A slice of the 90's Bollywood through my biased eyes

Long long time ago,in a kingdom not so far away, there lived a little girl who had just discovered the immense possibilities that a square shaped electronic box held.
 Ok,that girl was me and although I don't exactly remember the first thing I ever watched on T.V.,it must have been a Nepali movie on the V.C.R of which I only have vague recollections.
It was the very early 90's, I must have been 3-4 years old. What was constantly viewed in our home however was a cassette which had the popular Bollywood songs of the earlier decade or so.
Those I remember very well even now,it was ever so dearly watched. Then the antenna arrived and with it the much loved DoorDarshan channel which had me hook line and sinker and a T.V addict for life.
Growing up, I watched a lot of television and would sit wide eyed through DD's weekend matinee films with hundreds of commercials wedged in between. Time didn't matter, I would sit a movie through ,even for a long time after I started to know which ones were really bad and easily avoidable.
 It was then I became a die hard Shahrukh Khan fan and watched all of his movies, mostly on DD, cinema halls weren't encouraged then.

 So there I find myself, entranced with Bollywood at a time where like everything else in India globalisation or vague ideas of globalisation was setting in.
 What came out of all that was an extra colourful film industry which varied from crass to cheap ,skirting around vulgarity in Govinda's oversized multi-coloured pants. Trying to be and redefine “sexy” but not quite getting there.
The 90's were an unsteady time when Bollywood was trying hard to find its place and mainstream cinema trying hard to incorporate nuances of the stories that the silently swelling megapolises were espousing. The setting had shifted from the village into the city with gusto and a determination replete with catchy tunes and absolutely hilarious lyrics using repetitive words which had no meaning whatsoever yet without which songs seemed incomplete. And believe you me I loved and lapped all of that melodrama, and although I pretend like I am offended by their crassness today, I know all the words and dance steps to “chura ke dil mera”,”gore gore mukhde pe kaala kaala chashma” “ye kaali kaali aankhen” and the like.

 There will always be a part of me that wants to be elitist and turn my nose at “inferior” cinema,full of loopholes and mass hysteria but I also feel that we need our own space to grow in and the kind of cinema we have here is unique, simply in the variety we get to see today.
Some are good, some blatantly copied and some "inspired", yet these movies hold a very special place in my heart which I cannot forgo or ignore because its such a big part of my childhood. For now,I will be content in singing these songs in private lost in the haze of memories.

A Close Shave!

The repercussions of having been recently robbed?

Besides running short of the perennial cash that was your bank account via debit cards,you lose sleep(a lot) and a lot of crime fiction heroine stories fill up your head, claiming your constant attention. So besides carrying out an all night-er(given that its exam month),being awake at 5 in the Delhi morning when the climate miraculously (or if you ask me, apocalyptic-ally ) decides to take a turn for the better would lead to life changing revelations one would argue,but hardly so for me.

 It was cool that morning,in fact so cold, I got chills, very very unnerving for a mid-May morning. It was Delhi for crying out loud. So I stood on our verandah gazing meaningfully at the horizon, trying to delve the deeper meaning of life,reflecting. on the past, thinking how a mug of steaming hot black coffee would befittingly make me a Nescafe girl when this huge eagle thinks it funny to suddenly swoop from behind and try to grab me away by my hair. Not so funny for me, given our weight proportions,the eagle's scaly talons and the sudden jolt to impending reality. Okay, I'll admit, the very notion of the eagle wanting to carry me off was a tad bit funny but only in retrospection. I was frightfully annoyed then and physically hurt (mentally too but thats another story). I curse loudly and am immediately thankful nobody was around to admire my extensive vocabulary and linguistic abilities that can spew abuses in three different languages. The eagle then perches itself atop a nearby tree and eyes me derisively. Whether it was self damnation at the failure to carry me off or preparing itself for a second try, I didn't stick around to find out or make polite conversation with seemingly the only other living being in close proximity. I rush inside, call it a day and sleep to crime fiction dreams again. How connected is the robbery and this incident I cannot say, all I'll say is I can never look at another eagle or a motorcycle with normalcy ever again.

kafkaesque,anyone?

some quirks AND pet peeves

I am a slightly weird person.

I see a lot of everyday things and don't really seem to make any sense of it.

They are hugs,handshakes and small talk, besides other things that currently I can't remember.

Ok lets start with hugs, I know its supposed to be symbols of warmth and affection but I can't really wrap my head around wanting to be in such close proximity with any one except a beloved. Its just too awkward maybe its coz i'm a girl and (protruding) body parts touching is not something I take to easily so no hugs for me,please.

Speaking of body parts touching, next are handshakes. More rules again, its okay to shake hands over a deal or after business meetings but otherwise its just creepy. Sweaty palms are the least of my problems concerning hygiene especially a guy's, how can one truly know “where” they have been before being extended towards your direction. No handshakes as well.

And the best of the lot-small talk! I'm literally tongue tied, I'd rather be bludgeoned to death than point out things that are more than mighty obvious and pretend to care about somebody's dying cat or dog. Cold, I know but that's just the way it is. I also hate blatant praising (read flattery),baby talk,and most of all anybody trying to act cute with me using baby talk. Basically I dislike talking too much and also people who talk too much,no point saying hundreds of words that you don't mean most of the time eh?

And no, I don't have OCD, neither am I a cleanliness freak, I'm just a weird,cold person who keeps wondering why she doesn't have enough friends.

Apathy,truth and its consequences

A sudden attack from the side whilst on a rickshaw to kamla nagar and in the university area was what I had least expected in my entirely terror filled two years in Delhi, therefore three assailants made away with my purse on a bike after a brief struggle! the whole scenario is traumatic still,all my money gone,I didn't think going to the police station was a very good idea , so i waited till the next morning to report my incident,waking up at an unearthly hour just so that my complaint got relevance.
However, "had my purse snatched from me yesterday enroute to kamla nagar, delhi,in a poorly lit area in the university campus by three men on a bike after a brief struggle" was much too lengthy for maurice nagar police to lodge an F.I.R in so they made me write my complaint thrice citing reasons such as I was late, it would be of no use since people are easy targets in the dark,and that I couldn't identify either the assailants or their number plate,also strictly instructing that the complaint should not exceed two lines and not write "poora ram katha"!No sympathy,no questions asked,lost whatever little faith I had in the Police,will carry a pepper spray from now on,time to hit back,can't be a helpless spectator anymore.They finally had it rewritten to just "lost",my previous statement would inconvenience the police so they simply made me write one which was to their utmost convenience.Fabrications in reporting for simply theft, I wonder what calamity would take to register the truth!