I learnt this week that it only takes a split second for terrible things to happen. I've wished a thousand times since Tuesday morning that I could turn back time. To the first time I saw the little cat crawl through the small gap in the partition between my balcony and my neighbours. The danger was apparent immediately. My unsecured balcony was no place for a cat to be, my neighbour has nets on hers. But I put it off because that would mean no more visits from the cat. It's only an occasional thing and cats are sure-footed, thought I. But it ran in on Tuesday in the rain, jumped onto a wet ledge, shook itself and slipped. All in a moment. My heart stopped. Every single moment since then I've wished I could go back in time. And somehow stop this from happening. I wish, I wish, I wish......
I worked up the courage to meet my neighbour today. She tells me this is the second time this has happened. Previous neighbour, another cat, different sequence of events, same 5-inch gap. She's just as consumed with regret as me, I realise. There are things we both could have done to prevent this, had we acted in time. Mostly me - all I had to do was to alert her to the danger. But nothing will bring the cat back now. I've never felt worse. .
Wednesday, December 6, 2023
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Lost........
Sigh........ If I hadn't gotten hooked to Lost back in 04-05 and If I wasn't such a wikipedia addict, I wouldn't be feeling so strangely sad right now.....Sparto - this is all your fault!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Deep within.....
"When is this movie going to end???" thought I, and buried my head in mummy's lap, all set to fall asleep right there on the floor below the sofa where she was sitting.
I was watching (and getting extremely bored with) 'Loudspeaker', a Malayalam movie starring Mamooty with ma and pa. But no, both mum and dad were too engrossed in the proceedings to notice that I wasn't even pretending to be interested anymore. And then, very unexpectedly, I heard a line from a song papa used to sing all the time when Sparto and I were kids... "Nammude nenjilage anuraga karikkin vellam......". I sat up instantly, hoping for a song as wonderful as the promise held in that one slowly sung line ..and I wasn't disappointed. This was one of those moments that define "serendipity" for me. A song that I would play atleast 30 times that evening was the last thing I expected to come across.
Beautifully picturised in a way that is bound to touch the soul of anyone with roots in Kerala and including many of the elements that define Kerala for me - water, monsoons, summers, ponds, sands, the sea, mangoes, boats, lush greenery, pretty girls with long hair and kajal-lined eyes, old houses with sloping tiled roofs to combat the rains, ponds filled with green water, dark grey storm clouds, men dressed in white dhotis, joint families, kathakali performances and of course memories of childhood vacations :)
For me, the answer to 'where do you come from' is always going to be Bangalore, never Kerala. I love B'lore, it's my hometown. It is the place that has shaped me. Kerala, I tend to think of the place where my parents come from, where my roots are, though I don't really 'get' or identify with the culture, the politics, or the complicated social relationships. It annoys me a little when complete strangers ask intrusive questions or decide give their opinions on personal matters just because they live in the same area! I should probably cut this here, as I can write pages about my feelings (good and bad) about Kerala. But thats just the point - I can't 'not react to' Kerala. It's impossible to do so. Because the place is meshed to my soul. Why else would music videos with dark clouds against green waters tug so strongly at my heart?
'This land is my land' as Sparto says, though if anything, he's even more a Bangalorean than I am....
I was watching (and getting extremely bored with) 'Loudspeaker', a Malayalam movie starring Mamooty with ma and pa. But no, both mum and dad were too engrossed in the proceedings to notice that I wasn't even pretending to be interested anymore. And then, very unexpectedly, I heard a line from a song papa used to sing all the time when Sparto and I were kids... "Nammude nenjilage anuraga karikkin vellam......". I sat up instantly, hoping for a song as wonderful as the promise held in that one slowly sung line ..and I wasn't disappointed. This was one of those moments that define "serendipity" for me. A song that I would play atleast 30 times that evening was the last thing I expected to come across.
