Queen is what the Queen does!

(Wrote this as guest blogger on http://blog.shinekapoor.com/)
This year saw several woman-centric movies. Some struggled at the box office and were off the cineplexes in a jiffy (Gulab Gang, Bobby Jasoos, Revolver Rani), while others managed to garner rave reviews (Highway, Mary Kom, Mardani). For me this year belonged to Queen.

What I loved about this movie was that it was such a simple story made with sheer honesty. A perfect blend of emotions, fun, and serious messages said in a moderate tone. Never did I feel it was trying to preach anything yet it left a great impact. While many of you may have different memories from the movie, I personally have kept a few with me. Forever.

Go on a trip alone: Rani, the protagonist, decides to go for her honeymoon all by herself. To many of us it may seem bizarre but that’s what we all need – a trip alone. Being a woman, especially in India, we all are warned even to think of travelling alone. No matter how liberal our parents are. ‘Akeli ladki’ (Lone woman) are just some words that have been haunting us for ages. All we end up doing is calling up a bunch of disinterested friends who have unending excuses.

Make your backpack your companion. Whether going through a tough phase or not – just head out!

Let first impressions not impair your judgments: During her trip to Paris and Amsterdam Rani meets and befriends new people. Not only she gets close to people from different cultural backgrounds but makes new ‘male’ friends – something she would have never thought of.

At times we are quick to form an opinion about a new person. Our actions are ruled by what we think of that person. But we forget it’s not always the time that decides how well we know someone.

Don’t wash dirty linen in public: There’s just one instance when Rani gets sloshed in Paris and bares her heart out to Vijaylaxmi. However, when her friends in Amsterdam get into a brawl with her ex/fiancé, she clearly tells them to stay out.

No matter how much damage a person does to your feelings, it’s more dignified when you choose not to humiliate or try giving them a dosage of their own medicine in front of others. Respect is something that can elevate or tear someone apart with equal intensity.

Unleash the wild within you: Rani is a naïve girl, who even after being in a relationship is shown to have never French-kissed. She meets a stranger,Marcello, in Amsterdam and accepts his challenge to prove Indian style of kissing is the best by kissing him. She goes out to night-clubs and dances her heart out – something her fiancé had forbidden her from indulging in.

It’s sometimes good to let your hair down and just have a good time. The point made is not getting intimate with a stranger. That’s at your own discretion! ;)

Give your passion a chance: Thanks to Marcello that Rani gets to explore her hidden culinary skills and impresses the visitors at a fair with her desi Indian snack – GolGuppa. At first what it seemed as a failure, turns out a huge hit among the foreigners.

There’s no such thing as the perfect time to do what you like doing. It’s therapeutic when you want to break from the mundane.

The movie holds a special place in my heart. For starters: It’s my first movie alone in a theatre! Being a person conscious of the way I conduct myself in public (well, most of the times), the thought of watching a movie and reacting emotionally, all by myself, was nerve-racking. What if the stranger sitting next to you thinks you’re a retard? For me movie-watching is an experience that’s best enjoyed in the company of others. That’s just my personal viewpoint. I need another post to state the reasons. Anyway, thanks to a friend who ditched me at the last moment – for vaild professional reasons, of course (obviously I would never buy a ticket for just myself in the first place), I got to enjoy a wonderful piece of cinema, irrespective of who sat beside me that day.

As Rani took her final majestic walk after meeting her fiancé in the end, that’s how I felt on my way back after watching the movie – in my own little way with my own little achievement!

Image Source: Google Search

For the love (and hatred) of my city.

I know I could be inviting a lot of trouble for myself with this post. I could be bashed and detested for venting out my disappointment on the ongoing state of affairs in the city that I call home - Delhi!

Image Source: The Times of India

I have been that kind of a Delhiite who would pounce on the person talking ill about my city, defend it blindly to the extent of getting into a serious tiff. But it seemed the tables have now turned. The other day, a conversation with a friend left me surprised at my own self. The lines that I could never even dream of uttering where actually said by me - "I wish I was born in another city or a better country."

Trust me, I actually I have a sound sleep at nights, it's the mornings that give me nightmares about stepping out of home. The last week was upsetting. It seemed that I woke up every morning only to read about the brutal crimes. Be it the recent much publicized Uber Rape case or Mercedes Benz Manager who was hit with an iron rod by a youth whose car he 'brushed against'. Even while I could barely recuperate from these two high-profile cases, I experienced/heard of a few incidents myself that made me actually think that Delhi is going to the dogs.

Two days back, while having lunch, one of my colleagues informed me that there has been a murder at Nehru Place, one of the important IT and commercial hubs of Delhi and perhaps India and where my office is located. Apparently the fight broke over some petty parking lot issue. A shop owner and his son were attacked by a group of men that left both the father and son seriously injured. My jaw dropped. The reason couldn't have been more bizarre. I couldn't find any reports on the incident on the internet but the entire complex has been buzzing with the news - until it came in the papers.

As if this was not enough. To conclude my week, last night, while on my way back from work I was followed by a man on a bike. At first I took him as a regular flunky trying to act smart by trying to match up to the speed of the autorickshaw I was in but it was when I almost reached the road on which I live that I felt something was wrong. I immediately got off ten houses away from my own and reached out to the guard of one of the houses. Of course, it did help me scare away the stalker for the time being but I was not quite sure if I was safe the next time I stepped out of home.  

At times I try to recall, was Delhi like this forever? Has our tolerance level come down or the number of criminal offences (recorded/not-recorded) have gone up over the years? Each day comes with its own challenges to survive in this city. People here seem to be oblivious of the fact that the other person too is a human, may be has a family to support, is a beloved of someone and is eagerly awaited to be welcomed at home. Taking out a weapon and attacking someone has become a matter of everyday. Since when did life become so cheap?

It's not that I have suddenly woken up from my slumber and chose to write this. It's just that since childhood I have been taught to ignore the letch ogling at me, be cautious about my surroundings and give a blind eye to those whistles and cheap remarks. But there's a limit to how much one can take.

I wonder is it actually the city or the people who make it a hell to live in? And that's when I get my answer. Those who indulge in evil give the city a bad name. And it pains to see the place where I am born and brought up being in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

Wonder if my city was a little better, I would have loved it even more.