A longer way up

A trip to Eros DVD-wala in Fort is an absolute essential for all of us 20 and 30 somethings living in South Bombay. Eros DVD is somewhat of an institution - this hallowed place is an actual sub-terrain cave in a dilapidating colonial building in Fort. The guys running the (illegal) show have chosen their shop location carefully (safe, hidden location AND the first Starbucks to hit the city is a across the street) and are absolutely current with movies and TV shows, airing internationally. 

The Fort area is the heart of the original city of Bombay and is the oldest part of the city. It is still shakily holding onto its place as the historical commercial center of the city and is always bustling with working bodies, darting through its old, winding gullies.

I digress.

A few days ago, I had stopped by good ol' efficient Eros and quickly updated my DVD library and last evening I watched a movie from that lot - "A Long Way Down"

                                                            <<Movie Spoiler Alert! >>

A peculiar tale of 4 strangers who find themselves one fateful New Years' eve upon the rooftop of a buildng in central London, ready to take the plunge down…towards their end.

Of course neither of the four actually end up jumping and they eventually "rescue" one another from the crises that has driven them to this point in the first place.

The unlikely foursome make a bizarre pact which keeps them together for at least 6 more weeks. The turn of affairs is when they wake up on the 2nd of January to see their faces all over the brit tabloids for two of them are public figures. Martin (Brosnan), a famous TV personality who has lost all social status when he is caught with a minor girl - tearing up his career, popularity and most importantly, family. And Jess (pretty Ms. Poots) whose known for her famous politician father and the tragic and mysterious disappearance of her older sister. Martin, who craves for the public attention he is so used to thrive on decides that the foursome must embrace this new found fame and they get onto live television, give interviews and come up with an amusing story of the "angel" that rescued them that chilly night. Following which, the four of them become tabloid fodder and get hounded by the press and papparazi looking to further sensationalize this event. Overwhelmed by the media frenzy, they seek a hideaway and find themselves in an exotic beach town, drinking their sorrows away over margaritas and piña coladas galore. 

Returning to London, the four part ways and resume their ways and seek to embrace life as they had once known it. But we can all predict, that it would never ever go back to being entirely the way it was…

The movie was short and pleasant to watch. It definitely lacked a strong storyline and mood - moving from soulful drama to british comedy. But I enjoyed it for the performances of all the four protagonists. Pierce Brosnan was a lot less self conscious than usual and worked the brit accent rather well. As for Toni Collette - she played Maureen effortlessly. What touched me most were all the poignant moments laced along the narrative. All four led such widely separate lives but one dramatic moment brings them together and binds them forever. 

Lately, I constantly find myself in situations where I meet people randomly just once and bump into them a few times thereafter in a completely different setting/city. Or, I recognize a face that I have seen before in some part of the world. In many of these situations, I have ended up conversing with these friendly ghosts and more often that not, we have found some common link/connector/relationship.

We DO live in a global village and all these communication vehicles bring the world tighter and closer. Yet despite this human overload in our lives, we often find ourselves lost and empty like those 4 people on that London  rooftop. Precisely why we need to make an effort to retain the human element in our lives - the touch, the feel, the voice, the hold. Nothing can replace that. This could lead me to discuss the movie "Her" where the lonely and sensitive protagonist (Joaquin Phoenix) develops a romantic relationship with his Operating System (voice of Scarlett Johansson). A sci-fi meets rom-com film examining the future of human emotions, I found this a compelling watch. Phoenix was brilliant as the forlorn writer recovering from heart break and looking to move on with life. After a series of dates gone awry, he finds solace in the voice and efficiency of his new OS and soon finds himself love-locked with the faceless, virtual Samantha.

As creepy as this may initially seem, I don't think it is a far cry away from the urban youth's romantic endeavors. It is one thing to show love by emoji over a whatsapp, but it is quite another to receive a hand-written love note, or even a scribble!

Don't forget to reach out and actually hug whoever it is that needs your attention. Make real time for it…go be somebody's care bear today~

La Ville-Lumière

No points for guessing what or where I am referring to with the title of this post…

Paris oh Paris - The City of Light, as its widely known , is a city that has always presented a paradox to me. Love to Hate it and Hate to Love it. C'est difficile non?

