A "Baeku" moment !

The other day, as I walked into a studio in West Chennai, I was all geared up to dub the dialogues for my role in an upcoming Tamil film. Another mother's role, this time to Shruti Hassan.

After the pleasantries were exchanged with the sound engineer and the Assistant Director (AD), we started with a run through of the first scene. We discussed the situational dialogues , tone of my voice - and after a couple of takes it was approved . But just then, I heard the AD laughing in the console! Curious, I turned back and asked him the reason for his sudden outburst, but he chose to keep quiet.

Well,  I thought to myself, it was bad manners to prod. I continued dubbing for the next couple of scenes. Soon, it was time for a coffee break and the AD came inside the dubbing room, and we started chatting till the coffee arrived. This time, I decided to ask him why he laughed a little while back and he broke into a wide smile.

Puzzled, I told him that it was okay if the joke was on me and assured that I would take it well. He looked at me and still sporting the widest of smiles,  said " I wonder if there is any daughter who will have such a "Baeku" amma  (to put it simply a “dumb” mother ! For a moment I was taken aback and wondered if he had just paid a complement or….? Looking at my flustered look , he was quick to add "Madam, you come across as a very innocent amma and that is why we always like to cast you in such roles.” He went on to add that the director had tried hard to get another "Amma" but somehow I seemed to fit perfectly into the role of a " Baeku" Amma . “You are very convincing madam !”

Ahem ! Now that was convincing !

It is no wonder that , when I am approached in airports, railway stations, restaurants, movie theatres and heed to a selfie request or a photo, there is always a giggle! The other day, at the Cochin airport , a lady suddenly came next to me and said that her sister was a "big" fan of mine. “She even remembers all your ‘punch’ dialogues!”, she continued. It made me realise that comedy scenes in films cannot be forgotten easily. I quietly thanked all my directors, their assistants and the scriptwriters for having given me those lines in the first place .

Life seldom gives us a second chance, but comedy does ease it out ! It does help in making a very tense situation very light, just like in the movies. In fact, I fully agree with Robin Williams when he said that  "Comedy is acting out optimism."

After a hard day's work in office and some not so good moments with clients/ colleagues/ boss , imagine walking into a store, and the salesman flashing a 1000 watt smile at you? What a feeling! It sure is a mood changer. And the icing on the cake is when he looks at you, points a finger, shakes his head and asks "Amaaama Illaiyaa "  ? - a popular dialogue of mine from the film Ghilli .

Truly a happy "Baeku" moment !

The L2 Effect ...Unlimited !

For all the innumerable learnings that I have got from Life , this seemed the apt title for a blog post after a long hiatus . Just the other day as I was sifting through the pages of an inflight magazine, I read something that altered the way I felt about meditation ! “Most of us think about meditation as being complicated and time consuming . Not really ! It is nothing but simply being fully aware of something and concentrating on that – be it the barking of a dog , the sound of a fan or the movement of your breath “

 

This was really simple I thought, as the author went on to say that one must keep the spine and neck straight while we absorb the sights and sounds around us . In my yoga class the next day, I was definitely more relaxed and did not try hard to ward off the avalanche of thoughts that were being hurled at, in my mind. I just let them be and succumbed to the L2 learning of the day !; L2 being Life’s Lessons J

 

Have you ever noticed in the airport, at the security check , the CISF personnel do flash a smile as they beckon you for the frisking process. Yes , it’s nothing but  a routine job for them and a drudgery for those of us  who constantly travel. But the moment even one of them flashes  a broad smile and thanks me  for allowing them to do their job, it makes me feel so much happier ! This might not be a common sight but the fact that even one among them makes an effort to do so , makes all the difference to me, and it teaches me to smile at my customers even if it is through a phone call !

 

Till last December , the date 16^th was to look forward to surprises, gifts , loads of love and blessings , but 2012 Dec altered it completely . The untimely death of my daughter’s close friend in a car accident and the Nirbhaya incident in Delhi on the same date, tainted 16^th Dec ! But soon, it made me realise that on every birth date , there are sad and horrific incidents that are bound to take place and there is no stopping it ! This  L2 learning filled me with a strange sense of calmness difficult to explain. And a couple of weeks later, when my daughter asked me “ Ma , can we celebrate your birthday today ? , I gave her a tight hug and said yes ! That day we just celebrated the feeling of being together , the fact that it was not my birthday didn’t matter at all !

