Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I Wonder
Why is the grass always greener on the other side? We Indians will use all kinds of creams and lotions and turmeric and what have you, to make our complexion fairer. And the Americans, they spend money on tanning salons (and beach trips, when time permits) to get a tan. Those of us with wavy hair want it straightened out, and those with straight hair will want to get it curled or permed. Why can't we just come to terms with the way we are, the way we look? How does it matter, really, if our looks are a little imperfect? How does it matter if you have a few strands of hair flying out of place, or a few crooked teeth? What matters is how comfortable you are with yourself, how confident and happy you are about yourself, and how you carry yourself. I mean, well, of course, you need to be decently well-groomed. I'm not saying you can be as sloppy as you want or let your hair look like you just stepped out of a tornado. But some things are better left the way they were meant to be. Naturally.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Heal The World
I don't want to write an obituary for Michael Jackson now, because I've never really been a huge fan, but I'd like to share this video of one his really amazing songs - Heal The World. This is a wonderful song with a social message. A friend of mine tried to sing it at the farewell we hosted at school for our immediate seniors, but ended up being rather off-key, because it is a slightly difficult song to sing, though it may not seem like it. Click on the song title and watch the video, it's beautiful and evokes emotion.
Goodbye, Dr. Wilson
Yesterday, Dr. Anil Wilson, who used to be my college Principal when I was doing my undergraduate studies, succumbed to pancreatic cancer.
This is the first time I am writing an obituary on my blog. Dr. Wilson was a significant influence in the lives of all those who walked the halls of St. Stephen's College during his tenure. In first year of College, it was mandatory for us to attend morning assembly and listen to him address us four mornings a week. When he was there, morning assembly was never boring. He educated us on a variety of subjects, ranging from the dignity and decorum of the College to caring for your parents and family. He gave us that sense of belonging, the feeling that we'd inherited a now 128-year-old heritage from all those who'd been part of that educational institution and given it the position and prestige that it now holds. He made us feel at home. He may not have known all of us by name, but he could recognize all the students of College even after five years of their graduation. He would tell us little anecdotes about how he kept running into Stephanians everywhere he went and how nice it felt when they recognized him. He would tell us little stories from the Bible which gave us values to live by. Since I was not an English student, I was never fortunate enough to sit in his class. But the morning assemblies constituted a far more important class, with far more valuable lessons.
Even while going, he donated his body for medical research. I think that's just one more little thing that he gave the world.
As I pray for his soul to rest in peace, I am sure thousands of Stephanians across the globe are with me.
This is the first time I am writing an obituary on my blog. Dr. Wilson was a significant influence in the lives of all those who walked the halls of St. Stephen's College during his tenure. In first year of College, it was mandatory for us to attend morning assembly and listen to him address us four mornings a week. When he was there, morning assembly was never boring. He educated us on a variety of subjects, ranging from the dignity and decorum of the College to caring for your parents and family. He gave us that sense of belonging, the feeling that we'd inherited a now 128-year-old heritage from all those who'd been part of that educational institution and given it the position and prestige that it now holds. He made us feel at home. He may not have known all of us by name, but he could recognize all the students of College even after five years of their graduation. He would tell us little anecdotes about how he kept running into Stephanians everywhere he went and how nice it felt when they recognized him. He would tell us little stories from the Bible which gave us values to live by. Since I was not an English student, I was never fortunate enough to sit in his class. But the morning assemblies constituted a far more important class, with far more valuable lessons.
Even while going, he donated his body for medical research. I think that's just one more little thing that he gave the world.
As I pray for his soul to rest in peace, I am sure thousands of Stephanians across the globe are with me.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Musings For Today
I just heard Mohit Chauhan's Tune Jo Na Kaha from New York. This is the first time in the last two months that I've heard a song worth writing about. True, I've been out of touch with Hindi music a little, but even so. I really liked this song, with its soulful, touching words.
It's funny, how Delhi is drying up, how the monsoon refuses to arrive back home, and here it's been raining almost all week, with the rain not stopping even for long enough for me to take a short walk outside. I've been spending more time in the gym all week.
