Antariksham

Three things that worked for 'Anthariksham' are having the best supporting cast, Aditi Rao Hydari who can deliver refined grace along with a good performance and yes, space is truly a rocket science and the naivety of the audience is exploited at places (but should agree that lots of research certainly went into the making of the movie). Adding emotion to the space mission is the special touch that only our movies can accomplish and Sankalp Reddy must be appreciated for not giving us yet another remake of Interstellar or The Martian in disguise. Varun Tej dodges well as the lover boy but falls short comparatively in conveying the intuition and angst of an astronaut. Srinivas Avasarala is emerging as the Chandramohan of the present times in letting the character argue the case for him and audience judge his talent!! Overall, an interesting experience on the large screen, especially for children!!

1-yo

Looks are Deceptive

 

Subrahmanya Shasti

Two school-going kids venture out on their little adventure of visiting the nearby temple alone, early in the morning. Amma gives all the necessary instructions and hands over the money to be dropped in the hundi to one and coins for the chappal locker guy to the other. But naanna is worried, considering the rushes at the entrance.... Amma trusts the kids and rationalizes naanna's concern to be unnecessary and laughs it off remarking the overprotective parent of a 9- and a 11- year-old that he is being.....

Naanna being the minority gives up and watches until the kids go out of his sight. Amma is still confident and has a mocking grin on her face. After 5 minutes, amma who is now packing the lunch boxes is restless.... her mind is wandering and sinking into wild thoughts.... what if a rowdy disguised as a devotee offers poisoned prasadam to the kids.... what if the children are stuck among the adults at the darshan and the younger one can't find his brother..... what if the authorities catch hold of these unaccompanied minors and raise a complaint..... what if they are not cautious while crossing the road.....

Amma was gripped in tension while naanna went for a bath.... she walks to the balcony as the duo in uniforms appear with a small bowl of prasadam and foreheads with the holy vermillion.... 'amma', their shout seemed more valuable than ever.... She bangs the bathroom door and yells, 'Your babies are back!!'.... and zap comes the reply... 'You.....egoistic hypocrite'.... naanna's voice just fades out into the background as the children come back home and repeat the mantra that amma taught them in the morning, 'Vallisanadha mamadehi karaavalambam'

Right and Duty

 

Playtime of Toddlers

 

Actors and Teams

 

 

Great Mornings

 

Oppo Selfie

 

Happy Children's Day

If you can laugh over silly stuff, cry indefinitely, shout aloud oblivious of the seriousness in the surroundings, repeat the same gibberish numerous times, can't resist moving continuously and wants to grow up urgently;

And if the only sane things you do are to make an annoyed mother burst into laughter, warm her heart with a good hug and wet her eyes with an innocent kiss on her cheek, then these are the special wishes for you....

'HAPPY CHILDREN'S DAY'

Shout out to all those little Buddhas who not only bring good luck and a sense of fulfilment, but also the wisdom to just breath in and breath out when in chaos!! 

Humility to Surrender

 

Insensitivity and Ego

 

Inclusion in Love

 

Mid-week Holiday

 

Remainders

Aren't children like those silly remainders who wink, giggle and remind the divisor and quotient that 'though you have assumed, you people were not made perfectly for each other'!??! 😜😂😀

The quotient blames the divisor, 'It was all your fault!'😏🙄 and the latter retorts, 'Stop it!! I never thought I'd be used this way in a division!!'😔😲

The dividend tries to arbitrate, 'Two of you added the naughtiness and surprise element of the remainder to create a home and family. Assume how boring your perfection could've been!!'..... but, the argument continues....😃😃

Expert Authority

 

God's Own Account

Started reading 'God's own kitchen'....couldn't turn a single page without tears rolling down my eyes. The experience is inexplicable and not able to find out exactly which one of these is bringing out the emotion.... is it the selfless service of the 'Akshaya Patra' or the narrative and powerful one-liners by Rashmi Bansal or the disbeief in the humility and simplicity of professionals from renowned institutions or the way the Lord himself is unfolding the drama using humans as the means (karma philosophy in action) or the resurrection of the belief that world is made of good people!! Do read it to appreciate the other side of education and how the educated get to give it back.

Yam

 

Compatibility!!

