English Vinglish - Movie Review

This one is a must watch. 'English Vinglish' marks a solid and promising debut by Gauri Shinde who is a wonderful story teller who takes her story telling very seriously. She does not lose her focus on her story nor her characters, displays full faith in both (and does not seek to provide any unnecessary thrills by the side), she really cares for her characters and all this shows in the fine details that go into the film. If there were two things to pick - 'English Vinglish' stands out for that loving care that Gauri has taken in crafting this film and the superb performance by Sridevi who shows the stuff she is capable of and grows on you moment by moment as Shashi Godbole, the middle class Maharashtrian housewife who suffers from a lack of self-respect because her knowledge of English is 'weak'. Ah, how many of us would identify with her straightaway.

From the first shot of a middle class Maharahstrian household in Pune waking up to morning coffee, Gauri has you hooked. The  main cast of characters include Satish Godbole (Adil Hussain) as the flamboyant corporate executive married to Shashi (Sridevi), a conservative Maharashtrian girl who does not know much English and is constantly poked fun of by her teenaged daughter Sapna and her husband who share their private jokes about her English, and their cute little son (great find). Shashi is a good cook who prides her culinary talents and keeps herself busy with making and selling laddoos on order for her clients. Her cooking and her laddoos become her identity - though of course, she is much more than that and no one seems to recognise that. A grandmother at home completes the Pune cast. The story gets going when Shashi is invited to the USA by her sister who has settled down there for her elder niece's wedding and she is asked to go three weeks ahead. With her faltering English Shashi manages somehow and decides to do something about it by joining a 'Learn English in 4 weeks' course secretly. She meets a great cast of characters at the English class including her gay English teacher, a Pakistani, a Tamilian, a Mexican, an African and a Chinese. But sadly her final test coincides with the wedding and she has to make a few difficult choices  which it turns out are not so difficult after all.

Watching the movie and the attitudes of an India we grew up in towards English speaking and non-English speaking people, I'd say that this movie has far more searching questions to ask of us and our identities. It is not merely a funny social drama of a middle aged woman struggling to find acceptance and respect due to her not knowing English but a layered question. It is a subtle commentary on how knowledge of English is certainly not our identity nor a giver of wisdom or even of intellectual superiority (that is assumed by a rude 'whatever' these days), how communication can transcend mere mechanics of language and how we Indians (and many others who live in other countries perhaps) need to shed many more masks that we have acquired to cover our feelings of 'not feeling good about ourselves' as Shashi Godbole says. And this difference between the rooted ones and the ones who are not is never as clear as the time when Sridevi romps home shining like a star, confident in her roots, her values and her own space in the world as she decides that laddoo making is more important than her final test and that a Hindi newspaper to which she is used to is more comfortable than reading the NYT because everyone else is. Gauri Shinde's biggest achievement in this film is the way she tears up our hypocricy about English speaking (and with that little pin she opens up a can of worms on our double standards on things like our attitude to sexuality, to money, to our so-called middle class values, to religion and so much more). She does this so subtly and yet tells a fine story in such a smooth manner that it hardly jerks,  that there is hardly a ripple as she cuts and weaves through some delicate relationships, some deep wounds, some harsh decisions. Fantastic stuff.

Sridevi is unbelievably good. I have never been a fan of hers really in her earlier avatar considering the kind of movies that were made then but then you see her enter the role of Shashi Godbole and lead us all into her own world so beautifully, you cannot but agree that she fully deserved the 10 minute standing ovation she (and Gauri) got at the Toronto Film Festival and her comparisons to Meryl Streep and Audrey Hepburn, and more. The support cast is brilliant too with everyone fitting the part perfectly and doing a great job at it too. All in all it leaves you with a fine taste in your mouth and you are like on of those people who cannot but rave after eating one of Shashi Godbole's laddoos and reach out for more. Wah bhai wah.

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Thought for the Day - Who Says You Have No Talent? You Have the Capacity to Love Don't You?

Who says you have no talent?

You have the capacity to love which is all the talent in the world you need.

Pic courtesy. Satish N

We have all been blessed with that magic potion called love that can change all things, our very lives, and transform them into pure gold. Open it up and pour it into whatever you are doing and it becomes an alchemical process. It changes the entire reaction and lifts it to a higher state.

And the more you pour of your love, the more you get of it. If you are stingy with it and do not use it, your quota of the magic potion remains small. And you are forever left wondering why everyone else is  happy, is more talented, is more lucky.

