Author: manuscrypts

  • Parenthesis

    Sometime back, I saw this relatively unknown Malayalam movie called ‘Calendar’, starring Zareena Wahab, playing mother to Navya Nair. Zareena’s character is widowed at 21 and she refuses to remarry since she wants to give all her attention to her child. The movie worked for me, despite it being built on the cliched “kid grows up, and gives more importance to her own life than her parent’s feelings”, thanks to a tight script and some neat casting.

    On the day I’m writing this, 3 works – one news item, one article, and one short story – appeared in my reading stream. The news was about a 107 year old woman left by her children, one of whom stays nearby, to fend for herself in a cowshed, the article centred around the topic of divorce and its impact on children, and the fiction work had to do more with marriage and infidelity, but with a neat twist in the end. Speaking of the end, I will link to them there, so you don’t escape this early. 😉

    I really didn’t need these prompts to write on the subject, since parenthood has been a source of constant debate recently, thanks to our parents aging and showing the first signs of serious aches and pains, even as we grow older and realise that the body also believes in keeping a low temperature of revenge for sins committed on it during the last three decades. 🙂

    Parenthood is one of those things that seriously lacks an undo feature, just like death, and is hence treated as a decision that merits serious thought. In general, the parents want the child to have a happy life and make choices on its behalf. Choices the child may not like/appreciate, but the parents believe to be the right one. They also make sacrifices for the child, in terms of time, money, and so on.

    But at least for debate’s sake, do you think these acts are always completely selfless? Isn’t brewing underneath it all a set of expectations? Sometimes parents see children as a way of fulfilling their own aspirations, sometimes they see them as support mechanisms in old age. Even if it’s none of these, or others you can think of, they at least get some pleasure out of seeing their child do well in life.

    But what blows me has always been that the parents get to make this considered choice of having a child and the child who is brought into the world and is the recipient of this and later choices, has zero say in the matter. It’s a serious product design flaw, and the only non-utopian remedy is for everyone concerned not to take each other for granted.

    As promised, the news, the article and the story.

    until next time, apparent traps

  • Yana Sizzlers

    The post title is going to get me a lot of traffic! If you’re among those who are hoping to see the “actress’” videos, really sorry. This is about a restaurant in Koramangala. Hot stuff, but of the food kind, though my tee was a hat tip to the actress. 😀 For those who are here for other drooling reasons, Yana Sizzlers is a chain based in Pune. Yana means ‘come again’ and you can stop sniggering! The Bangalore version is on 60 ft Road Koramangala, just after G K Vale – the same road as ‘Flambe‘, China Pearl, Vicky’s Tava Lounge, Oye Amritsar, The Esplanade etc. Parking for 4 wheelers may not be very easy, but there are a few side lanes around. (map)

    The restaurant has seating on two floors. The upper level seemed a little less crowded in terms of space and people, so we chose that. The seating is comfortable and they have puzzle tablemats that will help you while away time in case you are tongue tied.

    You can take a look at the menu on Zomato, though the Continental cuisine was completely missing in the menu we were given. We decided to start with the Scotch Broth. The guy who took the order seemed confused about it, and brought back another person who seemed to easily know more about the menu. We were told it would be creamy. It turned out thick but not creamy with barley, potato, pieces of mutton, and garnished with fried bread crumbs. Quite tasty if you add a dash of pepper to it.

    For the main course, I chose the Spicy Chicken Square and D opted for the Chicken Kebab Masala. You might want to try out the Barbeque sizzlers, which are a specialty of theirs. I somehow missed the ‘spicy’ in my dish and asked for the hot chilly sauce. The second guy (from earlier) then turned up to point it out and I shifted to the BBQ sauce. D chose the Garlic Pepper Sauce. The Spicy Chicken Square indeed lived up to its name, with prominent pepper flavour, and juicy boneless chicken. An excellent dish if you can be patient and wait for it to cool a bit. D’s kebabs turned out to be more like manchurian though. Not a bad dish, but just wasn’t what we expected. But it wasn’t very spicy, and D was sober, so she didn’t complain and therefore escaped unhurt. This is a good time to mention that the usual cabbage leaf base is missing. I’m not sure if that somehow contributes to the increased cooling time. However, despite that absence, there wasn’t much of burnt food thankfully.

    The service is quite prompt, though some of them do seem a little out of sorts. The meal cost was just less than Rs.900. Our favorite remains Tangerine in Indiranagar, and Kobe is around on a parallel road in Koramangala, but this is worth a visit too.

    Yana Sizzlers, #145, 60ft. Road, 5th Block, Koramangala Ph: 25505538

  • Thought Bubbles

    Compassion is a value I strive for, but that does not make it any less a strange thing. It doesn’t help that we are in an era where it has been simplified to a Like and an RT. But each time I mock that these days, I am forced to acknowledge that I have absolutely no right to get judgmental.

