9 lessons of life- different, interesting, and somethings which I have lately realized in life...

http://www.upworthy.com/this-is-the-most-inspiring-yet-depressing-yet-hilarious-yet-horrifying-yet-heartwarming-grad-speech

Interesting Video - Bruce Lee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKEmKT7Rjwo

To (not) learn a foreign language??

The title (and the content) of this post is contrary to common belief. But its a perspective, and may be not a sustainable one at that, that I wanted to bring up.

I must admit that amongst all of us, I belong to the sub-group with real knowledge of least number of languages - Hindi and English. My repertoire increased by a fraction when I learnt only a little bit of Kannada - just enough to speak to autowallahs in Bangalore or to follow my colleagues' conversation, Urdu - essentially learning the alphabets, Spanish - for managing while exploring the streets of Chile.

During my (very) long stay in Bangalore, I admitted that it was an intellectual failure to not have learnt to speak fluent Kannada. Then I lived in Delhi for a month before I moved to the US. Believe me, I had forgotten what it was like to live in Delhi. As I moved around on the streets, shopped at the supermarket, traveled by metro, even when I traveled by car, I realized I could understand every conversation that went on around me. I heard and understood every question, concern, joke and obscenity that went on around me. Initially it felt like, "Huh! Im home. I follow everything here!" But then I realized, it was all a lot noise around me. I actually did not need (want) it.

In a place like Bangalore, a "home" like IISc, and a job like research, was it really better that I didnt learn Kannada. Filtering out the noise was much easier because I unconsciously decided not to understand it in the first place.

And then I come to Washington DC, and I travel by metro. I understand English. I have no trouble catching on the accent, thanks to the HBO and Star movies. I have heard personal lives being discussed so loud that I started to doubt if the line between personal and public was really too thin. I have kept my book down, changed my seat, a significant number of times. And I have remembered the saying "ignorance is bliss".

Of course I do not subdue the importance of learning a language here. I am too small an entity to even attempt something of that kind. But sometimes when daily life needs peace, the "ignorant" is allowed to wonder!

My opinion (here) is not just based on my daily frustrations. Both in Bangalore and in Chile, I have seen people break the barrier of language and attempt to help you. Some of these experiences can be quite sobering. Had I known Kannada or Spanish, I would not have gauged these instances in this manner, and they would have passed like a regular kindly act. Of course I do not completely forget the autowallahs from Bangalore, but isnt it better that those instances are forgotten.

But we know man never stops at his quest for knowledge. Sigh!! Would it seem too hypocritical if I confessed here that I would love to learn Spanish as "a foreign language".

Most Anticipated 2012 - Part 2

Back with the second installment of the Movie trailers! The first installment can be visited here. Of the twelve  movies listed there, six are out; four of which didn't disappoint at all! Not bad..... :) and two (is there a word for most anticipated of the most anticipated???) are coming up very very soon.... Yes I am talking about Brave and The Dark Knight Rises. It's going to be a good summer :)

Meanwhile.... here are a few more trailers for you to enjoy. Some are from the movies that I had mentioned in the previous post and some are new. Hope you enjoy them and may they pique your interest in the movies if you have not yet heard of them!

TO ROME WITH LOVE (previously NERO FIDDLED)

DJANGO UNCHAINED

THE GREAT GATSBY

LES MISRABLES

SKYFALL

COSMOPOLIS

FLIGHT

WRECK IT RALPH

ARGO

THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

Happy watching! :)

Literally Yours ...... 1

As the name may have given you a hint, this section is about books. Books that I have read, re-read, am currently reading or plan to read and what I think about them.

Recently (since January this year), I have read quite a few books which are either being adapted into movies or have already been made in movies. They include Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Mildred Pierce and The Hunger Games Trilogy. Currently I am hooked to Birds Beasts and Relatives (which is the only one of the ones listed here with no connection to movies). Each had its own style, mood and pace. Let me talk about them one by one.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

Written in 2005, this book takes you back to 9/11, the story of a boy Oskar Schell and how his world is affected after the death of his father in the twin tower attack. The book is in a first person narrative (Oskar of course), a type that I usually like. It is almost like a journal where he writes and talks about  his past memories, and accounts of his current quest to find the lock that opens with the key he found in a vase that belonged to his dad. The narrative is interspersed with his accounts and the letters written by his grandparents to him or his dad. It also includes several photographs, word-to-word conversations, blank pages, error corrected pages, as Oskar saw them. All together it makes for an interesting narrative. It is a book with funny and light moments , as well as sad and thought provoking situations. I had a good time reading the parts where Oskar is the narrator, trying to figure out how the author has tried to capture a nine-year old's mind and emotional state, his intelligence and wit. However, the parts where the grandparents narrate their story did not appeal to me a lot. There were some good parts, but some seemed to drag a bit making the book an overall good-ish read, but nothing exceptional. War and 9/11 are tricky subjects to handle I guess, maybe it was meant to be written the way it was, but it did not strike a chord at all points where it should have with me. Yet to catch the movie....