Nirmala Sitaraman

Now I understand why the Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman makes it a point to be a part of the annual pickle-making ritual at home..... though it's no rocket science (missile or rifle science in her case :)), lot of patience, procedure and age-old technique are incorporated into many such traditions and customs by our elders. They can only be understood and appreciated by acquiring them from the previous generations and performing them under their guidance. This goes a long way into building humility, inclusive thinking, eye to minute detail and the most important quality of learning from small things in life!! Getting in touch with the roots also keeps the thoughts grounded and makes the re-connecting time so delightful and memorable!!

Though I am nowhere near her, my little achievement of making turmeric powder from the dried stems helped me realize this and the credit totally goes to my guru, the youngest co-sister Haritha!! She makes the tradition seem cool and functional even during the present times!! No doubt, growing up with the grandparents has been a great way of integrating positive living into her life!!

Learning from little things

Now I understand why the Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman makes it a point to be a part of the annual pickle-making ritual at home..... though it's no rocket science (missile or rifle science in her case :)), lot of patience, procedure and age-old technique are incorporated into many such traditions and customs by our elders. They can only be understood and appreciated by acquiring them from the previous generations and performing them under their guidance. This goes a long way into building humility,  inclusive thinking, eye to minute detail and the most important quality of learning from small things in life!! Getting in touch with the roots also keeps the thoughts grounded and makes the re-connecting time so delightful and memorable!!
Though I am nowhere near her in any way, my little achievement of making turmeric powder from the dried stems helped me realize this and the credit totally goes to my guru, the youngest co-sister Haritha! She makes the tradition seem cool and functional even during the present times!! No doubt, growing up with grandparents is a great way to integrate positive living into life for her!!

96

 

Grantedness

 

Chocolate-y

 

MeToo

Any society that has pushed aside the discussion on rights and limitations of men and women until it reaches the brim, would certainly see an outburst of the #MeToo instances that date back to long long ago, once that silence of containment is broken and people become aware of the wrongness. It is just the moment of the realisation of 'how much is too much' that has been awaited for so long.... It is surely going to open the flood gates and catch the insensitive and impolite unawares. Let the muddy waters flow in the public, slinging its dirt onto the face of every wrong-doer!! Much needed stains for the sections who have only learnt to oppress and misuse and a timely warning for the society to bear gender sensitivity in mind and nurture the next generation responsibly. High time to tame the beast at home rather than glorifying the tales of inconsiderate behaviour as that of the 'Man' in the making!!

Grandpa and Kaka

 

Dhokla

 

Respect

 

The Coolest

 

Superficiality

While ignorance superficially seems to be a bliss, it makes an unsavoury cocktail when mixed with prejudices! It takes one to call upon their deeper attributes such as openmindedness, courage and inquisitiveness to accept the innocence and comprehend the unknown at face value to gather knowledge! But, it only takes the peripheral traits of being judgmental and hypercritical, to invalidate the things one doesn't do, know or understand as incorrect! So, literacy and education ultimately are attitudinal affirmations rather than simple one-dimensional reviews

Kid's Sandwich

Contraption

Sandwich

Kaala

Bobbatlu

Prithvi Birthday

Our happiness monitor, our fire-cracker with sarcastic yet subtle sense of humor and our official entree for 'The most messy sweetheart of the house' contest is already 9!! Can't believe how funny, crazy and ridiculously rich days of our lives have already reached such a large count....as all he wants even today is just the warmth of sitting in naanna's lap, a hug from anna, an out-of-the-world Christopher Nolan-ish bedtime story from maamma and a kiss on his cheek from amma (not to forget...a pile of papers for instant art burst too)!! Happy birthday Prithvi!!

Tribute to Vajpayee ji!!

Sir!! You will be missed forever,

And your absence would be felt everywhere!!

Memories can't bring back just one thing about your profile,

But a collage of events covering RSS, politics and poetic style!!

We can never forget the first full term non-Congress PM,

And the patriotism behind your 'Jang Na Hone Denge's rhythm!!

Your courage during the Pokhran test range,

And the friendly Delhi-Lahore bus entourage!!

Your futuristic thought in 'Look East' foreign policy,

And the able leadership in disinvestment strategy!!

Every child is thankful for the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan

And we are indebted for setting foundation for Chandrayaan!!

