The Era of Fantasy

A small exercise: Step 1: Open Google
Step 2: Type twilight in the search window.
The conclusion of the Exercise: 93,900,000 results.

Now for people who have just landed back on earth from mars/moon or were quarantined for a year, Twilight is a bestseller, a fantasy novel, a romantic fantasy, a romance fantasy between a girl and for lack of better sense- a vampire. But don’t write it off just yet .And I am saying this because I want people to buy the first novel of the series which is quite good- not great though. Good enough to make you buy the remaining three, but by the time you buy the last huge book in the series, named ‘Breaking dawn’ you feel like looking for the author to break her head.
And the publishers are smart people too, I received a pamphlet in the last book of the series with an advertisement of some other author carrying forward the legacy of vampires with her own 4 book collection of a concept called ‘vampire school’ wherein the protagonist supposedly gets trained to be a good vampire. Kind of like a finishing school. I bet the author did not finish hers.
Before I am labeled a hypocrite by my friends who have seen me obsessed with Edward mania (the vampire in Twilight) I liked the first book, it was romantic, lighter. I was immersed in the imaginary world and then that’s a good thing, right? Anything that makes you feel good is good (Exception to this rule is drugs maybe.) But people need to know when to stop. The way J.K Rowling did. (Did she?) Or Lewis Carroll did. (He did for sure).

The whole twilight experience made me Google the history of literature on vampires. There’s another book “Interview of Vampire” which was adapted into a movie years back staring tom cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Bandreas together. That’s a treat!
I fail to understand the fixation with unreal though. What is it that makes us believe in Ghosts, Werewolves, witches and super powers? Be it a young girl falling for a vampire or a seventeen year old wizard searching for horcruxes or hallows. It somehow attracts. I would like to analyze it psychologically though.
For me the experience of reading Harry Potter or the vampire series was like being lost in a different world which I thoroughly enjoyed.
But I still wish to know the reason for it. Another “I Don’t know Why”
Till then Enjoy this:

Bella: How old are you?
Edward: Seventeen
Bella: How long have you been 17?
Edward: A while
Bella: I know what you are. You're impossibly fast. And strong. Your skin ispale white, and ice cold. Your eyes change color and you never eat or come out into the sun.
Edward: Say it
Bella: Vampire.

Jai Ho!!

Thought 4 d day: I understand how machines work, what I fail to understand is how people do?Something that crossed my mind while attending a high level meeting, a case where a group of crabs were busy pulling the other crabs down with Newton's Third Law in action. While I extend this thought to a bigger picture(in my case another short story, which only I read and understand)I saw the crab theory coming to play in another field when a certain crAB who incidentally blogs took out his frustration at missing the golden globe himself. I havent gone through his piece of writing but have seen the object of his writing, the simply WOW movie, Slumdog millionaire.
Now what could be the reason of his anguish? Probably, its because the movie was based on a show which brought him back to life but didnt feature him.I refuse the accept his side of the coin.Slumdog is not about slums and the poor condition of living, its hardly even about poverty. What it is about is the will power of a person who refuses to go astray and instead leads a dedicated life based on his strong sense of right and wrong and his principles.All along what flows is the purity and divinity of his love for Latika which goes beyond the realms of reality and hardships life throws at her in subtle tones.
Before it sounds like a movie review, what I want to say is that the movie is awesome.Accept it.Period.
Now I await its release to go see it in theatre to give it the kind of treatment it deserves.I have been through the mediocre movies of recent past, dodged the repitative rab ne bana di.. and the senseless adaptation of a Hollywood flick by a hypocrite actor who refuses to attend Indian Awards and enthusiastically promotes his work on international level. Why does it matter so much? No idea.
Back to the Crab theory, I am learning to live with it.Been through the rough phase of 1.feeling bad for myself 2.regretting not having spoken up 3.aggresive opposition to the whole thing which was interesting debate by the way. What remains of my reaction to the whole thing is good old Indian acceptance with several promises to myself and a strong list of right and wrong from my side based on my principles.Thanks to slumdog.
Bottomline:I really understand how machines, vibrations,materials and evrything related to my technical field works, but I give up on the intricacies of the way people function. Hats off to the person who made people!!

Thou shalt not laugh,
thou shalt not romp,
Let's grimly kiss with bated breath;
As quietly and solemnly
As Life when it is kissing Death.

(Something I found while Googling for W.H. Davies)

The Example

This is a poem I first read in standard eight and didnt understand the depth of it for many years to follow, when I finally did understand it, the words were a part of the first page of my every notebook, written with a marker on the wooden paritions during my brief stint in hostel and then on collage in my room at home. I even developed a habit of scribbling the poem whenever I felt down and they did elevate my mood. So here it goes:
The Example
HERE'S an example from
A Butterfly;
That on a rough, hard rock
Happy can lie;
Friendless and all alone
On this unsweetened stone.
Now let my bed be hard
No care take I;
I'll make my joy like this
Small Butterfly;
Whose happy heart has power
To make a stone a flower.
-W.H. Davies

