The white wonder!

Its been a rather hectic week. Fast paced, interesting, tiring and surprising.The week also took me to the Taj- Yes a wonder that I had never managed to see, but had always passed by. A wonder that had eluded me for long, finally struck a connection.

I had always had dreams of how I would see the Taj ( I tend to imagine and dream most parts of life that have not happened:-) I had my own picture of what this monument would look like. I had assumed I wouldn't be fascinated by it and it would be an overrated piece of art. However,the moment that I just set my eyes on this structure has been etched in my mind and heart forever. I am not sure what it was but I just felt a strange connection, some new life took over as I walked closer to the symmetrical, white, fascinating wonder. I felt I have known the place from ever. It would be extremely hard for me to jot down my exact feelings. All I know is that:

Afloat on the sea, a white bird I am.
Standing amidst time, I shine on.
The brazen finger that carved eternity
would have gazed at the moon all night.
Triumphing his creation of the day,
perfection! Inlays that many a eyes delight.
I stand! Time shy's away.
Yet,I remember the elephant roar,
the constant hands,
the lashes of the rain.
Symbolic of love, I stand .
Witness to flawless expression.
That between any two or just, you and me.

I am sure I will go back there some day just to reassure myself.

Connections

Connections are interesting things. I sometimes feel connected with my past and sometimes so distant from my present.I often feel I can spend a life time in the past or in imagination. Maybe at the end, the present will just not have a context. Possibly it is because I live life at a slower pace and can only relish so many moments. Which is why I don't make time for newer experiences. Either ways I have met a zillion people, conversed, shared silences or just air with some. However there are a few of them that I have connected with. Often I do find people connecting, but it is rare that I connect back. I wish the "once a connection always a connection" theory worked. But connections do fade and new ones do get established.

I met someone today. We spent time looking at fish, a species I never connected with thus far. Was it the moment or the instance, but I did strangely stare/gaze into the eyes of the fish.I think it has made me want to connect with them forever. I am not sure why some connections strike me so intensely and some just pass by life unnoticed. But my life has surely become worth the past because of the intense ones. As a kid, a frog in my garden taught me how to lose my fear to discover. Walking past marine drive, it was a kid selling joy for a living, that taught me how to appreciate life. Gazing at the sea taught me how to stay calm, walks around the school grounds talking about bio-degradable plastic with a friend taught me a different way to perceive life. Every such connection has made me want to live a few moments beyond time and savor it over and over again.


I am sure there is a whole lot to be lived. But I am happy to see that there is enough to go back and relive as well. It kind of makes me happy that my life has been worthwhile.

Contradictions Am I?

Sometimes I sail on, sometimes I am crushed in a tide. I am definite and at times I surprise myself. I mostly seek the impossible and the obvious just comes my way.Small things matter while big things just dont. Contradictions define me while the patterns just don't repeat. I guess its been a day of observations. I observed the coconut tree and wondered why the leaves were slit, I watched a few faces and figured monotony still exists in chaos. Created random prose:

"Definite I am. Mysterious you are !
Boundaries I resist, but bound you are!
Makes it an interesting string of definite and unbound!
Of mystery and conviction !"

I believe messages in bottles are often intended but not implied. I guess blogs are similar. This is one of those where sporadic thoughts come by hoping they don't get stitched and comprehended.

Jodha Akbar

**Had this review in my drafts for a while. Posting it out today.


After a long break saw a couple of movies and decided to post out a few reviews. Still in Yorkshire, battling the cold, and waiting to get back home.

Jodha Akbar:

A review can have several perspectives and I decided I should elucidate all perspectives rather than just write a review.

For the masses?

I guess the movie might lure the masses but does not have sufficient masala to get the auto rickshaw drivers to come


From a film makers perspective I am left completely confused wondering, what is it that Ashutosh set himself to make? A love story set in the 1700's? A tale to depict one of the most powerful rulers in history? A masala movie which has romance/thrills/villains/songs/dances and meant to entertain people? The movie failed to bring out its essence.A 4 hour love story is too long to handle and does not need too many facts built in which deviate you from the love story. The tale of Akbar the king did not need to have a romantic angle predominantly defocusing it. A masala movie needed a lot more. Some of the characters were built painstakingly and just left the story without much role to play. For eg Ila Arun, why did so much of the story focus on her and finally whoomph! she was just gone. Most of the supporting actors did not seem to play any major role in the movie and I was left wondering why 4 hours?? Now putting on my logical hat, I could not figure out how Aishwarya's brother was released and why did Akbar not make any attempts to explain the release as a mis-understanding when everything else had been sorted out? Why did dancers of pre-historic times have such harsh movements?

The movie had its positive moments. Ashutosh managed to build a soft subtle love between Akbar and Jodha. The sword fights, the torso scene and moments in the movie did a fantastic job of showing the king in love and in adding a classic touch to it. Hrithik as an actor performed well but possibly failed to fit the picture of Akbar in my mind. His grip on the character is amazing which was evident in the scenes where his minister was killed and he is angry, very angry something truly against the character of Akbar. I think he portrayed that scene really well where he got his brother thrown down on his head but at the same time could not pick up his sword and throw it down at him.He lacked to bring into his character the power that I had imagined for kings of those times.

A lot of people lauded the elephant taming scene. I liked the picturatization of it but it lacked thought and logic. What makes an elephant tame and was the ultimate goal just sitting on it? But like most people say, throw your logical hat out of the window when you go watch a movie.

All in all any movie that makes me look at my watch cannot be a classic and masterpiece. But if it still had me sitting, it surely had a story to say! Music from A.R Rehman was good but not a masterpiece. I dont find myself listening to these songs forever like the songs of Lagaan. Ashutosh has a lot of reflections of Lagaan in this movie, right from Amitabhs narrative to the characters chosen in the supporting role. The cinematography did not particularly have my attention. I thought the Mahal and the way it was shot did not seem grand( Sanjay Leela Bhansali is possibly to blame for my expectations here). There were places where the camera quality did not seem good. The choreography very average as well. The ajeeb-o-shaan shehenshah, I thought could have been picturised much better.Same goes with khwaja-ji. I think Sanjay might have made a grand love story from this epic. Anyways a decent watch, ok music and nice star cast.