Celebrity Crush.

Here, I feel this incredible need to talk about this very queer topic. Celebrity crush.Why queer, you might ask when every other person on earth has one, or at least has had one at some point in their lives. Well, that’s exactly why it is queer; especially, with people getting so absolutely obsessed with their crushes. I wouldn’t limit these ‘people’ to immature teenagers alone, but ‘actually people’ in general. Like, I know this guy, well into his adulthood, who has these impossible fantasies about his Celebrity crush. As if his life revolves around her and he would somehow, someday make hers revolve around his. Well, what’s the harm, huh? It’s one thing to be a fan, quite another to have a crush and a wee bit alarming when it becomes an obsession. Because, the Oxford English Dictionary defines obsession as “Preoccupation or filling the mind of (someone) continually and to a troubling extent”. See? That’s the trouble. One starts living in this fantasy world, almost oblivious to everyday life and everything else. Thinking all the time about someone who’s, let’s admit it, non-existing; over-thinking into silly issues that actually should make no difference in their life. And, why non-existing? Because, Celebrities in real life, are most often much different from their poster images. They are constantly under pressure to ‘maintain’ a particular kind of image – mostly one that is ‘likable’ by the majority. It is highly unlikely that they are always righteous or simply perfect. Yeah, ‘cuz nobody is Perrrfect all the time. So grow up, already.

Also, I see a lot of these kids who somehow want to be noticed by their Celeb crushes. Internet only makes it worse. What with all these people spamming the Celeb’s twitter and Facebook accounts to ‘grab their attention.’ They forget about the kind of self-image they are presenting to the rest of the world. It’s almost humiliating to see girls crying their hearts out when Harry Styles gets into a relationship or much worse, when he gets out of it (‘cause, “I know it must be heartbreaking for him”). Oh Gwaaad! Who was Harry Styles before One Direction and X-Factor? Believe me; you didn’t even know he existed. Oh, and you didn’t care. Of course, he’s quite a cutie-pie and you would have noticed him if he walked past you on the road, but that’s it. Just remove the popularity and its perks, including crazy amounts of cash and hot wheels, and there you have this normal, ordinary person you wouldn’t give a damn about.

Umm.. Actually, it’s OK to indulge in this kinda handsomeness once in a while.. 😀

I don’t propose that we all make our lives boring, but do not start obsessing over people in a way that will affect the person that you are and your own life. Like, there’s no harm in liking Hazza. He is a good looking guy, has a beautiful voice and a pleasing personality (bonus: an amazing sense of humour). So, it’s normal to like him and be a fan. You can even buy Hazza accessories; like, I have a minion t-shirt when I know that they don’t exist. So, that’s normal. It get’s problematic when you go like, “Harry, I love you!! Marry me.!!!” No. Not happening. At all.

If you feel like you are nearing that stage, don’t fret. Just give yourself this little reminder. Whoever your Celeb crush is, they do not know about your existence. As hard as it might be to digest, it’s a simple fact. It’s nobody’s fault. How can any Celeb know all their fans and be considerate about them? If you start thinking, you’ll realize that it’s practically impossible to even recognise millions of people. Also, they’re just human beings, like you and me. Maybe, a little more talented and luckier than us. And, in cases like Hazza, a little extraordinarily handsome . *indulges in that handsomeness for a while* Well, anyway.. Getting back to our thing, he’s still a simple human being. And, like he’s making the most of what he can with his life, you should make the most of your precious life.

Okay. So why exactly am I giving you all this gyaan? Well, I am trying to make a point, here. That I know perfectly well about how stupid such obsessions are.. that is, when it goes overboard. Otherwise, it’s perfectly alright. Just believe me on that. I indulge in a good amount of crushing once in a while, myself. So I am not here to preach. I’m just generally saying that we should never give into it so much that we stop functioning normally. I am not a huge fan of normalcy as such, still, what the heck! 😉

Guava tales.

It’s funny how certain stimuli can actually transport you back to some part of your memory and help you to either cherish it, or to deal with it. I, for one, can relate to fragrances like nobody’s business. Strange as it may seem, it is one of those abilities I’m incredibly proud of.

The other day, in one of my normal bus journeys, a man came and sat beside me. He was eating guavas. I didn’t notice it until its beautiful fragrance hit me. It reminded me of that guava tree we had in our old house, where I spent some of the most exciting and memorable days of my childhood. That’s the tree on which I trained regularly to climb. My neighbours, in fact thought that being a part of Jumbo Circus was my biggest ambition. But when I meet people with fear of heights, I know what exactly they’ve missed out on in the tender years of their life – a tall something to tempt them, with some interesting rewards. You see, that’s actually, quite sad.

