Musings from faraway land

Its been two months in Columbus, Ohio. Pensieve time..

High points till date:

Trip to Chicago:
Was good to go to a "home" after my present a-la-refugee abode.Sarayu's place was awesome, so was the city.Architecture tour of the city's downtown skyline , mexican and spanish cuisine, margarita episode (literally flipped out after a diluted drink...thought was stronger than this..anyhow).30 mins near the beach were the best..after 20 years was near a water body..fabulous.Looking forward to the diwali trip to the same place again..

Tornado Warning:
Dont know what to make out of it..still..are americans more paranoid or its a genuine scare.Had shopped for the first time that day after landing in US and was greeted with the scene straight out of the movie "twister". Out of yonder came these ominous black clouds ,followed by high velocity winds and splashing rain.More ominous than all this was the blaring siren that just went on and on - signalling the county had a tornado warning and one was supposed to go and wait in the basement. So we waited ..some of us with cameras in hand(Indians have such presence of mind I'd say).But anticlimax, the tornado supposedly passed through the airport and was visible from the windows, had we be standing on the other side of our apartment building.So the precious sighting was missed..concede was a lil scared..was glad to be alive honestly..next time I'll enjoy it more I guess...

First visit to the Indian grocery store:
Never have MDH masalas and parachute oil been such a pleasant sight to sore eyes. Felt like alice in wonderland..so happy with tiger biscuit and kaddo and bhindi and achar and the works... Things I never relaized were so much a part of my life..

First visit to Barnes and Noble:
Thats my mecca..my temple on earth...and on my first visit bought the last of the harry Potter series..ah..life couldnt be better..

Flip side:

Indians don't smile:
They just dont. Never realised we were such an unfriendly nation, honestly.Living right now in a suburban US city, people wish and greet you on the streets normally, if you happen to catch their eye or come face to face...just like that. My friends say these are plastic smiles and nothing beyond it..whatever..to a foreigner new to the place they seem welcoming and thats a nice feeling..
But Indians , people from my own country , dont bother. Honestly how much effort does smiling take?You come across a fellow Indian citizen in the supermarket, and the general Indian tendency is to look away. Really people... what is wrong with us?Forced me to think.Probably Indians when they are kids are taught never to trust a stranger or be friendly to starngers ..and that behaviour gets embedded in our phyche..its a sad thing..when you are with your family you dont realise it..but when u are in a faraway land..it kind of hits you..

shudder to think what foreigners visiting our country go through...

Living Alone:
Still to come across a good grp of friends so to say....its funny you have to wrk towards making frnds...have never done that in the past..it usually just happens..anyways....very slow progress so far..working on it though...


One phrase which keeps going on and on in my mind while experiencing the various sights and sounds is "its just like the movies". Thats been the jest of the whole experience so far..just that its real.Not in awe or anything but yes, its a new experience...lets see how long the novelty lasts.

Renovation Rationalization

Suffering from bouts of helplessness and at times homelessness, have begun to identify with the term "refugee".One look around the place I used to call home is enough to want me to call it quits.And this is just the beginning..

A once peaceful haven is in thoroes of upheavel.The walls, furniture,cupboards,the crockery, even the measly dustbin - all have revolted and have surrpassed their basic rights of being mere fixtures.All of them have come apart either in whole or bit by bit.The worst hit for now is the kitchen.Apparently a tornado just hit the kitchen and am afraid there are no survivors.Everything has been peeled off from the root.Whatever could be saved due to the efficient rescue team has been shifted to the bedroom.End result - Sleeping with the Utensils.

Whats ironical is that you meticulously plan the ravage and you hire the executioners.Doesn't end here..you even pay for the ammunition and constant refills.Infact the basis of this exercise is to prove to oneself the nutcase that one is or aspires to be.

In this chaos, one wonders why on earth did I want to renovate?Human desire to want a better living is understandable in theory but practically to achieve that is hummpph..will let you know if I survive this ordeal.To top it all much more is in store atleast for a month more...this is reporter so and so(in need of hot soup and warm bed) reporting from the war torn zone called HOME..

