Did you have a good mother?

Women have always been and continue to be the true harbingers of change in society.
If you convince a queen of the right values that she should inculcate in her child, you might have a levelheaded king or queen ruling the country (Not Cersie and Joffery clearly)
If you convince a woman that she should educate herself, she will go to the extent of getting beaten up by her husband, but she will send her children to school. She will work day and night so that she can buy their uniforms and food while he sits and gambles and drinks.
If you convince little women to do the right things, they will always observe and listen intently without bringing their "I want to do it first" attitude into the picture. They will act with caution and care and some are even timid in the beginning. But once they know their true power and the amount of change they can actually bring about in society, they really do change things around them.
Men on the contrary are so full of themselves, they hardly ever see beyond that. Even when they are young, young and little men are never ready to listen and observe, they always want to "do" things without thinking it through and because they are the to be men of tomorrow. However, if they have good mothers, some of them do become insightful individuals.
Did you have a good mother?

Six Feet Under TV Show

I started watching this show, Six Feet Under because I was really sad that Dexter ended. It was a desperate attempt to hold onto the idea of Dexter and while looking up other series Michael C. Hall has acted in, I stumbled upon this wonderful drama series.
In the beginning, for me, it was all about how Michael was acting and how successfully he had pulled off being gay. I even went back to the internet to read if he was actually gay!
As you progress from the first season on, you begin to get sucked into the Fishers' lives as if it were your own. Honestly, that happens to me a lot, every time I watch a show, I end up living with the characters during and even after the show has ended. It is an alternate reality that gives me great comfort and an immense sense of belonging. It is a lovely time, with every show, and I enjoy it a lot.

The first season finale left me wondering for a while why I was watching it, not in a bad way, but just that it did not have a climax or anything which made you go "Haww" and go on to the second season. At one point, my sister even said, "You are expecting too much from the show." But somewhere deep down I knew this was all leading to something awesome. As each episode progressed and as each season ended, I could not stop myself from switching on the next episode!
The very concept of being born and growing up around death and accepting it as a part of your own life is so unique and you know it is real and not made up. It is a fact that there are undertakers and funeral directors all over the world. I can only wonder if their life is anything like this!
I used to have a friend who was in this business. His father owns a family owned funeral home in Mumbai. I remembered a conversation which I found a little weird.

Me - So are there dead bodies always in your house?
Friend - Yes. Most of the time.
Me - Don't you get scared? Like what if one starts moving or something?
Friend - Over a period of time, you get used to it. You stop thinking of it as a body. It's just there. You don't have to bother about it. They are certified dead when they come to the office.

Watching the Fishers just gave me some perspective and insights into this particular friend's life. Things I am sure I did not understand in the past.

Six Feet Under Finale -

This is coming from a person who has seen around 50 - 100 shows and is very passionate about TV shows and analyses each one in detail.

This was the BEST FINALE and end to a TV show I have ever seen. None of the series finale will ever match this. It gave meaning to the whole show and to every character and to every small little thing in the show. It makes the show whole and perfect.
The fact that they chose to show the entire ending through Claire's eyes is so correct. She would be the last Fisher to die! The end makes us realise that death is what defines us. It gives us an age. It gives us an end, without which we would all be incomplete.
The show taught me a few things.
Death is not something to be scared of or sad about. It defines and gives you the time to live. It is most likely just a stop during a long journey. I have never believed in after life, but this show seems to have made me believe that there is either a journey ahead or that there is something which is there which might not be necessarily bad.
I was very happy to see Lisa pushing around Claire's aborted child in the church. This was such a nice scene. The show was saying that no matter how small the life is, or how old, it still had death. And this death was something which gave it meaning.

After all the science and technological advancement that we as humans boast of, we are not able to understand something which is inevitable and with everyone - Death.
It remains a mystery to everyone. It does not make any sense to anyone. We do not know what happens to the life which existed in the body. How can it be that it just gets switch off like that, without any explanation. It is amazing how we all grasp this reality and still live on. I think most of choose not to confront death unless we are slapped with it. Shouldn't we know more about how this concept unravels or what exactly it is?
I will definitely be spending some more time reading and researching about this.

The famed / defamed Twilight series

After a lot of turning and twisting, I finally decided to run 3 movies of the Twilight series on the vlc player.
Honestly, I did get a head ache..but that was because I was watching it at a close proximity.

Let me tell you what I think of the Twilight series, the three movies which I saw atleast.

The movies looked good to me. Technically, it was pretty well made. It was not extra ordinary, but it was decent. It was slow in many parts where they were trying to focus on parts of the movie, but there is always Candy Crush to give you company at such times. So you do not really have to look at the screen. You know when the movie has progressed, just by listening to the dialogues.

The main character Bella and Edward seemed a little weird to me. I wonder how old Robert Pattinson is in real life, he looked really old in the movie. The girl Bella however was young and looked good throughout the movie. Some places the make up was used to make her look older and prettier than she really is. Good job Make up people!
The wolf guy, Jacob was also quite an attraction. Personally, I felt that Bella should have chosen him over the really really white and lanky guy. But well, wolves are not for everybody.
The wolf character that Jacob turned into was a very good looking wolf. It reminded me very much of my dog and hence I can confidently say that the particular werewolf was my favorite character.
Then came Dakota Fanning and her troops. All of them have done a very good job with their acting and costumes.
The graphics are also not that bad.

