Naari – The Woman

Celebrating the new (little) woman in my life…

It’s that time again when I am ecstatic about being a woman. The wonder of nature that created a whole new "someone" through me 4 years ago has worked its magic again. We are blessed with another little princess – Siya.

Please give your blessings and best wishes for our little angel

Share/Save

Merchant of Venice (in Hindi)

There are two things that fueled this
(a) I am an Indian to the core and
(b) I simply love literature

Let me explain those two a little. I am an Indian to the core. I can (and do) love Greek food, English fiction, American (monster) trucks, Japanese furniture and crafts, Chinese calligraphy and beads and several many other from all over the globe, but deep down I have India in me. I love my country – its rich and varied heritage, culture, being a part of this colourful, soulful community. Naturally what follows is a love for all our festivals and celebrations. Being able to enjoy Diwali, Eid and Christmas in a small town in Goa is an experience unlike any other. I also love our national festivals and days – Independence day, Republic day and even Children’s day

Secondly, I simply love literature. Fiction mostly. I get really carried away, misty eyed even when I read something beautiful. (Remember Yugandhar by Shivaji Sawant? Or Heidi by Johanna Spyri?)

So when Children’s day came by this year I tried to combine these two seemingly unrelated ideas. Here’s what we did at home:

• - I scripted “Merchant of Venice” by W. Shakespeare into a skit in Hindi
  • • • – Hindi’ized it (Shylock became Thakur Ratan Singh)
      • – Slashed etcetras from the plot (I had only 5 actors, one of whom was a 3 yr old!)
        - Broke down everything into scenes, dialogues
        - Explained the story, each character and scene to my 5-actor (children) crew
      • - Our kids’ tuition teacher and her sister along with Bhaiya became our judges. Tuition teacher’s family was audience.
      • - Bhabhi took up make-up-artist-cum-hostess role.
      • - My husband Chiran put on his cameraman’s cap
      • - Practiced. Practiced. Practiced.
      • - Rehearsed. Rehearsed. Rehearsed.

      The result? It was through and through fun. Kids and elders all worked together as a team. Come to think of it, how often do we really manage that?

      

      I’ll be uploading the video shortly on YouTube. Watch this space for a link..

      Share/Save
      Tags: Family, Fun / Leisure

Into the wild….

Francis Bacon said in The Quotable Book Lover, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some are to be chewed and digested.” I feel the same can be said about movies, too. I recently watched (read was-carried-away-by) the movie , “Into The Wild”. I was so drawn to the story that it was impossible to hold back tears in the end. Based on a true story, ‘Into The Wild’  left me asking myself unanswerable questions.

The story is about a young guy, aged only 24, Christopher McCandless who is fed up of the social facade and complicated relationship with his parents. He leaves for Alaska, in search of happiness and peace within himself. He abandons all his belongings, donates his money and changes his name, so as to disappear from public scrutiny. He embarks his journey, steps away from civilization and its necessary (un)pleasantries, and walks alone , into the wild……

On his journey to Alaska via Mexico, he meets a lot of influential people from whom he learns the lessons of life and ways to happiness. On reaching Alaska, he stumbles upon, what he calls – the Magic bus. For over 40 days, he braves all the hardships, hunts animals for food, maintains his journal and reads his favorites.

However, after thus struggling through a solitary existence, McCandless begins to soften and acknowledges the possibility that human relationships were more of a necessity than he had originally thought. He, then  decides to return to the civilization he had come from, only to find his route blocked by a melted river.

Although McCandless’s behaviour, may seem reckless and drastic and even evoke anger and irritation in some, it teaches a lot to us. We, as humans, need to realize that we need to strike a balance between peace-searching isolation and being a part of society. To quote McCandless “Happiness is real only when shared’”. You can be living in society and still be yourself, not succumbing to the social pressures or obligations.

Forced to live longer in isolation, what does the young spirited guy go through? Does he retreat back into his peaceful solitude? Does he face natural calamities? Is he rescued? Does he seek help? Meet help? Watch / read “Into The Wild” to find out for yourself…

Share/Save