Awake

 It's a bit early to reach the station - but it doesn't matter. I wanted to make sure I don't miss the train.

I can definitely Wait.
I am Waiting.
Waiting.
Minutes flew by.
Annoyed, I went up to the Enquiry Department, they said the train will arrive soon.
I pressed for a specific time. No response.
I took a good look at the station and the things happening there.
Only a few passengers were there.  In one corner of the station, there were a group of boys playing with pebbles, enjoying to the fullest, even though they were in rags. I wondered what made them so oblivious about the world around them. As though they had a shield to protect them from all the depressions of their lives.
No sign of the train coming, and soon, it started to rain. A rain in the middle of the summer.
I love that. The fresh aroma after a summer downpour is one of life's pleasing scents.Suddenly, I had an urge to drink tea. I don't usually have tea or coffee much, but a rainy day is different.

To my bad luck, I couldn't find any chai-wallahs. The only one was outside the station. I can't leave all my luggage inside, just to drink tea.I called one of the boys and asked him if he could  bring me a cup of tea. He agreed.I  gave the money.
I sat on a bench. Waiting. This time for the tea.
Minutes flew by.
"....... Train arriving on platf........", I heard the not-so-clear announcement through the rusty old speaker. I figured it out it was my train.
Now I was sure that boy ran away with the money. I didn't care about the money part though, as it was just 10 rs. But I couldn't savour the fact that the boy got the better of me .
Why did I even trust a 'roadside' Boy, I thought.
Train arrived. I stood up, picked my luggage and started walking. I was just about  to enter the coach when I heard a voice  'Bhai, Aapki chai'.
 
Surprised, I turned back and saw the little boy standing with a cup of tea in his hand. I asked him where was he all this time and why he bought the tea so late ?



He said, he had to clean the utensils of the chai-wallah because he lost the money I gave him. He did it so that he can bring me a cup of tea!!

My head bowed down in shame.
He and his friends taught me things that no books can ever teach me.
The happiness I saw in their faces while they were playing with pebbles made me realize something.
Happiness doesn't comes with money.
I was searching for happiness everywhere, when it was right in front of me.
Yet so hidden. You know where it lies?
It lies in appreciating the small small things in your life with a big heart. It lies in being thankful to God for everything he gave us even though we don't deserve most of it. 
He opened my eyes. I vow I will never sleep again.

അമ്മ

അടുക്കളയിലെ കരിയും പുകയും ആണ് അമ്മ.
അമ്മ തിന്നാതെ സൂക്ഷിച്ച കറിയും ചോറും ആണ് ഞാന്‍.
സ്നേഹത്തിന്‍റെ ഒരാലിലയാണ് അമ്മ.

Super Beliefs :D

So I was in my hostel room sitting on the bed after a long tiring day in class, exhausted. It was then I noticed my nails had grown too much. I used to get plenty of time off earlier, but now the schedule is a bit jammed. So it was no wonder, why I didn’t notice.  I got a nail-cutter and was about to start doing it, when suddenly my room-mate told me :

“Don’t do it now”

“What?”

“Cutting nails”

“Meaning?”

“It’s already seven. You can’t cut nails past six ’o’clock”

“Man, you can’t be serious”

“Trust me. Don’t do it now”

“I have time now only. So I want….”

Cutting my words mid-sentence he said:

“It brings bad luck”

Oh that’s it. Now I got it. Cutting nails past six ‘o’ clock brings bad luck. I didn’t know this one before.

Not to blame anyone; This article is first a reminder to myself rather than others. There was a time when I used to believe in all this.

I believed the fate of a particular day depended upon the first person you meet that day. I have heard tons of time the famous line “Black cats crossing your path bring bad luck”. I remember my mother telling my sister not to knit clothes at night. I have seen people putting a black mark behind others ears so as to not get affected by evil eyes- Nazar uthaarna, as they call it.

If your eyes start twitching, you are doomed for bad days.  Every time you sneeze, congratulations- someone is remembering you.

If you see a crow cawing outside your window, it’s time for some guests to arrive.

When someone starts a journey, don’t call them from behind- Mind it..! :D

The most famous one  is “Newly-wed Brides decide the state of her future house”.

Ok enough with the never ending list. This is quite embarrassing.

Why such beliefs?

