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Friday, February 25, 2022

Self Care




Self care. She is our caretaker’s wife. I loved her veni of flowers and requested for a picture. She happily obliged and said. Not just now, I have been wearing a Veni everyday since before marriage. That itself makes it clear women did all of this for themselves.

I have seen women especially older women take such good care of themselves. In the villages they tend to their hair twice a day. Weekly oiling and head bath are a leisurely affair. Sitting in the sun after head bath to dry the tresses is such an act of rejuvenation. Especially after periods. No one objects to the women relaxing at the time. In our modern lives we don’t care for our hair nor general health. We made such an issue about sitting separately during periods and lost the best part of it, the rejuvenation. 

I know my mother’s generation took such pride in turning out well every single morning. Hair combed, saree perfectly draped. Kajal in the eyes, bindi on the forehead and gajara in the hair. They would go about their work with tinkling bangles that was reassuring to us kids that Mum is around. The younger ones ran across the house with paijan at their ankles. There wasn’t that much traffic even in the cities that would drown the music. 

I personally being conditioned in a convent school dropped all of this. Now it seems so pleasing…

Thursday, February 24, 2022

PRANAYAM (2011) Uncommon and Complex




TV dinner last night. Watched Pranayam (2011). Mohanlal, Jayaprada and Anupam Kher.  Expected a treat. 

Chutney pulav in the bowl.

Review: 

An adult love story that straddles the relationships between current love and life and past. It isn’t easy to forget once loved ones and cannot stop caring about the person. Mohanlal is undoubtedly the magician of his craft. He doesn’t act. He slips into the role and lives it. Loved the bearing in ‘I am your man’ song where he sings like a paralysis patient, very believable. The moment when Jayaprada hugs him in bed and tears flow silently from his eyes. Mohanlal is larger than life in this role of a handicapped husband with his unique brand of philosophy. I wish there were subs so I could understand the dialogues. Yet I did not need them. Anupam Kher’s role was light. Jayaprada mesmerises by how she emotes with Mohanlal and with Anupam Kher, her switches are flawless. A must watch movie to open the mind to mature love stories rather complex relationships. Children and others are not going to be accepting as there is conflict of interests. It is upto the people involved who are in it to not make it a tamasha yet live the life they want. The film is more beautiful because it shows the friendship develops between the past and current husbands. The scene where Mohanlal moves his hand over Anupam Kher’s head when he breaks the news of Jayaprada’s passing away gives goosebumps. It is about tenderness and not lust with the past. Loved it!