Today I’m going to sit all alone, in a room fully lit, will create no room for a shadow, no place to hide. Face to face with my demon. I’ll eat, I’ll sleep, I’ll dream and wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow I would have fought the demon of the 31st of July and with that the fear of being alone when that night arrives.
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
31st of July
Fears are like demons lurking in your shadow. If the light of belief in you shifts slightly they become one with you or ahead of you. I’ve been dreading 31st July for a while now. Last year on this date the flat underneath mine had capsized in flames and as the entire building watched in panic from the street across, my family and I slept. When I smelt gas the first time I dreamt that I was at a wedding standing next to a halwai inhaling fumes from cooking delicious gourmets, the screaming of people outside in my deep slumber was substituted for wedding chitter chatter, only when I heard whistles I thought to myself 'what a strange wedding it is!' The whistles grew louder and as the chitter chatter turned to screams I started suffocating on the fumes from flames that had almost engulfed my flat as well. Of course the rest is too painful and traumatic to be repeated. But a year later I still live in that fear. A fear that a fire will break out, fear of getting trapped again, the fear that I probably lived to write again was only because of somebody else’s presence of mind.
Today I’m going to sit all alone, in a room fully lit, will create no room for a shadow, no place to hide. Face to face with my demon. I’ll eat, I’ll sleep, I’ll dream and wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow I would have fought the demon of the 31st of July and with that the fear of being alone when that night arrives.
Today I’m going to sit all alone, in a room fully lit, will create no room for a shadow, no place to hide. Face to face with my demon. I’ll eat, I’ll sleep, I’ll dream and wake up tomorrow. Tomorrow I would have fought the demon of the 31st of July and with that the fear of being alone when that night arrives.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Bullet Baba Temple
Deity: 350 cc Royal Enfield Bullet, Offering: Clamor of horns, libation: beer, bullet brand
For a large part of the conversation I thought it was a joke and I was playing along. One snide comment gave me away and then what followed were a series of Google look ups.
So it’s true, the Bullet Baba mandir exists!! Rewinding back, one fate full summer night in 1991, Om Banna, as he was fondly called was riding stone drunk on his bullet and hit a tree. The police recovered his body from a 20 feet gorge and seized the bullet during the period of post mortem. However the next morning they found the 350 cc missing, and were shocked to find it parked at the place of the accident. Attributing the incident to a prank, this time they removed the petrol from the bike and placed it under chains, only for it to return to the accident spot again the following night!
Out of fear, they handed over the bike to Banna's relatives, who swore, after the fateful incident they would hear (and some still do) the Royal Enfield rev up at night . They sold the same to a person from Gujarat. But mysteriously the bike returned to the accident spot covering a distance of 400 km. The person who bought it also abandoned it. As such instances kept recurring, the Enfield was left on the fateful spot and it is here on the National Highway No.65 – between Jodhpur and Bali that the “Bullet Baba Temple” was established.
In a separate incident a driver met with an accident in the same spot and said the “dead” Rathore rescued him. The news spread like wild fire and from then on “Bullet Baba” has become a popular deity in the area with Poojas, Bhajans and worships. Today the temple has it’s own priest, who’ll enlighten you on the birth of this legend. Like any temple this too offers prasad, but interestingly in the form of humble home brewed liquor. Pilgrims empty out bottles of hooch in honour of Baba after their wishes have been fulfilled. After circling the bullet, the devotees worship the bullet baba by offering beer. The bullet stands in the centre like a Yogi next to a homkund (fire altar) wearing kumkum and sacred ash (bhasmam). Next to it is a photo of Om Banna and an idol made of marble. The temple is built around the dwarf tree which instantly killed Om Banna, the tree apparently has now turned black due to the homkund but stands blossomed with different colored bangles and handkerchief’s offered by devotees.
If you are travelling through the Pali-Jodhpur highway in Rajasthan without worshipping the Bullet Baba, beware, there is no surety that you would reach your destination. Vehicles riding through if unable to stop, blow their horn as an offering instead.
There are booze shops nearby that aid the forgetful pilgrim and a shop offering exclusive Baba merchandise which includes audio/video CDs and colourful posters.
Only India can boast of such marvels. While reading about the Bullet Baba mandir, I also came across a series of other mandirs built which have just left me speechless! Rajnikanth Mandir (super hero of the south), Mahatma Gandhi mandir, Khushboo mandir (tamil actress), Namitha mandir (kollywood actress), Mayawati mandir, Amitabh Bachachan mandir, Pooja Umashankar mandir, Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran mandir.
Only in India we believe God is greater than his creation but will also deify the two on the same stature.