We want to feel in control: This is how we think “As long as I am staying away from black cats I won’t get bad luck.”  I love cats. Poor beings, they are blamed for things that are not their fault.

We are insecure: Courage is the most rare personality trait. Not the courage to fight some thugs, but the courage to believe that we ourselves are responsible for the events happening in our lives, not cutting nails at night or in the morning.

We are stressed: We desperately want reasons for all the misfortunes we come across.

We ought to be rational in our beliefs and it should not limit us from leading full normal life. It’s a big irrational illogical belief that actions or circumstances that are not related to a course of events can influence its outcome. If we open the door to superstition, the world will become hard for us and we will imagine that everything is a bad omen.

It’s high time we stop focusing on things that don’t have a practical effect on our lives.

Allah says in the Qu’ran about the people of Pharoah:

“But whenever good came to them, they said: ‘Ours is this.’ And if evil afflicted them, they ascribed it to evil omens connected with Moosa and those with him. Be informed! Verily, their evil omens are with Allah” [7:131]

Prophet(peace and blessings upon him) said  :

“Tiyarah is Shirk”. Tiyarah refers to the superstitious belief in omens.

“Superstition sets the whole world in flames”  - Voltaire.

Being a Malayalee !

Three months back, when I boarded the train from Calicut station to this city of Jalandhar, little did I knew that I would end up making such a post- a post that explains how it ‘feels to be like being a malayalee’.I have been asked by almost everyone about my homeland, kerala.  This is a humble effort from my part to address a few questions and doubts of my non-malayalee friends :) .

 Especially for those who likes to nag me with stupid questions like:

“Do you guys eat fish year round?”
“ ehh.. err.. Just two times of the year. When it rains and when it doesn’t. What now?”

“You add coconut oil to every food items?”

“Huh..??  Yeah we even add it to tea and coffee. Common yrr!”

And goes on…….

It’s high time you guys know something about us  :D. On BEHALF of my mallu friends, let me wrap this up  :   

•     My mother tongue is not Tamil.
•  I may like Al Paccino, rajanikanth or Shahrukh Khan, but would prefer Mammootty or Mohanlal.
•   We like Cricket, but We love football even more.
•  But still Sachin always comes first in the list of favorites.
• All our uncles are not in Gulf.
•   I may or may not be Marxist, but essentially a socialist.
• I may not laugh at your jokes. No offences. Blame it on Jagathy Sreekumar. I have already heard them :) .
•   You may not laugh at my jokes. No offences. Blame it on sreenivasan. You wouldn’t understand.
• I am a Non vegetarian and yes I eat Beef. Believe me when I say my hindu friends also does :) .
•  If you find me and another malayalee friend shouting at each other animatedly at the top of our voices, never bother; we are just having a healthy discussion on mammootty vs mohanlal :D
• When I was a student, we never bunked. We just called for a strike.
• Yes. I can play football and ride a bike wearing a lungi. Now you can’t beat that :p
• I do not understand kathakali.
•  When you are talking to me, don’t mention Poland. Again blame it on sreenivasan. You wouldn’t understand. :D
• Being Mallu is the capability to watch a Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and English movie on same     weekend.
• .Being mallu is to have your best friend always from the other community.
• .Being mallu is the ability to make jokes even in the most tragic difficult situations.
•  Being Mallu means everyone’s mother tongue is Malayalam irrespective of Religion, probably  the only one state.

       And many more..

I know your Questions never end even though I excuse you guys with this sort of  :

“How come all you malayalees are smart?”

“Oops! Can’t help it.. (Blushing)!!  Dhaanks by d way” :D

A Few Things That ONLY a Keralite Can Understand

If you can’t understand what follows, I have already warned you !! 

This two people are part of your daily life, literally.

Finding happiness in Chaos. Example?? What about hartals :D

Crap just got real in mallu land

 Best Breakfast ever. Waffles?? Move over.

 No MSGs No GMOs. Just Pure coconut oil.

So when I say coconut water is good for health,

This is what I really meant

This is the Onam the TV shows you??

Well, This is what actually happens :(

We hate him or Love him. Either one. 

We go through the menu 10 times, only to order this in the end. The famous Malabar Biriyani :)

Mallus love him more than in his homeland . :D

Our Stapple food. The kerala Porotta.

