The Mad Chief Minister

Once upon a time, there was a Chief Minister who ruled Delhi. He got elected based on his propaganda of anti-corruption, in the age of corruption. Everybody was excited about the change he would bring. He made promises which would ease the economic burden of the middle class. Well, he never revealed who is going to pay for those promises. He took to the streets and disrupted public life for the most trivial matters and reported sick the next day. The governance halted because of his dharnas. He was the Chief Minister who couldn't distinguish between the important and the unimportant issues. That is why a few nicknamed him the Mad Chief Minister, who caused anarchy in the capital.

This is how history will be written.

An Act of True Love

Last week, I watched the movie, Frozen.  The movie is a simple story of two sisters and the wonderful bond they share. The two sisters are the princesses of a kingdom. The elder sister has the power to create ice. Unfortunately, she cannot control her power. On her coronation day, after her power gets exposed to her subjects, she runs away from the palace to the Northern Mountain. The younger sister goes in search of her sister and confronts her. The elder sister accidentally freezes the younger sister's heart. An act of true love is required for the younger sister to live.

The moment I heard about true love, I thought, ‘Phew! A kiss from a prince to save the princess; Why can’t Disney make more meaningful movies?’ 

I belong to an era in which I watched Cinderella, Snow White and Seven Dwarfs and Sleeping Beauty, as I grew up. In Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, the princess goes into a coma like situation and a prince has to kiss her red lips to revive her. In Sleeping Beauty, the princess touches the tip of the spindle and falls asleep, only a kiss from a handsome prince could bring her out of her misery. Kisses from princes always save the day for the princesses. If women face any hardship in their teens, they should wait for their true love to stumble by and get a kiss from them. The kiss solves all the problems and the princes and the princess can live happily ever after.

It is no surprise that I was disappointed that an act of true love, in the movie Frozen, will be another kiss from a handsome prince. Disney has proved me wrong. It was an act of true love between the sisters. The younger sister almost sacrifices her life for her elder sister. It was a happy ending, as it always is. 

Disney is changing with the times and came up with a story which showed love failure and highlighted the relationship between siblings. There are so many other wonderful relationships other than just love and Disney made an entire movie around it. I hope that Disney brings much more meaningful movies like Frozen, in the future. 

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I am always a great admirer of how Disney animates it’s non-human characters. In the movie, Frozen,  it was the reindeer and the snow man, which had human-like expressions and emotions.

In the movie, Tangled, it was the horse and the chameleon.

The Dinner by Herman Koch

I picked this book because NPR books recommended it. I was interested to know how the author, Herman Koch, can write an entire novel about one dinner.

This novel is about relationships. A brother is jealous of his big brother because he is more successful than him. The two brothers and their wives, sit down for dinner at a high-end restaurant, to figure out how to deal with the murder committed by their teenage sons. The book is divided into five sections, Aperitif, Appetizer, Main Course, Dessert and Digestif. I regretted buying this book until I came to the Main Course.

There a few details in this book, which have been hammered down to death. The entire Aperitif and Appetizer section is about the restaurant, the setting and the manager with his pinkie hovering over the dishes. It was too much to read in such a great detail, about the mundane setting and the ordinary servers, managers and the other diners in the restaurant. I was also tired of the younger brother bitching about the success of his big brother. He speaks about how people treat his big brother because he is a successful politician, how they get down to their knees to please him.

The book became interesting, after the younger brother describes the murder committed by his son and nephew and delves into his past. I will always remember one point of view of the younger brother. He was a history teacher at one of the schools in Germany. He asks his students to do a simple arithmetic; ‘If Second World War has not taken place, if all the 55,000,000 people had been able to just go on fucking, how many people would be there now? ’ He believes that most of the people who were killed in World War II deserved to die. He supports his stand by saying, ‘don’t you have an aunt or an uncle is your family who is a weirdo and wished he or she were dead? Definitely there were a few people like that who were dead in World War II.’

I would recommend reading this book, but you need to have a ton of patience until the Main Course, after that you cannot keep the book down. This novel is all about the complexity of relationships and about one weirdo family who will go to any extent to protect their son. 

Little Nita and her red bow - Part 2

Read Part 1 of the story here

Nita’s short-time friend went to the apartment complex. The security man at the gate was his friend. He told him, ‘I have to see someone in this apartment’. The guard let him in.

