A banner I saw made me chuckle all the way to school:POSH ROOMS AVAILABLE ON COT BASIS … [Read more...]
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Perhaps Peppy created "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled pepper corn." Because Peppy, Mr. Popper's personal assistant, takes particular pleasure in paraphrasing paragraphs to produce passages that permit plentiful pronunciations of /p/.What a delightful movie!Why is it, though, that I cannot watch a movie with animals in it without wincing inwardly at the thought of how those animals were trained? While watching horror movies, I find it difficult to step back and think of the characters as actors. While watching movies with animals, I cannot involve myself enough to be swept away by the love and loyalty of the animals.Mr. Popper's Penguins taught me a valuable lesson about story-telling, though. A story does not need to be entirely believable. That's what imagination is about. I think the perfect story manages to unite simple joys and simple treasures with crazy situations that … [Read more...]
Dragonfly
Some pacy books are formulaic, and this one is one of them.Prince must marry Princess - it's a political alliance. Prince and Princess hate each other; they have all kinds of adventures; then they love each other; then they get married.This fits in exactly.Yet, Dragonfly warmed me. There are some books that, like Disney movies, touch you even if you can tell, scene by scene, what's going to happen.Tashi, the young princess, grows to be a person, not a white painted princess. The idea of romance across cultures is amusing, inviting and heart-warming.Yet, one idea in the book that truly startled me was the realisation of how easy it is for a young girl (princess or otherwise) to feel guilty when she does not return a suitor's love. That, I think, is what made my eyes widen. Not the love story, not the elaborate courtship, none of it. Yet, when Tashi wants to reject Merl, but … [Read more...]
Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani
I watched the movie two months ago, but did not write about it out of - I can't find a better word - cowardice. The whole world seemed to like the movie. On Facebook, everyone who spoke about it seemed thrilled to bits.When I hinted at things I found revolting about the film, I received a mild eye-roll with unspoken and spoken questions like It's just a movie; why are you taking things so literally? and Why do you over-analyse entertainment so much?I was expected, apparently, to tuck my brains under the closest seat and be hugely entertained.Needless to say, I was not. A friend's agreement with my stand finally brings out my tirade.Why is it acceptable that Whats-his-name reads Whats-her-name's messages?Why does Whats-her-name merely blush, embarrassed and pleased, when Whats-his-name teases her about the messages?Why is it acceptable that Whats-his-name tells Whats-her-name's date that … [Read more...]
Independence Day
I have a dear friend who is half-French, half-Brazilian. She's been living in India for about five years now, and is a unique blend of several cultures. Here's what she said about the 15th of August, 2013.How I feel during Independence Day... So today is Independence Day and I went for Flag hoisting in my schoolThe attendance is compulsory and and I am a batch holder so there is no way I can miss. But even if i could I wouldn't! People might think I'd get extremely bored… half the speeches are in marathi, and the songs in hindi and the fact that I am not Indian by blood… But no, not at all... I love celebrating Independence Day. I love standing in line singing the Rashtra geet with everyone accompanied with the sound of drums, I love singing Vande Maataram and the satisfying fact that I know how to sing it and I know and love the meaning.I even love standing there int he middle of … [Read more...]
MRP
On the radio, I hear advertisements, urging the consumer to wake up and realise that the Maximum Retail Price is printed on all kinds of products. Consumers are duped by dishonest shopkeepers simply because they do not know that they should look at the MRP.I sometimes feel bad when I listen to these ads. I agree with the motive behind it, yes, but I feel bad because it was a shopkeeper who taught me to look at the MRP.As a child in Bangalore, I often went with my sister across the road to a shop to buy all the little things children always need - pencils, crayons, gum . . . The shopkeeper knew us, and always greeted us with a genuine smile, which we loved.One day, when we went to buy some stuff, my father gave us a hundred rupee note, which, like all little children, we carried for the whole world to see."How much?" we asked the shopkeeper-uncle.He saw the note. "Hundred … [Read more...]
A Tribute: Prem Jeevan
I met her twice. Two memorable times. I know nothing or next to nothing about Osho, but once I had the pleasure of dropping this formidable lady, Prem Jeevan, to Koregaon Park. I had a long ride with her, during which she told me about her life, her daughters, and her association with the Osho Ashram. She told me about how she lived in a caravan, once upon a time. She wanted to know more about IB, and was thrilled that a board like this existed. She told me about a time when she spoke at The Bishop's School and everyone was so appalled that she was never called there again. We made tentative plans to meet again, simply because I was so intrigued by her, and she seemed so interested in everything and everyone. That never happened. May she rest in peace. … [Read more...]
Asylum
For once, the amount of time I've taken to read this says nothing about the book.I remember reading Bloom of Youth. I was faintly unhappy with it. I then somehow ended up reading Grandmother's Footsteps and was so bored with it that I decided never to read Rachel Anderson again.Thankfully, despite what the proverb says, I always judge books by their covers. When I picked Asylum, I did not even notice the name of the writer, and the cover was so significantly different from the other two that I'd read, that I realised much later that it was by an author I did not quite like.I have to change my mind about that.Asylum was beautiful, moving, haunting. At a time when I know that getting a UK visa is tough, I wonder disgustedly at why we try so hard to get there. This book shows me how many people think of it as a wonderland. No, a Wonderland. A book about illegal immigrants, Asylum … [Read more...]
The Pursuit of Happyness
Yes, I know I ought to have watched this long ago. Yes, I know that practically everyone has already watched this. But it moved me to tears, and I cannot not write about it.The story of a struggle against all odds is always touching, but what truly moved me was love. When is it not?A child, five years old, willing to keep on going. A child whose biggest sorrow seems to come from losing a beloved toy. A child who wonders whether his mother left home because of him. A child who worships his father, and keeps on going even when he's tired.A father who is not perfect. He gets angry, even violent. But he does everything he can in pursuit of happiness. And in pursuit of happyness for a son who means everything to him. … [Read more...]
Encyclopedias
I remember a time in school when a teacher asked what we liked to read, and one child replied, "Encyclopedias." I inwardly rolled my eyes and thought, "Oh my God! What an unimaginative sycophant!" (Well, maybe not those words, but you know . . .)Today, I apologise.In the library, I opened a volume of the World Book encyclopedia set, and it was like stepping into a world of knowledge far more beautiful than Wikipedia with its five hundred hyperlinks per page. I read up to prepare for a class ahead, and was amazed at how exciting it is to peer at black and white pictures, to turn the page, to flip through articles that are totally unrelated, and to remember that as a child, I did not know Google or Wikipedia.I left the library feeling deeply satisfied and unimaginably thirsty for more. I love encyclopedias. How outdated I am. … [Read more...]