Mildred Pierce by James M Cain

Yes, that's Kate Winslet on the cover :o) I heard about the book after she won the Golden Globe and Emmy awards for her work as the titular character in the book's adaptation into a TV miniseries. It is an old book written in 1941, a total hard boiled novel of that time with the plot perfect for a drama series or a movie (was made into a movie in 1945 with the female lead winning the best actress Oscar). It comes from the author who also wrote "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Double Indemnity" among others, which have all gone on to become successful films. 

It is a strong woman-centric novel with all male characters portrayed as weak and no less than four strong character women. I would think that to be pretty unusual around that time. The novel is set in the 1930's Southern California and is the story of a middle-class woman trying to maintain her social position in the era of Great Depression. It follows her life, its ups and downs for a decade. The novel begins with her kicking out her good-for-nothing husband and trying to find means to support herself and her two daughters as well as find some happiness for herself. She goes on to become a successful businesswoman, but her real focus is her elder daughter Veda, that she should provide her with all the luxuries that she can and not hinder her "talent". Her love for Veda also becomes her destruction. There are times when you are reading the novel that you would want to just go in there, and shake her to make her see sense. It disturbed me somewhere that a woman with such a strong character could turn a blind eye to so many things, have such a fatal weakness, but then I guess that's the mark of a good author too. 

The book is good, but again tedious at some points in the story. A good read, but not a favorite. I hope to catch the movie version someday, especially when a great actress like Kate Winslet is portraying such a strong character.

The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

The latest hot selling trilogy from Suzanne Collins is a "young adult" adventure fiction series released between 2008 - 2010 (though I don't fall in that category, I still enjoyed reading them....there...I said it already). I heard about the books first late last year when I found out that Jennifer Lawrence, a good upcoming actress whose work I really liked, is playing the lead character in a movie based on a series of latest bestsellers. Hearing many good things about them, my curiosity was piqued and thanks to my bhaiya and bhabhi I received the brand-new-wonderfully-fresh-smelling-books at my doorstep a day before my birthday! yayyy!!! and.....guess what....... I finished them up in 4 days flat......yes...you heard me correctly.... 4 days!! I guess that says quite a bit about the books. I loved reading them, the plot was good and engrossing, the character sketches were well done and the flow of events is smooth. BUT, I must say, they are not great pieces of literature, i.e. the writing is good but not that good.....and some loose ends don't really get tied up at the end; also the end is not quite as satisfying as I would have liked it to be. Overall verdict, awesome reads, but won't make it to the "best ever" list. The plots are perfect for a action-adventure motion picture and I really hope that the first one coming out next week lives up to its expectations. A trailer can be seen here if anyone's interested.
A little bit about the plot......no spoilers here, but those who want to be totally surprised, please don't read more in this section.
The plot is set unknown years in the future in a dystopian world of Panem, which actually is (or used to be) North America. It consists of a rich Capitol and 12 Districts each with its own specialty to cater to the needs to the Capitol, but mostly poor themselves. Previously there had been a rebellion wherein the districts defeated. As a punishment, and to suppress any thoughts of further rebellion, each year the Capitol holds the "Hunger Games" in which 2 tributes from each district, a boy and a girl between the ages 12-18, are chosen and are supposed to fight to the death in an arena (the whole game being televised to Panem like a reality show) till there is just one survivor. Each survivor is guaranteed food and rewards for the rest of his/her life. Katniss Everdeen is our protagonist and the story is told from her viewpoint, her narrative. The events leading to, during and after the games keep you glued to the books. I won't reveal anymore of what's in there. Go read them if you are interested.

Birds Beasts and Relatives by Gerald Durrell

Currently I am reading this book and totally loving it. I was first introduced to Gerald Durrell during my school days.....the English reader had a very interesting humorous account of a boy and his pet donkey in "My donkey Sally". Besides being in the autobiographical style (which I love), Durrell's books have this subtle "fun" element in them. Because he is describing real-life events involving himself and his family (including poking fun at them and the absurdity of situations) there is this sincerity which touches you. His ability to delightfully put into words the simplest of events is definitely worth a mention. Also, I admire his ability to recall so many of his childhood events, especially in Corfu trilogy which includes My family and other animals, Birds, beasts and relatives and The Garden of the Gods. He claims to have semi-fictionalized some of the stories but most anecdotal accounts involving his brothers Larry and Leslie, sister Margo, mother, Roger the dog and the driver Spiro are true and they are a delight to read!

