Thulika Das

Avatar

2010-01-03T23:24:00.000-08:00

Avatar..I happened to watch the movie twice. One time was just not enough for us both to take the whole movie in. I love it might be an understatement. The very thought that it is just the tip of the ice berg makes me so thrilled in anticipation of the possibilities of the movie experiences of the future. I loved the message of the movie; "The wealth of the world is not what is in the ground but what is around us" to quote from the movie itself. At a time of 'Copenhagens', it is something to really think about. In terms of technology, I would consider it a benchmark to which all movies of the future will be measured against. I love little details in the movie, Did you notice?: The Avatars have 5 fingers and the indegenous people of Pandora have 4. A cap flying off when a fleet of planes take off, 3 D within monitors and screens, details are just awsome.

The movie made me think about the future of science; biological science to be presice. A B.Sc Degree course in India in say Botony or Zoology today is based mainly on 'Dissect' and 'Document' and 'store in bottles' branch of experimental science. A lot of it has to do with 'killing, cutting, hurting' in some way or the other as defined by Indian philosophy. A person who can't draw well in a Lab record can't pass a degree in Bio-science. Isn't that a bit... odd? I do hope in the near future, we change our approach to one that respects life (and not just human) and its networks. The science of life can not just be learnt by what can be captured under a microscope but an understanding that is far beyond.

Chetan Cheated?

2009-12-30T00:29:00.000-08:00

Feeling Cheated ? Did you get paid? If YES, then.. shut up!..If NO, then well.. Justifyable.. the movie is doing good, publicity stunts or not.. Hey this guy was an investment banker. Imagine a client made a million following the investment decisions he suggested, would he expect the client to say.. 'I am a millionaire thanks to so and so?'. Well, looks like some one is expecting that.

PS: One guy here said it... Read comment 17 . Well, if it is a stunt to improve book sales, kindly note, most Indian Junta dont buy books even if it is only Rs 100/:, they borrow, generations after generations will read from the same book...until the ink vanishes or the book rots. And this new found intrest in the book might just trigger piracy, even if the original book costs what 95- 100 rs.

Weekend Animation Pics

2009-12-17T23:54:00.000-08:00

I watched three movies yesterday, back to back. Two of them were animated movies. I am one of those people who love animation movies. I have been fascinated by a quite a few of them. I do have a few favorites. Animation is a really powerful tool with a creative story teller. As a religious movie devotee, it is interesting to note how the animation experience has changed over a very short period of time, from 2D animation to 3D animation in 2D movie experience and now 3D animation in 3D movie experience.

I love how animation movies give hints of very thoughtful little details and stories within stories. I could think of many, but my favorite was the 'The Birds' in the movie 'Cars'. The birds appeared as a part of the scene, neither zoomed in or highlighted in any way, they were just there, as a car passed by, but that little hint, that little story, brought a smile for me. :) .. I don't think I will ever 'out grow' animation movies. I love it that some of the animation movies today are not exactly 'for children' content. Beowulf and recent Christmas Carol for example. I do look forward to being a really old woman and still enjoying animation movies.

If you are looking to enjoy this weekend over a few animation movies, here are two of my picks...

I really enjoyed 'Christmas Carol'. It is one of those movies which captures you as much for the beauty of the language as much for the quality of its animation. Dickens writes 'Scrooge asks the Ghost of Christmas Yet to come' "Before I draw to that stone to which you point, answer me one question, are these the shadows of things that Will be or are they shadows of things that May be?" '. Its a little dark and is a bit scary/depressing for kids. But the transformation is really nice and you can enjoy the litterature.

Another movie that amazed me was 'Horton hears a Who'. I didn't realise it the first time, it was perhaps on the third time that I saw the movie that I realised that the Narration between the Dialogues in the movie is a poem, rhyme. It felt good to know that that too is based on a book by Theodor Seuss. Haven't read the book or didn't know about it then, and may be that's why I didn't get the poetry part of it the first two times. And the narration is subdued and soft, and doesn't distract from the dialogues. Its a cute funny movie. ..Its one yo can watch 4-5 times.

I do fall in love with with words don't I? Enjoy the Movies. . And remember, a person is a person no matter How small.. I have plans for Avatar..

Julie & Julia & me

2009-12-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

It was a few months ago that I had seen the preview of the movie Julie & Julia. It was an instant 'I must watch this' one. And I did, last Saturday. It was as I would put it, A delightful movie. Meryl Streep, I love her. The characters she has played and continues to play in her amazing journey; The 'Thats all' in Devil Wears Prada is my favorite. She is one of the greats of cinema and like (to name some and in no particular order) Johny Depp, Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, DiCaprio, Drew Barrymore, Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, If Meryl Streep is in a movie, then its a must watch for me.

