Maleficent- The Villainous Heroine

Disney Movies have been and continue to be my favourite. I enjoy Disney movies, I have grown up watching them. Fairy tales were the first kind of books that I read. Cinderella was my favourite; the glass shoes, the ball, the fairy Godmother,the Prince.
Growing up, the misty, dreamy cloud of the fairy tales disappeared and the reality began to seep in. From dreaming about a Prince Charming for myself, I have come a long way to realise that a prince charming or a not so charming average boy is not as important as I am. I do not have anything against fairy tales, they are beautiful and larger than life. They make you believe in dreams and in the impossibles. I just want a closer to life fairy tale. Disney made it in 2014. Maleficent is the perfect blend of reality and fantasy.

The first time I got introduced to Disney's Maleficent was in an animated conversation with a friend. She had strongly advised me to watch it. I did watch it, the first chance I got and I was bowled over. Maleficent(adj): harmful, malicious is a re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of Maleficent, the antagonist. The movie has so much to offer,explores so many aspects about human relationships and life in general. 

True love doesn't exist.

Maleficent herself and King Stefan have echoed this thought throughout the movie; King Stefan because he deceived the woman he claimed to love and Maleficent because she was deceived by her true love. The movie ends on a note where it is proved that True love does exist and we can not be happier. The true love that triumphed in the end wasn't the one that the prince had for Aurora, it was the love that Maleficent had for her. Maleficent is the evil fairy who cursed Aurora to prick her finger on a spindle of a sewing machine and fall into a sleep like death. Maleficent revokes the curse by offering a antidote that the curse will be broken by a kiss from a true lover. Maleficent looks out for Aurora when she was an infant and continued to do so as she grew up. It was only a matter of time that Maleficent grew fond of the girl and became her God Mother. The fondness for Aurora turns so strong that Maleficent wants to revoke the entire curse but cannot. It is the kiss on her forehead by Maleficent that brings Aurora back to life. The love and bond that the two share is that of a mother and daughter. No truer love has ever existed. We always look for love in our significant other while completely forgetting the love our parents, our siblings, our friends shower on us. Always and always appreciate and acknowledge the little things people do for you. Going an extra mile for somebody truly reflects the love.

Hero vs Villain

Why have we always loved our heroes and heroines and always hated the villains? The concept of good and bad never made sense to me.The villains have a dominant evil side that rose to dominance circumstantially. The heroes have a dominant good side. Maleficent is not all evil and she does prove it. She is the hero and the villain who seized the day. She is the one who cursed Aurora and the one who broke the curse. Maleficent is the round character that draws inspiration from reality. The movie glorifies the greys. It is important the we acknowledge the fact that there is a grey matter that overlaps both the black and white. Nobody is essentially good or bad. 

Maleficent wants to make sure that Aurora turns sixteen and falls into a sleep like death, that is what will bring peace to her broken heart. She was wronged by King Stefan and she wants to take the revenge by cursing his daughter. With time, Maleficent grows fond of the girl and ends up loving her dearly and truly. The power of love is so strong that the evil villain becomes the hero. Maleficent is a character that can see beyond her hatred, she has the ability to love and love again. Maleficent is the villainous hero that I love. 

Metro Diaries I

The best kind of stories and the best kind of lessons that I have learnt have been on/in a public transport. The Delhi Metro is an amazing platform to just observe people and learn from them. I am a silent observer. I am jealous of people who can make small talk with anybody and everybody. I just can not. I may even come across as a creepy starer who just stares at people, but I am not. I am just observing, making mental notes or sometimes, extremely bored!

Like everybody else in the metro, I am usually on a hunt for a seat but I don't ask others to adjust in the smallest of spaces. I am guilty of sitting on the metro floor as well and to my defense, I get up the second the coach starts to get crowded. I don't eat in the metro because usually I am on a metro because I am out on a food outing :D. 


