Damsels in distress!..??

I have reason for not posting anything for a little more than a week...oh! and its a really good reason ...I wanted to write about "Damsels in distress!.. ??" and was waiting for an incident related to the topic to reach its apex (I wanted to share it), which had its beginning end today.


Well, it started a week ago, when I came across a discussion, where a group of young ladies were talking over whether girls should be treated with little extra care and love at home as they need it because of their sensibility- only a few agreed on it.
When I laid the same topic in front of my friends, all of them went against it.
All the girls from both the groups, hooting the idea of being "favored", said one common thing;
"We are strong enough to take care of ourselves, we don't want extra protection from anybody".

 I, coming from a liberal family and also being the only child of my parents, never had to face any preference or discrimination...barring the occasional - first serving of treats in family get togethers (me being the only girl of my generation in the family back then), which happened ages ago. *I really enjoyed those -winks* . 

Though my father was and is still protective about me...but that does not make me feel like a princess locked away in a tower, with a fire breathing dragon as the gate keeper (hey I just described Fiona), it never did. And my Mom, well she is one hell of a cool mother.

Now, with such upbringing, I feel suffocated when bound with rules...and I get irritated when I am being treated with loads of extra care.
Agreed, some discipline..some pampering is required/acceptable... but total discrimination/ preference.. NO WAY !
I dislike extremes in anything. Balance- is the keyword in life.

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Now, for the incident I was talking about;
Uma, the 13 year old daughter of our help (Mina), was in tears when she told me and mom that her father and brother decided to stop her schooling. Reason : The neighborhood girls were stopped by their respective families for various reasons (how shameful) and the father-son duo did not want their darling little one to travel so far to reach the school all alone, as neither of them could accompany her, because they left for work early morning.
I was wide eyed listening to all of this, my heart sinking, as I was aware of her want/love for school and studies... my mind began churning ideas of how to convince the men to allow her to go to school, I was looking for solutions which they might agree to.

Then something nice fell into my ears, her mother spoke up, she did not agree with them and wanted her daughter to study further -how did I forget her, all I was thinking was of the men- I was thrilled, the woman was speaking for her daughter's rights and at that very moment, it hit me, if she can not go to school, then how about distance learning. She can study from home and the only time she will have to leave for school is during exam. I enthusiastically put forward the idea and was overjoyed to hear that the mother had already spoken about it to her family, and that they were in talks with the school authority.
*Cheers to Mina*
But this does not end here, the best news was still to come, and that was today. The school had a discussion with the family and convinced the men to send Uma to school.
YES... she will go, she will continue her studies; she will do what she wants, what she needs, what she loves.

While writing about his, my heart went out to those girls from Mina's neighborhood. I wish they had a Mina in their families, to give that strength and support to the girls, to live on their own terms.

So, we are "Damsels in distress", but we can take care of ourselves...teach us to take care of ourselves... make us to take care of ourselves.

A date with Talash (1969)

I love this movie for many reasons and I was more than happy when our local cable operator played it last evening. I haven't seen any O.P. Ralhan films other than this, but if this is how he made movies, I know I have  to watch his other works very soon.

Raj Kumar/ Raju (Rajendra Kumar) lives with his mother *typical 1960s mother, the crying-bechari-widow maa* and aspires to make it big. His ambitions bring him to city, where he is hired as a typist with a big company run by Mr. Ranjit Rai (Balraj Sahani) *Handsome as always and suave*. Initially, Raju makes errors in his work which threatens to cost him his job. Ranjit rebukes him and Raju decides to pay attention and work hard. In due time, Raju is promoted and he works with all his sincerity.

During a decamp, Raju meets a beautiful village belle Gauri (Sharmila Tagore) *Beauty personified* and both fall in love.

Alongside, Raju's friend Lachhu (O.P.Ralhan) falls for the cabaret dancer Rita (Helen) *ooh.. I love Helen* and wishes to marry her. *I love it the way Helen pronounces his name*. But Rita cannot accept the proposal as her father (Sajjan) disapproves their love *Sad face*. The reason : Her father is being blackmailed by Peter (Madan Puri) for murdering Chaand (Jeevan) who tried to molest his wife. Rita's earnings from her dances is the only way to keep up with the supply of money, and her marriage would mean a stop in the payment.

On the other hand, Raju promises Gauri and her father to marry her and leaves. When he is back in the city, he is promoted and is made a partner. Now... there is no free lunch in this world, is there?... So, why all of a sudden the partnership? Well, the catch is -- Ranjit wants Raju to marry his daughter Madhu (Sharmila Tagore), who is polished, educated from Europe and is sooo urbane, and...and... is also a lookalike of Gauri *errr ??* As if the mystery about the doppelganger wasn't enough, our hero has to also save his career. His 'no' to the marriage proposal means losing everything he has earned till now.

Our lead man has to make a choice between his love (who has promised to kill herself if he doesn't go back to her) and Boss's daughter (with whom things are heating up as well).

Who will Raju choose ? Is Gauri Madhu's long lost twin ? Why they resemble each other? What will happen to Lachhu and Rita's love story ? To find the answers watch the film; the climax is worth.

Sharmila Tagore looks Oh-so-gorgeous through out and gives a good performance. Rajendra Kumar as a confused man torn between love and lust does a fine job. O. P. Ralhan is annoying sometimes in the comic parts and Helen is cute in the scenes and hot in the songs. Balraj Sahani, as usual, is perfect in his character.

