Life: In a second... in a day... in a year... a lifetime of moments!

On the plane ride from Newark to Delhi, I watched a few very very dull films: The zookeeper (oh why did i pick this one?) and Bad Teacher (They should show this movie to torture people. Honestly how immature and shallow does one get!). There were a few good movies I picked: The Help. It brought tears to my eyes. It reminded me of Gopa Didi, the lady that helped bring me up. She was with our family since I was 7 in Chennai. She took care of me (my sister and I), bathed me, washed my clothes, cooked for me and sometimes even tucked me into bed. She saw me grow up. Then she had a child and got married. She and her daughter lived with us for a while in Calcutta. I saw Gopa Didi's daughter till she was about 5. Now she is 15, and speaks English, Tamil, Hindi and Bengali! She writes lovely poetry and has memories from what her mother speaks of. She has a younger sister who is hyper and naughty, and a 2 year old brother who can't walk but is utterly cute. Her name was Trishna, but we called her Chintamani (chinta-thinking, mani - the one: the one that thinks too much). I took a video of the brother who walks with the help of a luggage dolly which my dad purchased in the 80's. It's amazing how something so mundane from over 20 years ago can create such a difference in this little boy's life. I was close to tears. I shall try to post the video sometime. In India people (such as Gopa Didi and her family) who come from a village, place more value in having a son than little girls. This is because the boy can work bring money home, and the girl needs a dowry later in life and is just another mouth to feed. This leads to female infanticide in Indian villages. So this family was humbled by being blessed by two bright lovely girls, and a son who has been slow in development. It took them heartbreak and hardship to realize the value in girls, and yes having a son is great, but now a days girls can accomplish as much as boys can. So what they thought was a curse, is now a blessing. However their families in the village do not understand and still think they are "cursed" and have cut them off. Having two girls and a slow boy is not a "blessing" to them. They don't see. I sometimes think it took my own grandparents many years, and loyalties to realize the value of Granddaughters, daughters and girls. The world is such a beautiful place thanks to girls, such as Trishna, and her sister. Their innocence, joy in simple things and enthusiasm in life, makes one see the world from such a different perspective. Children, will do that to you. Do you remember those days? I do!

This is a Picture of Chintamani (Trishna Ghosal) and I. She goes to school in Chennai, India and lives in a very humble but warm home, and could achieve awesomness if she had the opportunity. I shall try to help send some $ her and her siblings' way. If anyone wants to contribute, that would be lovely $1 can make a difference!

This is a video of the Little Boy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvemZl65I6k

Talking about joys in simple things... I watched another movie: Life in a day. It is an amalgamation of videos sent from all over the world, to youtube, and it was all shot on one day July 24th 2010 (which is also my sister's birthday!)... I don't remember exactly what I was doing that day, but it was a Saturday. I posted this on FB: The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose. --Hada Bejar
And I probably called my sister and wished her, at this time she was going through a very rough patch. Do you remember what you did that day?

I would definitely recommend watching this movie because it is beautiful... its reminds us it is the little things that count. It is eye opening, and moving in the most unsuspecting ways. I liked it so much I watched it on the flight back to USA. I bought the movie and now am watching it with everyone. Every time I watch it, it is new! I see something I had not seen before! That is life!

This movie has strong affect... because it is real, raw, surprising, and it is LIFE! It made me realize that every moment, every little thing, is new and beautiful! Celebrate and love each moment we are alive. Everything is proof we are alive: living, heart beating, lungs breathing, eyes seeing... life experiencing. It is happening! Absorb, observe, be and enjoy. Learn, Love, and Laugh to it...

There are some dark moments in the movie. Yet these moments might be subjective to the viewers perspective. This reminds us that there are many people out there, everyone is different... it is up to us if we are haters, or lovers! If we see things "this way" or "that way"!

My dark moment was life and death: slaughtering animals... I made a friend on the streets of Delhi... it was a goat... Goat meat is delicious, but this goat (see below) came up to me and nuzzled against me and reminded me of all my doggies (doggie blog soon to be posted). That's one thing about India, that no matter where I go, there are doggies, goats, cows and other animals, and I don't need language to communicate with them, and they don't see me as foreigner or Indian. I just am a human to them who shows affection and they warm up to me. So my conclusion was, how can I eat my friend. So I decided to stop eating the mammals.

My goat friend and I (Nizamuddin, Delhi)

I definitely recommend watching it, and I would love to hear what you think about it!! Here's a picture of the DVD cover. Also the music/soundtrack is lovely!

Live Life! Breathe!
My New Year's Eve Idea was this... Instead of celebrating One night, celebrate each moment... as in live in it and BE PRESENT. For EVERYDAY is a NEW day! Every Moment is New and Happening! Live it! Love it!

(shrutipb@gmail.com)


 I found out - My friend Miles Reed has some footage in this film.
Also upon googling I found this article by NYT. It is the flip side, the point of view of those who won't enjoy the film... probably people who want the standard formula, and nothing exotic and different!

http://movies.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/movies/life-in-a-day-review.html

All I can say is this guy probably enjoyed Transformers.


It's a powerful movie! Watch it!