation, and people wear branded or expensive clothes, come by self owned bikes and cars with all the baggage that educated, urban people in 2010 are supposed to carry around.

The movie that is hard hitting and real, that talks about how cheap we can get and how technology aids and abetts us to sate our desires(pun intended), about how easy or difficult it is to give in and the consequences of each, is certainly going to make money, if not in the "Adi sir" range, at least enough to make a decent meeting of ends.

The kind of presentation that was used for showing us the movie, the cameras and the techniques used, the format of the script, the story telling, the cast, the music and the titles and the editing, everything about the movie was new, vivid and seriously done.
Here the word seriously can also be considered passionate, truthfully, dedicated-ly and all that connotes good work.

What was outstanding about the movie however, was the emotional strings that were pulled pretty strongly, whether people realised it or not, in some places by extreme displays and in some by a tiny subtle move, much like in real life(am guessing that's the concept!).

A film that's fiction rooted in truth, stories that we hear and read about everyday, and watch on our numerous television channels, stories that only happen to and with other people, it entertains not because of the name or the theme of sex running through the movie, but because of the style and andaaz in which the movie was made.

Loved the movie, hated that it released here.
Wishing that it goes to all the International Film Festivals there are, gets the value it is supposed to get from Adults, (for whom by the way, it was meant!) and someday I get invitations and opportunities to go to those verysame film festivals and don't have to share an auditorium with these jerkos(Pun Definitely Intended!)and fools.

Zee or back to A?

One side effect thats kind of good to being jobless is that I get to spend more time with my folks, doing the things they like to do...
Hence my tryst with TV and Zee, started anew after Hip Hip Hurray( a super duper serial series every Wednesday, 7:30 pm in 1998) and the prime time serials that have my mom hooked had to be watched..without fail!

From 7:30pm to 10:00pm, six shows that have families and Indian women as their central themes.
And in every story, there is a love story, a saas-bahu or a bhabi-nayi dulhan or a landlord-opressed heroine equation.
A series about Jhansi Ki Rani Laxmi Bai, revolves around her childhood, her becoming the Rani and eventually her fighting off the British, though we are still stuck at the time frame of her getting married to a king who's twice her age.
Here there are subplots of wicked women trying to kill the king, overthrow him and take the throne, and a mother figure who obviously gets possessive of the king being enamored with his new wife and a naachwaali who wants to be the queen and then submits because of our queen's inherent goodness.
Admist all this is a subplot where an old man, the child queen's dad is put in a spot, all part of a bigger conspiracy.
He is sentenced to marry a girl his daughter's age as the fair king decides that the girl who is said to have been raped or mislead by this man should be meted out justice in this manner.
Well, believable, acceptable that being the 1840's and Indian society being the way it was.

Now, the pea beneath my mattress being the next show, Pavitra Rishta.
Set in contemporary Mumbai, this is about two middle class Marathi families, who have members working in Garages, Banks, Railways and Private Sector Companies, who are constantly exposed to all media including TV and Internet, and behave like any other family next door.

Here the serial focuses on the main protagonists oncoming divorce, the main lead's re-marriage to his late brother's pregnant fiance ( aakhir aane wale bacchen ko baap ka naam milna chahiye na... i.e the baby being born should not be a bastard child and have a dad...) which in itself is full of loopholes.
The subplot being the hero's sister who is traumatised by a bad guy ( every serial has to have that, a bad guy who is bad, just because!).
He takes offensive pictures that are so taken to give an image that he has raped her, and then goes around the place mouthing apologies for raping her! ( you get the subtext right? he wants to badmouth her, so he badmouths her saying he has destroyed her, uska izzat loot liya hain and all the while no one asks why is he announcing it if he is actually ashamed of that heinous crime as he is propaganding to be?)
All the while, the girl feels ashamed, wants to commit suicide, and then as a way out gets married to the same loser bad guy, because no one will believe her and no one will marry her.

My questions now are :

1. In India, in the 1840's maybe a woman had to have a husband to defend herself, and her izzat was up for questioning, so maybe that was her only way out other than suicide or becoming an outcaste.
In India, even in 2010, is that the only option?

All my childhood, the late 80's and 90's Hindi and Telugu movies showed us women who were side supporting cast, getting raped and getting married to the villain to protect their honour..so called honour.
Does a woman being raped still mean a woman being degraded and because of that her life coming to a screeching halt? or more, is it a dead end?

