Inspired

Tonight, after nearly a year, I went to the theater to watch a Hindi movie and I am really glad it was 'Tare Zameen Par'. Not only does it a have a solid storyline and a strong message, but it stood out to me artistically as well. The simplicity of its creation made it appealing to me. It was not over dramatic in trying to make you sob and feel very sorry for the characters. It is not my intent to review the movie or tell you the story, the reason I'm writing about it lies in the fact that I strongly related to it in various aspects to the minutest detail. When I was in boarding school we used to push the food with the fork (held in our left hand) into the spoon (held with our right) and shove it in out mouths. That is exactly how they showed it in the movie. You the reader might be thinking - so what's the big deal - and I wish I could explain. It felt like I knew exactly how the nine year old boy felt the day his parents waved him goodbye his first day at boarding school.

A very inspirational movie and a must see for especially the Indian parents. Gosh, I think I'm in love with Aamir Khan all over again. :)

Think India

India saw the advent of its first television commercial in the late 70's. At that time they were sparse as was the programming. As Doordarshan launched its mega soap opera's, 'Hum Log' and 'Buniyaad' in the 80's we saw an influx of advertisers such as Maggi Noodles, Vicco and Nirma whose sales actually boosted for their price quality positioning. It was not until the early nineties with the broadcast of satellite TV by foreign programmers like CNN followed by Star TV and a little later by domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV that commercials took a front seat in the Indian homes. Companies jumped in to sell their product to this vast population absolutely hooked to their television sets. Advertising companies went all out to be creative and thus started the legend of brilliant television commercials that not only sold products; but told stories, made us laugh and cry and most importantly THINK.

Since then, Indian commercials have gotten better and bigger and has left its mark on the global advertising world. They have in fact become mini-movies which casts mega Bollywod actors and uses background scores compiled by renowned music directors. Overall, they are creative, fresh, soul stirring and an absolute treat to watch.

Here are some of my recent favorites.

White Space

For all of you who know the designer in me as the advocate of 'white space' - this redesign was bound to happen. :)

Hot Cross Buns

As my little darling snoozes on my chest, what better to do than play along with my fellow bloggers (ArSENik. to be precise ;)and disclose to everyone my taste in music. Now there goes my image!

Rules (as per 'I don't know who at this point'):
1. Put your MP3 player/Media player on shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. You must write the name of the song no matter what.

IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY?” YOU SAY?
Ocean Monsoon Night - Prem Joshua
I think this is time to reveal I have ADD.

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
The language of Innocence - Bikram Ghosh
Me blushing & batting my eyelids :)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Jao Chere Chole - some Bangla band
No strings attached - what can I say.

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Yaad hai - The Salman & Shilpa movie on Aids
That's exactly how I feel - yaad hai woh life before husband and baby.

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Krishna - Colonial Cousins
I've been trying to tell my MIL that I am religious - no idea why she doesn't believe me.

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
O Rey Chori - Lagaan
Hmmm...should I be coming out of the closet???

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Lalkaar - Rang de Basanti
Totally.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Purani Jeans - Ali Haider
So purani that we still haven't been able to convince dad to use a computer.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Masty Masty - Ali Zafar
Absolutely!

WHAT IS 2+2?
Woh Kagaz ki Kashti - Jagjit Singh
Mathematically challenged from birth, that ship has sailed since Madhyamik - never to return.

DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Khoya Khoya Chaand - Khoya khoya chaand
Currently she has switched from 'khoya khoya' phase to 'crying crying pacche' phase ever since she returned to Canada from vacationing in Kolkata.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Ban Ke Tera Jogi - Phir Bhi Dil Hain Hindustani
:)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Amader Janya - Suman Chatturje
Darshonik!

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Sabse bara Rupaya - Bluffmaster
Ha..ha...I wish!

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Chand Chupa Badal Main - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam


WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Kuch Khushbuye - The Salman & Shilpa movie on Aids
I think they are referring to my dirty socks here.

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Love Theme - Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam
If it was my pick it would have been 'ami kolkata-r rosogolla'. I would still be happily single till date.

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Rainforest - Vanraj Bhatia
Kinda like this one.

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Gaan Bhalobeshe Gaan - Chandrabindoo
Sa-Re-Ga-Ma

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Still Life - Prem Joshua
Even more darshonik...*dirghonishash!

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Earthquake - Vanraj Bhatia
What can I say - I'm only friends with people who are addicted to food which helps them sustain their very 'healthy figures'.

WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
Hot Cross Buns - Baby Genius
Reflects the random nature of my current life.

In memorium

It is a bit eerie to some point that right after I write a post on the Indian Girl Child, we get a phone call on another relevant issue that has hit home. We are normally used to reading about social issues or watching them on the news and creating our own theories to discuss them in forums. We think we feel the pain and misery of the people involved in such incidents and try to sympathize or show our frustration towards this enlightened clan. It is however something else when such things happen to someone near and dear - it becomes REAL.

Last Friday, during our weekend calls to India, my husband found out that a very close cousin had been pronounced dead, after eleven days in a nursing home in Kolkata due to an overdose of sleeping pills. I had met her briefly on a few occasions during my wedding, from which I had deciphered her being a very successful, independent and confident individual with a very strong personality. Later I found out that she was indeed a favorite in my husband's family. Having lost her father at a very early age, she had taken over the family business and had run it successfully for several years since then. She single handedly traveled to various parts of the world making business deals at an age where we bunked college to catch the first day first show of Shahrukh Khan's new movie.