 

The “hard work,” the exciting climb and the tiny bruises, perhaps, were also part of making the reward so very tasty. The crunchy-juicy guavas were so incredible that no guava seems to be able to make me as happy anymore. There’s always that little something that’s definitely missing from it.

Yesterday..

..because I believe, yesterday is a matter of choice. If I cherish the memory, well, that was just yesterday; no matter how many years flow by between today and that yesterday.

An unusual sort of Love story

I am a big fan of happy endings, but like they say, we remember and cherish longings more than accomplishments; pain more than happiness. Now let me tell you a bit about an unusual, yet fascinating love story. Mr. and Mrs. Iyer is one of the most beautiful love stories I have ever come across. There is an array of feelings and emotions it touches upon. Throughout the journey we come across various definitions of love, hatred and fondness.

I have always loved Konkona. There is some sort of rawness in her that draws me. An absolutely alluring actor, her élan is mesmerizing and her talent almost spellbinding. It is hard to believe that it is the same actor who brings to life the naughty and immature village belle in Aaja Nachle, the bold and beautiful aspiring writer from Bengal in Wake up Sid! and our Mrs. Iyer. In fact, she’s so convincing as the slightly prejudiced and judgmental Mrs. Iyer, that I completely forget and overlook the fact that she’s actually a Bengali!

My admiration towards Rahul Bose has been there since I first saw him in Jhankar Beats years ago. His performance in Chameli, Silsiley, Midnight’s Children, etc made me a ‘small’ fan of his. Being a self confessed King Khan fan, it isn’t often that I proclaim my admiration to other actors; but this guy is just Brilliant. Aparna Sen rightly calls him an “intelligent actor”. The sad fact is, in India he’s highly underrated. Unlike certain “superstars,” he’s abundantly talented and what’s more, he’s ruggedly handsome – a little not-so-tall, but what the heck! He also has a beautifully restrained smile which leaves his admirers (read, me) craving for more!

Okay, enough said about the actors.. we all know that both of them are awesome. Now, talking about the movie, the screenplay and storytelling is so interesting that it kept me glued till the end, and when it finally ended, I didn’t want it to end at all! There is no questioning the brilliance of Aparna Sen. The way she unravels the story little by little is thoroughly enjoyable. Then suddenly she makes you shudder with the simple images of abandoned spectacles and dentures. Set against the backdrop of communal violence, she knits a beautiful love story. And let me tell you, I’m more interested in the love story part of it. The director takes enough care to handle the delicate issues surrounding it with utmost sensitivity. She doesn’t answer any ‘moral questions’. Instead, she narrates a story – and that she does quite beautifully. Can we really blame a married ‘Hindu’ woman and mother of a child for falling in love with a ‘Muslim’ man who not only provides her a helping hand, but becomes her moral support in a crisis? Shall we blame the man then, who owes his life itself to her? Well, neither am I here to answer any moral questions. But then, I do believe that morals and values are, at most times, circumstantial.

Moving on to a more important question – how did Mr. and Mrs. Iyer happen to me? Well, I’ll have to thank Sam yet again. She was the one who insisted that I watch it as it was “so your kinda film.” Well, it definitely was.

Finally, when he calls Mrs. Iyer, “Meenakshi” one last time, I don’t know if the pain of separation is more in him or me. And then she says, ‘Goodbye, Mr. Iyer.” With a sense of loss, I smile, not knowing how else to react.

Mr. and Mrs. Iyer – sensible cinema at its best.

Too much awesomeness in one movie!

I am the kind of person who likes watching movies.. But I’m not exactly the movie buff-types. And, I can’t watch movies for entertainment purpose alone. Not like every film should be arty but come on, I can’t watch crap for entertainment! Also, I‘ll have trouble calling a movie watchable if it is not believable. You know, like the frail hero kicks and the huge thug goes flying-types. After learning to read films, of late, I often have serious annoyance while watching movies which do not maintain continuity! So yeah, I’m this self-confessed, cribbing kinda movie-person, who’ll start complaining about the hairdo of the girl being different or the guy not maintaining the expression in two different shots of the same scene. That just about explains why my parents refuse to watch, forget movies, even soap operas or reality shows with me!