With every trauma, every societal abuse that a women faces, halts accompany.
Perspectives shift on a personal level and everything about that woman or person will change, fight, rebel, accept defeat or cringe at the injustice meted out to her/him by fate.
But, getting married, or in essence joining forces with the personal demon an option?
Or is suicide because the person is unwilling to continue an option?
I understand that even in today's India, even in our most developed cities, women who hail from conservative families will want to close themselves and hide the shameful incident, but what I cannot understand is why they chose to be ashamed of something that is not their doing?
In a world, where sex is extremely becoming casual, whether the well-educated and well to do families think it so or call it dating or moving with the times or the middle class call it affairs or the lower classes, the more numbered populace below poverty class and a little above rung of struggling to maintain families of 5 on an income of 10k per month call it something else, something more shameful or nothing at all, the truth persists.
Casual Sex is commonplace more so in our country, in all the shadows and nooks and crannies that we subconsciously avoid.
In this world, a woman is to be ashamed of being raped?
Or is she to be rightfully furious and prejudiced against the world that allows this?

2. Our media, with all its high technology, its widespread reach and ability to entertain and influence, with all of its throbbing talent and intelligence, is trying to gain TRPs through pushing us back to the 19th Century?

I know we are a corrupt nation, a pretty backward nation in terms of prejudices and societal notions, but a nation that allows rape to be embalmed and patronized on Prime Time National Television ( Ok, I know, strictly speaking DD qualifies for that term, but using it in the term of a channel with a national reach, regional channels includes many other television channels now) for a family audience?
Women and children who are the keys to the way a family thinks, especially where family matters that are not about business or making money but about family values and principles, are given these messages on a repeated basis.

Sindur and Ghunghat is of prime importance for a respectable women.
Husband and father are of utmost importance, never to be questioned.
Shaadi ruk jaaye after the cards are printed, because the guy is a cheapo, girl will never get a good rishta again.
Child marriage is still acceptable in Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Dark girl gets bad guy, lower caste woman cannot be adopted into a Pundit's family.
Pregnancy before being a Mrs. on records is to be ashamed of, whether the girl was raped or the groom died on his way to the mandap or the girl and the guy were in love.
And so on...

From a matriarchal society to a patriarchal one, to one where we are now embracing values of the west, where our news channels are constantly bring up faltoo discussions on live in relationships and love marriages( though they have been commonplace for more than 60 years now, whether upfront or not) our prime time TV is all about values my great grandmother believed in..or even before that, when girl child education was taboo, and sati accepted.

Luckily, my mother was educated and enjoys the farce.
What about my maid and her mom?
Or what about her cousin who lives in rural Telangana and is married with a kid although she turned 19 on the 16th of this March?
What about all of them in other rural districts, soon to be claimed states in the rest of my country who watch this on their colour TVs whenever they have electricity?

Why is it that Zee and other family channels, with their hit serials, (Balika Vadhu and Bhagya Vidhata on Colors, Godbharai on Sony, Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hain and Bidai on Star Plus) seem to be passing on these viewpoints through so called entertainment and Drama/ Serials/ Soaps?

In this context, not to forget, Splitsvilla and Dare to Date on MTV and Channel V respectively, tried very hard but couldn't watch more than 3 minutes ( a personal record) of even a single episode of any season.

Why are we sticking to the value systems that neither the makers nor the viewers nor the performers believe in?
Is this the only form of entertainment left to us on a daily basis on our TV screens?

Anyway, learnt two thing froms this entire tryst, one I shouldn't be watching this and should be wary of all who are watching it, never know when one auntyji might come and call me names.
And two, there is a dearth of talent in our media industry, and a huge opportunity for the Farhan Akhtar and the Abhay Deol types.
Only requisites being Talent, thode bahut paise and industry contacts to gain a foothold, before riding in to change the way our women think.

Anyone out there? Let me know, I'll work for very less and be very committed!

the ROAD, MOVIE movie!

@my conscience: stop raising that eyebrow, i know it's been a while, but today had to write here so, without further preamble...

kya movie tha yaaron!

tha nahin hain, road, movie hain uska naam and Abhay Deol has proved once again that he is certainly of a different mould, he makes movies that make an impact just by being made.
A Reality based fiction, fun movie.
Not a message oriented, hard hitting reality, but one that is woven with surreal experiences, surreal because they are so probable!
I know for a believer and one being carried away on a tide, sub kuch mumkin hain, but honestly, fact is often stranger than fiction and sometimes illogical only because we use logic to create limits and draw boundaries.

