Two good movies I watched!

After a long time, I want to write reviews of two refreshing movies I watched lately -- Tere Bin Laden and Peepli (Live). 

Tere Bin Laden's story is based in Pakistan and is a great piece of humor and satire about how this young, handsome :) reporter Ali (Pakistani singer Ali making his debut) wishes to immigrate to "Amrika" as he calls it and then the events unfold which make him concoct a cock-and-bull plan involving a chicken-raiser farmer who is a Bin Laden lookalike. There are a lot of funny sequences and digs in the movie. The manipulations done by US diplomats (Barry John does a great job here) and the boot-licking of Pakistani (could have easily been Indian) diplomats are well presented. There is no  overt preaching, yet the satire is unmistakable. The lingo is delightfully rustic Punjabi Urdu, which I recall from the old Pakistani plays I have seen. The script, the casting, and the settings  are wonderful along with some nice songs. I really loved it.

Peepli (Live) -- I was keen to watch this one. I immensely like Aamir, and a project produced by him is bound not to disappoint. I was glad to read that the lady director is a journalist who has culled her own experiences to script the movie. The movie unfolds in Peeple, a hamlet in Mukhya Pradesh -- could be easily a state like UP or MP. The movie is about the plight of the poor farmers in the villages, specifically addresses farmer suicides; the futile implementation of govt. schemes which never reach the poor; the media circus which cares little for the event except for generating their own TRPs; the corny politicians; and the disconnect between the urban and rural India. The movie is real in its script, characters and language (using a rural dialect of Hindi). The cast is delightful, coming as they do from a theater background. The movie does have a documentary feel to it, and it depicts reality. Don't expect the regular song and dances, though a couple of songs are really good. There are so many good things and small instances in the movie which would touch each one of us. It is certainly not a feel-good movie; it does not intend to be one. It is hard hitting and shows reality. It is thinking cinema and good cinema. Watch it for the real story of India's villages.

I am happy that good scripts and great casts are back in reckoning again!

Teachers' Day

 5th September is a date we all remember in India. It is celebrated as Teachers' Day here. And, each of us has fond memories of some teacher or the other from our school or college days. Teaching is a noble profession, and teachers are gurus, equivalent to parents. But, all this just seems to be empty words. Teachers are the most neglected in our community. Despite knowing the importance of their roles in not only imparting knowledge but also in moulding our childrens' future, they are completely underpaid. They work long hours though it looks like their work is over with school hours, it is not. They have lesson plans, books to correct, exam papers to correct, activities to organize and coordinate and numerous such things to take care of.


I have been a teacher, and I know how hectic and tiring it can be. In rural areas, the situation is even worse in terms of pay scales. Then RTE clips their wings further. Have you seen how the kids are today -- extremely precocious. The teachers are not even allowed to scold a child. Of course, I am against corporal punishment or hitting of any form. But, discipline is a must. Call me old fashioned, but if a child can not be disciplined in school, he is missing out on a very important aspect of his life.


Teachers are overworked, underpaid and hardly have great career growth ahead of them. How can we expect them to be selfless and keep working under these conditions? They need more to be done for them than mere lip service and empty praises. Yes, we love our teachers. But, it is high time, it is demonstrated through more than just words.


5th September is also very special for me because it is Gautam's birthday! He turned 4 yesterday. He gets to celebrate it in his school today :). Attaching a pic of him and me.

P.S. The header pic is of a red hibiscus from my garden. I love its gorgeous red hues :).

Little Krishna

Today is Krishna Janmashtami celebration in Gautam's school. More than the dressing up and the fact that they will have fun and games at school, he is happy because there will be no writing work at school :). I loved dressing him up in this traditional dress. My sister sends beautiful traditional dresses for both my sons from Ahmedabad every year. You get the best costumes there.

Anyway, so this is a beginning of festival season with Id and Ganesh Chaturthi following soon after. We hardly celebrate at home, but it is fun to see the festivity in the air and to visit the houses of those who celebrate. The noise is the only deterrent. Welcome -- festival season!

P.S. Attaching some of Gautam's photographs

Another crisis hits Pakistani cricket

Despite the deep disillusionment which has set in with regards to corrupt practices in sports, it was sickening to watch the sting operation done by a British tabloid on the Pakistani players. It is a most implicating evidence, and I do not know how these players had the guts to play the last day of the Test and look people in the eye. Right from the days of Hansie Cronje, Mohd. Azharuddin, and Ajay Jadeja when match fixing came to limelight, and these players lost their careers and credibility, cricket has been tainted.

