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asafreen · 9 years

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From DDLJ to Dilwale - A fan’s tribute

I’m not sure if it was watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai’s climax for the fifth time (with the shooting star in the background) or DDLJ’s Palat scene for the umpteenth time when I first decided that Shah Rukh Khan was my favourite actor and pledged to defend him in good times and bad. And get bad they did. Remember Ra.One?

When it came to his bad movies, my father had a very good theory. He was confident that SRK did movies like Chennai Express and Happy New Year as a private joke, to show people that he can star in dreadful movies with B-rated humour, promote them to the ends of the earth, make a truckload of money and still walk away unscathed — just because he can. You need only to look at the box-office records of the two films to start believing in the theory.

But even poorly-scripted commercial cinema cannot take away from the Badshah of Bollywood, his endless charm. If, at the age of 50, his magic still has young girls swooning, it’s because his larger-than-life persona lives on in our minds long after we’ve left the theatre. If Kal Ho Naa Ho’s Aman could break every romantic’s heart after he had to lie to Naina (Preity Zinta), then Kuch Kuch Hota Hai had many youngsters convinced that “pyaar dosti hai” . An Amitabh Bachchan cult like Don was turned around to carve out a character for him, and he rose to the occasion with style. Chaand Taare, an ambitious song from Yes Boss, about wishing for all the fame, wealth and glory in the world while casually stating that his wishes were rather minuscule, might just about be a microcosm of his life. His’ is a popularity like no other.

Shah Rukh and Kajol, the best on-screen couple of our generation, have movie buffs excited even with their limited films. Theirs is the kind of chemistry that you look for in daily life, in reality. Kajol, one of our finest actresses, is the quintessential Indian girl — bold, beautiful and blunt. There is no airs about two of them. One can enjoy a DDLJ or a KKHH even today, for it’s protagonists come across as earnest. There is a comfort and familiarity between the two brilliant actors that creates timeless art.

Although, when you really think about it, it’s not just his acting or his boyish face, that makes Shah Rukh Khan what he is today; it’s the infectious energy that eludes him. It’s the charisma, the tongue-in-cheek humour and sharp wit, evident in all of his public appearances. His rapid fire round answers on Koffee With Karan had everyone in splits by the time he was done.

There’s a common thread running through them all — his films, his TV appearances, his speeches; whether he’s parading through the streets of Kolkata to celebrate the victory of his IPL team, Kolkata Knight Riders or being awarded a doctorate at the University of Edinburgh, he brings to the table the essence of being a Delhi boy who came to Bombay to become an actor. He will unapologetically announce that he has three Play Stations — one for his home, one for his office and one just because he can have one more, to a gathering at Yale University, in the same breath as describing the balancing act that is required in life as a creative person.

Perhaps that is why we like Shah Rukh Khan — because everything about him is real.

So, on his 50th birthday, as I look forward to Dilwale with Kajol, I also look forward to him doing lungi dances at intellectual conferences, having profound conversations about the loneliness of being an artist, give gyaan at universities and even romance actresses half his age.

Speaking of whom, there’s a terrace scene in Break ke Baad where an inebriant Deepika Padukone emphatically states,

“Mein Shah Rukh Khan hoon. Mein apni life ke har scene mein star hoon.”

And in my opinion, in one line, that is everything that anyone can say about him.

Happy birthday Shah Rukh!

#shahrukh khan #happybirthday #50th birthday #bollywood #hindi cinema #srkfan #srk and kajol #20 years of ddlj #ddlj #kkhh #khnh #kuch kuch hota hai #koffee with karan

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asafreen · 9 years

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A tale of two negatives

(This post was written in the March of 2014)

PC: Getty Images

A couple of days ago, I was randomly chatting with our help. We were discussing her daughter’s tenth boards. She had been doing great. Except in Maths. I told her I’d be happy to help if she needed any. I wasn’t just being nice here. When it comes to board exams (esp. the torture that is the Tamil Nadu State board), I had become something of an expert, having gone through it twice with my brother and cousin. Of course, I forgot all about it later.

