Raastey Aur Filmein

Road, Movie just reached the highest pedestal of road-flicks for me, which till now, was solely occupied by Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Also, I realized that my blog-template, it is straight out of the end-credits of the movie.

Strongly recommended.

Toy Story

I miss Tridax. My only teddy bear in life was called Tridax. Effects of having a mom who loved her zoology way too much.
I miss Bull. Wonder under how many layers of dust he lies now?
I miss the elephant.Did he have a name? I don't think so. GNai-GNui, the hippo. The robot-stuffed-toy from Pattaya.
I miss Watto. Didu's present from 2002 USA.
I miss Dandelion, the cat. That was Buiya's. And her tortoise from Delhi. Butu from Nepal. And her Gublet.She lies ignored on the wardrobe beside my bed.DUST-COVERED.Is randomly kicked around sometimes.
I can not even remember them all. Ultra Man-the bag? Jigglypuff. Clefairy. The Sheep.Snowy. All of them bought for rupees-ten-a-piece. In a rainy weekend. They that had to be dried by being hung on the heater, barbecue style. And THEN cuddled up to.
I miss Nadumnaa, the monkey. Buiya's blue monkey, who could stick a thumb into her open moutth. Had a red bow, as far as I remember. Nadumna, Nadumna, tak-duma-dum Nadumna, Nadumna, Nadumna doom-doom-doom Nadumna.
I miss the Bor-putool(The groom-doll) that was excessively bloated in parts, and had some limbs missing, but would end up being the unchallenged groom in all the marriage occasions. Then there was Oolo, the jumbled mass of red-wool, who would be a patient guest at all the weddings of dolls. Without fail. The music in these weddings was the responsibility of the clockwork 'Drummer-doll'(alternatively, Drum-bajaano-putool), who would, once in a bluemoon, double up as the groom.I fail to remember who the brides would be.
Oh and then there were those marine organisms. The purple duck. And the dolphin that fell from my seventh-floor Jodhpur Park balcony into the open drain below.
The blue-and-white clockwork penguin with orange flippers.The incessant flappity-floppitying of the flippers.
I miss the odd hen-BFFs. Both mutilated. One had missing limbs, the other a missing beak. One was baby Pink and the other, yellow ochre.
Gublet’s soul-sister. Olive Oyl. Again Buiya’s. Every short person has a tall best friend.
Hand-made tortoise.
I miss the black Bear, that was cursed to be standing forever, and looked like a goat. My Bombay Souvenir.
I had almost completely forgotten about the Huge Dragon. HUGE it was, indeed.
Pikachu. Squirtle. Chansey. Pink fluffy Rabbit. Bugs Bunny.
Starry-eyed Stacie, Semi-celebrity Barbara and the celebrities, Barbies. All Buiya's.
The five puppies. The Three Jungle Pygmy-kids.
The doll-house that was created underneath the aalna. That one that would be regularly visited by those little rats, whose fur looked so shampooedelicate.
I almost miss Julie, MeMey and their countless heirs and heiresses, all the little goat-kids I grew up cuddling. Staright out of Jhontoo'r Maa'r Chhagol-Production-Karkhaana.
I miss these. Very much. Not always, but right now.
.

Udaan.

‘Udaan’ brought back a lot of memories. Much of the movie was based in Jamshedpur-the industrial city. Jamshedpur, like Maithon, is just another industrial small town in Jharkhand(the latter is probably one-tenth the size of the former). But watching the movie with Debadrita made it even more special. The lanes and the by-lanes, the picturesque colonies with neat rows and columns of bungalows- some huge, others just about qualifying for the name, and white picket fences, white low-rise gates, and children riding their bicycles in those narrow lanes strewn with yellow flowers that have withered off from the gorgeous, resplendent yellow trees that line the bungalows- all these were uncannily reminiscent of Maithon. Of course, the fact that the two towns are separated by a meager 150 kms, adds to the obvious similarities between the circumstances and the psyche of the people the protagonist in the movie faces and the ones I have grown up with. [I strongly believe that as towns develop into cities, they turn into mirror-images of each other. Every huge city is a clone of the other, but every small town is distinct in its affection, its vulnerability, its dream-weave-lores, its colors and its very flavor].

thesethingsoftendon'tmakesense....

Several stripes for a camouflage,
Several teeth to defend,
Several minds to think with,
But only one soul to befriend.

There's a truth that is often quoted about Bollywood and Indian(world)politics - "There are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies here" .Guess that is applicable in real-life too. I'm just, for lack of better word, shocked. And, I could not put this up on Facebook. Thank goodness for Blogger.

See You, You see?

One disaster. Today. Several more to come. Mommy dearest advises me to drop out. There's still time, she says.

PaulPredicts

This 2-year-old Octopus in a German aquarium has predicted all the outcomes of the German games in the World Cup successfully, so far. The defeat to Serbia was predicted too. As for tonight's game versus Argentina, this psychotic genius has tipped the odds in favor of my(AND HIS) team- Germany. IF this forecast too comes true, not only will Germany move on to the Semis, but also, Paul's fan-following will go up higher, much higher, sky-high. Really, it will be a welcome-break from all the human-dhongi-babaas, a la Sanjay B. Jumaani and Bejaan Daruwallah.

Here's to Paul, and hoping to see the German flag flying sky high.

Boys pretty fine

You can take them home, with your parents,to dine.
Sea-green eyes, they’re built on chisel-line.
They come from all parts- ‘urbs, towns and the mine,
And posh city pockets. Quite like lozenge divine,
They are boys pretty fine.
Oh, they are boys quite fine.

Some names they have, with streets that rhyme.
Take some time off, they shall refill your Rhine.
Gloss-and-nail stains on their shirts, nevermind.
The sheets are white, and suddenly the sky’s the sunny kind.
They are boys pretty fine.
Oh, they are boys quite fine.

Scary outcomes await, scared you are of Pater-canine.
Approval shouldn’t be sought; Lost glories are for to pine.
The growing protuberance ends in a new life, months nine,
And these boys have left an indelible sign.
They were boys pretty fine.
But for how long can you whine?
Pretty boys, not-so-fine…
Pretty boys, not-so fine…
Oh, they were boys quite fine.