    In the case of personal relationships, where circumstances require me to show compassion, I have caught myself holding on to baggage, and playing judge on whether the people in question deserve to be the recipient of any compassion. I doubt whether it is supposed to work that way.

    With people I don’t know, I wonder if the miniscule I offer in terms of time, money, thought, energy will amount to any significant change in their lives. If it does not, how different is it from clicking a button and transmitting the message to an audience? Do they, after all, vary in intent?

    On both kinds of occasions, I have wondered why I am not able to go outside my bubble and do more. Perhaps I am afraid it will upset the careful balance I have created, afraid to tamper with the default detachment. One part of my mind cares, the other carefully weighs the pros and cons, shakes its head and moves on. I follow. Being unaware of the bubble is one thing, being aware of it and yet unable to do anything about it is quite another. Perhaps I have to first learn not to be judgmental about the self, but then I wonder if that’s what leads to apathy.

    until next time, kam passion 😐

  • Quarantine Papers

    Kalpish Ratna

    This book was an impulse purchase, a rare thing for me. The ‘trailer’ (not a synopsis) on the jacket hooked me, and thankfully, unlike a couple of cases earlier, this book didn’t disappoint.

    I think what takes it beyond a ‘thriller’ set in two ages is the layering and detailing, and that starts right from the author name. The book is credited to ‘Kalpish Ratna’, which is actually an “almost anagram” of the two original authors – Ishrat Syed and Kalpana Swaminathan. This layering is present across the book and so forced me to pay attention to each line because of the nuances. I wondered why they had to use different fonts but a few pages showed me how sensible they were in doing it.

    The story too is interesting in itself and has Ratan Oak as a protagonist who leads a ‘double life’. Ratan has a submerged identity, that of his great grandfather Ramratan Oak, and is able to recall his life – events and people.

    The book proceeds to juxtapose the 1992 Bombay riots following the Babri Masjid demolition with the plague that first appeared in Bombay in 1896-97. And not just juxtapose but create a plot that links the two events and show how the attitude and behaviour of society are just different manifestations of the same basic feelings.

    The narrative pace never slackens. The detailing of characters is excellent, and the different pieces of the puzzle are made to fit, with attention to details. From characters in history like the Kiplings, Bal Gangadhar Tilak etc to Urdu poetry, and the amount of research that has obviously been done, this is a very unique book and a must read. It has been mentioned that this is their first Ratan/Ramratan Oak novel, and if they’re planning more historical juxtapositions, I’ll certainly be waiting to grab a copy.

  • More on the Uncertainty Principles

    Ok, so it’s not long back that I wrote about uncertainty, but in this real time world, I can’t blame myself for thinking of it on a regular basis. I wonder if it also has to do with the macro environment I grew up in – the typical 80s kid in India, whose ‘options’ across the board – from movie heroes to restaurants to soaps and television channels usually boiled down to one. (remember?)

    From my own experiences, I know it is possible even now, but it’s a choice and a very difficult one at that, and one that might be difficult to reverse later. An extended trip to Kerala sometime back- home, made me realise that there are those who have made that choice, or rather, have for some reason remained in a lifestyle with minimum choices. Belonging to an earlier generation, but who have refused to let the ever changing world rock their boat. It isn’t that the boat isn’t rocked regularly in their ‘small’ world, but the rocking seems to happen within a framework – as though there is some tacit understanding with the cosmos, a reward for not adding to the cosmos’ complications.

    Uncertainty has a permanent live-in arrangement with most of us, and now dictates the relationship so much that we take it as a given. I am not a comfortable partner, but for various reasons, can’t do much about it. I wondered what the future would hold. As is becoming a practice with me, I found interesting perspectives in the book I was reading – ‘The Mammoth Book of Short Science Fiction Novels’.

    Asimov’s “Profession” had a world where a person’s station in life, and life itself is dictated by certain tests he undergoes at 2-3 points in life – Reading Day, Education Day and every individual is slotted basis the result of these tests. (not exams, mental examinations which figure out the natural aptitude of the individual’s brain) John Jakes’ “The Sellers of the Dream” has a world where companies sell a ‘fashion’ for a season, which includes physical and mental changes done to an individual and changes his/her personality. But in Larry Niven’s “Flash Crowd”, one of my favourites, I sensed the best summation of our current status “For each human being, there is an optimum ratio between change and stasis. Too little change, he grows bored. Too little stability, he panics and loses his ability to adapt.”

    I wonder if this is timeless, and am not too certain that the last sentence on losing the ability to adapt is very encouraging.

    until next time, certain tees I can’t live without