Smelly to Smiley: Memories Reloaded !!!

If one carve out pieces of memories from the backyard of our mind and arrange them in a cardboard, we invariably will end up in reviving some beautiful and interesting tales. And especially when it is about your home . A place where we have grown up – bundle of childhood memories from being a kids to our adolescence. Somewhere we tend to outgrow these memories as soon as we step out of our house to an external world – in different cities, places, environment for our studies, careers but somehow they are deeply embedded in our subconscious minds and heart. And it takes just one trigger to refresh all of them – and probably smell is one of those catalysts that plays an activate role to redeem those memories.

In our houses we have what we called this small room or study room – in mine too we had such a place but along with books it was an abode for God too. In India, deities holds utmost social status and hence we are always found overboard when it comes to pleasing them. And where we have deities, it is unlikely incense sticks won’t be found. The smell of incense stick in fact is a signal that God lives somewhere nearby. Over the years that strong smell of amber has kind of stayed in that room. So till today whenever I enter the room, it hits my senses and takes me often to a nostalgic trip – my granny used to offer those amber- scented sticks to Gods as a mark of her devotion. She is no more but her aura is still there in that room though that smell - Her affectionate smile and her silent beckoning at me to join her in offering prayers to God. And my secret temptation for the “Prasad” – delicious Ladoo offered to God, made me listen to her each time.

Today we have different brands of personal care available in the market – be it Body Shop or Lush or Forest Essentials. These brands have conveniently found way to my home back in Kolkata also. However till date when I am at home and enter the wash room for a bath, the first thing that binds me is a strong smell of Sandal – The Mysore sandalwood soap still lies in a corner as it has been for last 20 years. That smell has a strange charm that can hypnotize you. It used to do that to me as a child as I used to use that every day and spent long hours bathing with that soap until Maa had to literally pull me out. Despite all the luxury brands, that Mysore Sandal wood soap still manages to rekindle my memories and allows me to get lost in the sweet memories of growing years. The post effect of that fragrance was awesome.

As a blogger, my relationship status with Books has been “Committed” for a long time. Probably it is hereditary as my father also shared a similar status. The Book Cupboard was a testimonial to that - his treasured collections, consisting of Tagore, Satyajit Ray and Sharadchandra found place there. Ask a bong and they will tell you, the perceived values of those books are nothing short of gold. Luckily my fairy tale stories also found place there. So over the years the books has been lying there and it now literally a treasure hunt to find out a particular book. So whenever the cupboard is opened, that famous old book smell grips us and opens up Pandora’s Box. I have read somewhere that Smell is chemistry and that Old Book Smell is combination of Grass with tang of acids and hint of vanilla. Dont know about the same but definitely very powerful. 

Powerful enough to take you back to pleasant childhood - Dad reading me stories on Sunday after-noon. Specially my Grimm Brother Collection of Fairy Tales – Hansel and Gretel or Snow White – and to add to that strong smell that came out of its hardcover. It also allows me to transcend into memories of excitement on getting new school books every year and how much I loved the smell of it. And promised to myself I would take studies diligently this year. It’s another story how with gradual fading away of the fresh smell, my interest too evaporated from studies.

Food is one of the core members of Indian household. From spicy to sweet, Indian Kitchen is a wonderful blend of different smells And my kitchen household was no different. I was one of the few privileged kids who have had the guilty pleasure of eating Donuts long before Mad about Donuts made way to our hearts. Of course from my Nanny’s kitchen and finally to my Mom’s kitchen…..that sweet smell of it when it was made…probably that of mixture of flour and yeast.....always rejuvenated my spirits. 

When I am there at my home, my Mom makes it and it brings back my fond memories how impatient I used to be to eat and I used to go from behind and give a surprise hug to her, and pleads her to give me one. I struggled to get hold of her because of my height then. And another delicious offering from my mother’s kitchen – was orange flavored cake. Peeled Orange cover was used for fragrance. That orange flavor used to seduce my senses so much so that once I burnt my finger touching a hot oven in an attempt to see if cake was made or not.

Such are memories – Mostly sweet and sometimes bitter. And Fragrances has always been part of our nostalgic trip adding a zing to them and we hope that Ambipur set of offering, being a part of our household will help us to create new memories in the coming years

This blog is submitted as part of Indi blogger Ambipur Contest. Pl visit http://www.facebook.com/AmbiPurIndia to know about the details of their products. Spread happiness in your lives through sweet fragrances of AmbiPurIndia. The images used are taken from Google.Com

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Lootera: Flawed but Steals Your Heart

It is definitely exciting times for Indian Cinema, and enticing to  see  more and more Indian Film Makers open to adopting great  pieces of Literature, and  transforming them into good cinema. “Lootera”,  directed    by    Vikramaditya  Motwane, partly  adopts  O  Henry’s  beautiful  short   story “ The  Last Leaf”, to tell a  heart  aching love story, weaved  beautifully  through some brilliant art. Vikramaditya ,  who  had  earlier directed  the  very  hard  hitting  and  at  your  face,  Udaan, manages  to  tug  strings  of your  heart,  through  his current rendition.