Beautifully picturised in a way that is bound to touch the soul of anyone with roots in Kerala and including many of the elements that define Kerala for me - water, monsoons, summers, ponds, sands, the sea, mangoes, boats, lush greenery, pretty girls with long hair and kajal-lined eyes, old houses with sloping tiled roofs to combat the rains, ponds filled with green water, dark grey storm clouds, men dressed in white dhotis, joint families, kathakali performances and of course memories of childhood vacations :)
For me, the answer to 'where do you come from' is always going to be Bangalore, never Kerala. I love B'lore, it's my hometown. It is the place that has shaped me. Kerala, I tend to think of the place where my parents come from, where my roots are, though I don't really 'get' or identify with the culture, the politics, or the complicated social relationships. It annoys me a little when complete strangers ask intrusive questions or decide give their opinions on personal matters just because they live in the same area! I should probably cut this here, as I can write pages about my feelings (good and bad) about Kerala. But thats just the point - I can't 'not react to' Kerala. It's impossible to do so. Because the place is meshed to my soul. Why else would music videos with dark clouds against green waters tug so strongly at my heart?
'This land is my land' as Sparto says, though if anything, he's even more a Bangalorean than I am....
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Kites :-/
There's something to be said in favour of internet movie streaming. If I had spent good money on watching Kites in a cinema, I would have kicked myself!! This movie could not have been more predictable if they had tried to make it so!
For example, one scene goes like this:
HR, BM and a sidekick have just gotten away(again) from the goons who are in hot pursuit. Time for a song and dance break for HR and BM, while sidekick goes off to get fake passports made.
Sidekick rushes to HR and BM's house (by which time the song gets over), stands outside a window and screams "I have your passports"
HR and BM grin stupidly at Sidekick.
Sidekick grins back even more stupidly at HR and BM.
Everybody continues grinning stupidly at each other through the glass for a minute without making a move. (you can actually feel the next part coming, the way they all grin at each other through the glass)
And then - bham (surprise!) - sidekick's brain's are splattered all over the window, the goons appear and HR and BM make a run for it. [I had easily 30 seconds to turn my head away - it was that obvious!]
And eventually it turns out that the passports are completely irrelevant to the plot(except maybe as an excuse to finish of sidekick/third wheel).
The rest of the plot(!?) was just as senseless. HR in the initial scenes as a small time crook/dance instructor, looks and talks like Brad Pitt in Snatch, but the accent and look change very quickly without any explanation. KB plays a casino owner who without hesitation cuts off the ears(before killing) of someone caught cheating in his casino, but says "you have to know when to leave the table" when BM and HR, who are engaged to his children decide to elope with each other, after knocking his son out cold!
The movie is hyped and sold as a "love has no language barrier" romance, but it turns into a chase-n-run after the falling in love bit is quickly dispensed with by using a song, even before the first half hour of the movie is over. The rest of the movie is only made up of not very heart pounding chase sequences.
Maybe I'm just ranting because there was no happy ending for consolation either!
@HR: There's a very fine line between having a greek god like physique and looking like Marvel comics mutant. Please tread carefully :)
For example, one scene goes like this:
HR, BM and a sidekick have just gotten away(again) from the goons who are in hot pursuit. Time for a song and dance break for HR and BM, while sidekick goes off to get fake passports made.
Sidekick rushes to HR and BM's house (by which time the song gets over), stands outside a window and screams "I have your passports"
HR and BM grin stupidly at Sidekick.
Sidekick grins back even more stupidly at HR and BM.
Everybody continues grinning stupidly at each other through the glass for a minute without making a move. (you can actually feel the next part coming, the way they all grin at each other through the glass)
And then - bham (surprise!) - sidekick's brain's are splattered all over the window, the goons appear and HR and BM make a run for it. [I had easily 30 seconds to turn my head away - it was that obvious!]
And eventually it turns out that the passports are completely irrelevant to the plot(except maybe as an excuse to finish of sidekick/third wheel).
