Gentle Whispers

I've been meaning to blog about two issues for a while. I realise it might be a bit outdated but bear with me. Shah Rukh and controversies seem to be going hand in hand of late. One of them is the BCCI(Board of Control for Cricket in India for the uninitiated) has spoken out against Shah Rukh Khan using the cricket matches as a platform to promote his films. He appeared at the Twenty20 finals in Johannesburg wearing a velvet shirt sporting the words 'Om Shanti Om'. After the game ended, he went on to the field and congratulated the players personally. He appeared again at the fifth ODI against Pakistan in Jaipur and the BCCI has taken umbrage at this. "This is a much bigger platform than being on a private television station. A match is watched by the entire country, there is no better way to create recall value. We have to be understand that," said an angry official. Ummmm. Ohhhhhhhhhk. I do not see what the problem really is. I think Shah Rukh was just there a...

I don't watch art cinema. I don't like intellectual films. Films with hidden meanings and sub-texts and innovative camera angles and lighting and the subtle language of the film. I watch films for pure entertainment. Every time I walk into a theater I want to walk back out with the knowledge that this is a movie I've totally enjoyed. That's worth all the money I've spent on it. And not some pretentious piece of crap. And in that sense I guess I'm like the great Indian public out there. I like escapism in my cinema. I want to forget everything else when I'm there. I don't want to be reminded of reality and sorrow. I want to laugh and cry my heart out. And in that sense, Om Shanti Om was the movie for me and the rest of the public out there. It has everything I could have possibly hoped for and more. Dance, Drama, Dreams, dishoom-dishoom, dhoom-dhamaka etc. A total potboiler and a masala film. Om Shanti Om is a movie you absolutely have to watch. It brings...

I watched Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal over the weekend. First day first show in fact and it was fun. A paisa vasool movie if nothing else. Goal absolutely belongs to John Abraham. You cannot take your eyes off him when he's on screen and he does superbly well in a film that doesn't need much histrionics. And his smile. Its just the best. I'm a sucker for nice smiles. The kind where the eyes get all crinkly and his entire face just lights up. Bipasha Basu doesn't have much to do in the film and is incredibly inept at what she does do. She just doesn't come across well. The songs are pretty good. I especially loved Halla Bol. Billo Rani on the other hand is a nonsensical film and would have fitted in better in a movie about UP or Bihar. And how a bunch of footballers who are struggling to pay rent for their club manage to come up with enough money to hire dancers and a vulgar looking singer is beyond me. The movie though doesn't do much for me. The computer animation is ...

I need a hug. A big, gigantic, warm, supportive, loving, squishy bear hug. Something I can sink into. There I said it. I've been feeling increasingly depressed with every moment I sit here. And the only reason I'm not turning down for the night is because I know if I do that, all I will be doing is lying on the bed, tossing and turning, and not getting a wink of sleep. Pleasant thought. And to a much much loved friend of mine, PG, for understanding and listening. You made me feel ever so much better. And for that, I'm very grateful.

I just got this idea from another blog. To list the five things in my room, my bag and my wallet. Random but fun. And I love making lists. The five things in my room:- 1) Clothes and accessories strewn everywhere. 2) Books, books and more books everywhere. 3) My cellphone Zizou and my computer Mufty. 4) All the handouts our professor gives us. And there must be hundreds of them. 5) My beanbag. It's the most addictive thing in the world. In My Bag 1) My Wallet. * Obviously* 2) A book. Currently The Island by Victoria Hislop 3) A notebook to scribble random things in. 4) A lot of pens. Around 6 of them. Out of which 5 no longer have any ink in them 5) My sunglasses. For my diva moments which last about five seconds. In My Wallet 1) InOrbit Mall's VIP GameCard for those times when I crave AirHockey. 2) Visiting Cards of random people that I meet and whom I think I may need to get in touch with again someday. 3) Photographs of my friends. I'm sentimental that way. 4) My Railway...

My last semester of my last year in college begins tomorrow. Well, it officially began on the 19th, but I was delayed by my amazing trip to Kerala. Anyway, I'm approaching this last semester with a mix of feelings. There's nervousness, anticipation, excitement, sorrow, fear and a little bit of something I can't quite seem to place my finger on. I'm making myself the usual promises :- I will wake up on time. Attend lectures regularly and bunk only when absolutely necessary. I will complete all my notes and not run around xeroxing notes two days before an exam. I will participate in everything. I will voice my opinion in class. Give my best to every project I do. And on and on... But other than that, I have a few other things I'd like to see happen. I want to enjoy this semester as much as I can. Throw myself into everything with wholehearted sincerity. Try out things I've either found too boring before or never done before. Fit in as much basketball as I can. Eno...

