Prayer or just a mobile ringtone?

On a lovely morning, when one boards the overtly crowded Delhi metro, some breathing space and no nonsense neighbors is what one hopes for. Some days are lucky, and some, well, lucky for others.

As I boarded the usual morning metro from Rajiv Chowk this morning, I was greeted by a bright gentleman with an “X-Ray vision” (The way his eyes were checking out each every girl entering the coach would put any metro security guard to shame). But being from Delhi, this is a usual affair for me, so I quickly made way towards the opposite pillar and immersed myself into the book in hand. Suddenly, the sound of Hariharan enthralled the entire coach. He was singing the Hanuman Chalisa, and on a busy morning, this sounded like a treat to my ears and I closed my eyes enjoying the Chalisa (prayer). 

But, he had merely sung half the beginning shloka when he was interrupted by a loud “Hullow” and some stuff like “Hum 15 minute mein office pahunch jayenge (will reach office in 15 minutes)”. Knowing for sure that Hariharan wouldn’t have sounded like this, I opened my eyes & discovered that this was the voice of the same Mr. X-Ray vision.  The not so gentle man had chosen Hanuman Chalisa as his mobile ringtone and the prayer had been interrupted as he had received a call.

This isn't the first time that I have witnessed something like this. Often I see people choosing religious prayers as their ringtones and the calls are almost always answered before the prayer or shloka is complete. In Hindu religion, it isn't considered a good practice to leave prayer incomplete as it is believed to annoy the concerned God/Goddess. Sounds logical as well. Prayers, I believe were created out of man’s respect and affection for God. If you decipher the lyrics of any prayer, it praises the lord for the way they have cared for the world and request them to continue to do the same.  Like love, devotion can either be expressed or implied, but if one chooses to express it, one should ensure it isn't done halfheartedly  Imagine how would you feel if you are waiting to hear some magical words from your beloved and all s/he says is something incomplete and leaves in between. Instead of invoking feelings of love, it would be considered rude and would annoy you. God, too, has a heart, even though much bigger than us. And if we truly love God, we ought to care about his emotions as well.

As the great Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of masses.” True. Religion drives so much around. For some, religion is felt from the heart, and for some, it’s a way of expression, and they openly flaunt it, as if to prove their kindness and piousness. But by keeping prayers as mobile ringtones and not showing due respect, what message are some people trying to convey? That they are too busy to thank God in the proper manner, or they are great enough to remember God in a half baked fashion, despite their busy schedules?

God has created this beautiful world, and all he wants is to be remembered wholeheartedly, even if silently in heart for few minutes a day. In this big bad world in the peak of Kalyug, when everyone is mesmerized by materialism and selfishness, the least we can do is to do something only if we can show true respect. Else not go for it. God wouldn't mind if you remember him once a day. But he would for sure feel disappointed if we make his prayer our mobile ringtone when we can’t give due respect to the prayer. 

So, for people like Mr. X Ray eyes I met this morning, please make prayers as your ringtone only when you know your karma ledger is clean and you can give respect to God, his prayers and his creations.

As I write this blog, I also want to clarify that I am not writing this as a representative of God, because he exists within us all. But, yes, I love God and I know the first rule to love someone truly is to show true respect and make a commitment only when it can be fulfilled.

Movie – Hugo

There are movies you watch and forget. There are movies you begin on an excited note and then lose the tempo. There are movies which begin on a slow note and the crescendo builds up.

And then, there are movies you begin with and wish they would never end. Coz there’s something in them that strikes a chord. Hugo is one of those movies I began on a somewhat reluctant note and as the movie progressed, I relished each and every frame. Just wished the movie wouldn’t end!

Me not being very enthusiastic a person about the adventure drama genre, it’s my nephew who almost forced me to watch it. Good he did. For, the movie, based on the novel “The invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick is one of the finest 3D movies I have ever seen. Even before the starring began, the cinematography had already played its charm.

The movie, set in Paris revolves around the life of Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield), a bright boy living a simple but happy life with his father (Jude Law), who works at a museum. The father son duo have a thing for fixing machines & the father often explains the beauty of clock work to Hugo in different devices. One day he finds an old, abandoned machine called automaton & along with Hugo, takes up the challenge of fixing the automaton. 

But even before the automaton comes back to life, tragedy strikes them. Hugo’s father dies in a museum fire and overnight, the pampering and love gets transformed into a lonely, orphaned life with a lot of unanswered questions. The automaton is Hugo’s only companion, a mystery he is determined to solve as his belief is tied with it. Hugo is taken by his alcoholic uncle Claude and taught to maintain clocks at railway station.