Some scenes could have been edited, but its ok.. I don't mind much.

Super compositions by S.D. Burman lifts up the movie further. The romantic "Khai hai re humne qasam" & "Palkon ke peechhese", the cabaret  "Karle pyaar" and the master piece sung by Manna Dey, "Tere naina" all these and more makes it difficult to pick up favorites from the album.

Every frame supports the fact that it was the most expensive movie of that time with a budget of one crore...*phew* Extravagant art direction *and I just love the creativity here*, delightful costumes, picturesque outdoor locations, all these teamed up with likable performances make Talash a treat.

I love this saree

Here is "Kitni akeli" and "Mera kya sanam", all for your ears. :)

                             

Images: Youtube Vidoes

Unmatched Flavors of Street.

A man stands before a shaded cart, finely chopping onions, as he needs more of the diced vegetable- other vegetables; tomatoes, boiled potatoes, etc. (both whole and cut) all kept aside on trays for each... papri and sev stacked in big plastic bags either hanging from his cart or placed beside him along with variety of chutneys and sauces... A large hot griddle over a stove is right in front of him.

Sev-Puri
Image : google

A look at his hair and you know pollution and dust didn't show their mercy to his mane... a thin layer of dirt and perspiration on face exhibits how hard he has been working ... his clothes sticking to his body in a few places due to sweat... a piece of not-so-clean cloth is at his disposal, to wipe his hands... one tub filled with water to dip the used dishes into it for a few times (that's his way washing the dishes), stands beside the cart on his side... a small stainless steel tank of drinking water, with a couple of glasses (washing procedure is same) kept on its lid.

That's our man--- the chaat wala (chaat man) and his small and super hit business of street food.

He represents the whole big bunch of chaat walas, across the country who serve us with those, oh! so De-licious street food, we crave for.
Indulging in these heavenly snacks, we pamper our taste buds every now and then.
And I am no exception (though I am not a junk food lover, I savor these once in a while) but it is always a herculean task for me to indulge in street food, without hygiene concerns hovering over my head. (Errr.. yeah.. OCD). 

Mom being "Mom", couldn't see my plight, had a simple and logical solution- she prepared my favorite chaats at home *I love you Mom*. 

But..But..But ---- it was nowhere near to my chaat wala's divinely bites (Its still isn't). What Mom makes is tasty - really it is - but what it lacks are the "quintessential" flavors of street. 
Even after getting the right ingredients and right proportions and other foody elements correct, the zing is always missing. 5 star restaurants too, can't get "that" taste.
So, where do we go wrong? what is missing ? -- According to my Mom ...the answer lies in the sweat, dirt and unhygienic conditions.....hmmm... I second her.

Hence, sacrificing my OCD, once in a while, for the pleasures of chaats to dance on my tongue is justifiable, isn't it ? "pst...I do make sure to eat at a cleaner, more hygienic stall... you see I can definitely make do with some lesser amount of mouth watering taste producing germs----*winks* ".

Recipe Time :
I am sharing this Video, I found on Youtube; how to make Pav Bhaji (famous street food) from a stall at Juhu Beach. Enjoy !

Monsoon, where art thou ??

The other day I was told about this interesting thing about ants and monsoon.
Apparently, ants come out to collect food 12-14 days prior to the onset of the monsoon...I also came to know about a man from Thailand who could (and I am guessing, he still can) always tell the arrival date of the monsoon just by observing the ants....veeeery interesting... isn't it ?
(& DO I believe in it...? I believe in the person who told me and Nature never ceases to surprise me.)

Now, when I heard this, it simply came back to me, that I was enlightened by this "phenomenon" in the past as well, though could not place my finger on - how?, by whom ? or when ? .. but I knew this before and had simply forgotten about it.

Anyway, since then, i.e. since Friday, I have been looking for the marching ants at home and other places *yeah yeah... I am eagerly waiting for a good downpour* .. but no luck.
Either the pesticide has worked really well ...or its still not the time for the sky to go dark ... or the ants, from where I live, have supplies stuffed in their kitchen. *sigh*


Well, talking of Monsoon, rain, downpour, dark clouds... there is this one song that comes to my mind, which I find so apt for the season ... the song has two versions... one- sung by a male (Kishore Kumar) and the other ..the female version (by Lata Mangeshkar)... and though I love to listen to the male version more... I find the female version more appealing to my eyes, the picturization is perfect... just like it should be... it has purity, innocence, romance; and not just between the actors but also between the rain and the city (Mumbai) too... you can feel the showers romancing the city from late 70s... *smiles*


I am sharing the song here .. I hope you will love it, just the way I do :)

Here is --Rim Jhim Gire Sawan, from Manzil... Enjoy !! :)

                                                 

Fun personified ..!

Sunday was special... Mom - Dad celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary. *smiles*

Settling for a 'small' celebration this year (we had a good reason for it... don't ask), a nice spread, for three of us (yes a spread for only three, we bongs take our food pretty seriously), with some mouth wattering desserts for lunch, was laid, followed by an old Bollywood comic flick.."Chameli Ki Shaadi" *what an apt movie for anniversary :P *, at home. A similar spread was laid for supper as well, which we gorged on with BIG smiles on our faces.

Happiness can be gathered in so many little/simple things - Being together with your loved ones, relishing home food... listening to your folks remembering their days of youth...teasing each other.. watching classic movies, all this with so much of laughter and giggles... is FUN personified ;)