A humming word

 So, if you have watched How I Met Your Mother, you would know this episode about Barney and Ted: Robin 101.  Ted has dated Robin for so long that he "literally" studied her. And when she leaves, he has a lot of information about her so he creates a presentation for Barney and calls the class as Robin 101.  I wrote a poem for someone who isn't part of my life, anymore but I still care for her.  This is for her: She was that messy chick,  everyone warns you about;  Laughing aloud, randomly  Would whoot or shout  She was a jalebi,  circling around her being  Baffling the rest of us,  by her style of living  Calling my landline,  she'd whisper oddities as normal  She'd ring and blabber;  believed in nothing formal  She was a TV series in herself,  glued by a few What she'd do next,  no one, absolutely, knew

"Follow your dream" is the most popular theme of this past one and a half decade. If you look back at our lives, many people plunged into things they love and began enjoying it. And Ranbeer Kapoor fed us the dream systematically throughout his career too. In fact, "Follow your dream" can sum up most of his movies. And whenever one watches such movies, they are in a reverie for days and then google some quotes, paste it on different forms of social media, wonders about the feasibility of it and resumes their job they "have" to do. Which is fine. If that suits you and you don't bicker about it saying "One has to be rich, to do what they love." or "One has to be really lucky in life." etc...etc.. No. You don't. You can bust your ass, parallelly or you can reduce some non-value adding activities and pursue your dreams. Or you can take the plunge. Like Vinay P who believes: Follow your dreams. You will never get lost. He exemplifies ...

The abstract noun "genius" is commonly misused. "You're a genius" is a common derisive remark. Leonardo Da Vinci was a genius. Ramanujan was a mathematical genius. The lists of Genuises cannot be complete without the mention of painters like Van Gogh. Edward Hopper. And poets like Li Young Lee. Roger Robinson. And then, there are sparks of genius. A genius is the purest form and the most intense application of the mind and heart. For me, sparks of genius, were in movies like The Devil Wears Prada, where Meryl Streep says "that's all" with a soft yet stern tone that shakes institutions. Or Kangana Ranaut in Fashion. Her poise and her attitude was a spark of genius. And, then, there are books like Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. The plot is simple: to solve the murder of a neighbour's Dog, Christopher resolves to find the crime-doer. Christopher has Asperger's Syndrome. It is mentioned nowhere but only in the blurb of the book....

"I am dying since ten years" - Debbie says when Joseph Mascarenhas (Joe) justifies his disappearance over several evenings and tearfully tells her how their friend Rob is diagnosed with Stage 4 Brain Tumor. He comfortably tries to escape the whole confrontation with Debbie until she coerces him to play for a sailing band and earn enough for her and their son. Live your dream is a powerful yet a dangerous notion. How far can one go for their dream? In the mortar and pestle of life, it is often the dreamer's family that gets pounded. Joe, claiming to be emotional and broken, spends ten years of his life, teaching guitar and performing in nondescript clubs. While Debbie's life takes a U-turn and she ends up being the stronger of the two and managers their family fish business. The stench of the fish doesn't leave her. While his friends have moved ahead, Joe, decides to stay stagnant. Debbie despite being the pushy householder lets him be, thinking he will make her p...

MR Book Center or as the owner Uncle calls it “Mister Book Center” sits comfortably, tucked under the Begumpet Flyover. The innocent Green and Yellow banner with Bold Letters hide the mammoth collection of the store. Enter it and you’d be welcomed by Calendars, translation of popular books in Telugu and racks and racks of books. It is a wonderland for book lovers.  A thirty-five-year family-run business, MR is the initial of their father’s and brother’s names. The staff is friendly and the owner uncle, another MR, is warm and easy to speak with. He showed us a copy of Quran that had a small note by the Nizam. He also told us anecdotes of book lovers who never married for the fear of not having to keep their books. The eminent Corona and the waning book visitors managed to creep in our conversations. And he immediately mentioned that he partnered with Amazon and Flipkart with a glint in his eyes.   A rare Quran      MR Uncle One would remember that they sol...

There are few movies that will tear you up and there are fewer movies that take a dose from reality and do that and that’s the movie: Tumhari Sulu , played perfectly by Vidya Balan. The movie will remind you of someone: our own personal Sulu. We all know a Sulu amongst us. A mother. A sister. A wife. Or could be any woman you know who moulds her life as per her family responsibilities.   Yes. Yes. Men are great and are equally wonderful.   But just focussing on Sulu here. The quintessential mother or any responsible person who wakes up at 5:30 am and carries on her chores, unquestionably. Be it rain or hail. Her clockwork avatar is difficult to emulate. Try waking up at 5:30 am for a couple of days knowing the pile of responsibility apart from work and you’d be shaken. But for Sulu it is the norm. But with a difference. She has the zeal and the zest to do something. She makes daal with equal fervour as she makes love. She plays lemon and spoon with the same focus a...

The series has been heavily criticized for portraying feminism as a parade of alcohol, fornication, and independence beyond check. But the series is about four women with different problems and they meet once a week at “The Truck Bar” run by Jeh Mehta, who is their confidante too. The series unravels to focus on many modern problems such as sexuality, polyamory, indecisiveness about marriage, open marriage, truth in relationships, divorce, custody, remarriage, misogyny. One cannot brand it under umbrella when it is dealing with several problems. However, what stood out through the series for me was the unyielding strength every character showed. Especially, Umang Singh. Umang Singh, a physical trainer who is into multiple hookups until she finds herself and the true love that she craves for. She is openly bisexual; however, she hides it from her family back in Chandigarh.   Umang’s journey is the journey of many women and men in India who have to hide their orientation fro...