Kabali.
As a huge fan of the superstar, I didn’t want to miss out on watching the movie- First Day First Show (FDFS). As I nervously browsed through the various ticket booking sites trying to grab myself a seat, a chartered accountant friend of mine- Sheela- casually remarked:
“I wish people are half as worried about filing their taxes, as they are about watching the superstar!”
As a child growing up in the early 90s, I remember watching this movie star with awe; I was a huge fan and would watch all his movies with my mouth wide open!
In 2016, I still am a big fan, but, if I could go back in time to change that 1 thing about his movies, I would change those male dominated dialogues that featured in most of them. Not just his movies- umpteen others’ featured such dialogues. Situationally, those might have made an impact on screen, but, objectively, those dialogues were pertinent even to a man- a message seldom conveyed in those movies. This in turn, led to the penetration of ideas on ‘how women should be’, ‘what they should do’ and so on in some ways …
As Indians, we are immensely influenced by the movies that we watch; we idolize our stars who are nothing short of demigods for many of us. And, having grown up watching these male stars dominate their female leads -sometimes in an uncharacteristic and yet an imposing way, we are tuned to believing that that is how it should be.
She believed in change. To her change was the outcome of an experience. Somewhere, sometime in her life, she had decided that she would try to live each day differently, and from that day, she had consciously made an effort to do at least 1 thing different from what he had done, the previous day.
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Alright.
This is my mom’s “famous” recipe.
She bakes this barfi every year during dussehra, exclusively for the guests.
I’m a big fan of this one (just like all those who taste this) and I’m gonna take this opportunity to show you all how to bake this…
Ready?
[You may want to click on the pic to view it in full size :-)]
So, if you have made up your mind to read this book, then, here’s my take on the content:
Strange are the times that we live in…A simple gesture of kindness is hard to come by…
We talk about humanity at length, and yet fail to display it at a basic level.
We talk about justice to rape victims and fail to give a woman a ride in the night if she is stranded. We talk about respecting elders and yet fail to offer our seats to the elderly folks on the bus. We talk about child labor, and yet fail to notice the child cleaning the tables at the hotel.The list is endless…
We may not be able to provide a solution to all the problems in this world, but, if we can, we should.
But hey! I’m not going to be all didactic here.
This post is not intended to convey my beliefs, but to honor some men who choose to be different from the rest of the society in their own ways…
“This has got to be interesting”….
That’s what I thought when I read the gist of this book.
A female protagonist with action sequences; Vampire plot and the title-Tantra: all of it was intriguing enough for me to sit back on a Sunday afternoon with a cup of coffee.
But, it was painstakingly slow to read this book till the point where Anu, the protagonist encounters Misra, the baby blood sucking vampire…
The author seems to have taken some 20 odd pages to warm up to a style of writing which would be good enough to keep the readers glued to the pages without them having to sift restlessly through other things while reading the book…
So, if you can cross this speed check, this book proves a good entertainer.
Turn the first few pages and you’ll be lost in a myriad of characters; you’ll want to think of this one as a confused piece of writing and probably close this book and move on to the next…
But, wait…
Patience might prove to be “rewarding”, in this case…
As the story progresses, things fall into place and the characters make more sense.
You are thirteen, ready to get married, they said;
“Yes”, she nodded her head;
But, her heart screamed a “NO” and filled her with dread…
You are married, so don’t talk to men, they said;
“Yes”, she nodded her head;
But, her heart screamed a “NO” and filled her with dread…
You are a woman of duty, so quit studying, they said;
“Yes”, she nodded her head;
But, her heart screamed a “NO” and filled her with dread…
14/06/1986 9:45 AM- Kallar, Tamil Nadu
She cried.
It was her tryst with the world, and she was scared.
She was moving out of her protective waters; that blissful place where she had spent a couple of months, only to emerge in a stranger world.
She cried louder.
The brightness of her surroundings hurt her unaccustomed eyes.
“It’s a girl”, she heard sounds around her.
“I am a girl”, she told herself.
Her mother; She held her close and her tears fell on her cheeks.
Two drops.
The mother probably knew the fate that awaited her baby.
APEIRON 