Each one of us has to start out with developing his or her own definition of success. And when we have these specific expectations of ourselves, we’re more likely to live up to them. Ultimately, it’s not what you get or even what you give, it’s what you become.
– Mary Maxwell Gates
He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it.
The Great Gatsby but also Bill Gate’s favorite quote. Will he ever be able to grasp all the plans and dreams he has, or will they forever be so close and just out of reach…
“Ohhhh..is this the one Sasha??”
Sasha nodded, his face excited and flushed with embarrassment. The crowds in the busy shopping centre mostly walked past without taking any notice of the large white mural. Nina, however, walked slowly around it, taking in each arrow, and each color, each wave of the stone.
“It looks like a dragon,” she said, “But the dragon seems injured.”
“I..well…I wanted to show how society..well the world…how it’s not perfect, I’m not perfect…and the arrows…” He went on…
Nina loved it when he spoke about art. The way his eyes lit up, the way he almost lost his stutter.
“Do you not like it?” he asked suddenly.
Her eyes found the plaque beneath the piece.
Third arrow: Alexandre Fedorov
“It’s beautiful! And I’m so so proud of you.” She whispered squeezing his hand and went on her tippy toes to reach his lips. He beamed down with relief and kissed her back softly.
This is written for Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers. Thanks to Jade M. Wong for providing the picture.
Word count: 158
25 things vegetarians have to deal with, 30 things you know if you’re a back bencher, 13 things only your BFF will know. 15 things Arsenal fans face all the time. Here are 15 reasons why these kind of posts have really started to annoy the crap out of me.
You’d think people don’t even know why they’re friends with someone.
2. Not to mention a lot of these articles have the EXACT SAME CONTENT. Honestly insulted that anyone would think people wouldn’t notice? Do you consider your readers to be fools?
3. Shameless promotion of various products. When I click on 21 ways to look less sleepy, I am looking for actual tricks or at least an interesting pun, not a bunch of dark circle removers or weirdly shaped alarm clocks.
4. Misleading titles! When I click on a link titled 21 things no one tells you about college, I genuinely expect 21 things no one ever told me about college. Even 10 year olds know about “bunking class” and “trying to cheat in a test”. Well aren’t you bad ass?
5. When I’m actually interested in reading one of these mundane posts but to my dismay, I find all the sarcastic comments and dialogue are in a language I can’t understand.
6. 10 things Sleepy people will understand. 10 things hungry people will understand. Besides the fact that one is sleepy/hungry / whatever, is there anything else that has to be understood? More like 10 things people with normal bodily functions will understand. Oh wait. That’s everyone.
7. Trying to stress a point by repeating it again and again.
8. Like This
9. Or maybe it’s just for the numbers to add up.
10. Cheaters
11. 10 times Benedict Cumberbatch or Ed Sheeran were absolute sweethearts? OK, that I don’t mind…
go away. i’m fangirling
12. Using Harry Potter/Friends and other pop culture to click bait people. 20 things you never knew about Harry Potter? But wait, the only people that would click on the fuckin link are Potterheads and guess what, they probably know everything there is to know long before you did. Next time I see a Harry Potter link with nothing in it, I swear I will AVADA KEDAVRA you and I’m not even going to be sorry.
13. Gifs that don’t even make sense and have nothing to do in relation to the text above it. What is your point!?! Do you enjoy annoying us?
14. When the gifs don’t load. The text is there, but the punchline is in that gif. So you watch and wait, and wait….
15. Yup, I’m done. Hope everyone else is too. Please.
Blogs are really hard. No kidding. It takes a HUGE amount of dedication and effort to sit and consistently do something, which is sometimes inspiring and other times a chore, week after week, with no particular return or reward. Of course people will disagree with what I’ve just written. I’m sure there are many people who will proclaim that blogging is something they are soo passionate about and how in love with writing they are and how they wouldn’t give it up for the world.., and well, I hear you. I like to think that way too. But, I can’t help but feel, certain aspects of this are a little (over) romanticized. Like, admit it, the joy of writing is one thing, but can you deny the joy when the little line graph climbs every time you refresh your stats? Oh, you want people to read what you write, you want to be heard. Isn’t that what we all want? I forgot what I wanted to say in all honesty…but I think it was something along the lines of I’M BACK. I’m going to be writing and typing and romanticizing my inconsequential life for nobody’s benefit. So, this is just a heads up. Ok Bye.