Man we are cool otherwise. But on hartals.... :D

The man who taught mallus to cuss in English.

Poland is a touchy subject. You gotta be a Mallu to understand this. :D

The mallu way of saying "Yes, No and Maybe" all in one go. The mallu headshake.

So we are Malayalees. Just remember that

!!

10 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT KERALA THAT I AM REALLY PROUD OF!

1) We are a group of people who are as unique as our geography – Calm, composed, serene and welcoming.

2) You can't much differentiate between  city-village here. Villages have telephones, electricity and roads. Cities have the virtues of a country-side.

3) The climate is almost uniform, maritime type round year with almost seven months of rain. The best bet you can get.

4) Tourism, IT and Spice exports are the major industries. No effluents. No toxic gases.

You see, I'm Proud about that.

5) Our movies. Although they cater to a limited audience, it has a cinematic language of its own. Where else can we see mainstream, commercially successful movies shot as early as in the eighties dealing with subjects as varied as surrogate motherhood (dasharatham) and retrograde amnesia (Innale)? Classics do not end there, ofcourse!

6) Music in our films. Mostly raga-based melodies that give equal importance to poetry. That will explain why we have more of poets and less of lyricists in the Malayalam film industry.

7) We are the most secular state in the country , I can proudly say. Religion is always a personal thing and there is immense respect for other faiths.  Rest of India can take a lesson or two from here on multicultural pluralism.

8)We respect our women and shun the evil of female infanticide. Why else would there be this astounding sex-ratio of 1058 woman for every 1000 man?


9) The geography – Rivers, backwaters, waterfalls, beaches, canals, estuaries, freshwater lakes, pristine forests, plantations and abundant greenery; you name it, we have it.  Eastern side is lined up by Western ghats and all along the west-side is the Arabian Sea. So wherever you are in Kerala, go eastwards for a hill-station or go westwards if you’re in a mood for some beach fun.

10) Last but definitely not the least, is the brand Kerala. Ayurveda,  Kalaripayattu, Kathakali and several firsts in literacy, healthcare and education. Why wouldn’t I be proud that I belong to this land?

As I write this, I miss the drizzling soft winter showers back home. I hope I’ll soon take a walk in the rains, enjoy the happy sway of water-glazed leaves and devour that smell of wet earth. J

Best Scenes - Movies !!

Okk.. Picking up the best or favorite scenes from the tens of hundred movies one have watched, is no simple task. And the difficult part is that, no matter how hard you try to remember and put up all those scenes that gave you goosebumps,  put you into deep-thoughts, blah-blah, you will always miss the best out. Acknowledging, the "best" is a topic of perspective, it's highly unlikely that someone else agrees with me. This is only "my way" of seeing "it".  :-)



Inception- The Top Spinning Scene

Dicarpio- Easily one of the finest actor of our era.

In what is easily the most moving scene of the film, we finally see Cobb returning home to his children. Whether it’s a dream or not doesn’t really matter. Cobb has waited for this moment for far too long and to see him finally reunited with his children is truly touching.

When Cobb finally gets home and his kids come running to him, you may be struggling to hold back tears, it’s undeniably moving. As Cobb spins the top and walks away, we know that whether it’s a dream or reality, in the end it doesn’t matter. Cobb is finally reunited with his kids. His journey is over, his mind is at peace and he can finally move on. It provides for a beautiful ending that will truly stay with you for a while.

The Dark Knight - Joker Scenes
Yewt another brfilliant work from Christopher Nolan, the Batman series was made like never before. It's not a usual super hero movie. I would call it a Psychological thriller intertwined with emotions.
But it was not just Batman , Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker will live on forever as one of the greatest characters in cinema history.

Acting at its Best - Heath Ledger

Wanna know how I got these scars? My father was… a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual. Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself. He doesn’t like that. Not-one-bit. So – me watching – he takes the knife to her, laughing while he does it! Turns to me, and he says, “why so serious, son?” Comes at me with the knife… “Why so serious?” He sticks the blade in my mouth… “Let’s put a smile on that face!” And…Why so serious?




(To be continued, and added up as i get time :)     Im a lazy person.. )

All the Things I Love about Dil Se

"Dil Se" is said to be a journey through the 7 shades of love that are defined in ancient Arabic literature. Those shades are defined as attraction, infatuation, love, reverence, worship, obsession, and death.

