Friday, 28 March 2014
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
There's nothing comfortable about the comfort zone!
In the last ten days, I watched two hindi movies - Queen and English Vinglish (yes, I must have been the last person on earth to have watched English Vinglish) and an English Movie - Annie Hall (Yes, I must have been the last Woody Allen fan to have watched the film!) Coincidentally, all three films though set in different times, had the same underlying subtext! All three talk about women and their ability to transform from self doubting janes to confident and independent women by stepping out of their comfort zones.
My take out from these three films is that there is actually nothing comfortable about the 'comfort zone'. It is a cage created by our minds to provide an unfounded sense of security. It is dark, dingy and musty. It does not have a window through which hope shines through. It does not have a dance floor to do the victory dance. All it has is a large door which is bolted all the time to keep away possibilities, fear of failure, fear of alienation etc etc. (You get the gist, don't you?)
It took me about forty years to realize that moments of awkwardness and moments of discomfort are growth fuels. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and running away from them, our ability to get them in our stride is what finally makes dreams come true. Finally makes magic happen. Finally helps one fly.
Currently I am looking back and feeling rather foolish at all the times when opportunity came knocking at that big door of my comfort zone and I turned it away. But thank god for that one time when I did step out of that door. That was the step I took to set up Bright Angles Consulting.
My take out from these three films is that there is actually nothing comfortable about the 'comfort zone'. It is a cage created by our minds to provide an unfounded sense of security. It is dark, dingy and musty. It does not have a window through which hope shines through. It does not have a dance floor to do the victory dance. All it has is a large door which is bolted all the time to keep away possibilities, fear of failure, fear of alienation etc etc. (You get the gist, don't you?)
It took me about forty years to realize that moments of awkwardness and moments of discomfort are growth fuels. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and running away from them, our ability to get them in our stride is what finally makes dreams come true. Finally makes magic happen. Finally helps one fly.
Currently I am looking back and feeling rather foolish at all the times when opportunity came knocking at that big door of my comfort zone and I turned it away. But thank god for that one time when I did step out of that door. That was the step I took to set up Bright Angles Consulting.
Monday, 24 March 2014
Coming Of Age, Indian Style
I
liked Queen. In fact as I think about it again and again, I loved Queen. For
me, it is one of the best ‘coming of age’ movies Bollywood has produced in a
long time.
Rani
could have been a neighbour or a classmate – the many girls I have known for
whom, there has never been a concept of ‘adolescence’ as we know it. Girls from
families which adorn themselves in modern garbs but with many feudal hues. Such
is their upbringing that they are perfectly comfortable passing through their
entire teenage years without ever rebelling against parental authority or
giving into the temptation of forming ‘deep connections’ with members of the
opposite gender. For them, marriage is THE rite of passage.
For some of us fortunate few, ‘marriage as a rite of passage’ is an alien concept but for the majority of middle class Indians, it is THE defining moment.The
smell of marigold, the sound of shehnai and chanting of Shlokas marks their ‘coming of age’.
Marriage is the license to explore
their own minds and bodies and if really lucky, stand up for their own rights
and voice their opinion.
Cinema has often been criticized for being a corrupting
influence on society. For the sake of the many Ranis in India, I hope it is
true. I hope every girl watching this movie will begin to understand that
marriage is not the be all and end all of life. I hope they will see what it is
to find a backbone, forge true friendships, be independent, enjoy freedom and above
all have the confidence to walk away from all the trappings of a ‘happy life’
with a smile.
Here's to many more films which celebrate liberation!
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Backyard tourism in Mumbai
Woke up this morning and
decided to do something different from the usual beer-mutton curry- movie
regime that has come to define my Sundays. Jumped into my car with my camera, dragged
a friend in and drove to the north of the city. Its funny how we are always
planning holidays but don’t explore what our own city has to offer. We reached
the Kanheri Caves in about 30 minutes.
The caves which have been carved
out of basalt sometime around the 1st Century BC, were used as
Buddhist Viharas. The art on the walls are Spartan. There are some small caves
which are completely devoid of any carvings but the larger ones have a
collection of sculptures depicting Budhha and his teachings. We trekked up the rather friendly hill walking
from one cave to the next despite the hot Mumbai summer sun.
Young couples deprived of
privacy in this teeming city, dot the landscape. Buddha or the art glorifying his teaching is
clearly not the reason for their visit to the caves. The curious eyes of a few
foreign tourists and their trigger happy fingers is the only give away that
this is a monument of historical importance.
In one of the caves, we got
completely lucky as we encountered something absolutely out of the ordinary. A
foreign tourist (his T-shirt read ‘Made in Germany’ so I assumed he is German)
broke out into an operatic piece. He sang from his gut and with his heart.
Within seconds, his powerful voice filled the entire cave. The melodious
canonical chant was completely mesmerizing. Not just my friend and me but even
the security guards were captivated with this spontaneous aria. I regret not
whipping out my phone and capturing the moment.
By and large it was a well
spent Sunday. But sadly I missed collecting any story about why and how these
caves came up in this region or what the art on the wall depicted. The brief
mandatory write up at the entrance is a badly written piece. Clumsy sentences
strung together with misspelt words and incorrect grammar. It does nothing to
satiate one’s curiosity about the significant of these caves. Another sad
reminder of how little we value our culture. Ours is a country seeped in
history and here is just another national heritage standing silently in the
periphery of the city more as a refuge for young lovers than as a historical landmark.
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