Another thing that I find interesting about Gerald Durrell is that he has not written these wonderful books out of his love for writing; instead, in his own words "they were simply a means to make money to enable me to do my animal work"!! His love for animals definitely shows up in his work and stories. For anyone who enjoys simple, fun, light reading, Gerald Durrell's works are highly recommended by me. You can find a list of books authored by him here.

That's all on books for now. More to follow as and when I finish reading some interesting ones. Any recommendations or suggestions are welcome. Till then....happy reading!!!

The Secret World of Arrietty

I love the world of animation, be it tv series, short features or full length feature films. And who says that animated films or "cartoons" as they generically label them are for kids.....they are soooo mistaken and sadly are missing out o such great works of art. I agree, when you are first introduced to the world of animation, it is usually at a very young age and that too in the form of cartoons where animated characters are goofy and fun and cheeky and dumb and so it is easy to fall into the trap of belief that "cartoons" are meant only as a distraction for kids, to entertain them while moms and dads need their own time. Sure, there are cartoons that fall into that category, but do not underestimate the scope of the world of animation. There's a whole world of beautiful visual imagery and emotions and expressions that come alive by animation, the plus point being, you can create anything that your mind can imagine. Over the last many years I have grown up to see the art of animation evolve, but it is not necessary for one to use to latest technology to make an impact. No doubt, I am a big fan of the Pixar studios who, since their inception, have dished out one of the best animated features year after year. But, at the same time, there are others who also bring to us some great stories, not only in 3D computer animation but also in traditional animation, claymation, stop-motion etc.

Last week I watched the movie "The Secret World of Arrietty", a film by the Japanese animation and film studio "Studio Ghibli" written by Hayao Miyazaki and marking the debut of Hiromasa Yonebayashi as a director.  Miyazaki is a great and acclaimed animator who has brought to us many wonderful and popular movies such as Castle in the Sky, My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away, Ponyo and many others. Like most of his movies, this one too has a strong female protagonist and follows the theme of courage, bravery, love, pacifism and "growing up". Arrietty, no taller than a teacup and 14 years old, is shown throughout the movie to be energetic, full of life, hope, optimism and courage. The story is based on an old novel called "The Borrowers" wherein these tiny people live there lives hidden from the eyes of human "beans" and borrow things that they need...mind you...not "want"...but "need" ... to survive...things they know will not be sorely missed by the "beans", like a sugar cube or a tissue paper or a discarded pin. Won't give away much of the plot here..... just a few outlines, like she lives with her father, a cautious level-headed borrower and her mother, a worrisome lady. She is young and bold and needs to know the ways of the world which is full of nosy human "beans", but she learns that not everyone is alike. The "beans" include a young boy Shawn who is ill and wants to be her friend, his kind aunt and a housekeeper Hara who's a busybody.

The hand-drawn animation is spectacular and full of rich colors and details, be it the lush garden landscape, or a miniature doll house or Arrietty's tiny bedroom. Its a beautiful and charming movie, but will make you feel the distress of the little people at the time of peril. It's a movie for everyone in the family. Watch it if you get a chance.

An ode to Indian Street food

Being a big foodie, shifting to the US (or as I call it...the Land of Cream and Cheese) had some wonderfully yummy things to offer on which I have been gorging upon in the last 7 months. I should pause here briefly to thank my dearest hubby who is a HUGE help in controlling my cravings and food desires. Without him, I am not sure how much harm I would have done to myself by indulging into all the treats that are available here. All that aside, I think the multiculturalism here has exposed my taste buds to some delicious cuisines which were either unavailable or scarce back in India (not saying that there's a dearth of cuisine variety there....but it's always great to explore the tastes of the world :o) ), some of which have become hot favorites of mine (that includes Ethiopian and Lebanese). But time and again my heart (or should I say taste buds!!... ) craves for our very own desi chatpata yummy street food. Chaat, golgappe, aloo tikki, bhelpuri, pakoras, samosa.....what is life without them?! Sigh!!! 

I know I know many of you will say "but there are so many indian restaurants here too that serve them" or "you can always make them at home" ...blah blah blah..... Yes, I know. But, unfortunately my city does not have a single indian restaurant which I can call "authentic" that serves mouth watering desi food...what a pity :o(

As for making them at home, yes I can and I do too............, but everyone agrees on the fact that "sadak ke kinare stalls pe khade hokar khaane mein mazaa hi kuch aur hai". I went to a hot-air balloon race the other day here which had the full atmosphere of a "mela" complete with stalls (selling pizza and popcorn and hot dogs)....all that was missing was the kala-khatta stand, the nimbu-lemon banta stand, the chana-jor garam stand, the jhaal-muri stand and...and....and....and I can go on.,..but you get my point :o)

So whenever I get some time on my hands and my heart craves for desi street food my kitchen becomes the most heavenly place on earth.

