Just Another Love Story - Movie Review

This one took a month to complete - not because it's boring (it's anything but that) but simply because it happened so. It's a Danish film with English sub titles. Opens dramatically with the narrator lying in a pool of blood in the rain. Turns out he is Jonas, a police crime scene photographer with two kids and an attractive wife.

When Jonas's old car stops on the road suddenly, it leads to a car crash that leaves one car occupant instantly dead and the other occupant, Julia, an attractive young woman, comatose, speechless, memoryless and almost blind. A guilty Jonas visits her in the hospital. Her wealthy family mistakes him for her boyfriend Sebastian whom they have never met. Jonas plays along, helps the girl recover, falls in love with her, falls out with his wife and moves in with her family almost.

One day the boyfriend returns - a crazy chap dealing with diamonds and who has tried to outsmart his bosses with no luck. He figures that they'll kill him so he fakes being dead and enters a death pact with Julia. Only Julia survives the pact. But then the accident happens and she loses her memory and does not know who is the real Sebastian. The real Sebastian turns up as Jonas and that makes things murkier for the real Jonas. Julia survives the real Sebastian and so does Jonas. Julia also recovers her memory, her eyesight and in her new clarity also realises that she does not love Jonas the ordinary crime photographer. But when Jonas visits home and his wife gives him back the suitcase that Julia's car was carrying at the time of the accident, Jonas is mistaken for Sebastian by the mafia and shot dead. That's it.

Full of weird twists, crazy characters and stuff that people on the edge get into, 'Just Another Love Story' is something that you watch with the same sense as you watch accidents on the road. You know it will shock you, gross you, but you still do with some fatalistic itch.

But thanks to this movie I read up on the legend of Orpheus and Euridyce from Greek mythology because the two - Julia and Sebastian - talk of being like Orpheus and Eurdyce in their death pact. Legend is that Orpheus, a legendary musician, loses his wife to a satyr. He goes to the underworld playing soulful music on his lyre that moves even the hardest of hearts. The underworld gods Hades and Persephone are moved by his music too (he is supposedly the only one to move them so), and allow him to take Euridyce back on one condition - that he must walk ahead on the way back and not turn back until they reach the upper world. Euridyce will follow him. Orpheus agrees and does not turn back until he reaches the upper world. He turns back as soon as he reaches forgetting that the condition was that 'until both reach the upper world'. He thus loses Euridyce forever.

In the movie Julia tells Sebastian the nut case, who quotes from this legend, that Orpheus must walk ahead and she will follow - in the death pact. Neither keep their word. Some love story that.

The Paradoxes of Our Lives - Happiness Comes When You Accept The Other

Happiness is easier found when you accept sadness. If we accept that life is hard, then all the moments that are not hard appear relatively good. That could lead to a happy state of mind.

On the other hand if we are constantly seeking happiness then perhaps we could never find happiness because everything looks like a let down. We would be sad at not finding 'enough' happiness.

To be happy then, accept the sadness, the dullness, the boredom, the lack as the norm. Then everything seems great in comparison.

 

Osho Teerth Park, Pune

On one of those lazy afternoons in Pune, Shobhs, Anjali and I went to the Osho Teerth park which has been languishing on the list for sometime. The park is open from 6-9 a.m. in the mornings and 3-6 p.m. in the evenings. It was constructed in 1994 by the Shunyo Foundation which I guess is a part of the famous Osho International Commune. The Osho Teerth park is famously called the nala park (drain water stream) park having been conjured out of a dirty nala by the inmates of the Osho commune.

Having thus done our homework we started off sometime before 3 p.m. (but I think the morning times are better) and headed to Koregaon park. For some reason I have never been to this part of Pune and I consciously avoided the Osho commune in all this time despite having read many of Osho's books and finding his philosophy interesting and thought provoking. I remember subscribing to the Osho Tomes and also gifting a subscription to Koni who seems to have benefited from it more than I. Perhaps I was fighting the lure of the ashram itself but anyway, here I was at Koregaon park searching for the Osho Teerth.

The roads are beautiful with tall trees on either side, no traffic and and huge bungalows. We drove through the posh Koregaon park marveling at the luxury of some of the bungalows and the tranquility of the place. Finally found the Osho Teerth park and was told to park the car on the main road which is some 10 minute away by walk. Good idea. Helps keep the place tranquil and also filters people - those who really wish to come can come. Entry is free.

No food and drink, no cameras and videos etc, no loud noises, no plucking stuff etc. I am okay with all the rules actually though I was tempted to take a couple of pics. There is no one actually monitoring you closely and there are enough pictures on the net so perhaps it is left to you to follow the rules. I do think that taking pics does slow down your experience, you are not in the moment and are constantly thinking of the future and how the pic would look and all the appreciation you'd get for the pic and the caption. Also you are constantly seeking locations, angles - so where are you experiencing anything? I'll give you this Shunyo Foundation. Good idea.

