Little Women

The book review has to wait for until I read the book. Which I am going to, now that I have seen the movie and have loved it soooo much. Little Women... the story of the four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy - each one with a different set of talents, dreams and flaws. And each of their lives build so well on their charachteristics, leaving you wondering if their lives shaped that way because of what they were or if they were meant to be what they were to be able to take all that life had to offer.
Everything was so apt. Meg's beauty, vanity and then her married life; Beth's generosity and her illness; Amy's art, sophistication and her Europe trip; And of course Jo, the one I relate to the most, her books, her writing and her independent life. I loved Jo's ideas, dreams and conviction. I was so sure in the last scene that Jo would not be able to ask Prof. Bhaer to stay. I was engrossed enough in the movie to have been pessimistic. But am glad she did. She had to.. Alcott had written the story long ago :)
The movie left a pleasant beautiful feeling. And with diwali lights all around and the festive mood having set in, the feeling persists.

Marasim

"haath chooTen bhi tho rishthe nahin choDa karthe
waqt ki shaak se lamhein nahin toDa karthe
jiski aawaaz meiN silwat ho nigahoN meiN shikan
aisi tasvir ke tukDe nahiN joda karthe"

"do do shakleN dikthi haiN is behke se aayine meiN
mere saath chala aaya hai aapka ik saudayee bhi"

"aankhoN se aansoon ke marasim purane haiN
mehmaan ye ghar meiN aayen tho chubtha nahin dhuaaN"

"aayina dekhkar tasalli huyi
humko is ghar main jaantha hai koi"

- Lines from Marasim.. finally listening to Jagjit Singh singing Gulzar's poetry.

I look at the human mind and then at its creator. And I love His art. I love the complexities. As if they define life, as if life cannot exist without them. At least the beauty of life cannot.

And I wonder how things would shape in the next few years, I wonder what would change and what would remain the same. We are the least informed beings about our own lives. And things more than often seem out of our control. But the fact that there is no control is a relief. A relief that there is someone..

Time sometimes makes certain things seem so far away - as if they never existed or even if they did the familiarity doesn't exist.

Art is also a science. Only, the scientific details of art are hidden.

Gatsby Revisited!!

In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.
'Whenever you feel like criticising anyone', he told me, 'just remember that all the people in the world haven't had the advantages that you've had.'

These are the opening lines of The Great Gatsby. I happened to like the narrator Nick more than Gatsby. Probably because I am fond of people who can understand what's happening around them and express it too.
Anyway back to the lines in the book... if you stop, think and apply this, you realize the advice is quiet true. And I'd use the word experiences rather than advantages. Experiences are what shape us and our ideologies, and differentiate us from others. I could have learnt something which you might not be aware of because you haven't gone through a life similar to mine.
Hmmm... now this is what makes me a li'l less cynical.

Was home for a week. It was after a gap of five months this time.. that's a long time according to my standards. And for some reason I noticed a lot of changes this time.. changes that have been there for a while but I never really looked at them. Sometimes we don't look at changes, sometimes we see them and ignore them because they make us uneasy. We are often too drunk 'on the wine of youth' to delve into realities.. realities that remind us of our responsibilities. The fact that it's time to take up reponsibilities had upset me till now. But during this trip I realized that things will be the way they have to be, my direction will remain the way I want it to, but making the journey pleasant requires only a bit of understanding. Everything's just a play of different perspectives. My life will probably be very different from what it was a few years ago, but I can't lose the touch of that which I belong to.
The whole journey is fascinating. If you look at your parents closely.. their lives, their changes, their efforts.. you get a glimpse of it. And at times like this you want to stop and stay where you are forever, but you know that doesn't happen. You see your path and you know you have to move, learn, progress, evolve. You cannot always have every person you care for with you. But the least you can do for them is give your best to life, in every way. Let them be your strength and not your weakness. And be there for them whenever they need you.