Category: post

Winner winner chicken dinner

What does this phrase mean?

  1. The winner is lucky – will be rewarded with chicken for dinner,
  2. The winner has to buy everyone chicken for dinner, or
  3. The winner is seriously unlucky, and will be cooked to be served as chicken dinner? 😁

Yes, I could easily look up the real meaning, but that takes out the fun of imagining possibilities 🙂

It’s not feminism.

It’s humanism.

It’s about men getting to do things they want – cook, knit, cry in public, sing, wear beautiful pink shirts.

It’s about women getting to do things they want – drive lorries, develop AIs, fix plumbing, wear blue-grey suits, drink beer, and laugh out loud in public.

Or vice versa. Or both. Or neither.

It’s about everyone getting to be, and do, what they want, without the fear of repercussions – formal, informal, social, legal, or even just a slanted eye look.

 

London, Diversity & Inclusion

Mrs Brown says that in London everyone is different, and that means anyone can fit in. I think she must be right – because although I don’t look like anyone else, I really do feel at home. I’ll never be like other people, but that’s alright, because I’m a bear. A bear called Paddington.

A bear called Paddington

Today in Wikipedia wormholing

It started with this photo of Dubrovnik on Instagram

It mentioned ‘Siege of Dubrovnik’, so looked it up to read on it.

From there, went to read about Operation Tiger (1992), and the Battle of Konavle.

In parallel tabs, also read about the Bay of Kotor and the peninsula of Prevlaka.

Bay of Kotor, lead to reading about Karstification, Montenegro, town of Herceg Novi, and (from Montenegro) about a 12 Km long beach called Velika Plaža. Montenegro seems like a good, slightly off-beat place to visit.

At this point, I took a detour from Wikipedia to Google maps, and spent a while exploring the region… Mainly bay of Kotor.

Returning to Wikipedia, resumed with the war articles. Next up, from Operation Tiger in 1992, to Operation Storm in 1995. It was, apparently, the biggest land battle in Europe since WW2!

Also open, though yet to be read, are articles on Operation Summer (1995), State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918–1929).

Think they’ll last me the night 🙂

P.S.: The featured image is from xkcd.

Dear Zindagi

I seem to be having a renewed fling with Hindi movies. It could be me – looking for a change from the formula Hollywood movies – or, it could be the movies I saw – light hearted, yet not the outrageous fare the Salman or Akshay produce.

I liked Ae dil hai mushkil (ADHM). And now, 2 weeks later, I really, really liked Dear Zindagi.

ADHM felt more polished, had much better music, and had the usual play between a male and a female lead.

Yet, it was Dear Zindagi that I liked more. A lot more. Some reasons…

  • Alia Bhatt – she brings a truck load of freshness, youth, and energy to the screen. It’s been a week, and I can still close my eyes, and remember the wide variety of her expressions. Brings on a smile every time.
     
  • SRK – I was starting to get tired of him in lead, primary male roles. And he goes an reinvents himself, and how. A small cameo in ADHM was brilliant. A full role, but as a second character to a young, female, primary lead – and he pulled it off effortlessly. He was strong and present, as his own character, while not stealing an iota of focus from the main character – Alia’s. Which brings me to…
     
  • Sole female lead. I didn’t think that Bollywood could produce a movie with a strong, solo female lead. At least not in my lifetime. And here we have one. Not just a solo, strong female lead. But one that’s neither an arch-feminist waging the war on the world, nor a mother-to-the-world leading the charge. She’s just a regular, young girl, living (the complicated & troubled, yet sometimes joyous life) in modern India. Hats off to the producer and director for taking on this challenge, and executing it without heavy melodrama.
     
  • Mental health. It took a long while, but glad to have a bollywood movie bring a focus on mental health into the mainstream. Usually, mental health issues are portrayed either with jail-like mental asylums full of odd characters, or with dark, dangerous, gloomy, brooding characters.
    It was pleasant to see it shown in such a different light. Yes, normal, successful, seemingly happy people, surrounded by friends, can still have mental health problems. And yes, it’s not just normal, but important to see a therapist/consultant to work on those problems, the same way we do with our physical health issues. Thanks again, to the writers, the director, and the producers, for bringing mental health in focus, in such a non-intimidating, yet serious manner.
     
  • Bombay & Goa. My top two favourite places in India. The only two places, I’ve long stated on record, that I can live in if I ever return to India.
    The movie highlighted some of the best bits of both places for me, without focussing on the usual landmarks and tourist spots. More than the sights, it was the people, the culture, of both places that I love. That I’ve missed. Was a warm blessing to see them portrayed on screen. Not perfect, not complete, yet true … to what was shown.
     
  • Friends. I don’t have any. I use to, not anymore. So, it really warmed my heart to see such a close, happy bunch of friends. Fighting, forgiving, fun, friends.
    Friends, you can speak to. Or not. Who give you an embrace, and a shrug. Who care about you, but not just for the gossip. Just, friends.
     
  • Family. Again, the movie didn’t stick to one of the two standard strains of family relations – the god like parents in front of whom everyone bends eventually, or the devils of parents against whom everyone rebels, till parents come to their senses or the kids die.
    Families are complicated. Relationships are complicated. It was good to see them shown as such, and not in one of the two simple baskets. We’re both right and wrong in our relationships. Often at the same time. Some relationships are special, some even more so. The strength of that bond, sometimes, has nothing to do with time spent together, or closeness of the relationship in traditional terms. And sometimes, relationships that should be close, aren’t – me & sis, for example. Often, some friendships get closer than even the closest relationships we were born into.That’s just how we are. Such is life. Such, it was, in the movie. Thank you!
     
  • Ae Zindagi Gale Laga Le, Take 2. I liked the music of ADHM more than that of Dear Zindagi. Still, there are a few songs in this movie that’ve quickly made their way to my most played playlist. This one deserves a special mention, considering the original was (is) a long time favourite. (Take 1 is brilliant as well)
     

Love you zindagi…. (and you too, that small corner of Bollywood)

Free speech vs hate speech

Where’s the line?

There’s that famous quote:

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it

Evelyn Beatrice Hall

My issue here is about what happens when, what you say is to exhort the mobs to take away someone else’s right to speech, life, or dignity.

Does your right to free speech still supercede others’ rights to speech or life?
What if you’re actively supporting, for narrow financial reasons, someone who promises to take away others’ rights to speech or life?

Where is the line?