Solitude

Solitude

Ahh that solitude
The most understated form of bliss
A sudden sense of ease
The moment of true release
Mind and body at peace 
Cramped limbs suddenly being able to breathe 
Our very own time to cherish "I"

“Fast food frenzy”

I just finished watching a documentary film called “Super Size me.” Pretty plainly as Wikipedia summarizes it “ the film follows a 30-day time period (February to beginning of March 2003) during which the filmmaker eats only McDonald's food. The film documents his lifestyle's drastic effects on his physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry's corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit.”

So the filmmaker survives on 3 meals of Mcdonalds everyday and realizes a few notable things like the following.

FAST FOOD ADDICTION
Fast food is terribly addictive and one gets easily hooked to it and then in a while you star craving it. And then your mind is preoccupied with the consumption of it and directly necessitates its consumption as an essential. And then somehow a correlation is built up between happiness and binging on fast food.


The symptoms of lethargy and a feeling of perpetual tiredness is perhaps what most of our generation who feasts on fast food suffer from as well. We had an interesting diet workshop from this dietician called Anju Venkat during college last year (2008). Her logic was pretty simple, avoid food that makes you feel heavy, which is what fast food epitomizes in any case. So eating stuff like vegetable and fruits keeps you feeling light and fresh and hence, enhances the body’s energy quotient as well whereas the heavy cheesy pizzas, pastas and burgers end up making us feel unnaturally heavy and full.

He also highlights that they seem to stock apparently healthy food items but are they actually what they proclaim? Have you spotted a nutrient chart in any of the ubiquitous Mcdonads outlets. The filmmaker struggled to find one too and a couple that he found had to be retrived by the Mcdonalds managers from the basements.

He also points out that salad’s available with heavy salad dressing actually contain much more calories than a regular burger. As a result, of this diet he gained 24½ lbs. a 13% body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation to his liver. It took him fourteen months to lose the weight gained from his experiment.

I had also earlier read the Fast food Nation (P Sainath’s recommendation) - The Dark Side of the All-American Meal which highlighted how the fast food industry was just virulently spreading the world over. Also, how the industry uses advertising and plenty of other ways to attract people with extensive marketing.

-Most schoolchildren in America, consumed fries for lunch
- A survey found that half of the nation's 9 and 10 year olds thought that Ronald McDonald knew what kids should eat

Haven’t you ever wondered why these corporations don’t sell healthy food? When they can easily make so much money by selling packaged food then why should they bother? And they cannot possibly make money by selling perishable yet healthy vegetables and fruits. And how hard is it to cook our own food. Eating out is not just expensive, but also fat laden and we all know that packaged foods are much worse with their Trans fat. Time to consciously discern and eat, don't you think.

Trouble for Twittertharoor

Holy cow, what a row! (couldn't resist plagiarizing this retort from the Times of India editorial)

Well, have you ever wondered why so many Bollywood movies seem to associate so much “romanticism” with train travel whereas there is none associated with “flying.” (At least as far as I can recall) I recall this rather old movie called “Pyaar to Hona Hi tha” were Kajol who was the protagonist settled in America had to fly to India to meet her philandering partner but dreaded taking a flight but somehow managed to bear the journey .

My point here is pretty simple…Traveling by flight is indeed the fastest means of transport but traveling economy is rather uncomfortable, with its claustrophobic seating. It’s almost like we’re just thrust in all together, doesn’t that resonate with Tharoor’s “in cattle class out of solidarity with all our holy cows!” which has caused so much uproar.”

Shashi Tharoor sadly definitely seems to have realized the trouble of figurative language...

He has clarified further in his subsequent tweet, “it's a silly expression but means no disrespect to economy travelers, only to airlines for herding us in like cattle. Many have misunderstood”

I have been following Shashi Tharoor for a long time on my twitter account now. I enjoy reading his witty repertoire which in twitter terminology called tweets are characteristically layered with humor and pun.

The entire episode makes me wonder, is faking austerity over comfort now a new popular way to authenticate simplicity? Are politicians disallowed individuality? Is a politician connecting with his audience and his discretion in light punning deserve so much attention?

ShashiTharoor in his later post added “i now realize i shldnt assume people will appreciate humor. &u shouldn't give those who wld wilfully distort yr words an opportunity to do so” Do we really want to stay disconnected from our politicians?

