A day in the life of LIFE

Life is lived, I always believed by the moments laced with happiness:
This journey gets transformed, from nothingness to completeness,
But even as I see others commit acts that are deplorable,
Empathy is what you give them in all ways affordable.

I am not supposed to be like “others” is what I am told,
But behind the façade of strength is my innateness, lo behold;
I have tried to supplement your apprehensions with so much reason,
But from others, reign hard, blows of treason.

Things were so awesome; It was not as the present, before;
And you tell me others have experienced much more,
I beg to differ; in matters of interpretation,
For, I have been on the other side of the fence, in many a situation

You tell me to take strength in my all rounded faculties;
That was flattering; but limited are my emotive capabilities
You set the standards and tell me they are differently graded;
And the same when implemented get variably traded;

The reason you give me is “I should not react so, since I am “me””
And for the first time in my life I am not filled with self envy,
Of what joy are achievements of statesmanship;
When I stand discriminated against in the inherent essence of friendship.

I cannot force you to change your ways;
But whether I deserve this; I wonder in dismay,
All I have left is to add to the numerous assumptions, as life sways;
What had to be this way; will be this way!

The Sufi songs of Kurbaan play back to back on my list even as I type this post. It’s Diwali on the IIM campus, just as it is across the other parts of the nation. Diwali is probably the most solid cultural link between the North and the South of the Vindhyas, in a land as diverse as India – talking of which brings back memories of all the cities I’ve celebrated Diwali in, over the period of my life thus far: Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Mysore and now Shillong.

One attribute of the festival of lights is its unmatched grandeur which is symbolic of the existence of human civilization. Poets and writers alike have written at length about the power of the light to liberate, primary of whom include John Henry Newman (Lead, Kindly Light) and B.M. Sri (Karunaalu Baa Belake – Kannada). The scene from Swades describes the festival of lights in an apt manner – one of sharing, love, contentment and hope : the last two emotions being opposite yet complimentary in nature.

An interesting comment by Sri Sri Sri Ravishankar on the importance of the humble “diya” in today’s Times of India is worth a recall here. He says that it is mandatory for the wick to remain part under oil and part out of it, exposed to the air, so that it can provide light to the surround. So ought to be the balance in all our lives which is most often a roller coaster of emotions. We all have faith, belief and expectation as the three underlying pillars of existence. And then these are both of internal and external dimensions. Managing these two perspectives is what is required of us and can be learnt from the omnipresent diya, the brilliant resonance of which according to me, is seen on the banks of the Ganges at Haridwar.

This flash of the thought brings to me the aspect of the transience of the present. T.S. Elliot rightly mentioned “Where is life lost in the living"...

I still believe that the “Hope of Hope is the reality of life” and I shall leave my readers with a beautiful one liner in the Times of India a few years ago when Ramzan and Diwali coincided on the same day.

“Here’s wishing everyone a very happy diwALI and RAMzaan” – It happens only in India...

Looking forward to this evening which promises to be a cracker of a celebration on the IIM Campus….

Pic below : The rangoli last time in front of the Academic Block..

The beauty of Bollywood is that it has always been a universal healer. All you have to do when you feel low is to go and watch the latest bollywood flick to get your dose of rejuvination. The success of a movie is based on how well the audience relates to situations and the plot that the movie presents.

Wake Up Sid opens with Siddhart Mehra, a typical gen y individual from upmarket South Bombay (oops... Mumbai) the typical "Ameer Baap ka Bigda hua Beta" who is seen struggling to make a choice between video games and financial accounting on the eve of the final exam - no prizes for guessing what he finally goes with!

Enter Ayesha Banerjee, a typical "ajnabee in the anjaan shahar" who meets Sid at a party. Bold, suave, independent and outspoken are attributes best associated with Ayesha. A brave pick up line which is acknowledged by the latter leads them to the "most favourite hangout" of Mumbai - Marine Drive, which sets the foundation for a relationship of friendship.

Small favors by the chauvenistic Sid makes him liked by Ayesha who reiterates from time to time that they are "just" friends. Ayesha, with her chirpy nature lands herself a job at Mumbai Beat, a city based magazine as the assistant of the Editor-in-Chief, who takes her out on Jazz dates only to make Ayesha realize that she is better off humming Kishore Kumar and Saigal as against listening to boring jazz.

Sid's lifestyle can be best described as that lead by Hritik in the first half of "Lakshya", who on the other hand continues painting the town red, with friends until he fails miserably in his exams while his friends get through. A sound warning and hard talk by Mehra senior makes Siddhart wild and he storms out of the house. He moves in with Ayesha as a room partner (and not a live in one)and is gradually transformed into an organized person who gets to learn daily chores. Sid, with the help of Ayesha lands the job of a photographer at the same magazine, where he discovers his true talent.

A brief period of Sid dating Tanya is thrown in as the parallel track to Kabir (Edit-in-Chief) dating Ayesha. What happens post that is best described as true blue hindi movie storyline.

Though the movie gets caught in stereotypes for a brief 20 odd minutes, it does convey quite a few meaningful messages, one of which is to not stick to the conventional and striking out on your own, by pursuing your deeply embedded life interest.

Some good numbers, Shankar's melodious voice and great lyrics, make the movie a refreshing entertainer, though with hints of relatedness to Dil Chahta Hai, on certain occasions.