The uncle soon disappears and Hugo lives a lonely life in the clock room, escaping the station master who is always on the lookout to send orphans to where they belong-orphananage. Hugo’s sole mission is to decode the unsolved mystery the automaton beholds & he often steals part from a toy store for his repair work. But life has other plans for Hugo Cabret. The toy shop owner, Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley) catches him red handed stealing parts and takes away his notebook where his father had made notes about fixing the device. Hugo is determined to get the automaton fixed, and his determination takes him close to Papa Georges, who gives him work at his shop.

 In his lonely world, Hugo finds a friend in Isabelle, Papa Georges’ god daughter, who has been kept away from the glitz and glamour lives in the world of English literature. It’s a treat to watch the way she uses unusual words on the usual occasions. Their friendship soon spreads its wings with Hugo introducing Isabelle to the world of cinema and Isabelle introducing Hugo to her literary interests.

Hugo is surprised to find that Isabelle wears a heart shaped key as a pendant, a perfect match for the heart shaped lock in the automaton. He convinces the adventure hungry Isabelle & using her key, is able to run the automaton. But seems the questions only get bigger, coz upon being started, the automaton scribbles an image & even signs in the name of “George Melies” that Isabelle immediately recognizes as that of Papa Georges’. Unable to come to any conclusion, Hugo & Isabelle decide to probe further as the involvement of Papa Georges makes them even more inquisitive.  Papa George and Mama Jeanne meanwhile are in a complete denial mode and Papa George even fires Hugo from his shop for having broken his trust.

But Hugo & Isabelle are far from discouraged. Their curiosity takes them to the library where they discover the image drawn by the automaton was in fact an image from a famous George Melies movie, Voyage to moon. They are surprised to find out that Papa George, alias George Melies had been a famous filmmaker of his times, known for his movies full of fantasy & imagination. The author of the book is a big Melies fan himself. And so when the kids tell him Melies is alive, he is more than happy to help them connect the dots.

As the author comes face to face Mama Jeanne at her house, the story takes a new turn. Mama Jeanne had in fact been a famous actress of her times. As Melies walks unannounced into the secret filming of his movie in the living room, he breaks down & remembers the ups and downs in his life. How a successful director, known for transforming imagination into movies, falls prey to the change of times when after World War I, there are no takers for fantasy.  Ben Kingsley once again proves his mantle as he plays the perfect part of a loser who had sold everything to survive in the big, bad world, selling his movie films to a company that melted them to make shoe heels.

The story begun by the scribbling of the automaton, ends on a happy note, with Papa Georges getting his lost glory back & Hugo no longer being an orphan. As he is finally caught by the station master, Papa Georges comes just in time & says “the child belongs to me”, freeing Hugo from the label of “orphan” & giving him a new life. Hugo has finally found a message he had been searching for in the mystery of the automaton, the message of a new life and rising up from the ashes to a life of happiness and fulfillment.

You will love the movie for its immaculate cinematography, intensity of the acts and the flow that the director has managed to keep going throughout the show!

No wonder, the movie won 5 oscars at the 84^th Academy Awards in 2011.

And now for my favorite moment from the movie…

A very optimist Hugo tells a disappointed Isabelle, “Every machine comes with just the right number of parts, no part extra. This world too is a machine & if I am here, I ain’t an extra part. SO, there’s a purpose why I am here, and I gotta find it!”

My 1st Liebsterrrrr!

As a newbie on blogosphere, I used to see the Liebster badge on a lot of blogs & wonder what it was. At first, I thought it to be something Deutsche (since Liebster in German means “dearest”) and I became even more curious. Then slowly, as I became familiar with BlogSpot, I discovered it is an award to encourage upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers.  As any new blogger would agree, in the initial phase, every follower, every comment is a prized possession, and I remember checking my blogger dashboard before my mail every morning to check for any new comments. And when good comments poured in, they just made my day…Well, they still do & even now, my blogger dashboard takes precedence over my mail!

And before I digress (as usual), lemme come back else Niranjan who has nominated me for this Liebster will wonder how boring and long can one get with a Liebster post! But, hey, one more confession…as my blogging grew up, taking baby steps, I used to look at Liebster posts & wonder, when will I get mine? And I wanna mention 2 things Mr. Hubby often says –

     1.     Patience pays

     2.    Accolades come when you genuinely put effort for something without expecting anything back

So, engrossed deeper in the joy of writing, I soon graduated out of the “when will I” phase.

And finally, I get my first Liebster!

For those of you who are still not familiar with Liebster award, here are the terms of the award –

1) Each blogger should post 11 random facts about themselves.

2) Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.

3) Choose 11 new bloggers (with less than 200 followers) to pass the award to and link them in your post.

4) Go to their page and tell them about the award.

5) No tag backs.

And now, like a celeb giving interview, I take immense joy in answering the questions posed –

11 random facts about myself –

     1.     I am a diehard optimist

     2.    Love to steal and eat raw rice from kitchen (and I often get scolded by mom in law for that…L)

     3.    A day without writing a blog/reading some good ones is a day wasted

     4.    I like to keep things simple and straight forward (like to call a spade a spade)

     5.    Flamboyance, hypocrisy, lies and show of attitude – please stay away

     6.    I am a good singer, atleast the awards say so (though Mr. Hubby prefers the music system in the car..:()

     7.    Have won national awards twice in poetry

     8.    Have learnt German and French & would love to learn as many languages as I can

     9.    Love to bring smiles on faces of people

    10. I do a lot of things so that I can blog about them

    11.  Would love to have the largest possible collection of sarees in the world!

Over to the questions asked by Niranjan,

     1)    Describe yourself in one word.

Simple

     2)   Why do you blog?

Coz I truly, madly and deeply enjoy blogging!

     3)   What is the difference between a blog and a personal diary?

Blog is much more than a personal diary – it’s a medium to express one’s feelings and opinions and sharing views with others

     4)   What do you want to change?

Nothing. I like to take life as it comes

     5)   What do you like the most?

Exploring new shades of life

     6)   What would you prefer at any time in your life, love or money and why?

Hmm…only a fool would say “money”, and as for why, well, Bollywood movies are full of answers to that…J

     7)   What is your weakness?

Khaman Dhokla

     8)   Who is your role model and why?

My mom coz whatever I am and all I have today is owed to her

     9)   Are you spiritual or religious or none?

Am spiritual and religious

     10) What is your goal?

Lots and lots of them in various aspects of life

     11)  If God asked you three wishes, what would they be?

a.    To bring more empathy in this world

b.    To make Delhi a much safer place for women

c.    3 are not enough, gimme another 3…J

Thanks Niranjan for the nomination! I enjoyed answering the questions….:) And as for passing the baton, well, most of the bloggers I know have already received Liebsters from other blogger friends, so I will have to rack my brains to come up with some names!

To be or not to be – Ashamed

Though we aren’t typical fitness buffs, Mr. Hubby & I do have frequent bouts of fitness consciousness. That’s when we head to the various magnificent parks of saadi Dilli for a good walk. The one that’s my favorite is Lodi Garden. With a boasting variety of lush green trees, white ducks lazying around in a beautiful manmade lake, kids playing around, fitness freaks sweating it out, Lodi Garden surely is a prized possession of Delhi.

A recent visit to the Garden though, inspired me to reveal another quality of Lodi Garden – a regular hangout for youngsters who are unaware of their shame quotient. Sometimes shooting hormones overtake the shame quotient and the couples run on the highway of lust, hoping to be embraced by Cupid himself! Sounds funny? Well, last evening, as I went for the usual walk, the scenarios I witnessed gave me the perfect masala, and being the crazy greedy blogger, anything and everything the brown eyes see, the hands quickly blog it down.

Well, before telling you about what exactly happened, it’s important to give some more insights about these couples. Normally, a sultry summer day would keep us within the confines of our homes. But for these hormone driven souls, the wrong is right. Bad weather is the perfect weather; coz it ensures no one’s watching their coochy cooing. So you will spot more action behind the bushes on a bad weather day than on a pleasant one. Is it shame quotient or fear of being caught – only they can answer & I have honestly never bothered to ask.

So, last evening, 100m down the jogging track inside the garden, I spotted something in bright maroon behind the bushes. Having read recently in the tabloids about an eve teasing case in Lodi Garden, I decided to find out. To my surprise, the lady in maroon was comfortably seated on the lap of her beau, enjoying perhaps the smelly bushes and the boundary wall view. (Can’t really explain it all here, please feel free to estimate what I actually saw). Here I was thinking someone needed help whereas that someone herself was lending a helping hand. Seeing the angry me heading towards them, Mr. Hubby immediately took charge and told me not to interfere in someone’s private matter. “A private matter in a public property! Filthy!” was all I could utter in the loudest possible tone before Mr. Hubby took me away from them.

