As soon as our English teacher entered class and we were done with singing the glory of God (yes we had to do it before and after each period!), almost invariably everyone mumbled something like…”Ah! This blessed Shakespeare, how much more…eeyuck!” We seemed to be jinxed by his power. Centuries after he had decided ‘to not be’, his gloomy irritating presence loomed over our heads and in our text books. It puzzled us why world over Shakespeare was an integral part of English Literature…and we had some pretty good arguments to support our cause, which was mainly-BAN Shakespeare.
I remember one of my friends trying to memorize the play lines before the exams in a frenzy and total disarray grumbled ‘God this guy doesn’t even know proper English and we learn this in the name of English literature??’ Obviously us helpless souls shared her pain and seized the opportunity to curse him some more before going back to those ill fated books and guides. Well, our teachers did try to show us reason and persuade us to give him a chance.
Oh yes first let me tell you about Ms. Bhowmick (though I need to devote a whole blog to her:-) ), she was our favorite teacher, taught us English. She was the one who told us the rights from wrongs, told us ingrates(that was her favorite word!) about the world, its fallacies its niceties. She was on a constant rampage as far as our pronunciations were concerned, Miss I still remember that clerk is pronounced as clark though I often get a ‘Sorry what did you say’ when I use it. One of her missions in life was to make us realize the worth of Shakespeare, she could go on for hours about his significance, value and appeal. But we were a group of obstinate young girls, we believed everything she said but this. We mused, she’s just trying to justify the great blunder by the literates world over. It’s a mistake we told each other and some times a daring few told her too. And then to add to our agonies Mr. John Madden had to go and make a movie about this evil lunatic! Yes those were our thoughts. We saw ‘Shakespeare in Love’ (courtesy Ms. Bhowmick), our perspective and weird ideas didn’t take a U-turn after watching the film, but yes it helped us see him in a different light. For the first time we thought of him as an actual being, who existed who had feelings, rather than some stupid creator of the garbage forced onto us. Human in thought and action rather than an epitome of English literature.
The agony went on for years but gradually we did make sense of his senseless characters. Our hate only equation with Shakespeare changed to a love-hate relationship. First, the hate had nothing to do with Shakespeare, it was caused by the ISC board which expected that we mug up the lines of the plays he took months to write and produce them on paper in those three hours of examination! Believe me that was true suffering and anguish.
Love because we realized that our teachers were right. That it was truly fascinating how way back in the 16th century this man could envision the world in future. How could he etch out his characters so marvelously? It is mesmerizing the way his naïve plots tell the story of human nature so superbly. His protagonists seem so genuine now. The likes of Macbeth and Hamlet are part of our day-to-day lives. (Yes but one funny thought is how men of those times portrayed the characters of the lovely beautiful women he described :D) Romeo and Juliet which as adolescents seemed filmi and over-dramatized, remains carved now in our memories as one of the greatest romances we’ve read! And yes the quotes we wanted to hate so much, their relevance is so clear now! How beautiful and meaningful they sound.
‘All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..’
These lines from ‘As you like it’ endeared me; so simply put yet they sum up our lives so well. Then obviously my love for ‘To be or not to be…’ is quite clear from my earlier blogs, I guess. I also admit to a liking for his language now, that sense of being unique and different with the keen flavour of the olden times added to it, makes it impossible not to savour it. My urge to read more, to devour his work leads me to my father’s study to pick up ‘The Complete works of Shakespeare’. Now when I go through it(with a more mature outlook) I realize why it is a sort of bible for English literature and why my father who misplaced all his books still has this one perched on top of his study’s shelf since donkey’s years!
To end in true shakespearn style, thy ought read his great works lest you become a regretful soul ...oops that is a weird goof up. I agree no one can imitate the master, least of all me with my limited literary skills, but you get the essence..eh?
Me, Myself & B n B
First for the ignorant souls B n B aka Bunty and Babli is not an “inspired” copy or a plagiarized version of the Jim Carrey hit. The title represents my dilemma…MPD strikes me too! To like or not to like – that’s the question.
I belong to the class freshly struck by the AB junior mania. So needless to say I waited with bated breath for 27th May the worldwide premiere of the much publicized talked about Yash Chopra movie. Given my (newborn) loyalty to the junior Bacchan I wanted to see it first day first show. But alas my parents refused to acknowledge my love (hehehe) and comply. The avid fan and cinegoer in me had to settle down for an evening show two weeks later. The D-day came, I couldn’t wait to get to the hall (15 minutes late tho-AB couldn’t inspire my mother enough (sob!)). About three hours later awe-struck I was all gagagoogoo. Excitedly I told my parents, what an awesome movie, superb. The Bacchans share such a great on screen chemistry and Rani was OK too(:p). Sadly they didn’t think so, they thought it was such a drag (sigh!).