Great acting by Konkana is definitely something that leaves you impressed at the end of the movie. Karan Johar could have kept a greater grip on the screenplay, but otherwise, it's a good job indeed....

A 7 on 10 for "Wake Up Sid", and it definitely goes well with Sunday brunch if you plan to watch it tomorrow...- If you WAKE UP in time for Brunch, i.e. ... :-)..

I stood by you in times of sorrow and joy;
I did so too when surrounded by hoi polloi
I tried as much and managed to swallow all my fears,
So that I could, always wipe off your tears

I thought, I assumed and presumed for long,
That my assumptions could never be wrong,
And I moved all along advising you,
That the world is not like me and you..

You listened, You heard, I sought confirmation
I thought, as much, you comprehended the situation,
I knew for long that I’d never be shunned; this was a consolation:
In what I could comprehend in my limited imagination.

Days’ve passed and so have the seasons;
I’ve shared a bond of friendship with no precondition,
But today when the scheming hoi polloi emerged:
You turned your back on me and left me submerged…

You might have had reasons galore,
Existence of which has become folk lore;
Though a choice you did make today,
I shall still hope you realize someday..

No emotion is also a state of emotion:
This is what I feel as I type this explanation;
Learning to let go, for me is perhaps the only way;
Even when many, off our path try to make us sway…

Tracks diverge and so do they intersect;
Am human too; so I introspect:
Did I err somewhere, on this journey?
Answers to which may still remain a mystery….

For all those who are thinking twice on reading this post, let me assure you that I shall not spoil the fun of the movie - this is a review which gives you a good enough flavor without revealing the ending.

A lazy Sunday morning and nothing much to do, brought four friends from IIM face to face with Ashutosh Gowariker's latest flick in town...

The movie opens up well, with Harmaan playing Yogesss Patel, the "cool dude MBA from GSB Chicago who is leading a comfortable life in apna amreeka even as he doubles up as a DJ at night.."

Then of course is his family that is as ubiquitous as yours and mine - Mummy, Daddy, Bhaiyya Bhabhi Kaaka Kaaki and the extra - Kaakaji ki woh!

Summoned to India to solve a problem for which wedding is the incredulous recourse to, he sets out on an expedition as simple as that undertaken by the Archealogical Survey of India - to find a gal to be wedded to, with everything else including the date of the marriage having already been fixed!

Now this actually reminded me of the movie "Jhoot Bole Kawwa Kaate.." which has a song that goes like - "Hero Hai, Heroine Hai, Villain Hai, Shooting hai..par camera nahin!"

Yogessss' quest makes him intelligently choose a sample set from the population presented to him by his kaaku. This I guess is a fallout of the QT course (Quantitative Techniques) that he had during his MBA at Chicago. (For those of you MBA students reading this - life mein padhai kabhi kabhi kaam aajati hai...)

So he decides to meet one gal from each rashee(sunsign) already handpicked from the Gujrati community by his kaaku and take a call post the self styled "swayam vadhu" ceremony of sorts.

Priyanka Chopra has matured over the years as an actress and she has pulled off a blinder playing 12 roles in the movie. In fact when Gowariker was asked by Rajiv Masand on why he had the same gal play 12 roles, the reply was that, it was so done to neutralise the bias in the minds of the audience, which would have arisen otherwise.

Each innings played by Priyanka is a cameo and credit must be given to the director who has researched extensively on the traits of the sunsigns and mapped the characters well to suit the "stereotypes".

Apparently Ashutosh wanted A R Rahman to score the music for the film but 12 songs in a short span was not possible owing to projects that were already running for the music maestro. His substitute ,Sohail Sen has done a fine job in putting together situation based numbers (12 in all + the title track) for the film. Javed Saab as always, has been great at the lyrics. Special mention of Madhav Kadam and Rajesh Patil, who are Priyanka's make up artistes.

One negative - As with all Gowariker movies, the length of the movie is a little over 4 hours and the theater I watched it at, managed to wrap it up in 3 hours 20 minutes (by chopping a few songs), which I guess was wise, in a way - Consider a song tsunami with the elaborate setting for every raashee!!

The supporting characters play a great role with specific mention of Anjjan Srivastav (better known for his role in the television series Waagle ki Duniyan) who plays Patel Senior.The movie also provides a social message, and a good one at that, which completes the circle in a way.

Some good jokes thrown in, that go well with the situational comedy, make the movie a funtertainer. I especially like one dialogue in the movie where two Gujratis are speaking in broken Angrezi, and one of them remarks "Iph you bhant thu dhoo bijneeejjj, then ispeak in goojraati..."

The style of direction towards the end resembles that of Priyadarshan where all actors congregate at a given location, but all in all, the compartments do sum up to the larger objective of the movie.

Based on the Gujrati novel Kimball Ravenswood by Madhu Rye, the movie is a great entertainer with a good mix of humor, music, and an innovative story line. A 7.5 on 10 for "What's your Rashee" and you won't be disappointed at the end of the it.

And while you figure out what's Harmaan's favourite raashee at the theater near you, let me go grab a copy of Linda Goodman's "Sun Signs!"... On second thoughts, I'd rather find it interesting to discover the raashee based traits of the opposite gender myself, through personal interactions.... :-)