The park was built on a nala and has some natural systems, drain spots, plants etc where the water purifies itself. It does smell a bit and has the usual debris - plastic bottles etc flowing down the drain - but it's still the most beautiful nala I have ever seen. The park is dense with green growth, soft paths and is very peaceful. The park is not very big and it occupies both sides of a road but you can walk under the bridge to the other side. Many cranes and other birds were spotted, trees and flowers, loners and lovers and after an hour of walking about and enjoying the park we walked back.

I could not help thinking that Bangalore has so many such parks in every neighbourhood. It would be great if all state and town planners took this idea of parks and water bodies seriously because the common man needs to find some peace and tranquility. Keep the people happy fellows! Water, flowers, shade, greenery - and people are happy. It adds so much to the general health of the population, their well being. Its very little to ask and I hope to see our neighbourhoods filled with these little parks. Institutions and organisations can take inspiration from Osho commune and develop such parks too instead of sponsoring stupid events.

The Osho commune itself stretches over the three lanes and is distinct with its black pyramid like structures and buildings. Would I want to walk into it one day? Perhaps. Would I want to join the courses? Maybe not. It' tranquil and peaceful.

As we headed out I saw the German Bakery which is reopening again I heard after those bomb blasts that shook Pune. Ironic that such violence should be perpetrated so close to such tranquility.

The Pune Hyderabad Route - Wait Another Year

After almost two years I tried the Pune-Hyderabad highway in my car twice in the last two weeks. Having done that I would say that unless it is absolutely mandatory you wait another year before you venture out on this highway in your car.

The big surprises are that the road between Hyderabad and Sholapur which was previously in fairly decent condition, has gone bad. The section in Karnataka is a disgrace with potholes all over the road making driving at 30 mph rather difficult. And its a long stretch mind you. This stretch of road disgusted me so much that I almost switched off the engine. Only one other stretch of road frustrated me more - another Karnataka classic - the Belgaum to Londa road which I drove then, few years ago, at less than 10 kmph. (Satish got a headache at the end of that ordeal. I did too!) No jokes. It was a long stretch too. Come on Karnataka. Pull up your socks. There are such lovely signs by your Tourism guys advertising the forts at Bidar, Gulbarga, Basavakalyan and one gets tempted to go there. But when one sees the highway in such a condition in the pre-monsoon season, one really wonders.

The Sholapur-Tmbhurni stretch is another killer with slow traffic. There are a few good stretches (toll please!) but the average speed here does not go beyond 40-45 kmph (and I did a rather early drive, before 10 a.m.). All in all the entire Pune-Hyd drive took me 10 hours which is just not worth it now with all these bad road patches, roads under construction and so on. And to think you actually pay a decent amount on toll on this road too. I'd rather wait another year for the Pune-Sholapur stretch to get done. Then, toll and all, it would be a decent drive. One option, apart form the Shatabdi are the Volvo's which do a decent time on this route. You won't feel the bumps too much in those.

As always I bumped into the zealous cops at Sholapur bypass. They are always there, stopping all passenger cars, checking for all documents. Twice before, in years gone by, the cop actually searched my bags, clothes and all. Wondering what they expected to find. In all these years I missed these zealous law upholders maybe once or twice. Today's cop only checked the documents and left out rummaging my clothes for another day.

I also had an interesting situation - or rather, two. Outside of Tembhurni as the road narrowed down suddenly, I saw a mini van in the opposite direction swerve towards me to avoid a pothole. I swerved too instinctively. I heard a yell and looked in the rear view mirror and saw a young man riding his motorcycle. He might have gotten a jolt at my swerve I thought. But no damage done as he was riding comfortably. There was an outsized box strapped on to his back seat, as big as a television or even bigger, and to add to that, he was busy talking on his mobile. After he finished talking for a few minutes, he raced me, and waved at me, asking me to pull over. I did not. There was no need to anyway and I have seen enough of such instances on this highway. I pulled down the window and asked him what he was yelling at. He went on incomprehensibly, but his main aim was to get me to stop. When I pulled up the window and continued driving he overtook me, slowed down in front of my car and tried to stop me. I did not. Finally he gave up and I moved on.

Over the years I have seen many such incidents on the highway. Once when Satish was driving, I saw two young men chasing us for well over 5 kms. They caught up near Bhigwan and left after some argument and apologies - perhaps the fact that we were in the town was why they chose to go away instead of extorting some money or trying to at least. On the way to Pune two weeks ago, I saw four youngsters on two bikes stopping an elderly truck driver and beating him up - surely for some reason like this. These incidents happen in those road stretches on the other side of Omerga towards Pune I noticed.

The second incident was this. Further down in Zaheerabad I was pulling up to the left in the city very slowly. A young lad on a motorbike was trying to overtake me at great speed from the left and he braked, having noticed my slowing down rather late. The edge of the road being sandy, the bike slipped and it was with great difficulty that he controlled it. But to his credit the young kid, who was in far greater danger than the other one, shook his head, acknowledging his mistake in trying to overtake from the left on a busy road.

And so we live and learn.