Dil Se - One of my favorite , special and memorable movie of all time.

Any great movie could be my favorite one, given that I love to watch movies. But this one happened to be not just any movie, but the movie that had followed me through many years and that has never stopped intriguing me every time I watch it. 

I felt like making this article as soon as I watched it again after so many years. This time I watched it with eyes that are quite different from the ones of my 13-year old predecessor. 

 I feel I admire and love this film even more than I did before.Dil Se.. is not flawless, objectively speaking - so what makes it so special to me?

That's what I want to find out in this post, namely by listing all the things I love about this film. Of course I won't be able to fully understand and explain the greatness of this film, I know that - but it's an attempt that I have to do. :)

1.  Shah Rukh's youthful and natural performance - I miss that.

2. Manisha's mysterious implication of a smile. Who wouldn't get crazy about her?

3. Amars beautiful declaration of love:
   
Meghna: Tell me what you love.

Amar: No. First I will tell you what I hate the most. This distance between us. I hate it... So many things are hidden inside you. And most of all, I hate you eyes. No matter how much I want to see something in them... I can't. Now I will tell you, what I love.

Meghna: Hm?

Amar: The thing I love the most are these eyes of yours. Because, no matter how much I want to see something in them... I can't. Everything that's hidden inside you... I love all of that. And most of all I love this distance. Because if it wouldn't exist... there would be no reason to get closer...

I Just Love how Manisha's Eyes Move in this Scene

Amar says: ‘I like this distance between us the best. Without this distance, I would have no reason to get closer.’

 Here the director expresses something deeper, something eternal about the human condition itself – the essence of what drives us all, the space that allows us the adventure into the unknown.

 
 
 4.  Rahman's soundtrack in its entirety - might even be his best.

5. The 90s-style that isn't embarrassing. Haven't experienced that in any other film.

7. How can you classify this film? Which Genre?
    Action? Drama? Love? Musical? Thriller? ..... Which one? 

8. It's not everyone's cup of tea. It will not satisfy all people and It's rather unknown and unloved by the masses, kind of an insider tip.
Hmmm.. My filmic taste is exciting and rebellious.


9. Preity's debut. Fresh and bubbly, you can see how excited she is.

 10. Amar's radio broadcasts - that guy would be a hit in todays RJ world.

11.  Its audacity. I think even today if it's released, it woul d flop and cause demonstrations in India.

12. The Ladakh-setting in the first half. I hope I will Visit that place someday :)

13. The beautiful, beautiful, incredible work of cinematographer Santosh Sivan.

14.   All the songs are total are partly dream sequences (except for one), and they are awesome. 

15. Shahrukh's voice.  Nasal and youthful.  

16. Manisha's voice. Mysterious and soft. 

17. Preity's voice. Always loved it, it's very... bubbly. (Too much of these reasons, right?).  

18. This gaze and the next quote:

Meghna:After all, what do you know about me?

Amar:Nothing, except that I love you. From the heart.

19. The fact that the quote doesn't seem kitschy.

20.That rawness, everything seems so raw... even the title font is raw.

 21. Dil Se Re is an un-romantic, yet romantic song.

22. It's the first indian film to enter the Top 10 in the UK box office charts.

23.  It's disturbing. But you don't want to put a gun at your head after watching it. You want to... just  applause. 

24. The blood-thirsty, cloying last 30 minutes don't get the film down at all.

25.   The lyrics of Ae Ajnabi - shockingly close to perfection.

26.  The fact that I'm giving away precious leisure time to list up everything I love about this film.

27. The beautiful colors, even in the saddest, most brutal scenes.

28.  The weird choreography of Jiya Jale is kind of cool, I don't know why. Maybe the kerala arts background setting made me fall for it.. :) 

29. Amitabh Bachchan sings Jiya Jale in Nishabd. He says it's the only songs he knows. If I knew  one song, I would be glad if it was this one. 

30. The poetry of the film. Everything has a meaning, every shot, word, song... and the result is perfection.

31. I just found out that the song Satrangi Re also shows the 7 stages of love from arabic poetry, which is why Amar looks like he is dying at the end of the song. That would also explain the arabic look of the song.

