Down with Oscar fever

I am done with watching most of the Oscar line up for good movies this year..
my half a penny worth of thoughts on the movies goes this way :::

The reader - good movie , great acting. Kate Winslet proved again she knows her craft inside out .I liked the kid too who played the Kid, Micheal .

Benjamin Button - worth "a" watch is a safe bet. I guess the movies intention was to make you feel sorry for the male protagonist , but ended up making u feel bad about Blanchett's character.

Slumdog M - did not deserve the Oscar . all the kids were terrific, very slummy( just coined it) with their demeanor, especially younger Jamaal although Dev Patel did not look the slightest of a slum boy.

Milk - adored Sean Penn. should have won the Oscar hands down.

Celebrating Women's day??Who are they kidding?

World celebrated women's day a couple of days back.As usual nothing grandeur about the celebration. Although it made me wonder how many women might have got raped on the day, how many might have got beaten up by their husband , how many girl children were killed or how many women delivered their baby on the cold cement floors of the hospital unattended by hospital staffs since their pocket was empty . Or did they get a relaxation for that one day just because the world celebrated their existence , were they spared of the atrocities they face everyday, did it bring a smile on their faces or were they run down and stripped off in the name of culture for celebrating the day. But I know all of my wishful thinking is futile if i can draw a conclusion from the simple fact that my mailbox was not flooded with women's day wishes barring some from my women friends, none from my male friends unlike other more glamorous days like the valentines day. The world sure has not waken up to celebrating women's day .

I only have to look in and around my family to know that women of today live in different worlds.There are women who enjoy the highest benefits of the society ,status obtained through education and work,respect obtained by being an earning member of the family or lucky enough to be around good people, there are also women treated like shit even though they solely support the family.Two such person I know is my mom and Kamala ,our maid of fifteen years .My mom showed the courage of standing against and breaking off from an abusive marriage.She was strong enough to find a job ,raise me and regain her self respect needless to say life was still hard on her.She to me is the brave face of women.And then there is the dark,lean beautiful kamala. She has an horrendous story to tell , story of a women being vexed by both her husband and her twenty something boy.She gives me a sad smile every time I ask her how are things at home and I do not have anything cathartic to offer her although I wish one day I do.There are thousands of other Kamalas around us, probably the one sitting in the other cube at work or the one who sat beside us in bus today .We will never hear of their stories for most of them do not wash their dirty linen in public or simply because we do not care.

For all these millions of women who seek liberation and happiness , even a heartful laugh is a distant dream for We are not man enough to promise the Kamalas of the world a shimmering light at the end of the tunnel.

lov u, grandmom :(

A terrible terrible week passed by. An unexpected unwanted visitor at home took my grandmother away from all of us... the pivot that kept everyone together has fallen apart.One of the major influences of my life, the most righteous person I would ever have known has disappeared behind the curtain leaving the stage. I always thot of her as Omnipotent thereby making it difficult for me to comprehend the fact that a terrible thing like death cud touch her . She was never scared of death , but leaving her dear ones behind always petrified her. I have never seen her cribbing about anything or anyone and even in extreme difficluties she always placed her discomfort last. She looked forward to all the festivals and holidays since thats when her grandkids visit, and when we do her face lites up like the sky on a starry nite. Shes gone is known to me as a fact but at the back of my mind I still think if I go to her room she mite still be there , still laughing teasing my brother about his girlfriend...but suddenly in the middle of other things it strikes me that shes gone forever . I wouldnot be able to see her toothless smile anymore , cannot hug or kiss her , cannot listen to her stories from the past and a million other things ...thats when I feel the pain of a thousand needles piercing ..

Life wudnt be the same anymore for any of us...