Showing posts with label Talkies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talkies. Show all posts

Monday, May 9, 2016

War of the Super Heroes, Kung Fu Panda and the love of comics in general














Okay. Here is the head to head of the head to head of superheroes.


Superman versus Batman
Capt America versus Iron Man (Civil War)
The title says it all, and that’s what the movie is about
The title doesn’t say it all, and I was hoping for something more involving the general public.
Alpha male, testosterone driven  bashing and blasting over civilian sentiments.
Of course, whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword, was not a male superhero.
Alpha male, testosterone driven  bashing and blasting over civilian sentiments.
Of course, whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword, was not a male superhero.
Introduces a huge main character in a major battle sequence who will star in her own movie soon: Wonder Woman. But what a sorry little introduction that was. Enigmatic, and even in the war, no introduction to her powers for the newbies
Introduces a huge main character in a major battle sequence who will be star in his own movie soon: Spiderman. And yes, we get a neat, compact introduction to Peter and Spidey both! The geeky little genius kid, who tries his best to impress Mr. Stark, and the web-swinging, wise-cracking rookie super hero, who talks more than he fights. An impressive little shot, where he holds back The Winter Soldier arm displaying a show of strength that is very likely to be missed, but is not. Well-played marvel
Batman goes *He killed my parents*… But I will save Martha this time.
Bash. Bash. Bash.
Iron Man goes *He killed my parents*
Bash. Bash. Bash. Bash.
The perfunctory romance angle: Clark Kent gets into the bath tub with Lois Lane, while dropping his glasses on the floor. Made me wonder if this was someone’s idea of the feminist equivalent of  the clichéd dropping of the bra on the floor. Nice. women do like looking into the eyes of the person they make love to. 
Iron Man and Pepper Potts are ‘taking a break’, Captain America shares a kiss with Sharon Carter (nooooo… I am finding this ethically perverted and amoral. Call me old-fashioned. But not Sharon! Come on, there are so many other women). The Vision and the Scarlet Witch are developing feelings for each other. And Hulk gets a fleeting mention in reference to the Black Widow.
There is a common enemy, rather invincible looking enemy that brings them together
The very human enemy uses mind games and breaks them from within. And of course, they
Primary fight sequence between Superman and Batman, Batty (the essentially human) actually manages to overpower Supey.
Primary fight sequence between Iron Man and Captain America, both are essentially human, and rather nicely matched. Both are assisted by a bit of technology and ‘intelligent’ allies: Friday for Ironman and Bucky for Cap. Love it how Friday analyses Cap’s fight patterns and plans counter moves. Love it also, how nicely Bucky and Cap toss the shield in tandem between each other. The bromance is still alive.
Plenty of additional superheroes get little teaser cameos, but nothing concrete showcasing their abilities.
The additional superheroes engage in battle, and go all out to display their prowess. Ant-man becomes ‘Giant-man’ as Vi declared and Spidey is oscillating across the screen to glory.

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My fascination with super heroes began with the weekly Vetal (Phantom) comic panels in the weekly, Lokaprabha Marathi magazine.
Of course, back then, super hero comic books were hard to find. Fortunately for me, my older cousin Gautam, had a huge stash, and I would borrow from him. He is an artistically talented guy, this cousin of mine. He tended to make up his own little doodles which were extensions to the super-heroes on the sides of his pages engaged in mini-battles that he imagined. I still regret he didn't take up his hobby seriously.

He-man and spiderman on DD Metro only added fuel to fire, and AH Wheeler on the railway platforms found a regular comics buyer in my during the college days. It was impossiible to obtain any of the comics in sequence back then. And I was often left puzzled with the alternate timelines and if, or how  they were interlinked. 

The new set of movies, now appears to be bringing together and cleaning up a lot of the plotlines, making it more coherent for people like me.

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After Batty-versus-Supey, we watched Kung Fu Panda-3. Sadly, the KFP franchise refuses to evolve. I wasn't particularly impressed with KFP-1 to begin with, but it had potential. 2 sequels later, Po is still 'fiding himself' and I am now sorely disappointed. Compare this, with the Ice Age movies. Every single one is brilliant. Okay, so maybe The Continental Drift was *slighty* on the mushier side, but overall, they've managed to utilise the geological phases very cleverly to create just the right amount of adventure and the assorted personalities of their quirky characters do not allow the story to become boring and predictable. And another thing that people rarely notice, is that spectacular attention to detail in the background and landscape detailing of the Ice Age. Someone has put in a lot of love and research into it. Slightly more love than research! :)

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Mothers’ Day plans for procrastinators!

