Am Back

 It has been years since I visited this site. Life just happened. But decided to write something as often as possible. 

Village Life - My Neighbor Totoro

Watched "My Neighbor Totoro" the other day. 

The story starts with a Father & his 2 daughters who move to a Japanese country side and set up home there. The mother is hospitalized and the family moved to countryside so the environment will help her recovery. Their home is situated at the verge of the forest on one side & huge farms belonging to their neighbors on the other end. The whole movie spans the life of the two children for the span of 2 weeks when their mother is at home and ends with a positive note that their mother is expected back the following weekend. 

The elder daughter - Saskui, seems to be about 9 or 10 years old. She takes care of the house with her father's help. She cooks food, packs lunch & runs to school. She is also a responsible girl who takes care of her little sister but in reality she herself is a child with all the fears and insecurities of a child. A child who has to grow up quickly & be brave for her family. This is beautifully displayed in a section where there is a call from the hospital about her mother not being well & Saskui is expected to inform her father. Saskui seems tough and brave at that time. But later, she tells the grandmother (she over-sees these kids in the father's absence) that they keep saying the same thing every week and then she is dull & low in spirit for the entire day. Saskui also gets frustrated that her kid sister - Mei is not being reasonable and actually yells at her to grow up fast. 

The younger child - Mei is about 3 or 4 years old, who is happy go lucky & does not seem to go to school yet. She keeps running garden & encounters magical creatures who her father says are forest spirits. Their father teaches the children to respect the forest & its spirits and in turn they will take care of them in need. The children believe their father & thus happen to encounter Totoro, the forest spirit one day. Totoro is a large bear like creature who seems to watch over the kids & help them in need. 

The father is depicted as someone who faces lots of challenges in life but keeps a happy face & brave spirit. He is shown as a good man with very healthy approach to life & surroundings. He holds the fort in his wife's absence, guides his children towards the life path in life. But in reality he has a tough life where he travels long distance to teach at the university,  has to balance a home as a single parent due to a sick wife & seen to be someone with lot of work. 

What greatly touched me is the simple and healthy life style of the country side. It is devoid of things that we take for granted like a phone, running water. I felt that it would have been great if the farms were provided with these facilities. Only one home has an old rotary phone. people mostly travel by foot and few of them travel by carts or wagons. Farms are beautiful, food is very healthy & farm grown. There are huge trees surrounding this area with fresh streams & a river with lots of fish. Good simple minded village folks. I loved the entire atmosphere & wanted to stay in such an environment at least for sometime. 

This movie is produced by Japan's famous animation studio names Studio Ghibli. Great work by Director Hayao Miyazaki. There are other works by Miyazaki which I will be reviewing here. Totoro is simple movie but has managed to capture my heart through the story board & great art work by the animators. 

I am back to jot down few notes again. One, I am saving my sketches into my scribble pad site.  

I also need to continue to write. 

Central Library - Swindon

It took me almost close to a month to realize that this town has a library. But it took me slightly a bit more time to actually locate it and visit it. Mostly due to initial settling worries and jitters. But the moment I stepped onto the building, I fell for it. I did not last a single aisle before I actually made a bee-line to the counter to become a member. And I have not regretted a single day. Of course the library can do better in terms of non-fiction collection, especially management.

I also realized that people here must really enjoy reading. I can see people on the buses, in office during lunchtime, out in public places like tea-shops, common sitting areas in market places, immersed in a book or an e-reader device. It should say something when we get to see 3 very good book shops within 8 to 10 minutes walk away from each other.

I was also stunned to see a post office seated deep in the belly of a multi-purpose, all serving bookshop. I made a conscious decision not to venture too often into these areas as caution as it threatened to pose grave challenge to my financial stability. This, in itself, should say a lot about these shops. What was so long a habit in me, quickly degenerated into a hard-hitting vice and then just as quickly and exponentially transformed into a demoniacal addiction.

And so this library feeds and quenches my addiction. What a blessing!!! As they say, a town should never be without a good bookstore or a decent library. Otherwise it's not worth it to stay there.

A street cat named bob by James Bowen

I am in Swindon now. I was in Town Center to complete some official work like  drop in at the bank, post office etc. I actually loved the post office here. You will get everything here. I accidentally saw this book. It arrested me because it had the photo of a ginger cat on its cover. Now my kunju (pet cat) is a ginger cat. He is feral so no way this beautiful, yet he has an attitude of his own.  That's why i was attracted to this book at first.

Then as I read it I got introduce to couple of amazing beings. A relationship between man and cat that was a saving grace for both. A book worth reading about sheer will to survive. Not all of us are doled out the best opportunities in life. Some of us lose what little life offers due to arrogance, selfishness, negligence or even sheer stupidity. It can happen to the best of us. I read some where that a measure of a human is not at falling, but how he gets up, dusts himself and perseveres again.

I learnt that second chances come to humans and animals alike. This book is about one such second chance for a human and a cat, who grow on to inspire people and change their thought process. Enjoyed it thoroughly. It's worth reading.
B

Meenakshi Srinivasan - Bharatanatyam - A Breath-Taking Performance.

My mother always complains that when I start the television, I have the attention space of a gnat. Your program must have content to hold me. And then one day it happened to me. I accidently caught a bit dance recital by this marvellous artist. I caught the end of one of her 'Varnams'. I am not a 'Bharatnatyam' dancer but she arrested my remote.

 

Her 'Adavus,' 'Jatis' were a treat to watch. What held me to her performance was her 'Abhinaya'. Her ability to emote, communicate the story to her audience - amazing. Her 'Thillana' was graceful yet breath-taking. 'Mudras' - neat, complete, traditional & lovely to watch and experience. Her 'Nritya' was a magnificent confluence of body, mind, heart, soul without compromising the tradition.

 

A graceful performer, a brilliant artist and a joy to watch. Thank you Meenakshi.

The Day I stopped drinking Milk - Sudha Murthy

I love this lady. I don't remember saying that about any author in my life. I will grade this book as a compulsory on every book lover's shelf. Simple language.  Just like the simple life of the people she has tried to characterise. I feel so worthless when I read the tale of such simple souls. Great actions by unsung heroes.  Her Pond series was the best that I loved. Almost all pages in her book deeply touched me. She has ended her book with few lessons that she learnt. Nice read ma'am. Going back to the stores for more of your work. I will need to complete my collection with your full works. Thanks for all that you do & share.