The thali at the Bharat Petroleum dhaba outside Zaheerabad (towards Hyderabad) is brilliant. Try it. I liked the butter milk too. Same goes for the food in the Hotel before Indapur - you cannot miss it. Sanman or something like that. Good clean restaurant, loos. And the Nisarg joint just outside Mohol (on the left as you go towards Sholapur) is a great breakfast joint if you get an early start. But what really gladdened my heart was the number of new joints that are springing up on either side of the new Pune-Sholapur road. They all look very inviting and clean.

Next year, life on this road looks promising indeed. Only hope that the roads from Hyderabad and Sholapur are maintained in decent condition. Hope the Roads departments in AP, Karnataka and Maharashtra are listening. Come on guys, it is not necessary that only the toll roads need to be in good condition. Even the other roads need to be maintained.

Anjali's First Blog - My 1st Class

I was writing my blog when Anjali asked if she could write her blog too. I guess there's no better time than now. So here's her first blog.

hello it,s me anjali i am 5 years old  my dad is a writer my mom work,s for therpy  my 1st class will be nice i think new class mates and a new class room i love it all. the best thing is new teacher,s. did you now that? i know it will be very very good.nice read and write new very new best now. i know to read, write , colour , paint, hindi , and lot more.

Google and Dumbphone Take Over My Life

After many months and years I bought a smartphone recently. I am however not too inclined to believe it is smart. If it is smart it will make me believe that I am smart. But it goes to great lengths to make me feel dumb. It moves too quickly and goes off into modes that I don't know where to find, does all kinds of things by itself, makes funny noises, sends of messages, changes settings and has secretly taken over all my information and my life. I have this constantly amazed look on my face these days as I try to figure out how to undo the damage it is doing to me every moment of the day. (For all I know it is possibly has made classified records of all the conversations, sms, pictures etc and kept it safely from me.) How can I call it a smartphone somebody please tell me. It's dumb.

Anyway the phone is not the real problem. The real problem is when it teams up with our friendly neighbourhood helper Google. For long I have secretly suspected Google of keeping all my tracks fully covered. It has all the information of all the searches I make, all the downloads, has a lot of confidential information on my mail at its mercy, has a lot of pics of mine at its mercy, has a lot more information of mine on my blog (this one that you read) and so many more wonderful products that are all Google's - and all so well connected that they know me better than I know myself. I am not joking - it does know me better than I know myself. If there is one cross examination I fear ever - it would be the one by Google. It's probably the closest to the one on judgment day.

It all started on the first day of Mr. Too-Smart-For-It's-Own-Good-Phone. I was asked by this smartphone owning friend if I needed to configure my smartphone to gmail and I said 'yes'. (I had visions of being able to exercise my choice and access gmail when I wished to, as and when I got an internet connection, and then check the mail on the go when I wished to. Heh heh, rather old fashioned thinking right!) But guess what? Google knows me better than myself and it decided that perhaps I want to have all the pictures I uploaded on blogger on my phone. I have about 900 pictures from my blog now sitting on my phone and I am wondering why they are here in the first place. Did anyone ask me if I wanted these pictures from a totally different product on my smartphone? I don't think so. And the best part is that unlike the other pictures, I cannot delete these pics that Google holds somewhere in a cloud for ransom.

I guess you figured it by now. I don't like it. I don't like being pushed, being taken for granted, being told that Google knows what is best for me. Google is now the salesman in the shop who tells me that he knows best what is good for me. It is that parent who makes us rebel against what we really want because they shove it down out throats. If t is good for us, let us ask for it. Let us find a way to get it. Don't do all the work and put it on the platter and take all the credit for it. Nothing is worse than that.

I suspect that it's only a matter of time before Google and the smartphone chappies start taking all our decisions for us. Who is our best friend, who are our favorites, what we like to watch most, what we wear, what movies we like, what books we read - and keep pushing information, products with or without our knowledge into our lives. It will choose our schools, colleges, girlfriends, boyfriends, souses, make payments, buy houses, clothes, cars and even choose our orientations. (Whose calls to take, whose not to?) At some point these two will claim complete control over our lives because we might have, for all we know, already signed away our lives to them. After all they know what is best for us does it not? All we need to do is accept it, stop thinking, and they takes over our lives fully for us.
Ah, what a relief. 

Big Revelation of The Day - We Can Be Happy For No Reason!

I just realised that I could be happy for no reason.

Why did I spend all my life thinking that I need a good reason to be happy?
And a better reason to be more happy?
And that big reason to be happiest?

Errr. It appears that I don't need any reason to be happy. I don't need to weigh, judge and then barter my happiness for the 'right' stuff. I don't need to save it up for when the 'happy' stuff happens. Very businesslike I have been I think. Too smart.

Let me try this new thought.
It may look rather foolish to be happy for no reason. But it might put me in a better frame of mind. Also, I have a suspicion that happiness could breed more happiness. I could be a happy person. (Is that too much responsibility?)

Now I have another doubt. Is there something like too much happiness? Would I get tired of being happy? Should I save it up like a favorite sweet.

Or should I just try being happy for no reason. Let me give it a go. Will report back.