Life is always a bit difficile for the average, stressed Parisien. I have come to understand that this feeling is now an inherent mood of its citizens, being the effect of socialism. The French, are famous for their grumbling, regularly ranking near the bottom of global happiness indexes. Malaise, after all, is French for ill at ease. As an MBA student, studying in Paris between 2007 and 2010, an infectiously happy and cheerful character (moi), was soon affected by this heavy feeling and general gloominess. Sad to admit, my time spent there was not particularly happy but this wonderous, beauteous city gave me a lot of other good qualities and it opened my eye to another part of me that had remained largely hidden up till then. Hence the paradox! The glorious city which has the most amazing buildings, avenues, spaces, food, wine and more; in the world, has people that don't feel the right enough to enjoy it. Even during summer, you will see the city filled with people on the streets (all Parisiens walk….) but the ones that are happy, smiling and taking selfies are usually the tourists that come to the city be it sunny, windy, rainy, cold...the majestic Eiffel Tower always stands proud and photogenic for them.

This summer, on behest of an old and special college friend, I decided to kick-start my summer vacations landing in Paris. I landed at the dreaded CDG Airport (a place that has left me scarred with worrisome memories and some tears) only to be welcomed by the glorious sunshine and got my bags quick enough and set off into the city with a smile on my face and a rumble in my tummy. Croissants were calling out to me….as were the pains aux raisins. Cheat day started the moment I landed. Oo la la!

On reaching the apartment, that I shall henceforth remember as Hotel Majik, I was temporarily lost in the sense of deja-vu. The place looked and smelled exactly like it has been in 2010. That's another thing about Paris - it takes the adage "old is gold" rather seriously, as did my friend too I guess! Everything stays the same as it always were and little care is taken to modernize it. Even when things have been modernized, they are done rather subtly. So subtly that one often misses them!

To profit the sunshine, I jumped out of my airplane attire and into something loose, chic comfortable to hit town. Hotel Majik owes its name to its owner and the magic of the location - right under the Eiffel Tower! So it didn't take me very long to get into the mood as I waited for my favorite bus (no. 69 :S) and watched the trigger-happy pose under the iconic monument on that sunny morning.

The day passed by in happy oblivion as I walked in my favorite neighborhoods, ducking into my old, favorite streets and often pausing in front of the creative vitrines of boutiques and high-end brands that have the most startling and amazing windows at their Parisien outlets. As mentioned before, Paris is a city made to walk through, and I am certain it also the secret to all french women's fantastic physique; so I intended to do my bit too! But honestly, discovering the city by foot is the best way to find little alcoves and details - a beautiful courtyard, a set of inspiring doors, intricately designed wrought-iron balconies or simply, a charming bar and fabulous oyster restaurant.

That evening, I went to a marvelous restaurant for dinner, "Les Fables de la Fontaine" - a seafood speciality restaurant, perfect for a romantic, seafood evening (http://www.lesfablesdelafontaine.net/1.aspx).

Fuelled by the yummy champagne and seaweed butter, the first course of delectable langoustine was a bit of a waste on my insensitive palette. The second course of river Sole made up for it and how….a perfect end to my first evening in Paris and beginning of a memorable vacation. 

The next day, I met another old friend for lunch. A tough and determined girl from Taiwan who had now setup shop in Paris. Marrying a Frenchman and working with the most well-reputed French luxury brand in the world, I imagined she would be gushing about her perfect PArisien life. Instead I was surprised to discover that her sentiments were quite similar to mine on the state of affairs there and the acute dip in the quality of life in an antiquated and expensive city apartment. She was thinking of moving, and couldn't wait to do it soon, except for the bump on her belly that was deterring her plans by some time. 

The afternoon turned out to be rather delightful as I went to check out the banks of the river Seine and chill out at "Les Berges". A recommendation from a true-blue, born and bred Parisien friend who told me that in my short time there, I ought to check it out (http://www.outandaboutinparis.com/2013/06/paris-does-it-again-newly-opened-berges.html). Designed like the Highline in Manhattan, it is a very nicely refurbished pedestrian plaza right upon th river and a novel way to enjoy the city and fine weather. 