This weekend, I attended my first pot-luck dinner party in the US which was great fun. Loads of yummy food and good company...altogether an evening of fun. My contribution to the party.....the utterly butterly delicious Pav Bhaji (how could I let go of an opportunity to feed people some awesome indian street food) ........ and it turned out lip-smacking good. It is one of the easiest things to make and almost impossible to screw up.

Here's my take on the recipe for anyone who's interested.

(This recipe is for approximately 15 servings)

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 4 large size (or 6 normal size)

Onions - 1 cup diced 

Tomatoes - 2 medium sized

Tomato puree - 1 cup

Mixed vegetables (cauliflower, peas, capsicum, carrots) - 3 cups

Green chillies - 2-3

Ginger Garlic paste - 3tsp

Pav bhaaji masala, salt and red chilli powder to taste

Oil

Butter

Fresh coriander leaves

Lemons - 2

Preparation:

Boil, skin and mash the potatoes and keep aside.

For the mixed vegetables, you can either boil them all in hot water till they soften or microwave them for 5-7 mins, or pressure cook them for 1 quick whistle or dice them all finely and cook in the pan used for making pav bhaji.  All methods work fine, whichever is most convenient at that point of time. This time I sliced the capsicum thinly, grated the cauliflower and softened frozen peas in the microwave. I did away with the carrots as they were out of stock ;)

Method:

Heat a little oil in a big pan and add the diced onions.

Saute till golden brown in color and then add sliced green chillies and ginger-garlic paste to it. Stir fry for another minute or so.

Add the chopped capsicum and green peas. At this point, add the salt which will help the veggies to cook.

When the veggies are a little soft, add in the grated cauliflower and diced tomatoes. Cover the pan and cook till they are tender.

When the veggies are tender, mash them with either a wooden ladle or a masher. They need not be a total paste and some chunks feel good in the bhaji.

At this point, add in the boiled mashed potatoes and mix thoroughly. Add some water if necessary to maintain a thick gravy-like consistency. Also pour in the tomato puree for the rich color and taste.

Add red chilli powder and pav bhaji masala now. Do not be stingy with the pav bhaji masala. It does give the most wonderful aroma and taste. Many people make their own masala, but in these busy times, the MDH masala works well for me. You may try your own favorite brand, whatever works.

Mix thoroughly and cook on low heat for a while till all ingredients have formed a nice uniform thick consistency, keep adding water in between if necessary, it boils off very soon to return your consistency.

Finish with adding a dollop of butter (it gives it its nice smooth taste). For the health conscious, use light margarine (P.S I recommend butter but smaller helpings to keep calories low and taste high ! ).

Pav bhaji is ready.........well almost. Before serving, garnish with chopped coriander leaves, more finely diced onions and squeeze some lemon juice. 

We do not get authentic "pav" here in my city, so we had to make do with burger buns (white or whole wheat, its your choice), a reasonable substitute. Heat them on a griddle with a little butter rubbed on both sides to give it a golden crispiness.

Enjoy the scrumptious dish as a snack, lunch, dinner, whatever!!! ....anytime..anywhere :o)

Happy cooking!

It's your choice...

For everything you have missed, you have gained something else;

And for everything you gain, you lose something else.

It's about your outlook towards life. You can either regret or rejoice.

- Anonymous  

Most Anticipated 2012 - Part1

Ok ...... so 2 months of 2012 are already past. Most of January and February however has been really really busy for me so (a) I did not get to watch as many movies as I would have liked and (b) Most of those that I watched were either 2011 releases and oscar contenders or some old movies. The good thing is there weren't any "most anticipated" releases of this year in these months though I would not have minded seeing The Grey or Haywire.

