Thappad - A true slap

2/28/2020

Almost three years later, I truly felt the need to express myself in words. Thappad, a hindi movie did push me here. About 15 days ago my partner shared the trailer of Thappad. I know Tapsee Pannu has been doing good movies but this was different. This trailer was hard hitting. I will probably use a lot of cliches in this blog but that's okay. Not many read this anyways. But the cliches are cliches for a reason and I use another cliche to justify myself for using them, I am an honest writer and when I use a word I truly mean it. Coming back to the story, after watching the trailer I told her, this is good we need to watch it. Not because it was shot well, not because the actors performed well but because the movie meant something very very important.

Women in India have been taught to adjust. Every mom teaches her daughter to adjust in case of a conflict. And this has been the most important advice given to a daughter by her mom after the marriage. Well, everyone has to adjust in life but in the patriarchal mother land of ours, women need to adjust more. And this is taught by none other than women themselves. This movie depicts it so well that every mom who taught this will feel the pain of a slap. Then, to the fathers. Every father wants his daughter to be happy but he does not think about his own spouse's father. They get slapped too albeit subtly but strongly. Being an innocent bystander when a crime is committed is still a crime even if the crime is a suicide. Well done director saab.

Then comes us. Indian Men. We take so many things for granted with a woman and respect is always an after thought. This movie was a very tight slap. And we have to expect a thappad too with what we do. This is not something to fight against. This is something to fight within to kill the patriarch inside. With our upbringing we did gain a mindset that is just not right but it becomes only a crime if we do not try to change after we get to know what is right and what is wrong. This movie can be a lesson to all of us. Sometimes a slap helps us wake up from the slumber. I hope this one does.

And finally the actress Tapsi Pannu. From Jhummandi Naadam to Thappad this, I think is the most transformation any actress could aim for. From being a glam doll showing her navel to titillate the viewers to depicting the character of a woman fighting for her respect, she has done it all. Thank you Tapsi ji. 

Sleep, Laziness and Trivikram

These are the three elements that have been with me from a long time. The third word in the sequence is a proper noun and hence may not be referable as an element but I will have to refer it so because of the reasons that follow.

Sleep, the relationship between us has to be defined as a romantic one. I refer to sleep as her as I do for most of the elements of the world. That introduction was one of the most unforgettable introductions of my life. She initially helped me get close to her and hence lose sight of the things that were boring. Then she made me like her so much that, I started ignoring things that were important as well. This tryst of mine with sleep started when I was a 11 year old student. Any time I tried to concentrate in class, she came to me. When I started studying she started her visit. I had to use an used refill to hit myself acutely to get away from sleep but I could not. So I gave her due and then went on to do what I planned to do later. Then, after my class X, she started abandoning me when I wanted her the most. I was in Hyderabad, in a dorm room along with 7 other students of class XI. We used to come to the room at 11:00 PM to retire for the day. We will be raised at 5:00 AM in the morning. So all in all we had just six hours to recuperate from the day's school activities and study hours. After an hour general discussions and fun, all my roommates used to go to bed by 12:00 AM or 1:00 AM at the latest. Then, I used to follow them and lie down on my bed inviting sleep to give me company. But, I do not know what went wrong, one night she did not come to me. Then it went on. I sometimes wondered how to sleep. What do I do to sleep? What is sleep? I used to lie down on my bed looking at all my friends who were sleeping peacefully. Then in the morning, when there were classes going on my sleep does not want to leave me at all. If there is something close to hell I have been through then it would this period of life where I wanted to study but could not, i wanted to sleep but could not. And I still do not know the reason for what happened then. In my B. tech, sleep came back to me and became a good friend but I was not able to stop her from disturbing me during the class hours. This particular issue between us still exists and I can sense her coming to me right now when I trying to articulate about my relationship with her.
2/28/2020 - This is unfinished and I am publishing it as is.