Mother’s Day is around the corner. The inventors of this concept have added that extra little stress to our already hassled lives, which our mothers would rather smile at, wave off and ask us to not bother about.
So there are approximately 48 hours from now, in which you can do something that will make the first woman in your life feel extra special. But you have been incredibly busy with work, partner, kids, social commitments, and to be brutally honest, procrastination, to plan anything exceptional.

Fear not. I am not sending you on a guilt trip now. In fact, I am presenting here some easy ideas to deal with this situation, depending on the type of mother you have on your hand. And all pocket friendly ones, at that!



There are essentially 3 types of mothers

1.       The young mother who is parenting a brood between 0-12 years of age. She is essentially fussy, and worried about everything from food to exams to PTA meetings to school brawls, to Whatsapp mommy groups. She is connected to the WWW and is perpetually stressed

2.       The mid-life mother who is parenting a brood between 12-25 years of age. She has pretty much given up on you. And you have given up on her. Your unbalanced hormones and irresponsible friends have made you very difficult for her to handle. You live your own life and she is happy as long as you are healthy, happy and back home every night.

3.       The retired mother who knows that you have found your companion. And she will need to find reasons to keep herself busy in different ways now.

 So here we go!

For the Young Mother:
She can be your wife, your sister, your daughter or your best buddy.
She has been hands-on, day in and day out. Here is what you can do for her.
·        
Give her a break. Baby-sit for her and book her a spa session or maybe two.
·         
Just let her SLEEP. As much as she wants to!  You have no clue how sleep deprived young moms can be. This is probably the best gift ever! (I told you, my ideas are VERY pocket-friendly!)
·         
And while she is asleep, dig into all yours, and hers, and your friends’ Facebook, email, et al for photographs of the mom and baby and simply copy them to a disc. Cellotape a few nice flowers on the cover of the disc, and write “I Love you, Super Mommy!” on it (See! My ideas are also time-efficient!). If you start a little early, you can get printouts of the photos, stick them to a long colourful ribbon in chronological order and decorate her room with it. Guaranteed to make her go "Awwwwwwwww...!"
·       
  End the day with an order-in dinner and snuggle up together for a nice movie at home. (Anything from Raising Helen to PanicRoom). She is a Ninja mom at this stage.

The mid-life mother
She probably feels very uncool at this stage, where friends and career have taken priority in your life. She is happy to see you independent. And feels a little empty, now that you don’t need her as much as before


  •           Make her feel like a rockstar! Buy her something from your generation. A cool T-Shirt and cap with something smart printed on it, perhaps! One that you can wear with her, click a selfie and post all over social media. Trust me, she will feel young all over again!
  • Gather your siblings and friends and sing to her songs like “Maa” from Taare Zameen Pe, and that absolute hidden gem of a song “Mumma” from Dasvidaniya. Do the same for your friends’ moms too! Plan a burger and pizza party with all these moms. Watch the animated Pixar’s Brave, or English Vinglish. It is good to make her feel that she has been right and you've been something of an ass for some years now.

 The photo idea works here too.
·         


As for dinner, ask her to teach you that recipe of hers which you love the most. Someday, you might yearn for it, when she isn’t around. And she will be happy knowing that you will not be deprived of your favourite dish in her absence.

The retired mother:
She is smiling and watching you, and is obviously, very proud of you! She is secretly looking forward to see you go through all tribulations that she faced when she raised you. There is not much she wants now.
Do just one thing.
·         
Make 2 glasses of her favourite beverage. Hand one to her, and take one yourself. Place your head in her lap. And ask her to talk.

Ask her about how naughty you were. Moms love to reminiscence (Hell! I am only 38, and I love to reminiscence!) Ask her what incidents in life made her happy, proud, sad, angry, worried. Ask her about her school days, her carefree time. Listen carefully, observe closely how her expressions change. Take your cues. Ask where she wants to go this year. Perhaps to the places of her childhood? Or wants to connect with her old friends? Ask her if she wants to visit ‘phoren’ (and then work hard so you can fulfil that dream at the earliest)
Ask her what still worries her. Because however old you may become, this pillar of strength in your life will continue to worry. And while we will love her every day, she needs to be spoilt, pampered and given a huge emotional release at least once a year.

After all, the best gift your mom ever had was you! J

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The formatting of this post is totally (#$%*$(%*!!! I don't know why! But don't tell my mom that I typed *those* words.