However, Lootera , being a period film, will not appeal to all audiences. Leisurely paced, it unfolds aesthetically, capturing every frame beautifully and with precision to finer details. From aesthetics to costume to look and feel, Vikram reminds of his mentor Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Though the latter was more obsessed with the art rather than the story and characters itself. Lootera too suffers from that syndrome occasionally, but by and large, the director manages to convey emotions strongly, restraining the beautiful canvas, as a perfect background only.

Like all recent cult films, Parineeti , Kahaani, Barfi, Lootera too thrives on the Bong Connection – while the film first half and characters are set in West Bengal, the second half shifts to picturesque Dalhousie. Set in post independence era, the film gives an insight in life of Zamindar and their sense of loss, at their dethroning from their position of power and prized possession and moves on to explore how vulnerability of one human being becomes weapon of another human to exploit. Amidst all this is an enchanting love story between Varun and Pakhi, which grows from innocence to intense, inter-twined between conversations and prolonged silences. The camera captures those silent glances of love beautifully.

The fact that the antagonist of the film also happens to be the hero, and the female lead is more expressive in love, makes it a more interesting watch. The chemistry between the lead pair is complex yet fascinating. Particularly the conflict scenes between two protagonists, not only against each other but at the same time, with self, are high points of the movie. At one point, one can’t stop wondering what magic; SRK-Kajol would have created, had they been cast in the movie.

The film can easily boast of, one of the finest camera work and cinematography, ever portrayed in Indian cinema, with such finesse. The craft enhances the viewing experience by several notches in this tale of love, betrayal and self-conflict. Another high point of the film is the soulful music and background score of Amit Trivedi, which simply is outstanding, portraying innocence and pain in love, with equal measure.

The characters in the film, being multi-layered appears real. The supporting actors, be it Vikram Massey as hero’s friend, Barun Chanda as Pakhi’s dad or Adil as police inspector are superb. However the young protagonists of the movie should be truly credited to ensure that the film rises above just being a picture perfect, to portray the tale of strong conflicting heart wrenching emotions. While Sonakshi as Pakhi is quite a surprise and complete revelation (her best work till date) , Ranveer Singh is exceptional in an intense role, which he downplays beautifully. Watch the emotions in the eyes of Varun and Pakhi in the 2^nd half, from hatred to despair to love and hope, it pretty much conveys the graph and mood of this heart-wrenching love story.

The film adopts portion of “The Last Leaf” well into its screenplay although one wished the director would have relied a little more on Indian audience’s intelligence and not dropped so many hints, from much before, on the beautiful climax, than it actually unfolds. Those who have read the book can relate how the final reels of the movie,  transforms  those scenes of the book into exotic visuals and at the same time equally depicts strong under currents of emotions. While the film falters in story telling in second half with some glorious flaws  but full kudos to Vikramaditya  for overhauling those glitches and managing to deliver yet another emotional master-craft. Come with a peaceful mind…and enjoy the experience!!!!

A Tryst with Fate !!!

First thing which struck me, when I entered the room was a stout green object that was slowly creeping, around the slippery surface inside a glass box. At a closer look my heart rattled. It was a snake, with highly keeled green color scales and yellowish spots. It was in the reptile box right at the edge of the wall. I kept wondering about its presence in that room of the farmhouse at Panvel where Karan brought me to party.

Karan & I were childhood friends, grew together; hence our bad habits of adolescence were very similar. Booze was part of our routine and sometimes Karan managed entry for us to parties, where we had our share of high with opium. If it wasn’t for Karan’s assurance of LSD and Ecstasy available at the party, I would not have been able to pull myself to go, as I was a little ill that day.

We were already a bottle down when we entered and the perfect ambience at the party with dimly-lit candles at each corner of the room added to the zing. A strong scent of amber and trance music playing in loop, made me feel hypnotic. Such was the effect that for a moment, it made me ignore the reptile in the box. Karan was busy on the phone so I started to look around for some company and just then I spotted this lean and tall guy standing comfortably near another glass box and giving me a wily smile. Since I didn’t know him, I thought the smile was for Karan.

I turned around to look for Karan but couldn’t trace him. Unable to see him around, made a call but his phone was not reachable. I felt a sense of paranoia at Karan’s disappearance and by this mysterious guy who continued to shower a smile at me.His pierced eyes made a scary impact and sent my subconscious mind in action.

