Namesake -book and movie

Can a movie be made on a novel and if not better is equally good? The answer to that is Namesake. I loved the book and liked the movie as well. Its hard to appreciate a movie based on a book if everything is not right. Mira Nair has done an excellent job in the movie. Namesake is story about Indian immigrants in US- why they come to US and what they face when they make a home away from home. The story just touches your heart.

The movie is true to the mood of the book and has brought the characters to life. Great performances in the movie especially from Tabu and Irfan. They are truly believable as Ashoke and Ashima who are adjusting to US life but also longing for home and familiarity. Watch out for their expressions when Maxine comes to visit them. Great cinematography, movie is a visual treat.

The movie ends with Ashoke saying to Gogol at the end of the beach-"We came to a place where there was nowhere else to go". That sums up why immigrants like us are here. We want to do what we want to do in this life when we can and not wait for a donkey's life (thats a translation of a saying in Bihari per our Chachaji)!

Listening to an audiobook

I have always loved reading books. But of late I am missing doing that a lot due to a busy life...not finding time at all. Time goes by looking after the baby and home, working from home. So I thought I would just try an audiobook...that way I can be doing something and listening to a book. I got Man's search for meaning by Viktor Frankl from the public library.

About listening to audiobook....it didn't work for me. I would like to read at my own pace with my own voice in my head. Thats how reading is an enriching experience for me, it becomes a personal experience reading on my own. I would like to stop at some points, reread and ponder. I don't get that in an audiobook. I also tried an audiobook during my long drive to work earlier. That was a Harry Potter audiobook that I got. My advice.......too dangerous! It made me feel more sleepy. Better stick to listening to peppy songs while driving!

Needless to say I could never finish the audiobooks in my attempts in listening them. From what I did listen of Man's search for meaning-

Its the author's experience as a prisoner in concentration camps during the Holocaust and his contemplations on the meaning of life. I slept while listening to the book and the content shifted from the camp experience with insights to very esoteric clinical psychology. Frankl was also a psychologist. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful. The book is really really deep. I may get the book to read another time, but here are some quotes from the book.....full of meaning!

Logotherapy...considers man as a being whose main concern consists in fulfilling a meaning and in actualizing values, rather than in the mere gratification and satisfaction of drives and instincts.

The meaning of our existence is not invented by ourselves, but rather detected.

What man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.

We can discover this meaning in life in three different ways: (1) by doing a deed; (2) by experiencing a value; and (3) by suffering.

A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He who knows the "why" for his existence, will be able to bear almost any "how".

Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

Back on greens

This time I have decided to quit meat and non-veg foods. I have been back and forth between meat and no meat often before. But this time looks like it is for good, lets see. During my pregnancy I rarely ate meat as I developed an aversion to the smell and taste. And after my delivery, I did go back to eating meat but subsequently I don't feel the need to kill a living being like us for taste when we have other options. Motherhood has made me extremely soft and sensitive, having known what it means to bring a life.

Umrao Jaan and Don

These two remakes of old movies rekindled the desire the see the old ones back again. The old ones were seen such a long time ago I hardly remembered them.


Umrao Jaan.....period theme.....so the movie had the task of creating the old world charm. I could feel the old world charm in the 80's movie, but not quite in the recent one. Maybe its the costumes or the songs or the actors. I couldnt imagine Aishwarya or Abhishek B from that era, Ash's acting was very modernish......rebellious and restless. Rekha's Umrao was also a little of a rebel...but rather a subtle one than an overt one. The pathos portrayal was right on mark. Truly a great performance from Rekha.


Don....the original was all about the Big B and how he carried the film on his shoulders. Smart dialogues stood out so well they they are remembered even now. Now when I see it the movie looks tacky. the new don does score over the old one in technical aspects and how the story is well weaved and looks like a movie of today. But nothing stands out. The dialogues look subdued, characters lack the intensity the older actors had. Still I had fun watching the new Don....racy caper!


Actually, because the old movies existed that I wanted to see the new ones. Its fun to compare and see the difference. Would the new ones have stood on thier own if they had no precedent?Probably not.

NYC

Went to NY to visit relatives with my 5 month old old son on the 16th for a week. Got to see around the Big apple. Walking in Manhattan, surrounded by surmounting buildings, bright big posters makes you feel dwarf as an individual but also makes you feel great as a community...it is amazing to realize the greatness that mankind can acheive.......such huge buildings...beyond what eyes can gaze up to see. Its such a feat! And the city is dotted with some imaginative pieces of modern art.

The thing about NY is the hustle bustle. People seem to be in a rush as they have to catch a bus or a train, they are going somewhere. So generally on the road, you see people moving around fast that they seem to have a sense of urgency and purpose. And some of them are pretty darned fashionably dressed.....very much suitable to the fashion capital of US. All this makes life just looks so meaningful and purposeful on the streets.

Overall the city looks good.

Beginning

I am beginning writing my personal blog. Initiated by my husband, I have been writing a blog for my son, and quite liked the concept.
I consider internet a big boon offering connectivity.
So here I begin! Hopefully I will find time and interest to write often.