The rest of the plot(!?) was just as senseless. HR in the initial scenes as a small time crook/dance instructor, looks and talks like Brad Pitt in Snatch, but the accent and look change very quickly without any explanation. KB plays a casino owner who without hesitation cuts off the ears(before killing) of someone caught cheating in his casino, but says "you have to know when to leave the table" when BM and HR, who are engaged to his children decide to elope with each other, after knocking his son out cold!
The movie is hyped and sold as a "love has no language barrier" romance, but it turns into a chase-n-run after the falling in love bit is quickly dispensed with by using a song, even before the first half hour of the movie is over. The rest of the movie is only made up of not very heart pounding chase sequences.
Maybe I'm just ranting because there was no happy ending for consolation either!
@HR: There's a very fine line between having a greek god like physique and looking like Marvel comics mutant. Please tread carefully :)
....Fire in the Sky
Two very different, very spectacular sunrises - just a couple of days apart this week! 
Thursday, May 13, 2010
How to train your Dragon
Loved it! H2TYD was (too?)short, sweet, funny, witty and sarcastic, poignant, moving, layered, beautiful, and so very visually stimulating! The flight scenes were spectacular! - specially when Toothless, Hiccup and Astrid soar through the clouds and the Aurora Borealis. I loved the hot air balloon/plane ride scene from The Mummy Returns and before that ages ago the flying carpet scene from the Disney movie Aladin. And this one was just as exhilarting!
S was just as engrossed as me for the full length of the movie, and that says a lot about H2TYD . This is the guy whom I've to nudge awake during Ice Age, Shrek and other such movies :)
The only tiny little complaint - I wish the dragons themselves had a little more IQ, rather than ending up as "pets" finally.
Going to watch it again, this time in French with subtitles, if I find one uploaded on the net :)
Someone: "But those ships never return..."
Someone else: "We are Vikings, it's an occupational hazard"
P.S. I watched the 2D version
S was just as engrossed as me for the full length of the movie, and that says a lot about H2TYD . This is the guy whom I've to nudge awake during Ice Age, Shrek and other such movies :)
The only tiny little complaint - I wish the dragons themselves had a little more IQ, rather than ending up as "pets" finally.
Going to watch it again, this time in French with subtitles, if I find one uploaded on the net :)
Someone: "But those ships never return..."
Someone else: "We are Vikings, it's an occupational hazard"
P.S. I watched the 2D version
The PNRs have landed!
Mr. and Mrs PNR are here! And since the moment they've landed I've been going overboard saying things like "Look Ma, I can cook, I can clean, I can organize,....... I can manage a house (petite apartment to be exact :)". To the extent that Mr.PNR who is normally my #1 fan, made a sharp "Ma's been doing this for 30years" comment, when he caught me giving mummy some cooking "tips" :)). The last 3 days have been simply awesome. It is soooo great to have them here with S and me. Pa btw celebrated his 65th b'day travelling more than 6000 miles over 2 continents and transiting through 4 countries. Ma though wasn't two happy about the 2 beers and couple of glasses of wine he indulged in along the way :) But they got to Lux safe and sound and happy :)
The crazy Luxembourg weather has been playing spoilsport though - grey and dreary doesn't begin the describe the unexpected cold spell we've been having. And after this morning's walk around the city centre, I get the feeling Pa and Ma would rather sit indoors and drink lots of hot tea than venture out in the cold again :((
@Sparto: Wish you were here - it's the only only thing keeping this reunion one notch below perfect.
The crazy Luxembourg weather has been playing spoilsport though - grey and dreary doesn't begin the describe the unexpected cold spell we've been having. And after this morning's walk around the city centre, I get the feeling Pa and Ma would rather sit indoors and drink lots of hot tea than venture out in the cold again :((
@Sparto: Wish you were here - it's the only only thing keeping this reunion one notch below perfect.
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