Bengaluru Calling: Shopping :D

A city which is cold even in the middle of summer, where jackets are needed even whilst travelling on foot in the mid of day, that is where my family lives. Bengaluru, better known as Bangalore is possibly one of the best cities in India.

Despite the visible poverty, there has been such a rapid growth in the city which has changed the landscape so quickly. So many shopping centres, buildings and skyscrapers now dominate the skyline of the city which was once filled with the greenery of trees. Although there are still parts of Bangalore ( I like the old name of the city better) which remain green, the dominating feature of the city are the various buildings scattered all over the city. Being a person who is more of a tourist than a resident in the city, I got to take in a lot of the sights in a different perspective than my aunt who's lived in Bangalore for the past 15 years. What strikes me the most about Bangalore is no longer its greenery or its parks, it is the sudden burgeoning of the malls. The shopaholic in me must have a look at these fascinating buildings which have replaced the street side shopping experience to a great extent.

The malls which have popped up all over the city incorporate the modernity the metropolitan is said to exude with a tradition Indian touch. This blend is unique to India, but is also specially designed for the fashion conscious youngsters. The malls, like every other spread all around the world endorses international brands such as Dolce and Gabanna and Levis whilst still sporting Indian brands such as Soch and Westside.

People flock in the hundreds to try on the various clothes and accessories that each shop offers. Shoppers spend no more than 5 minutes looking at a certain piece, if something attracts them, they grab it at amazing speeds. Almost everything seems affordable to the tourist in me, but as an Indian, my aunt knows what's price worthy. As we walk along the mall, I notice how similar it's infrastructure is to one of the malls back home and how very thoughtfully each shop has been placed. Free wifi throughout the mall also prompts the IT savvy crowd to hold a smartphone in one hand and a shopping bag(s) in the other. I'm actually shocked at how they're avoiding walking into each other. The malls are huge, but nothing beats the experience of actually shopping on the streets of Bangalore.

 So the next day, we set out to the well known Commerical Street, best known for the shops which decorate both sides of the road. Street side shopping is an experience which is on the polar opposite of the malls, no longer are there Airconditioned shops playing smooth music, this Street is a world of its own. Shopping in the open for accessories which would easily have costed thrice the price in a mall is an experience that very few can truly appreciate. To my aunt it is very common place to haggle for a price. Bargaining, as it is called, is not really my strong suit. My aunt negotiated prices to an extent I would have never even thought of. Further down the street are the more sophisticated looking buildings which house the local designers such as Desire and many other handicraft shops. The designers are quite unique in their own style and their art is much appreciated (in terms of the money I spent). My aunt and I stopped for a break at a popular "chaat" store which has been around for the past 100 years and tasting the delicious paani puris they sold, got me hooked. We must have had three plates of different chaats and I was still left wanting for more (although my stomach was almost full). As we walked along the road, I noticed the heat was no longer bothering me, Commercial Street had taken me into a world of its own where the shoppers don't feel the heat or the annoying flies around but are so lost in the shopping experience, that it doesn't make a difference whether you're in a branded store or just another vendor's little shop. And the best thing about shopping on the streets is that you never notice the time flying by or the money :P.

My aunt and I on Commercial Street

By the end of the second day in Bangalore, I already had my arms full of shopping bags, each from a different shop in Commercial Street. The smile on my face was proof that nothing can beat the street shopping experience and the best thing was, it was just the beginning.

Thank God for progress?

A few days ago when we were on our way back from a nearby mall, with dad in the drivers seat, my parents were discussing about how different life was in the early 80s and how it has changed over the years. My dad moved from Chennai to Bangalore at a very young age and was narrating how 6 of them (his parents and 3 other siblings) lived in a three Bedroom house with a small kitchen and an outdoor toilet. He told us how they'd get clothes only once or twice a year. Their parents would buy a long length of cloth and get a local tailor to stitch the same outfits for my father's siblings as well as his cousins. This was apparently a common thing to do those days. Even though they belonged to the middle class which was growing even back then, the family was very careful to buy things within a certain limit. My dad was given pens which he would lose on a regular basis, so to make up for the lost pens, they would use the remaining parts of older pens to form functional pens. (Recycling was popular, even back then :P).

