me, myself and my first blog

Or more appropriately Scenes from Planet B which some of the regular Bloggers would be more familiar with. Seems to me, the species is fast approaching extinction.....

To many of us Black is just a colour. The colour of the sky on a moonless night, of gloom, of mis-fortune, of darkness, or hair and eyes. Even eyes that cannot see.

And black was the only colour Michelle McNelly would ever be able to see. She was born blind and deaf as a result she was a walking disaster, inadvertently causing chaos where ever she went. After all, she couldnt see, and then she couldnt hear. How could she possibly have any clue to what is happening in the world around her? Audio-visual media are about the most effective aids that help a child learn, more so in the early years. Now you have a eight year old who has no knowledge whatsoever of objects, how they look and feel, how they move, how they sound, how they relate to each other.

Most teachers had given up hope and as a last ditch effort a Mr. Sahai was summoned to bring some sanity to the household. Mr. Sahai was severly critical of Michelle's overdependence on her mother, her table manners and the bell that was tied around Michelle(to let people know she was around). Unfortunately his criticism and bizzare teaching methods didnt seem to bode well with Michelle's father. But Mr Sahai was equally desparate to help Michelle relate to the world around her, and took advantage of Mr McNellys 20 day absence to open a new world to Michelle. untiringly he tried to teach Michelle the difference between a spoon and a napkin. He never gave up and patiently waited for the momentuous flash when knowledge would descend on her. She rose to the occasion in a fountain and her first step into the world of form began with water. And then grass, flowers, mother, teacher and so on and so forth. Her learning brought immense joy not only to her but her family and her teacher.

There was no stopping Michelle. Mr. Sahai was determined that Michelle go to college and learn to take care of herself. After getting through the interview Michelle secures herself admission in the college. But ends up celebrating her yearly failures with her magician-teacher over a couple of ice-creams and crazy dance steps in snowfall. Mr. Sahai was showing signs of aging and wanted Michelle to pass so that his efforts would reach a logical conclusion. He disappears from Michelles life and Michelle keeps trying to graduate on her own. He resurfaces with a total loss of memory and advanced stages of Alzheimers. Finally Michelle does graduate and remembers her fond teachers biggest dream, to see her in a graduation robe(which incidentally, is also black.) Can she help her alleviate her aging teacher's deteriorating mental condition?

If one were to pick the three most important ingredients to a successful movie, the story, the performance and the narrative or lets say the directors skill in holding the audiences attention would have to be among the top 3. And the movie scores on all the three counts. The story inspired by a real life heroes, a student-teacher combo Helen Keller-Anne Sullivan. The performance was true to life, neither loud nor understated. Each actor essayed the role to perfection. I, for one, cannot imagine anyone else in any of the roles. Amitabh Bachchan, as an inspired Mr. Sahai, after all the decades of action packed angry young man roles, was nothing short of brilliant. Honestly Rani Mukherjee(as Michelle McNelly) was quite good but could have added more. At times she reminded me of Charlie Chaplin. :D. Ayesha Kapur as 10 yr old Michelle and Shernaz Patel as Michelle's mother McNelly were perfect to the T. The director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali has a passion for the theme, a second time he was taking up a similar story line. Each and every detail in each frame was coherent. To his credit while telling a story of such a serious nature there was never a dull moment. In the end, the real life story, the whole cast of the movie(without any exception) and the Director made Black very beautiful and extraordinary.

Was definitely worth watching. In spite of the fidgety folks sitting right behind me, inspite of my family not sharing my enthusiasm for pop corn, inspite of the fact that I spent a Tuesday afternoon in a jam-packed multiplex, inspite of my brother cursing me for choosing such a movie (between you and me: he wondered if the director was bitten by a stray/mad dog before taking up such a movie). Yes only a certain amount of madness can see one through the making of such a movie.

Another movie that proves yet again, the spirit is truly indomitable, against all the odds.