Sunday, June 21, 2015

Monsooning. Movie Marathoning.

It was Friday the 19th, 2015.

It was raining beautifully, and I did not have the heart to send Vi to school, simply because... I felt  holidaytory (I googled! That term does *NOT* exist on the internet as of this moment. So I will stake my claim- I have coined it).

We are both pluviophiles 








and petrichor drives us mad and makes us crave for more.
(we are also show-offs when it comes to newly enhanced vocabulary)

More rain, more madness. Hug-kiss-random-strangers-on-the-cheek-Do-the-chicken-dance-on-the-street level of madness! Sit-on-Marine-Drive-eating-ice-creams-against-crashing-waves-while -screaming-Ye-re-Ye-re-Pausaa level of madness. *THAT MAD!* *THAT CRAZY*
The world is a safer place with us rainiacs (this term is already in existence) safely locked up at home in each others' company.



Ideally, but not practically, we would be splashing in the rain or  reading/ doodling and simply whiling time away on the semi-covered terrace. The next best thing would be watching movies while drinking hot chocolate for the perfect self-imposed extended weekend exile. Best of all, we don't have any 'weekly school tests' in the first half of the next week. What more can we ask for?!

So here are some of our all-time favourites. Mostly, but not necessarily, animated. Suitable for everyone aged 3 years and above, with a certain amount of discretion on part of the parents.

The Bot stuff
Vi has been fascinated with robots. I think it has something to do with the 'Little Robots' series that she had watched on CBeebies as a toddler. She draws them. She makes them with clothing clips, building blocks, straws.

  • Wall-E (a lesson in loving and living from a garbage compacting robot! The entire first half of the movie has not a single spoken word. Simply beeps- no, not the objectionable type.)
  • The Iron Giant (A 2D retro classic by Brad Bird, the director and writer of the Incredibles.)
  • 9 (Lesser known. dark! apocalyptic! I was scared the first time we saw it. But she didn't bat an eyelid and has watched a number of times since.)
  • Big Hero Six (I didn't like this one. The kid loved Baymax though)
  • Real Steel (not animated but what the heck! She drools over Atom, and I drool over Hugh Jackman) 
I will at some point make her watch the Bicentennial Man, AI,  Metropolis. Perhaps 5 years later.

The Super Hero series
  • The Incredibles (No school like old school! Superb characterisation, and message in family values. Not to mention the feminist undertones. Elastigirl kicks serious ass, even when she has given herself to domesticity. Vi's favourite line is "Honeyyyyyyy, Where's my syooper syuit?"; that tone that she employees almost every single time that she needs me to find something of hers).
  • The Rise of the Guardians (This little known gem of a movie that features legendary characters like Santa Claus, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, among others. It is based on the Guardians of Childhood book series by Bill Joyce).
  • Megamind (A wonderful subversion of the Super-Hero concept. Just perfect for kids to realise that the world isn't just black and white)

  • Monsters Inc. (One of my all-time favourites. The brilliant concept of monsters scaring children simply because their world runs on 'Screams' as a source of energy. And also the fact that the monsters themselves are so terrified of kids, that those who work as 'Scarers' are glorified heroes in their world)

  • TinTin (She saw this only recently, as she approaches her 6th birthday. And I guess this is the right time for her to understand the complexities of the plot).

The critters and creatures series
  • Finding Nemo 
  • How to train your dragon 1+2 (Based on the eponymous book series by Cressida Cowell. She obsesses over the dragons. We've named a lizard in our room 'Dupliss' which is what she mistakenly thought was the name of Toothless)
  • Madagascar (3- she only likes this part)
  • Horton hears a Who (Based on the book by Dr, Seuss. Slower in pace than most other movies, but lyrical and with the perfect 'environmentalist' message)
  • Dumbo (She sobbed through it. And then asked to see it again. And sobbed again. And then I decided to not let her see again. Absolute tear-jerker for the little ones. But classic Disney animation. The drunk elephants dream sequence is Psychedelic Animation 101).
Tried to get her to see Kung Fu Panda, but she never really got interested,which was surprising given her interest in Karate, Kung Fu and the works, thanks to Japanese animations on TV.
The Princess/ Heroine series. 
Yes, we have seen only these 'warrior princess/ gutsy heroine' movies and no, none of the 'damsel in distress' ones. Vi can blame it on being born to a feminist/ egalitarian mother.
  • Frozen 
  • Tangled
  • Coraline (Yes. Dark, and the kid braves it better than me. I was completely spooked. It scared the daylights out of me.)
  • Brave (She didn't like it. I did. Perhaps for older kids.)
Mulan (I am yet to show this one to her. But it firmly remains one of my Disney favourites).
The gadget/toys/ inanimate object series
  • Toy Story 1+2+3 + That time forgot 
  • Cars 1+ 2
  • Planes
  • The LEGO movie (Again, this one is as she approaches 6. Fascinating animation to support a brilliant concept. A worthy successor to the Toy Story concept, though not from the Pixar stables)