Mom woke me up early this morning saying our maid was bringing her daughter to get some help in maths as she has the board exam the next day. My half-asleep brain was telling me something about it being in Tamil-medium. But then I was having a light week and tutoring a little girl in maths felt like a good reason as any to take the day off.

For the record, despite having grown up in Tamil Nadu, I can read only basic Tamil (not something I’m proud of). When the little girl stumbled into my room with a scared smile, I didn’t expect the surprises that were in store. We started with problems in Standard Deviation. She was a bright child, she understood things fast. I made her read the problem questions, and then explained the solutions to her. It was a numerical subject, thankfully. I cannot start to imagine the catastrophe that would’ve been, had it been History. Things were going well. I picked up loads of Tamil words along the way. Standard Deviation was திட்ட விலக்கம். நுண் இயற்கணிதம was Algebra. An hour in, I started to wonder why she needed help at all, this was a top rate student.

Only when we started calculating, did I know.

She couldn’t do basic multiplication and division. She couldn’t understand why the minus sign disappears when you square a number. She knew the tables all right, even times 12. She’d recite it (in Tamil) at full speed. It took me a while to decipher what she was telling. But ask her to actually divide two numbers and it’s a mess. Quotients and reminders, all over the place. I was astounded. I taught her long division, alongside solving polynomial equations to the degree 5. Through a lot of confused looks, guessed answers and overwritten numbers, she understood how it’s divided. It was unbelievable. This was a smart kid with 12 years of formal schooling, 7 in an English-medium who’s never understood the fundamentals. In two hours, we had covered Algebra and SD all the while learning the basics. I was astonished that nobody made her understand it all these years. But the surprises weren’t over.

I glanced over and saw that a 5 multiplied into minus 2 was a 10 on her notebook, I casually put a negative sign before the product. She gave me a confused look. *deep breath* “You have got to be kidding me.”, I thought. I delved into explaining how two negatives, when multiplied is a positive but when added is still negative. It was a really long afternoon.

By the end of it, we had made good progress, which was surprising. Had it been me, I’d have given up halfway. But this was a helluva student. She sincerely wanted to learn.

I mean seriously, learn multiplication, division and wade through most of her fat maths book on the day preceding her board exam was no joke. It unnerved me. Here was someone who understood complex concepts perfectly but had scored badly all this long because she just couldn’t simplify. The irony is pitiful.

To me, she represented one of the biggest flaws in our education system.

Education can be the foundation of life when done right. Well-rounded education, for that matter. Comprising of maths, science, art, music, drama, critical thinking, healthy sportsmanship and teaching students to think. Instilling a curiosity to know and to grow.

Today was an eye opener. I knew our school system was bad but having seen it for real shook me. I think it’s partly because she was smart. Had it been a girl who genuinely had difficulty understanding, I’d have pitied her and tried to teach her ways to score maximum marks without getting into the details. Not a very ideal solution but considering the fact that the exam was less than 24 hours away, making her understand fundamentals would be low priority. The fact that this girl understood everything so brilliantly drove me nuts. She is capable of great things and yet her teachers didn’t teach her well. Not one in 12 years.

I don’t know about you but this scares me. To know that there are kids, like her, in every nook and corner of every small town, city and village who want to learn but have no means to. Who have no-one to teach them. Or worse still, have teachers who make them memorise mathematical problems. It scares me that a child who has the potential in him/her to become a good scientist doesn’t know what a computer is or does. It scares me that a young mind who doesn’t know how to channel his abundant creative energy might turn to things that might ruin his life.

I don’t know about you but it scares the hell out of me.

PS. She scored 57% in her Maths paper and was overjoyed that she passed. She took up the Pure Science stream in Std. XI so that she never had to deal with Maths again. I gave her a weak smile and wished her luck.

#school #education

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asafreen · 9 years

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Finally learning to read the mother tongue - Urdu. The word in bold is Unt (camel) and this chapter is possibly the most boring chapter yet on all the animals that are useful for transport. But that’s the beauty of Urdu, even the most mundane words look pretty. Two more books to go for yours truly to become fluent in reading. And then we shall tackle the uphill task that is learning to write.

