Holly meets Bolly

There are hindi movies...and then there are hindi movies.

But there are just hollywood movies!! Hasn't this been the trend?

I had always heard of east imitating "the west". But to my surprise the latest flick Bride wars was just short of a hindi aka bollywood masala. Just that the latka-jhatkas and dinchaak music was missing. Anne Hath... and Kate Hud... being the best of friends become the best of rivals and then patch up again.

The plot goes...

In Manhattan, the lawyer Liv and the school teacher Emma have been best friends since their childhood. They both are proposed to by their boyfriends on the same day and they plan their wedding parties in Plaza Hotel, using the services of the famous Marion St. Claire. However, due to Marion's secretary's mistake, their weddings are scheduled for the same day. None of them agrees to change the date and they become enemies, trying to sabotage the wedding party of the rival.And then Anne doesn't marry the one who proposed to her...but her best friend's brother!! And the beauty of all coincidences is that the two friends are expecting their first child...and that too on the same date!!

Usually I would fret about having watched a mediocre movie, but still be happy about having seen one.Confusion queen.. This time around I had absolutely no issues. Probably it was my first movie after a 3 month break...( not a voluntary one, but a forced one due to multiplex strikes!!) My fav word has been " timepass"...but now I realised I have been passing this title even to the movies...Too bad!!

But this was a "sachi mein super flop" movie , people. I don't lie..and never about movie reviews..I think like common people and not directors way. So to me , most of the movies are bullshit...music is sometimes good and Scope of improvement is always big. Sometimes I wonder..If I really should step in as the script writer/ the director/ or the costume designer. Never a penny for becoming a producer though...alas!

After watching Bride wars...I remembered my friend who got married just a week ago. Now we have been like sisters, almost best friends. Imagining myself fighting with her over wedding dates....fun!! yeah..she did get her 'June wedding' finally...

Anyway...I hope to not see any more such almost- bollywood type of English Movies.

Kanjus to the Kore

Why are we so stingy when it comes to saying the three golden words?? Hello....I don't mean " I love you"....but yeah you could take that also into the context, maybe....?! However I meant " Sorry, Please and Thankyou".

Thinking back, I remember my principal at school giving us daily morn- gyaan ..his words of wisdom, I say so. Back then it seemed like a drab...just another ritual before entering the main foyer of the school.  Saying a " please may I enter the class" seemed like a never ending line...whereas we loved using " can I come in teacher?"...(Ofcourse we could)

Now there are so many avenues to let these thankyou's and sorries out. But our Khandani- kanjusi pulls us away from doing so. How many times do we travel by a bus or a rick or  a cab? Do we thank them anyway..? Of late I have started practising this; I do come across wierd expressions at times. It doesn't take much effort, but uttering it without any regard is no great thing. Just think of how good you feel when somebody genuinely thanks you. Wouldn't you love to try the same for others?

We do love our retail therapies, with so many customer-service-executives to our help at any store. At times they get us our items to us, they help us pack the stuff, they make suggestions ( not exactly for our good), but do we care to thank them?

The compilation of these words is a page from the 'courtesy dictionary' as I call it. Not being courteous is a big offence only to a few. The rest are blissfully least bothered to even attempt being courteous.wow!

Coming to 'a billion dollar smile'..( Now that's worth a lot), we are so selective. We want to smile only at the persons we know...or rather the ones we like. The rest are a NO. And even if we do, by mistake, its so not our real smile. I travel by this one particular bus daily, its now my-permanent- mode-of -travel. I do see the same faces everyday...and yes I have a few ' smile buddies'. We haven't exchanged any words...but just a nod of acquaintance with a simple smile...now that's something genuine we have got habituated to. 

At work, most of us greet each other with a ' good morning' and a 'morning smile'. Few love to carry their homely baggage of frustrations or some luggage of inhibition. Forget the smile, a few love to 'just not look at you in the face'. These are few great ones too...

Anyway, lets try giving up our kanjusi for sometime. It fun! 

P:S:: My friends who expect me to give up my kanjusi...as in make sure I treat them soon...[ now that's something you need to wait and watch for...:)]

Racist blokes!