They would travel by foot or by public buses to various places around the city. My dad recalled the difficulties of living in the 80s and despite the difficulty, there was a simplicity in life. Everyone in the colony lived together as a family, sharing happiness and sorrow. Every door was open to the children of the houses who would come in and share the food that was being eaten. They'd play, fight and have a wonderful time with each other. They had to go to the libraries and meticulously read through several books for hours at end before they found the information they were looking for. They would write letters to each other to keep in touch, even phone calls would be rare. My mother had a very similar experience, with ration shops which would as the name suggests ration out commodities to the head of the family to support the family for a month, which had to further rationed to ensure that there were no shortages. "Transistors" (Radio) was a rare luxury which only one person was allowed to control.

Transistors of the 80s

As dad narrated the story, me and my brother reacted in very similar ways, we were both shocked and at the same time we were stunned at the way they lived. We both knew that things had changed in the past two decades, but to hear a first hand account of the life we never experienced was intriguing yet baffling. We lived a life of luxury in comparison to our parents. Today, we have the Internet which does everything for us, be it a search for the materials we need for a project or just our entertainment. Each of us in the family has our own tablet or laptop which allows us to access the net whenever we please. We now have a three bedroom apartment for four people, a swimming pool at our disposal, a fully equipped gym and a breathtaking view of the city. Moreover, we have so many other resources at our disposal, that the younger version of my parents may not have even dreamed of. The progress that we've made is shocking. We're still a part of the burgeoning middle class, so much has changed in 20 years that it seems almost incomprehensible.The life we live is so much different, so much easier, but the ease and the resources have led to a sharper competition for almost everything ranging from education to sports. Now you need to chase everything you want. Despite the luxuries we have in life, has progress really changed us for the better? Very few people can trust their neighbours any more these days, very few of us leave our doors open in fear that someone would walk in and steal our possessions. We live in perpetual fear that something is going to happen to us.

So that leaves me wondering, despite all the positive aspects of progress, is it actually all that good?

Movie Review: Snow White and the Huntsman

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?".

A twist on the 1930s Disney classic, Snow White and the Huntsman brings to life the original Grimm storyline it was based on. Snow White ( Kristen Stewart) is a strong princess whose demure nature and innocence doesn't fail to charm the audience. Her strong will to take back the kingdom that should have rightfully been hers as well as her love for all things alive (including giant, ugly trolls) is quite impressive. We also get the background of her family that we were never exposed to in the Disney version of the movie. Surprisingly, Kristen Stewart suits the role of Snow White, with a wider range of emotion than she exhibited in the Twilight saga. However, I think it was unfair to place her as a more beautiful woman compared to the gorgeous Evil Queen (Charlize Theron).

The movie even brings in a deeper insight of the Evil Queen aka Ravenna- the reason she became the person she is, her relationship with her brother (which seems rather incestuous) as well as her hatred for Snow. Her obsession with her beauty and her magical powers match the characteristic traits of the evil, power hungry step mother that she is supposed to be in the original fairy tale. However, one can't help but feel bad for her after getting to know her background and her one line caught me off guard "Once upon a time I would have given my heart to you, and you would've broken it for sure". It makes the viewer ponder about the past relationships that made her the person she is. Charlize Theron plays the role of Ravenna so brilliantly well and her beauty is overwhelming on the big screen. It's not only the queen, we even get to know about the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), a man who was of no consequence in the earlier rendition of the fairy tale. Who ever thought that he'd be the charming Prince who sets the princess free of the curse the queen places on her. The representation of the dwarves was fascinating, with them seeming entirely unique from each other, having some depth about them and seeming like the type of people who shouldn't be trifled with.

The movie's special effects were particularly amazing. Almost every scene was surreal, ranging from the castle in which the Queen lives, to the depths of the Dark Forest, to the beach on which the final war takes place. What took my breath away was the Sanctuary, the home of the faeries where Snow discovers the extent of her magical abilities. The presence of the monarchy in the movie not only makes it historic but also fairy tale like. It brings back the belief in true love's kiss as well as other virtues that the fairy tales imbibed in us. In the end it's the innocence and strong will that wins over evil and manipulative.

The movie revolves around common themes of obsession around ones beauty, the will to get what is rightfully yours and prioritizing your responsibilities over the more trivial things in life, which makes it so much more relatable. The movie is definitely worth a watch and  probably one of the better movies of the summer. 

Snakes and ladders

One thing I remember about my childhood is playing games. We'd play games ranging from hide and seek to chasing each other. We'd spend a majority of our time outdoors till our parents would call us in or chide us for staying out too late. If we weren't outside, we'd be watching the television or we'd be playing games like Monopoly or Ludo. But the best game of all was Snakes and ladders, it was the one game I always cherished although I wasn't too great at it.

