The Alchemy of Desire
Let me start on a defensive note. I borrowed this book mistaking Tarun Tejpal for Aniruddha Bahal. I had enjoyed Bahal's 'Bunker 13' and decided this had to be good. By the time I realised my error, I had started to read the book and the book seemed reasonably promising. Sadly I had not read the many reviews that had apparently trashed this book.
The book's front flap indicates that the book is about the lives of young Indian couples in today's day and age. I think most readers would differ. Especially when they come to the historical bits. But wait, I am running ahead. The story starts off with the protagonist and his wife breaking up inspite of the great sexual chemistry they have. The book traces the lives of the two for a while. Then comes the twist in the tale and the couple breaks up and the book goes downhill from thereon. The first half is so realistic that you are waiting for a really strong reason for the break up. Which does not happen. The silly story ladled out makes you wonder if Tejpal overdosed on Hollywood movies about enchanting India and Maharajahs and slaves and princesses before writing the second half. You stop caring about the couple and by the time the time you reach the end of the book, you begin to skim and indifferently finish the book.
Note to myself: Aniruddha Bahal is not Tarun Tejpal. Remember.
By,
Anita B.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Monday, May 29, 2006
Review of 'Doshar'
doshar- the companion.
film by rituparno ghosh .
it's a black and white film in the literal sense but several shades of grey exist in the storyline. perhaps one of the most disturbing and different tales on marital infidelity i have seen. the story starts with a man and his lover returning from radisson - a resort on the outskirts of kolkata after a supposed ' business tour' weekend (both were colleagues) when the disastrous happens - they have an accident where the woman dies and the man is hospitalised and the accident is covered in the press. from this coverage the spouses of both get to learn about the extra marital affair they never knew about till this point.
the rest of the story is about how each deals with this incident, more focus on Konkana who essays the role of the man's wife. she does a wonderful job- potraying a range of emotions and flitting between one and the other - disgust, obligation, love etc. The best part of the film is that it is very very real and therefore very disturbing - the way the world reacts to an incident like this, the man seldom in the wrong and the woman almost always - whether she is the mistress or the wife. so while the office is willing to forget the mistake the man has made , they refuse to even have a memorial service for the woman who is killed in the accident ! interesting also how everyone suggests that the wife make the compromise and live on with her spouse, except ironically her mother in law.
what is beautiful about her character is the strength she tries to potray and hold her own , and finally about the compromise that she ends up making. but what is well depicted is that her way of dealing with things appears quite similar to how many women we know would deal with a similar situation, without much help from anyone else, in a matter of fact way. while she makes her compromise in the end, she relentlessly mentally tortures her spouse in a cold and strong manner, not asking for sympathy but making him feel like a worm nonetheless.
what was a little unfair however is almost a trend with this director, he always potrays the man like a tool who is a loser only interested in having sex, the story is told from the woman's perspective and the reasons for the man's behavior are never explored. i guess the director too needs to limit his scope of story telling so it's ok. the folks i watched the movie with found the movie very slow, but i thought it was a natural pace, giving an opportunity for great screenplay and script to be played out.
i would recommend the movie, for the complexity it deals with in a non - judgmental and more importantly real way.
By,
Soma Ghosh
film by rituparno ghosh .
it's a black and white film in the literal sense but several shades of grey exist in the storyline. perhaps one of the most disturbing and different tales on marital infidelity i have seen. the story starts with a man and his lover returning from radisson - a resort on the outskirts of kolkata after a supposed ' business tour' weekend (both were colleagues) when the disastrous happens - they have an accident where the woman dies and the man is hospitalised and the accident is covered in the press. from this coverage the spouses of both get to learn about the extra marital affair they never knew about till this point.
the rest of the story is about how each deals with this incident, more focus on Konkana who essays the role of the man's wife. she does a wonderful job- potraying a range of emotions and flitting between one and the other - disgust, obligation, love etc. The best part of the film is that it is very very real and therefore very disturbing - the way the world reacts to an incident like this, the man seldom in the wrong and the woman almost always - whether she is the mistress or the wife. so while the office is willing to forget the mistake the man has made , they refuse to even have a memorial service for the woman who is killed in the accident ! interesting also how everyone suggests that the wife make the compromise and live on with her spouse, except ironically her mother in law.