Well...I just logged into my blogger to think of something pleasant to write after a long gap. Just then, the new channels told me of the racist attacks in Melbourne on 4 or 5 Indian students. Immediately Went to the flashback mode....

I spent some quality time in that country definitely. But I too witnessed racism in tiny bits. Be it a bus driver or the Pizza Store at times....'unki satak jaati thi'. Well...all they would do was talk rudely..rude as per Aussie standards. Just because we got used to seeing the politeness and courtesy in abundance there, we could understand that  difference when it happened to us....We meaning my 'Indian Toli'...quite like many other such 'tolis'. But we were no less....ofcourse we didn't have the guts to chance a racist quarrel on our Visa. We loved our traditional ' Maa- ben' gaalis and uttered right there...to the one seeming to offend us. Ahh...what mental satisfaction...!!!

All that those ten-in -hundred racist blokes could do was say ' sorry??' Definitely that was never a statement of apology. It was always the question on their faces.."What did you just say?"

I remeber one incident during the so- called Schoolies season...some bastards managed to throw  a nice big bag of water on me..while they were speeding their way to Southport and I was at the bus stop. I went blank for a moment; I must say I was lucky enough to not get hurt badly...infact I was perfectly fine then. But thanks to those drunk fellas, I never took the bus back from work. It was always the Cabbie; a 10$ fatka every day!! That was much better than risking my life...

I remember friends of my roomie telling me they were robbed once ...things were missing from their place. But the cops loved to put it off and didn't take it up at all. Unfortunately the same guys were robbed again on a different street next time...one of their laptops being snatched!! But again, the cops were just being ' Lazy Aussie'. The guys gave up taking the case further till sometime i guess...

There was another incident where some bloke kinda threw something sharp on the large 'french window' a my place . Something started shuddering and it all crumbled in few minutes. That was one scary day. Luckily my gang was home for some dinner -n- desert. So they helped us out. We thoght it was just the glass...bu my tenth sense tells me..it was somebody who flung something onto our window. Afterall we were on the first floor with a large balcony!

Coming back to today's incident at Melbourne, I think the Aussie Cops better set things right. Warna the day is not far when the Indians will start fighting back in defense! 

Saaley....@#$$&  &*)()*)(  @(&##^#........( Thats all for now. More abuses later!)

What the eFFF is wrong with blogger..My posts are going invisible?!!

Your curiosity stinks!

This post is dedicated to all those human beings, the obnoxiously curious creatures of this world, constantly dying for fresh pieces of information. At least their mind is constantly engaged in processing the same and again ruminating over the literal meaning of the pieces. Wow..so much to kill curiosity again! 

Alright, let me be honest here. I cannot tolerate such intrepid fools, who care little about the opinions that others draw of them. My experience of different interactions over the years has helped me identify these disgusting creatures. A few traits so to say...

If you ever come across a person who is not interested in you as such, but finds you interesting..beware, you are a definite prey then. You may be this very-neat-and- well -settled person ( at least as they perceive). so they probably cannot bear the fact that things have been going great for you. They love to scratch out information from you, to evaluate a point-of-ridicule for you. And then keep digging and digging into you...so much so that you end up speaking out a lot as against your initial resistance to do so. 

Secondly, he/she/they is (are) not the usual person(s) you hang out with. Be it in office or in your social setting. Be aware of the situations around you,because these worms thrive in such conditions. Be wary to let out anything important. It usually begins with an innocent smile and a very polite, open ended question such as.." what is your opinion about.." " Don't you wish you had done things differently.."and then you end up giving the conversation a direction. Blame yourself! 

Thirdly, upon having any discussion with this creed, you will somewhere realise their will to be a bigot. At times not obvious enough, but otherwise they can be quite outrageous. Alternatively,their knack of drawing you to put across your opinion and then eventually counter that is indeed a skill. You need to be very sharp to identify this! 

Well the above mentioned traits are quite obvious. However if you still end up spending some " quality" time with these bugs, and if at all you are skillful enough to extract at least a bit of their life story, you realise they are these confused monsters who don't know what good are they here on earth for! Take their careers, they would be wanting to do so many things. Another thing, these are the people who are interested in doing a lot of things in life by the way! Simply put..they seem like the Multi-faceted personality, quite appealing to the audience and equally well savoured by them. 