Not a movie review. Paid vacation. With no travel plans, no flights to catch. Just one whole week of vegetating. A home theatre is def'ly on the wish list now :)

Randomly pulluing out DVDs from a stack all day, all week ...."Catch me if you can!","Liar! Liar!","Office Space" among others.

Mindless activity is actually good for a short period. Pity we have to work to be able to afford these little pleasures.

Any wayward mention of the word 'siblings' these days, is bound to lead to a prolonged conversation about the most famous rags to riches story of our country. Also the most famous family feud. The media has also been giving it a lot of print and reels of news time dedicated to them and so many interpretations...blah blah. But these kinda stuff happens in all families. I guess the celebrity siblings have it a whole lot tougher than the rest of us.

"Sibling Rivalry" is the hostility between brothers and/or sisters. It could start with something as banal as pulling a sibling's hair or with the unwillingness to share a prized toy. Or much more serious cases such as the permanent enmity between grown up siblings. Nature too offers us a good number of examples. The biggest baby shark is said to devour all of his brothers and sisters within its mothers womb, ensuring that there is no competition for food resources once he is born.  Also the first born eaglet kills all its siblings by pushing them out of the nest(which are usually made at great heights), to gain exclusive rights to food the mother gets. The underlying cause for this rivalry seems to stem from a sense of competition for the limited resources(food as in the case of sharks and eagles) in similar habitats.

Same is the case with human beings too. What with all the technological advances and progress that we invent innovative devices to save time. We still find ourselves more hardpressed for time. Time, attention, approval and appreciation from the parents are few things that children almost naturally expect from their parents. When there is so much shortage and the older child suddenly sees a lot of 'his/her' attention being diverted to the younger sibling. So a competition is in the making for both the siblings compete for their parents undivided attention. Which is probably why two siblings subsconciously chose different fields for study or areas of expertise. Sometimes the seeds of competition sown so early show up years later.

But then I am sure each one of us (who has a brother/sister) would be able to narrate at length the kind of bond we have shared with them. Right from the time as kid, the walk/bus ride to school, sharing stuff (albeit unwilling), fighing for a bigger share each time, keeping secrets for strategic advantages, petty complaints, meaningless quarrels, sticking out for them whenever a parent gives them a dressing down. These small little things seem to have a major impact during the growing up years. Of course there are times when all of us have cursed our siblings ...especially when they are a major pain in the neck. They do exactly what gets to you or and then conviniently get under your skin. Its like they were meant to do only that.

There definitely is some amount of rivalry, but then growing up wouldnt be as much fun would it? Its like a piece of cake tastes so much more better if we knew someone else also had evil designs on it. I know there have been famous exceptions but I am quite sure your siblings are most likely to be there for you and the ones you could very well count on in the hour of need.

As I write this my brother would be crossing the oceans(prolly getting hiccups :) right now), for a longish holiday. There definitely is going to be more noise once he is here. And yes, there would be lots of revelry too :)

The answers to many of life's questions have been written on the insides of our eyelids.                                      -- Karl Schmidt

Looking back at the weekend and my list of new year resolutions, Can safely say I am doing a 50-50 job. Two major items on my list are

needless shopping no more
desert the "desserts"

After last weekend, I can happily strike off the shopping from my list and prolly vow never to put it there again ever.

On item #2 must tell you, twas very very tough! My devil incarnate friends were gorging on their wonderfully sinfully delicious cheesecakes and I just looked on...I did look stupid. Clenched fists, jaws ...twenty odd days without these high profile goodies definitely calls for a celebration. Especially for a person with some major sweet teeth, some of them with a silver lining(filling).

things happen. they just happen.
sometimes you know why.
and sometimes you dont.
once in a while
they hit you like a truck
and run right over you.
you try hard
and get back on your feet
only, when you finally do
the enormity stares
right into your face.
something is lost forever.
something also stays forever.
what these are, you can see
only after you move on.

We crib and complain so much about our jobs .. Until you hear someone describe their own.