A game of pure luck, ones progress in the game was purely dependent on where the roll of a dice took you. A single play would take you up the ladder, just move ahead or get bitten by those vicious looking snakes. It would always frustrate me to be bitten by those annoying snakes, but the thrill from climbing those ladders would always be worth it. My childhood was filled with games of snakes and ladders. I never really liked those intellectual games like chess. I guess in a way, I preferred playing with my luck rather than challenge my mind over a chess board. As I grew up, the board game became a thing of the past. Gone were the days when we would throw the die and move our pieces along a board. New games started popping up and so did the computer and my snakes and ladder board collected dust in some corner of my house.

This summer, thanks to my grandmother, my mom went out and bought a new board and for the first time in over 6 years, I rolled that dice and re-entered the world of snakes and ladders. The same thrills of climbing the ladder, the disappointment when I went over a snake which took me down a lot of steps. But what made the adventure even more thrilling was playing it with my mother and grandmother. Three generations of women from my family sitting on a single bed in an air conditioned room, throwing the dice and shrieking as we went up the ladder or down the snake. I felt like a kid again, relying completely on that dice to get me to the 100th step. Laughing heartily the three of us rolled the dice over and over again, either going ahead or going back to where we started. Having luck on her side, my grandmother was the first to reach the top. It was down to me and my mother, and after having the bad luck of stepping of the 99th step (which has a snake which takes you down to the 30th step) twice, for which I cussed and shrieked at my bad luck for, my mom finally took the second place. But how we laughed, how we bonded.

Despite having lost miserably, I realized that no matter how grown up one is, there's always that child hidden inside a person, no matter how deep within. Sometimes in our lives are so filled with the tension of competition, expectation and the workload of the modern world, we forget that there's that child within us. We run along with the complexities of life and fail to enjoy the little things. We put on fake smiles, act differently and try to impress people with our maturity and individuality. But we forget that there are times when we need to give up all the worries we have in life, be it as short as a few minutes, just enjoy the fact that we are alive and do the things we truly enjoy doing.

 Just give the kid inside some room to breathe and for all you know, you'd love life even more :)

Movie review: Men In Black III

Time travel is such a well known theme and its been used so often in science fiction that we stop caring eventually, but MIBIII takes it to a whole new level. Engaging, stupendous and hilarious, courtesy of Will Smith, the movie wraps you into its own little world for about 106 minutes.

In the past two movies, Agent K has always been viewed as an anal and self righteous person who depicts a strange and misplaced sense of humor and a very narrow range of emotion, but in this movie, we get to see him in an all new avatar. Not only is he funny and charming, he is also so full of emotion that just like Agent J, I kept asking "What the hell happened to you man?". His affair with Agent O (the future head of the MIB organization) is so adorable and the fact that he discusses it so openly with J makes him more human than he's ever been shown to be. His reactions to the events that occur towards the end were so touching and made me love K all the more.

Agent J (Will Smith) never for one moment turned it down a notch with his comedic timing. Be it the anti racist comments or the snide remarks he makes to the people he inflicts the neuralyzer. He's so lovable and at the same time, I was moved by his performance towards the end when he has his moment of discovery. J's attachment to his reticent partner makes him all the more precious because not only does he time travel, he becomes the friend that K always seems to have needed. I was left feeling a little sad for him yet at the same time, I was so proud of him for having the guts to do the time he believed was right.

Possibly my favourite character in this movie was Griffin the Arkanian. He has alien abilities to predict a wide range of possible futures. He is entirely adorable and it's amusing to see him mull over the possibilities. He reminded me of an elf from Santa Claus' workshops. His pure innocence and truthful nature blew me away, yet at the same time, he's clever and calculating.  The screenwriters sure did a good job in giving him all the good and memorable lines. Also, hats off to Michael Stuhlbarg who played this role, his delivery of the lines suited the character so well, it seemed like he was made just to play the role of Griffin. He made me believe in miracles again with that one line he said seeming completely doped "A miracle is something that seems impossible, but happens anyway".

The movie's villain, Boris "the animal" was also hilarious, yet at the same time frightening. He has his blonde moments and sometimes I thought the director just enjoyed making him look silly.  His vengeful nature along with the fact that his past self is so full of himself, makes him strangely human, although the arachnid friend of his which crawls right into his hand makes him spookily other worldly. Nicole Scherzinger disappoints with her role as Boris' slutty girlfriend who's let go on the moon as Boris makes his dramatic escape.