Going further, these are the same lame creatures who cannot differentiate between gossiping and being curious. As far as I understand, being curious is good. Being obnoxiously curious is bad. But gossiping has a negative interpretation altogether. Quite an analytical tricky conclusion though...( )

All gossipers are curious people.

Some curious people are gossipers.

Intelligent people are curious.

Some gossipers are intelligent.

 To me these are a sadistic troop of souls, typically characterised by insanity and qualify as good for nothing. I am still in the process of understanding what exactly drives these people to be so. Is it the emptiness in their life ,an awkward feeling of being a looser or is it just a pass time?

Whatever it be, I am halfway through the course of understanding these maggots. When I am with people ,I enjoy a good decent conversation, a healthy debate or a cheerful dilemma. I have no place for the 'obnoxious creed' in my list. So my dear super-curious cats..STAY AWAY!

You dont even know what I am going through!! (YDEKWIGT)

I was just wondering...how often we say this..." oh c'mon you dont even know what I am going through. so please..."

But how often is it that we try and change the context/tone in which  it is said? 99 out of 100 times we say it when we are in a mess..when life is just shit loads of confusion and chaos. And take it from me, its usually the one who is suffering or perceives his life as a suffering that uses this golden cliche. And to top it further, the dialogue flows from extreme domains of emotional status..( usually Dukhi creature to a content one).

How about trying to reverse this flow? Use this when we are in a happy state of affairs...with friends, when life seems happening, all is going great etc? Alright...Lets just imagine a few situations:-

1. My best friend is having trouble with his girlfriend while I am all sorted and my relationship is going great with my guy. Me telling him ' YDEKWIGT'...just because I am happy will invite answers like " So what", " What do you think I am supposed to do?", " Are you in your senses?

"..etc. Although he is my best friend, me trying to explain him my level of happiness will not work. It would be easier if I said " you know things are great between me and XYZ", " me and XYZ rock as a pair"...but frankly, that seems as a more taunting exclamation of my happiness against his pithy state of affairs!! Can't help it ....

2. Ok..given that the domains are parallel. Suppose I had a great day at work today..same as my other colleague. We go for a cuppa and I tell her (YDEKWIGT)...and she is most likely to go like this.." Honey, is everything okay?"She wouldn't even give me enough space to admit that I've infact had a marvellous day! Imagine if I tell her.." I am getting promoted"..she is sure to ask me what is wrong then. As if this expression only connotes negative feelings!

I dont read anything negative in the line " You dont even know what I am going through". Still, this when uttered forces the listener to reach a different level of understanding. Immediately the listener goes on to a mode of becoming an active-pacifier which is totally unwanted. I guess English language is rich in adjectives and adverbs and you are free to use as many as possible. Trouble is when you dont use any ..like in the statement "YDEKWIGT". Just replace it by saying " You dont know how happy I am", " You dont know how wonderful my day was"...and so on.

I remember one line from a bollywood movie that aptly fits here..' English is a funny language.I can walk English, I can talk English..'

I am coloured..

You may use these adjectives to describe this peice I came across on Goog..

Messy, confused, cluttered, random,scribbled, nonsense, disturbed, puzzling, overdone, anonymous, complex, ridiculous, furious, dark, miscellaneous, absurd ..

To me, it's just art..it looks beautiful, it is.

Reflects my mind and my being now....its similar to these blotches...however, beautiful!

Slumdog part 2

As the world awaited the release of the much hyped Danny's millionaire, few hoped for a better life ahead. Further, as the Golden Globe came as an obvious-surprise, new hopes were born - in the minds of the million slumdogs, their families and relatives. 