Its funny how I can sort of connect my favorite movies through invisible connections, often utterly minute or even insignificant. Yet I seem to catch on something and some how catalogue it in a certain way in my mind's invisible incredible video library. If I were to do a movie marathon with say a 100 movies which I could watch in order or my choice, I would watch it after 'You've got Mail'. I can't really say if the invisible connection that I feel is because of 'Mail' and 'Blog', two very interesting aspects of the Internet revolution or a reference of 'sending questions into the void' in both the movies. I would watch 'Juno' after 'When Harry Met Sally'. Why? because in my mind, there is an invisible connection formed between the song that Harry and Sally sing into the Karaoke Machine which they are trying to pick as a gift for their friends' wedding and the one Juno and her Boy friend jam on... "Full time friend and a part time lover...." I am not very sure that it is the same song they sing on 'Harry met Sally', but to my brain and the cataloging system, it doesn't really matter, a connection has been formed and that's how it is.

Coming back to Julie&Julia, if you are enthusiastic about food and movies, do watch this one, as I said, it is a delightful movie. I found this link. I do hope that it is the original. Julie, I love the movie. Well, till recently, I too was a drone by day. I would consider myself a renegade foodie too. Old for theatre, young for children, bitter for every thing else; true. I do want to be read, famous in some ways, and that was the reason I began to Blog in the first place, a few years ago. I can very well relate to the anxiety of wanting to recieve comments for my blogs. I had an urge to check for comments every few minutes. Well, that blog didn't work out as I would have wanted it to. But I did meet few interesting people, and did manage to impress the person who's now my husband. Well, the movie did make me want to try some french cooking in my kitchen, my Indian kitchen. I do share Julie's fear of having to kill a lobster. I do share the passion for cooking. I don't have a cat or any other pet. I do have two peg ions though, who come into my house through a broken glass window at about 9:30 every morning and perch on the loft above my dining room till about 3:30 in the evening. Every hour or so, they take a round of my house, try sitting on my fans for a while. At 3:30 they leave, they leave only at 3:30, I've tried to scare them away, but believe me, they just stay put till 3:30. Now I am used to them being around, I guess, they will be around till the end of winter. I will try to post another blog with pictures some time later, but they wont count as pets will they?

May be I will do a project of my own, based on some family recipes. I have wanted to publish a book, a recipe book.

We came back from the movie and for dinner, I made some tomato basil soup and Pasta Spaghetti. I don't think it is very common for a typical Indian family living in Delhi to have soup and Pasta for dinner. I guess we don't count as the typical Indian family. I would like to believe that I lived in Europe in my last birth. (I am looking forward to watching Avatar, which is releasing in India on 18th). I would also like to imagine that I would have been a Chef in my last Avatar. I seem to have recipes programmed into my system. It seems to know what goes well with what and how much. I don't think I have learned to cook. My mother is an amazing cook; A professor in Commerce by the day and an amazing cook at all meals. She has in her own sweet way, spoilt us. Her 'Pal Payasam' for example, is the best in the world and I almost always refuse to eat Payasam made by any one else but her. Shes the queen of South Indian Desserts and Pickles. I know of only her to get a heartfelt complement for her 'Kanji and Puzhukku' , the very very basic Keralite food. I have watched her and helped her in the kitchen. I might have made a few evening snacks for her during my vacations. Believe me, I am not half as good as her.

I can cook a few basic things. I am good with soups and juices. I am proud of my Tomato Basil Soup. It is divinely comforting, if I can say so myself. As a sometimes 'unsure' cook, the soup is my reassurance. It says to me 'If you can make a soup that good, you can make anything.' The secret to my 'Indian' Pasta I believe is Olive oil. I make a good tea, spiced and full of milk, the Indian way. I can make that perfect lemon juice with sugar and just a pinch of salt. My husband loves the Water melon and mint juice that I make. I love to cook for him, it is his love for food that makes me want to learn new things, experiment. I learnt to make Tiramisu by watching YouTube videos. YouTube is a good way to learn to cook for a web hooked beginner, some one who would ponder on how much salt is 'Salt to taste'. The key however is to experiment, to repeat, till you get it right. I perfected my Tiramisu on the fifth attempt, i think with the right texture, the right consistency, not runny, well layered. I have added my own 'secret ingredients' as well, A drop of Vanilla essence and a splash of chocolate syrup. The look on my husband's face after his first; priceless. Some time ago, I cooked lunch for a gentleman. After the meal, he asked me about my husband, "Did you cook for the young man? and is it after that that he proposed to you?" ..I don't know how he knew it, but looks like that is what might have happened. Ate my food, read my blog... and impressed he was. :)

