Love affair with books – then, now & forever

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alfred hitcock, amar chitra katha. chandoba, books, childhood, Crossword, enid blytom, famous five, hobby, Landmark, library shelf, maximum comments, paise, phantom comics, Reader

Age 13 and 10 respectively – My brother and I decided to hoard our own library.

Ingenious plan: Papa promised us a new book every summer vacation (… provided we earned it with glowing report cards, obviously.) Only one book apiece! It was a grand beginning. BUT it was woefully inadequate for 2 voracious book-vorous animals. Then we had a brainwave.

If not brand new,

Hello, you old friend!

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ambition, childhood, cynicism, death, dreams, hope, innocence, Life, maximum comments, promises, stress

‘’Hello, old friend. You failed me.’’

She perched on the edge of the window. Fragile, petite. Huge eyes fenced by  inch-long eyelashes. Hauntingly familiar. 

I reached to pat her fluffy cheeks, but she dodged it with a lithe ballerina twist, “You promised to teach me dance. You never did.”

I sighed, ‘Kiddo, I tried. We completed 3 levels, remember? “

“But not all 7 levels.”

“You know Life – exams, peer pressure, cut throat competition, corporate world. The innumerable whirlpools that suck one down – Stress, worry, hurry, deadlines, projects. Priorities change.”

She stifled a giggle, “Life has you dancing to its deadlines,” Then she sobered down, “You do know that your Life has its deadline in Death

Arjun – in his Image and Likeness.

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Do you blur the line between an idolized character and an actor portraying him?

Vanaprastham – The Last Dance is a Malayalam film where Mohanlal, a Kathakali artist finds solace in theatre.

Once, his audience includes Subhadra (Suhasini) of an aristocratic family. In love with the valiant warrior  Arjun of Mahabharata, she personifies Mohanlal as her dream hero. The eventual affair leads to the birth of a son. However, Subhadra  content to be pregnant with the seed of Arjun – her idolized version, rejects the flesh & blood Mohanlal.

The storyline struck a resonance within me.

I remember going to a late-night Marathi musical Saubhadra, based on

Atheism to theism – via a man and a meal.

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Arjun Related posts, arjuna, Atheism, bhagvada, Bhagwad Gita, faith, God, ISKON, Krishn, Krishna, Mahabharata, maximum comments, religion, spirituality, temple

Born to a theist Papa and an atheist Mom, I had the luxury of choice. I chose to be an atheist.

Being  a science student automatically made me lean heavily towards ‘proof and results’. Temples contributed liberally to my disgust of theism. Think impatient Pujaris  (We are the proprietary middle-men to Heaven.) Think lecherous peddlers (A hundred rupees note will get you instant darshan, Madam!) Think repugnant God-men (I distinctly remember meeting one with red eyes, grey beard and saffron robes. When I and my brother refused to genuflect, his eyes darkened in incredulous rage. P.S: The only en’light’ment he saw must be at the end of his ganja–chillum!)

Meanwhile a wily God with a zany sense of humor decided to ensnare me with two most unlikely baits. A man and a meal…

Venus of Indian Silver Screen

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art, Bollywood, Indian film actress, madhubala, maximum comments, pencil sketch, sketching

Double click on the images in second line to see slide show view. Thank you!

Madhubala: the wet dream.

Madhubala: the wet dream.

the vibrant eyes, the lop-sided smile

The dream visage