saroj isnt a huge fan of what she calls "mall culture".
they can sell you designer cow-dung she says!
i on the other hand have a compulsive "mall" disorder.
i can window shop for hours and hours and hours.
i go to malls. take a round. then start again...just gaze at things that i will never use and hence never buy. well...almost never.
sometimes they are just too pretty to resist.
but there MAY be something to be said about that whole designer cow-dung-phenomenon. for example...at rosebys (i love that store no matter what anyone says!) the other day i came across a very beautiful maroon packet with something in a ... well ... brighter maroon i guess!
i looked closely but for the life of me couldnt figure out what was in that plastic!
imagine my jaw hitting the floor when the salesguy said it was a towel.
at first i thought i hadnt heard correctly.
WHO buys a towel for 2 grand??
but then he repeated more firmly and pointed towards a tag...and lo and behold it said...a towel laced with secret desires!!!
i think there were wayyy too many expressions crossing my face at that moment cos he gently said that it was very popular.
reaffirming my faith...i see.
well i put it back with as much grace i could muster...having realised that i may have to make-do without any secret desires in near future since "the towel was out of reach"...and walked out.
but im thinking there IS something to be said for aggressive, strangely innovative marketing these days. double income households where money may not be an issue but imagination is sadly lacking. so a quick fix towel to the rescue!
why else would you need to rely on a towel or a pillow for some imagination!
yes pillow too! at cafe turtle ... they have these little heart shaped ones...depending on your mood.
purple one is for calm serene thoughts..i think.
there is a bright red one for lustful vibes. (yeah go ahead and laugh...i did too!)
infact gifted it to a friend as a joke.
the couple was having some problems and split up anyway.
not sure how much the pillow contributed to it...or maybe dealyed it...i dont know.
what i DO know is...a towel for 2 grand will only ever give me secret "guilt trips".
are you wondering why i told you this stupid story that u dont probably care about?
wel...here;s the punchline....
as i was walking out of rosebys....still reeling from what i now call the "towel effect"...the salesman gently pressed a paper in my hand and said he'd filled out a coupon for me for some lucky draw.
i stopped and without going into my whole life history...gently told him that id NEVER EVER in my life won anything...so it was kind but lucky draws werent for me.
he still insisted on taking down my details.
and though im always cynical about these things...for once i wrote it down for him.
a call just came...informing me that i have WON that lucky draw to shop for TEN THOUSAND rupees worth of stuff at rosebys...absolutely free of cost.
yieeee yieeee yieeeee.
i went back to thank the salesguy who'd pushed me into the draw.
he apparently lasted only a week in that job and had moved onto something else.
i still have my voucher for TEN GRAND.
any suggestions...what i should be shopping for at rosebys??
pls dont say towels!
m
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
CTRL-ALT-DEL
imagine suddenly finding an old diary in your cupboard.
it smells musty...with paper thats gone almost brittle...and ink that looks like its starting to leak a bit.
doesnt it make ur heart jump a little with excitement? just wondering what memories you'll find there...
for me....its always been about the romance of all things old....books, ideas, thoughts... all written down...and then reading it over and over again for hours...each time coming up with a new interpretation..
till i recently realised that i may actually be stuck in a time-warp.
swimming in the same old ideas and thoughts that one should have let go of long ago.
and everytime an old diary falls out....its like revisiting and then reliving every failure...with a new interpretation...one failure at a time.
so finally im a convert now.
converted to loving this thing called a "computer".
no more brittle memories on brittle pages...or old failures that have a potential to leak/bleed onto your present.
i still write.
only.....whatever i dont like....is now just a delete button away.
so can i now log onto a new beginning then?
m
it smells musty...with paper thats gone almost brittle...and ink that looks like its starting to leak a bit.
doesnt it make ur heart jump a little with excitement? just wondering what memories you'll find there...
for me....its always been about the romance of all things old....books, ideas, thoughts... all written down...and then reading it over and over again for hours...each time coming up with a new interpretation..
till i recently realised that i may actually be stuck in a time-warp.