The script however improbable (or for folks like me, probable!), the characters played by the actors are real, very real.
Satish Kaushik reminds us why the audience fell in love with him be it in movies like MR.India or Gharwali Baharwali, and can acutally be forgiven for all those debacles that he made in the early 2000's( can I actually say that? 2000's??) including the recent "Karzzzz"....zzzzz.

Actress Tannishtha Chatterjee,(for those of who you are seeing her first time, an out and out offbeat films actress whose only film I have seen being Bas Yun Hi, where she plays a side role, and one of the reasons why I even saw the movie being Nandita Das, and you all know, how much I adorrrrrre her!) was perfect, emotive without being dramatic, intense without being scary and very very beautiful.
Before I eventually go on to attempt to write poetry or verse about Abhay Deol, I have to mention two things here.

One, the kid in the movie, Mohammed Faisal, was awesome, not just because he literally looked like a boy next door but because he had an alacrity and a presence that most child actors are devoid of..and I hope the pernicious film Industry impact doesn't ruin that, turning him into an Ad-boy.

One.Five- One and A Half, Virendra Saxena, the actor who played the policeman, a brief role, was as usual, great.
You might remember him from Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na or Dil Hain Ki Manta Nahin in the side roles or from a multitude of other movies where he plays similar, small roles or from Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin, a popular SONY TV serial (an Indian version of Ugly Betty, the very popular series from ABC, US of A!).

Two, for more on Tannishtha Chatterjee, checkout Brick Lane(Based on Monica Ali's book of the same name).
Starring her, duh! and Satish Kaushik, (now you might get the thread on the other reason as to how and why she was here in this movie, and knit the yarn for the gossip train, whether that may be true or co-incidental), and the fact is that she is a very very talented actress, and is a powerful actor too (don't see the difference, think baba, think! accha, never mind! just quit reading me I'm sure it will be easier! but I'll make you pay for it).

BTW if you get a DVD on Brick Lane or The White Elephant or Barah Anna, do let me know!

NOW, rushing to Abhay Deol, last year, Dev-D, before that Manorama Six Feet under, and now this, Man, I know you must get this a lot, but you are just one heck of a guy.
Handsome, sexy, intelligent, silent( since I don't know him personally, as I'd really like to, in terms of the low profile publicity) and to top it all, a very subtle and strong actor.
Dhanya hain aap, and dhanya-er hain hum because I got to see this movie and all the others you made before that.
One man I am surely going to hound, if I ever get that degree in MASSCOM for a job, it will be a great learning experience I'm sure to work with a guy who makes such movies.
What perks me up about his movies are these roles, with all these shades of grey, green, indigo and cobalt blue ( you noticed that I'm avoiding red, orange, yellow and copper-sulphate?) that just get osmosis-ed into your head and you notice them only when you cite them as examples to describe something else.

Ok, have had my fill for now!
Moving on..

The movie as such had a bizzare script, but the rest of it, screenplay, direction and even technically more than made up for it.

Elements like tiffin dabbas and water bottles being carefully placed by the women of the house, rural women travelling distances for water, the tel maalish, the mela beginning with the movie screening, the chori of the police being matched by the protagonists, Charlie Chaplin, the dacoits driving in, the shyness of the old man and so many other scenes, tiny pieces of obviousness so missing from what we regularly see on the screen had me laughing with an obliviousness to the sparse audience around me, enveloping and involving me and others too in the movie, again, something so rare these days.

The visuals are a treat not in a mushy~Switzi or a hearty~Punjabi and not even an intense~Vishal Bharadwajish kind but a fullout arid, desi ghee ke bagair and even desi paani ke bagair, (literally!)in a sunny, sweaty, harsh, featureless landscape whose beauty lies in the fact that it is true and i don't know, just beautiful.

It somehow reiterates my belief, that if I ever have a honeymoon or so much money to spare that I can spend it travelling, I will first and foremost, travel my homeland.
Not out of a misplaced sense of patriotism, but because this country, this subcontinent has such a wide range of visuals, so eloquent in themselves that all speech falls short of doing it any justice.

The deserts of Rajasthan have always been shown as shifting sand dunes for sad, traumatic, lost, hero or heroine songs or as the colourful Banjarans or the simple beauty of the people in terms of Mirch Masala and Rudaali and Lamhen, but Road,Movie took it to another level.