My favorite bridge - Pont Alexandre

Unfortunately, I had to cut it short and rush off for the French countryside to witness the aftermath of a French-Lebanese union and partook in the merry making. Returning with the gang the next day (a Saturday), the french heaviness suddenly set in. First it was the commute back with the ridiculous traffic (some strike or the other got things to move slowly. The French LOVE revolts and strikes), then was the miserable weather (rainy and very cold) and the lack of enthusiasm for even young people to enjoy on a Saturday. So I gave in and went with the current vibe and decided to wake up early and meet my old flat mate and her husband (both darling friends of mine) for brunch, before catching the Eurostar to Londres. As it turned out, the next day was also cold and quite grey. Let me be sure to tell you that Parisien's idea of brunch food is far from what we think of brunch in this part of the world. I was lucky that the eggs were freshly prepared and having them scrambled was an option! The rest was vienoiserie of no special nature - croissants, muffins, some crusty looking salad and a decent coffee selection. Oh well, I was off to the land of crumpets and scones soon enough and my company made up for the blah meal. 

Sitting back on the train that I nearly missed (another very normal occurrence in my travelogues), I thought about the last 3 days that I had and held on to all the nice things that I had experienced. It had been short, sweet and adequate….as always, I left another small part of me dans les rues. One day, I will come back to pick up all the little parts that I have lovingly scattered all over this special place.

We will always have Paris.

Won't we?

The Birds and The Bees

People who know me a fair bit will most likely know that I have a knack for attracting the Odd. By which I don't mean odd people (that happens without saying…), but odd circumstances that don't happen to many other people.

I always seem to provide entertainment to my family and friends when narrating yet another "unique" tale from my life and times…..so today I am going to share one such story on the blog.

Frankly, the incident shouldn't have surprised me too much given my track record, but a few days later and I am still oddly amused by the aerial invasion upon me. Minding my own business and preoccupied by the 50 degree sweltering Dubai heat, I was outside the Mall of the Emirates and trying hard to locate my designated chauffeur. With the sun over my head and playing a game of cat and mouse with him, I was suddenly distracted by a loud sound coming from overhead. Squinting up, I saw the source of this strange noise - two birds flapping about animatedly. I resumed my call, looking around frantically for the black vehicle that would rescue me from the insane heat. What happens next ? The cackle gets louder and i feel 4 claws scratch my head!! Good Lord - attack of the pigeons?! So I start walking faster toward the closest building where I could get some shelter. Still a 100 meters away, I break into a jog….the cackle gets even louder and with a second swift swoop, the bird does it again! So now I run near the closest car and duck low into the ground, the bird continues to stay onto me and is now flying down low to reach me and manages to get dangerously close………………

I am almost down flat, sticking as close to the ground as I can get without having to actually lie down. Additionally, I'm using my handbag to cover my head and face from the evil, flying drones. A few more moments in this uncomfortable position and I hear the flapping and cackling get fainter - I have managed to fight the enemy off. Hurrah!

By this point, the crowd waiting at the porch of the hotel had noticed this peculiar sight and I had attracted the kind attention of a valet who rushed to my aid. I jumped up and dusted myself off brusquely, thanked him and went on my way, nervously making it to a covered shelter. I spotted the car and quickly dived right in and requested to speed out of there!

It took me a few moments to assimilate the awkwardness and hilarity of the event that had just transpired. I checked, and then double-checked my head to be sure that the angry bird hadn't left something behind! And to my relief, I was clear of any kind of deposit. Every time I wear the yellow blouse that I wore on the fateful day, I recall this incident and look into the sky, making a silent prayer to the Bird Gods to be gentle to me when I go out.

As usual, this has become a terrific story to narrate and I have recently used it to liven up a stuffy group gathering that I was a part of. Comic relief always helps. As they say "laughter is the best medicine"; and laughing at one self is sign of positivity and maturity. Glad to note that I am able to do it all the time….you should try it some time too.