swimming in the same old ideas and thoughts that one should have let go of long ago.
and everytime an old diary falls out....its like revisiting and then reliving every failure...with a new interpretation...one failure at a time.
so finally im a convert now.
converted to loving this thing called a "computer".
no more brittle memories on brittle pages...or old failures that have a potential to leak/bleed onto your present.
i still write.
only.....whatever i dont like....is now just a delete button away.
so can i now log onto a new beginning then?
m
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
the lost "me" in the collective "we"...
he was my last hope.
the one person i knew i could really bitch the world out with, as he blew smoke rings and sang and kept cynicism alive.
even he finally gave in to the pressures.
pressures to adapt to this consumeristic cycle of life...completely.
yes, consumeristic because every relationship and every emotion comes with an expiry date these days. even marriages.
ive celebrated my failures with him.
so im not surprised why i was the last one to know.
but he, who for as long as ive known him, had rejected every cliched conformist idea in the book....to now see him running around getting his "life ready" to get married scares me.
life has no answers he always said.
let yet another question get added to the long list...he now says to assure me.
il continue to fret over the layers and layers of mysteries of this life.
but i wish him all the best and hope that he will be able to find...the lost "me" in the collective "we"...
m
the one person i knew i could really bitch the world out with, as he blew smoke rings and sang and kept cynicism alive.
even he finally gave in to the pressures.
pressures to adapt to this consumeristic cycle of life...completely.
yes, consumeristic because every relationship and every emotion comes with an expiry date these days. even marriages.
ive celebrated my failures with him.
so im not surprised why i was the last one to know.
but he, who for as long as ive known him, had rejected every cliched conformist idea in the book....to now see him running around getting his "life ready" to get married scares me.
life has no answers he always said.
let yet another question get added to the long list...he now says to assure me.
il continue to fret over the layers and layers of mysteries of this life.
but i wish him all the best and hope that he will be able to find...the lost "me" in the collective "we"...
m
Thursday, October 15, 2009
milkshake
this is for everyone who is a fan of richard linklater and his films.
its from one of the best films ever made..."before sunrise" (1995)
a poem that a street-poet writes for jesse and celine....
daydream delusion, limousine eyelash
oh baby with your pretty face....drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes....see what you mean to me
sweet-cakes and milkshakes
i'm a delusion angel, i'm a fantasy parade
i want you to know what I think...don't want you to guess anymore
you have no idea where I came from
we have no idea where we're going
lodged in life.....like branches in a river
flowing downstream
caught in the current
i carry you.....you'll carry me
that's how it could be
don't you know me?
don't you know me by now?
its from one of the best films ever made..."before sunrise" (1995)
a poem that a street-poet writes for jesse and celine....
daydream delusion, limousine eyelash
oh baby with your pretty face....drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes....see what you mean to me
sweet-cakes and milkshakes
i'm a delusion angel, i'm a fantasy parade
i want you to know what I think...don't want you to guess anymore
you have no idea where I came from
we have no idea where we're going
lodged in life.....like branches in a river
flowing downstream
caught in the current
i carry you.....you'll carry me
that's how it could be
don't you know me?
don't you know me by now?
m
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
set my heart ablaze...
i know i haven't written in a lonnnng time. life's been a roller coaster. not the good kind.
id promised myself that next time when i have something truly wonderful to share i will write again. i've waited in vain for 7-8 months.
not much has changed since then. but today i saw my most favourite video in the world again and it filled me with happy thoughts. and here i am....
dreams are like flowers. they need sunlight and lots of nurturing for them to truly bloom. the light may have temporarily faded a little, but i nurture the dreams....hoping that one day they will all come true.
the video of mani ratnam's title track from "dil se"....it sets my heart on fire. i always wonder how a song can be so full of innocence that only the young have and yet so much breath-stopping passion! gulzar;s lyrics, rahman's genius in composing and singing....matching perfectly with the way shahrukh and manisha bring it alive and ablaze on screen.