Seems the show had just begun. Few meters ahead, again in the bushes, I spotted a scene, more interesting than the previous one – one beauty serenaded by two guys. Usually, there is only one hero but hats off to this girl for smartly managing two of them. I wasn't ready to believe, so standing on the jogging track, my eyes searched for the 2^nd gal. But soon I realized standing there would have meant making a fool out of myself. People passed by and nobody bothered to look that side, then why do I waste my time? Let it be, I thought and ran to catch up with Mr. Hubby who had by now jogged way ahead of me.

The picture was far from over. For behind almost every thick tree, I could easily spot action, even from a distance. And we even got to witness the typical climax ala Bolly wood style. Just as we crossed the jogging track near Tomb of Sikandar Lodi, my eyes saw the impossible. A couple was rolling away in the park. The shame quotient had gone so low that they didn’t even bother to hide behind a tree. The scene reminded me of the Sridevi starring “Nagina” movie I had seen as a kid, where two snakes rolled away non-stop when fighting. This one of course was far from fighting. Two fat aunties walking in the park too stopped and began looking at them in horror. A couple playing nearby with their kid quickly took the child away. This time I decided neither to give up nor to wait for a guard to come and shoo them away. Moving a bit close to them, I gave them a continuous stern sixty year old auntie look, till the snakes quickly went out of sight.

As I walked, I wondered was it the sense of shame that makes such couples find cozy corners in public parks or the lack of it that makes them give in to their hormones in the first place!

Feeling a sense of pride in my silent moral policing, I quickly jogged to catch up with Mr. Hubby, and just as I was telling him my hero moment, my eyes went wide to see the girl in maroon still in action behind the bushes. Several thoughts came to mind –

     1.     Click their pic & threaten to tweet to police if they don’t move out

     2.    Throw pebbles at them and disturb them

     3.    Charge at them, claiming to be from a moral policing organization.

     4.    Just ask them to leave and go to a park where there weren't any kids.

Wondering what I eventually did? Well, nothing, for I saw a bunch of drivers enjoying the matinee show by peeping from the boundary wall. The couple of course was oblivious to the uninvited guests.

“Serves them right” I said with a smile and resumed my jog...

Maybe the authorities can consider something like this for the annoying lot

My first book review – If I could tell you

With fingers trembling, I begin a journey on a new path. Having read some amazing book reviews over the last couple of months, I had been toying with the idea of writing one myself, but hesitated at the thought of being taken for a critic. Being a blogger, I just adore each and every word out of my mind, and no matter how much a self proclaimed feedback loving person I am, I would disappointedly question if some novice someone were to review and criticize my blog. But then, somewhere it has to begin, and before the thought of writing a book review itself translates into a blog post, let me begin the review.

“If I could tell you”, by Soumya Bhattacharya – Mr. Hubby suggested this book one morning to a grumpy me when I was complaining of a mundane schedule, stress, no “me” time, etc etc. Knowing I had conveniently stayed away from fiction for a long time, he suggested this would be refreshment.

Didn't know the book I took up to read for time pass would end up engrossing me for 3 days and some wee hours as well, right through my daily metro ride oblivious to the swarm of people in the metro, jostling against each other. Wanting to avoid bias, I avoided reading any reviews.

They say, never judge a book by its cover. So true. What seemed like a series of lecture filled letters from a typical Indian father to his daughter actually is much more than just that – a father sharing candid insights about his life with his daughter, sans any effort to idolize or inculcate anything. Just an honest account of his life & its various shades – the triumphs, failures, dilemmas and running parallel throughout is a beautiful depiction of his feelings about his bundle of joy, the only accomplishment in his life that makes him swell with joy – fatherhood. Often, authors get swayed by the emotions and that’s when such books become boring. Not this one. Soumya, in a completely “Soumya” and subtle manner knows how to keep his readers hooked on. So, layered between the various crunchy memories are creamy fillings of how a father bonds with his daughter despite the odds in his life, how he feels about the transformation in his daughter, from a chirpie toddler to a shy yet responsible kid coping with the ever changing situations – a perfect cookie that just melts in the reader’s mouth!

New parents would enjoy reading the initial half, and even if you are not, Soumya’s depiction of his earliest memories with his daughter would make you desire your little one too.

When the narrator ensures you are glued to the book, he slowly introduces the story of his life – a life that begins with a zero and ends with….well, you better read for yourself. A life of struggles despite having everything, of stress despite a laid back life one would envy, feeling of emptiness despite a fulfilling life.  Its takes guts to accept ones mistakes and failures in front of one’s child and he shows that grit. I loved when at one particular moment; he celebrates rejection of his manuscript by a publisher. Instead of sulking at rejection, he saw it as his entry into the literary world, whatever small interaction it gave him with the fraternity. Now that’s what we call optimism!

