A 15 year Rewind
Everyone likes to relive their childhood days and I would be lying to say I don't. In fact, I can go a step further and say I do every moment of my life...So I decided it was time for me to relive it again and this time go a step further by being very specific. For starters, I chose my school life - especially from class 5 to class 10. Obviously I would be speaking from my experience and since schools have different formats, you may not be able to relate to all of them but am sure at some level, at some thought, they would make sense to you...rather I hope they do!
Class 5 ( Jump from Primary to Secondary)
This was one of my most memorable years because it suddenly changed overnight. There I was waking up at 8 AM, doing my home work for the day, packing my bag, grabbing lunch and drowsily heading for the bus-stop at noon to fall asleep in school in the afternoon session (1 PM to 6 PM)...well that was class 4! Fast Forward...class 5...wake up by 5:45 AM, breakfast by 6:15 and out of the door by 6:30 to be in school by 7 AM. The only thing that didn't change was the fact that I was sleepy before (after a nice lunch) and now (I had woken up at 5:45 AM...) !!
Class 6 to 8 (Transitional)
Having gone to a convent school, I could not experience the thrill of the "first girl who sat next to me", or the "girl who would have lunch with me", or the "girl who would support me when I came last in athletic sessions" and so many more...I wouldn't know them all as I didn't experience them right? But with an "all girls" school right across mine, we didn't seem to miss much. My school shared the wall with St.Anthony's girls school and I can recollect those PT (physical training) classes where we were taken to the ground to play soccer and all we would do is kick the ball into the girls' school compound and the fastest "dude" to the wall would be the chosen messiah to fetch the ball back for us and be the saviour...at least for that day...
I must be honest that I never got a chance to be the messiah but to be able to look back and enjoy that "innocent" moment...sure is priceless!
Class 9 to 10 (You are the Man!!)
Well, having your school bag strapped onto both shoulders seemed like a big "no-no". It was as if the other strap was attached to the school bag just so that one can be used and the other one hangs loose while you walk around school feeling like....literally without a word. Still don't know why we, including me did that!! Oh well, by the way, a water bottle is for sissies. The purpose is to quench your thirst from the brutally hot Bombay summer but naaah...those are for kids ( I can bet that in class 9 and 10, I took it upon myself that water bottles are for kids though I can't buy a drink,vote and many more things...). Bullying the junior kids in school, pretending to be Mr.Know All within the school boundaries gave us such a heavenly high, I just want to jump right back into those days...
Well, I can continue to hallucinate but I have a few loans to take care of now, do taxes, earn for a living....blah blah....
Everything in life happens for a reason and if you wondering why I chose to go back two decades of time - it is thanks to Taare Zameen Par ( Stars on the ground). Again, for the unfamiliar, it is an Indian movie based on a dyslexic child. I don't think I need to write about what I think because it is too good to be written about, it doesn't need to be written about and I am not qualified enough to write about it too!
The one thing that sure came to my mind after I walked out completely mesmerized after the movie was how this movie would not do well in India as it "makes" a lot of sense, has a message/story and also how the ever famous Mr.Shah Rukh Khan is going to walk away with all the honors/credits for his nonsensical three hour attempt (at least compared to this one) called Om Shanti Om....
Everyone likes to relive their childhood days and I would be lying to say I don't. In fact, I can go a step further and say I do every moment of my life...So I decided it was time for me to relive it again and this time go a step further by being very specific. For starters, I chose my school life - especially from class 5 to class 10. Obviously I would be speaking from my experience and since schools have different formats, you may not be able to relate to all of them but am sure at some level, at some thought, they would make sense to you...rather I hope they do!
Class 5 ( Jump from Primary to Secondary)
This was one of my most memorable years because it suddenly changed overnight. There I was waking up at 8 AM, doing my home work for the day, packing my bag, grabbing lunch and drowsily heading for the bus-stop at noon to fall asleep in school in the afternoon session (1 PM to 6 PM)...well that was class 4! Fast Forward...class 5...wake up by 5:45 AM, breakfast by 6:15 and out of the door by 6:30 to be in school by 7 AM. The only thing that didn't change was the fact that I was sleepy before (after a nice lunch) and now (I had woken up at 5:45 AM...) !!
Class 6 to 8 (Transitional)
Having gone to a convent school, I could not experience the thrill of the "first girl who sat next to me", or the "girl who would have lunch with me", or the "girl who would support me when I came last in athletic sessions" and so many more...I wouldn't know them all as I didn't experience them right? But with an "all girls" school right across mine, we didn't seem to miss much. My school shared the wall with St.Anthony's girls school and I can recollect those PT (physical training) classes where we were taken to the ground to play soccer and all we would do is kick the ball into the girls' school compound and the fastest "dude" to the wall would be the chosen messiah to fetch the ball back for us and be the saviour...at least for that day...
I must be honest that I never got a chance to be the messiah but to be able to look back and enjoy that "innocent" moment...sure is priceless!
Class 9 to 10 (You are the Man!!)
Well, having your school bag strapped onto both shoulders seemed like a big "no-no". It was as if the other strap was attached to the school bag just so that one can be used and the other one hangs loose while you walk around school feeling like....literally without a word. Still don't know why we, including me did that!! Oh well, by the way, a water bottle is for sissies. The purpose is to quench your thirst from the brutally hot Bombay summer but naaah...those are for kids ( I can bet that in class 9 and 10, I took it upon myself that water bottles are for kids though I can't buy a drink,vote and many more things...). Bullying the junior kids in school, pretending to be Mr.Know All within the school boundaries gave us such a heavenly high, I just want to jump right back into those days...
Well, I can continue to hallucinate but I have a few loans to take care of now, do taxes, earn for a living....blah blah....
Everything in life happens for a reason and if you wondering why I chose to go back two decades of time - it is thanks to Taare Zameen Par ( Stars on the ground). Again, for the unfamiliar, it is an Indian movie based on a dyslexic child. I don't think I need to write about what I think because it is too good to be written about, it doesn't need to be written about and I am not qualified enough to write about it too!
The one thing that sure came to my mind after I walked out completely mesmerized after the movie was how this movie would not do well in India as it "makes" a lot of sense, has a message/story and also how the ever famous Mr.Shah Rukh Khan is going to walk away with all the honors/credits for his nonsensical three hour attempt (at least compared to this one) called Om Shanti Om....
posted by Simba | 9:07 AM
3 Comments:
I actually thought that they did a good job in capturing the audience by taking us back to our roots and when we were there in mind, they transported us to the seriousness of learning disabilities. Found the movie incorporating a good strategy ad it worked in terms of reaching out to the masses. I got hte same feedback form a handful of people I know across India too....but agian, I could be wring, and as a researcher could not generalize form my small sample size of a handful either!
On the other hand, nice to see that you are getting some time to write again!
one of the aims of movies is to entertain. and om shanti om did a wonderful job at that. so there is nothing wrong at shah rukh khan walking away with the honours for that
@Anush - I didn't say his movie wasn't entertaining but from an awards perspective, it's the responsibility of the jury to encourage and applaud new approaches to filmaking, new stories etc. Comparing the two, My opinion is SRK doesn't deserve accolades for his repetoire. Again, perception is reality so to each their own...
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