Kandahar hostage was not an easy decision,

Who else could have nailed the Hindi speech at UN!!

Vajpayee ji, we prostrate to your multi-talented personality,

And would always remember your intelligibility, honesty and humility!!

Sudha Ma'am

When a teacher enters the class swiftly, with a bunch of chalks and nothing else, students would actually be scared of the length of the lecture, especially if they have to study internal combustion engine, metals and their ores, agricultural practices or human reproductive system. But, trust me, everyone in our class looked forward to learn Science everyday. The Ma'am used to just carry those chalks, but one could not miss noticing the limitless confidence that she oozed, the eternal tranquility in her facial expressions, the unknown gravity in her method of explaining concept and the carelessness with which she just intertwined her hairlocks to make a long braid. Every student's stare was fixed at her, paying complete attention to the point of the matter. Everything in this world seemed trivial except the chapter you were being taught. If the topic was Space, everyone in the class wanted to be a Space scientist and if she described microbes, you wish to do a detailed course in it. Her description of biological magnification, greenhouse effect, carbon and its compounds and almost all the topics are still afresh in the pages of memory. I remember her each time I elucidate scientific facts and concepts to my kids.

While science in itself is intriguing and interesting, the way Sudha ma'am projected it has definitely gone a long way in turning a large proportion of our classmates into Engineers, Doctors and Scientists.

Her illustration of cell, atom and structure of eye are still intact in my mind. We understood that neither the finesse in the drawing nor the colors mattered. It is just important to explain the diagrams through proper outline and labelling. This gave wings to students like me who were really bad at drawing and dreaded being laughed at for the figure of simple digestive system.

As the pupils who just entered the teens, the Class 9 were notorious for their mischief. When the whole staff was alarmed by the quantum of immatured maturity we were portraying and it's impact on our attitude and behavior, Sudha ma'am just made us understand how young and small we were when compared to the world outside. These few minutes of simple yet introspective clarification was enough to put those entire lot of wavering minds back on track.

Neither the speed with which she walked nor the warmth with which she struck a friendly chord with every other person changed over the years. Being the student who lived just behind the school and having a bird's eye view of few classrooms and the staffroom from my home, I never leave a chance to watch her teach a lesson to Class 10 students or evaluate the answer sheets while sitting in a comfortable position with her left palm rested on her left leg, even now....twenty three years after my schooling is done.

As a senior teacher, she was such an eminent educator. It gives me goosebumps to just imagine what all she would have done after she was made the Principal of the school. A recognition of this magnitude is an apt way of admiring her knowledge and guidance and honoring her skill and service.

It brings me tears of gratitude and happiness to just say how proud we are to be your students, Sudha Ma'am....

Sanju Kapoor

Optical illusion and hypnotized mind.... Ranbir Kapoor has blurred the lines between his portrayal of Sanju and the real Sanjay Dutt that we know of. You get so immersed in the act that you suddenly wake up to the fact that the actor is actually not Sanjay Dutt but someone else!! The slightly bent frame, aimlessly loitering eyes, the sway in the walk, pronunciation... you name it about Sanjay Dutt and Ranbir has mastered it. His acting prowess is aptly complemented by the make-up and casts. Pushing aside the argument whether the storyline presents a hypocritical version of the biopic or the other side of the coin, Sanju is driven by strong performances, subtle (at times crude) humor and sensitive narrative.

Vicky Kaushal and Paresh Rawal add to the emotion that wells-up the audience's eyes. Anushka is just there to showcase the haute couture. Other than that, we have already seen every expression of hers. Dia Mirza is an essential add-on to the story (with no remarkable value addition as such), while Sonam Kapoor walks through the role of Ruby with ease.

Upanayanam

Still can't believe how my little boy who greeted his mom with a sparkling smile the first time he ever saw her, would turn into a disciplined and enthusiastic 'vatu' in a matter of less than eleven years!!

New School

As adults, though we understand change is inevitable, we tend to stay inert after that notion of 'settlement' and 'my world' gets into the mind. What can we expect from the kids, for whom we create a microcosm and build a familiarity with the neighborhood, friends, teachers, school, classmates and so on. And suddenly we are shaken awake to the reality of things not going right at the present status quo!!