this was according to me the best time of shahrukh's career. the passion on his face ... in his eyes in the song is so raw and earthy....not corrupted yet by the power and the superstardom that would come later.
it set me thinking....when so young...do we really understand "love" or "dreams" or "desires"? its ironical that by the time one starts understanding their meanings...the naivette that brings boundless passion has slowly started waning.
so when do we truly love? as young when we don't know what it means and everything that it will entail? or older and wiser when we are so aware of all the risks involved that we always dread to take that final step .... towards blissful freefall.....?
id promised myself that next time when i have something truly wonderful to share i will write again. i've waited in vain for 7-8 months.
not much has changed since then. but today i saw my most favourite video in the world again and it filled me with happy thoughts. and here i am....
dreams are like flowers. they need sunlight and lots of nurturing for them to truly bloom. the light may have temporarily faded a little, but i nurture the dreams....hoping that one day they will all come true.
the video of mani ratnam's title track from "dil se"....it sets my heart on fire. i always wonder how a song can be so full of innocence that only the young have and yet so much breath-stopping passion! gulzar;s lyrics, rahman's genius in composing and singing....matching perfectly with the way shahrukh and manisha bring it alive and ablaze on screen.
this was according to me the best time of shahrukh's career. the passion on his face ... in his eyes in the song is so raw and earthy....not corrupted yet by the power and the superstardom that would come later.
it set me thinking....when so young...do we really understand "love" or "dreams" or "desires"? its ironical that by the time one starts understanding their meanings...the naivette that brings boundless passion has slowly started waning.
so when do we truly love? as young when we don't know what it means and everything that it will entail? or older and wiser when we are so aware of all the risks involved that we always dread to take that final step .... towards blissful freefall.....?
m
Monday, February 23, 2009
And the Oscar goes to....
"May all praise be to the almighty"....
Collecting that absolutely gorgeous golden man, when Rahman said those words, we were all there in that moment with him sharing that glory.
A glory that took a long time coming. But its here now and how proud we all are.
It was almost like a beautifully scripted film....hitting just the right notes at all the right times.
But like with every film we all have that one special moment that we always remember.
For me that moment came....when a calm, composed and almost unruffled with such a huge success....Rahman in a dramatic way declared "mere pass maa hai"!!
When Salim-Javed had written those lines for the then angry young man of the 70s...Vijay...who in a passionate monologue declares that he has nothing in life except his mother;s wishes...cinama halls had echoed the applause for a long time.
Trishul had gone on to be a huge hit...and that dialogue resurfacing each time in either a stage show or in ads to demonstrate the angst of that angry young man. So even the writer duo in their wildest dreams would not have imagined this dialogue making it onto the biggest stage of cinema....the oscars. Only to be spoken.....in a complete contrast....by a humble, composed and as far from that angry young man like rahman...as they could possibly imagine!
For me it was truly the moment when bollywood had made it on that big stage in all its glory :)
Now while im happy like everyone else that Rahman and Resul Pookutty rocked at the oscars....im still not convinced that slumdog was the better film of the day. Sometimes we are at the right place at the right time and then small budgets and great work don't matter.
Some say the timing for the film was right....coming at the height of recession the story of an underdog gives everyone hope. Some argue that its India;s poverty at its gloriest best, shining so brightly amongst the glittering diamonds and glamourous vaentinos and armani;s at the oscars.
But I think sometimes its just your day and then nothing else matters. Slumdog by any stretch of imagination can't be called Rahman;s or for that matter even Danny Boyle;s best work.
Rahman is a genius who has done some absolutely sensational work and this recognition for him was just long overdue. But S always says...nature never keeps anyone;s due. And if its a long time coming then even better...cos then u get your due with interest. Rahman got two oscars!!
Whether or not its true....one will never know. But what we DO know is that its made each and every Indian....no matter how cynical and critical of Slumdog;s journey right upto that moment when they all came on stage...a believer.
And isn't that what we celebrated at the 81st Academy awards this year? Hope winning over everything and every hardship .... and victory for the underdog...in this case...the slumdog. So here;s to the best picture according to me...the oscars!
