Chain Reactions

The point where all things were possible.
The moment when a choice was made, 
or an action taken.

The breath inhaled before
a first step forward.

And the most lasting chain reactions
that are started by those moments
and actions
and choices...

are always the ones that
are started by love.

-Touch, Season 1, Episode 13

Change

Every day, every moment, every nanosecond the world changes

Electrons bump into each other and react

People collide and alter each other’s path

Change isn’t easy

More often it is wrenching and difficult

But may be that’s a good thing

Because it’s the change that makes us strong, keeps us resilient

It teaches us to evolve…

Few beautiful lines from Touch (Season 1, Episode 12). This was accompanied by the following background score..

Rise up this morning
Smile with the rising sun
Three little birds
On my doorstep
Singin' sweet songs
A melody that's pure and true
Saying, this is my message to you
So, don't you worry
About a thing...
'Cause every little thing
Is gonna be all right... 

A Tinge of Lemon to Mango Lassi

Hari and I were having dinner at the Everest restaurant this evening when an elderly gentleman came in and sat at the table next to us. Lucky “Singh”, as I like to call the person-in-charge of the place, somehow didn’t notice him and started taking orders from people who came after this gentleman. Hari felt concerned and he drew Lucky’s attention towards the gentleman.

While we were eating our food, we heard the gentleman calling Lucky and saying, “Please bring these two gentlemen drinks of their choice”, while pointing at us. We felt embarrassed and tried to change his mind. But we couldn’t. He said, “Please, I insist”.  ”You don’t have to do this”, we said him. “But I like it, so please order something”, he replied. “Thanks a lot for the drink. It is very nice of you”, we replied. We then hesitatingly ordered Coco Cola for ourselves. The gentleman also bought drinks for two other persons sitting on an another table.

This initiated a conversation between us. He was Paul. He worked as the head waiter on cruise ships before he retired. He has travelled widely and almost to all countries, except for India. Being in the hospitality business for his entire working career, he was a connoisseur of food and dining. He prefers eating what locals eat and in a way in which locals eat. “Once in China, I asked for Chinese beer. The waiter looked at me surprisingly and suspiciously asked if I didn’t want to have a Heineken beer”, he said. “For God sake, I don’t want to have Dutch beer in China. In China, I want to have something which is authentic Chinese”.

It is always interesting to converse with people like Paul who have travelled widely and have a rich experience. You may also pick up one or two nuggets of life. “If you have 20 dollars in your pocket, you should not go and demand and show-off your capability to pay. Instead, with folded hands humbly request, if you can have it.  In my 60 years of life,  I have always been treated with warmth and friendliness, whichever part of world I went. Moreover, 9 out of 10 times I wasn’t allowed to pay for my food”. Paul had ordered chicken noodles. He later asked us if that was an Indian dish. We told him that it wasn’t authentic Indian dish. Intrigued by our food, he asked if that was Indian. When we replied affirmatively, he requested if we could order the same for him. We did and Lucky “Singh” offered it as complimentary and on the house .

Lucky also offered mango lassi as compliment to Paul. He took a sip of the lassi. He waited for a moment experiencing the taste of it. “It has mango and yogurt in it. But less of mango”, Paul said. “A bit of lemon, if added to it will enhance the taste of mango even more”, he remarked. “Lemon when added to fruits such as strawberry, mango, etc always makes it taste better”, he further added. He emphasized that it should be lemon and not lime.

The Rendezvous

I was walking towards the check-in desk, still not sure if I should take this flight. There was a strife between my mind and my heart. The “logical” mind said that I’m just being a fool and will return heart-broken, whereas the “fanciful” heart was more hopeful and pushed me to go for it. Unable to decide, I proceeded.  I dropped my baggage, collected my boarding pass and walked towards the security check. As I stood in the queue, I said to myself, “This is the last chance of returning back”. The strife deepened. I wanted to listen to my mind but wanted to believe my heart.

Finally, after the security check, I was at the boarding gate and soon inside the flight on my window seat in the third row. It was raining outside. The window glass was completely covered with water droplets. I could see the outside world upside down in these drops. It was beautiful. As the flight taxied for take off, the wind blew away all the drops. Through the clear glass, I could see the diminishing houses, cars and roads. Soon I lost all the view as we entered the thick clouds. A while later, we soared above the clouds and were greeted by a bright blue sky and cheerful shining sun. All these, diverted my attention but not for long.

As I gazed outside the window, I thought over the past few months. I retraced the sequence of events that had led to this day. I could clearly recall the first time when I saw her. Her beauty captivated my heart and her mischievousness delighted me. Recalling that moment itself brought smile to my face. “It’s worth it dude”,  suddenly my heart interrupted my thoughts. “Let’s see”, I replied back.  I would feel restless every time I thought about her. I missed being close to her and longed to meet her.

“Sir, would you like tea or coffee?” My thoughts were interrupted by the air-hostess. “Coffee please”, I replied. “Milk and sugar?”, she further asked. “Yes, please. Two sugar and two milk”, I replied again.  It was good coffee and it was hot. It made me feel warm as I was looked out of the window at the snow covered mountains. I snugged in my seat after I finished the coffee and my thoughts returned back to her. In these past few months, I have been enamoured by her. She is mischievous. She is flirtatious. She is unpredictable.