Look at this picture of Rubina and her father...an orninary pic, but says a lot I think. Perfect expressions! ( courtesy Time 'o India)

The most recent reports of 'Rubina-sale' deal whether or not a reality, boggle me. Rafiq ( her father) denies having made any such deal and states that the sting operation was a trap. Rubina is a kid and probably does not realise how big a cash-cow she is for her family! If the allegations turn true, then Danny, I would say you've made a mistake. A mistake of creating hope in the mind of millions, who wish to grow from rags to riches in no time. I am not talking about Jamal wining the quiz and becoming a millionaire here. Its about these young kids you chose for your movie...I would say you hit them (slum dwellers) where it hurt most! If this ain't correct, I dont see a reason why a lady in the slum took her 2 day old child to Parvez (the model coordinator who chose Rubina for the role) so that she could get some money...hopefully big money. Danny, your movie is over, however publicity still on, bucks still pouring in. Your attempt at creating a fund for the benefit of these slum kids, to help them study and showing them a carrot sounds great. I hope you succeed in your attempt. But what are you going to do about their parents?...they want to get rich too!! 

And on the other hand, if papa Rafiq is not doing so on his own...reporters speculate some political twist and the involvement of some political activist in this drama. Whoa...too much at stake..huh? 

Rafiq is probably hinting this to Danny...

Danny Danny

-Yes papa( Rubina's)

Eating money...??

-No papa..

Open your cash box..

-$ $ $!!!

Can somebody from the film fraternity today give an assurance for seeing Rubina and Azhar ( her co-star) as rich and famous, and aboveall...educated, good citizens in future. Some 10 years down the line, Can I read about their progress in any paper? Is somebody taking charge?

Anyway, even the actors of Salaam Mumbai were back to rags after intial glory. There's something in the footpath that's magnetic and magnificient; that brings these people back to where they came from. No attempt to change their lifestyle works well. Forget the movie, take the MMRDA Buildings that were built near Kanjurmarg ( in Mumbai) to move people from Chawls. What happened...these guys sold the flats for a Lakh or so  after a year...and are back on the roads. 

This itself can be a story for Slumdog Part 2. Whatever said and done, If Rubina is destined to, she will make it big. I guess that's what the movie says too...

Did Masakali deserve a Delhi6?

Its been more than a month that I watched Delhi6- sitting right in the second row, tilting my neck throughout , to watch a disaster-peice. However, on hearing Masakali..there's a different thought all together, a change of mind. I didn't intend to critique this movie...on my blog atleast. Couldn't Control though..

The director's receipe for a perfect Bollywood flick didn't turn out yummy. There was masala..( was there any?) I suppose. But not enough tangy or spicy to pacify the hungry audience....always hungry for a 'hit'..or a 'superhit'. Needless to say...masakali was a superhit...but not Delhi6. Did masakali even deserve to be in Delhi? Rahman ,Prasoon and Mohit...thanks to you, people atleast remember where this 'masakali' was tried to be fit into...I mean the movie.

I read that Rakesh had to shell out out Rs. 13000 a day to hire Masakali , a dove from Assam for this movie. And that this dove was a selection after many rejections( of the ever-fluttering pigeons). Probably the pigeons saw the big picture...but my dear dove got stuck being a narcissist!

The movie is a superflop. Period. What was Rakesh even trying to do out there? A  kaala bandar had to take away the limelight after all this mehanat...phew! Ah yes..I get it...Rakesh wanted Sonam kapoor ( the metaphoric Masakali) to realise her dreams..to know that she was free to cherish life..and what not. I liked the first half of the movie, hoping to see an obvious bollywood-style ending. But who was the Kala Bandar there? To me...her strawberry- nosed papa, Om Puri, seemed like a villian not letting her pursue her dream. So where did this thing about Hindu -Muslim conflict come in between? Better title would have been 'Khichdi6'.

And Abhi baby...what were you upto? Some wobbling of the semi-Kewl-dude accent? I am happy...sonam actually spat out water on you, in the name of a song. And how could I forget to mention....the BIG B(lunder) giving gyaan in between. Like we were foolish enough to not understand the mess we were watching!

Waheeda ji...If you had to visit Delhi and relive memories, you could have told me. I would have taken you there. Why did you have to tell Rakesh to take you around? Poor thing...

Rakesh bhai...you need it big time..a Vacation! Go on a holiday...relax and chill out yaar. Think nice..think neat..and CTC ( cut-the crap). I loved your Rang De Basanti. What happened to you after that?

