A new experience (একটি নতুন অভিজ্ঞতা)

STATUTORY WARNING: 
DON'T BOTHER READING, IF YOU CAN'T READ BENGALI.
DON'T USE GOOGLE TRANSLATE. THE RESULT IS TERRIBLE. 
JUST VISIT THE LINKS DIRECTLY. ENJOY THE MUSIC.

Oh My Word!

My Wordle

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The Ship - filled with meaning!

"Sugababes, one of the most successful all-female British bands of the 21st century, were formed in 1998. But one by one they left, till by September 2009 none of the founders remained in the band; each had been replaced by another member, just like the planks of Theseus’s boat."
- Sam Jacob, Writing for ArtReview [source-Wikipedia]

This film, with 3 protagonists going about their lives in search of meaning, starts of on a idea which is a philosophical question version of the above paragraph. Filmed in a languid pace, sometimes focusing on blank landscapes, the imagery itself evokes a sense of peace, and of purpose.
Sample this:
-"A group of jain monks are seen walking through a landscape filled with windmills, the turning fans and their shadows reminding us of how time flies by. There are no sentences spoken here. We know one of the monks is ailing, maybe walking towards his own death. And the shadows of the Kal-chakra pass over his head."
-"The sound of wind, a birds-eye view of a grassland, ruffled by the blowing wind. No characters in sight"
-"A valley. somewhere in the himalayas, a mountain stream gurgling through, a wooden bridge"

The actors perform their parts marvelously. The monk, transforming from a lean, yet healthy man - to a man on his deathbed, fasting, ridden with bedsores, and yet a steely determination in his eyes. The young stock-market player, with his empathizing selflessness. A admirable bewilderment and joy from the photographer who regains her vision. A supporting cast who fit into the puzzle marvelously. The banter between the monk and the lawyer, in the second story, bewildering, logical, funny. The daily laborer, once shell-shocked from the loss of his Kidney, and at the other time, joyous from a future filled with hope. The lovely fight in the kitchen about creativity, and our own vision of it.

The circumstances under which the paths of the protagonists cross is believable, and seems like an organic growth of the complete film.
Life of Pi left me with a lot of questions. Even now it creates discussions in our group of friends. It was splendidly made. This film, maybe doesn't spellbind you with magical effect. But it does so with its completeness of though.
Slow, and yet crisp, a must watch "Ship of Theseus".

Glad I watched in on the big screen.

My first Girlfriend

She sat there, next to the window, admiring her shiny red nail.

I looked on.

She gazed outside, at the passing headlights.

I stared.

She started searching for something in her handbag.

I was inquisitive.

There was a small click.

And I heard the sound. Faint, only in my left ear.  But still it was clear, over the din of the bus, rumbling through the state highways of North Bengal.

SP Balasubramanyam sang “Tum Se Milne Ki Tamanna Hai” in my left ear, and I thought ‘I have met her already’.

She looked at me and smiled. “Enjoying?”

“Yes”, I said. “I will ask dad to get me one too”.

“Yes, you should buy a Walkman, and also buy some nice cassettes. Buy Saajan, its superhit. That guy, Sanjay Dutt, he limps in the film, but he is the real hero. And Madhuri can dance so well….” She went on telling me the virtues of the superhit film from last year, and I dozed off. (Well, this habit of dozing off mid conversation will come back to hound me throughout my grownup days)

I dreamt of telling my classmates not to tease me anymore, or I’ll call my girlfriend, who had promised me to use her long nails to help me in my fight. “For Justice, For Honor, For the last starfruit/guava on the tree”…

I found out from an acquaintance almost a decade later that she had passed on to a better world, after a bout of a strange fever, at the early age of 20. That’s around the time I was close to 7-8 years old. 

My first girlfriend.