Color me with love

Reds, pinks, blues, violets and yellows…. Irresistibly vibrant, colorful, bright and happy. HAPPY is what they make me feel….and happiness is what they are known to bring to our lives.
When I think of colors, I smile. I want to break into a dance , burst into a song… It makes me think of laughter, sunshine…warmth, and lots of love.
I color my life with tons of optimism, a never-say-die attitude, plenty of laughter and loads of passion. Living life passionately comes naturally to me, [thank the lord!]
Be it walking my ‘duggas’- [ that’s my lingo for my pet dogs], sketching, limping my way to shop for veggies [ I have a severe knee injury], blogging, singing, rustling up a dish, watching a play .. I do it joyously, making it the very reason for my life and quite honestly, I always end up enjoying it all. And I want to suggest it to all you guys out there- do it completely or don’t do it at all. Not only does such an attitude keep you on a constant high, it infuses life and joy into all those you come into contact with…

A half hearted approach towards things kind of dulls things around me... i can sit for hours, simply dreaming- but I assure you, its also done with great focus and loads of emotion. :)

Doing things with feeling leaves us more enriched as we are ever so ready to soak up all things new and it teaches us the one lesson we spend our entire lives trying to learn but never really do…which is to never lose hope , to shake off the dust and stand up after a fall --- even more charged and raring to go.

Colors do that to us - they help brighten up our lives –bringing cheer, sparkle, hope. Daring us to dream, and then pushing us to realize them……….
lets throw lots of colors into our lives- paint it with kind words, gentle touches, laughter, childlike innocence, understanding, ..a warm hug here n there ...and bingo! its HOLI every day!

loving responsibly

Boundless joy, excitement and terribly protective are the emotions that i have always felt whenever i have held either a baby in my arms or a dog...even today i experience the unmistakable surge of love as always...more intense and stronger. I marvel at motherhood...marvel at all those who are blessed as mothers..
Yup, blessed is how i look at them to be... but i wonder how many of them realize what a huge responsibility it is to be a mother...As a special educator, i have often had to see the trauma many children have had to undergo thanks to the negligence or ignorance of the parents.It’s a tremendous job, parenting is. It requires dollops of maturity, emotional balance, intelligence and sensitivity. I meet this young 30 year old neighbour who constantly cribs about the unfairness of nature. Expecting her second child, she conceived simply because it ‘made sense’ to have two kids and then ‘get on with her life’. Definitely Not because she was looking forward to bringing another life into this world…not because it gave her an opportunity to be a mother, a nurturer who had been given yet another chance to love unconditionally –again.. to ‘learn’ how to love unconditionally. ..to open your heart and let all the love pour out freely…..to look into the deep recesses of your heart and discover the softness, the tenderness, the gentleness that all women should be capable of regardless. This becomes a great opportunity to explore that side of womanhood- to know that you are capable of such a powerful emotion- to know such compassion towards one and all… its no wonder they say motherhood completes you…
I don’t really agree.. Women do have that side to them…its just that they go on in life not bothering to look at it.or address it…The ones who do, are generally dismissed as ‘softies’ or emotionally unstable. But to me, they are brave and courageous….to accept love, to receive it and give it without a thought, without judging , truly what being a woman is all about.
Some of us however, have to rely on nature to allow us to experience this…. but then are we ready to don the mantle of responsible parents?
Lets not forget that the way we raise our child, the values we impart is what he will in turn give to society. A few weeks back, I caught a couple of teenage boys stoning stray dogs that are completely harmless as they are fed by our building . This building is inhabited by the upper strata of society where the children as young as three years, are spotted wearing international brands and flaunting it too. When I brought this to the notice of the parents, one laughingly acknowledged that her son was beyond repair and was a pathological liar while the other parent was deeply insulted that someone had dared question the behaviour of her son.
No sooner had I reached home, I got a phone call from a visibly angry, irate father who haughtily informed me that I was responsible for the stray dogs being there as I fed them regularly. He also threatened to call up the authorities to take away the dogs. All this in the presence of his son.
It’s extremely scary that these are the children that are going to do India proud tomorrow.
Counselling sessions need to be held in hospitals where the parents-to- be are guided about their roles. More awareness needs to be spread among newly married couples to understand parenting and what it involves.
The media needs to be more careful with the kind of stories they circulate and the effect it has on children.
Most importantly, we need to take a good look at ourselves- our value systems, our responsibilities, understand and recognize our relationships and for that we must first learn to love for love is what teaches us to communicate the right way…with patience and courage.

