Bad Newz - Movie

 Everyone is talking about 'Tauba Tauba' and that's pretty much what we ended up saying at the end (which is when the song is played - and i did not understand why all this hype about a person who is doing 'lakdi ka ghoda' steps). Anyway I am not the big boss of dance moves so excuse.

The movie has one flaky guy from Karol bagh who meets a classy chef whose dream is to win a Meraki star, the biggest medal any chef can earn, by cooking the best burrito bowls. He is persistent and she is easily flattered and conned and they fall in love and marry after which she finds out that he is still v attached to his mother and vice versa. Things quickly go south and they head for divorce and she goes away to distant Mussoorie and meets a hotel owner. Things transpire however that in one drunken night she manages to sleep with both gentlemen concerned and in a one-in-a-billion event, managed to conjure up twins fathered by each. From then on we see an endless ride of sacrifice, one upman ship until finally the sardar's ex girlfriend shows up with a chicken leg thus leaving the field open for the original husband and wife to remarry while he can marry his chicken wielding girlfriend etc.

That's the bad news!    

Kalki 2998 - Movie

I normally avoid the big bannered and hyped films because they always tend to disappoint by not matching up to my expectations. But the family was in town and we decided to watch a movie and hey, what better than Kalki 2998.

The movie is about an unborn child who will counter the evil forces of the world. Clearly the unborn child must be in danger from the evil forces. In this case the evil forces are themselves somehow making the child through some scientific act and therefore are not in a hurry to kill it - they don't seem to realise that the unborn child can kill them. Anyway we have a protector from 6000 years ago who has been cursed with no death after the Mahabharata war and in his act of penitence vows to protect that unborn child. Mind you, this chap was perhaps the biggest villain of the Mahabharata which is why he ended up with this curse of no death (which surprisingly many rich men want - to live forever). Coming up as his ally in this war or in this project of protecting the unborn child is another character who seems to have been reincarnated from a hero from the Kaurava's side. Now these two spend much time fighting one another leaving the unborn child and its mother to be rescued by many others who die in the process. In the end they somehow fight off the evil forces and we can assume they will team up now. By the time one is getting ready to find out how these two will counter the diabolical moves of this villain whose sole desire seems to be to live forever (the formula for which our man Ashwathama already has), the three hour film with many digressions, comes to an end with the happy hope that one will go back to find out more.

Only time will tell!    

The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

 Gretchen Rubin was a lawyer who worked with some of the best before embarking on her happiness project. Sometime in that stage of epiphany she discovered that the days are long and the years are short and we need to focus on things that really men something to us and give us contentment. So she embarked on a year long 'Happiness Project' with specific focus on a few things every month. Every once in a while she springs a brilliant quote like 'There is no love: only proofs of love' - Pierre Reverdy. Or 'It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich - Sarah Bernhadt. Or simply - that happiness takes energy and discipline! 

In January her focus was on vitality and she figured ways to boost energy which were trying to sleep early, get some exercise, reorganising her space, tackle a nagging task and act more energetic. All of which I full endorse - mostly the things we postpone - those nagging tasks. (Now let me see how I am doing here - I am not sleeping early, am getting moderate exercise, am reorganising but not enough to include writing time for my novel and other creative stuff, and am certainly not acting more energetic - maybe I should - it will probably make me less grumpy!)

In February the theme was to 'Remember Love' and she focused on her partnership /marriage. She stopped nagging, stopped expecting praise and appreciation, remembered to fight right, no dumping old stuff on the partner and showing 'proofs of love'. (I think I am doing better with nagging, don't expect praise and appreciation too much but I know I am not fully there, I do not fight right (much to learn there), and I try to show proofs of love which I believe in as a philosophy but perhaps do not practice it as much.)

In March the theme was to 'Aim Higher' and the area to apply was work. Here she launched a blog, enjoyed  the fun of failure, learned to ask for help, learned to work smart and enjoying the present moment. (I blog, fail enough and am ok with it, have learned to ask for help, not sure if I work smart and try to enjoy the moment.)

In April the theme was 'Lighten Up' and the area of work was Parenting. She began to sing in the morning, started acknowledging her feelings, started being a treasure house of memories and began to take time for projects. (I am not singing in the morning but I used to and can start again, not good with acknowledging my feelings but I can try, I am the memory collector and have loosened up a bit, and perhaps I take time for certain projects like teaching A how to ride a bike, or stuff like that).

In May the theme was to 'be serious about play ' and focus on leisure. Gretchen looked for fun, practiced being silly, went off the path and started a collection. (I look for fun but not enough, I am silly but only with people I know, haven't gone off the path which has been a huge aspiration of mine and have started a collection - books, pictures mostly)

In June her theme was to make time for Friends so she remembered birthdays, showed up for every invitation, stopped gossiping, made three new friends. (I am good with birthdays, show up for most, gossip, and I need to make 3 new friends)

In July the theme was to 'Buy Happiness' which was in the area of money. She went on a modest splurge, bought out all needful stuff, spend and lived something up. (I have been pushing myself to splurge modestly like a family outing to a five star hotel, taking A to Hard Rock and stuff like that, focused on the needful stuff which I am forced to buy, not so much for spending out but I would like to and have not lived something up - again aspirational. I feel i don't deserve to spend on myself, splurge on myself and need to change that with certain acts like buying myself good clothes, shoes, getting massages etc.