picture credits-google

So, this fine afternoon, I am in a crowded metro, I have forgotten my ear phones and am extremely bored and there is a sudden hustle bustle around. I have missed the first thirty seconds of this hustle bustle but I can make out what has happened. Lady 1 has snatched packets of chips from two kids and tells them that she will return the packets back when she will get down. Lady 2 is the mother of these two kids and she is highly offended and angered. Lady 2 argues and makes perfect sense when she says, "You could have told the kids not to eat the chips or even reprimanded them. Why did you just snatched them away?" Lady 1 is least bothered but she does say that I had warned them the moment I saw them. Lady 1 is a regular at snatching stuff from the people in the metro. She is right, you are not allowed to eat anything in the metro. It is almost like people close their ears when this gets announced inside the metro. There is a heated exchange between the two and both are convinced that they are absolutely right. I am convinced that both of them are absolutely half-right. You should not encourage your kids do do what is prohibited. But you can't even snatch packets of chips or any other food item from small kids.I was the third party, an observer. That is why I could see the two sides of the coin. I was not going to keep mum here, I went to Lady 1 and got engaged in a conversation with her. I asked her what does she say or do to the people who sit on the floor. Deep down, I was thanking my stars for never being on the same coach as her before. (I am extremely guilty). She said she usually asks the driver to kick these people out. I am just divided. If Lady 1 would have purely relied on the fact that Lady 2 and her kids will stop eating the chips once reprimanded, it wasn't going to help. I am sure no body would have listened to her and asked her to mind her business. I am sure I would'nt have listened. But snatching seems completely out of line. Also, Lady 1 has been doing this for a while now, meaning she must have started from telling people, requesting them to not eat or drink inside the metro. To not litter around.

What cheap thrill do we get out of breaking these small rules, I would like to call them rules. The mere eating in the metro or sitting on the metro floor to the driving under age or driving under influence, we have accustomed ourselves to not obeying any kind of rules and taking things casually. I know living by the rules sucks. I know it is just a metro ride and everybody is tired and if they want to sit on the floor, it is no big deal. But it is still a deal. It is prohibited and hence you ought not do it. I have learnt a lesson and I hope Lady 2 and her kids have learnt it too, the hard way sure. I also hope Lady 1 is softer in her approach. But honestly, we need to look within. The traffic rules, the rules in a school, the rules in a public transport or the unsaid rules of watching a movie in a movie theatre are there for a reason and should be followed.
So, stay happy and don't do anything that it is prohibited :)

Stereotyping.

I have no idea how many people have written about it, talked about it; but I am going to join them nevertheless. Everywhere in the world, you are stereotyped right after you come out of your mother's womb or when your sex is determined. It has become second nature for us to bring pink goodies for a baby girl and blue for a baby boy. Even I will look for barbie dolls and pink stuff toys if I have to gift something to a toddler, girl. Every time I see people trying to shape a kind of life, girls and boys should live, I cringe. I want to see a boy/man walking on the street in a frilly skirt and not have a single eye batted. It is just not possible, because, men/boys don't wear skirts, girls/women do. Why? I constantly ask myself.

 Miles to go before that happens. Let’s talk about certain stereotypes that we can get rid of today. India is synonymous with unity in diversity. Why are the north-eastern Indians considered to be the outsiders? Why do you immediately assume that a north-eastern boy would be a momos seller or a north eastern girl would wait at a restaurant? Why is a girl in a kurta and salwar considered to be a bhenji and the one in skirt, a girl with a lose character? Whatever the hell that is. In India, people aren’t known for what they are but for what they wear, what job they do, what state they come from. A Punjabi is not always a brash, yo yo honey singh lover and not every south Indian is a Tamilian.

We should just really get to know a person before forming a definite opinion about them. If we don’t want to know them, why should we label them? I am a hypocrite because I do just the same. I form opinions about people even before I get to know them and sometimes, I do conform to the pre conceived stereotypes. But I am trying to stay away from stereotypes as much as I can and so should everybody else. 

Stop Stereotyping !!

Hit the Damn Refresh button!!

The phone hanged again, switch it off switch it on. There. The laptop, desktop bugs are usually fixed by a refresh click or a restart.  TV Remote not working? Remove the batteries and put them again..you got it,smooth channel surfing. An engineer in making? Probably not, but yeah petty issues like these are easy to solve.Today's tech savvy generation has it easy or not, still remains a debatable topic but they are definitely excelling with their 'refresh' buttons.