Get that magic potion out and use it. You don't need any other talent. Just add a bit of love to whatever you are doing.

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The Paradoxes of Our Lives - To Express Yourself Fully, Seek Not to Impress

It is our s desire to express ourselves to the fullest. Our constant cravings for 'being free', 'for being ourselves' etc indicate our desire to express ourselves more. But what is stopping us from expressing ourselves fully?

Pic courtesy Satish Nargundkar

Others obviously. We'd say that people 'do not understand us' etc. Hence we cannot express (look at what happened to the cartoonist, the painter, the writer, the dancer, the actor...)

What we want really is to impress people first and get their buy-in. After they assure us that whatever we say or do will be fine with them (however mediocre) - we will 'express'. But why will they do that if we do not have the conviction to express ourselves first? All experience shows that we cannot first 'impress' them without 'expressing' ourselves fully.

To express ourselves - to be 'free' - we need to first take that leap of faith (as little birds do when they first learn to fly) and discover for ourselves what we are capable of. We need to first impress ourselves with our ideas, acts, convictions and continue to express ourselves in the manner we know best. Write, create, paint, speak, make money, stitch, make shoes, make food.  Spread love. Smile.

There is much we can do if we wish to 'express' ourselves to 'impress' ourselves. There is little we actually will do if we seek to impress others.

The day you find you are honest enough, 'free' enough, 'yourself' enough, the day when people's opinions cease to matter to you - you will find that people are 'impressed' with your 'expression'.

To 'express' fully, give up the need to 'impress' others.

In fact to express fully, you need only to impress yourself. When you impress yourself, you lose sight of others, of society. And by losing yourself in the act, you free yourself.

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10 Brands From My Childhood That Faded Away

10 brands I grew up with that faded away (10 that come to mind now - sure there are more!)

1) Thril: Cannot forget this Thums Up equivalent, a cola drink manufactured by God knows which company. It had a nice logo and maybe a nice ad too then in the early eighties. But I remember drinking it at the Bhagyalaxmi store near ESI hospital many times - in its rather short life.

2) Apsa: This was a mango soft drink that the AP Beverages Corporation manufactured and marketed. i remember how they used the double decker buses that the APSRTC used to ply those days to advertise this drink. It was a slightly sweeter and perhaps a tad less tastier than Maaza but it was an option.

3) Dyanora: The television boom was begun with the reliable and solid EC television perhaps but Dyanora was soon to take over a large part of the market share. At least as a brand it was more noisier with ads etc and some new features.

4) Cavenders: Loved seeing the ads in the movie theatres of a green mountainside and a model shooting clay pigeons. The ad had a fine sense of adventure and something nice and relaxing about it. Perhaps one of the better cigarette ads I saw. As a brand I remember it well, though I never saw anyone smoke it.

5) Binaca: I'll never forget Binaca because there was a sales campaign that they did which had a small plastic animal toy in each Binaca toothpaste box. I bought so many Binaca toothpastes even after they discontinued the campaign. I loved the few animals I got and will forever be grateful to Binaca for that little magic they added in my life. As for the toothpaste, I don't remember much except people saying 'Binaca smile' and later 'Binaca Geetmala'.

6) Forhans: Another toothpaste brand. I don't know if it is still around but it had a slightly clinical and formidable air about it. Anyway my parents seemed to be convinced about it so Forhans it was for us.

7) Signal: Another toothpaste brand and one I won't forget because the Signal chaps did a quiz and free dental check up campaign at our All Saints School. I was surprised I did not win the quiz because I was sure I did well. But I remember that they gave us all one small toothpaste box. Signal was unique with its red stripes on white - I never figured out how the stripes cam on the toothpaste.

8) Luna: I don't know if it's still around but I remember that it seemed like a Bullet to my twelve year old mind. It was the first motorised two wheeler I ever rode too and one that I almost crashed.

9) Cheetah Fight: This was an interesting brand of matches that had a picture of a man fighting with a cheetah if I remember right. Another match brand was Three mangoes which was simple enough - three mangoes. Life was rather boring until Ship came along in this market. But I remember people would collect match box covers.

10) Allwyn Pushpak: One of the many brands that Allwyn launched - this was a scooter. It looked similar to the Vijay Super or a slimmer Lambretta and was manufactured and marketed by the AP Government's AP Scooters Ltd. I cannot forget it as my eldest brother-in-law owned one and this was the one where I learned to ride a geared two wheeler. It was stable as a house, but the gears were tough and sometimes needed two hands to operate it.