understanding sound

I'm almost impelled to reinvent the term 'choreography'....
Apalling is the way songs are choregraphed in cinema. Barring a few dancers who have developed the rare art of understanding and mastering the slick 'shiamak davar' style of dance, the rest need to understand what choreography really is...

First, its never really about dancing. Sure, dance is one part of it but yes, certainly not the gyrating and pelvic thrusting kind of dance that is passed off as belly dancing.
These are art fors that need to be respected independently...but why must we almost always have the usual attrocious mix of acrobatics and a distorted form of Indian dance which interprets no form?

Dance is actually about being rhythmic... about truly relating to the sound and responding stylishly....its about being in sync with that sound and rhythm.... its about adding something to the song...beautifying it.. moving your body -letting it understand the sound and feel and allowing it to react.... then simply fine tuning that movement into something artistic and graceful. The body while dancing, should give the feel of a fluidity, a sense of liberation, a dignity and poise that can never be trained. When we dance, we surrender to the soul responding to the sound - a love for the sound... unspoken, untouched, raw and divine...
Which is perhaps why Hrithik is always a delight to watch... he takes you to heights unexplored with his grace. No matter how complicated the movements maybe, yet his natural ease and dignity make it graceful and lyrical.
However, choreography is not about dancing always.
Its about depicting an emotion with subtlety. Using different things to interpret the emotion, the mood, about capturing the moment using music and sometimes simply the sounds of nature like the rains, rippling of the water in the river.... the gushing and whistling of the breeze....
things need not be theatrical...they can be sensitive and quiet as well. Soetomes simply the echoing of distant birds in the silence.
Music and choreography is to be used to capture a moment- enhancing it.
'Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga...' from '1942, a love story' is one such piece of choreography or the recent hrithik number 'dhoom again' in Dhoom 2 that is brilliant and artistically done...
Can we have more of such kind please?

strangely speechless!

The reactions to unequal relationships is baffling.
Take 'nishabd' for starters...
The fact that these relationships need justifications.. [ jiahs' background of incompatible parents etc ] is ever so predictable.
Can’t we have a relationship which comes without any baggage of explanations?
Also, one can easily be drawn to a young girl who is sensible and grounded yet fresh. she needn’t be this carefree, irresponsible girl because I don’t see why a 60 year old can't fall in love with a sensible 18 year old who is quiet and sensitive and respectful too.
In this case they could have shown a bubbly talkative but grounded 18 year old too...
because this 'free spirited girl' thing is quite clichéd.
And its quite strange that we should classify all 18 year olds as immature and ones who do not understand love. I know of quite a few such girls who have understood and connected to life very maturely too.
Its also possible that some relationships are formed out of mutual respect and understanding over a common factor. Sometimes we fall in love with a persons' sensibilities- perhaps the fact that he could make for a great father, husband and friend.... and we may carry away with us beautiful conversations that can change the very course of our lives...
Its important that we tell a story sensitively but for that we need to be sensitized ourselves first. The movie might have left a lasting impression on many considering Mr. Bachchans' unquestionable talent, but was a huge let-down not because we Indians our still not progressive enough but because the story was told very insensitively and dealt with in an immature manner.. seemingly comic and stupid.
Let us stick to what we know and understand best... Mr. Verma needs to stick to SARKAR' ...