Ho Ho Ho

St. Francis De Sales is what I remember when its christmas. Thats my schoolname.And 13 years in there has left a lasting impression of chirstmas to last a lifetime.The very sight of a decked up christmas tree and santa is enough to perk me up come what may.

The stocky guy in red with a long white beard continues to fascinate me no end .To say that am 28 and still beleive me in Santa is not the least bit embarassing.Infact I think every adult in some way either believes or wants to believe in santa claus.Santa actually stands for celebrating all thats innocent and untouched - the child in all of us.

So cheers to the child in you!!Merry Christmas to All you guys!!May love and sunshine be yours now and forever!!

Guess who's coming to Dinner

"You seem to be two beautiful people in love but with a pigmentation problem" says Spencer Tracy.Thats the jest of the story really.
Its a movie have seen twice now and cant help but write about it.Its a movie which has humour with a soul and thats the distinguising aspect .
Its a simple story of two people in love trying to justify their marriage to their respective set of parents since in US one never asks for permission to marry from one's parents(not now and not in 1960s..the time this movie is set in).Why do they need to justify you'd ask..well the thing is the guy is a black(Sidney Poitier...To Sir with Love guy) and the girl a "white"(some dame).And that is the crux of the story.
How the parents come around to the childeren's wishes inspite of the logic and practicality which governed the society then.No preaching , no harping on equal rights, nothing of that sort.Just dialogues from the heart - humorous and thought provoking.
Spencer Tracy is brilliant as the liberal thinking though uncomfortable with the decision dad.And now I know why Katherine Hepburn is famous - she is the perfect troubled mother - torn between practicality and love for her daughter.Both these characters though troubled never once go overboard and are just breathtaking as a couple.You see this movie and realise this is the (now lost) form of art called acting.
They aint make movies like this anymore..

The scratching Rama

Was it the sweat dripping down the layers of pancake makeup or a zillion mosquitoes or the millions of eyes glued to his every expression and action - dont know what caused it, but Lord Rama couldnt resist .He scratched and scratched, relieving himself of the agony.This astounding moment was witnessed by all and sundry.

Was lucky to witness it on the telly albeit LIVE(courtesy my local cable operator).The program on was the live telecast of the RamLila being played out nearby.This action of the great lord had me transfixed and I became a dedicated veiwer from then on. Finally gotto witness live Ramlila and was worth it.

Lord Rama was this tall,fair,good looking bloke lost in thought whether to stand still or move his hands on any given instant.Dearest bro Lakshamana was stockily built , dark and sweating profusely. He seemed irritated with all the bhajans breaking his acting concentration.Sita was this woman trying to keep her hair n makeup in place (pity they didnt have a guy on with a wig..was looking forward to that).Amongst themselves , they had trouble deciding who walks first amongst the paper bushes and bedsheet hills, rather hillocks .Initially we had Lakshaman in front and Rama and Sita following .Suddenly a head pops out from the white background(jk rowling be damned..this was muggle world) directing them to instantly change the order.So now we have Lord Rama in front.This head popped out once too many and that too without prior notice.

Then we had the larger than life Ravana coming in to get the only female of consequnce in the context.The showstopper was the Sita Haran.Check this out - Pushpa Vimaan was actually an open-air truck (brilliantly decorated).Both Ravana and Sita needed help to get onto it and then it took the whole round of the ground with Ravana having his Mogambo laugh and Sita wailing all throughout.Such was the effect of this breathtaking exercise, it resulted in tremendous chaos.People had to be consistently reminded to clear the way.No wonder the original means of transport was in air- A Real Pushpa Vimaan.

If ever was to participate in Ramlila, would like to be part of the Vanar Sena with a tail and awesome headgear and a gada in one hand.You follow these two blokes around for a while and then once the war is on , you hit the opposition to your heart's content with the awesome gada.What more can an actor worth his money ask for?

Do you have a sense of humour?