But then, there’s this one movie which I have watched for I-have-no-idea how many times! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about one of those cult classics that they recommend in all these film appreciation classes across the world. Far from it, this is a cute little film. It has an impossible story – not believable at all. It can in no way be called a classic or arty-types. And, despite it being my all time favourite, I have found lots of continuity errors in it. Oh, but I don’t give a damn, man! Because this is Bommarillu and it’s got way too much awesomeness in it, to take such insignificant matters into consideration. I am not even exaggerating or joking when I say that I have no idea how many times I have watched Bommarillu. Neither do I have any idea about what makes it so special to me; because, I’ve fallen so in love with it that I can watch it any number of times in my life again, with no complaints. 😀

Siddhu-Hasini!

Let’s reel back a bit into history to get an idea about when and where it all started. The culprit is Sam, my not-so-awesome bestest friend (Please note, people. Though I suck at English grammar, I do know that there is no such word as bestest. It is just that Sam and I have a secret pact which delineates that whenever we mention each other, we will use that not-so-right term). Well, coming back to the matter at hand, one fine morning in 2008 she walked into the class with that eager look on her face which proclaimed that there was something that she wanted to share with me. Oh yeah, and I’m the kind who gets all excited with that look (on her face-only)! “Guess what!” she screeched. “Um.. Should I?” I am sure, I must have taken forward the excitement, but she said, “Actually, don’t!” And I was like, Ook.. then, go ahead and tell me what it is, woman. Actually, she was building all this hype for no real reason. Because at the end of the conversation (which went on for more than half-an-hour) all I got to know was that her brother had got her the CD of a Telugu film, that too something that had released way back in 2006, and that she felt so-absolutely-happy after watching it that she watched it again after it got over and was planning to watch it once more after getting back home from school. I didn’t know how to react to it; firstly, I was like, “are you kidding me?” and secondly, she was so excited that she wouldn’t have been able to comprehend anything even if I were to put some sense into her head. So, when she came to school the next day, I asked her if she had watched it again, she hadn’t. But, when she came back the next Monday, she had. The Monday after that, she’d watched it again! Either she was going nuts, or she already was from the madhouse and I didn’t know it. Either way, it was bad news.

Soon she started bugging me to watch it. I told her I didn’t know the language; that no one at home knew Telugu; that I wouldn’t find such stuff interesting, and blah-blah. Quite evidently, she wouldn’t let go of me. So, I went to her home one evening after school to watch the by-now over-hyped (it was Sam’s fault) Bommarillu. For starters, the name of the movie means ’Doll house’. We took more than 4 hours to finish watching the 2 hour 50 mins film. Sam had to translate most of the dialogues for me as there were no subtitles (and, NO! I wasn’t even joking when I said I didn’t know Telugu). At the end of it, if I looked anywhere close to what I felt like, anyone would take me to NIMHANS right away. It was nothing short of ecstasy that I felt. It is the same feeling I get, when I watch it even now. And mind you, I have watched it more than 70 times by now! Bommarillu does it to me every time. Every. Single. Time.

What followed after my first encounter with this awesome movie might sound not-so-normal. I took the CD from Sam the same day, went back home and watched it with my family (we managed with whatever Telugu we knew); I watched it the next day and the day after! It soon became my weekly affair. Mom thought that I’d have to be taken to a hospital or a swamiji to get me cured! Bommarillu became not just my all time favourite movie, but my only stress buster. The frequency of my marathon with it reduced to twice a month after a while. During the exam time, I’d watch it once before the exams to concentrate better and once after to rejuvenate myself. After joining college, however, the frequency has decreased considerably. Sometimes, I still do wonder what makes it so special to me. Is it the bonding I developed with Sam over our endless Siddhu-Hasini discussions? Is it the exuberance that people say I have inherited from Hasini? Or is it the one-sided love affair I’ve been having with Siddhu ever since (which by the way, is still going strong)?

Well, whatever the reason, all I know is that I LOVE BOMMARILLU! Not for its cinematic excellence or its overall brilliance; it’s just the beauty and the innocence that overrides the film throughout.  Oh, and the story? It is about Hasini (Genelia) and Siddhu (Siddharth), their bond, their families, the little joys and lessons of life. It’s that simple, yet so magnificent. You have to watch it to know what I mean.. Maybe give it a try sometime.. 😀

A forgotten promise.

