"If you really want to be happy, no one can stop you"

Thursday, September 8, 2011

"No Complaints"...

The Monday gone by was the Labor Day here in the US. That meant that it was a long 3-day weekend. One of my room-mates' sister was here for the same. And on Sunday night, we all went out to Santa Monica to have ice-cream at a very famous place. There was a huge line - ten times the length of the shop - outside the place :D But the ice-cream was totally worth the wait :) Thereafter, we drove up to within a mile of the Hollywood Sign, at about midnight.. The iconic letters looked beautiful in the night light..

On my first shift at my part-time job thereafter, my co-worker asked what I did at the weekend and I told him  After that I asked him how he spent the weekend - and he said he worked on two of the three days. But he finished it by saying that he had "No complaints".. The reply certainly set me thinking.. I had been told a couple of days ago that I manage to find depressing stuff in all things. But, I am very adept at making myself feel happy whenever I can.. I can control my mind.. Yet, and I guess that's the big point, never have I ever said "No complaints"..  Two simple words with very deep connotations..

A couple of other interesting things have also happened over the last couple of weeks..  I found someone rather similar to Aamir Khan's Rancho in 3 Idiots :P .... There is this Chinese girl who lives near my house, so we run into each other in the university bus a fair bit.. Now, what she does is that she comes to attend the class on Operating Systems - she isnt registered for it but just likes the subject so is there without fail.. Apart from that, she told me, she has also attended a class on Screenplay in the Cinematic School!! She said she liked that class too but it was too long - 4 hrs - due to an included movie screening.. (Me thinks it would be a fun class :) )

And I guess one last thing I should note is the "Please and Thank You " culture, here in LA, or at least in USC. Everyone is really polite and helpful here, and almost seem sorry if you are made to wait before your work is done. That is really good to see..

PS> I also had an Amreeki Paratha with choori and kaanta, or Pancake with a fork and knife : D Its good but not even a patch on our dear desi home-cooked Parantha :D 

Monday, September 5, 2011

Der Lagi Lekin.. #ZNMD

It has been a long time since my last post - the hectic start to life as a grad student is to blame for that. I finally watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara after landing in LA and totally loved.

More than anything else, it is the song "Der Lagi Lekin.." that I cant get out of my head. It would be truly awesome I could feel the peace of mind that is displayed by Hrithik's and Farhan's character by speaking to Katrina and Deepti Naval, respectively.

The lyrics of the song are so beautiful that they give me the goosebumps every time I hear the song. My favorite lines from the song are:
"Koi sunaye joh, Hasti muskarati kahani
Kehta hai dil, Main bhi sunu...

Aanson ke moti ho, Jo kisi ke nishani
Kehta hai dil, Main bhi chunu...
"


It really would be wonderful to find magic in someone's story and see pearls in someone's tears. Whenever I listen to this song I think how wonderful would be the day if I could say "Maine ab hai jeena seekh lia.."

PS> I found the movie so wonderful that I even wrote a piece for the university's newspaper's, Daily Trojan, Movies blog imploring American students to see this amazing Hindi movie. Sadly my editor felt the movie is too old to be covered - Koi nahi I can post it here :D

Here it is:

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, loosely translated as We Only Live Once, is a Hindi movie, which has done remarkably well even in the US. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the movie released last month and received an impressive global response. The movie’s storyline, based on the theme of male bonding, transcends language barriers. The movie’s strong IMDB rating of 8.2 – one of the highest for a non-English movie – is a fair indicator of its popularity.

The movie is the story of three friends – Arjun (played by Hrithik Roshan), Imran (Farhan Akhtar) and Kabir (Abhay Deol). After Kabir is engaged to Natasha (Kalki Koechlin), the three of them decide to honor their pact of a going on a three week long bachelor trip to Spain. Each of the three is allowed to use one adventure sport, which the other two must also undertake to strengthen the bond of their friendship.

In Spain, the trio meet Laila (played by Katrina Kaif), who is their deep-sea diving instructor and who strongly believes in enjoying life to its fullest. Laila’s happy-go-lucky nature is in stark contrast to those of the main protagonists – each of whom is grappling with inner demons. Over the course of their Bachelor trip they slip deep into the sea, dive from the sky and go bullfighting; and eventually overcome their deepest fears.

An idea about the movie’s ability to overcome language barriers can be gauged from a delightful scene in the movie, where Imran is cuddling up to his Spanish lover Nuria, played by Spanish actress Ariadna Cabrol. The two lovers do not understand each other’s languages – she only speaks Spanish, while he only understands Hindi and English. Yet, when he pours his heart out, in Hindi, she understands how tense he is and consoles her, in Spanish. And he is touched by it and is thankful to her.

The most praised aspect of the movie has been the soulful Urdu poetry of Imran’s character, penned by his real-life father Javed Akhtar. The poetry has been played as a part of background score and adds infinitely to the movie’s appeal.

Another much loved aspect of the movie has been the cinematography covering Spain as a delightful tourist destination. The wonderful streets, the deep sea and the skydiving sequence have all been delightfully covered as the leading trio go around the country.  

With its beautiful locales, strong characterization and soulful background score - the Indian movie is definitely one that should be seen by all cinema lovers, irrespective of whether they know Hindi or not.

Here’s a little sample of some of the most fascinating poetry from the movie:
Jab jab dard ka baadal chaya
Jab ghum ka saya lehraya
Jab aansoo palkon tak aya
Jab yeh tanha dil ghabraya
Humne dil ko yeh samjhaya
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai…

Duniya mein yunhi hota hai
Yeh jo gehre sannate hain
Waqt ne sabko hi baante hain
Thoda ghum hai sabka qissa
Thodi dhoop hai sabka hissa
Aankh teri bekaar hi nam hai
Har pal ek naya mausam hai
Kyun tu aise pal khota hai
Dil aakhir tu kyun rota hai …