 

Just this morning , I had the good fortune to see a Marathi film “Astu – so be it “ which is a story revolving a father who loses his memory and wanders off . His relationship with his daughter who looks after him is engulfed in many a flux and the film connected with me in more ways than one ! There is a line in the film when the daughter says that the children can serve their parents only till the crematorium …how true ! When they are around, we don’t seem to have much time for them as we are also busy with our own lives ! The biggest L2 learning that I have had is never to multitask specially with regard to your parents ! I used to put my amma on speaker phone at nights and have my chats with her while I went about the chores in the kitchen. Little did I realise that I was not giving her a 100% audience and that she always had to repeat herself the next day to me on the same topic ! How I yearn for those conversations now !

 

I could go on and on but it is true that every episode in my life has left me with a positive L2 effect and here’s hoping to many more chapters which will hopefully make me a better human being !

 

Some days you just have to create your own sunshine !

It’s amazing how a title like the above can make you think inversely.

 

Being sick is not something that one enjoys, but when the frequency is on the rise, it slows you down and hurts your morale! Suddenly, as you peep into the never ending list of pills , you wonder why you seem to have become an easy target of the neighbourhood Pharmacy’s new releases !

 

That notwithstanding, thoughts like, “oh I have so much to do but I don’t have the energy”, “why me”, “have not harmed anyone” -  the list is endless. It’s obvious that these are the thoughts arising off an idle, tired mind!

 

So what’s the best potion ? That’s when this title caught my eye -  “some days you have to create your own sunshine “. I decided that the switch from  feeling tired and hopeless to becoming energetic had to first happen in my mind ! And believe it or not, the mind was instantly programmed with a feverish urgency  to get better ASAP ! Creating my own sunshine became top priority with spreading some cheer around , listening to some good music and of course, doing anything and everything that made me smile :-)

 

It all boils down to the fact that no one can beat you-  no illness, no sickness - if you have the ability to smile through !

 

Easier said than done, but it’s incredible that the moment the conscious switch is made,  everything moves swiftly. Swiftly towards positivity with renewed energy all around,  and not to mention it is  100% contagious !

 

It really is worth creating our own sunshine on days when there is a sudden dearth of warmth within oneself. And guess what? The effect is pure, unadulterated bliss !

Lakshmi

It was past 9 last night when I decided to do my veggie shopping, and I was hoping that there would be a shop which would be still open. I was lucky as there was one in the process of winding up!

A tall, healthy woman beckoned me as I hesitantly walked in, and, said that I could come in as the shop was still open.

I couldn’t help but notice that she was segregating all the veggies and putting them in different sacks. Just then, a couple of men came in an auto and started taking away those sacks. I looked surprised at them, but continued with my purchase.

As I got ready to get the veggies billed , I made a last minute dash at the bundles of spinach stacked away in a corner,  but, the woman stopped me and requested me if I could come the next day and pick up a fresh bundle !

I was rather pleased with her frank answer and went on to ask her what she would do with the old greens. She gave me a nice, warm, broad smile and told me that they actually use the spinach in making yummy Keera Vadai in their restaurant down the road.

Seeing my somewhat surprised expression, she asked me if I kept my veggies in the fridge, to which I nodded. She told me that she did too. Along with her husband she ran ‘Lakshmi fast Foods’, a little restaurant down the road. I was welcome to have a cup of tea there, anytime, she said.

She spoke about customer satisfaction and how the two of them worked very hard to keep all their customers happy.

There was so much pride and conviction in the way she presented her ‘tea shop ‘  to me that I got to know a new dimension in the way one interacts with customers ! There was sheer delight  on her face as she shared all this with me and for me, that  took the word ‘enterprising’ to a whole new level !

As I walked away, I thanked Lakshmi for making me a part of her ’customer satisfaction’.

 

 

 

Aikya 2012 - The best of Bombay Jayashri in a Kaliedoscope concert

For a performing artist, to innovate in music, is to constantly revisit your experiences and share them with an audience at an appropriate time !