I never before saw a man go out of his way to hold a door open for a woman. A couple of days back, as I was walking to the gym, which is in a different building in the same apartment complex, I was just outside the building and fishing for the keys to the building in my pocket. And this guy who happened to be in the corridor, walked all the way to the door and held it open. I thought he's opened it because he wanted to come out. Then he told me he didn't, he was just opening it for me. He said that no gentleman wants to see a lady fishing for her keys in the rain. I was slightly dazed. I think that kind of chivalry is fast dissolving into nothingness these days. It's great, however, to see a glimpse of it every now and then.
It's funny, how Delhi is drying up, how the monsoon refuses to arrive back home, and here it's been raining almost all week, with the rain not stopping even for long enough for me to take a short walk outside. I've been spending more time in the gym all week.
I never before saw a man go out of his way to hold a door open for a woman. A couple of days back, as I was walking to the gym, which is in a different building in the same apartment complex, I was just outside the building and fishing for the keys to the building in my pocket. And this guy who happened to be in the corridor, walked all the way to the door and held it open. I thought he's opened it because he wanted to come out. Then he told me he didn't, he was just opening it for me. He said that no gentleman wants to see a lady fishing for her keys in the rain. I was slightly dazed. I think that kind of chivalry is fast dissolving into nothingness these days. It's great, however, to see a glimpse of it every now and then.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Of Remakes And Inspirations
I watched French Kiss today and once again saw how shamelessly and distastefully some Bollywood directors just rip off from Hollywood and other foreign movies. (Foreign movies. Now I'm in the States. When I look up a Hindi movie on Netflix, it's classified as a foreign movie.)
I remember watching movies like While You Were Sleeping and The Wedding Singer and seeing how they've been copied, down to the silly gags. Remember that scene from Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega... where Salman Khan was talking to Paresh Rawal and the elevator doors kept closing and opening behind them? It's a really silly gag, and it's copied. So may movies tend to be remakes, or, to use a cliche, 'inspired' from other movies. And if you've seen the original before you see the remake, chances are you'll hate the remake, like I hated Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai or Salaam-E-Ishq (or whatever fraction of that movie I had the patience to sit through).
Do these filmmakers think that Indian audiences don't watch or understand or like Hollywood movies? Or do they think that we'd like them translated out for us? Or maybe, we'd just enjoy watching the way the director makes a fool of himself and his actors by ripping off a story and making his own modifications to it which just don't fit in.
I remember watching movies like While You Were Sleeping and The Wedding Singer and seeing how they've been copied, down to the silly gags. Remember that scene from Har Dil Jo Pyar Karega... where Salman Khan was talking to Paresh Rawal and the elevator doors kept closing and opening behind them? It's a really silly gag, and it's copied. So may movies tend to be remakes, or, to use a cliche, 'inspired' from other movies. And if you've seen the original before you see the remake, chances are you'll hate the remake, like I hated Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai or Salaam-E-Ishq (or whatever fraction of that movie I had the patience to sit through).
Do these filmmakers think that Indian audiences don't watch or understand or like Hollywood movies? Or do they think that we'd like them translated out for us? Or maybe, we'd just enjoy watching the way the director makes a fool of himself and his actors by ripping off a story and making his own modifications to it which just don't fit in.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Perspective
I recently watched Never Been Kissed on TV. It got me thinking about a few things.
The movie is about this reporter, Josie, who gets an undercover assignment which involves going to high school and writing about what the kids that age are like, what their dreams, aspirations, fears and hopes are. She ends up travelling on a path of self discovery and finding out that kids are still the same. High school is still the same as it was when she was there the first time. There are the ones who care about being the most popular kids in school. Josie rediscovers just how shallow popularity actually is. Then there are the kids whom the others know as the nerds or the 'brains.' She now knows, and explains to the kids, that when you go out into the real world, it won't matter how popular you were or whether or not you were captain of the baseball team. What matters is that you know who you are, and believe in yourself.