Collecting that absolutely gorgeous golden man, when Rahman said those words, we were all there in that moment with him sharing that glory.
A glory that took a long time coming. But its here now and how proud we all are.
It was almost like a beautifully scripted film....hitting just the right notes at all the right times.
But like with every film we all have that one special moment that we always remember.
For me that moment came....when a calm, composed and almost unruffled with such a huge success....Rahman in a dramatic way declared "mere pass maa hai"!!
When Salim-Javed had written those lines for the then angry young man of the 70s...Vijay...who in a passionate monologue declares that he has nothing in life except his mother;s wishes...cinama halls had echoed the applause for a long time.
Trishul had gone on to be a huge hit...and that dialogue resurfacing each time in either a stage show or in ads to demonstrate the angst of that angry young man. So even the writer duo in their wildest dreams would not have imagined this dialogue making it onto the biggest stage of cinema....the oscars. Only to be spoken.....in a complete contrast....by a humble, composed and as far from that angry young man like rahman...as they could possibly imagine!
For me it was truly the moment when bollywood had made it on that big stage in all its glory :)
Now while im happy like everyone else that Rahman and Resul Pookutty rocked at the oscars....im still not convinced that slumdog was the better film of the day. Sometimes we are at the right place at the right time and then small budgets and great work don't matter.
Some say the timing for the film was right....coming at the height of recession the story of an underdog gives everyone hope. Some argue that its India;s poverty at its gloriest best, shining so brightly amongst the glittering diamonds and glamourous vaentinos and armani;s at the oscars.
But I think sometimes its just your day and then nothing else matters. Slumdog by any stretch of imagination can't be called Rahman;s or for that matter even Danny Boyle;s best work.
Rahman is a genius who has done some absolutely sensational work and this recognition for him was just long overdue. But S always says...nature never keeps anyone;s due. And if its a long time coming then even better...cos then u get your due with interest. Rahman got two oscars!!
Whether or not its true....one will never know. But what we DO know is that its made each and every Indian....no matter how cynical and critical of Slumdog;s journey right upto that moment when they all came on stage...a believer.
And isn't that what we celebrated at the 81st Academy awards this year? Hope winning over everything and every hardship .... and victory for the underdog...in this case...the slumdog. So here;s to the best picture according to me...the oscars!
m
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Bollywood ke naam...
"Kitne aadmi they..." or "mat ro pushpa...i hate tears re!" or the more recent "rahul...naam to suna hoga". Over the years so many of these dialogues are now practically part of everyone's memory.
But there are some bollywood fans like me...who alongwith all these mega blockbuster films also have as part of their growing up memories some films/songs/dialogues that most of you would not even have heard of. Well...unless ur a crazy fan like me...in which case we may have loads to reminisce about.
Now....ive dug out a few gems for those who are not fans...yet.
For example...
- how many of you know that once there was a hot debate in the industry in early 90s on whether rahul roy should be shown in the buff in a film called "Junoon". From the mahesh bhatt camp....this film had roy turning into a tiger everytime there was a full moon night because he had killed a tiger on one such night. So dutifully he lures women on full moon nights with songs picturised in discos .."prem prem o' meri dilruba tu dil ke kareen hai...tera pyaar mera naseeb hai..." and then eats them up in the disco loo!! (after such an exciting plot would you even THINK about rahul roy in the buff?)
- Now Rangoli on sunday mornings and chitrahaar on wed and friday nights at 8pm were nector for starving souls like me. I still remember at 7.15 my sunday morning made...when I caught the song from Meera ka Mohan....an Avinash Wadhawan (who couldnt dance to save his life!) with a flute in his hand..singing..."O Krishna...you are the greatest musician of this world.." in Bappi Da's inimitable voice!