what is beautiful about her character is the strength she tries to potray and hold her own , and finally about the compromise that she ends up making. but what is well depicted is that her way of dealing with things appears quite similar to how many women we know would deal with a similar situation, without much help from anyone else, in a matter of fact way. while she makes her compromise in the end, she relentlessly mentally tortures her spouse in a cold and strong manner, not asking for sympathy but making him feel like a worm nonetheless.
what was a little unfair however is almost a trend with this director, he always potrays the man like a tool who is a loser only interested in having sex, the story is told from the woman's perspective and the reasons for the man's behavior are never explored. i guess the director too needs to limit his scope of story telling so it's ok. the folks i watched the movie with found the movie very slow, but i thought it was a natural pace, giving an opportunity for great screenplay and script to be played out.
i would recommend the movie, for the complexity it deals with in a non - judgmental and more importantly real way.
By,
Soma Ghosh
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Pet Peeves
The nominees for the Aishwarya Rai Award for the most Irritating Personality of the year are :
1) People whose cars have these automatic blood-curling sirens that destroy peace whenever their vehicles are in reverse gear. To make my miserable life even worse I have to live with the harsh reality of being woken up at 7:30 A.M every morning to the shrieking sounds of an instrumental version of an Annu Malik song. AN ANNU MALIK SONG. If that does not get Amnesty International to act, I don’t know what will.
2) Aishwarya Rai: She is so artificial that she would put Pamela Anderson’s breasts to shame.
3) The Australian accent and Navjyot Siddhu: I have clubbed them together because I can’t choose between the devil and the deep sea infested with sharks. One has to listen to all these marvels (perfection in a negative way is still perfection) of mankind to appreciate my feelings.
Suffice it to say that that Australia was a penal colony of Great Britain i.e. British convicts were sent to Australia. Clearly the convicts reformed themselves in Australia and restricted their crimes to murdering the English language.
Navjyot Singh Siddhu riles me even as I write. Actually, he beats the Australians hollow. Siddhu was known as the stroke-less wonder who improved his skills to be able to hit Bangladeshi spinners by swinging his bat such that the follow through would cause the bat to reach the boundary as well.
Moreover, he speaks in this artificial, bombastic tone with phrases/ similes that remind me of the Hardy Boys (Jumping Gemini fish, etc).
Siddhu seems to think that the simile and alliteration are the only 2 figures of speech. Some idiots think that Siddhu’s oratorical skills are Churchillian. I would bet my bottom dollar that he would not be able to pronounce awry, risqué and ingénue to save his life.
4) Beauty Queens: During the Miss World Contest, Priyanka Chopra was asked to name the LIVING person she admired the most, without batting an eyelid she answered Mother Teresa. This after MOTHER TERESA HAD BEEN DEAD FOR 3 YEARS..AND PRIYANKA CHOPRA WON THE GODDAMN TITLE.
5) Page 3 personalities: As a fervent capitalist, there is a part of me that has to accept this phenomenon. However, I hate the hypocritical nature of these people when they say that they are selective about the brands they associate with. Hey people, the only thing you are selective about is the bank account the money should be transferred to. Moreover, a vast majority of these people have as much talent so as to make Annu Malik seem like the second coming of Mozart.
6) Pushy sales people: I am specifically talking about people who work in the food and beverages industries. These guys make an attempt to up-sell so much that the day is not far off when the following exchange takes place:
Me: May I have a coffee with ice-cream please?
Intern: Would you like ice-cream with that sir?
7) Annoying habits: This deserves a section of its own but I will try (fat chance) to be succinct. So here goes:
Women hugging each other replete with a shriek despite the fact that only a week would have elapsed since their last meeting.
Women going to toilets together in pubs/restaurants. I don’t know but it seems weird..unless they are going for some sort of lesbian stuff, which the Freudian part of me finds fascinating.