We all make promises and forget to keep them. That’s bad. Well, the only consolation (if any) would be to remember that we had once made a promise which we either chose to neglect or just forgot in the course of time. And when you remember it after a while (no matter how long it took for you to remember it) the least you could do is to acknowledge it.

In remembrance of a promise I once made, here I am, back again.. 🙂

A Pleasant Surprise!

The best thing about my city is the fact that it has the awesomest weather.. You  kinda never get fed up of it at all. The mornings and evenings are cool. The rest of the day might just be unpredictable.. The greenery around is almost always intact. Well, even the autumn is charming when it arrives. It’s never too hot or too cold. And, it rains occasionally even when it isn’t the rainy season! Lovely, isn’t it!

But, it has been crazy hot since a few days. It isn’t like we’ll die without an AC, but still, it is so unlike Bangalore! Like others, even I was left wondering, “seriously, what’s wrong with Bangalore”? I don’t remember the last summer being so unbearable. Seems like something has changed. Like, the balance isn’t exactly still. Maybe, we are all in some way or the other responsible for this. Can something be done about it?

While such thoughts ran through my mind, the lightning surprised me. I went out after the thunder and was more than happy when the first few drops of Rain fell on my palms! That filled me with Hope! Ah! Such an overwhelming feeling.. And then, it rained. Beautifully! 🙂

Rain! 😀

Wake up!

“Whaaat”!!

Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction when I recently received a text from a friend. Let’s forget the fact that the time was past midnight and that I was sound asleep when my cellphone beep woke me up. It read “WAKE UP!” I sat up on my bed, rubbing my eyes as a train of thoughts ran through my head..

“What could have happened to Sam?  Could it be a burglar  at her home? A life-saving message? Or, is she right at my door?? Seriously, if she has texted me at this hour, it should be something important,” I thought. “It better be!”

Too lazy and lost to type a text, I chose to ring her up.. “What’s it Sam?” I sounded worried.. “Hey, I thought you’d be sleeping now. Precisely why i texted you,” she said. Her voice was pleasant as usual, but that wasn’t something I expected now. “Oh yeah? I thought you wanted me to WAKE UP!” I did emphasize more on the last two words. “And I thought your life was in danger, or something!”

“Um.. look.. See, I didn’t mean to.. Hmm.. see, you don’t have to be offended.. the..”

“Sam!” I myself was surprise by the sudden firmness in my tone. “If you woke me at this time, Sam..”

“Oh yeah! This is important. Important.. I was going through your blog. Babe! What has happened to you?” Now she tried to sound worried, though I just knew it was fake..

“What happened to me? You woke me up from middle of my sleep. Just pray that nothing happens to you tomorrow when we meet.”

“Ah! Stop joking. This is serious. There have been no new posts in your blog since long. Has your life turned to be so event-less and boooring  all of a sudden? I just knew something had to be done about this.”

“Oh! that? It’s just that I’m.. Um.. lazy!” I suck at covering up, especially with her.

“Goose, Wake up! That’s what I meant!” She chuckled.

“Right!”

……………..

Seems like I’ve lost the touch. Well anyway, it’s nice to be back!

Thank you Sam! (I’ve mentioned you and even given you acknowledgements. More than what you asked for!) 😀

Caught in a time wrap..

Vintage!

When we are together- just the two of us,

Chatting about things- arbitrary, abstract stuff;

Lost in a world of our own..

Nothing else has to make any sense!

Time is at a standstill..

Eons may go by not bothering us.

Something’s good about that feeling;

No, it’s not ignorance, yet it’s bliss,

That binds us together in laughter, dreams and tears..

No rush for anything, no pauses that hurt;

In our togetherness nothing else matters!

The hums, the smiles just as meaningful as the words;

Caught in a time wrap, just the two of us!

The Blessing called Faith!

Faith!

For all that I thought was life,

For what I am living today,

For all the surprises that make me smile,

For the hopes that cease to dry,

For all the dreams I cherish,

For the beauty I see everywhere;

I look up, to the sky

Not knowing how to figure out its enormity;

Still adoring in wonder,

The skill of its creator..

I close my eyes

And try to engulf the magnificence-

Of the feeling in my heart,

Of the innumerable gifts in my life;

The impossibilities opening to

Newer vistas of possibilities.

I am soaked in a feeling

No religion can ever explain.

Only faith – that surpasses the little hurdles

Of rituals, regions, and superstitions – can make one feel.

Faith is a blessing!