- In late 80's and even till mid 90's....when cable hadn't invaded homes and hearts the way it has now...small publishing houses used to take out booklets for newly released films...almost like a comic book...full with dialogues and songs etc! My sister will tell you...all my pocket money went towards buying those books. I remember "reading" Tehelka...and even though it was a true classic...cos id heard it on the radio many a times...it was only much later that i SAW the songs...main hoon naram garam....arre kaisi sharam! or aditya panscholi ...naseer and javed jaffery dressed in bikinis singing...meri chhatri ke neeche aaja...kyun bheege re kamla khadi khadi!!
- "where is the time to hate...when there is so little time to love...come on lets sing sing sing...come on lets dance dance dance....come on have fun fun fun...meri jaan"...from saatwan aasman. Do I really need to elaborate this?!
- classic hollywood dialogues like "think and hit" from Ghost became "socho aur maaro..." in a straight lift Pyaar ka Saaya
- My personal fav is "if you want to shoot....shoot....don't talk" by ajay devgan...in phool aur kaante and "bolte bahut ho keshav.." by anupam kher from roop ki rani choron ka raja...just after he shoots "keshav"....for talking too much.
Interestingly..had it released much earlier Rakeysh Mehra's pigeon in Dilli 6;s....the much talked about...masakalli....would have been in direct competition with Anil Kapoor;s 'Jango' in the film...!!
Im not even sure if anyone is reading my ramblings....but if you are...and have some of those gems to share...do write in.
Love and think money!
But there are some bollywood fans like me...who alongwith all these mega blockbuster films also have as part of their growing up memories some films/songs/dialogues that most of you would not even have heard of. Well...unless ur a crazy fan like me...in which case we may have loads to reminisce about.
Now....ive dug out a few gems for those who are not fans...yet.
For example...
- how many of you know that once there was a hot debate in the industry in early 90s on whether rahul roy should be shown in the buff in a film called "Junoon". From the mahesh bhatt camp....this film had roy turning into a tiger everytime there was a full moon night because he had killed a tiger on one such night. So dutifully he lures women on full moon nights with songs picturised in discos .."prem prem o' meri dilruba tu dil ke kareen hai...tera pyaar mera naseeb hai..." and then eats them up in the disco loo!! (after such an exciting plot would you even THINK about rahul roy in the buff?)
- Now Rangoli on sunday mornings and chitrahaar on wed and friday nights at 8pm were nector for starving souls like me. I still remember at 7.15 my sunday morning made...when I caught the song from Meera ka Mohan....an Avinash Wadhawan (who couldnt dance to save his life!) with a flute in his hand..singing..."O Krishna...you are the greatest musician of this world.." in Bappi Da's inimitable voice!
- In late 80's and even till mid 90's....when cable hadn't invaded homes and hearts the way it has now...small publishing houses used to take out booklets for newly released films...almost like a comic book...full with dialogues and songs etc! My sister will tell you...all my pocket money went towards buying those books. I remember "reading" Tehelka...and even though it was a true classic...cos id heard it on the radio many a times...it was only much later that i SAW the songs...main hoon naram garam....arre kaisi sharam! or aditya panscholi ...naseer and javed jaffery dressed in bikinis singing...meri chhatri ke neeche aaja...kyun bheege re kamla khadi khadi!!
- "where is the time to hate...when there is so little time to love...come on lets sing sing sing...come on lets dance dance dance....come on have fun fun fun...meri jaan"...from saatwan aasman. Do I really need to elaborate this?!
- classic hollywood dialogues like "think and hit" from Ghost became "socho aur maaro..." in a straight lift Pyaar ka Saaya
- My personal fav is "if you want to shoot....shoot....don't talk" by ajay devgan...in phool aur kaante and "bolte bahut ho keshav.." by anupam kher from roop ki rani choron ka raja...just after he shoots "keshav"....for talking too much.
Interestingly..had it released much earlier Rakeysh Mehra's pigeon in Dilli 6;s....the much talked about...masakalli....would have been in direct competition with Anil Kapoor;s 'Jango' in the film...!!
Im not even sure if anyone is reading my ramblings....but if you are...and have some of those gems to share...do write in.
Love and think money!
m
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)