Of How To Feel Happy...

Long time no see..

I did not write anything last week. I did not want to write this week either although I have so much to write. I was sad because I was hurt. Hurt by some people talking behind my back.I am tired of all this, but I have decided that I will not let it affect me. I will find ways to let these stupid things go. I am not going to change myself because you have a problem with me. I decided to make a list of things that are curing me of the sad mood and it is working.

1. Eat lots of ice cream

As Mrs. Kakkar says to Ram in Main Hoon Na, kaleje vich thand pe gai, there is nothing that brings coolness like ice cream. Get chocolate chip ice cream and go on a eating spree. It works.

2. Friends re-run

When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year....just watch any episode of Friends again. They are perfect examples how to learn to laugh at your problems. Nothing can bring an  uncontrollable laughter that Phoebe brings to you when she says I will use the strongest tool at my disposal: my sexuality or when she says to Emily's mom the father is my brother or Chandler when he says to Ross, last Christmas I got the gift of space, we should get them together and make a continuum. 

Monica, do you really want to be in a relationship where you can actually use the phrase, "That's not how your dad used to do it." :D

3. Cook something new.

As Indrajit Hazra writes in his usual witty style (here), I don’t cook. That’s because I can’t cook. Even if I could cook, I’d probably not cook. And I don’t have a terrible urge to start learning how to cook as the third course of my four-course life starts to unfold. I would say the same for myself. Now, I am in living in a city where the nearest Indian store is probably twenty miles away so I cannot buy food everyday, apart from my poverty. But some days I feel like trying something new. So, I got pan cake flour last week and thought I will be easy to make. How wrong was I? As soon as I made the dough, it fell in the sink. I made some more. I made six pancakes all of them got burnt. My hands got burnt too. Finally, I made a seventh one and it did not get burnt. It was crisp and round. Now I can finally say I can make pan cakes. And also made pasta too. Cooking is therapeutic at times no doubt :)

4. Watch Comedy Circus Ke Ajoobe

Whenever your mood is off, just go to YouTube and watch Krishna and Sudesh on Comedy Circus. I can guarantee, you will die laughing. It is outrageously funny. Pet dard ho jata hai has has ke. I can just watch Krishna dancing. Fabulous dancer. Ek dum Bollywood style. And whenever Sudesh Lehiri sings that song 47 weight kudi da, it is awesome. I love them. That is sheer talent.

OMG!

5. Watch comedy films.

One of the the umpteen reasons that I love films is that they help me transport to this new world and teach so much about life. Given that I did not want any sad movies which I love, I looked for comedy films. Comedy is generally not my favorite genre but if it is not too slap stick, then comedy is excellent. So the last two weeks, I have watched five comedy films and each one turned out to be excellent. Tere Bin Laden, Jolly LLB, Mere Dad Ki Maruti, Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana and Go Goa Gone. The latter three are too good. That hip hip hurrah item song in Mere Dad Ki Maruti or the conversation on khachchas (bakvass na kar Titu, tu kab se khachche pehene lag gaya :D) in Luv Shuv would make you die of laughter. 

The best part: Her mom taught her this :P

6. Twitter

I love Twitter. I know I spend too much time on it but it educates me in so many ways. Somewhere someone would be tweeting on something, some article, some debate, or cracking jokes like the funniest person on Twitter - Sidin :P And the best part, you do not need anyone for conversation. It removes loneliness. Just tweet what you are feeling. Talk to your self through Twitter.  If people do not like your tweets, they can unfollow you. Facebook is too nosy. I am very vocal on Twitter because not more than five or six of my followers are active on Twitter, so I can write anything without being judged. So this week I got a Twitter makeover. Changed my picture after four years. Wrote a description. Added a cover and now I understand why people say go for a makeover. It works. Online makeover hi sahi :) Next mission: Personal Makeover :)

7. Reading politics

There is a thrill that I get from reading on politics. I read about a gazillion articles on the Modi Advani saga during the last weeks and it is fascinating. Politics is perhaps a real-life film, that surprises you every single time. How we could see a coalition of coalitions next year, Mulayam being PM, Advani still has higher chances of being a PM than Modi, Nitish's shrewd political calculations as he has nothing to lose, Lalu's political death if Congress joins hands with Nitish - the coming political year is indeed going to be thrilling and with so much to read, I can not wait. Ashok Malik's insightful columns every week, Shekhar Gupta's political stories every Saturday in Indian Express, Swaminomics in TOI, Nitin Pai's enriching geopolitical views, Madhu Trehan's terrific Newslaundry (especially clothesline), Barkha Dutt's excellent command over English - sheer joy :)

8. Analysis of Movies

Finally my favorite. Analyze movies. Like will Naina and Kabir be able to live happy together? I think not. Love will slowly seep out of their lives. Like why did Rosie in Talaash kill other people if she only wanted to take revenge from Armaan and Sanjay? Why did they say, pichle teen saal se aise accident hue hai isi road pe? Like how Aiyyaa is one of the most brilliant films of last year. Like why do people hate Jhoom Barabar Jhoom so much? I am convinced that our mainstream media critics just do not understand cinema.

Reading some of my favorite writers on films, the people who I aspire to be is soothing that there are people who understand cinema deeply and enrich your lives with their analysis. Movie analysis will help you understand yourself better because you will put yourself in that position - what will I do if I was there.

 

This is my happy list. There is another list - what not to do list. The first one is stop listening to sad songs. The second one is stop looking at your old pictures. Stop snooping on people's lives on Facebook. Stop checking Watsapp 'last seen at' in the hope that someone will message you :( 

So, make your own list and try to be happy. As Krishna tries to explain to Draupadi in The Palace of Illusions, a situation in itself is neither happy nor unhappy, it is only your response to it that causes sorrow. 

Don't know how long will I follow it though :\ Let me know your list and I will try some of it :)

And I did get a convincing answer to the Talaash question earlier from Baradwaj Rangan. 

Rosie is a ghost with issues, or, a ghost with personality. Nowhere does she seem vengeful – she seems almost philosophical. She does not have significant anger against the guys who left her on the road to die. After all, she was invisible to society anyway. No one looked for her, she had no relatives, nothing. She talks about a girl who just vanished from the face of the earth, and nobody missed her. This is the existential angst that bites away at her soul. She is a ghost who is more worried about the way she led her life, rather than regular ghosts who worry about how and why they were killed.

What would you do if you were a ghost with an inferiority complex? If you always felt like a wallflower? Well, of course, you go and stand in the middle of the road, where no one can help not seeing you.Its the most natural thing to do. Please note that she did this randomly, if I remember correctly there were many accidents before the one in the beginning of the film. Of course, this does not speak very well about her traffic sense, and she does seem to have an ambiguous moral position about human lives, but , death for her is but a transformation, instead of the end. I wont judge her harshly on account of that. She is just craving for attention.

That small bit about appearing in the mirrors? Well, a ghost who carries her insecurities into afterlife, has obviously not been able to let go of her ego. She is still worried about how others perceive her. That is why the mirror shows her reflection back to us. She is still to attain true ghostdom, which perhaps she did attain by the end of the movie, after her little friendship with Aamir Khan.

I love love love the analogy above. I saw Talaash again and came up with some new details. 

More later.

Dialogue of the Day:

"Life mark sheet se nahi, heart beat se chalti hai."

  - Harpreet Singh, Rocket Singh:Salesman of the Year