Architecture..

I visited the twin architectural beauties ..'Belur & Halebidu' last weekend. I was amazed to see such artwork; so minute yet so detailed.
Read on to know more...
http://traveller.outlookindia.com/fulltravelogue.aspx?id=41

Puglabs!!Cho Chweeet..

On your face

This was at the Mumbai airport on Fri Morning while I was waiting to board my flight to Bengaluru. I usually dont like to sit idle; I am either reading  a newspaper or a book, or best talking to somebody. But this time around, I didn't pick any of these options. Rather, after my security check I chose to sit and stare all others  going through the check.

What an insight...!!( ofcourse into the minds of the people). Obviously the Ladies section was shielded by a curtain, so cudn't read them.There were gentlemen...all well built and in all frames and shades. As the security personnel frisked each passenger, the expression that each one bore was interesting. First of all , everyone was aware of what was to be done...hands upright and all metalic belongings on the desk etc etc. But the best thing to note was the tinge of suspicion that everyone had. There were tons of..'what if's ' on their minds...which they definitely couldn't have dared ask anyone. From the corner of their eye, a few glanced at the adjacent passenger, and whether he was being frisked well enough! 

All thanks to the 26/11 incident, the face of terror and the events that follow are clear enough in each one's mind. I can't get myself to be a normal ..cool and calm passenger anymore. Yes I admit, I am paranoid. So are the 25000 odd people at the airport....or rather peope across the country. Be it a school, a railway station or even a hospital. 

I had about 25 minutes to board the flight, and I managed to observe atleast 50 of them. My concentration gave way finally. But I couldn't stop thinking of the lag in security from the starting point to the boarding port(Iam definitely not letting them out here...!!)

No amount of badmouthing the terrorist will do, no amount of political match plan will work. Can't help being cynical...I see no escape. The answer was there some decades ago, but now the true-lies have been so nicely interwoven, that even the best of the best feel handicapped and captive. 

Bloody Terrorists!  

Let go

I waited for the spring...its here

I waited for the winters..it was here

I waited for the monsoon..it was also here.

now again I am waiting..

Bouts of sadness and happiness abundant,

Oh they keep coming all the time.

of when I choose one, the other haunts me

Colors manifest living, which isn't about life

every second lived is every second died

fearing the unknown, why cry

for time isn't enough to know all whys.

Hope is a new season, for life for love

butterflies and lillies all around

subtle winds of change blow

Let go; for you need to enjoy

I love caffeine

Today was just like any other morning..me with my usual cuppa filter kappi. Yes, I just cant live without coffee!! Waking up to a lovely cup of life is what I look forward to every day. Today was nothing special either, the perfect  taste of filter coffee as everyday. Yeah, being a South-Indian, I can claim this to be the best form of rejuvenation ever! As the flavours awakened me, I decided to read about this special bean later during the day. And interestingly, loads of stories, history and legend is into these magic beans! Particularly I liked this one-

According to legend, Ethiopian shepherds were the first to observe the influence of the caffeine in coffee beans when the goats appeared to "dance" and to have an increased level of energy after consuming wild coffee berries.The legend names the shepherd "Kaldi." ( Wiki)

I kept reading the different types of coffee..how  they are named in each different place, the little variations in taste and color...etc. There is a lot more to read though! Coffee is not just a drink, it represents civilization. Obviously when I order a cappuchino or a latte, I dont really care to know anything further. All I can say is ..I know my coffee well.

The likes of starbucks, Zaraffas, Baristas and Cafe Cofee Days ..and many more are probably trying to savour this through the coffee culture. Ofcourse retailing and cashing on the coffee-culture is a bigger agenda; the least I can expect them to do is to brew it right and Serve it hot!Iam not sure how many coffee lovers have actually read in detail for curiousity's sake...but I did so today. Not too late!

Mono- tone-us

"Namashar, kya mein Prem Venkat se baat kar raha huun? Airtel se mein XYZ baat kar raha huun. Aapka request lodge hua tha pincode change ke liye. Kripya note karein, wah abh change kar diya gay hai. Appke agle bill mein reflact hoga. Airtel se sampark karne ke liye dhanyavaad. XYZ se baat karne ke liye aur aapka samay dene ke liye dhanyavaad. Aapka din shubh ho."