Overall, I found the movie really good! The special effects were brilliantly done and the action sequences were well choreographed. Not only did I enjoy the movie, my 76 year old grandmother found the movie equally amusing. Moreover, there was an actual storyline which could be followed. Call it a blast from the past, but this sequel seemed to be as good as the original. 

Bollywood obsession

Bollywood is probably one of India's leading passions with almost every child knowing about the booming film industry. Possibly one of the world's largest film industry,it produces over 200 hundred films a year.  These movies have been around since the early 20th century and they vary in genre- from romances to action packed movies. The industry has churned out super stars and billionaires who have even shot to international acclaim. Not only is Bollywood known all over India, the world has been left spellbound by the magic surrounding these movies.

Our film actors and actresses are our idols.  As a child, I wanted to be like my favourite actress, I pretended to be her and  put on the attitude she used to have. As I grew up, I realized I couldn't be like her, I could only be like the characters she played and good golly did she play them very well. What we don't realize we have to do is separate our film stars from the characters they play and the people they actually are. It is a well known fact that we adore them, that some of us really want to know what is going on in their lives, which is why the paparazzi in India are so active and so well paid; but what we don't  realize is that they are people too. We place them on a pedestal so high that when we see them fall, it breaks our hearts. If a hero who plays well behaved and the boy next door roles, exhibits foul behaviour on one occasion, we pounce on them and tear them apart. It takes a public apology or time to heal that wound, but it generally almost always heals. Another issue with this glorification is that when one hero falls, another is ready to grab the pedestal and thus begins another giant fan following. But what is most disturbing is our obsession with the way our film stars look, the recent media outrage on Aishwarya Rai Bachchan's weight gain post pregnancy was shocking and eye opening at the same time. The number of nay sayers were ridiculous insisting that she take example from Hollywood moms but there were the loyal fans who shot down such remarks saying that she was a mother who was enjoying time with her child. Such outrages aren't uncommon, but the stars have to go through a lot just to be in the spot light. How does one escape? Escape seems almost impossible. Even retired film stars come into the spotlight once in a while, so once you're part of the family, it doesn't seem like you can ever leave.

Movies are made by the hundreds each year, but each year only a few make it to the box office. What I love about Bollywood the most, is the fact that even with so many movies which are released, there are those few movies which one can never tire of. These classics are ones that can't be forgotten and that one can never give up watching. No matter what, Bollywood is my ultimate favorite :) 

Mothers

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.  ~Honoré de Balzac 

The various quotes which exist about mothers is just about enough to tell you what a mother means to the world. She is the woman who bears you for the duration of almost a year, gives birth to you, tolerating all the pain of the labour to hold the precious infant version of you in her arms and coo at you. The woman who held you when you cried, gave up her sleep to make sure you went back to sleep. The woman who watched you walk your first steps and catch you when you fell. She laughed when you laughed and her heart broke when you cried. She listened to your problems when you were growing up and tried to solve them, but if she couldn't, she'd always give you the best advice you could have hoped for ("Mom knows best"). You'd fight with her, yell at her, but in the end, you'd come back to her.

 Over the years, she must've made so many sacrifices that you've never noticed, or as Tenneva Jordan puts it "A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie". She's seen you grow up from a child who babbled, to someone who could take the stage and talk to a hall full of people. She's possibly had to give up a career to take care of you, but I bet she'd never complain. We all love our mothers and possibly some of us even want to be like our mothers. But in this process of viewing her as a mother- the caretaker, the nurturer, the problem solver; we lose sight of our mothers as women. In accepting our mothers are our mothers, we forget that they're more than just that, they are wives, daughters, granddaughters, daughter in laws, friends and maybe even working professionals. 

The responsibilities of a woman after marriage (especially after bearing a child) seem overwhelming. Not only are you a daughter to your parents, you are a wife to your husband, a daughter in law to your husbands' parents and a mother to your child. And what of your career? How does a woman manage to balance her working life with the responsibilities of being a mother? What are the sacrifices it takes to maintain a balance between all aspects of yourself?  There are women out there who balance all these aspects. They are a mother, the perfect wife, the perfect daughter/daughter in law and a professional  who is looked up to in their work place. My mother is one of those women, the one who's always been there for my entire family and also managed to make a name for herself in her workplace. I'm glad to have always had my mother's love and look forward to one day, being like her.. 

After all, mommies are just big little girls :)