a forced attempt. But I do feel like rambling. So all I have is some sort of a literary, epistolary potpourri, made out of the several thoughts that seems to be whizzing by,in my mind.The Unworthy Name: A classic case of “What’s in a name?”, in a warped sort of way though! To even think that the biggest corporate fraud in the country involves a company named SATYAM! What a travesty! Satyam is definitely no longer sundaram.With inflated profits, deflated debts, a staggering 7000 crore emerges out of several loopholes and while the cat gets away, the dog (PwC) does not bark! Disgraceful!Well, all because Raju was not a gentleman!
Voice in the Wilderness: Sir Cliff Richard has come “Up in the World” and has flown so high that he finds it imperative to slam The Beatles! Our old man here has not forgotten how The fab four displaced him, off the charts back in the 60s.So in his last attempt to be taken seriously as a rock star(Yes, you’ve read that right!),he calls some of the guitar solos by The Beatles “horrific”! Strangely, I can’t recall any of his songs having a distinctive guitar solo, let alone being good! Maybe he should just get married to a nice old lady (or man), stop living with a Roman Catholic Priest(For the love of God, why?) and learn to play the guitar!
Monkey Caps : Come winter and trust Bengalis to turn to our ancestors to protect us in this season of chills, mists and mellow fruitfulness. It’s the ultimate fashion statement, passed on from generation to generation; a fashion that is never out of fashion, embraced by all, irrespective of caste, creed, sex and age. In spite of donning layers of winter gears that would put an Eskimo to shame , without this essential bit of protection (that scares away the monkeys at the Zoo or Dakshineshwar Temples to the extent of refusing food), we are vulnerable to all that is bad and evil and yes, cold! So “flaunting”this queerest of all queer head-gears would never be considered a faux pas by us and no doubt The Monkey Cap has become a part of the quintessential Bengali! Though a reply to my chances of trying out this timeless antique would be “Over my dead body!”, I too , have developed a bizarre kind of fondness for this great social equalizer , for it is donned by the Rickshaw-walla and his obese passenger, grandfathers and new-born babies and sometimes (as hideous as it may seem) by men and women alike!
Un-enchanted: That is my one word review for the movie Enchanted, to put it in very mild terms. I am truly ashamed that I stayed up till 1 in the morning to watch the movie! But it was all for McDreamy! And alas! Not even the the man whose looks can launch a 1000 satellites, could save the movie from drowning! For one ,the movie was so rotten that it was beyond saving and again, he is too average an actor to be a saviour! With an inane fairy-tale minus the charm, an irritatingly optimistic heroine who breaks into songs in two shakes of a duck’s tail, cockroaches and rats cleaning up,a terribly out-of-place Susan Sarandon and pretty men,the movie coming to an end is a necessity if the victim(the audience) is to ever live happily ever after!
The Bridges of Madison County: What a painfully beautiful novel! Complex , profound, heart-rending, yet hopeful. And quite strangely all these adjectives describe, (to put it very bluntly) an extra-marital affair which not even for once, seems like adultery. With a lucid style and honesty of expression so aptly portrayed by the author, it is indeed a story I reluctantly finished and is sure to haunt me for a very long time. When Robert says those memorable lines “In a universe of ambiguity, this kind of certainty comes only once and never again, no matter how many lifetimes you live”, the cynic in me disappeared and I could not help but agree to what some might call a fatalistic statement.A book that made me shed many a tears and yet offered some smiling phases and certainly one that I’ll treasure! I always did find the whole concept of bridges rather romantic. :-)
And I love you so: Don Mclean does take my breath away! A poet, a singer and a guitarist of rare caliber ; I am truly enchanted by his music. Madonna should be sued for mutilating his music! McLean’s “Castles in the air” is such a beautiful composition ,with such an unfathomable depth ,that it has become my current favourite, replacing Vincent. I wonder why songs and artists like him are so hard to come by these days? I sometimes wish I was born in the 60s.What a wonderful era (save the bell-bottoms)of contradictions,cultural upheavals;almost a renaissance!Ah well,wishful thinking!
And thus ends the ramblings of a melancholy bore! Temporarily,until my thoughts are again in disarray :P
