A Very Long Engagement: A very nice one indeed!

Last night was movie night again and I managed to entice Shad to watch Jean-Pierre Jeunet' A very Long Engagement. A war-romance bordering on some pixie'ish' and some black humour, the movie was a satisfying watch. The opening scene's establishing shots were absolutely magnificent and enough to excite me for the things to come. A Very Long Engagement is Mathilde's story about her search for her fiance long believed dead in a quaintly named trench near No man's land in France during the World War I.

Played by Audrey Tautou , the director's muse who gave a similarly stunning performance in Amelie, Mathilde's child like innocence, devotion and love for Manech is best captured in the film. For a war romance that is crafted by a director of such prowess, AVLE doesnt evoke tears in you. Instead it gives you moments that force you to reflect, laugh and admire the tenacity of a provincial 19 year old girl who refuses to give up on her fight to search for her fiance.

Go see it if you can and if you havent watched Amelie as yet, go run and see it!!

My Obamania

Just read Obama's speech at Cairo University released by the Associated Press. Made me wonder if Obama was going to be the first President of United States to have greeted people with an Assalaamu Walaikum.

I began admiring Obama not because of the policies he framed but because of the sheer charm and grace he brought to the seat of the American President- a seat that has been disdained for some time now. I admire this guileless man who is not afraid to open up to public, show his innermost emotions and who doesnt toe the line in the dirty game of politics (that of course is my opinion and I am no expert in politics).

I found that the opening words of his speech were apt. He began with what really is the problem about the Muslim world- about the big misunderstanding that it is received in, of there being a tension between the western world and the so called Muslim world. He spoke of the religious wars that have taken place in history, of the emergence of an ultra modern society that seemingly stands as an opposition to Islamic traditions.

He moved on to how a small minority of Muslims took advantage of this fear and disregard of western mores and values, using violent means to achieve socio-political mileage. He felt that if we continued to move ahead with a fragmented and fragile relationship based on mutual mistrust,we would only help evil minded people in doing what they have always wanted to.

Although seemingly Obama is on a PR trail to garner support from the historically anti American Muslim nations, I can't but help liking him.
He quoted from the Quran, the Talmud and the Bible. Clearly a man, who doesnt shy from referring to religious literature. This at a time, when the western world is predominantly disposed to being disregarding of religion.
I truly liked his speech, it seemed genuine, just like him.

The Femme Fatale genre

Yesterday Shad and I had some quality time together. We let the day rule over us rather than trying to seize it, which is what we end up doing most of the time.
Having slept away the first half of the day, we went out for a short walk in the English cold summer. Hyde Park looked serene with not one person in sight. The cold weather had turned out to be a deterrent to most. We walked for a while and then decided to get back home. It really was getting very cold.
So much for the summer..as most people would agree.

At night,we decided to watch a movie. Shad had got a DVD of a movie called 'Nikita'.
My husband and I have never really agreed on a choice for movies. We differ on our choice. Period. I know I will have to live with this pain for all my life.
He likes action, gory bloody show of decapitated people, fast racing cars that hurl themselves on the hero while he hangs on to dear life on his motorbike.
I like emotional stories with dramatic revelations. Still, I wanted to give Nikita a chance. I had seen some film noir but hadnt seen anything that glorified a female assasin and turned her into a femme fatale.
To cut the story short, I felt the movie was nowhere close to depicting a real femme fatale. The characterisation was pretty sketchy and the so called femme fatale named Nikita was far from one. In fact at times she looked and acted ludicruous. She didnt have the charm and aura that is so much needed in a character of that kind.
A bitter disappointment, we thought.

Are we dead??!!!

This week, when I heard about the Air France plane disaster , I was momentarily in shock.
And then came the pain, sadness and despair. I really felt the loss of all those people who had died suddenly within seconds in the cold water of the Atlantic.
I didnt know any of them.. but they were people like me. They had mothers, who will take the pain of the loss of a child to their graves, wives who would know that their endless wait had only just started and they had children who might never know the selfless love of a parent.
I thought of all those things and it just made me sadder.
But one thing really hit me... I didnt see that this huge loss seemed to have affected people at large. I am quite active on social media networks and it suprised me that people didnt even talk about it, express any pain or even mere regret. Ofcourse there were a mere few, but largely this news went without discussion. A sad commentary on our life today when Susan Boyle (a reality TV participant) hit a Million and more on Youtube within days while 228 people's tragic death went unnoticed. Are we dead?