With big money pouring into cricket and greed driving the cricketers to sink deeper into muck, anything is possible. I believe any cricketer can be bought if your quote is right. That is the amount of skepticism setting in for this game which was once so amazing to watch. Who knows, why a certain game is so exciting anymore. There will always be a shadow of doubt falling on a match.

It is cricket's big day of shame, and I will never understand how players can be so callous about sullying their country's name. Shame on you guys! You have brought disgrace to your country's name and done a lot of damage to cricket's reputation on the whole.

I am waiting to see the investigations unfold, and how these guys would be held accountable?

Comedy of Errors!

Last morning was hilarious. We got back from Hyderabad, and I wanted to rush the kids to school. After getting them ready, Gurdev left to drop them to school. I was busy around the house when I noticed that Gautam's schoolbag was left behind. I also saw that Gurdev, my husband, left his cellphone behind. So, I thought that I would quickly drop Gautam's schoolbag and save Gurdev time from making an additional trip. I took the car and went to the school and dropped off Gautam's schoolbag there. When I came back, I saw Gurdev standing outside the house with Gautam !!

He had thought that he would save a trip and decided not to send Gautam to school. Oh, and I left his schoolbag in school. After sometime, we got a call from school saying that the schoolbag had arrived, but the child was missing :).

Gurdev sheepishly explained that it was miscommunication between him and me that had caused all the confusion. The only saving grace -- the school is only a distance of 1.5 km from home. I ended up making two additional futile trips to school.

Moral of the story -- Don't take decisions without discussion.

A murder most foul

Recently this case has been hogging all headlines in Bangalore

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Techies-wife-murdered-in-JP-Nagar/articleshow/6290478.cms

The lady, it turned out was brutally murdered by her husband. And, apparently he had been planning it for many months. This was a well-educated couple, and the husband was an employee of Infosys. It is shocking to the sensibilities of all of us. Though the investigation is not yet complete, there seems to be no reason like domestic violence, abuse or some such thing on the part of the wife for which the husband wanted to kill her.

What is wrong with this man? With one action of his, he has killed his career, brought ignominy to his family and himself, will be jailed for God knows how many years, and will always live with the blood of his wife on his hands. It is okay to have differences, but why can't educated people handle it the educated way? Seek counseling, and if nothing works, separate or divorce. Who gave him the right to take away another person's life? And, it was a cold-blooded murder, not even a sudden rash act committed in the heat of the moment.

I really fail to understand the psyche of such people. I thought education and status made us wiser and more able to handle conflicts in a better way. It looks, apparently not, in this case. It saddens me to see such a decline in morals and rationality.

Gautam -- our little stress buster

I think, people are right in saying that the youngest child in the family always remains young in the minds of the parents. I objectively say that I don't pamper him. At least, I try not to :). But, it is difficult to not succumb to his charms when he asks for something in his sweet voice.

He is always willing to give a kiss or a hug. And, no matter, what other tensions or troubles weigh on your mind, he will prop himself on my lap or Gurdev's and talk in his baby voice or just give us tight hugs and kisses till we lighten up. He is not one to hold grudges. And, even after firing him, the very next minute he is smiling and hugging us. Gurdev and I have named him our little stress buster :). He is a really sweet child, and very soon he will be 4 years old!

It seems pretty amazing, and it really feels like a few days ago when I held this wrinkled baby in my arms, all squirmy and crying. Today, he is a very cute and shy child with an amazing smile. And, when he sleeps, he is so adorable that I can just keep looking at him.....

And, he speaks so beautifully. His sentences are grammatically correct and not the normal baby tongue, we hear from kids in age. I am a little finicky about language and take a lot of pride in this.

These days, we do a lot of coloring with crayons, together. That and his little cars are his passions in life.

Proud to be an Indian!

This is that time of the year; India's independence day is approaching. The tricolor is all around us. Old patriotic songs play all around us. The channels change their logos in the color of the tricolor. Schools have special flag hoisting and programs. The atmosphere is filled with celebration. I joyously celebrate this occasion with my kids. Being born in independent India, freedom is something we take from granted, yet we cherish it.