At one point, I felt they were really trying to copy LOTR, by seeking support from everyone and gathering an army to fight a war - All this was in the last movie.
It was pretty similar I'd say and the movie ended well with no real fight sequence, except one in the vision of Alice.

One thing I did like about the movie was the casting. The actors were chosen very well based on the characters. They fit their roles pretty well, except maybe the lead characters Bella & Edward. I guess they could have chosen better actors in their places.

Overall, the movie was just like any other Bollywood movie with a little bit of Tollywood in it (Rajnikant style).
I will say that you can watch the series, if you are bored and have nothing else to do. Helps to kill time.

Just don't expect too much from the movie. It might disappoint you then. 

A King's responsibilities

We get one call a day on an average about how people are not able to keep the animals they love so dearly in their lives due to some reason or the other. Here is what I have to say about this. Please read on.

a) Would you put your parents in an old age home while you are still alive and capable against their wishes just because it is too much work to take care of them? 

b) Would you give up your child because it is cries too much and makes too much noise?

c) Would you give up your wife / husband and children if you got a better job and had to move to a new place?

If the answer to 'Would you give up your pet for XYZ reason?' is Yes, then at some point in life, you will be able to do all of the above.
I am not saying that you will do a, b or c because you give up your pet , but that you are capable of doing a, b and c.

A choice is rarely ever made because someone holds a gun to your head. A choice is made because you prioritize something over the other.
There is nothing in this world which you and I cannot do. It is a matter of thinking, planning and execution always.
Everybody always has a choice of 'Never saying Never'. It is about our ability to exercise that choice.

Think about it.

Just because you do not have the courage to take care of your pet in a situation which most likely you created yourself, why should that poor being which trusts you with its life suffer? Why should your pet bear the brunt of the situation?

If you know yourself to be such a non committal person, then do not get pets at all.
The animal or bird does not see you as a non committal jerk, but as its parent who will love them and care for them forever.
Remember that had we lived in an ideal world, it would have probably lived with its parents and then once it came of age, would fly away or make its own clan or move away. But since we (human beings) have interfered and messed with the cycle of life, we cannot really talk about the pets we have being with their own parents.

On a parting note, what you do to your animal speaks volumes about you as a person.
How you keep them, how you treat them, the decisions you make for them shows what you could do if you were king and the world was your kingdom.
You are the king of the animal and it respects you with all its life. 

PAL 2013 Calendar Teaser Video

The day I yelled out taboo words on stage!

Today we had an awareness campaign in a management college in Belapur. It was a really good experience for PAL as well as for me personally.
For the first time in my life, I was honoured as the chief guest in a function for doing something I loved. We were asked to meet the director and they even let me use his washroom!

I entered the fancy seminar hall on the second floor and for a minute I had my heart in my mouth. The room was full of people!
I remember giving presentations and speeches to such a large audience in school and college. Times were different then, I had time to write and prepare a speech and by heart it and then speak on the d day. Normally, I always received a prize as well. My parents were happy.

However, I have grown up now. No more prizes. No more speech writers. No more nothing. I am pretty much on my own now.
I looked around and told myself - This is the one thing you can do and you do not need to be prepared for this. After all it is what you believe in.

I went on the stage. The first few slides, I was a little slow and kept wondering if people were actually listening or not and was doing the ummm..and hmmm...and yea and like language quite a bit.
As the slides moved on, my confidence increased and I was all over it..started expressing better.
I stopped fumbling for words and somehow the words came out by themselves.

I spoke about death, killing, adoption, pregnancy, how heinous society is in reality, our lack of understanding our own problems, abortion, getting fixed, mating, breeding, sex and last but not the least I shouted out prostitution as well. It was a truly liberating experience. There was applause, there were ahs and oohs from the crowd and silence and I could see they were all listening to each and every word. Coudn't have asked for more!

All in all, I can definitely say that it was an awesome experience.
Many people came up to me after the session, introduced themselves and wanted to know more.
Hope there are more such opportunities. I really enjoyed it :)

Alcohol and the Dog

A beautiful black labrador full of life and energy. Wags its tail to greet you and makes you feel like there is noone else in this world who loves you more! So hugs, licks, wags and there you are on the ground and she has made you feel that life is worth living after all!! Someone loves me...
A black labrador, gasping for air. The last few minutes of its life and it opens its eyes feebly and there is a gush of liquid, water like substance along with some blood which flows out of the mouth and nose. It gives one look saying that, " I am sorry, I cannot take it any more. I waited for you to come back, exactly where you left me day before yesterday. I am giving up on life now."
The first one, many of us come across on a day to day basis. The second one is also not that rare these days. We chanced upon it at 11pm a few nights back. We arrived at the scene hoping to help the animal or give it some treatment, but it was already called. The fluid around it looked like a lot of water, but vomiting out water while dying is not a common thing now is it?
We looked around and saw that it was in front of a Wine shop.
The heat is unbearable as it is. Hungry and thirsty it probably went to someone who offered it something to drink. Little did it know that it's liver would not be able to take the alcohol that it so thankfully drank thinking it was water.
The site was very terrible and we did not wait around to test the liquid and see if it was alcohol. Some people around said so.
It is very disturbing to see such things and see the loss of life and the fact is that today they gave a dog alcohol, tomorrow they might try it on a child who might not be able to take it and pass out or even die.
This is not normal behaviour. It is deeply disturbed and destructive behaviour. We should see to it that such individuals should be told that what they are doing is wrong and we should change these people. We should nag them, beg them, coerce them, do whatever it takes to stop and make them see the consequences of their actions.