July 2017 – Ramana's Musings

Possibility Of Being A Saint In Suit.

I bet that Pravin who has suggested this topic has never heard of Leslie Charteris

If he had, he would not have suggested this topic.

Luckily for me, these three were a very important part of my growing up process and part of the reason why I became such an avid reader.

So, Pravin, yes, there is every possibility. All that you need is a bit of imagination.

Pravin has suggested this week’s LBC topic. You can see what the other writers of the LBC have to say in their respective blogs. Maria, Pravin, Ashok and Shackman.

Dunkirk.

I had read about the gallant evacuation of around 330,000 British and French troops from Dunkirk during WWII and was quite keen to see it. When my retired soldier friend also expressed a desire, off we went earlier this afternoon to watch this great production.

Frankly, this film disappointed me as I expected more human drama. The story line and the direction would appear to skip that and concentrate on the drama of the event. I am not technically savvy about the filming involve, but I doubt very much that this film could have been made around the time when other great movies like D Day, The Great Escape and The Bridge On The River Kwai. We simply did not have the technology I think. Perhaps remakes will come not before too long.

It was nostalgia all the way for both of us, me for being a WWII history buff and my friend for his own war experiences.

The greatest plus point in the film is that it is just of an hour and forty minutes running time!

If you are interested in a bit of WWII history and modern grand scale movie making technology, this is a picture worth spending some time on.

Lipstick Under My Burkha.

Another woman centric film, Lipstick Under My Burkha is worth every minute of watching time.

I personally could not find anything that needed such drastic action by our censors where thankfully common sense seems to have eventually prevailed and the film certified for release. And I love the advertising poster giving the finger to the censor as it were!

It is a story about four women under stifling conditions living as neighbours in Bhopal. There is no fairy tale or tragic ending to it and that is part of the beauty of the film. It is rare to see such an ending.

That the story revolves around four disparate and desperate women two of whom are Hindus and the other two Muslims, has nothing to do with the reality of the situations so vividly shown.

Bhopal where the action takes place has always held a special place in my heart for its cuisine, and quaint language. The last I visited it was in 1986 and I was stunned at the difference that time has brought about to that sleepy town of my memories!

Superb acting and great direction makes for a very interesting viewing experience. The absence of too many song and dance routines so common with Indian films, made it all the more a worthwhile experience.

All in all, a wonderful film worth a five star rating and one that I recommend to all my readers.

Real Age.

I received a suggestion from a friend that I take this quiz.

I took it and found it amusing as it gave my age as 30.

I passed it on to some friends and one particular exchange between me and a much younger friend is reproduced below.

MG: How could one know how to act their age, if they have never been that age before?

Me: You are a rare specimen. I always get age much lower than my current one in such quizzes.

Saved.

Yesterday was the birthday of a dear friend and ex colleague.

I mixed up the dates and did not wish him a happy birthday.

I realised the mistake this morning and sent him a note of apology via WhatsApp blaming age as the culprit for the oversight.

He responded with a message that saved the day for me.

“Never Mind. It is my birthday today. I am in the USA.”

Thank you Time Difference.

Learning Never Stops.

As my readers know, I spend a lot of time solving crossword puzzles. In the process, I learn a number of new words and phrases.

This one however is such a simple one but something that I had to wait for the next day to learn about that I wish to share with you.

The clue was “Intense exploitation of court shoes.”

I worked around the word to try and find but failed to complete it. I stopped at TENNI-S and gave up till the next day.

The word turned out to be TENNIES. I had never heard of or this word before and to verify went to the dictionary online to find this! Slang for tennis shoes.

Had you heard of this word in this context before?