All this in just 15 seconds...

I dont exactly pity these customer care associates. Why should I pity them?..afterall they are doing their job, they chose their job!What amuses me is the sheer monotony that has crept in the response methodology. I bet only 3/10 would be avaiable to listen to the entire script, whereas the rest are just there to get point-to-point info. The company expects them to be courteous and respectful to the core as we are their honorable customers. Beyond a limit it gets too much though. Should I or should I not bother that XYZ could not even get my name right?

Including me, customers are funny. If we are intimated about a request completed, we fret about being reminded about every little thing. If not, we crib about lack of proper information. What then is an associate supposed to do? 

This is just one I spoke to, there are millions across the country calling- from- the call-centre. Low cost country we are ...Iam sure. Monotony mahots..that's also what we are!

Henna of hope

As the henna leaves the cone,as  the intricate design that then beautifully adorns her palms, all she does is hope for a life as beautiful as that art. Little curls and curves that merge and seperate from each other..somewhere is a hope for a life with subtle tides. As patterns fill her palms, she begins to cherish not just that moment, but every moment till that one..Something in her is so joyful, so lively, so womanly, so childish. Yet, she waits to see the pattern finish. Moreover, although she knows its beautiful; she longs for the greens to show as a different shade of love, the shades of her expression for him. Her love is genuine, feelings pure; yet there is hope for it to turn darker and deeper. She wants the world to know its her day; that she celebrates the begining of a new life with her beloved. Her friends around, chirping and giggling...echoes of hope for all. Somewhere there is a bond, a common thread of hope in all. The fragrance tickles the mind to think of that someone special; whether he exists or not. They are there to celebrate her life, again with a desire to live-her-day as soon as possible. 

I write this for my friend, for her joyful life ahead, for her pursuit of love, an above all for the hope in the rest of the clan.

I say....Beat the Blues

Tears down the cheek
Don’t know what to seek
I am all quaint and meek

Words I utter
Seem to go in gutter
Yet I mutter

Haven’t lost my mind
Everything left behind
Just seem to bind

Tonight I fight
To know what is right
…(Tomorrow is just bright!)

A living battle

How peaceful do you feel when you know that your parents are yours? You haven’t been adopted by some benevolent soul after an epidemic; a disastrous political carnage. How fortunate are you to not wake up every morning with the question of who your real parents are! You know your name is real?
I saw the movie ‘Amu’. Excellent storyline and wonderful acting. In only the last thirty minutes of the movie will you actually realize what mesh a political act can weave. There is a part of the movie where the news channel flashes the incident at Godhra soon after a part in movie when Konkana Sharma ( Amu) gets to know how she got transformed into Kaju. Like a ready made problem sheet of ‘how to relate to the movie’!
Trust me.You will relate to it in no time. It pains to even imagine what a kid of five would be going through after seeing her brother and father get killed in an incident that is totally uncalled. It pains to imagine a mother’s plight trying to save her husband, and eventually fight for justice. Deep inside, it pains to know (rather than imagine) what could happen to a small-happy family when justice fails to prevail. You know you are fighting; how long will you continue? You need someone up there to listen to you. Somewhere you loose hope. Who else will fight for you, but you?
Like the movie reviews read, it’s “hard hitting, incisive and entertaining”. I enjoyed the movie thoroughly.

Xpressions of Innocence

Lanes of Contentment

Shallow thoughts occupy their minds
They are not just one of the kinds
Like me, like you, like us
(Their) Life moves on without any fuss.

Survival on minimal…
What we think is abysmal
Taps dry…
But words not wry

A hopscotch for the day
Swings of tyres & tubes
Here a Barbie or a Nintendo,
Our kids in their shoes?

Food for survival there
Here for a thought…
Of how battles can be sought
Do we even care?

Simple pleasures
A smile it assures
Our nature of demands
Nothing it commands

Affection we long
Attention we crave
Appreciation we steal
From someone we belong (to)

Lanes of contentment
Not concrete but partial
Glimpses to learn from
Are we even close?