The irony is that everything happened right under our nose but we blinked an over-defensive careless eye till it struck us where it hurts most. We decide to embrace change and move on, but the trouble is not with strategizing but gulping the associated issues at our own pace. We want to take the step, blabber over it, justify that to the world outside...but the fear of the unknown consequences surround us at that time when we glare past the window while boiling the milk, stare blankly at the screen playing our favorite show and the world is surprised what amuses you about the ceiling fan that you have been looking at it while everyone is fast asleep.... You are ashamed discussing the same story every time someone wants to know the reason.... You are afraid of being mocked at the cowardice... You are vexed up hearing the same words of reassurance that taste like the bitter medicine!!

Days passby pondering on these uncertainty calculations and what-if scenarios while making the arrangements to get into the new state of affairs and time leaps on to the D-day.

You wake up with apprehension, pray to the same God that the decision better be good and the change better be the game-changer and kick-start it!! Children happily wear the new uniforms, prostrate before the God (once again under force) and pack their bags with the books for the fresh academic year, while you fix their lunch kits, wear a fake smile that gives a silly look and wave them good-bye.... Nothing seems interesting until the results are out, the children pass a positive judgment in favor of the new school, come back with a happy face and get into their own way of excitedly explaining the day!! Yeah.....at 3:30pm, their smiles spread from cheek to cheek, lunch boxes are empty and the chatter begins right at the door-step!! Thank God I haven't shattered their hopes and dreams hard while acting to be the bold and stubborn mom trying to change their 'world'.... Guilt seems to be the heaviest luggage to carry!!

My Home

The sweet scent of the hometown, the warmth of its air, memories taking their own timeleap backwards as the three-wheeler speeds towards 'my' home, those greying hair and wrinkling yet familiar faces of the neighborhood that recognize and greet you with twinkling eyes and broad smile, the silent welcome given by the front porch... the exuberance that these bring to you push back all the work and worries behind.
God hasn't made anything as a single unit even the time and experiences, just wait and take time to weave things together and connect the dots!! Live the moment!!

Mahanati

The fact that behind every successful person is a unique and interesting story, is undeniable. However, the common thread connecting each one of these is the course that had human tendencies of zeal to win, insecurities, egos and kindness, through which the personality shimmers in a subliminal way and leaves the glitter of the star or celebrity that the person has become!! But, do we take home the glitter or the emotional rollercoaster of getting good, bad or ugly, from the biopic is left to the audience. Mahanati Savithri's life story seems to be one among them.
I was ready to give away the credit to the costume design, Gaurang Shah and set designer, Thota Tharani, entirely.. Had to revise the perception after watching the extraordinary display put up by Keerthi Suresh, the results delivered by the research team and the talent of Nag Ashwin. 'Ammaadi' in the sharp yet romantic voice of Dulquer reverberates in every ear even days after watching 'Mahaanati'!!

Women's Day

 

Aftermath of Naa Peru Surya

By God's grace or improved choice, audience are past the unrealistic heroism and unreasonable stories. We don't drool over six pack of the heroes or oggle at the necklines of their female counterparts anymore.... Neither the single-handed handling of the goons nor running around foreign locales interest us.... Hope movie-makers also get through the hangover soon... While we are trying hard to raise sensitive and responsible generation, at least leave us alone and don't portray inhumane violence when we come down to theatres seeking entertainment.
Please show us real stories and normal people... We do crave for a getaway from the routine but have not stooped to the level of bearing nonsense in the name of timepass!! Finally, let me not give away the name of the movie.....

Rangasthalam

Rangasthalam.....a movie beautifully set in a picturesque locale, has a good first half that rises the expectations, which could not be balanced by the eventually predictable and long second half!! But, do watch it to get a peek into the nativity, plug in to the dialect of Godavari and smell the nascence of its soil. DSP's beats and subtlety further accentuate the beauty. Though Ram Charan's acting skills have improved by leaps and bounds, Samantha and Aadi Pinisetty steal the show. Jagapathi Babu's villiany has in a way become routine and Anasuya adds unique nuances to her role and comes as a surprise!! The stylists, make-up artists and set designers need a huge round of applause!!

Great Grandma

 

Treasure

 

Respect and Hatred