Yep! a decade of the new millennium is already over (where did it go!) Well, come to think of it-- college, more college, Abhi, marriage & work—it was actually quite an eventful decade :)..How on earth did I get so reflective on the whole decade though—as I began the post, I intended to merely acknowledge our foray into 2010. CNN was having an inane poll today btw about whether most people will refer to this year as “twenty-ten” or “two-thousand and ten” and the resounding verdict was in favor of the latter (much to the dismay of the anchors who thought the former was more trendy!). I am always amazed at who comes up with these gazillion polls and who responds to these things. Abhi has actually put me down a guilt trip about this in the past---well no, not TV/internet polls, but my total non-commitment towards writing product reviews on websites, especially cause I base my decision to buy-or-not after reading gazillion reviews myself. He thinks it is absolutely necessary for the sustenance of the system for customers like me to contribute---he’s probably not wrong..I’m just really lazy about the whole thing, besides there seem to a whole lot of other interested folks to pen reviews :)
It is so easy to go off on a tangent with blogging..especially when you write a post (like me) after a break of 3 months..nonetheless, steering back, the past week has been an interesting experience of living alone at home and watching waaaay more TV than I would ever have had the time if Abhi was around. Part of it is that I like to have some noise in the house, although the bigger reason is, my rather late discovery of Netflix Instant Play and the fact that they have a reasonably good collection, including many new/old foreign movies. So, post-discovery I have already watched 8 movies in 3 days…infact my eyes were watery last night at 2 am after all the viewing, yet I gave in to the urge of another one – OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit with the watery part..but aleast they were all droopy :)..So the first movie I watched was the Ken Burns documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright—I had just finished the book ‘Loving Frank’ about FLW’s illicit affair with a married woman Mamah Cheney in the early 1900’s and was aching to piece that part in his larger life story and also ogle at historic photos & footage. The movie did just that. In retrospect though I have had enough of FLW for quite a while. The second was a documentary, Blindsight-about a mountaineering expedition in the Himalayas with 6 blind kids from Tibet. The movie was a bit heavy, yet well made and unique. Following that was a forgettable 1996 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston—when you watch so many movies there are bound to be some unfortunate choices! Moving on though, ‘Wake up Sid’ was a delightful Hindi film that I had somehow missed watching when released last year. It’s fresh, contemporary and remains interesting throughout. Next, I watched ‘Outsourced’ – an Indo-Hollywood film in English about an American who is sent to a small Indian town to train call center employees—I was quite sure that I wouldn’t like the movie before I started watching, thinking it would be stereotypical & kitschy. And yes it was all that in parts-yet rather funny and very entertaining! Following that was the 2008 documentary Food Inc. about the corporatization of the whole food industry in the US. The movie was well-made but didn’t exactly hit me as it would have, had I watched the movie a few years earlier-- back in the day when I had never read a label on a food product before, and honestly didn’t even know/care how to interpret that info even if I did. Since coming to the US though, my approach towards food has changed..I no longer just buy stuff I like off the shelf and consume it gluttonously placing my trust in my genetically slender bodyframe (or atleast so I like to believe!) Not that I’m worried about gaining weight now, but am definitely concerned about dumping preservatives in my body just cause that food has to have a certain shelf-life. Make as much food from raw materials as you can, and buy right to make sure the ‘raw’ materials are truly raw, seems like the sensible thing to do—yet is easier said than done especially when you have limited time and budget. Yet, no harm trying! ‘Whats Your Rashee?’ was a painfully long hindi movie, funny in parts but tiresome overall. Next up was ‘Welcome to Sajjanpur’ a Shyam Benegal creation that I watched this morning- and what a delightful movie it is! Refreshing and original, with excellent acting, music and dialogues, the movie is satirical yet light – a must-watch! The invention of the HDMI cable and the fact that it allows all these movies to be viewed on my wide-screen TV makes life all the better—bless the people who invent this stuff!
In between the movies though, books from the Boston Public Library have kept me company at bedtime, on the WC and on the T. The Public Library system is one of those things that I absolutely love about US cities..and BPL is supposedly the grand-daddy of them all, being the first public library in the US. It’s central branch is right next to my office and although it is quite difficult to find recent bestsellers, there is still a huge collection of books to choose from. I am also thankful to my SewMac (my 70-stitch ‘computerised’ sewing machine) for being there in times like these. Actually since Abhi doesn’t let me spend too much time on it while he’s around, this is probably the best opportunity to churn out the duvet-set and lunch-bags that I have been meaning to complete in ages!
So much for now..
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