Well, the practical movie critic in me (ahem!) beckoned me to think again. Honestly the storyline had a lot of potential in it to have lead to the making of an interesting watch and I guess ONLY the movie publicists realized that.There were sooooo many loopholes in the plot. I have racked my brain enough wondering why weren’t the sketches of the two con artists made even after they had supposedly made a mockery of the law, fooled the whole nation, had a whole gamut of victims, half a dozen accomplices in each crime…and yes even after selling the Taj (God help me my sides are splitting). And nobody still recognized them? I am still baffled at the scriptwriters for such gross miscalculation of the audience’s intellect level (or may be not...it is a hit!). In the end Mr.Bacchan claims that only he was the gifted soul who had an actual rendezvous with Bunty n Babli and knew who they really were! By the way could he please throw some light, for us lesser mortals, on exactly what psychic powers he was bestowed with in that flash of a second, which solved the mystery harrowing him for years? The climax, well…it couldn’t get more filmi, could it??
But, wait no…. I loved the movie. Let my senses and practicality go to hell. Man I did enjoy the three hours- the corny jokes, the dream sequences, the dance numbers, Rani’s funny bengali punjabi accent, the cute hindi abuses, Ash’s item number, the dynamic Big B, and of course Abhishek was amazing (I am blushing :p). Who says you need logic when it comes to Bollywood? Nearly all the blockbusters are senseless but they still generate a lot of moolah at the box office, right?
Whatever said and done, no matter how stupid the movie may be I still recommend it to everyone. If you wanna take a break from good well made meaningful cinema (some even produced in our very own Bollywood) go watch B n B, and yes don’t forget to leave that sensible head on your shoulders at home.Have a splendid time (and please don’t curse me later.)
I belong to the class freshly struck by the AB junior mania. So needless to say I waited with bated breath for 27th May the worldwide premiere of the much publicized talked about Yash Chopra movie. Given my (newborn) loyalty to the junior Bacchan I wanted to see it first day first show. But alas my parents refused to acknowledge my love (hehehe) and comply. The avid fan and cinegoer in me had to settle down for an evening show two weeks later. The D-day came, I couldn’t wait to get to the hall (15 minutes late tho-AB couldn’t inspire my mother enough (sob!)). About three hours later awe-struck I was all gagagoogoo. Excitedly I told my parents, what an awesome movie, superb. The Bacchans share such a great on screen chemistry and Rani was OK too(:p). Sadly they didn’t think so, they thought it was such a drag (sigh!).
Well, the practical movie critic in me (ahem!) beckoned me to think again. Honestly the storyline had a lot of potential in it to have lead to the making of an interesting watch and I guess ONLY the movie publicists realized that.There were sooooo many loopholes in the plot. I have racked my brain enough wondering why weren’t the sketches of the two con artists made even after they had supposedly made a mockery of the law, fooled the whole nation, had a whole gamut of victims, half a dozen accomplices in each crime…and yes even after selling the Taj (God help me my sides are splitting). And nobody still recognized them? I am still baffled at the scriptwriters for such gross miscalculation of the audience’s intellect level (or may be not...it is a hit!). In the end Mr.Bacchan claims that only he was the gifted soul who had an actual rendezvous with Bunty n Babli and knew who they really were! By the way could he please throw some light, for us lesser mortals, on exactly what psychic powers he was bestowed with in that flash of a second, which solved the mystery harrowing him for years? The climax, well…it couldn’t get more filmi, could it??
But, wait no…. I loved the movie. Let my senses and practicality go to hell. Man I did enjoy the three hours- the corny jokes, the dream sequences, the dance numbers, Rani’s funny bengali punjabi accent, the cute hindi abuses, Ash’s item number, the dynamic Big B, and of course Abhishek was amazing (I am blushing :p). Who says you need logic when it comes to Bollywood? Nearly all the blockbusters are senseless but they still generate a lot of moolah at the box office, right?
Whatever said and done, no matter how stupid the movie may be I still recommend it to everyone. If you wanna take a break from good well made meaningful cinema (some even produced in our very own Bollywood) go watch B n B, and yes don’t forget to leave that sensible head on your shoulders at home.Have a splendid time (and please don’t curse me later.)
Just GOD
Statutory Warning : might be too boring for some.
I am a believer. No this is not a religion, faith or creed I am talking off, nor am I party to a popular cult gaining high ground. Nor am I a maniac or a psycopath like the ones you find in the American movie stereotypes, penchant with their belief, on a murderous spree.
I believe in GOD, just GOD...no strings attached. He’s not Allah or Christ the Son of God or a Hindu idol. Outwardly I might appear as an atheist. I almost never fast, nor am I a regular visitor to any temple, mosque, church or any house of God. Yes I do bow my head with respect when I pass one. But that is about all. I don’t believe the quaint customs and rituals invoke the Almighty, but if a certain sect believes in their sanctity, then so be it, it is their approach. Their path. I do not discredit or desecrate them. But yes, it’s quite true faith and money are THE greatest motivators. It amazes me sometimes what people do in the name of GOD. How easily they claim their “religious sentiments” have been hurt! Not once thinking what they are doing, why they are doing it...that in the process they are hurting GOD himself? Destroy people just in the name of religion, breach the rights of others, carry out massacres, violence… you name it and they’ve done it…and they think it would make “their” GOD happy!. Weird very weird!How can such carnage lead to GOD I wonder.