P.S. I ❤ miniidlis
This movie has a lot of things going right for it, but at the same time falls short of the really ‘feel good’ movie it could have been.
Nassar plays the role of the dutiful and loving grandfather of a family that has drifted apart with time and each one’s life paths. So, when after 3 years all his children find themselves available for the Sivarathiri festivities, it’s a joyous occasion indeed. Thamizh (Sara Arjun) is the daughter of the one son who still lives along with his wife in their large village home, and they welcome the rest of the family. As expected, numerous NRI/urban life vs rural life gags are thrown in, the wifi/ “pai” (bag) joke already quite popular from the trailer.
Trouble ensues when the family s made aware of an offering of a rooster to the village god which was not carried out. But of course, the moment they need it, the rooster in question goes missing, courtesy of the animal loving Thamizh. The rest of the story is a no-brainer.
Making their debuts in this film are Baasha, Nassar’s own grandson and Twara Desai. To be honest, their love story is rather far-fetched (how many of today’s youth are really that into their cousins I wonder), and fails to muster the cute adolescent romance they were looking for. The younger actors however steal the show. Sara Arjun, of course, from Deiva Thirumagal plays her adorable self and her eyes have a light of their own. Ray Paul (the ‘wifi’ kid), who plays one of the younger siblings is probably one of the better parts of the otherwise clichéd film. His grumpy face is the closest thing to reality, as far as the portrayal of kids in movies is concerned. They didn’t have to make a villain out of him, but in all honesty, I’ve met more kids like him than angels like Thamizh.
G.V.Prakashs’ music fits well, and thankfully there are only as many songs as needed in this already stretched film. The song ‘Azhagu’ in the raga Kanada also marks the debut of Utthara Unnikrishnan, daughter of singer Unnikrishnan himself, and all I can say is that I’ve had that song in loop for a couple of weeks now. The song, her voice and the lyrics are just beautiful.
The simple-minded story, and the values they try to sell would have had a much better impact as a short film. It seems unnecessarily dragged out into feature length, and you can easily pick out the parts that don’t make much sense (i.e. completely annoy the crap out of you). Yeah, we get it, they’re searching for a rooster, but that doesn’t mean you can have 10 minute footage of the entire cast going ‘buk buk buk bukkkkk’.
In any case, everything ends well for the entire family, (as expected).
Most of the movie they’re talking about fish and chicken and goat leg soup, the tile of ‘Saivam’ isn’t explained till the very end. (It’s one of those wtf moments). I think ‘Seval’ might have been a better name, but that’s just me. The director also makes a point of ending the movie at exactly the same place it began, and you can’t help but wonder,
What was the whole point?
If your spending 120 bucks, you might like the film lesser than it deserves, so I’d suggest waiting for a lazy Sunday afternoon in the not-so-distant future to watch it.
3/5
Most of you have probably heard of the shooting spree of 22 year old Elliot Rodger around 3 weeks ago in Isla Vista near UCSB where he killed 6 and injured 13 before turning the gun on himself. Like all other campus shootings, the internet engaged in the same old discussions over gun control and mental illness, issues that have been tossed and turned one too many times. If you follow the internet closely, you probably also know of the since viral hashtags #YesAllWomen, and the subsequent #NotAllMen and similar variants.
The contents of his youtube video, since removed, are appalling, where he proclaims himself a God, and accuses all women of never paying him any attention, and then blames his virginity and his lack of social skills on women who were supposedly ‘throwing themselves at lesser brutes’. “There is something mentally wrong with the way [women’s] brains are wired,” he wrote in his manifesto, “they are incapable of reason or thinking rationally”
One of the most crass things about this whole thing is the astonishing number of people who seem to agree with his ideology.
.
Horrifying. Right?