My husband loves to cook, he loves to experiment. When we cook together, which is very often, I make the Vegetarian stuff, and he cooks the meats, fish, prawns and poultry. Why so? I am a Vegetarian. Not a strict one at that, but I am one at heart. I can't speak of 'mutton' with the same passion and conviction as my husband. I don't like to touch uncooked meat and fish with my hands. I am highly allergic to prawns, the steam from cooking prawn is enough to give me rashes on my skin. I do eat fried Pomflet once in a while for the sake of health, I don't mind eating gravy or curry in which meat has been cooked. I don't mind eggs in cake or bread or as an omlet once in a while. I would never kill a fish or a bird, no.. that's not me. My husband loves to experiment, specialy with fish and prawns. Some nights, his food has Chinese sauces, sometimes, it is spicy in Indian Masalas, sometimes, he cooks with wine. Between the two of us, we sometimes do talk about wanting to start a restaurant. A limited/ fixed menu options restaurant. Neither of us are trained for it, we are both Architects. We might end up having a well designed restaurant, but no guarantees over the 'chefness' of food. But yes, that's something we would like to sort of retire to.

I am not much of a 'Cook book' cooking person. I do keep a book of recipes which I seldom refer to. I don't know why, but I've written in it almost entirely in Malayalam, my mother tongue. The reason I write recipes down in that book is perhaps because of a fear, a fear that these recipes may get lost for ever in this rapidly changing country which is reaching out to its grocery shop shelves faster than to the old 'Bharanis' in the dark shelves of the kitchen. I do hope I take up my own cooking project , a book perhaps may be on family recipes of pickles.

Do watch Julie and Julia and do read the blog. It is Delightful. :)

NB: I think I have cateloged 'No reservations' after 'Julie&Julia' for obvious reasons.

Where are the Knitting Aunties?

2008-11-02T22:45:00.000-08:00

I first came to the city of Delhi for a visit when I was about 8 years old. One of my strongest images of the city that I had was, where ever you went, you would find aunties knitting. They were there everywhere, on busses, trains, knitting line after line. The talked, they ate, the read, and what ever they were doing, they were knitting as well. As a little girl from a place where knit is not required, thanks to the weather, I was quite facinated by them. They made it look so simple, they did not need to look at what were they were knitting, it was like a reflex action, an involentary response. The scene is not hard to imagine, a lady in Salwar Kameez, her hair tied into a neat knot behind her head, sitting on a park bench beside her friend who would fit into exactly the same description, with a 'hand bag' sitting next to her and two polythene bags resting at her feet, one carrying her 3 tiered tiffin carrier and the other, wool balls from which emerges a strand of wool which passes over her needle into a knot that disappears into the order and chaos of what is to become the winter's comfort for her child, grandchild, mother, father, husband, niece, nephew, sister, brother or any relation that you can think of. This is what once must have been the image of the Indian woman. I am sure there have been many before her and after, but the charecter of 'Jamila' in 'Mind your Language' is worth a mention. Yes! thats what I am talking about, that Indian Woman.

Well, it has been 20 years since I first visited Delhi, its been quite a long time since Ive seen a 'Knitting Aunty'. 20 years and today they seem to have disappeared, No, not on those lawns, not in parks, not in those DTC busses, not in the offices, they have disappeared, they have gone into hiding. Where are all those 'Knitting aunties'?