And some more that are on the fringe of the mind somewhere.

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Anjali - On Making Friends

I found it interesting when Anjali told me that - 'Everything is my friend.' I asked her if she meant that everyone is her friend. 'No,' she said emphatically. 'Everything is my friend. The car, the cat, the dog, the cow, the school bag...they all love me.'
I nodded.

Smile, ask name, class and say 'dost'

 

- Pic by Anjali

How does she know they love her, I asked?
'Because they all help me.'
Fair enough. How come I never thought of that.

I asked her how one gets to be friends with everything.
'Simple. You go near them, smile, ask their name and then ask which class they are in. And then we say 'dost'.
That was really simple. I should try that sometime. I could get some friends for myself.

What if someone does not tell their name and which class they are in, I asked.
'Oh, then its ok. It is their choice who they want to be friends with na. I cannot force them to be friends with me. It's ok.'

It is after all a matter of personal choice. It is a matter of respecting that boundary. How do we lose this perspective when we grow older? Thanks Anjali.

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Ian Chappell on Captaincy

Here are some excerpts from a fine article by Ian Chappell on captaincy that I found on the web. (http://www.wandererscricket.com/captaincy.html.). Chappell's article is exactly the way he speaks - blunt and to the point. Overall he feels that the good captain is one who gets the best out of his players, who earns his players respect, who knows and invests in his players individually and addresses their anxieties, who has a good knowledge of the game, good observation and memory, who thinks ahead, who acts first and aggressively, who hates losing and who is not afraid to make things happen, who always appears calm and who is open to ideas.

Earning respect   

Chappell stresses on this issue and rightly so. The captain needs to earn the respect of his team. No statement is truer than this."Respect is not something you ask for. It must be earned."

I agree that a captain needs to invest time in knowing his players. “Captaincy is not an 11 to six job. A skipper must be prepared to plant some seeds by spending time with his players after hours if he wants to reap rewards on the field and become a respected leader”.

I found this thought very interesting - that the captain must earn respect as a human being. It puts all the right values of integrity, fairness, clear headedness into place. - "Respect is vital to a captain. He must earn it in three categories: as a player, as a human being and finally as a leader."

In far too many places I have heard that a captain must be first prepared to do anything that he asks his team members to do for him - and it is right - else you'll never earn your team's respect."...weren't asking their team-mates to do anything they weren't prepared to tackle themselves and quickly earned respect as leaders." 

Knowledge of the game, common sense and daring 
Good captaincy is all about taking responsibility (even for delegating responsibility), being fully aware and not being scared - and it needs preparation in more ways than one.

"A good knowledge of the game which he applies with common sense and a dash of daring…on the way to a rating of excellent."

Be responsible for your decisions, lead the way you think is best
Chappell is pretty clear that since the captain is the one who is in charge, he is better off taking responsibility for his decisions himself. He cannot blame someone else for the result.
"The captain gets the pat on the back when it goes well and the kick in the backside when it unravels. Therefore, he should be responsible for his decisions, rather than captain by committee."

Any captain must remember this. Your team will always be referred to as "Your Team" so be careful with how you want people to remember your team.

"Ray Steele’s advice (the manager of the 1972 side in England) - 'Remember this team will be known as Ian Chappell's 1972 Australian team. Your name will always be attached.' Hence..captain the side the way you think best."

Get the best out of the team 
This is really interesting - on how to get the best out of your team.

"A good captain is someone who gets the best out of his team. There is one sure way for a skipper to get the best out of a team: make the cricket interesting."

On the importance of going all out for a win (as the one means of making the game interesting).
"A captain shouldn't fear losing, but he should hate losing. There's a big difference. The former will be a defensive captain, the latter aggressive. Why? Because in the first case the captain will do everything in his power to avoid defeat, including manoeuvring into a position from which he can't lose before he goes for the win. The second type will go flat out for victory from ball one and only opt for the draw when all hope of winning is lost. It's a captain's duty to make the game interesting for his players."

On two methods of going for a win and making the game interesting!

"Attacking captains Richie Benaud and South Australian skipper Les Favell had different ways of achieving the same result. Richie expected his team to bowl as many overs in a day as possible, working on the theory that the more balls delivered, the more opportunities to take wickets. Les, demanded that SA make 300 in a day's play. He reasoned that scoring quickly allowed the bowlers more time to take wickets and hence gave the team a better chance of winning. If we batted first and were 320 for 7 at stumps, 'Favelli' was as happy as a new parent, but if we were 280 for 2 then look out, he was like an Indian on the warpath."