So women from across the world shared their experiences of fear and lack of power against men with #YesAllWomen. Yes ALL women have experienced some sort of abuse, if not physical, mental. Any girl will admit to having had those uncomfortable moments of blatant stares, comments and catcalls, the hurried walk on a quiet street. And then, #NotAllMen took off, justifying that not all men raped, abused or mass murdered women. Let’s all jump for joy. Not all men. Isn’t that a relief.
There is no denying that women live in constant fear of the worst. And while we’re on the subject, gun shootings and such misogyny related violence is in no way something that only happens in the far off ‘western’ country of the United States. Indian society is a widely patriarch society, and anyone will be willing to testify to that. The way boys are simply allowed more freedom, the way they are exempted from house work or chores. Rape culture.
But one of the few things I can’t stand is how this feeling of misogyny and hatred to women is embraced by mainstream media. No, I’m not even talking about those archaic politicians who go around with rhetorics of banning cell phones and jeans. Just take a look at the top songs over the past year or so, starting with
Why this kolaveri di? Why this murderous rage? (from the movie 3, 2012) Of course, it’s a light hearted Tanglish rant to girl, no harm done.
Adi da avala, Odha da avala. Hit her, Kick her (from the movie Mayakkam Enna, 2011) Just implying a little physical violence, nothing major.
Indha Ponnungalae ippadi dan All girls are like this (from Varuthapadadha Valobar Sangam, 2013) The song goes on to explain how all girls are dark-hearted, evil, and manipulative of men’s affections
Club le Mabbu le (widely popular song from tamil rapper Hip Hop Adhi) This song basically bashes women who go to pubs and drink for destroying the ‘pure Tamil culture’.
These are all very catchy and very popular songs. All of my male friends have them on their playlists, I have them on my playlist…and of course doesn’t mean that we think men are superior to women, that doesn’t mean we agree with all the lyrics. But the passive acceptance just might be giving the green signal to someone who doesn’t know any better. 5 year olds are growing up with these songs. There just might be that one guy, who sees the others laugh at a demeaning joke, a suggestive comment that meant no harm, and then internalize such thoughts as something normal to all men. There just might be that one guy who idolizes the actor who gets the girl by simply stalking her aggressively and making a few lewd jokes. Sure, that works out in the movies, but in real life?
And when things don’t go the way they plan, the blame, the aggression and violence. Sure we don’t have the easy access to a gun and such massacres in India, but I don’t think we’re far off. The threats, blackmail, acid attacks.
These songs and jokes that seem almost normal in everyday banter, are they really that different from Elliot Rodger’s ‘manifesto’? They express the sentiment, of how a girl is simply expected to say yes, when a guy plucks up the courage to ask her out. And if she says no, god forbid, all the misery and heart ache is blamed on her. She is the face of evil who suddenly deserves to feel the pain she caused you.
It’s there in the manifesto. It’s there in those songs. Those songs are on my playlist.
Now, this isn’t to blame the artists who make these songs. The entertainment industry only churns out what the audience enjoys, and right now everyone seems to be enjoying some misogyny. Including some women themselves.
I just think it’s time to take a step back, and look at ourselves, what we believe in, and reflect on how maybe, just maybe, we are all contributing to such incidents in little ways when we subconsciously embrace certain ways of thinking. It’s important, because, there seem to be many who are dismissing this some sort of a feminist ramble. And so what if it is, it doesn’t make it any less true. The first step to solving any problem is accepting that it exists in the first place. And that’s all I’m asking for. Stop the excuses, the stories, the rebuttals, stop denying the fact that there is a problem. And really, Stop insisting that there’s no way fix it.
GKRRL…you know what, I’m gonna stick with RamLeela, I don’t care what the court says. And don’t worry about spoilers, the movie opens with ‘inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet’, which is pretty much all you need to know with regard to plot and storyline. But this is an Indian movie, so it isn’t a complete waste of your time.
The story begins in a remote Gujarati village Ranjhor, which does not and should not exist in this world. And yet, 5 minutes into the movie, that’s all that does exist. The crowded market where they sell guns and rifles like fruits and vegetables, the nonchalant firing of bullets by men and women for simply no reason at all, the baseless rivalry that exists between the warring families Rajadi and Sanera, Sanjay L. Bhansali does a remarkable job of bringing this setting to life, as if it truly is tucked away in some corner of this country.