She wasn't labeled as the kind to have an arranged marriage. However, not having met her match, she was finally convinced by family to go ahead with it. The search began and a very suitable upper-middle class educated guy with a great job at hi-tech was found to tie the knot. It seemed to be the perfect social match, until after a few weeks of the wedding it was found that the guy had an illicit relation with his first cousin and the family had arranged his social marriage to keep that a secret from the community. Basically his marriage would act as a cover for him to continue his relation with his cousin. The groom and family also suggested to their bride to have an open marriage, where she would be free to have relations with other men as she chose.

The newly wed bride was distraught and her family immediately filed a criminal case against the groom and his family. As soon as the case was filed, the groom quit his cushy job and along with his family went absconding. For all of us who has any idea on the leagl system of India knows that any court case takes forever to get resolved. The humiliation is never ending and there is no guarantee on true justice being attained.

The result - a very young, beautiful, intelligent and sincere girl who having struggled all her life, finally gives up hope and commits suicide. She is taken to the hospital where her mother and sister prays every night in hope her child will come through. After seven days, of what I can imagine to the family as being 'hell', and having no will to fight for her dear life, her soul is finally put to rest on Friday, December 7th.

There are several such cases happening every year in India. The most common we hear about are Indian guys living overseas, ties the knot with a girl chosen by his family only to find out later that the guy is already married to someone in the country where he currently resides. Either the guys are too darned scared to let their parents know that he has already found someone who is not of his own caste or creed and agrees with this parents to get into matrimony to keep them appeased or the paretns do it knowingly to hide the fact that their son is (a) gay or (b) has married someone who is not a social match in their eyes. Either way, what I don't get is how can these people be so stupid to think they will be able to keep these second wives totally in the dark forever. And moreover, why would an educated person do something like this in the first place?

Over and over again, something like this happens and it crushes my hopes of seeing the developed India we so hope for. I continue to be drawn back to my motherland but I return just a bit more frustrated. I am often surrounded with guilt for not doing anything to rectify the situation, but I just don't know where to start.

The Girl Child

I woke up this morning very distressed due to a report I watched on BBC World last night on how U.K. Indian women were aborting girls. The Oxford University study suggests 1,500 girls are "missing" from the birth statistics in England and Wales from 1990 to 2005. One British woman, who spoke to the BBC anonymously, said she had an abortion after a doctor in India found she was to have a fourth daughter. Last time I checked, finding out the sex of a baby in India was illegal. Then how was this happening? BBC did an undercover filming on a renowned gynaecologist, Dr Mangala Telang - a doctor recommended by the British High Commission to find out that not only does she secretly perform the ultrasounds to reveal the sex of the unborn child but also provides recommendations to those couples who wish for an abortion after having found out they are having a girl.

There's some disturbing new evidence in India about a growing gender imbalance in the country that's home to more than a billion people. A report published jointly by the Indian government and the United Nations Population Fund shows an alarming drop in the number of baby girls. An estimated seven million girls have gone missing from India's population over the last 25 years. Some of them will have been killed after they were born, or allowed to die within their first few days. But most of them will have been aborted. Selective abortion is happening all over India as ultrasound machines - which carry out the scan - have become cheaper, but it has always been worst in Punjab and Gujarat.

It is even more disturbing to find out that it is the elite class of India that mostly indulge in such practices mainly because they have easy access to ultrasound machines and have the money to pay for such illegal practices.

Whenever, I make a trip back to India, I find my friends and family gloating about how rapidly India is developing on its way to becoming a super power in the very near future. When I ask them questions on this growth, I often find out that their theories are based on availability of hi-tech jobs that have sprung up in the past few years due to heavy outsourcing from the U.S., easy access to foreign merchandise, huge lifestyle change that imitates the ones seen on Hollywood/Bollywood movies and most recently the increasing value of the Rupee. No one talks about education, the discrimination, the corruption, the superstitions that till date tie our society down and worst of all no one does anything about it. How does such a society develop? How does such a country become a super power? How come we don't admit what it true and try to bring a change?

I am proud to be a mother of a girl.

9 months

I know its high time I posted an update on Evani. Its just that I sometimes find it hard to believe that it has already been nine months. Time has just whizzed past and I'm lucky enough to have savored it all.

Measuring at a little over 2 feet and weighing in close to 17 lbs (not quite there yet) she seems to be preparing herself well for America's Next Top Model. She even has the attitude for it (oh dear lord - save me!) and will let you know when she is not pleased with anything. There are time she needs undivided attention, but luckily for the most part she is happy keeping herself busy. The two bottom pearly whites have popped out and she loves to chew on whatever comes her way. Her recent favorites are mom's chicken stew, bread and bananas. She can eat bread any time of the day and does an awfully good job pecking at it on her own. She absolutely loves to be entertained by dad, but when it comes to anything else she needs her mom. She will clap for you when you say 'tai tai tai...mamar bari jai' and if you are lucky enough, you'll get a squeal along with it. Her very active lifestyle takes her all around the house these days, however she still quite hasn't figured out how to go into the sitting position from crawling. Her body mass being on the lower side - she is sometimes still unstable while sitting and will occasionally topple over and will then go into a confused state of whether she should cry or not. She loves books, not to read but chew on them instead. Her vocabulary consists of 'ooohhhh' (she's been saying this for the longest time), dada, mamma, and occasionally 'babba' along with various other sounds she manages to do with the clicking of her tongue. She loves to explore under the couch, yank at any wires that accidentally come within her reach and lick any kind of phone she manages to get her tiny hands on. In fact one day I found my cell phone dripping in saliva after which it refused to work for one whole day.

All in all, she is 24/7 entertainment for us and growing rapidly each day. I am glad I live in an age where I can share her progress with all of you via my blog, pictures and video. She is very lucky to have all of you as her well-wishers.

Zzzzzzz..........

This is a first - I sat to write something and totally lost my chain of thought. Its only 9:30pm and sleep is devouring me from every angle. I haven't been this sleep deprived or tired in a while.