Tuesday 21 August 2012

Life in the City

Do you think that a life of a hippy is a better one? There are certainly less responsibilities.
The Indian version of a hippy is to take sanyas. And my mother's views on sanyas have always been, "It's more difficult to live in a society. Taking sanyas is taking the easier way out." Which, perhaps, is true. To lead a good life in these times filled with Blackberry and Google and Facebook is definitely the tougher choice. So, my point is, what's wrong if you decide to pursue your more primal instincts such as food, air, water and shelter rather than the intellectual?  Why is it frowned upon? Why do we choose to lead a more difficult life? Because of the more material pleasures we get? But do those things really give us pleasure? Is living in a small apartment in the city with barely any space to move let alone live with only a few hours of sleep every night really a good lidea?
Now, I'm not saying that we leave society, wear orange clothes and go live in the jungle but maybe we should stop trying to squeeze tiny drops of happiness from Mango, Vero Moda and Zaara. Maybe we should go beyond that. And by that, I don't mean Gucci but I mean just normal clothes. Cause the point is to protect yourself from the harsh weather, right? Not to decorate yourself.
By writing this article, it does not mean that I have given up on Mad Over Donuts or Subway but its just a thought to ponder on, you know?

Monday 20 August 2012

Dhobi Ghaat. Finally.

So, I finally saw Dhobi Ghaat. I was supposed to when it was released but I got terrible reviews then. Those reviews, however, were totally unjustified. I loved the movie. I think Indians are spoilt by clean endings. Bollywood doesn't leave much to the imagination. It ties everytthing in a neat little bow and presents it to us.But Dhobi Ghaat sort of defies this unspoken rule and maybe thats why it didn't do so well in the box office.
They've tried to make it as realistic as possible but even they had to see what a chiche the character of Arun was. Every painter lives that way, doesn't he? But, one does desire the life he leads. The cliched artisitic one.
However, I was happy with the relationship between the dhobiwala, Munna and the umerican, Shai. It was very believable.
Overall the movie was a good one. A believable one. A good attempt.