A life full of surprises and disasters

Life is incomplete without surprises and a few disasters along the way. A surprise came my way a few days ago, when I decided to step into the kitchen and cook something. Being a huge fan of Masterchef Australia, I had all the inspiration I needed to march into the kitchen with a hope of making something tasty.

Day one, I made mushroom tortellini. For those who aren't aware of what I'm talking about, tortellini is a kind of pasta. It has two circular disks between which a filling is added and sealed, later to be cooked in water. Luckily it came out perfectly. Day two, it was fettuccine in a pesto sauce, again, a pasta (I love Italian food, evidently) and it was probably the best pasta dish I had ever made. Day three is where disaster strikes. I decided to get ambitious and wanted to try and make a lemon meringue pie. So many steps, so many ingredients and one less than amateur cook, that doesn't add up to a good dish. After hours of working, the filling didn't set as well as it was supposed to and my pie collapsed. Naturally, I was shattered. Deserts being my favourite meal to cook, I felt I had let myself down. Oh well, c'est la vie. And that's the most important lesson one can ever learn.

Life goes on. Now matter how much of trouble you get into, no matter how big or small a task you fail, life does have an uncanny, and almost irritating way to move on! You don't do well in an exam, life goes on. You burn your cake, life goes on. Your favourite team loses a match, life goes on. You get eliminated from a competition, life goes on. How does it just seem to "go on"? Can't it stop for a while, look at our miserable state and feel sorry for us?

But as I see it, the reason why life moves on is maybe because it feels, tomorrow may be better. There may be a tomorrow, not necessarily the next day, when you can redeem yourself and get better opportunities. That is why life moves on, to give you another chance, to let you taste failure before cherishing victory. It may seem unfair, but what's life without a little drama?

I may be getting too philosophical nowadays, no idea why. 

Additions to the Dictionary- Out with the old and in with the new

The year 2014 saw a plethora of words and phrases being officially added to the dictionary. Here's a small recap looking back at some of those whacky, out-of-the box words.

FEBRUARY 2014

Death stare- (informal noun) A hostile or contemptuous look directed towards a particular person.
Cyberespionage- (formal noun) The use of computer networks to gain illicit access to confidential information usually held by a government or another organisation.

MAY 2014

Perf- (informal noun) A performance.
Ship- (informal noun) Romantic pairing between two fictional characters usually portrayed by fans rather than being depicted in the series itself.

AUGUST 2014

WDTY- (informal abbreviation) What do you think.
YOLO- (informal abbreviation) You only live once, emphasising on the importance of living the moment.

DECEMBER 2014

Five-second-rule - (informal humorous) A notional rule stating that food which has been dropped on the ground is safe to eat if retrieved within five seconds.
Duck-face - (informal noun) An exaggerated pouting expression in which the lips are thrust outwards, usually seen as a pose in photographs.

FEBRUARY 2015

McTwist- (noun) Seen in skateboarding and snowboarding, it's an aerial manoeuvre in which the broader does one and a half spins while holding the edge of the board with one hand.
Unboxing- (noun) An act of opening a newly purchased product and examining its features which is usually recorded and shared in social media.

MAY 2015

Bae- (informal noun) A person's boyfriend or girlfriend.
Cyber warrior- (noun) A computer expert engaged in infiltration or sabotage of information systems, or defence of information systems from outside attacks, typically for strategic or military purposes.

A few of these words may sound completely insane, a few maybe frivolous and a few may just make you inquisitive about them, but there's no denying that the English language is one that continues to grow and adapt itself to modern times.

Maleficent- Villain or hero?

Once upon a time, in a far away land called the Moors, lived faeries and other creatures of magic. On the borders of a kingdom, they lived in happiness. But it was foretold that a dark power shall rule over this place and only a just hero or a powerful villain would be able to save them from death. In the Moors a young faery, Maleficent, grew up. One day, a farm boy, Stephan, came to her woods and soon the two became good friends. As time moved on, the two fell in love. But it was not to last. Stephan became ambitious day after day and soon fell apart from Maleficent. But she waited for him.

Years later, the kingdom near the Moors wanted to end all magic in the woods and went to war against Maleficent and her army. The king was brutally defeated and his dying wish was to see her dead. The person who would do that would be crowned his successor. Out of greed, Stephan, who was now a part of the king's army went one night to warn Maleficent that they would come to kill her. But Stephan knocked her out and used an iron chain to cut off her wings. Next morning Maleficent woke up in pain and anger swearing revenge on the greed of man.

The King was so pleased with Stephan that soon he was coronated and became king. Maleficent, in her realm, found herself a spy, Diaval, who changed into a crow to get her news from the castle. One day, he got back to her with the most shocking news. A baby was born to the new king and queen and a christening was to take place. Everyone was invited except Maleficent. Raged, she went there uninvited and cast a curse on the Princess, Aurora saying that on her sixteenth birthday, she would prick her finger on the needle of a spinning wheel and fall into a deep sleep like death. The only thing that can save her was true love's kiss. Saying that she disappeared and barricaded her lands with her magic.

The king ordered all spinning wheels to be burnt and asked three faeries to look after Aurora till her sixteenth birthday. More to Maleficent's dismay, she began to be more and more interested in the child. But will she ever get close to Aurora without wanting to kill her, will she reveal her true colours and will Aurora ever know the truth?