My mother teaches senior secondary school students. She would often give me the test papers that she had marked to total up. When she started doing that, I was in middle school. At that time, whenever somebody's total added up to less than the passing cut off, I would feel sorry for the person and dwell on the thought for a while before returning the paper to the pile. But later on, when I finished school and went to college, I realised that it didn't matter if you failed in your half yearly examination in school. I mean, obviously a kid should not cultivate that attitude while still in school, because if kids start thinking that it doesn't matter, they will stop trying. But what I mean is, if you flunk one exam, it's okay, as long as you make up for it in the other exams and don't lose a school year. When you go out and look for means for building a career for yourself, who's going to ask you what kind of score you had on your pre-board exams? And, I've seen, even the really bright students goof up once in a while. Or maybe some teachers expect too much out of their students. I've come across that sort of teacher in school and also in college. I've seen brilliant students who occasionally flunked an exam or two. In my school, going to the next higher class depended on a weighted mean of your scores on all the little and big tests throughout the year, not just the final exam. So you could actually fail the final exam and still be promoted. I always liked that system.
Life does teach us not to sweat the small stuff, doesn't it?
The movie is about this reporter, Josie, who gets an undercover assignment which involves going to high school and writing about what the kids that age are like, what their dreams, aspirations, fears and hopes are. She ends up travelling on a path of self discovery and finding out that kids are still the same. High school is still the same as it was when she was there the first time. There are the ones who care about being the most popular kids in school. Josie rediscovers just how shallow popularity actually is. Then there are the kids whom the others know as the nerds or the 'brains.' She now knows, and explains to the kids, that when you go out into the real world, it won't matter how popular you were or whether or not you were captain of the baseball team. What matters is that you know who you are, and believe in yourself.
My mother teaches senior secondary school students. She would often give me the test papers that she had marked to total up. When she started doing that, I was in middle school. At that time, whenever somebody's total added up to less than the passing cut off, I would feel sorry for the person and dwell on the thought for a while before returning the paper to the pile. But later on, when I finished school and went to college, I realised that it didn't matter if you failed in your half yearly examination in school. I mean, obviously a kid should not cultivate that attitude while still in school, because if kids start thinking that it doesn't matter, they will stop trying. But what I mean is, if you flunk one exam, it's okay, as long as you make up for it in the other exams and don't lose a school year. When you go out and look for means for building a career for yourself, who's going to ask you what kind of score you had on your pre-board exams? And, I've seen, even the really bright students goof up once in a while. Or maybe some teachers expect too much out of their students. I've come across that sort of teacher in school and also in college. I've seen brilliant students who occasionally flunked an exam or two. In my school, going to the next higher class depended on a weighted mean of your scores on all the little and big tests throughout the year, not just the final exam. So you could actually fail the final exam and still be promoted. I always liked that system.
Life does teach us not to sweat the small stuff, doesn't it?
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Finding Your Calling
What is education coming to these days? I just happened to look at the cut offs for admissions to my Alma mater this year, and I realised that I would not have been admitted to any of the honours courses other than Sanskrit and Philosophy, with the percentage that I had in my class twelve board exams. And this is just the qualifying cut off for the interview. There is an ever-growing number of students vying for a relatively constant number of seats in the better known educational institutions. Life is becoming tougher and tougher for an average student. There is no time and opportunity to stop and think that not all of us are meant to secure high percentages and walk the halls of an academic institution. Some of us are supposed to find our calling elsewhere, maybe in painting, dance, music, or doing something for the environment. Parents tend to discourage their children from entering certain fields because of social stigmas associated with them, or the fact that one has to struggle a lot to find their footing as, say, a photographer. It takes longer to establish yourself in an off beat career. But you know, there comes a time, when you have seen the world that you tried to fit into, when you realise that the road oft taken was not for you. Sometimes it happens at a slightly later stage in life, when you have family commitments and are hence afraid to venture into a less stable career. I think we all need to introspect deeply into our souls, discover our own desires, and figure out where we really want to take our lives before life takes us in a direction we don't really know we don't want to travel in. Once you know your calling, once you really know what you really want to do, it's relatively easy to find some time on the side to pursue it on a smaller scale, and gradually work your way up. I think that life should be about living the way you are happy, the way your family is happy, and the way you are able to spend more time with them. I think the world can do with fewer software engineers and fewer software products (or less fancy features, which a lot of people other than the ones who make them can't really understand anyway), but we need more art, more focus on the environment, more work on roads and flyovers, more things that make life more peaceful and beautiful.
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