Much has been discussed about Women and empowerment and changing roles in the society in recent times. There was a time, not so long ago, when women who could cook and knit and sing were considered the most desirable. Well, for much of India, it still holds true. How ever if you look at percentage of urban, urbanised, urbanism enhanced India, we have changed quite a lot. Well, to draw some Bollywoodian comparison, Lets say if the like of Amithabh Bachan were a young man today, its likely that he marry the sexy, empowered, strong like of Rekha insted of the rather family woman (who can or semmingly can cook, knit and sing) like of Jaya. Okay Kidding, but not quite. Okay, I could write pages and pages, Blogs and Blogs about empowered women, specialy in India, but I still wonder with a little bit of disappoinment, where are all the Knitting Aunties gone? Well, are we all wearing the machine knit sweaters? To find out if a second/third generation urban, working woman like me can knit as well, I decided to start with a Muffler. Honestly, I must have attemted a hundred Home projects like this one without going any where near completion. I am one of those people who have only the beginer's enthusiasm, and that is inversely proportional to enthusiasm that is required to keep going with the project and fianly complete it. I tend to do fine as long as it is complecated. Once the complecated part is complete and I need at do repeated steps, thats when I get bored and the projects get shelved, for iternity. In spite of feeling sarcastic about my enthusiasm, I set to shop for some wool in the place where I knew sells yarn. I have been to the shop once before, to buy some winter clothes for my niece. Yes, they sell the machine knit sweaters as well. It was last year, about the same time of the year. It is a tiny shop at the corner of the street. Its only as big as my Bathroom, may be smaller with shelves on all possible surfaces. Last year I squeezed into that shop with seven other women showing against one another for the right yarn. This year, there seemed to be lot of space, it was just me and a lady with a kid. May be it was one of those days when most women were not shopping, may be its the recession. Still makes me wonder. Is it the money? Dont really know; You can get a common sweater in Delhi for about Rs.180 /: That I am talking of normal Lajpath Nagar Sarojini Market road side stuff, not the Emporio Mall or Select City walk stuff. 400 grams of wool yarn would cost 120-140 Rs. I am yet to figure out how many grams of yarns would make a sweater. One day soon, I hope I will. In the mean time, my muffler is about 30% done and I am enjoying it, its really addictive. The next time you see a youngish woman knitting in a bus or more likely an Omni van or a red Maruti Swift in Delhi, It could very well be me. I hope I do finish this one, and I really Hope I dont get too carried away, Like wanting to start my own line of winter clothes, well then.. all you designers, watch me!! And all you women, youngish ladies, pick your knitting needles and start knitting, youll love it.

Back to Blogging

2008-10-30T03:12:00.000-07:00

Yes, Its been a while. Me Blogging! Ivnt done this in about 3 years. What's different? Well, I am married to the 'Fairy' of the 'Stollen Kisses', Working and I am no more in Kharagpur, I am in Delhi Now, I have travelled a little, thats about it.

Why Hav'nt I been blogging? I read an article in a magazine which said nobody really takes blogs seriously but the person who writes them, wow.. quite encouraging isnt it? Now why should I be taking that seriously, just because it is in print? Any way, I just have not been feeling like writing anything, well once in a while there have been those "Gosh, I wish I could write about this" sparks, but honestly nothing really that strong, compelling.

There have been a few Bomb Blasts, There has been the Olympics, There have been some horrible killings and investigations are getting no where, The markets world wide are crashing crazy, The 'Most important election in US History' is being staged, India is a step closer to sending man on the moon, yet this lady here found nothing compelling enough to write about!!

Ive been thinking of putting a book together; of short stories. Ive managed to put down about 1 page, yes, one single, lone page. Lazy, Lathargic, already too tired because of unreasonable working hours, excuses can never end.

I watch too much of TV these days, its hard not to with so many channels and so much happening around the world. Media has invaded the common man's life like never before capturing every angle of his life. Media makes a celebrety out of the boy next door. It is hard to demarkate where 'NEWS' ends and entertainment begins. The country is getting ready for another cricketing overdose. 'Friends' run a marathon on 2 different chanels almost simultaneously on TV every sunday. I neither approve of nor enjoy any of the above, yet Ive fallen addict to at least some of the above. Its as if the system demands to be compensated for the 15 years or so it went without TV.

Every time the Man Booker is announced, I feel inspired to write, this time too I felt it. Every time I walk into a book store and see books which I feel will do no good to a child's literary, creative or scientific temper, I feel inspired to write. Every time I see over casual Bollywoodish 'Popular'ist writing experimenting with marketing gimmicks dominating over intelectual, sensitive literature, i feel the urge to write. When I come across good books, I feel the urge to write. (Please Note: Good is a very relative term, Good here is what I feel is Good, and if you beg to differ, your most welcome, I will be only as angry as you would be if you were me!). The pathetic state of an 'Electritian' Bulbed, Haldiram sweet Diwali makes me want to write about it.

Today is a day of guilt, I feel the Tabla guilt, No, its not like being hit with a fist on the head, and no, its not just any Tabla, I am talking about that Tabla which I gifted to a very important person in my life. The fact that the gift is not being used/ played since I baught it a month ago (excuses include: lack of time, enery, patience, 'dont have the book') has been a constant source of irritation to me. The fact that I have to see it sit there idle, silent, catching dust day by day, makes it even more irritating. Well, I have a nice golden Lacoste pen hidden away somewhere for the past 22 Monthes. They are just the same, the Pen and the Tabla; signs of Gifts tucked away unused. I guess this guilt is good, after a long time I see myself searching for that Thulika in Me.