Je Te Donne

I heard a song some days back..A song that talked about ancestoral pride.
I don’t remember being too interested in my ancestry. In fact I never cared to find out much about my lineage for 23 long years and never even realized that it can be a thing to be proud of.
I have met many people innately passionate about their lineage. Like a person I know often mentioned his elite background, he is proud of the fact that just writing his surname in the Google search window gives out his family tree. Good for him. For me, my surname is just a fact, just a 6 letter word I write after my name. I always believed that the only things you can be proud of are the things that belong to you. I remember a dialogue from one of the thousand unfinished stories I wrote, where the guy (supposedly the hero of the story) says that “when people don’t have something of their own to be proud of, they take shelter in their lineage”.
I don’t know what made me write that particular line. But it was something that felt right at the moment.
The closest I remember getting a feel of my ancestry was a few days back, I needed a proof of my permanent residence and my dad faxed the documents of our ancestral home.
Just holding the document in my hand, with the half broken typed letters, and a date that read a few years before my birth made me feel weird and wonderful. It was a strange sensation where I felt that something existed in my family before I did, a suitable revelation to a hopeless egotist like me.
What followed was my search of my roots, thanks to wikipedia and Google, it wasn’t that difficult. I had somehow believed that I would trace my roots back to Gujarat, wikipedia proved me wrong. I don’t know how reliable it was, but somehow what wikipedia suggested made more sense. I traced it all back to a place called “aror” in Sindh. As I read I could visualize the whole place and the incidents that pushed the group of Indo-Aryans right from River Sindhu to Punjab. It was an odd feeling, like reliving the past. I was engrossed in it all, the way I lost myself to the magical stories I heard as a kid, or to Harry Potter in recent past, or to any mushy love story I like.
I don’t know what conclusion I am supposed to draw from my long research. For now, I am back to being a normal person, just a bit enlightened. There’s no feeling of pride as such, what’s left is just a song I have been singing a lot lately, because I can in a way relate to it:
“I can give you the force of my ancestral pride,
The will to go on when I am hurt deep inside
What ever the feeling, whatever the way,
It helps me go on from day to day”

window of escape

“The window is symbol for the fact that I always found myself looking through the window, wishing I was somewhere else”A few days back I was meticulously googling for a nice tattoo idea. It was a silly, crazy, fun phase which is over now (leaving a deep red scar that looks like a star)
Anyway, while doing that I came across this thought. Angelina Jolie got a tattoo of a blue window, because she always wished to be somewhere else.
Going by that logic, maybe I should get a barn door done coz I feel the same way most of the time.
In my case however I am not looking through the window, I’ve already gone past it to unspoken mysterious lands. Maybe it’s about striking the right balance between day dreaming and practicality. Or maybe it’s about being content in the place you are in. that’s a lot of maybe without a concrete answer.
I’ve tried finding one; a lot of free time gives you the privilege to do that. Finding answers to questions that are hypothetical and that demand a lot of philosophical thought to it.
Why does one always feel like running away?
1. Because it’s not running away it’s the inner voice urging you on to achieve your goals. This idea sounds good coming from Robin Sharma or Deepak chopra, but is not true in most cases.
2. you’ve your inner battle on, when you know you ought to be at a different location but the deep values ingrained by the society makes you stick to the sticky marshland you are at. And then when you finally realize that you have to break free, you are like the elephant that is used to the chain of childhood, and can’t unshackle the thin rope that ties it down.
3. Finally, it’s just you. The sooner you accept it the better. You have just two choices: either achieve all that you desire and stay put. Or the race continues.
Angelina got the tattoo covered, coz she now feels she likes the place she is at. Obviously she married Brad Pitt. (Not that I am a fan.)
I have a long list to cover before I get the barn door replaced by rock solid wall…stuff dreams are made of.
But then, whether it’s writing crappy blogs or solving FEA matrices, it’s all loneliness we all are stuck with. And the only way to deal with it is to look through the window/barn door/looking glass and find a whole new world like Alice with amazing characters. You get to be the queen at last.

DEATH OF A STAR

This ones an obituary to one of the greatest stars. To clarify it further, I'd first give an insight to the event which triggered this whole episode and made me take out my anger this way.(this way= publicly in form of a blog).
now, i don't lead a awesome life, job sucks out a lot of awesomeness and I'm left with no other option then to pump a little some ness by catching a movie as soon as it releases. so Friday evenings are spent in the theatre.. And i have quite a experience and patience of enduring half baked to fully burnt flicks today's scenario offers. ( well this actually reminds me of the time i once did advance booking for RGV ki aag..proves that I'm not a very intellectual person but suits me right)
last Friday i went to see one such movie. And till now I'm wondering.. why??? how can it be???
why- as in why did priyadarshan make mere baap...(when he once made herapheri..)
how can it be- as in how can a certain Mr. om puri - to list his credentials , a national award winner(ardhsatya), an OBE, and a above 50 reputed actor portray such a nonsensical, stupid, cheap, and all other words i know but cant write here.. role.
The movie made me mourn the death of an actor in hands of maybe unemployment or poverty. which one I'm unable to guess because both are kinda the same thing.
I'm a total movie freak and it really hurt to see one of my favourite actors fall so deep( for want of better words) into the earth!! i think they should make a rule against it.
that reminds me of the time another great actor farookh shaikh was mocked at for acting in sub standard serials, he did make a retreat and the damage was partly controlled.
Another memory is of naveen nischol who refused to play substandard characters ( to the best of my knowledge) and guess he maintains his dignity. but i even read he was going through financial crisis in absence of good roles.
So that takes my train of thoughts to another track... the unanswered question.
in the war of money Vs talent. why does talent take a backseat?
well in my field of work it happens too.. only that its not displayed so openly on 70 mm..and most of the people caught up in this trap are in fake denial- but it exists.
How i wish it wasn't the way it is. how i wish everyone was free to choose the path they desired. Free enough to call a spade a spade... and finally not be subjected to pressure and live with a certain basic character.