Inspirations

Recently, two dialogues from two different movies struck me as inspiring. Quoting them here.

1>> The last line in the trailer of "Flash of Genius" goes as follows

"Makes you wonder what makes a man succesful?

Brains? Talent?

Maybe it's some other thing."

The trailer:

Flash of Genius

2>> From the movie "Kung Fu Panda":

"Yesterday is history
Tomorrow is a mystery
But today is a gift
That is why it is called present."

Who says you can't talk sense and be funny at the same time?

The British are the way they are...

Here's a hilariously written article that I chanced upon recently. It's about how Londoners welcome the summer after a cold spell of winter. And how they get crazy if the summer gets too oppressive (which is something we Indians are regularly used to.)

I'll quote the lines which were highlighted in the original article - they'll give you an idea about the article. A good two lines surely - at least they made me read the article.

"The British are the way they are because our climate is damp, dour and undemonstrative"

"If we consistently had summers like they have in Rio, we wouldn't just grow bananas, we'd go bananas"

On the Look Out

I always maintained that watching English movie trailers is a fantastic way to pass your time. Regardless of whether the movie is good or not, trailers are always 100% entertainment. The Apple Trailers website is a cool place to get to see a lot of trailers. Posted on my entertainment blog are a few which caught my eye when I visited the site for the first time yesterday.

Kid

Kid

Smiles back at me

Aloo chaat in hand

Watching cars pass by.

Inhaling fumes all day

As he dishes out his fare

To hungry wayfarers.

His smile is real

But his life is not.
















(written during my Kolkata trip in June 2008)

The Need To Live

Dementia.

Cancer.

Angioplasty.

Paralysis.

Stroke.
‘She is bedridden for a year.’

‘But it is good that he did not suffer too much.’

‘Which hospital?’

‘Visiting hours?’

‘Her eyes were completely blank.

She didn’t even notice that we were there.’
In a city of ten million people,

Death is a daily occurrence.

But every so often,

A child is born.

And all one needs

To restore the will to live

Is to stare with wonder

At the smile of a child.








(written 24th June 2008, during my Kolkata trip)

Haiku

Here are two samples of Haiku that I came up with - the first one is inspired by a prayer book that I read.

**

Bring me to that moment
where I am at peace.
And let me remain there.
**

I found the secret of living -
In one go,
let it all go.
**

Toothpaste

The sight of the twisted toothpaste at my friend’s place reminded me of my mom. By habit, I always follow instructions while squeezing paste out of a tube – "squeeze from bottom upwards". This results in the tube always having a uniform shape. However, back when I was in school and had just started having my own room and toilet, there were days when my mom would use my tube of paste. And on those days, the effect on the toothpaste tube would be devastatingly different. It would look stricken by some disease, with many contortions here and there. In one day, my mom would distort all my efforts at uniformity.

I tried to bear with my mom’s habit at first. But later, I took a strict stand – if she was to use my paste, she would have to use it my way. After repeated reminders, my mom finally learned to use toothpaste in my fashion.

That was years ago. I now wonder how my mom would have felt when her little child, who she had taught to walk, eat, talk, even brush, started scolding her about the proper usage of a toothpaste.
















PS: This pic came up in Google Images when I searched for "toothpaste". I just had to post it. I thought that the following caption would create a nice connection with the above post:
"With its' twists and turns, life goes on..."

Memories Pops Out of Nowhere

On my visit to Kolkata,

Memories pop out of nowhere.

One day,

Car stuck at random intersection.

Tap at car window -

Hawker selling fare,

Sweet fruit called 'Aash Phol'.

As kids, we would spend afternoons

Devising ingeneous strategies

To bring these fruits

Down to earth.

'Fruits' of our labour,

Eh?

Of another summer holiday

Long gone past.

Another day,

An expert driver

Takes us through

The winding roads

Of a short-cut.

I read the signs

And I notice

The name of the road -

Gorfa.

A friend lived there,

A friend with similar tastes

In music and life.

He would always invite me home

But I never went

Giving one excuse or the other.

That day

I crossed his street

For the first time.

But our paths do not cross anymore

And probably never will -

But who knows?