I'm a rock chick in a hard rock world!

So I've seen MI2 like half a dozen times, but I still get the damndest knots in my stomach when I watch Cruise rock-climbing. How can you not: it's so real, even when you know it's well, not. :P I think I'm one of the very few people who still like him, though. And that's kind of sad. He's still very cool, and let's not forget this. On the other hand, the new The Mentalist ad on Zee Cafe makes me really happy. I cannot find it on youtube, but I did find a Sad Song. 


In updates, I watched Gangs of Wasseypur yesterday. They're right; it's brilliant. It's a celebration of awesome. It's a complete saga, it leaves nothing out, and is very entertaining. Shout out to Sneha Khanwalkar, who's the music director - apparently one of only three female music directors in Bollywood - for a supremely fantastic job. 


I read a biography of Aamir Khan by Christina Daniels called :I'll Do It My Way". It's good; it's short, doesn't linger on controversial things, covers everything and praises him too. But I felt it didn't really justify its title. It doesn't make him out to be as much of a non-conformist genius or an individualistic self-made dude as might be expected from the title. But then he's probably not like that at all. 


Now I'm reading Bertrand Russell. Book is called Marriage and Morals. It's about the change in society from matrilineal to patriarchal and how women's subjugation became necessary to maintain the latter. It's quite informative in the sense of very gently explaining how society changed and how it can be modified. I don't know if the book caused a stir then, but now it seems like a very padded blow. Then again, he was neither a feminist nor an anthropologist. 


Okay now I'm going to listen to Jarrod Radnich on repeat. 


P.S. The title of the post - one of the things that made Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara  so fun. :)

'I will meet you yet again'

Today my mind decided on doing no work. Don't ask me, ask it.

Somehow I always get very interested in people who retain so much individuality, it shocks you how they survived, and even lived (differentiating on the basis of spirit, I guess) in the same world you're so fed up with. Or not. Point being, that they just stick to what they think yaar; it's pretty impressive. Like Amrita Pritam: woman lived in Pakistan and India, independence time, left the dude who was giving her a hard time, had two love affairs, wrote two autobiographies, ultimately lived in with a guy younger than her for nearly 40 years. Is that impressive or what?

I wonder if I have the same conviction in myself, at least a similar strength to just do what I want, what I feel like - right or wrong. I wish I do. I mean, obviously, na. But then comes in that whole issue of collectivism versus individualism. If I have this conversation with my parents or anyone from their generation, they're going to have a very typical Oriental response of society before yourself. Crappy hai. Bahut.

Anyway, now I've got to work on not listening to Carnival to Rust on repeat. So bye.


It's all a game, avoiding failure, when true colors will bleed
All in the name of misbehavior and the things we don't need
I lust for after no disaster can touch, touch us anymore
And more than ever, I hope to never fall, where enough is not the same it was before.

P.S. The title of this post is the title of a poem by Pritam. Translated, of course. Here it is.

Another Vindication of our Rights

About a month back, I was travelling from college to home in a metro. Because it was rush hour, and more because its empty than other reasons, I was sitting in the ladies carriage. The other coaches in the metro were so full there was barely any space to stand. So a lot of men started entering the ladies carriage and standing, initially near the interlinking of the two coaches, later they came in nearly halfway. Needless to say, this was considered a violation of womanly space and everyone felt very uncomfortable. Old ladies started whispering to each other, but no one really said anything out loud. Then at the next stop came in this middle-aged lady who asked the men to move as soon as she entered. The men didn't, quite typically. She repeated, to no effect. By now her action had given everyone else the required spark, and all the women started talking together and shouting at the men. Still no effect. Then the Bond lady took out her phone, and proclaiming that she was calling the next metro station, she dialled a number. Men started moving out immediately. But there were still the obstinate types, confident in I-know-not-what who stuck around. The call went through and the woman started complaining; turned out there's a very heavy fine for entering the women's compartment, this amount on being spoken out aloud by the lady, nearly all the men moved out.

And so the Bond lady saved the day. When this incident began, I was hesitant about saying anything as I didn't expect them to come in halfway, plus I had to get off in 10 minutes. But after that particular woman shook things up, I felt immensely ashamed, and I thought that this inertia, and this reluctance to take initiative is what plagues Indians, and more so women. And I, an educated woman of today, fully aware of this situation, again chose to not do anything to change things.

Coming back to the point, the attitude of that woman, and her zeal is worth emulating, and indeed is what is required to direct change in society. All this might sound very preachy, but I know of no other way to put it, and yet I have to say it, if only just for myself and nobody else.

I'll end this post by saying, very simply, that I will try to not sit down and accept everything, and will take action and show strength.