Coming back to reality, this is one movie that goes on a different perspective. The story of an iconic Disney villain, Maleficent. Answering questions as to why she's evil, or whether it was her fault for being evil, it talks about the flip side of the story. After watching this film, I am absolutely sure you will debate as to whether she was a villain or a hero.

Chronicle of a Death Foretold- Thetrical adaptation of a novella by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

While on a holiday in Bangalore, I decided to go for my first play, 'Chronicle of a death Foretold' and it was inspiring. Rangashankara, one of Bangalore's leading theatres hosted this play. The play was performed by an artist, Ms. Manjari Kaul who played the role of all the characters using voice modulation techniques and different accents. This gave a more realistic feel to each character.

The story is about a murder that is known before it is even committed. A girl is returned to her parents by her husband on the night of her marriage because she was involved in a per-marital affair. Her brothers decide to  commit a murder and the entire village knows of it, yet does nothing. The story centres around community's collective guilt. They said, "The girl's honour was at stake. And honour is love".

A moving and motivating play which was brought to justice by the uncanny acting skills presented by our artist. With things as simple as a frame, a bulb and a white cloth, she told the protagonist's entire tale just like how the author of the novella would have. Theatre, in the twenty first century has never been as popular as our movies. These plays and skits performed by various artists bring out something deeper and more meaningful that watching a series of images moved at a great speed. When you actually see someone performing, going deeper into the character, you connect with the artist. You can see the pain or happiness on their face, you can feel the deep gashes of their wounds pricking your skin, you can feel the tingle of a soft kiss on their face. Theatre brings cinema to a more identifiable level where we can see ourselves in the shoes of the artist. So, if you ever stumble across a play, do go for it.

Rock-paper-scissors- The one game that saved our childhood

A person's childhood is incomplete without playing rock-paper-scissors. The moment boredom struck, this game saved us.We've had numerous fights on the timing, the procedure and points. We've won and lost many games. But, rock-paper-scissors is not just restricted to children. Everyone, of all age groups still play this short, fun game. What's interesting is that this game originated in Asia, China to be precise. It was first noticed in the book 'Wuzazu' written by Ming-Dynasty writer Xie Zhaozhi. Also, the game has references in Japanese history with 'Sansukumi-ken' meaning game in three ways. Originated in China, this game reached Japan and then got popularized in the West in the early 20th Century.

Way ahead in the 21st Century, we are using rock-paper-scissors in auction houses and video games as well. Even tournaments of rock-paper-scissors take place all across the globe. World Rock Paper Scissors Society sanctioned tournaments, UK Rock Paper Scissor Championships and World Series of Rock Paper Scissors are just a few to name. The classic rock-paper-scissors has also been reinvented in many ways. The Star Trek inspired one, Rock-paper-scissors-Spock-lizard, invented by Sam Kass and Karen Bryla goes this way. Spock smashes scissors and vaporizes rock. He is poisoned by lizard and disproved by paper. Lizard poisons Spock and eats paper. It is crushed by rock and decapitated by scissors. And as always rock smashes scissors, scissors cut paper and paper covers rock. Another reinvention was seen in Malaysia with bird-water-stone. Bird beats water (by drinking it), stone beats bird (by hitting it) and stone loses to water (because it sinks in it).

This classic, age old game is still being reinvented and brought back to the world. New characters and rules added to this can only make this game better and more interesting, but classic rock-paper-scissors has its own charm and ingenuity.

 

The Big Wedding- Romedy at its best

"Once upon a time there was a family of five. There was a mommy and a daddy, a baby girl, a baby boy and an adopted baby boy. They loved each other very much and lived happily ever after." I don't think so. Reasons being, the father and mother were Donald Griffin (who now had a girlfriend Bebe) and Ellie Griffin who have been divorced for twenty years. Their daughter Lyla was coping up after her big breakup. Jared, their son, was a doctor who was always teased for being the only virgin doctor in the hospital. Alejandro, the adoptive son was getting married to Missy. That was what started everything. The wedding.

The wedding was a day away. Everyone was busy with its preparations. Alejandro then dropped a huge bomb on his parents that his biological mother and sister were coming for the wedding. His mother being catholic would not approve of his adoptive parents' divorce. So, for the next two days Don and Ellie were to be impersonating as husband and wife. This upsets the girlfriend Bebe and she leaves. Alejandro's mother arrived and suspects nothing. That evening, everyone was invited for a dinner with Missy's parents, Barry and Muffin. Unexpectedly, Bebe arrives as the waitress. Meanwhile, Nuria, Alejandro's biological sister starts flirting away with Jared. Later that night a lot of unsaid, secretive things take place in the Griffin residence.

The next morning was perfect for a perfect wedding! But, this one was far from perfect. Minutes before the bride has to walk down the aisle, everyone spills the beans, secrets splutter out and hearts are broken. Everyone is so busy cleaning up their emotional mess that no one notices Missy and Alejandro almost get away with a quiet ceremony by the lake and almost successfully elope. Things do not go all that out of hand and everything comes to a happy ending with a pleasant reception.

This movie has not received much appreciation, but I personally felt it was a cute, fast-paced, well-written story. With a cast of amazing actors, this movie really brings out the best of them on screen. The climax for me was the icing on the (wedding) cake. It really talks about family and how we change for them and try to shield them from any harm. All in all, its one of those movies that gives you a tear in your eye and leaves you with goosebumps at the very end.