My view of GOD differs. I view him as my guiding light, my source of inspiration , my survival.For me he's just someone I can always turn to. He’s someone I can relate my troubles to, even for the smallest trifling I am literally 'knockin on heavens doors'. I don’t defy or disrespect any of the religion, as a matter of fact I revere each one of them, cause they are just various channels leading to the inexplicable power behind the churnings of the real world. The supreme. The one who decides the fate of each one of us, undeterred by our faith. Resolute in his decisions, yet soft when helping his child bear the consequences of one, always lending a helping hand, pulling us through all our miseries. The patriarch of the Globe…or may be the universe or may be beyond…I may never know His limits.
I have always accepted rather greedily all his decisions, the bouts of happiness, the moments of victory. Then why should I shy away when he chooses to test me? Why should I curse him, ask him why ME? I never question him while making merry…so why when I am mourning? No. I always prayed, God always be with me, in good or bad, I will follow your will. Then, so be it, if he chooses pain to give me greater happiness or tests my mettle to make me a stronger individual, I will comply. My duty to him is, I do no wrong, try my best to follow the righteous path and take life (more appropriately the course he decides) willingly, sanguine in my approach and I am sure He would be there to cruise me through all my ups and downs.Just always be with me is my only prayer, so that in my grave moments I know that the pair of footprints in sand is you and only you, which would pull me through each one of my struggles. For me the question is not really ‘To be or not to be’…I have to be, life is beautiful and worth living, it’s a precious gift I cherish and always will till my last breath, live each moment to the fullest…but to always to be as He desires me to be is what matters to me.
P.S this is not a rip-off from TOI’s speaking tree :P
I am a believer. No this is not a religion, faith or creed I am talking off, nor am I party to a popular cult gaining high ground. Nor am I a maniac or a psycopath like the ones you find in the American movie stereotypes, penchant with their belief, on a murderous spree.
I believe in GOD, just GOD...no strings attached. He’s not Allah or Christ the Son of God or a Hindu idol. Outwardly I might appear as an atheist. I almost never fast, nor am I a regular visitor to any temple, mosque, church or any house of God. Yes I do bow my head with respect when I pass one. But that is about all. I don’t believe the quaint customs and rituals invoke the Almighty, but if a certain sect believes in their sanctity, then so be it, it is their approach. Their path. I do not discredit or desecrate them. But yes, it’s quite true faith and money are THE greatest motivators. It amazes me sometimes what people do in the name of GOD. How easily they claim their “religious sentiments” have been hurt! Not once thinking what they are doing, why they are doing it...that in the process they are hurting GOD himself? Destroy people just in the name of religion, breach the rights of others, carry out massacres, violence… you name it and they’ve done it…and they think it would make “their” GOD happy!. Weird very weird!How can such carnage lead to GOD I wonder.
My view of GOD differs. I view him as my guiding light, my source of inspiration , my survival.For me he's just someone I can always turn to. He’s someone I can relate my troubles to, even for the smallest trifling I am literally 'knockin on heavens doors'. I don’t defy or disrespect any of the religion, as a matter of fact I revere each one of them, cause they are just various channels leading to the inexplicable power behind the churnings of the real world. The supreme. The one who decides the fate of each one of us, undeterred by our faith. Resolute in his decisions, yet soft when helping his child bear the consequences of one, always lending a helping hand, pulling us through all our miseries. The patriarch of the Globe…or may be the universe or may be beyond…I may never know His limits.
I have always accepted rather greedily all his decisions, the bouts of happiness, the moments of victory. Then why should I shy away when he chooses to test me? Why should I curse him, ask him why ME? I never question him while making merry…so why when I am mourning? No. I always prayed, God always be with me, in good or bad, I will follow your will. Then, so be it, if he chooses pain to give me greater happiness or tests my mettle to make me a stronger individual, I will comply. My duty to him is, I do no wrong, try my best to follow the righteous path and take life (more appropriately the course he decides) willingly, sanguine in my approach and I am sure He would be there to cruise me through all my ups and downs.Just always be with me is my only prayer, so that in my grave moments I know that the pair of footprints in sand is you and only you, which would pull me through each one of my struggles. For me the question is not really ‘To be or not to be’…I have to be, life is beautiful and worth living, it’s a precious gift I cherish and always will till my last breath, live each moment to the fullest…but to always to be as He desires me to be is what matters to me.
P.S this is not a rip-off from TOI’s speaking tree :P
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