Women making non-erogenous zone contact. Men like to be touched ONLY if it arouses them. Men making ANY sort of contact. Shaking hands being the honourable exception to the definition of contact.
Women forcing you to skip a sport telecast to watch 'Maid in Manhattan' or some crappy film/programme like that.
Women who insist on cleaning your cupboard, buying all sort of unnecessary stuff that only they will use like Dettol liquid soap, tissue paper, garbage bags.
People who substitute the Hindi word “ki” for "that" in a sentence that is otherwise constructed in the English language.
People who let the phone ring endlessly. I am no social scientist but one usually lifts the receiver when one hears a phone ring.
By,
Gaurav Kala
1) People whose cars have these automatic blood-curling sirens that destroy peace whenever their vehicles are in reverse gear. To make my miserable life even worse I have to live with the harsh reality of being woken up at 7:30 A.M every morning to the shrieking sounds of an instrumental version of an Annu Malik song. AN ANNU MALIK SONG. If that does not get Amnesty International to act, I don’t know what will.
2) Aishwarya Rai: She is so artificial that she would put Pamela Anderson’s breasts to shame.
3) The Australian accent and Navjyot Siddhu: I have clubbed them together because I can’t choose between the devil and the deep sea infested with sharks. One has to listen to all these marvels (perfection in a negative way is still perfection) of mankind to appreciate my feelings.
Suffice it to say that that Australia was a penal colony of Great Britain i.e. British convicts were sent to Australia. Clearly the convicts reformed themselves in Australia and restricted their crimes to murdering the English language.
Navjyot Singh Siddhu riles me even as I write. Actually, he beats the Australians hollow. Siddhu was known as the stroke-less wonder who improved his skills to be able to hit Bangladeshi spinners by swinging his bat such that the follow through would cause the bat to reach the boundary as well.
Moreover, he speaks in this artificial, bombastic tone with phrases/ similes that remind me of the Hardy Boys (Jumping Gemini fish, etc).
Siddhu seems to think that the simile and alliteration are the only 2 figures of speech. Some idiots think that Siddhu’s oratorical skills are Churchillian. I would bet my bottom dollar that he would not be able to pronounce awry, risqué and ingénue to save his life.
4) Beauty Queens: During the Miss World Contest, Priyanka Chopra was asked to name the LIVING person she admired the most, without batting an eyelid she answered Mother Teresa. This after MOTHER TERESA HAD BEEN DEAD FOR 3 YEARS..AND PRIYANKA CHOPRA WON THE GODDAMN TITLE.
5) Page 3 personalities: As a fervent capitalist, there is a part of me that has to accept this phenomenon. However, I hate the hypocritical nature of these people when they say that they are selective about the brands they associate with. Hey people, the only thing you are selective about is the bank account the money should be transferred to. Moreover, a vast majority of these people have as much talent so as to make Annu Malik seem like the second coming of Mozart.
6) Pushy sales people: I am specifically talking about people who work in the food and beverages industries. These guys make an attempt to up-sell so much that the day is not far off when the following exchange takes place:
Me: May I have a coffee with ice-cream please?
Intern: Would you like ice-cream with that sir?
7) Annoying habits: This deserves a section of its own but I will try (fat chance) to be succinct. So here goes:
Women hugging each other replete with a shriek despite the fact that only a week would have elapsed since their last meeting.
Women going to toilets together in pubs/restaurants. I don’t know but it seems weird..unless they are going for some sort of lesbian stuff, which the Freudian part of me finds fascinating.
Women making non-erogenous zone contact. Men like to be touched ONLY if it arouses them. Men making ANY sort of contact. Shaking hands being the honourable exception to the definition of contact.
Women forcing you to skip a sport telecast to watch 'Maid in Manhattan' or some crappy film/programme like that.
Women who insist on cleaning your cupboard, buying all sort of unnecessary stuff that only they will use like Dettol liquid soap, tissue paper, garbage bags.
People who substitute the Hindi word “ki” for "that" in a sentence that is otherwise constructed in the English language.
People who let the phone ring endlessly. I am no social scientist but one usually lifts the receiver when one hears a phone ring.
By,
Gaurav Kala
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