32. The more I find out about the film, and the more I think about it, the more I love it.

 

 33.  Shah Rukh won Filmfare Awards for films like Deewana, Mohabbatein and Chak De India. But for me this was his best perfomance.

34.  True love is said to be kitschy, non-existent and many other things. But after watching Dil Se.. I feel it is at least one thing: true.

35.  The smell of spring reminds me of this film, because I first watched it in spring. :)

36.   Shah Rukh's Call : "HOYE!"

37.  Politics. An interesting topic that is often uninteresting.Well, Dil Se.. certainly had some comments to it.

38. The way Meghna turns the radio on and off.

39. After Meghna's "brothers" battered Amar, the first thing he tells ShuklaJi is that she's not married.

40. The result of all the words from this list of words put together would come close to describing my feelings for Dil Se.. "Kissable", "graceful", "splendid"...

41. The climax sequence- which some may consider as inapt- is perfect.

Our hero beaten and bloody, approaches his beloved who has explosives hidden under her clothing. She has accepted her martyrdom and is headed for death.

He says: “I once said I’d never leave you. I have come.”

Knowing she is a walking timebomb and concerned for his safety, she warns him to stay away. Determined to fulfill her suicide mission, she tries to get by him and he lunges, grabbing her arm.

He says: “This is truth.”

He pulls her to him, holding her from behind, he can feel the explosives – but he doesn’t care. He stopped caring about that long ago. He has made his decision.

He whispers to her, “Don’t come with me, if you don’t want to.”

This is a man, who has just been beaten up, escaped the terrorists and the Indian CIA, and beaten up another terrorist to find her – and he says passively, gently, “Don’t come with me, if you don’t want to.”

Her eyes are wild with fear – she’s freaking out now.

He whispers, holding her close, “Take me with you.”

Once again, he is passive. He will not be the one to ‘take’ her.

He is surrendering to her Will.

Again he says, “Take me along.”

Here is a passive expression, again of surrender from a normally willful man.

He holds onto her, ever tighter. Her face is twisted by her anguish and pain, tears streaming down her cheeks. He turns her around to face him – tears in his eyes and blood on his face.

Again, “Take me along.”

Once more begging her, his bloodstained bandaged hand reaches for hers and desperate to feel her touch, he places her hand on his face.

Once more, he begs her, “Take me too along.”

Almost a mantra, ‘Take me along’ is his expression of surrender to her...

And then he says, “You love me. Just once, say that you love me.”

Again, “Just once, say that you love me. Just once, say that you love me. Just once, say that you love me.”

Again a mantra of surrender...

Then, eye-to-eye, their faces very close now – he says, “Say it just once!”

Their eyes are locked in a silence that for them must reflect the slowing of time, as they both know they have only a few seconds left of life.

She looks deeply into him and with the least possible motion, nods lovingly, teary eyed – a new tenderness comes into her face, her eyes shinning with love for such a brief moment. She moves her head gently – a subtle demonstration of her final surrender to him and his love for her, which has at last overpowered her.

They embrace – after enduring the pain of so long a separation. They are now completely ONE. And in what may be his greatest moment of acting genius, to my knowledge, Shahrukh makes a series of the most amazingly subtle and intelligent expressions I have ever seen.

In what can only be a few seconds, he makes a timeless expression of a profound and deeply felt acceptance of this their tragic moment – and in defiance of their fate, he holds onto her as if to protect her within the strength of his tender embrace and undying love, as they move together into Death.

His lips purse slightly, expressing a stubborn determination, a slight nod of the head, like shrugging your shoulders, in relinquishment of all control, giving in and giving up, while his eyes say - 'It was all worth it.'

His lips are barely touching her forehead, as she is hiding in his protective embrace, waiting, steeled against the next moment. He takes a small breath, his last, letting go of everything, of life itself. He closes his eyes on this his tear and blood stained face, for the final time – and the bomb goes off in a white explosion! The ultimate total surrender…

There will not be another DIL SE ever in Bollywood.. For me, this is the only film SRK acted from his heart(dil se), and Manisha will always be remembered for her role as Meghna.

In comparison to the empty, soulless, 'special effects' films released year after year, I love DIL SE, yes, with all my heart.

There is no other way to say it:

I LOVE YOU, DIL SE..!

... Dil Se (from the heart)!

And if you don't love Dil Se.. yet, then watch it. Now.