When Friends Die..

Death is something that seems to be beyond us. Despite it being a birthright, we are never able to prepare adequately for the pain and grief with which it entails. The death of someone young seems to silence us indeterminably. After the grief and pain of it all, we learn to pause before we speak their name.

The night before, a friend met with an accident. He's no more with us today. It was shocking and tragic.

It somehow prompted me to start looking back on our poor choices through youth. Our foolish mistakes and social disasters. I thought about our somewhat, er, 'misguided'(?) experiences; all those times when we have lost control of our bikes and cars, and those close shaves on road.

Perhaps we don't discuss the dead in such a convivial context in order to ease the stark reality of it. The reality that we wish so much to avoid is that it could be us. One of us has died and we are forced to readjust our life lens. We would all like to live each day as if it were our last, but we don't because we assume we have to plan for the future. That our future could be diminished with such immediacy is too frightening to bear, so instead we do not discuss our young friend and his death at all; except in the period of immediate mourning. The name is avoided while we quietly reconfigure our own fears of impermanence. Our memories do not fade, but we keep them to ourselves and hold them close, keeping them private.

Life is short, period. People and moments are precious. Savor the time together; remember with love instead of regret and guilt.

Peace.

Of "Udaan" & Childhood..

This post begins on the note of a movie I recently watched - "Udaan". I had heard very good things about the movie; it had swept various awards nonchalantly as I had heard, and being a movie of Anurag Kashyap has its charm too. So I decided to watch it.

Udaan is a story of hope, dreams, aspirations, conflicts, expectations, friendships, relationships, love, despair, and much more. It is about the rebel streak that we face in our teens, which ultimately defines who we are - the phase that defines who we become. The crux of the movie is the scene where Rohan runs and runs and runs. For me, that is the scene in which he eventually takes off (and so does the movie)! Hats off to that scene, to say the least. Nothing grand, nothing extraordinary, plain simple awesome!














So I was discussing this movie yesterday with a bunch of friends, when it came up how there was a TV serial named Udaan in early 90s that used to air on DD. It was about that female (can't recall the name, but remember the face) and her struggle to become a police officer against the backdrop of preferred male sibling and other hardships.

And then we came to discussing all those epic serials we all grew up watching - be it Ramayana or Mahabharata. And that quaint DD logo. And those interesting knowledge based series like Surbhi, Turning Point and Bharat Ek Khoj. And the regular, and much awaited Chitrahaar. And Byomkesh Bakshi. And He-Man & Captain Vyom. And Dekh Bhai Dekh. And many more.

Still remember that whole family used to sit together to watch these. The roads would be deserted on Sundays morning 9 to 10 - all families glued to their TV sets. Friday evenings would be much awaited to see which songs would be aired this week. And then ever repeating "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara".

True, that Childhood, after all, is the original score for one’s life song. Awesome time 'twas.

My childhood was an improbable mix of antique and modern, outdoor and indoor, freedom and constraint. At six, I wanted to be a school principal, at seven a movie director, at eight Superman, at eleven a fighter pilot, at twelve a politician, at thirteen a history professor, at fifteen an artist, at seventeen a scuba diver, at twenty a traveler. It wasn’t that I was watching too much TV; I hardly did. I was simply mirroring, as children will, the goings-on around me.

Ask me now what I want to be. Answer - anything. I want to be me.

PS: As an afterthought, recalled that Shahid Kapoor & Ayesha Takia used to come in a Complan ad too! Did I start insisting on Complan after seeing this ad?!

Recharged

It is always so much fun catching up with friends.

Using email makes it so easy to catch up with old friends and family. Social networking sites, pictures on picasa, or even blogs bring me closer to my friends. But as always, nothing beats meeting those near and dear ones in person.

Today was one such day!

As usual, day began late. I can't really call 2p start of the day an early start, can I! So today was the day off, and thanks to my stars, I managed to get ready in a jiffy and all set to go out for atleast something.

A was in town, since he was coming back from yet another skiing trip in Gulmarg. I had missed the basketball session in the morning since I woke up late, so meeting M & SA was also on the cards. Obviously, AA & G were on the cards. N's office wasn't far. AC was also meeting for Golf. Hadn't caught up with S in a while, so had to check up with him on his GMAT scores and the likes. P was in town, and had to discuss a business proposition with AT too. So net net, loads to do in the already shortened day!

Managed to do a lot during the day, and though the movie plans could not materialize at the end of the day, badminton session in the evening, and Cocoberry discussions at night did sum up the day well. Did manage to have a gala time, plan an outing much in advance for March end, and enough food for thought on ideation for the rest of the week.

Batteries recharged - all set for the remainder of the week. Puff!