Why is that we fail to see the possibility of a refresh button in our lives. Hello!! Its right there. All you need to do is press it. It is not easy to just refresh and leave things mid way but sometimes, it is the best thing to do. Struck at one thing, static and no movement however is not the solution. It will take you nowhere. We cannot forget things, but we sure can step ahead and restart to create a new memory. Do not like how you were in a particular month, forget it leave it there and start re living in the next.

Nothing in this world will wait for you. Still moments, dull moments are futile. You know, when you drop your wallet on the floor, you pick it up and get going. you don't just stand there staring at it, crying or regretting over your clumsiness. It may not be that simple but it is not very difficult.

So, yeah. Use the refresh buttons of your lives.

Late

"Aur sun, tere kissi friend ki shaadi ka card aya hai." Mrs Sharma said.
"Maa, shaadi mere kissi friend ki hoti hai aur excited ap ho jati ho." Sameer irked.

Sameer was in his late twenties and just like any other Indian mother, his mother too was hell bent on convincing him to get married.

"Achah, tu soja kal jaldi uthna hai. I am waiting for you. " Mrs Sharma said.
He disconnected the call and started working on the project he had to complete before going on the small vacation. Sameer lived away from his house, worked in a nine to five job. He smiled at his mother's naive advice. He just wished he could leave all the work and sleep but he was pretty determined to get a promotion and this project was the way to get it.

"Haan maa, finally train me beth gaya hu. Nahi late nahi hua." Sameer disconnected the call. Mothers!! he smiled. He loved travelling by trains. He sat comfortably and just relaxed. He observed the commotion that every train witnesses and smiled amusingly. Little kids running here and there. He compared the kids' restlessness to his mother's.

 As a kid, he was so quite and docile. Running in the train appeared bizzare to him then. He would read his comic books or just gaze out of the window. Now he reminisces about the time gone by and wished he had done something notorious or nondisciplinary. He wished he had been more like Tanvi. Tanvi was his college friend who liked and loved him dearly. Sameer was always pretending to not know what she felt for him. He dodged any such conversations. The last time he met her she was single,like she had been all her life. She still laughed goofily and was at her at her jovial best. Sameer had a girl friend in college but things didn't work out once they were out in the real world. Tanvi had stayed in touch with every friend in their circle. In the last reunion, Sameer had planned on telling her his feelings but she maintained a distance. This time he was determined to go meet her and tell him that he had been crazy avoiding his true feelings and was a fool to not acknowledge hers.He was sure his parents would be too happy with the news. He smiled and with the optimism, he didn't realize when he was home.

"Accha, ma ab me rest karne jaa raha hu." he was tired of eating the various delicacies his mother had prepared. He slept for three hours straight and it was good to be home.He woke up and arranged his cupboard again. He settled all his documents and files on the table and that is when he gazed at the various wedding cards his mother talked about. He looked at the names and dates and venues of each card carefully and the next second, he was packing his bags.

He had anyhow convinced his mother and promised to return back within two days. He knew it was a lie. His mother entered his room and smiled a sad smile.Work seems to be too much for him, she wondered. She tried to settle away the creases on his bed spread when she saw the wedding card. "Tanvi weds Ishaan ". She subtly kept the card on his table and switched the lights off.


Three Weeks later, Sameer was neck deep busy in his new job designation. He was travelling abroad for the next venture. He had achieved all that he had planned for. But before the trip, he had to attend a wedding .

He stepped on the stage with a wierd sadness. Tanvi looked amazing. She was perky as usual. She smiled when she spotted him. She seemed so contented to be sitting next to Ishaan.He silently blessed them. "Sorry, Tanvi. Late ho gaya. " he smiled and shaked hands with both Tanvi and Ishaan. He reflected on his words, he was actually late. Wish he had been on time.

Forgive and Forget.

Forgive and forget. Whoever said or wrote it first or whatever was totally nuts. I mean come on,you got to be kidding me. How can you just forgive and forget and move on. After a loss, the only thing one wants to do is keep on clinging to the memories. We want to replay the entire happy life again and again. If somebody offends us,hurts us, the least we can do is acknowledge the hurt inside. We don't feel good about something, we owe it to ourselves to recognize the source and eradicate it. Why should we forget the hurt,the source.