Communicate roles and targets

To communicate roles clearly to players (and not assume that they will know what to do) is a big part of the captain's job. Tell them what is expected of them. 
"In addition to making the cricket interesting, a skipper would be well advised to inform his teammates exactly what part they are expected to play in the overall plan. This is best done by talking to the players individually."

Be ahead, plan ahead 
This is the hallmark of a thinking captain and is most important. Again it comes from endless thought, discussion, introspection and observation.

"On the field, a captain must be proactive rather than react to situations. Like a good snooker player, who is always a couple of shots ahead in his planning, a captain should be at least two overs in front of the game."

Get the initial advantage 
A bit of courage, a dash of aggression is most important to a winning record.

"Wherever possible a captain should make things happen, rather than sit back and wait for the opposition to make mistakes, particularly when the match is in its formative stage. Treat it like a boxing contest: you can shadow-box for the first few rounds, sizing up your opponent, or you can walk forward, land a big punch and see what effect it has on the opposition. I prefer the cricketing equivalent of the latter method."

Observe and file away
This will happen automatically when the captain is proactive and wants to win badly. He will observe and file away because he knows every little helps.

"A good captain must be observant and have a good memory. Listen, watch and file things away. You never know when they might bring about the downfall of an opponent."

Remain calm 
A calm demeanour gives a lot of strength to the team as everyone looks to the captain when the team is in distress. If the captain appears ruffled the team loses faith and gives up.

"A skipper can also help himself if he remains outwardly calm on the field at all times. There may well be moments when your guts are churning as the tension bites, but by maintaining composure, a captain helps keep his team focused on their task rather than worrying about the consequences if it all unravels. To help bring about a calmness on the field I preferred to create an atmosphere where the players feel comfortable coming to me with suggestions, rather than me seeking their advice."

Be Open to Ideas 
Being open to ideas gives space to everyone to express. Of course the captain must know which advise to take and to what extent and which advise not to.

"Remember, 11 heads are better than one  you never know where the next good idea will come from. Fast bowler Jeff 'Bomber' Hammond came to me in his debut Test and said, 'I think I can bounce Kalli ( Alvin Kallicharran) out.' I replied, 'Jeez, Bomber, Kalli's a good hooker and the Sabina Park pitch is pretty flat.' After a short discussion, I told Jeff he had two bouncers and if they didn't work we'd go back to the original plan. Hammond's first Test wicket reads: Kallicharran caught Marsh bowled Hammond 50. Bomber's first bouncer was well directed and Kalli gloved it."

Treat each player differently 
Wonderful stuff this and one which Mike Brearley also puts so well. Something I always found difficult to understand and practice because I'd wonder how to know each one ticks. The only way to find out how each one responds is only by investing time with each individual to know his personality.

"A captain must get to know his players; find out which ones react well to a pat on the back and which ones respond to a kick up the backside. Hence the need to spend time with the players after hours."

Invest time with players and address their anxieties
More on the above, but going a step further. If you can get here as a captain, you'll have your team dying for you.

"A captain demands 100 per cent from his players when they're out on the field, therefore he should return the compliment when it comes to the players' off-field needs. This can result in discussions on cricket technique, personal problems or even financial hassles."

Overall a wealth of information and some fine practical pointers to leaders and captains that could come in good use if practiced. And get great results for the team. Thanks Ian Chappell, for sharing your wisdom.

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Thought for the Day - How Not to Get Offended

I remember a wonderful quote that I read many years ago - 'Why do we get offended when someone does not offer us a cigarette we do not really want?'
It's the ego silly.

The Hills of Kothrud, Pic courtesy Satish N

Why do we get offended? Because we do not accept certain points of view. Because we think we are right. How can she think, talk or behave like that? That's untrue, unfair, downright unjust, a lie. And so many more reasons to get offended. 

How not to get offended? One way not to get offended by anything is to accept whatever comes your way. You are a fool - Yessir, thank you. You look awful - hey thanks. You're a prize ass - Wow, huge compliment. You're a liar - I agree, thanks for reminding me. You're terrible, who gave you this job - I know, I cannot believe it, thanks for telling me. And so on. Accept. Accept. There is certainly another point of view.

By accepting, life gets easier. You don't lose an enormous amount of time and energy justifying and defending needlessly. You are only accepting that there is another viewpoint. You are not accepting that the offensive viewpoint is right. You are still free to do what you do - now with greater freedom!

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