In the end, his son Ishaan tharoor, seems to have sarcastically summarized the hullabaloo over a non issue pretty well in his post “: nice to see the uproar over the uproar #holycow, though i doubt those who ought to feel chastened by their pettiness will be”

Indeed, very apparent is the disconnect between the virtual and the world at large with his own party condemning his “deviant” ways.

Krap aaj kal

I am actually a big fan of Imityaz Ali’s previous movies… Jab we met was a delightfully witty romantic affair and Socha Na Tha had its delicate moments too both which were seriously lacking in Love aaj Kal. Notably, since he belongs to the young thinking breed of directors.

The storyline seemed more apt to fit a blog post particularly due to the lackluster script with its no brainer dialogues. DevD in comparison which loosely explored the concept love in Gen Y scored way over for several reasons: fantastic and apt music, wonderful acting and innovative camera work and editing.

To conclude, as a friend mentioned it seemed like yet another movie churned out from the Yashaj industry and yet it is not. The movie also surprisingly received rave reviews in the press, something amiss here?

400 blows

I cannot but help love Francois Truffaut’s French film 400 blows. It’s the first time that I’ve seen the period of adolescence depicted so sensitively.

“Adolescent is a specific condition that is recognized as such by educators and sociologists but that was for a long time, ignored by immediate family… During this stage, a simple disturbance or upset, can sparkle a revolt and this crisis is called adolescent rebellion” Truffaut

It makes me recall my own childhood memories, more often that, all I wanted was to be free, to make my own decisions, be independent and live in a word filled with love. Yet, I found myself unable to grapple with so much back then. The constant need to belong somewhere was much stronger than anything else, to conform, to please and yet rebel.

“When I was thirteen I was so desperately anxious to grow up quickly so that I might misbehave with impunity.” Truffaut

At 21, I find my battles which were huge then , absolutely insignificant now. But then again I can’t help but symphatise.

Do watch 400 blows, a beautiful film on a relatively unusual subject, unexplored period of adolescence in a child’s life.

Couching politcs with Miss glam sham

While browsing through News channels, i caught something interesting. A glamorous, fairly familiar face interviewing Sachin Pilot. A closer look revealed that it was Koel Purie in coversation with Sachin Pilot in a setting that looked like an odd set, a red couch in a rural set with villagers and cows hovering around .









That roused my curiosity, dressed way too glamorously to be taken seriously, I mentally dismissed the entire interview ( the ensemble was almost a replica of Koffee with Karan) and wondered what she would actually ask the young verbose politician. I tuned in probably mid-way through the show, where she was asking him some personal question about the nuances of his marriage to Sara Abdullah, where he blushed and mumbled something about how though Faroque Abdullah might not be close enough to be the father figure the love they share is unanimously linked to their love for Sara. Before, the commercial break she did reveal that they were in the hot and humid natural setting of Pilot's ancestral village.
Again, Koel moved on to play in true Karan Johar style I'll spout rapid questions that the guest must answer (rapid fire question round). They were actually more interesting than I predicted as it gave one a peek into the personality of the man, the humility of the man . He confessed that a bad quality that he believed he possessed was his inabiliy to say a straight No and described himself as a sort of this sort of wishy washy person. Also, to her credit she did manage to elicit very personal responses about his own personal ambitions where Pilot did admit that he did have a long way to go and that he really hasnt been able to achieve anything substantial as yet.
Also, later the recent norm of comparing any idealistic young leader to be the next Barack Obama was made. Koel Purie as the interviewer didnt taclke his political ideologies as say Karan Thapar might in Devil's Advocate but she did manage to give us a glimpse into the personal charecteritics that shape the decisions of the engigmatic leader.But, Sachin Pilot's comfort with the surroundings inspite of the heat and the buzzing flies coupled with his responses did reveal a striving modest young leader.

Bewildering BMC

I confess I’ve tried really hard to understand the developmental measures of the BMC.
And now I’ve frankly given up. Their new campaign is fairly interesting. The move to make Mumbai wi-fi enabled. Personally, it benefits me immensely. I would love to kill further time with my laptop in our wonderful coffee shops sprung all over the city.
However even with various security concerns, the BMC still seems to be pushing the “cause”. And one hears them perpetually complaining about lack of funds and time. Ignoring various civic and security concerns that the city of Mumbai faces their attention seems to be to get free wireless connection available to all its inhabitants.