In August the theme was 'Eternity' and Gretchen reading memoirs of catastrophes, practiced gratitude and did some spiritual work like imitating a spiritual master. (I read and watch catastrophes and in some way feel i am living a catastrophe, practice gratitude though not fully and try to pick one or two things from spiritual masters - like making my bed and putting my shoes in the rack everyday like Master Chang said)

In September she says 'Pursue a Passion' an embarked on writing a novel in 30 days, made time for herself and others, forgot about results and enjoyed processes and mastered a new tech. (I need to get back to my novel and get it out in 30 days, haven't the inclination to master a new tech - in fact I want to get away from tech)

In October she practiced 'Mindfulness' and meditated on koans, maintained a food diary, did stuff to stimulate the mind in new ways. (I like the bit about stimulating the mind in new ways, meditating but not on koans which drive me nuts, and a food diary is a good idea too)

In November her theme was 'attitude' and focus was on being contented. She laughed out loud, practiced good manners, gave positive reviews and found an area of refuge. I could laugh out loud a lot more, could improve my manners and could certainly give more positive reviews.

In December the Project came to an end and she reorganised, sang, laughed, blogged, asked for help,showed up etc.

Overall Gretchen says be yourself (or Be Gretchen) because only you know what makes you happy - so do that. She knew she could not always be in high happiness state but could be deeply contented by doing things she wanted to. It's a lovely book and definitely recommended. Thanks Vinod bhai for giving me yet another wonderful book to read and learn from!        

The Wedding Ringer-Movie

 2015. English

Tech entrepreneur makes millions of bucks but has no friends - no one wants to be his best man at his wedding with this too-good-to-be-true girl.  So he hires a man from the Best Man Inc which provides best man services - with interesting consequences for all concerned!

Thought for the Day - The Idea of 'Ease' in Life

 Ease (in my definition) is things sorting themselves out without us getting too hassled about it. Big and small, things, they all get sorted. We just walk in and things are happening just right. From finding parking places to conversations that could have potentially gone bad but turned out easy, ease is great to have in our life. 

Can it be had by choice? By design?

I believe we can work ourselves into that state of consciousness. To me ease is a consciousness thing i.e. ease outside reflects ease inside. If my insides are conflicted, angry, suspicious and rigid, I cannot expect ease outside in my life. (If life is not experiencing ease outside, check how it is inside). 

Let me take one step back - what's the opposite of ease? Again, in my broad definition, its rigid. Holding on too tight to things as opposed to holding them with ease (suffocating your partner as opposed to holding them gently). 

So some basic differences between being 'easy' inside as against being 'too tight' inside. 

1) Ease is about being light and loose with everything, being flexible, looking at things as 'hmm interesting' however earth shaking they may be. Rigid is about holding on too hard to things, being inflexible, not happy with the slightest change in plan or outcomes. 

2) Ease is about being open to all outcomes even after giving the best and not getting attached to one outcome.Being rigid is holding on to one outcome and not letting go of it to the extent of losing sight of any other outcome or possibility.  

3) Ease is seeing more opportunities thanks to being flexible and open. Rigid is not seeing any opportunities or solutions and giving up. 

4) Ease is about seeing other possibilities. Rigid is end of story. 

5) Ease allows you to step back when there is a setback and allowing things to happen, not interfering with the process - or rather taking ego out of the picture. Being rigid is going harder, interfering more with the process, and messing it up - going with ego. 

6) Ease is sensing the subtle energy. Being rigid is just being hard. 

7) Ease is about non-judgment. Being rigid is about judgment.

When faced with a setback, a person with ease is thinking - hmm, that's interesting, wonder what it means. There is a loosening of the grip, of allowing the energy to correct. There is surrender (which is not giving up) with the faith that the right solution will show up.And even if does not, it is the right solution.

In that state of mind, when the mind is light and loose, in a state of surrender, open to all possibilities, having given up control (no ego) - there is ease inside. 

When there is ease inside, ease shows up outside in our life. Nothing seems wrong anymore. Without our hard energy judging, forcing things, most things happen easily. Miraculously almost. One wonders, hey I just stepped out of the way and it happened even better than I could have wanted to.

Is it about being happy with what one gets - like a compromise? No, when there is ease inside we actually have the most elegant, the best solution that we could not even imagine or conceive. 

Somewhere at the bottom of it all I feel that so much about ease is about trusting the process of life, of this grander intelligence around us. And it always comes up with the right, the easier solution.    

Practice 'ease inside'. Get 'ease' outside.

What Men Want - Movie

 2019. English.

Caught in a boy club of sports agents Ali Davis realises she has to more than prove herself to be made partner. It would be great if she could read men's minds and voila, she gets the power thanks to Sister, a cocaine snorting medium. It has some unhappy consequences but hey, it turns out good in the end what with Ali finding love and a great career!

  

Man Up - Movie

 2015.

The thing is that I like British comedies because there is something inherently funny in the way they speak and go about life that I find quite compelling and that swung it this way. 34 year old young woman without love meets a guy who is looking for a blind date by pretending to be the blind date and they hit it off. There are consequences obviously and some interesting twists and turns but it all ends happily which is what we are always rooting for!

Yaay. Oh, by the way, the title 'Man Up' is the man telling the girl to man up and take a chance in life and not stay at the fringes! To love and lose is better than not to have loved at all he says.

I got my share of laughs so I am quite happy!