The wide frames capturing the rough and ruthless landscape are also reminders of a lot of Hollywood movies, where the scale is so dominantly pointed out, making one feel small and yet powerful for being able to tame something so un-docile.

Watch the movie and also Capote to know exactly what I'm talking about.


And the music, was really music to my ears, since I have zero knowledge on the technology used and since I enjoy instrumental in periods of a maximum, twenty-thirty minutes before I space out.

All I can contribute here is that the background, with what I think was Sarodh had me glued, the voice of the singer who sang the song minus instruments caused goosebumps and the melody had me tapping.
Also, the end titles were another visual treat, the animation, the attention to detail like the oil bottles were so inviting and so full of masti, that I forgot to get up from my seat even after they got over!

And now digressing but on the same theme of good and right always being neglected and rarely appreciated, I am wondering why PVR doesn't get it's rightful shower of attention these days?

It doesn't boast of lounge recliniers or glitzy bathrooms or even of so much advertising like INOX and CINEMAX, but it is such a comfortable theatre.
The seats are cushy and I remember it being the first theatre where we could fold our legs and sit in, and also where we were served our drinks to the seat, they were also the first to have bucket popcorn( the value of which you'd know if you knew B!) in the city.
Of the 5 screens at least 3 are 70mm, the staff is courteous and try to help without being too obtrusive, and the pricing is still at the bargain price of Rs.100.
The bathrooms are a tad dirty by the evening show and you have to walk down after the movie, but all in all it is a good place to watch movies in or even spend a weekday evening(if like me you cannot tolerate crowds, especially during the weekends)shopping at Central and eating at Ohri's or the restaurants on the ground floor.

And this is why I declare here that if you catch me going to a movie in another theatre that is airing the same movie during the same timings that are convenient to me, please call me and give me a good hiding.
Make me go to it again in PVR and pay for your ticket too!
Ok, maybe not pay for your ticket, but the rest!

Okay, it's 3:09 Am, Women's Day,( Feminist or not, I really don't get the point of these days, but much to my chagrin, somehow end up remembering them, always!!)2010.
My mind is blank, sated and wants me to go fresh up, change and choose between sorting out the groceries and vegetables and stacking them in the cupboard and refrigerator respectively (you saying, really, duh?! me too!) or just hitting the bed, with the fan on 3( it's a part of my training my mind gradually to get used to the awaiting summer months without giving into the temptation of AC, more on this later, yes, there is and will be more!)and dozing off into strange dreams of grey, green and blue(sounds repetitive? you know its on purpose right? if you know whats good for you and me, please let the answer be a knowing smile and not a NO!)...

Why do I have to make all my work personal is beyond me, though venturing a guess, objective writing is just not my cup of coffee, I think!
Ok, before I write an equal or longer amount about me and make this not about the movie, am off!
Namaste!
Good Morning!
Happy Women's Day to all the men! Ok, women too! (Get the logic, urghhh, moron you, I don't really care anymore, yawwnnnnnnn!)

about amrutha..from elsewhere again!

speechless because of the torrent within...

just saw amrutha, the movie by maniratnam of the story of a kid....an extraordinarily willed kid....

before the storm thats piling up in me bursts out, let me first focus on the things that i'll most likely forget...
have to do the sashtanga pranamam for that last scene, where nandita das, playing syamala, terrorist mom of amruta, for the first time after leaving her as a baby, gives in... after so much of the battle to that urge to respond to back to her child's urgent tugging at her...mentally bombarding her....

that scene spread over a period of maybe a minute or so, moves from each actor's face to come back and focus on the main players, the mother and the child...
it is so vivid, she wants to respond, but life's lessons hold her back fast losing their grip..and she first stares blankly, then swiftly traversing years in her memories, then comes back to focus on this present...and the innocence, the deep desire and that too overwhelming a bond finally rules her...
gives in and hugs her so tight, i got crushed...not just from the scene, but what he conveyed in that past moment, the tension in her mind radiated so clearly, and that silence was so agonising for me that now i have to give in to write in this direct unassembled form and structure with no preamble and no format...so impulsively it has pulled at something in me...to burst out...cry with her...feel the loneliness and gratitude and that irrepresible thing called hope...in the kiddo, and in the mother....

at least for those like them i am so inclined to believe that there will be that day, as she says when there will be peace and no war around and then they will together be for ever....

amen.inshallah.
namaste...