And some Roald Dahl book adaptations as well as others that are hard to 'classify

  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 
  • Matilda
  • Hugo (Based on the book by Brian Selznick. Again, I love this one more than she does) 
  • Meet the Robinsons (Based on the book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, again by Bill Joyce)
  • Diary of a Wimpy kid (again adapted from the book)


What I intend to make her watch in the near future: 
  • Life is Beautiful ("Buongiorno Principessa!" I had said on the first morning I woke after Vi was born. This is the loveliest, most heart-warming and most heart-wrenching movie, I've seen in my life)
  • ET (Koi mil gaya, she has already seen) 
  • Bridge to Terabitihia ( a few years later, maybe)
  • Amelie (atleast 6 years later)
As is obvious from the laundry list above, a good many of the movies I pick for her are based on books. I have tried, with reasonable success, to make her a book-lover and a lover of visual art, more than just another 'movie buff'.


There is also apna dependable Desi stuff:
  • Chillar Party
  • Stanley ke Dabba
  • Jajantram Mamantram
  • Mr. India
  • Chennai Express (Yes! I certify this as a kids' movie! Beats Krrish 3 by a few light years)
  • Koi mil gaya, maybe Krrish (But not on your life, Krrish 3, though she loves it. I found it gory, and simply hard to digest, with nothing to learn, unnecessarily dark and borderline adult. It deserves a bash-up post of its own)
And no, I do not consider Taare Zameen Par as a kids' movie. It is aimed at the parents. I want her to learn and understand the concept of disabilities and to develop a healthy respect as well as empathy for kids and people different from her. *But* making her watch TZP before she is 12-15 years old, amounts to unnecessarily traumatising her. I will NOT do it.

(All the images used here are boons granted by my merciful, wish-fulfilling God, Google)







Wednesday, January 21, 2015

I like OMG better.

So finally I managed to catch the only remaining evening show of PK yesterday, at the local soon-to-shut-due-to-unpaid-rent mall, before it gets pulled down (the movie, not the mall) It was a spontaneous decision, and I missed the beginning. Anushka and Sushant were already prancing around Brussels.

The movie, as I already knew, was about questioning religion and rituals from a naive alien's perspective. But I had refrained from reading any details or reviews. 

I am guessing everyone has watched PK by now. And watched OMG too.

If you haven't, be warned there maybe spoilers ahead. 


"Clothes make the man. 
Naked men have little or no influence on society"
- M. Twain (Image Source: Google, the true GOD)
As opposed to Paresh Rawal's openly atheist and bellicose Kanjibhai, Aamir's PK was cute and questioning. Which is great... Especially the early part where he tries to figure out how this 'Gola' works. The dancing cars, the moment when he gets beaten up for adjusting the vendor's pajama, the God stickers on his cheeks, Sanjay Dutt's tharki analysis when PK starts talking Bhojpuri. All that had me chuckling. 

Then came the not-so-interesting bits. The questions became repetitive and so did Aamir's expressions (but 
hasn't that been the case since Lagaan when he started doing the class-monitor inspired roles? Fanaa, perhaps, 
being a notable exception). It became simplistic and predictable and lost the zing in the plot and characters. And did they really need to add a romantic angle for Aamir? 

OMG, on the other hand, had  formidable and complex character detailing. Mithun-da was menacing, to say the least.

"Aastha aur Shraddha ka nasha afeem ki tarah hai!"
The dialogue writer gets the credit, of course. But when Leeladhar Swami says it... brrrrrrr! It is a bone-chilling, 'goose-bumping' moment.

Saurabh Shukla was almost cuddlesome, in comparison. 


All that glitters is not god
( Image Source- Google, the true GOD) 
Neither movie is openly atheist. Both are agnostic at best. PK also talks of 2 Gods- one that created us, the other that we created. OMG has the Akshay Kumar 'incarnation' (or shall we call it intervention, for my lack of finding the appropriate word?). Both bring down the Godmen, the 'fear' of God and the rituals. Some of the dialogues are nearly identical too. (Especially about asking a father-like God for favours). 