He knocked on the grandmother’s apartment. The grandmother thought it must be Nita and opened the door. Before she could realize that it was not Nita, the man barged in. He caught the grandmother and delivered a blow with a porcelain vase that he found in his vicinity. She became unconscious. He took her to one of the rooms, put her on the bed and waited for Nita to come. Meanwhile, he searched the house for valuables, money, jewellery, anything that he could lay his hands on.

Nita was so busy eating her slurpee that she did not realize how quickly the time went by. She saved one slurpee for her grandmother. Mother would not understand but grandmother would. She thought, ‘Grandmother will be waiting for me’ and quickened her pace. She went inside the apartment complex and took the elevator to the ninth floor.

Nita came in front of the apartment and saw that the door was open. Nita thought, ‘Grandmother never leaves the door open. Why is it open?’ She opened the door slightly more, peeked inside and called her grandmother, ‘Grandma, are you there?’

She saw the man who bought her the slurpee on the sofa. He stood up, walked towards her and said, ‘Come in. Your grandmother has invited me too.’ Nita felt scared and timid inside. Something was wrong. She did not understand what it was.

She asked, ‘Where is my grandmother?’

‘She is in the bedroom. She is resting. We should not disturb her’.

He came close to the door, opened it wider and was about to pull Nita in. Nita thought quickly. She thrust the slurpee into his eyes. He moved back from the door. Nita pulled the door and bolted it from outside.

She took the elevator to the ground floor and ran to the security guard. Panting for breath, Nita said, ‘Grandma…in trouble…quick…need help’. The security guard called the police. The police came and arrested the conman. Grandma was safe, except for the injury on her head. Everybody appreciated Nita for her common sense. The next time Nita walked to her grandmother’s house by herself, she never stopped anywhere. Her mother understood and bought her the slurpee once in a while.

                                                                     The End

Image from google images

Fairy tales with a modern twist

Little Nita and her red bow - Part 1

Little Red Riding Hood was born in a world of chaos. The trees were dying and the urban jungle gave little solace. She was part of the fast paced society in which people coveted wealth no matter what the means to achieve it and the consequences.

Little Red Riding Hood’s name was Nita. She had pretty little black eyes that sparkled with curiosity and interest. Her curly black hair fell onto her shoulder and moved noiselessly in the wind. Nita always wore her favorite red hair bow.

Nita took a bus to school. Every day, she waited at the bus stop along with her mother. Today was different from all the other days.

Her mother told her, ‘I have to work late at the office. Go to grandmother’s house in the evening after school. I will pick you up from there. Grandmother is sick, so you have to walk from the bus stop to grandmother’s place. You know where it is, don’t you? Do not stop anywhere. Be careful.’

Nita nodded her head. She boarded the bus, occupied the window seat and waved to her mother as the bus moved on. Today was going to be a long day for Nita.

After school, the bus dropped her at the same spot where she boarded. She started walking towards her grandmother’s place. There is a slurpee stall on the way. It was a small stall by the road side, with a machine which poured fizzy drinks. Nita was familiar with the person at the shop. Every time she passed by, he invited her to have a slurpee. He stood there from morning till night, pressing the button which delivered the drink into huge plastic cups.

How much she longed to have one of those drinks. Mother never approved of them. She said they were unhealthy. Nita searched her pockets for some loose change. Grandma always drops something or the other into her pockets, in spite of protests from mother. She counted the money; she had nine rupees, she was short by six rupees.

Nita delved into the many recesses of her navy blue tunic to find more money. As she was searching, she heard someone ask, ‘Do you need the slurpee?’

She turned around and saw a tall lean man. He looked strong in spite of his lean frame. She remembered who he was. He used to come to school in her bus. He sat beside the driver. He stopped coming a few weeks ago. Why did he stop coming?

Nita replied, ‘Yes but I don’t have the money’

‘I can buy it for you. ‘

Before Nita could answer, he bought her two slurpees. Her eyes sparkled with excitement. She wanted one, he gave her two!

She took both of them into her hands. The blue and the pink drinks tasted so good.

He asked her, ‘Where are you going?’

‘To grandmother’s place’

‘Where does she stay?’

‘In Splendor Apartments’

‘Where there?’

Nita was irritated that he was asking too many questions. He is not allowing her to enjoy the drinks.