Forgiving they say is never for the other person,it is for ourselves. We forgive somebody and free ourselves from the anger,the grief, the negativity. Time is the greatest healer and paradoxically i do believe in it. Time heals everything, time lets you move on but there is a but.Solitude is your greatest companion. Solitude lets you be. Solitude is what takes you backwards and relish the moments already gone by. In solitude,you always and always remember what and who you may have forgiven but not forgotten. With time the scars may fade,the broken heart may mend but we always remember exactly where that scar was and how did our precious heart broke. It is good to keep those sorrows,those griefs. They keep you sane in your happiest moments. They are your constant teachers..

And this was my rant for today.

Airport Diaries I

I have a thing for Airports like mcdreamy [grey's anatomy] has a thing for ferry boats. I love airports even though I have never been on an airplane. I have been there to receive and see off people and that's that. Airport Diaries is a fictional one shot I will be writing. Hope my very first attempt at fiction doesn't disappoint (:

Airport Diaries I

Natasha was at the airport waiting for her fiance. His flight was some two hours late and she decided to catch up on the latest book she had been reading. She was dressed in a casual kurta and jeans with some kohl in her eyes.She always preferred comfort over style. With her nerd glasses on, she was totally engrossed in the book. And she sensed somebody sitting right next to her. She looked at the gentleman and smiled politely. This gentleman was dressed in his black suit and pants, he had this clean shaven face and dimples. He met all the criteria of  a  mills and boon hero ; tall , dark and handsome. Natasha unlike herself constantly gazed at him.The uncomfortable air around her suddenly came to a rest when he gently introduced himself. "Ayush" he said."Natasha" she smiled again. "That is an amazing book. You should read others by the same author." he further said. "Uhmm, yeah I like it so far. " she said . With that ,the two started conversing. "I am here to receive my fiance, we got engaged last month" he said with a happy smile. "Mee too." Natasha jumped and wondered at the co incidence. Her train of thoughts shifted to how his fiance would be. She imagined a tall and slim figure with the most amazing clothes and an electrifying smile. She smiled at the thought. Natasha wasn't ever conscious of how she looked. She knew she had her imperfections but she loved her self like she was. Sameer was an amazing boy friend, now fiance. She was sure of the happy life she had ahead of her. "Those are beautiful." she pointed towards the bouquet of flowers Ayush had by his seat. "My fiance loves them." he said. "Great." she said. "Mind me asking? But aren't you a little overdressed for someone who has come to receive somebody at the airport" she casuallyy asked. "Yeah, totally. But I had this urgent meeting at the office and then I had to rush here directly only to wait for two hours" he chuckled and Natasha joined. "She is very lucky. I can't imagine Sameer ever leaving an urgent meeting just to pick me up from the airport." Natasha said . It was true Sameer loved her but he wasn't the kind to miss meetings and important office work to hang around with his girlfriend and Natasha never expected him to do so. She saw Ayush fiddling with some words and then finally saying "Yeah, very. I like to give these small surprises even if it means half of the airport making fun of my clothes." he said. "Oh!! They are not making fun of you. Trust me, the girls are ogling at how good looking you are and the guys are just jealous." She pointed out. "I will take that as a compliment. " he smiled. "That was supposed to be a compliment." she said. They continued talking about their fiances and how their life has been. Natasha was glad she had company for two hours, the book totally forgotten.She liked Ayush instantly. He was chivalrous when he asked her for a coffee before getting himself one. He was sensitive and very polite.Then he was all boyish with his enthusiasm towards cricket.

 Soon there was an announcement of the flight arriving and the two dispatched to look for their respective fiances.Natasha spotted Sameer immediately. They gave each other a hug and Natasha quickly grabbed the chocolates he had brought for her. They were near the parking lot when Natasha saw Ayush again. She approached him and introduced Sameer to him. "So where is she?" she asked. Soon she saw a man nearing them. He was dressed cassually in jeans t shirt. He was equally good looking with his manly structure as Ayush if not better. "Natasha, meet my fiance Gaurav." he said. Ayush smiled a knowing smile and hugged her good bye. Natasha was flabbergasted. She wished the two a happy married life and said her goodbyes. Natasha had smiled at this memory months later as well. She was glad to have known a couple like Ayush and Gaurav's.