Temple at: Nathamedu near Thirunindravoor, Chennai. Built for Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran, film actor, director and politician who also served as the CM of TN
For a large part of the conversation I thought it was a joke and I was playing along. One snide comment gave me away and then what followed were a series of Google look ups.
So it’s true, the Bullet Baba mandir exists!! Rewinding back, one fate full summer night in 1991, Om Banna, as he was fondly called was riding stone drunk on his bullet and hit a tree. The police recovered his body from a 20 feet gorge and seized the bullet during the period of post mortem. However the next morning they found the 350 cc missing, and were shocked to find it parked at the place of the accident. Attributing the incident to a prank, this time they removed the petrol from the bike and placed it under chains, only for it to return to the accident spot again the following night!
Out of fear, they handed over the bike to Banna's relatives, who swore, after the fateful incident they would hear (and some still do) the Royal Enfield rev up at night . They sold the same to a person from Gujarat. But mysteriously the bike returned to the accident spot covering a distance of 400 km. The person who bought it also abandoned it. As such instances kept recurring, the Enfield was left on the fateful spot and it is here on the National Highway No.65 – between Jodhpur and Bali that the “Bullet Baba Temple” was established.
Only India can boast of such marvels. While reading about the Bullet Baba mandir, I also came across a series of other mandirs built which have just left me speechless! Rajnikanth Mandir (super hero of the south), Mahatma Gandhi mandir, Khushboo mandir (tamil actress), Namitha mandir (kollywood actress), Mayawati mandir, Amitabh Bachachan mandir, Pooja Umashankar mandir, Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran mandir.
Only in India we believe God is greater than his creation but will also deify the two on the same stature.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Cocktail that's actually a Mocktail
Cocktail written by Imitiaz Ali and Sajid Ali may not be strong enough if you’re looking for a high or to taste something new, but it sure is something you’ll enjoy in small doses. Directed by Homi Adijania the story is about three friends Veronica, Meera and Gautam.
Meera, played by Diana Penty, lands up in London to look up a husband that married her and disappeared.
At the airport she bumps into Gautam Kapoor (Saif) who when spanked by the nurse at birth, probably thought this is what life’s about. He tries to flirt with Meera who cuts him off by playing the married card, only later to realize that the husband doesn’t want her. while drowning herself in a drugstore restroom, she bumps into Veronica.
Veronica (Deepika Padukone), is a typical ‘ I have all this money in the world but I still can’t buy love’. Veronica decides to help Meera out and takes her home. In a bizarre event Veronica & Meera bump into Gautam, Veronica ends up sleeping with him and now the three start sharing room space and life. While Veronica & Gautam are very clear on being ‘friends with benefits’ he ends up falling for Meera. The film there on is a cocktail of friendship, anger, love, jealousy, caring and a cliche end.
A lot of people obviously didn’t see any of that and trashed the film for being regressive. I would have to agree with them if they said the characters were not well sketched out or the film had clichés, or I’d expected much better, but wouldn’t agree with it being regressive.Now here in the film have they portrayed or referred to Veronica as slutty, so what’s the back lash for? When Gautam ‘s mother suddenly lands up, he introduces Meera as his girlfriend only cause at that point Veronica was neither sober, nor appropriately clothed, seeing her son in hot pants and lipstick the mother was in ‘freak mode - gear three’ already.
Veronica wanting to wear a salwar kameez to get accepted by the mother – people said was regressive. Please note mother accepted Meera in a pair of shorts, so it was only Veronica’s insecurity thinking ‘maybe this is why mom likes Meera’ . When she’s drunk in the club and says she’ll cook for him, she’ll do anything – regression would’ve been Gautam or his mother’s character expecting that, but the scene purely showed the state of a girl who thinks she’s perfect otherwise and the only reason acceptance is eluding her is this. I envy my friends who run homes. Every man expects that, besides having a life of her own, his wife will also make his home. Someone once learnt how to make butter chicken for me, cause I couldn’t find the perfect one anywhere. I’d do the same for him. I think it’s romantic not regressive.
Gautam was very clear he wasn’t in love with Veronica, being ‘in a no strings attached’ relationship does not mean you can never fall in love with someone else – with her roomie, ok so twist of fate. Yes, Meera and Gautam kissed, they shouldn’t have. But they were honest and when Meera realized what Veronica truly felt, she left, without making Veronica look bad - so there was a lot of confused emotions but no backstabbing.
There are some scenes that make no sense in the movie but those you’ll easily figure out anyway. Besides that some beautiful moments and amazing camera work in the film. My favorite is the one which defines Veronica’s frame of mind (when she realizes she’s in love with Gautam) packed club, surrounded by people but still alone – for the director and DP to communicate a non tangible, wow!