I wondered if I knew this guy. Seeing a flummoxed look in my face, he came forward and introduced himself as Gautam, the host of the party. I asked if we knew each other. He smiled casually and replied that there are seven look-alikes in these world. I smiled back, unable to find an anything to say. The reptile boxes lay exposed as Gautam moved towards me. A black tailed python and a rattle snake lay in the other boxes. The agility in their sudden movement gave me a feeling as if their wait was over. Curious, I asked Gautam about his weird choice of pets. He told me that they were his friends of silent moments. I felt a sense of panic now and my instincts told me to find Karan immediately and leave the place. But the host offered me a drink which I could not refuse. Realizing that I and Gautam were the only people in the room, I asked him about other guests, to which he politely replied that people are evenly spread out and enjoying their privacy. While chatting with him, I spotted dots on his forehead which looked like marks from an injury. With a little hesitation, I gulped down the drink hoping to feel better. I felt dizzy after some time and I blanked out.

I woke up to a dingy smell in a small empty room. Half asleep, when I looked around, a chill ran down my spine. The python lay at a distance away in the reptile box. I realized that Gautam must have spiked my drink and I now suspected that Karan may be in danger too. As I wondered about the whereabouts of Gautam, he banged the door open. He looked pitifully at me, only his smile had turned into an evil grin.

Gautam: Welcome to Hell. I have been waiting for this day so long.

I asked : Who are you and why are you doing this to me?

Gautam: I am doing nothing; it’s your fate, born out of your Karma.

I pleaded: Let me go. Where is Karan?

Gautam: Your friend met his fate. It’s your turn now. Enjoy your tryst with death. Feel the fear and pain. Wait for it. Fight with it. I have left you free to make it fair. If you win, you live.

He unlocked the latch of the reptile box and locked the room from outside, leaving me to die a horrific death. The seventeen feet dorsal color object slowly started to raise its ugly head out of the box. It silently wagged its pinkish red tongue and finally its two vertical pupils seem to set eyes on its prey as it started crawling towards me.

I tried to weigh my options for survival. Only one glass window, three feet above where I stood was my path to escape, but by no means, I could climb that. My heart seemed to surrender but my mind was not ready to die.

Suddenly an object broke through the glass window. The python stepped back half inside the glass box by this sudden provocation. A rope was thrown inside. I couldn’t believe the miracle but I latched onto my life line and started climbing, without looking back.I broke the remaining piece of window and jumped down only to find a blood stained Karan as he pulled me out from the jaws of death.

I hugged him and asked: Where were you? How did you get injured and who is this guy?

Karan: We do not have time to discuss, let’s go fast.

We managed to reach the garden and could see the main gate. All set for final escapade, we saw Gautam standing between us and life with the green serpent loosely hanging in his shoulders.

Karan: Let him go, he was not at fault. He wanted to save you.

Gautam: There is lot of difference between what he wished and what he did.

I wondered what Karan was talking about. Gautam pulled out his dagger and ready for the final kill. Karan stood in front of me, to combat him.

Gautam attacked but Karan plunged on to him pushing to the ground. The snake sprung towards me.  In an attempt to run, I skidded. Hooded, it was ready to strike with its venom; there was a swing in the air, chopping it into two pieces. Karan was standing with the dagger. Gautam made one final attempt but Karan stifled him, while signaling me to run. I nodded but I couldn’t leave without him. Karan’s eyes pleaded me to leave. That’s when I noticed the same two dots on Karan’s forehead too which I had seen on Gautam’s head. There was a deep pain in his smile.

I kept running till I heard someone calling my name. I woke up to my mother’s face, surrounded by doctors and nurses staring at me with disbelief. They told me that I had a miraculous escape; my heart had stopped responding few minutes back. I was in coma for the last two days following a car accident on my way to Panvel. Slowly flashes of the accident unfolded before my eyes. The car toppled along the marshes of the highway and Karan had a fall from the gorge. Doctors informed that Karan died that night.

I was shocked! How was that even possible? Karan was with me at the party few minutes back. Suddenly I saw the date; it was Tuesday, while we went to party last Saturday. ‘Fuck man! All that I experienced was my dream. But something in me told me that it cannot be just a dream. I closed my eyes in an attempt to find the missing pieces of the story.

Gautam’s face looked illuminated in the candle light and eyes content. I knew those eyes .They looked at me with hope, the night Karan ran him over, on the highway near the jungle, on our way back from a party at Panvel. Scared, we left him to die and fled.

Doctors told me another startling fact. Karan did not die due to the accident but because of the bite of a venomous snake on his forehead.I could now put the pieces of my dream together. Those dots on Karan’s forehead were the marks of a snake bite. And probably that night, Gautam too lay in pain, struggling with death, before silenced to death by a snake. I suddenly remembered his words: “They are my friend in silent moments”

Last night, he had come to take me to the place where he and Karan now were.Gautam wanted to seal my fate with a kiss of death for my karma but a friend’s love stood in way, between life and death, and saved me in coma! No one would believe in this dream of mine, hence I thought would blog about it. After all truth is stranger than Fiction!!

Disclaimer: This post has been written as a part of The Indian Bloggers League, 2013 conducted by Write-up café. And the pictures used are basically Google Images.