O, what a relief!

What a relief it is to be back to the professional world.
Having taken a sabbatical from it to work on an MBA, I thought it was time to get back to it as soon as I completed it and had the certificate in hand. But things werent going to be THAT easy.
The credit crunch happened and then recession happened and then job cuts happened. Suddenly there were no jobs available.

The CVs were going no where. Auto responders from the recruitment agents regretting my being unsuitable for the position became the norm of my life. Until I found Bloom Media. Its a digital media agency in Leeds that specialises in Search Engine Marketing and Web Design. All I wanted was a month old placement as a junior search engine marketing consultant. Its been more than a month and guess what?
I am here to stay. At Bloom, I mean.

I absolutely love it being here. Bloomites are a fun and hardworking bunch who know how to have a great time at work ensuring that quality work is done.
Search Engine Marketing World-here's a willing learner coming into you.
Learning the ropes about it guys, will keep you all posted on it.

The Kitchen Man

Yeah, I know I am lucky. I am being told so by all who have visited my new marital home until now. The food coming out of the kitchen smells awesome..and tastes awesome too. And the best bit is, its not being cooked by me, but by Shadique. What more could a woman want, ask my female friends, neighbours, relatives, colleagues.
You know when you go home tired from the office, you see the house husband standing at the kitchen counter, adorning that silly apron he bought from Poundland, grinning at you, and you are in womanhood bliss.
No menu planning to do for the night, no histrionics to perform trying to carve the chicken and no need to see the the unapproving look on Shadique's face when I hand over the dinner plate to him. Adios to being kitchen queen.
Three cheers to my kitchen man!!

A Brush With Fame: Nasreen Haque remembers her encounter with India's most well-known artist...many years ago

Kolkata bylanes are a beehive of activity. The rhythmic clanging of the car mechanic tinkering with his tools synchronises well with the beats of the popular Hindi number blaring from the loudspeaker. Business runs and manages to thrive even in the tiniest and murkiest of lanes and you could come up with a “steal of a bargain”. But a few years ago, in one such lane, this was hardly what I had bargained for.

Scouting for rare trees on Kolkata streets for an article for my dad, who had a passion for the herbal world, little brother and I were backseat driving for him, when all of a sudden my eyes took a double take. A very familiar face, with a shock of white beard and hair flummoxed me. All of 14 years, I was no art connoisseur but being a Kolkattan by nativity, the denizens of the art fraternity were well- known to us. We Bengalis take immense pride in calling ourselves the cultural czars of the country.

I asked dad to stop, pointing out to him the man of importance. There wasn’t even a crowd gathered at the obscure ‘dhaba’ where he was seated. He was barefooted, and dressed in his trademark denims. He was nonchalantly discussing his paintings (which incidentally had been published in that very day’s Sunday Telegraph) with the dhaba’s owner. I think the casualness of the atmosphere prompted me to go up and speak to him. Speak to us he did, grinning and making us two kids feel at ease. I didn’t have pen and paper, but what I did have was a camera. And Maqbool Fida Hussain obliged us with a photograph of us with him. Soon he bid us goodbye, a warm 'Khuda Hafiz', whizzed away in his car, leaving us with our mouths agape.

M.F. Hussain will always be a man with down-to-earth humility and vitality for life. His ubiquitous presence in the Indian Art scene for a commanding 60 years, painting film hoardings even in his heydays on Mumbai streets, and subsequently rising to the higher echelons of Modern Indian Art, baffle me. His affability rings out true even years after his numerous creations occupy seats of honour in Art houses all over the world.

However what could surprise a discernible reader at this juncture would be the memory of this episode after all these years. You see, the anticlimax happened only yesterday, when a middle-aged lady dropped in at our place. Seeing the framed photograph of the artist, resting on my mantelpiece, she smiled at me and said, “Oh I recognise you and your brother well, but that senior gentleman, he must be your granddad, is he not?" To answer the lady in question would only have resulted into a very embarrassing situation so I didn't say a word. But I can only hazard a guess as to who would have laughed more, my grandfather or M.F. Hussain!