Channelling the Prejudices

I watched cable TV after a long time and switched to news. The first channel had cow vigilante mob killing a cop who was trying to control them. In the second one, Prannoy was asking Raje if she felt sad when mob lynched somebody in her state and before she answered it, I was thinking such a non-question it was. But she said he was putting words into her mouth. When he insisted, she replied nonchalantly yet warily that mob lynching was like murder and it was a bad thing. It reminded of our movie stars when they are quizzed about one of their own caught in an offense. Anyway, I moved onto the third channel expecting to shut my eyes and mind to the depressing cow developments and I wasn't disappointed. It felt like I was in the euphoric days of 2014 again!

Why is it bullshit and not cowshit? Are they too different?

The Upward and Downward

I found Anu's horoscope while cleaning up and it says her husband will come from the northern direction. That's such an open statement! What, north of Bangalore, North Karnataka, North India, North of the continent, Northern pole? I've got to be patient.

Rishi is becoming difficult. There is nothing he can say yes to, except when he hasn't done so well in exams. That's the only time he's vulnerable and nods to anything I say. But that doesn't last.

Is there a way to find how many people have watched a movie on Netflix? I'm hoping enough people watched Tamhane's movie Court because the box office numbers are unbelievably abysmal.

We had a guest today. After a long time. A youngster from my in-laws' place, who's working here. Even P was meeting him for the first time.

Standing Together

Sandstorm reminded me of Sairat. In the way the daughter is her father's pride, till she crosses a line. And once she does that, she's an embarrassment, a burden and a threat. Layla and Tasnim's treatment of their mother vis-à-vis their father was also very familiar.

I'm going to renew my library membership tomorrow. This is the fourth time this year that I'm renewing it after ad-hoc suspensions. It always happens that as school tests come by and Anu starts throwing tantrums, we discover that the root cause is the library and me, the bad one. I get frustrated and go and cancel the membership only to renew it when I feel sorry for Anu. Anyway, I've had it now and tomorrow it's going to be for a good one year. If I can't stand by a seven year-old who wants to read story books, I don't think I can count on myself for much else.

A Good Day!

In more ways than one. And I'm sleeping at 11 after God knows how long. It's wonderful!

Change is Here!

Anu : Aayi, what's our most important festival?
Me : We celebrate DeepavaLi and Ganesha Chaturthi on a big scale.
Anu : But I think for people living in Karnataka, Kannada Rajyotsava should be the most important one. It celebrates the whole state!

The girl continues to surprise me. From someone who disliked Kannada, she's transformed into something of a brand ambassador. For DeepavaLi, her teacher asked them all to bring some traditional food to share with the class. Anu was very keen to carry raagi mudde, because she'd read it's one of our staple foods and she wanted everybody to taste it. And when she sees any combination of red and yellow, she gets excited thinking of Karnataka flag and now she's determined to read and write Kannada. It's all too much to digest for me right now and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed. Of course on the other hand, she's taken up Marathi equally wholeheartedly. She speaks to herself in Marathi occasionally and to anybody else she can, too. My in-laws are thrilled.

Missing Ambareesh, just like that.

Been There Done That

This article definitely opened up some old stink. I know every word of it firsthand, having experienced it in at least one of my grandparents' place till I was a teenager. Even when I look back through the coloured glass of nostalgia, it's no pretty sight. It was a torture to endure, whether in the day or night, because the fear of being discovered by somebody in the daylight played no less on one's mind. Night of course was a different ball game; even the moonlight wouldn't penetrate the trees which seem suddenly full of ominous sounds, torches that die suddenly and returning is not an option, sit in those trenches praying that nothing bites you and even if something does, it's only an ant and nothing worse, keep calling Aayi just to feel secure....and don't even talk about when it rained. Oh, shit! Just because there was so much unused land all around, people thought there was no need of a toilet! My son hates to go into the toilet when we go to my grandmother's place because he thinks it's not 'nice'. But he doesn't know what relief it was for me to see it the first time! If there is one thing I am upset with my father about, it's that he too didn't get it done sooner.

Sometimes I think I wrongly romanticize about my childhood. Yes, I grew up in a pretty little place which I loved and I don't find that place anymore. But I had many insecurities and complexes of my own, some unwanted and serious burdens and fears, I shared them with nobody and I seem to have been good at keeping them hidden. May be I just force my mind to believe that one thing is another.