But OMG, also handled the "What if?" questions. What if you really ran into God who asked you to stop believing in IT? Is it not ironical that an atheist Kanji meets God who asks him to NOT believe in him or get attached to worship? How can you 'unsee' what you have already seen? 

PK has all of Hirani's signatures-

  • Roguish, rebellious yet responsible youth,
  • Slightly strict yet eventually tender parents, 
  • People's movement and modern-day media (the doctors', nurses' and students' support to Munna for his exam preparations/ 'Radio Gandhigiri' in Lage raho, Munnabhai, the engineering students turning to obstetricians and the VIRUS generator(!), 'Wrong numbers'  in PK).
  • Heart-wrenching moment ( Zaheer's death/ the non-existence of Bapu/ Joy's death/ Bhaaya blown to smithereens at the railway station)
  • Softly hummable songs.

But OMG it is, for me this time. 

Maybe Hirani needs to get slightly more experimental going ahead? A dark comedy, perhaps? He is the people's story-teller. He has it in him to tackle dark comedies in India, without raising hackles.


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 P.S. Had to include this pic that *my very own God*, GOOGLE presented me with. (This true God knows every living, breathing detail of my life, always gives me more than I ask for, and hasn't *ever* let me down!)



Wednesday, November 19, 2014

One day, two movies and GRAVITY!

This new genre of Marathi movies- simple, yet compelling in story-telling. Low on budget, high on thought and feel.
Elizabeth Ekadashi-I saw the posters... a bunch of kids looking up at us with twinkling eyes, and their bicycle with a... wait! Is is that a steering wheel?!
Paresh Mokashi directing it- this had to be worth the watch. So I went for it yesterday, with Vi in tow,of course- 4:30 pm at PVR, Oberoi mall!



At the ticket kiosk, I saw Interstellar for 7:00 pm. So what the heck! We bought tickets for those too!
The movie started a good half hour late, with a dozen trailers, and advertisements and social messages for the audience.

'A Minute for Mumbai'- 3 social shorts... well made. Everyone around was appreciatively nodding, as an old lady, a very pregnant woman, and a blind man on the screen, checked under their seats, but NO ONE, including yours truly, looked under our seats. We are very trusting, and naive and rather laidback about certain things- us Mumbaikars. We are also very appreciative about well made social promotional messages).
Then came the Women in Films and Television themed National Anthem, opened with Sonam Kapoor, followed by Shruti Hassan! WTF! But let's not digress.
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Elizabeth Ekadashi

The music... happy, addictively rhythmic, and nostalgic to those who have heard Marathi music in the days of Door Darshan and Vividh Bharati. On-screen is the black stone idol of Vithoba, of Pandharpur, and the priests and temple staff going about their religious routine. Enter the protagonist, little Dnyana (Dnyanesh) delivering a very cheery, animated modern day sermon, about 1 God, or many Gods, and Newton, Einstein, Gravity, Relativity and such. Dnyanesh and his sister Zendu live with their mother and grandmother, managing a hand-to-mouth sustenance. The siblings and their motley bunch of friends love Elizabeth, a quirky looking bicycle with eyes, lips,  and a steering wheel, that was an unfinished invention of their now dead father. The kids decorate her with little laterns pretending they are her earrings, and tease Dnyana about her being his wife (Bike! Baayko! total Marathi reference) When their mother's sweater making machine is taken away by the bank, for defaulting on payments, the family has to find some means to pay Rs.5000 in the next four days, or risk having to sell Elizabeth for Rs.2000 to raise the money.

The characters are brilliant, their personalities clearly defined, yet layered. The story was building up steadily to an interesting situation. Will they? Or won't they? Mokashi gives us a true feel of the small bustling temple town, where kids still run free and almost everyone knows each other, and word of mouth is still the primary mode of communication. A temple town where activities, including prostitution depend on the annual influx of Varkaris (Mokashi's treatment of prostitution is subtle, fleeting and respectful- even in Harishchandrachi factory. I think he needs to make a movie on the topic).  The scenes and background score is achingly simple and brilliant.

But somewhere at the end, I felt cheated. I wanted more of Elizabeth, I wanted more of Dnyana's intellect and Kirtan skills to be central to the story. The end was simple a series of coincidences... of good luck and good will. Left too much to chance.
I guess Mokashi had set a very high benchmark with Harishchandrachi Factory. While beautiful in its own right, Elizabeth Ekadashi did not live up to that expectation.