Sensibilty they say is not one of the greatest virtues which mankind in general possesses.Having been blessed with a decent amount ,there are very few questions which stump me totally.Came across one recently.So much so that my processing speed went into a tizzy and all I could do was stutter a totally incomprehensible reply. The all mighty question was - Do you have a sense of humour?

All this while was under the impression that the humourous side of one's personality(if it at all it exists) is supposed to be guaged , observed, appreciated and eventually validated by people around you.But apparently thats not to be . Going a step further came across even more mindboggling question -I am a humourous person , are you?Humourous cartoon,humourous story -acceptable.But a humourous living breathing entity, lord be thanked for this tremendous gift bestowed on mankind. And it wasn't Jerry Sienfled in conversation with me here.

Apparently to put forth humour as an asset one possessess to a person one has just been acquainted with, is an arduous task. How does one go about it?

-One way is to go though the book "Humour for Dummies", latest edition of which will be soon out, courtesy the laughing stock. Carrying it to a meeting to impress people is the surest way to get the point across.

-Another could be to imbibe the laughter track in your normal conversation inspired by the various comedy serials we have on the telly.Utter a totally nonsensical line and be the first one to laugh at it - thats the catch. If you are the boss, this is the coolest trick in the book to get the humour element going amongst the staff. They will laugh- real or fake, come what may.

-The surest way to elicit a response is to crack a joke while eating.The trick is to talk with food in your mouth. To the one across the table, its like seeing the working of a grinder from inside.The grub switching from the left molar area to the tongue onto the right molar area back to the tongue, with oodles of saliva thrown in, with the front teeth just about protecting the bite from falling out-a fascinating sight to watch.An interested viewer will let you complete the joke taking in every detail of this complicated science. But the lesser mortals not interested in the "science of chewing" would smile (32 on display) to make you concentrate on eating and eating only.The folly of irreverence to a chewing specimen at work!!

The question dearies is not if you have a sense of humour.It actually is - Do you have the sense to sense that you have a sense of humour?Am still introspecting.

Aag hai mujhmein kahin??

Good movies usually leave an impact that stays long after the movie is over.Rang De Basanti happens to belong to this category.Sample this:

abhi abhi hua yakeen....ki aag hai mujhmein kahin...hui subeh... main jal gaya....suraj ko main nigal gaya....
robaroo..roshni ...robaroo...roshni hai...jo gumshuda sa khwaab tha....woh mil gaya...woh khil gaya....

I smile whenever I hear these lyrics. This movie works at various levels for me.Well made movie - definately..without a question.Creatively ,this is story- telling at its best, with entertainment value preserved. Probably the visual impact doing justice to the script entirely, think this is the most difficult aspect of moviemaking.

The flip flop between the past and present is pretty innovative.The phrase "Opening door to the past" is literally translated here.The Great freedom fighters of the past are shown as normal boys who rose to the occasion to do what their consience demanded of them - Refreshing and realistc than the glorified individuals my history book portayed them.Always they were somebody on a pedestal we had to look upto...here you identify with them.

The "present" has a group of aimless individuals, pretty much what your college life is all about..bindaas and carefree.How they react to a situation which falls on them is what the movie is all about.Whether what they did was right or wrong is left for the audience to decide.

Ended up identifying totally with their actions.We live in cynical times and the only way to get your due is to take things in your hand.To maintain one's sanity in adverse situation and be practical about it..not possible all the time. Day in and day out, we bow down to the pathologically infected SYSTEM of ours. One place where the movie succeeds is..it makes one question what one is doing to make things right.As I was reading in one of the reviews , it asks you to make a choice - Stand up or Shut up.Period.

Agree -disagree,it defnately forces you to form an opinion.We grow up on heavy dose of idealism -a clear definition of whats right and whats wrong all along. Once an adult , world's suddenly all grey..no black and white whatsoever. The whole of adult life is spent getting used to the gloomy hues of grey slowly taking over our minds.We adjust, make way, bow down,compromise, wriggle out..play along.Life's like that , we are told.But sometimes..sometimes..mind does wonder..whats my contribution in the scheme of things ..kya aag hai mujhmein kahin??

Moronic existential angst finally has a say......