Performance wise, the director has not let anyone overplay or underplay their characters. Saif does go a bit over the top but only when he’s playing the carefree Gautam kapoor, I like his switch post interval. Deepika I think is awesome in all the scenes where she portrays, I think I’m ok, no wait- I’m not ok, oh shit I’m too cool to not be ok, fuck off I’m not ok and I’m gonna be like this. I really think directors should start using her more than just a pretty pair of legs to pan up from. Diana Penty held her own , in no scene was her body language insecure screaming look at me! Look fwd to seeing you the next time Diana.
The recipe for Saif’s Cocktail may not have gone down well with people but he’s definitely hit the nail with his choice of music. Irshad kamil whose lyrics created magic in ‘Aaaj Din Chadiya’ , does it again with ‘Jag mujhpe lagaye pabandi, main hun hi nahin is duniya ki’. The album has truly lived up to its title as it brings together a cocktail of contemporary, Sufi, classic, Punjabi. While Pritam’s 'Tum hi ho Bandhu’ is a bit trippy, 'Yaariyaan' is very soulful with an electronic touch to it. The borrowed famous Sufi track 'Jugni' has been used well as background score. 'Daaru Desi' is a nice contemporary number about friendship. Yo Yo Honey Singaaaa’s 'Angreji Beat' is an awesome Punjabi number. So yeah this album scores very high on my ‘loopometre’
At the airport she bumps into Gautam Kapoor (Saif) who when spanked by the nurse at birth, probably thought this is what life’s about. He tries to flirt with Meera who cuts him off by playing the married card, only later to realize that the husband doesn’t want her. while drowning herself in a drugstore restroom, she bumps into Veronica.
A lot of people obviously didn’t see any of that and trashed the film for being regressive. I would have to agree with them if they said the characters were not well sketched out or the film had clichés, or I’d expected much better, but wouldn’t agree with it being regressive.Now here in the film have they portrayed or referred to Veronica as slutty, so what’s the back lash for? When Gautam ‘s mother suddenly lands up, he introduces Meera as his girlfriend only cause at that point Veronica was neither sober, nor appropriately clothed, seeing her son in hot pants and lipstick the mother was in ‘freak mode - gear three’ already.
Veronica wanting to wear a salwar kameez to get accepted by the mother – people said was regressive. Please note mother accepted Meera in a pair of shorts, so it was only Veronica’s insecurity thinking ‘maybe this is why mom likes Meera’ . When she’s drunk in the club and says she’ll cook for him, she’ll do anything – regression would’ve been Gautam or his mother’s character expecting that, but the scene purely showed the state of a girl who thinks she’s perfect otherwise and the only reason acceptance is eluding her is this. I envy my friends who run homes. Every man expects that, besides having a life of her own, his wife will also make his home. Someone once learnt how to make butter chicken for me, cause I couldn’t find the perfect one anywhere. I’d do the same for him. I think it’s romantic not regressive.
There are some scenes that make no sense in the movie but those you’ll easily figure out anyway. Besides that some beautiful moments and amazing camera work in the film. My favorite is the one which defines Veronica’s frame of mind (when she realizes she’s in love with Gautam) packed club, surrounded by people but still alone – for the director and DP to communicate a non tangible, wow!
Performance wise, the director has not let anyone overplay or underplay their characters. Saif does go a bit over the top but only when he’s playing the carefree Gautam kapoor, I like his switch post interval. Deepika I think is awesome in all the scenes where she portrays, I think I’m ok, no wait- I’m not ok, oh shit I’m too cool to not be ok, fuck off I’m not ok and I’m gonna be like this. I really think directors should start using her more than just a pretty pair of legs to pan up from. Diana Penty held her own , in no scene was her body language insecure screaming look at me! Look fwd to seeing you the next time Diana.
The recipe for Saif’s Cocktail may not have gone down well with people but he’s definitely hit the nail with his choice of music. Irshad kamil whose lyrics created magic in ‘Aaaj Din Chadiya’ , does it again with ‘Jag mujhpe lagaye pabandi, main hun hi nahin is duniya ki’. The album has truly lived up to its title as it brings together a cocktail of contemporary, Sufi, classic, Punjabi. While Pritam’s 'Tum hi ho Bandhu’ is a bit trippy, 'Yaariyaan' is very soulful with an electronic touch to it. The borrowed famous Sufi track 'Jugni' has been used well as background score. 'Daaru Desi' is a nice contemporary number about friendship. Yo Yo Honey Singaaaa’s 'Angreji Beat' is an awesome Punjabi number. So yeah this album scores very high on my ‘loopometre’
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)