However, the story gets sad in the second half. The narrator’s return to Mumbai, the city he began with, inability or rather I should say, laziness to manage and grow money, the constant hammering of failed ambitions, frustration at facing so much change and the twist in the tale that changes the fate of father daughter duo forever.

Life if anything, is about picking up the broken pieces and moving on so that’s exactly what they do. No matter how many hurdles come their way, the father never ceases to care and comfort his daughter. But how long can one sustain with failures and grief staring in the mirror every morning? The protagonist is after all a human being. What happens next is what I leave on the readers to find out since I don’t wanna spoil the fun.

Well, I began the book with a smile and by evening when Mr, Hubby was home, I was all tears, reading the last page. The author’s account is so real, so detailed that you end up believing it’s his own story. It was only at the last page that I realized it was just a creation of his mind and no inspiration from anybody’s life.

I enjoyed reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing this post. Go for it if you share that special father daughter bond, you will love reading every bit of it. A book to be felt and relished and not just gobbled down…

The kids from Guptakashi, Uttarakhand

I met these lovely kids at Guptakashi, 47km before Kedarnath in April this year. On our way to Guptakashi from Ukhimath, Mr. Hubby spotted these cute kids asking for a lift & asked them to come on board. The brother sister duo were on their way back home from school. While most days they had to cover the 5km distance by foot, during tourist season, they hoped to get lift from the tourist vehicles. The brother, a shy kid kept looking down and smiling every time Mr. Hubby asked his name. The sister was much matured & answered our questions & even guided us about the places to see in Guptakashi.

When they came on board, I was a little surprised since in Delhi, we are taught since childhood not to talk to strangers. And here these were, two little kids braving the hilly terrain, meeting everyone with an open mind. But such is the simplicity of the hills that you don’t get to see anywhere else.

The blog on my April trip is still lying low in the priority list of blogs and I hope to put it up by this weekend. However, as I saw TV channels covering the cruel game of mother nature in Uttarakhand, I was immediately reminded of these kids. We didn’t ask their names, didn’t know where they stayed . But, as I read the horrific account of the Uttarkhand flood, my heart says a silent prayer for these kids – hope wherever they are, they are fine and healthy with their families, with the same smile on their faces and hopes in their hearts – hopes of a better tomorrow.

God Bless

Ring the bell, let the birds fly…

Just like the traffic on the roads, for any girl born and brought up in Delhi, eve teasing is a usual affair. Since childhood, a girl is subjected to some said, some unsaid rules and regulations in exchange for her safety. I still remember how worried my mom was when I joined college just because I had to travel to a secluded part of the city all by myself. Always carry a mobile phone, never venture out alone, prefer going out with a male or in groups, wear non provocative clothes, avoid interaction with strangers in buses, come back home on time….the checklist was too long and irritating to be followed.

But this was almost a decade ago and back then I used to wonder life wouldn't be the same in a couple of years. With women empowerment being a burning issue and India marching towards growth, I expected a better society for the generations to come.

Times have changed and yet they haven’t!

Being a masi to a 14 year old is like having a pet sparrow (mind the comparison but couldn't find anything better to express my feelings!). You love the chirpie song but always dread the sparrow being eaten by the cat. Thinking the sparrow would be safe in the house, you build a comfortable cage in the house. But, is the sparrow happy there? She wants to fly in the sky.  My niece too is a cute little sparrow, wanting to spread her wings and explore the world. She is smart, intelligent, confident and ready to explore the world – the typical woman of the jet age. Loves going for the impossible and hates being confined. It’s a pain when we impose the same decade old restrictions on her. A couple of days back, I asked her to be back before dark as bad elements come out by then to which she snapped and asked me “Masi, in zoo, the ferocious animals are in the cage, not the normal visitors, then why not do something about such elements than unfairly curbing our freedom?” She had a point indeed, yet the practical me had to explain how the real world is different from the stuff we read in books. Poor child never says no to anything I say, but that very moment, a bell rang inside my heart and the heart echoed…

We must be the change we want to see…

The easiest thing in the world is to crib, cry and escape the wrong. However, people who make their own path and stand up against the wrong are the real change agents. The so called “bad elements” spring up from our society, perhaps the guy next door. Cleaning begins from the house. To ring the bell against such elements, we need to go back to the basics and teach every boy around us to respect the mothers, sisters and not take their care for granted. Only then will the society learn that it’s not the attire but the attitude that counts –attitude of the men around us. The bell should ring away the fears till the women in our society can live in peace.

So what are we waiting for

Ring the bell, and let the birds fly…

This post has been written for Ring the bell movement for Indiblogger and www.bellbajao.org/