‘Why didn't your grandfather come to pick you up?’

‘He is out of town. Slurp’

‘What about your grandmother?’

‘She is sick. Slurp’

‘Where does she stay in Splendor?’

‘B902’

As soon as he heard it, he told her, ‘Enjoy your drink. I will see you again.’

To be continued ...

Second part on January 15th

Image from google images

Sita by Devdutt Pattanaik

Devdutt Pattanaik’s book, Sita is an illustrated retelling of Ramayana, which focuses on Sita. It is the power of mythology that no matter how many times we read it, we never get bored. Devdutt maintained that charm. The book was a good read.

What I loved in this book was the fluid writing style of the author and the pictures. The pictures are simple caricatures and in a few strokes the pictures reveal the emotions of the characters.

I always admired Sita. Sita is a woman of strength and character. The first time she was asked to prove her purity, she does it. The second time, she calls upon Mother Earth to take her in, because she was tired of a husband who doubts her for the sake of others.

There are a few interesting aspects I learned from this book

I loved the confidence and the understanding nature of Sita. Laxman was given the responsibility of leaving Sita in the forest. When Laxman shows anger on Ram’s decision, Sita tells him, ‘Ram is God – he abandons no one. I am Goddess – I cannot be abandoned by anyone’.

The book also tells about why Ram is called as Maryada Purushottam, which means a person who abides by the rules of the society without caring about the feelings of the loved ones. Ram left his father Dasaratha to go to forest for 14 years in spite of his father’s bidding to not leave. As a result of his decision he caused Dasaratha’s heart break and death. He abandoned Sita when she was pregnant with his sons because the people of Ayodhya doubted the character of Sita. He was responsible for his brother, Laxman’s death. He ordered Laxman to uphold his word of killing anybody who entered Ram’s room while he was resting. Unfortunately Laxman was the person who entered the room, so he cut his own head. In the next incarnation, Vishu is born as Krishna, who twists all the rules and caters to satisfying many women.

Devdutt also writes about the angst of separation that Ram goes through when he is away from Sita. He tells that in Sita’s company, the forest felt like a palace. The palace without Sita gave him no comfort. Ram lives in a palace; hence he has to abide by the rules of the society. He left Sita in the forest where there are no rules. She is free to do as she pleases. In this way, Sita was independent of Ram whereas Ram was still dependent on Sita. Ram longed for Sita every single moment but yet upheld his decision of being away from her.

It is a book which will keep you hooked even if you have read Ramayana many times before.

Why I could not keep up my 2013 resolutions?

It is that dreaded time of the year when we start making resolutions for this year. Did you know that only 8 % of the people successfully uphold their resolutions? Last year, I was in the 92 % of the people who were unsuccessful. My 2013 resolutions were to lose weight and to write more. I failed in the first one because every time I lost some weight, I would take it as a cue to eat more. So I lost a little bit of weight but I put on a lot more pounds to compensate for that loss. I fared a little bit better when it came to writing. I started a blog and tried to post at least one post every week.

This year, I did not want to fail as badly as last year. I read about the theories behind how to make resolutions and be in that successful 8 % club. First, the resolutions have to be quantified. Rather than saying I will lose weight, say I will lose 5 kg in six months. Second, track your progress every day. Having a resolution for an entire year can be intimidating. Follow the resolutions each day and mark your progress in the calendar by striking that day out. In this way, you will see your progress each day and all those tick marks give hope to continue with the resolutions. Third, make your resolutions public, which will give an additional push to stick to them. Another good advice I read was to have resolutions which support overall development rather than one. Have resolutions which focus on all the five aspects – personal, professional, physical, emotional and spiritual.

Here are my resolutions for 2014. I quantified them and made them public.

Personal – Write two blog posts every week. Attend the Bangalore Writer’s Workshop at least once every month. Prepare draft for my first short story book by September

Professional – Move to the next level

Physical – Work out for 30 minutes every day except on Friday. Friday is a holiday for work out

Emotional – This suggestion was provided by my hubby. Worry about a topic only for 15 minutes and move on

Spiritual – Meditate for at least an hour every day

If you meet me do not forget to ask how I am faring. That will at least keep me on the track.

What are your new year resolutions? If you do not want to be that serious this year, it is completely alright. Get more wise by following Calvin’s perspective on New Year resolutions.

Image from google images