Something shook and I woke up. The flight had landed. I didn’t realize when I had fallen asleep. “Oh! I have reached”, I gasped. I was nervous. Strange isn’t it? You wait for something for so long but when it’s almost there you feel that it came too early. Anyways, I exited the flight, picked up my baggage as well as the rental car. Once inside the car, I entered the destination address in the GPS. The GPS quickly finished routing and announced, “20 kms to your destination”. The screen showed 20 minutes to the destination. I sat there for few minutes hoping time to pass slower, hoping GPS to show 60 minutes to the destination. Finally I started the engine and pulled out the car.

It was cold and windy. The sun had set and the moon was rising above the horizon. It was becoming dark fast. I kept driving. The GPS voice would interrupt once in a while and I would notice the diminishing time and distance to the destination. Finally, I heard “In 200 meters, you will reach your destination. Destination is on your right”. My heart pumped faster. I clenched the steering tighter. I looked at the rear and side mirrors. I changed the FM station. “Will she be there?” “Will I be able to meet her?” “What will I say?” “What should I do when I meet her?”… there were hundreds of questions running through my mind.

“You have reached your destination”, announced the GPS. I pulled over the car. I turned off the engine. Slowly, undecidedly I got out of the car. I stood there, looking at her. She was there. I wanted to get back into the car and drive back. I wanted to run away. But I couldn’t move. I stood there. I looked below at my boots. I put my hands in pockets, fiddling with the car keys. I looked at the car, I looked away from it. I looked everywhere except at her. She smiled. She sensed  my hesitation. But she waited. I slowly and hesitatingly started walking towards her.

Incir reçeli

“I love fig jam”, says Duygu.  ”And I hate fig jam”, responds Metin.

This was one of the many differences between Metin and Duygu. They had very different perspectives about life. Naturally the idea of how to live it also differed, and hence the love versus hate for the fig jam .

Duygu’s coming into Metin’s life was like the brief autumn between summer and winter. Autumn brings with itself colors and beauty. Although it is prelude to the oncoming winter, it leaves while filling our hearts with a hope of its returning again. So was Duygu’s love for Metin. She brought new colors into Metin’s life. Sadly she had to go, just like autumn has to go. However, before she left, she inspired Metin to continue doing what he loves to do and gave him hope to look forward to a new spring.

Love is like drops of perfume. The essence of perfume drops can be sensed, long after they are gone. So, is with love. It can live long after the person is gone. It continues to linger while beautifully blending memories, inspirations, happiness, pain and hope.

This is the story of Duygu and Metin from the movie “Incir reçeli“. It is a Turkish movie which I happened to see on-board my flight to Istanbul. Lovely romantic movie. “Incir reçeli” means fig jam in Turkish.

Art creates an analogy

Art can be fascinating as well as equally intriguing. Quite often, I have come across pieces of art and artists who want to convey a message through their paintings, sculptures, music, films, graffiti, installations, etc. Sometimes the message is clear to an ignorant like me, sometimes it is hard to understand. However, it does get clearer once I talk to its creator and when they explain their perception of it. This always leaves me with one question – “Ok, I understand it now but how will it change anything? People like me will come, see and soon forget about it. Can art ever have any relevant impact?”.

I have never understood how art can bring about a change. I got a convincing reasoning for it, in the following quotes from JR -

Art is not supposed to change the world, to change practical things, but to change perceptions. Art can change the way we see the world. Art can create an analogy.

He further continues, “Actually the fact that art cannot change things makes it a neutral place for exchanges and discussions, and then enables you to change the world”. I saw this very interesting TED talk of JR where he shows how he used his art to make a difference. He is a French street photographer who prints his pictures and pastes them on walls of cities across the world. Check out this talk to understand his idea for his art -

I would especially draw your attention to the part of the video from 15:47 to 16:56, where he becomes creative in pasting posters in India when he wasn’t allowed to. Also get a quick overview of his work from 17:07 to 18:35 and 20:20 onwards.

He has also started a project called “Inside Out“, where you can upload images to their website and they will send you back printed posters which you can paste in your community. Off course, the images and the idea of pasting the posters must have a social relevance. You may read more about it at this TED blog.

What inspires me about JR’s work is the new aspect of social relevance that he has brought to photography.

Babu Moshai

Babu moshai, hamari mushkil malum he kya he? Hum aane wale gum ko kinch taan kar aaj ki khushi pe le aate hain aur aaj ki khushi me jahar ghol dete hain.

One of the many touching dialogues from the movie “Anand“. These few words sum up the entire philosophy of living. Anand is one of the few movies where I have found respite time and again on days when I needed to make sense and contemplate on matters of life.

It’s a sad day today, not only for me but for millions of fans, old and young, who have loved Rajesh Khanna, aka Kaka, for his brilliant movies and evergreen songs. His prime years were over by the time I was born. But I experienced his brilliance through his movies and songs, thanks to papa.

I never knew him well or made efforts for finding out who he was outside the cinema screen. We were quite strangers. Still  I feel sad today. Unlike, other yesteryear actors whom I had loved but there loss just passed away like any other news for me.

Today, when I digged into my collection of old songs, I realised that a large number of my favorite songs are of Kaka’s movies. He has been with me for a long time now, right from my days of  high school exam preparations to my most recent road trip through the Rhine valleys in Germany. It has been a long journey together and I realised this togetherness only today.

Although Kaka is gone, my journey with him will continue for the rest of my lifetime. There are many more trips to be done, many codes to written and many quite evenings to be spent. He will continue living in my memories because -

Anand mara nahin, anand marte nahin…

One of my favorite songs -