just a forward

To all the wonderful kids who were born in India and survived around the 70's:

First, we survived being born to mothers, some, whose husbands smoked or drank while they carried us. The mothers ate whatever food was there, and didn't get tested for diabetes. They were mothers who did not keep checking their blood pressure or go for special exercise classes before delivery.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, or childproof doors on cars, and when we rode our bikes we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking or going out on our own. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or airbags. We sat on top of our or neighbors car without a second thought.
We drank water from the garden hose or for fun imagined it to be a captured snake. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this. We would share a dosa, dip a chapatti into someone else's plate of curry without batting an eyelid. We ate sandwiches with pickle on bread and raw mangoes with salt and drank orange squash with sugar and water in it.

We ate at roadside stalls, drank water from tender coconuts, ate everything - bhel puri to bhajias and samosas, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING - We jumped on each others backs shouting 'kity-kity' & went places in rented cycles & fixed its chain if it came out, on our own. We had no gadgets, we just hoping-goed & batting-goed & sometimes turned our sofas & chairs into 'land' and floor into 'water' or put 'jolly' dots on our palms and sometimes got 'statued'. We celebrated with 'same pinch' and 'new pinchs' with buddies & felt joy.

We would leave home in the morning and play all day during the holidays, we were never ever bored, and we were allowed freedom all day as long as we were back only when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day by mobile phone. We got drenched in rains, made paper boats, got pleasure from imitating croaking frogs, catching tadpoles and cutting earthworms. We touched street dogs & adopted their pups. And we were O.K.

We swam with an inflated tube which we got from somebody who was replacing their car tyres. We ran barefoot without thinking about it, if we got cut we used iodine on it which made us jump. We did not wash our hands ten times a day. And we were OK.

We did not have parents who said things like "what would you like for breakfast, lunch or dinner". We ate what was put in front of us and best of all, there was never any leftovers. We knew our cousins & our friends family well and had un announced lunches there. We never said to them "Thanks for having me over at your house to play" yet we were not dubbed "manner less". We had birthday parties at home & not in a party hall. The same B'day menu of cake, wafers & Thums-up still excited us & there were no return gifts, yet we looked forward to a friends birthday.

We fell out of trees numerous times, got cut, broke bones and teeth. We ate fruit lying on the ground that we shook down from the tree above. And we never washed fruit. We had a bath using a bucket and mug and used Lifebuoy or Hammam soap. We did not know what shampoo and conditioners meant. We sang along & recited all the 10 TV ads that came only before start of a program and enjoyed them as much as the program. All converged on Sunday time pass by watching Magic Lamp or Hindi movie on a black & white TV.

Yet this generation of ours has produced some of the best risk-takers & problem solvers ever! The past years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!
Those were the days my friends, those were the days !

bang of brothers

watched diehard 4.0 and thought that bruce willis still rocks. the film had some great action, with lots of extra sound effects. it was fast paced and the chemistry between the male protagonists was really good. willis seems to have a way with kids. all his films which feature him saving the young ones have all done well if you've noticed.

pitter patter

its raining outside and i am so thankful for that. had just about enough of the heat and i do love the rains. it makes me feel like finishing all the books i had kept aside for a rainy day. am currently reading shantaram which i love because it talks about the bombay i knew. leopolds, colaba causeway, gateway if india, reminds me of the late night sojourns with old friends. don't usually like reading books set in bombay but this one makes me nostalgic. also saw shrek 3 just to keep my movie quota up. wasn't bad at all. tried watching kevin costner's postman but it was just too dark, but then his films on the future of civilization usually are! looks like he used the same set as waterworld here. on the desi side watched honeymoon travels which i loved, bheja fry which i liked. i say liked for the latter coz i am a claustrophobic kind and any film shot in just a living room makes me want to scream for air. but it had a good script and great acting.

nachos?

watched nacho libre the other day. and though i found it mildly annoying, i had to watch, since i am a big fan of jack black's humour. the movie has some great shots, though i didn't get too taken up by the script... probably because it revolved around boxing, which i completely hate watching!

also saw an inconvenient truth and would recommend it to everyone i know, especially those who care about the environment. al gore makes a good case for the perils of global warming and the earth as he sees it 100 years from now. enough to make you switch to cycles instead of cars, and plant trees in all available corners. ominous, but an intelligent watch, though gore's detractors claim he is making an unnecessary hue and cry!

happy feet is for smiling happy people so if you're smiling and happy at the same time, you can take a look at it. the penguins make for a cute star cast, though their walking styles now remind me of a lot of my childhood buddies who have simply let themselves go!

cruzing thru

managed to catch volver the other day. from the little i saw, penelope cruz was quite impressive, more beautiful than ever and with varied facial expressions. she has come a long way from the bimbette in woman on top. i didn't take to the movie though, felt it was a little loose in parts. but the story was interesting, about a woman who comes back from the dead to make changes in the living. interesting!

oscar fever?

ok so i saw kate winslet shed all her clothes and get nominated for an oscar in little children, i saw ryan gosling give a heart-rending performance in half nelson so much so i have transferred my loyalties from leonardo to him... i saw helen mirren get all royal in the queen and transferred my compassion from diana to her!
(little children by the way is as bizarre as suburban america can get, and if you like that kind of paedophile-is-your-neighbour thingie, then don't miss it.)
the queen meanwhile makes you think twice before marrying into royalty, so don't watch it if you are about to marry your prince charming.
and please watch half nelson. it's the saddest story about a brilliant teacher hooked on coke and his favourite student who finally ends up selling it to him to make a quick buck!

ruled out?

liked these 2 New Rules for 2007:
New Rule: Ladies, leave your eyebrows alone. Here's how much men care about your eyebrows: do you have two of them? Okay, we're done.

New Rule: When I ask how old your toddler is, I don't need to know in months. "27 Months." "He's two," will do just fine. He's not a cheese.And I didn't really care in the first place.

over to leo

i'm really hoping leonardo di caprio wins the best actor oscar this time round. i thought he was awesome in departed and have yet to watch blood diamond but i am sure he will not disappoint.

also think little miss sunshine is a great film since it works on the one premise that i find most reassuring: keep it simple.

they kept it simple and i was in splits at the end. very clever!!