March onward we see release of some movies that promise to be great. So will live up to their expectations, some may not. I am posting trailers of some movies that I am anticipating with high hopes (some much higher than others). But, then again, these are my choices which may very well be different from your. Take a look anyway :o)

JOHN CARTER

THE HUNGER GAMES

CHIMPANZEE

THE AVENGERS

PROMETHEUS

BRAVE

THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

THE HOBBIT

THE BOURNE LEGACY

SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN

ICE AGE CONTINENTAL DRIFT

Ok, so 12 trailers for you to watch and think about and look forward to :o)
Many others are announced to be released this year but the trailers are not out yet. Will put them up as soon as they are available. Meanwhile here's a list of them....you may send in your own suggestions if you wish.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (probably Dec)
Steven Spielberg's  Lincoln
Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby (Dec again)
Sam Mendes' Skyfall ...the next Bond movie (Nov release)
Woody Allen's Nero Fiddled (June maybe)
Ang Lee's Life of Pi (Dec again)
Ben Affleck's Argo (probably Sept)
Andrew Domink's Cogan's Trade (Sept release)
Tom Tykwer and The Wachowskis' Cloud Atlas (probably Oct)
David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis
Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master
Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity (Nov release)

Wow....promises to be a good year!!!
Maybe there'll be a few more surprises and something unexpectedly exciting will come up and join the list!

Keep an eye out for the next part in the series (trailers). Till then...happy watching!!

Oscars 2011

The blog is new, and I am lazy......very lazy.....and so this post comes 2 days after the Oscars have been announced!
So instead of predicting winners, scrutinizing nominees and talking about what was IMO sorely left out of the race, let this be just a mandatory Oscar post. I promise to follow it up with other posts about the great, wonderful movies of 2011 which I watched and why I would recommend them to you.

A list of all nominees can be seen here. The Oscars go to ......

BEST PICTURE and BEST DIRECTOR: The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
Any other nominee that would have made me happy too: Hugo or The Descendants

ACTOR in Leading Role: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
Any other nominee that would have made me happy too: Frankly speaking...all were great!

ACTRESS in Leading Role: Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Any other nominee that would have made me happy too: As is the case with actors.....I think every person nominated has done a great job. Problem is, I would have had perhaps 3 more nominees!!! A very very strong year for female performances. More of that coming up in the subsequent posts.

ACTOR and ACTRESS in Supporting Role: Christopher Plummer (Beginners) and Octavia Spencer (The Help)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Rango

Loved this win. Though have not seen all nominees, I loved this movie so much when I saw it that I instantly wanted it to win. Have heard great things about the other nominee Chico and Rita too. Need to catch them asap.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: A Separation

This was the only film that I have seen in this category and loved it so much that I was totally thrilled by the win and would have been heartbroken to see it lose out to any other. Left to me, I would probably have nominated it in all categories including best picture, best director, best actor, actress etc. Was glad to see a nomination in the screenplay, but lost out on it :( Read a blogpost on it here and here. 

BEST SHORT FILM (Live action and Animated): The Shore, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore repectively.

BEST SCREENPLAY (Original and Adapted): Midnight in Paris, The Descendants

Though A separation was a strong competitor, I am quite happy the Midnight in Paris won. Its an adorable movie (will talk about it soon in an upcoming post).

Others were technical awards, am glad Hugo bagged five of them, but also unhappy for many great movies that missed out.

So let the movie post marathon begin......

Gattu

The recently concluded Berlin Film festival had a section for films meant for children. It gave the "Special mention" award to India's entry GATTU.

Thanks to the new emerging Indian film making from low-key directors we do occasionally get to see brilliance on screen. Sadly, not a lot of it is well publicized and widely distributed because a) the audience is selected and b) it means high cost and low revenue. What a shame!

Let up hope that it does have a wide release in the near future and I hope to catch it then, or maybe in some film festival nearby.

"The sky is full of kites and none flies as high or fast as Kali. In order to beat the black kite, Gattu has to reach for the sky."

Watch the adorable trailer here:

For the love of Books and Movies

My hubby and I are huge movie buffs. By huge I mean HUUUGEEE! :)  We love watching movies, discussing them, reading trivia about them and also spreading the word about what we enjoyed.

With Oscars 2012 just around the corner we were lucky that this week in St.Louis they were showing all the nominated Short films in both the animated category as well as in live-action. For me, it was the first time that I had an opportunity to watch these movies on big-screen. Back in India, you have to rely either on the pirated discs sold or watch them illegally online. The charm of the big screen and the enthusiasm of watching the first screenings of these shorts made me doubly excited.

Short films are a different experience than a full fledged movie. Ranging from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, they represent a whole story or an idea and need to be convincing and touching within the short time span. All of them were awesome, some were simply great!

I found one of them online and am putting a link here for you to see. The title of this animated short film is "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore".
According to the writer and director William Joyce, it is a story " inspired in equal measures by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books". It is a "poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story". And I totally agree with it.

I hope you get to see the short films somewhere. If they are playing somewhere near you, or will play in the near future, don't miss the opportunity to watch them.

Update 26th Feb 2012: TFFBoMML won the best animated short Oscar.... yayy!!