My favourite books are novels where people rise above the ordinary and do something wonderful- the kind where a character will put himself in peril to save a total stranger. The characters aren't perfect. They're real people who sometimes mess up. But in the end they always come through, overcoming their weaknesses to do what their hearts tell them is right. I've always identified with those characters. I always thought I'd be selfless and noble too if I were in their situation. But I'm beginning to realise that thinking you'd do something and doing it are two entirely different things. In creative writing class, our professor was always saying, " Write what you know- use your own feelings, your own experiences, to make your characters real." I've been trying, but to tell the truth, lately I don't like the story.

I just came across this article on the BBC website on Toilet Conferences in Delhi . At first glance, I thought it was about different and innovative types of toilets and was meant for toilet manufacturers. However, what it's actually about is trying to provide a basic necessity for people all over the country. 40 countries are taking part trying to find a solution. It seems in India alone, more than 700 million people lack access to such basic sanitation facilities. Thousands of children die from diarrhea and other related diseases. And I'm sure, we're all too familiar with images of men, women, children squatting down beside railway tracks, beaches, by the side of roads, in deserted lanes, fields. Dirtying the water they drink, the places where their children play and where their "food" grows. It's easy for us to turn around and say, " Yuck, why can't they use a toilet? Why do they have to dirty the roads?" But what we don't know is the lac...

I love words. I love playing with them. Rolling them around on my tongue. Repeating them over and over with different inflections and reciting them in my heads. Without worrying about their meanings and associations. Words. Pure and simple. The following is a list of my favourite words just because their words. dance, salsa, rhythm, note, soprano, opera, inflection, defection, simile, exaggeration, stool, berth, matrimonial, joust, metabolism, haze, sojourn, opal, cancel, drape, keel, garnet, awesome, amazing, sparkle. supernatural, dole, file, apologize, roast, bake, brew, glamour, glitter, silken, shimmer, shine, stardust, mini, poop, cross, pasture, cheese, keyboard, paper, flail, handmade, loyal, purple, glimmer, glance, glaze, apple, palomino, mirage, crackle, brilliance, chance, promiscuous, bile, slate, whale, dolphin, elvis, journal, envy, fizz, lust, measles, powder, pillow, flame, fume, smog, sensual, fog, depart, arrival, splutter, rage, evocative, lyrical, humour, laughter,...

I'm a sap for fire crackers. There i said it out loud. There's something about them I absolutely love. They make me feel all emotional. Not bombs though. Sparklers, flowerpots and zameen chakras are what I'm a sucker for. Today I watched a bunch of kids ranging from the ages of 8-4 bursting crackers. The ones I mentioned above. The ones that I love. And watching the expressions on their faces are what made me feel all nostaglic. The wonder and the joy. The anticipation and the eagerness. The fear and the disappointment. The glow in their faces when they held those sparklers in their hand and tried to write their names in the air with them. I remember all those moments and then some. And i miss them. I wish life were that simple again and that I wasn't so cynical. I remember how excited I would get whenever I knew Diwali was approaching. Lamps would go up everywhere. Schools would hold lamp making and rangoli competitions. All our Hindu neighbours would have rangolis out...

It's that time of year again. Where one festival seems to follow the other. With weddings and parties and get-togethers and dances and phone calls and cards and emails. Family, friends, old friends, new friends, acquaintances, classmates, neighbours, relatives, random strangers . Everybody. Everything seems bathed in this special glow.Twinkling from lamps and little strings of light put up in homes to giant blinking hoardings put up outside shops. Sales and more sales everywhere, rip-offs too. But its Diwali too special a time to worry about the little things or get in a snit over. Firecrackers light up everywhere. Sparklers and flower pots and atom bombs and rasi bombs too. And yet nobody seems to mind or at least they pretend not to. Children run about happy and smiling. The glow in their faces mirrored in the glow of the chakras . Markets overflow with people. Organised chaos if you will. And yet nobody seems to mind. They have people to see, sweets and clothes to buy, greeting...