Monday, August 27, 2012

The weather today reminds me of Bombay, which consequently reminds me of one hell of a trip in June.
I've never been a big fan of birthday celebrations, per se. Although even for a non-believer like me, twenty one was a pretty big deal. Which is why we ended up in Bombay. However, now when I look back, it wasn't so much 'Twenty One' that made that trip so incredible, but the people (my cousins and best friends) who were with me that week.

Our day would start at 11am. We would sleepily find our way to the noisy kitchen, grabbing the first hot and crispy chicken nugget and omelet in our line of sight and quickly sit down to chomp on it before someone asked for a bite (When you live in a house of 8 people, you gotta fight for your right). Reaching a mutual consensus on where to go/what to do for the rest of the day usually took between 60-80 minutes. Getting everyone to go for a bath took another 60-80 minutes. By the time all that was done, each of us had to be ushered  towards the front door like a flock of sheep or all the chaos would be for nothing. Everyday it would drizzle while we stuffed our selves in the car, singing Payphone and  Feel So Close on top of our voices, as we made our way to some Restaurant to binge and indulge in the joys of unhealthy food - yes, after the lengthy brainstorming session, we would all settle on eating again. Full to the point of collapsing and promising not to eat another meal, us girls would win by popular vote and go shopping. Contrary to popular belief, shopping in Bombay is not dirt cheap. That fantasy you have of breezing your way from shop to shop, buying everything you see, does not actually happen. In fact, a lot of bargaining and stomping leaves you more or less empty handed. Piling ourselves back into the car, we'd go back home, only to freshen up and change into better looking clothes and set out again. The highlight of everybody's night was always 'gyaara bhaje ki bambu' which can be translated (not literally cause that is a bit coarse) to giving someone shit at 11 pm. Somehow, my cousins always made a mock court out of the entire thing and we would always end up laughing till our stomachs hurt whilst the bambu giver and taker would always make up (you aren't getting anything for guessing who they are).

There is something about waking up to a house full of chattering and familiarly, of people you love and cannot live without - and I don't think there is a worthy replacement or something you can even compare it to. Without taking into consideration the new and exciting city, the yummy food, the long drives on Sea Link,  the bloody amazing clubs, the drinking, the cozy Menezes house - it would've still been the best birthday. Ever. Because there isn't a bunch of people I would've rather see than them, on the morning I turned 21 :)

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Saturday Musings

Don't you just hate when the Saturday you were looking forward to so eagerly isn't the Saturday you hoped for? Well, today is just that.
Work has been getting more hectic. I don't have the 'I'm the new girl' excuse to lean back on anymore - there are certain things expected of me and I have to deliver. I try to assimilate as much as I can - and most nights I dream of press releases and instructions. I often look back at my life before my first job and I miss it terribly. But I also know that it is only natural to miss it, as it was the only life I ever knew. Right above my computer, is a piece of paper that reads, 'The starting point of maturity is the realisation that "No one is coming to the rescue." Everything you are or ever will be is entirely up to you'. It's funny how I never noticed it all these years and kind of fitting that I did today. Because I would've never fully understood it if I read it when I was in college. However, now, I know what it's like to wake up and not know what is in store for me. I know what it is like to make decisions that I have to live with. I know that sinking loneliness while I travel back home in a bus full of people. And I know that reassurance that washes over me, when I look at the familiar faces of my family, and how it reminds me that they can't look after me forever - I need to learn to look after myself. And when I'm overcome by this realisation, I know for a fact that this foreign concept of work; independence and learning will slowly start to fit better - like a pair of old jeans you grow comfortable in, with time.
When I look forward to a fun Saturday night with all my heart, I suppose I feel disappointed when it all goes downhill and I'm left with only my thoughts for company. Sometimes, I just want to forget what happens the entire week and dive head first into a good time with people I love. However, that seldom happens and I now see that that is okay, because atleast I get to sort out a few things in my head - leaving it less clouded for next Saturday, or the one after that...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Take this Waltz? No, thank you.

I have been pestering my boyfriend to download 'Take this Waltz' for the last one week. Now that I've just finished watching it, I'm wondering why I even bothered with the persistent reminders in the first place. With no story as such, and eccentric characters, I sat on the edge of my seat...waiting for this movie to end. By 'no story as such', I mean that one can hardly call a woman who is never happy a noteworthy story line. And by eccentric characters (I have nothing against them) I mean that this bunch takes flakey to another level of comprehension - one that you ironically cannot comprehend.

Okay, so our little confused protagonist Margot  is a shifty and strange woman. In fact, she plays this role so well that you feel she has some sort of mental ailment and sympathize with her. She and her husband Lou share a relationship that is not easy to understand either - one minute they are professing their love for each other (I love you so much I want to grind your spleen in a meat grinder) and the next, they're arguing because he never lets her touch him. Daniel, curious #3, has 'fallen' for our slightly harebrained Margot who he meets on a flight and who just happens to be his neighbour (wow, coincidences really know when to make appearances). Feeling unsatisfied with her five year marriage with Lou, she begins to meet Daniel on the sly, asking him 'what would you do to me now?' to which he explains his erotic fantasies in great detail, after which she tells him 'that can never happen, I'm married'. I mean, way to crash a man's hopes Margot. On another occasion, they just jump into a pool and swim around and make bubbles underwater, after which they decide to part ways as Daniel doesn't want to be 'in between' Margot's marriage. At which point, you just have to stand and clap for Daniel, who walks away from his beloved and so graciously moves out of the neighbourhood. However, you are made to abruptly sit down when he sends her a postcard with a date and time to meet him near some lighthouse (some people never give up, do they?) Distraught and desperate, Margo eventually leaves Lou who pathetically lets her go and wallows in pity and acts as if it is his fault for not fixing their marriage earlier. In no time, Margot is in her stalker lover's arms and they show various scenes of love making, and then another woman is added to them (the scenes) and later, another man. Eventually, an insatiable Margo realizes she isn't happy in her current relationship with Daniel either. Here, you are really left to feel like she just needed all that action to realize that she has some deeper issues to sort out.

The entire message can be summed up in this one dialogue from the movie : 'Life has a gap in it..it just does. You  don't go crazy trying to fill it.' - while this makes perfect sense in respect to running off with another man to fulfil the disruption in your other relationships, I only wish the entire thing was relayed to the audience in a more bearable manner.