But this year, I feel a certain level of disillusionment. The events around me leave me feeling sad. Our single biggest enemy is corruption. Sixty three years after independence, most of our population struggles with a life of poverty and indignity. We, who are relatively better off struggle with potholes, traffic, dust, pollution, illnesses, and corruption. Yes, we have the freedom to curse our politicians, even the PM. But try speaking out against the local Corporator, and you would be sure that goons would descend upon your house.

The single, most terrible trait is the tolerance we have for corruption and high-handedness. No one raises an eyebrow when mind boggling tales of siphoning of public wealth by babus and politicians are splashed everyday in the media. There is hardly any will to raise a voice against bribing or corruption. Everyone is satisfied with the "chalta hai" attitude, and things continue like this forever. The poor have no value attached to their lives -- stark example of Bhopal Gas tragedy and the lack of justice associated with it. Massive cities grow in an unplanned way, and there is a lack of basic needs like water and sanitation. Look at how the prices of foodgrains and vegetables reel out of control of the common man. Malnutrition and deficiencies abound.

And, we still continue to fight over castes, languages, and religions.  Which political party or politician actually addresses any real issues of concern for the common man? What is the pride in being an Indian in this scenario?

Surely, our martyrs did not lay down their lives to get independence from the British, to be ruled by Indians who may look like us, but have the same intentions of looting and self-benefit. Where is the independence?

Gautam updates

Gautam, who is the shy one when it comes to making friends, used to tail his brother outdoors. But, of late, Sid is playing football, where Gautam cannot follow him. So, he takes his toy trucks and cars and plays in the sand pit alone. And, finally he has a friend. He actually looks forward to seeing him in the evenings. Yesterday, this friend ignored him for some reason, and Gautam was almost in tears. He was so hurt. I told him that tomorrow is a new day, and I am sure that your friend will play with you again.

The other day when I picked up Gautam from school, he looked terrified. He told me let's go soon, and then burst out crying. I asked him, "what happened?" He replied that police would take him away. I looked around and noticed that there were a couple of police cars with policemen standing around. There was also parked a big fire engine and some firemen in uniform were there. I think there was some drill in the school that way. I told him that the police only takes away those who are very bad, And, you are a very good boy. But, he said that his teacher had told him that they will take him away. I had to tell him that the teacher must have said that so that they would not be noisy. Then I took him around the fire engine showing him the hose, the fire extinguishers, the ladders, the jackets which were visible. And, he became so happy and animated in one moment. That is the best part with children. They go from crying to happiness in one second.

Gautam is falling sick every week since past 4 weeks with cough and cold. These days, I don't give him any conventional medicine. Just ginger and honey, cinnamon and honey, pepper tea, steam, lots of vicks, and some amla juice in the morning. These help! I have seen that these cough syrups are all useless. And, I cover his ears and neck with a muffler at night when he sleeps. Hopefully, his immunity will improve as time progresses.

And, this one is funny. Gautam says that when he was inside mummy, he was like an egg in my mouth :). I said, I wish it were that way, and I had to just spit him out or vomit him out instead of suffering so much pain at childbirth. Actually, Sid told him that he was like a kidney bean in mummy's tunmmy (8- week ultrasound), which Gautam interpreted as an egg in mummy's mouth :). Vivid imagination, I must say :)

Egg troubles!

The humble egg is our breakfast for most days of the week. I like egg in any form except boiled egg. I actually love the taste of egg white, but I just cannot stand the taste of yolk. If I had to eat it slowly, tasting it, then I would most certainly puke. As a child, my breakfast to school, day in and day out was boiled egg with milk. I hated egg yolk and remember telling my mother that I can't eat this thing. My mother would dismiss it as fussiness and would insist that I ate it.

I remember clearly that in those days, we were staying in Lucknow, and our house had an aangan (or an open courtyard) before the main house entrance, and we lived on the first floor. There was a ledge-like area in that aangan, and I got into the habit of dumping the yolk stealthily on the ledge every single day. Thus I took care of this problem, till my dad happened to chance upon a bulk of rotting egg yolks. And, it was clear who was responsible for it. I still remember the firing I got from dad that day. From that day on, mum made sure that I ate my egg in front of her. And, I had to pinch my nose and take water to wash down that hated thing.

Since then, I have really disliked egg. Now, luckily, I don't have to eat the egg yolk. I just pass it on to my husband :) (who loves boiled eggs) or my kids. 

I have seen that sometimes, in their urge to make you like a certain food, parents force it upon you, thereby, cementing your dislike forever for that food.