Bombay Jayashri has always believed in the path of discovery in music and when she combined this  discovery with all the experiences that she has encountered the result was absolutely magical !

Jayashri and her friends took us through an exciting journey where each note they sang / performed struck a chord in our hearts !

 

“Khaali haath aaye they Khaali haath jaayenge “ – we came alone in this world and we shall go the same way …How true… but as long as we embrace this voyage called life, it is the music around us and within us which binds us together to our memories…..

 

Be it a Thyagaraja kriti , a bandish , a film song, bhajan or a ghazal, Jayashri  guided us through the path that she had travelled , enjoying every bit and we the audience had no complaints !

Jayashri also shared that “Between us and God is a mirror and that mirror is nothing but the world which is an illusion and the easiest way to go through this illusion is music “…and her music at Aikya 2012 did just that ! It transported us to a different world altogether and made us, the audience, connect  to the memory of ours associated with the song …. What made the concert even more beautiful was the adherence to harmony and sync and dedication to details which made sure there were enough surprises but no dull moments !

 

Oprah Winfrey who I admire in her recent visit to India said that “You are what you are because of everything that has happened to you “.

Aikya was one such platform which showcased the repertoire  of Bombay  Jayashri  and her ability to share the experiences with all of us .

Kuch naa karne ki aadath !

Ever wondered why we always look forward to that amazing weekend right from Monday and when it actually arrives we tire ourselves cleaning swapping, rushing to the dry cleaners, the tailor, the designer, provision shopping OMG the list is endless !

Today was one such Sunday when suddenly the day began a bit too early and almost everything on my To Do list was actually nearing the Finish line !

Enjoyed my chotta sa afternoon siesta…..and then my hot cup of coffee…..

Uske baadh ?

Shopping  ??? Nahin….

Gappe shape ?? Naah

Well the remote as always came to my rescue and naa chahthe bhi watched one of those flicks for which I would have never ever wasted my money !!!

And suddenly my teenager beti decided to shift from her room to our bedroom with her lap top of course and then hubby too followed…so within the confines of a 15 / 12  sq ft room the family decided to do  their work on their respective lap tops with of course the Idiot box providing the commercial breaks now and then !

Within the next couple of hrs…snacks happened…some nice music which was discussed…jokes cracked amidst of course those important phone calls and not to forget the constant tapping on the lap top!!!

Dinner time someone reminded and sachets of soup and some bread n jam came to the rescue…lekin wahi 15/ 12 sq ft room mein…..

Happy to be just together in a room I thought…kyonki nahin hai aadath humein kuch naa karne ki…

But just decided that this is going to be my favourite aadath from now on……

Jab I met SRK !

It was one of those rare moments in my life where I actually wanted a photo of mine taken with this man…this friend… this phenomenon called SRK ! And once I was successful in my mission I was simply over the moon !!

At the audio release function of RaOne in Chennai , I managed to get close up to a point when he saw me and  exclaimed “Janaki” and gave me this tight warm hug which said so many things without actually saying it ! He even whispered…”I’ll call you “ much to my amazement !

All those memories of having spent a year together in a film school studying, doing projects  , attending plays at Sri Ram Centre and discussing films over pots and pots of chai , amma making him the south indian filter coffee he so liked at home ,  gifting him a tokri of vegetables on his birthday bash and then dancing to all kinds of music thru the night with all our friends ….gosh it was like a rewind trip down memory lane….21 yrs back !!!

A side of SRK that never gets spoken about is his "ready to help always " attitude. And so when I asked him several years ago, if he would spend a few minutes with a specially abled child, who was a diehard  SRK fan, he immediately agreed and spent almost an hour at a dubbing studio in Chennai in his lunch break !! Thank you Shah Rukh..we too never forget J

Why so much about a 2 mins meeting one might ask…for me it confirms a belief that old friends do not forget and the feeling of happiness that the thought and fact brings in me !

Friendship is a feeling that can start from wherever it paused…just pick up the threads and move on….It’s one of the cases where you apply the phrase “no silly feelings” and just continue !

Something I read recently feels so apt here …”you don’t have to do much to spread happiness…you just have to be happy yourself “

---