Medical Oncologist(while giving an appointment): You could come when you like really. My only job is to see people in Pain.

Happy New Year 2005 to all those who are reading this.

Life does have this amazing capacity to dish out some pleasant surprises as well bizzare events. And of course you do have those eons of endless ennui as well.

Thats all I can say about the last week of '04 and the first week of '05 for now.

More later.

There are days and then there are days ....when I'd rather not rush to get the morning paper. In fact I'd rather not read it at all. I have seen all I could during the various 'breaking news' throughout yesterday showing the same story of massive waves, destruction, loss and endless sorrow. The coastlines of many countries jolted like never before. The impact spanning right from Indonesia as far as the eastern coast of Africa.

The seismic activity lasted for hours each time triggering another tsunami. Each time more people on the coast line drowning and tsunamis causing more destruction. The worst hit are the fisherman who now must be terrified of the seas which used to be their main source of livelihood. Now apart from having to cope with loss of loved ones (once the official toll figures, which are increasing by the hour, are out; till which time they have to fight with uncertainity and live with vain hope). Getting on with their lives will be an uphill task. How in a matter of a day their lives turned upside down. And where do they go from here?

I said something about the security of the earth earlier... and I think we take so many things about our own environs for granted too. What if all the elements decide to unleash all their power with all their fury, would our technological advancement actually help us? Or does it put us in a more dangerous position?

Leaves you feeling helpless and totally unprepared? What would happen if you found yourself in a similar situation? What would you do? What can you do? The thought that calamity can strike at any time and all that you have toiled so hard during your lifetime all vanishes just like that .... without a trace...into flotsam!

It hasnt sunk in ..in spite of those high waves....not just yet. The shock, the disbelief.. and even the helplessness against Nature's wrath.

As another one
bites the dust
and draws curtains
on the year that was.

A constant strife
to bridge the gap
between what was
and what could've been.

A hapless attempt to keep
scores in a duel
between dreams and regrets
between passion and apathy.

Weaving a web
of entangled emotions
creating a kaliedoscope
of beautiful,
and intricate patterns
Which eventually
fade in memory

Seeking bliss
in a purgatory that offers
security of the earth
and infinity of the sky.

The curtains would rise
Almost as soon as they fall
Bringing into centrestage
The year that will be.

Among so many other things.

I am generally not so easy to baptise. Now I have another comic strip to keep track of....

For the Calvin fans this would also be an interesting read. The Zits-Calvin Connection

The most enduring image I have of winters is the flock of sea gulls in my school playground. They never missed even a single time. They came and flew in a huge circles as if they were doing a victory lap. Celebrating their journey. Never understood where they came from .. How they never lost their way? And how they had so much energy in spite of travelling for so long? Or was it the warmth that brought forth such joy? Or more habitable environs where food is in plenty?

This guy is amazing ... I know I know, I cant stop talking about Calvin and Hobbes. Try coming up with lines like these.... 

 

As an after-thought I think we have more dance numbers and special effects than anything else. At least on Sat nights! I am not complaining tho. Drama as well as melo-drama are both very entertaining. In real life that is.

This is to...the kid in all of us. Does help to keep it alive and kicking :)

More so with Christmas just around the corner.

http://www.groovechamber.com/

PS: Make sure you have your speakers on.

• Main
• Archives
• Albums
• Links
• Admin

«	September 2023					»
Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa	Su
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

• The blog rests...
• Bye-bye, Bowling and Forts!
• the weekend that was ... sick!!
• Radio Gaga
• 27 April, 2005
• 20 April 2005
• 02 April, 2005
• Indian Summers
• How to Sleep At Night
• Anonymous Wisdom

• General [61]
• Pets [1]
• Sports [1]
• Personal [3]
• Hobbies [1]
• Poetry [3]
• Philosophy [3]
• Photography [1]
• Hyderabad! [2]
• Holiday [1]
• Movies [2]

• RSS 0.90
• RSS 1.0
• RSS 2.0
• Atom