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asafreen · 9 years

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Travel. See the places you’ve seen, take in the sights you haven’t, on foot, walk along nameless streets, across rivers and under the silhouette of leaves so that you can come home and see the corners you’ve seen a hundred times, in whole new light.

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asafreen · 9 years

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When crisis hits

I have come to the conclusion that the best way to handle a crisis is to tune out the emotions. I know this might sound really cold, but hear me out. In times of crisis, panic and anxiety are the last things we need. What we really need is a clear mind, to weigh the options and decide on a course of action. And to have faith. To have an abundance of faith, in things beyond our control.

Somehow, these days, faith gets equated to delusional optimism. And for such people, I can’t help but feel sorry. Because faith is a beautiful thing. If history is any proof, things have always worked for people who did their best and let the universe do the rest.

No two battles are the same, and there are never any easy answers. It isn’t easy to get beyond the crisis, beyond the grey clouds, it never was.

But when your ship survives the storm and you see the shore glistening in the morning light, you’ll realize that it was never about the storm outside, it was about testing what you were made of, inside. And you’ll know, without an iota of doubt, that you are better than who you were. And no matter how big the storm is, you have it in you to face it head on.

#midnightposts #motivation

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asafreen · 9 years

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'We accept the love we think we deserve.' When the fact is we deserve so much more than we lead ourselves to believe. If only we did, we'd find a way to bring so much love into our homes and hearts. Reposting because the world needs to know the brilliance that is Yasmin Mogahed.

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asafreen · 9 years

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Honey, in its purest form, in a honeycomb. Somebody I know took down the honeycomb near their house abd extracted nearly 25 litres of honey. It was not as sweet as the ones that are sold in the markets but still delicious. Makes you wonder how much processing happens and the amount of preservatives/sweetening agents added to the stuff we buy.

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asafreen · 9 years

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‘Sunday lunches are always with family. I’m glad my siblings forgot to show up.’ #WarnersRoadDiaries #catsofinstagram

#catsofinstagram #warnersroaddiaries #pets #cats #lunchtime

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asafreen · 9 years

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Fusion guilt-free pancakes for breakfast. With dosa batter, wheat flour and jaggery water. Because maida and eggs are too mainstream (and have to be compensated with workout). The household is finally making healthier food choices. Also, baked fish > fried fish. This one was yum! If you're someone who loves pancakes (🙋🏼) you should definitely give this a try. #HealthyEating #WarnersRoadDiaries #breakfast

#breakfast #healthyeating #warnersroaddiaries

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asafreen · 9 years

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#currentwallpaper

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asafreen · 9 years

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We're done, little pixie

Living inside your head has its consequences. Your thoughts are muddled. Every thought starts getting linked to every other thought, till it all becomes a huge ball of yarn. And in the end, you’re not even sure which one is which. Take it from a Capricorn, it’s not a good thing. Life is meant to be lived in the real world, among friends and strawberry milkshakes. Not among the crazy little pixies in your head which scatter your thoughts.

It took me a dozen light years and a lot of green tea to come to this. And oh, also three hours of laughing over Tamil-dubbed saas-bahu drama and general quarter-life madness with two amazing girls.

I’m now convinced that the problem lies in all the extensive planning. And the extensive thinking. About what we *think* we should be doing. About what we should’ve already done. And shouldn’t have. In looking at only what we want, instead of the whole picture. Instead of what is actually present. The problem lies with the template. With the cutout. The cutout of who you define yourself to be. The mental image. The cutout you’re handed down, the minute you enter the world. And the silly attempt to fit into it, despite the constant change.

That was phenomenally stupid.

Life is too short to stick to cutouts, what was I thinking?

#unedited #midnightposts #20 something

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asafreen · 9 years

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Sometimes, people say the most profound things.

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asafreen · 9 years

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The best part about any hill station - the drive. The wind in your face and lush green all around. My favourites are Munnar and Thekkadi. This is my fifth trip to Thekkadi and one of the places I always recommend. There aren't many touristy things to do in the little hill town, if you like quiet, beautiful places, you'll like this one. #thekkadidiaries (at Thekkady, Kerala)

#thekkadidiaries

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asafreen · 9 years

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