And Vi- she did not like it. Maybe she was too young for it. Maybe she found the frustrated, stern yet loving mother disturbing.
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And then after half an hour in the play zone, we went for Interstellar. Which led to a series of questions and thoughts... by Vi and me (she loves Sci-Fi, Space, robots, astronauts).

By Me-
  •  This is so so sooooooooo like Signs by M. Night Shyalaman. 
  • Why is it that the only female astronaut onboard is a biologist (carrying 'fertilised eggs!') and spouts emotional "LOVE transcends time and space" theories? Why does she nearly kill herself, although she knows she is the only one who can implement Plan B, if A doesn't work? What was so important about that data, that she chased it instead on returning to the ship?
  • How can you receive signals, but not be able to send any messages, when the other probes had been relaying signals all the time? 
  • I need to learn Binary, Morse and Telekinesis! You can program gazillion bytes of complex quantum data into an analogue watch 30 years old, that uses god alone know what phenomenal batteries to keep ticking that long! 
  • And of all places, the '5th dimensional reconstruction' had to appear behind the bookshelf in a kid's room, instead of the Physicist's workboard, that has endless equations scrawled across. Apparently it is so much more sensible for sentient 5th dimensional beings to inspire you to knock books, than to let you scribble on the board. Writing on the wall? Whoever heard of that!
  • Why does Cooper send the message 'STAY'? He DOESN'T want himself, going to space to come back and send that solution that saved the world? I mean, if he had listened to Murph and stayed, he would have never been there behind the bookshelves at that point giving out that important solution. This is totally contradictory!
  • Rectangular modular robots? For all its adjustable humane programming, it looks like a slab. I am certainly not saying make humanoid forms, but *THAT* form??? It simply does not do any justice to the functions it performs. Clumsy and inefficient, to say the least. Seriously what were the product-designers thinking? WERE they even thinking to begin with? That said, I love TARS! Muahhh!
  • Why doesn't Wes Bentley get meatier roles? He is hot, brooding and silent. I love him. But I think I love TARS more, despite him being such a SLAB. 
  • And what is Tom Cooper's second son's name? Cooper Cooper?
By Vi-
  • Saturn! Look Saturn! I love Saturn! (neighbouring spectators- some amused, some annoyed)
  • Wowwwwwww! It looks like a beach! They should go surfing on those big waves. Mumma, I want to learn surfing (Me- Learn swimming first! Nevermind what Cooper tells Romilly. The neighbours are clearly annoyed now)
  • When are they getting back to Earth?
  • Where are the aliens?
  • Mumma, I am asking you, WHERE ARE THE ALIENS? (Shhhhhhhh!!!)
  • I like English movies better than Marathi movies.
I think I liked Dnyana's theory of relativity better at the end of the day! :)



Monday, November 17, 2008

A hut spinning on chicken's leg...

Dasvidaniya! ( I don't know the word for Welcome- hehehehe- so I'm opening with Bye-Bye!) :D

I was around 10-ish when I started thinking about all things Russian...
Russian Lok-kathaa Maroon cloth bound version which "Chachi Prachi" owned.
Folktales of the peoples of Russia- a white cloth bound version with green cover print that i think Dada-mama gifted me. I learnt that "Peoples" as a plural word is grammatically accurate. Ivan Ivanesevic, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Baba Yaga the witch who flies in a pestle-mortar.

Misha that monthly kiddy magazine (More often than not, it was lost in the post; rarely got it every month) that Bhai-mama had subscribed for Prasad. I read them more than him. And oh, those glossy pages and exquisitely, rich and colourful illustrations! 
 I traced them all with my fingers and ran my hands all across the pages. I drowned on those images. The pleasure and the luxury! Prass also had a book about "When Daddy was a little boy..."

Russian circuses... Russian gymnasts... Russian Ballet telecast on good ol' DD.


How I wanted to learn ballet! I adored those stockinged and tutu-ed dainty, lithe dancers (didn't know then, that they were called Tutus). I threw a tantrum to buy my first pair of full-leg stockings. How envious I was when Maureen n Raynah got to do a pseudo-ballet for the Annual function in school... And how it was the first time I heard the word "Dasvidaniyaaaaa- Goodbyeeee"!

And I "experienced" that word again now... Dasvidaniya to the USSR as we know it?! :) I liked the movie.
Note to self: Dig up up all those books the next time I go to Suyog.