Ram (Romeo boy Ranveer Singh) is your stereotypical and cocky black sheep of the family. While pretty much everybody else is all about bullets, family pride, and honour,Ram walks the peaceful path. No guns, he’s just the romantic vagabond of the village with a pack of abs that were chiseled in heaven, and also runs an adult video parlour. ( Say what?!?) He wears the most ridiculously colored shirts, recites crude poetry and did I mention his abs are from heaven?
Being the type of crazy he is, he decides to join the Holi festivities in the enemy camp, you know, just for the heck of it. That’s where he is instantly smitten by Leela (aka Juliet, Deepika Padukone). Dancing across elaborate staircases and corridors in 30kg lehengas, with a cheeky smile that could kill, Leela too inexplicably falls for Ram. In mere minutes (I mean in real and reel time minutes), they are passionately in love. Their chemistry is explosive, and the whole ambience is magnified 10 times over a conveniently positioned tree next to a balcony over a glistening pond. Each bedroom is a dream palace in itself! Leela is the dream girl, perfectly comfortable making the first move, she plants kisses in broad daylight, air guitars in the enemy gun shop and is bad-ass like no other heroine before! Smoking hot sexiness keeps your eyes glued to the screen, (unless you went with your parents, in which case glued to your own feet). But alas, this Utopian romance does not last.
After a game of bullets gone wrong (you’re almost waiting for that to happen, I mean, with so many bullets flying around and all), our leading couple is forced to elope, and it is during this second half that movies really slows down and begins to irk. Leela is no longer the slutty feminist bomb I really admired. There were protests over the supposed insulting of sacred characters, but seriously, those guys had absolutely nothing to worry about. Leela is reduced to the red and teary eyed drama loving Bollywood damsel in distress. All of a sudden she’s worried about spending the night with a man before she’s married. She’s worried about the sindhoor, the rings, and her mother. (Let’s not forget the ever constipated look on ‘Baa’.) It hurts to think of the excitingly taken first half being backtracked into the potboiler it is.
Bada badtameez, besharam, khudgarz hota hai par pyaar toh aisa hi hota hai (It is insulting, blatant and selfish, but that’s how love is.)
Add to this ensemble a few predictable double-crossers, some very insightful widowed bhabhis, and you get the movie RamLeela. All the inexplicable and senseless things that happen are readily explained with a single word ‘pyaar’. ( Ram and Leela aren’t the most decisive or smartest of couples, but oh well, they’re a blindingly beautiful couple, so no complaints.)
It’s not the worst, thankful to the maximum A game Bollywood can bring, the extravagant sets, the overdose of guns, the larger than life couple and a bucket of butter popcorn. It’s a magnificent movie to watch, not so much to understand.
Movies movies movies…I can barely imagine life without them! And If your an Indian, movies are just as important as food, or water….we’re talking about the industry that churns out more than a 1000 movies every year!!! And the thing about us, is that we don’t stop with just our movies..no no…movies means movies from EVERYWHERE! In America, you’re probably content with what Hollywood feeds you (excluding those eccentrics who watch ‘art’ films from Austria and Germany and what not). Come to India, and we have quite a few of those ‘ollywoods’ (insert suitable alphabet.) Up north, they’ll catch the English and of course Bollywood. Most don’t bother with the south, maybe if its dubbed in Hindi…maybe. They just wait for the hits to be remade with Akshay Kumar or the like. But we Tamil folk, ohh, we’re truly the luckiest of the bunch! We watch our own Tamil movies (Kollywood), we watch our neighbours’ movies, shout out to the awesome Telugu industry(Tollywood) and Malayalam (Mollywood?!?…no I don’t think so). We love the big guys from Bombay, and we will watch them with or without subtitles, (I like to think we’re linguistically smart that way) AND we will not miss English ones either! That’s a hell lot of movies in a life time, trust me. My point: there are soooo many movies out there and since I am a one of sooo many words, I really need some space to talk about the silver screen. If you’re just starting out with Indian movies I’ll share my pick, so you can avoid the truckloads of garbage that plague our cinema halls. My thoughts, my opinions, my RANT.
miniidlis 
