We Bought A Zoo : 2 hours of sheer positivity

There are movies that tell you about the shithole that is the world. There are movies about self absorbed nitpickers whose biggest worry in life is finding 'the one'. But every once in a while there comes a movie that is about the indomitable spirit of chasing an adventure, that teaches you no matter how hard it gets , as the most evolved race on the earth its your duty to keep on going no matter what, and to see where it takes you.

"We Bought A Zoo" is the story of an adventure junkie who gets dealt a bad hand in life - his wife dies, his son is a teenager who is drifting away from him, and a ton of other problems. To start anew and to escape his wife's memory, he buys a zoo that is about to be shut down for lack of funds. It becomes his home , its where his son finds love , and where he is finally at peace with his wife's memory.

The biggest lesson this movie teaches you is that letting go can be both a blessing and a curse. Do not declare any decision in life a bad one just too soon, and don't hold on to a memory which is ripping your heart into shreds just because you don't know how to live without it. This movie is about the balance of choice, and letting go of the right thing at the right time, finding purpose and happiness on the way.

Matt Damon is breathtaking as Benjamin - the clueless father who doesn't know how to connect with his son , as the clueless zoo-owner who wouldn't let the help put down the lion who doesn't keep well just because it's too expensive, and as the husband who breaks down looking at his wife's pictures sitting alone on the kitchen floor. Memories are both elixir and poison.

And once again, music is the king. Just the right tunes for when the peacocks are hatching, and for when the sarcastic brother turns up in time to help Benjamin with opening the zoo in time. Every frame in the movie is crafted to brilliance, dialogue, background , acting , the works.

If its not already, add this movie to your bucket list. For me , its the best feel good movie ever made. The perfect Sunday night to prepare you for Monday blues.

Cheers !

Bearings of a recent IMNU passout

Change is the only constant of nature. Hence the word 'recent'. IMNU is known for its infrastructure and pedagogy among outsiders, but to us insiders there are a few other things as well that are the hallmark of our alma mater as much as the fame of IMNU in business education and will always be a part of the memories we have of the place.

1. You have started talking MBA
Although we have all pretended to be the 'devil-may-care' bad boys and girls of IMNU who would not study until there are exams approaching , we have all noticed that whatever we are taught seeps through even while we snore on the back benches. Be it noticing the marketing mechanism at Qwiches, or beginning to understand the discussions on CNBC, we can't deny MBA is making a difference. And half your sentences definitely start with "It depends". And you can discuss a topic to the death.


2. Veg Makhanwala brings tears to your eyes
You'll just have to take the word of the mess staff to believe its Veg Makhanwala, because you can't make out any sort of vegetable in the orange colored blob you put in your plate. And don't get me wrong, the IMNU mess is known for being hygienic and some items on the menu are to die for, chilly idli is the reason most people are able to attend the first class of the day. But Veg Makhanwala is the innermost circle of Dante's hell, no kidding.

3. You have had atleast one bad fight with an autowaala
Because IMNU is in like Srilanka, you have had to endure a war of words with autowaalas about whether or not they deserve 'dedha bhaada' to drop you there from the city. With time, somewhere along the second half of your first year, you mastered the tactics of negotiation and were proud of it , before it all went to hell and you made a fourth friend, which gave rise to a different issue, "4 log ka kitta logey?"

4. Gattu and RD are your Maseehas
Now I am a girl who had no access to two wheelers for about half my time at IMNU, but for whatever time I did, I made a guaranteed trip a day there. If your friend is missing, go to Gattu ki tapri before you go to the police station, you won't have to go anywhere else. You would not have had as much  Bournvita in your entire childhood as you had there  !! And no matter how palatable the food in the campus is and how full the city is of upscale fancy restaurants, there has been one trip a week to RD. And miraculously, the proprietor of RD knows the mess menu everyday and plans accordingly !

5. A location is a location is a location
You have heard this phrase innumerable times and sniggered , but were still never able to make head or tail of it.  Yes a location is a location, and a potato is a potato.  Phrases like "Ap padhte nahi hain", and "Peel the Onion" are full of meaning, just for you. You happen to know more about China's economy than possibly do the MBA students in China , but  you also have a page in your notebook somewhere , on which you keep noting down such catchphrases, and you cry with mirth every time they are repeated in class. Best of both worlds !!

6. MAFIA rush
I have no idea how and why this game became popular, but it spread faster than Swine Flu. Now this may be particular of the 2012-14 batch, but it was a fad that made us crazy for a while. And it was good practice . People discovered their anger management issues because of this game !

7. You write on IMNU's  facebook pages with caution
Enough said :D

8. You have started reading newspapers
Now this really does depend on person to person. I have seen many people religiously pick up all the heavy weight dailies like Business Standard and Economic Times and gobble up every word. But I have also seen those who pick up TOI and MINT, then slowly slip out AT and put back the rest later. I have been one of them .

9. You are insanely proud of the sports complex at IMNU
You spent atleast the entire month of January on the grounds or in the cellar, and got to see a camaraderie only sports bring forth. Experts and newbies alike , at IMNU everyone just keeps on playing !

10. You have a soft spot for the Richter ground
That's where love stories have bloomed, friends have had the best of times, we have all rocked to the beats of cultural committee's wonders and where it all came together for us in the end, where we officially became  MBA's.

Cut-Piece : SHE

She walks around the house all day taking care of everybody. She laughs when her kids laugh , she cries when they hurt. She remembers the time her husband comes back from work everyday, she cooks for him with all her heart, she beautifies the house, she waits. She hides her troubles and problems sometimes to be able to be there for family. She finds her happiness in the love she gets from them. She eats garlic because her kids love garlic. She doesn't know much about the world, but she knows her neighbors and is there for them in sickness and in health. She follows all series on television but somehow still finds time to shop for everyone.She prays all the time for everyone she loves, she closes her eyes when she hears a hymn being played somewhere because she is thinking of you. She haggles over a rupee with the greengrocer, but she wants you to buy the most expensive things because it makes her happy. She can kick your ass in mental calculations,  and at the same time she fasts for your health for days on end .
She knows where your socks are in the labyrinth of your cabinet, even when you don't. Sometimes when you are angry or upset, she lets you take it out on her with a smile. She smiles wider when you apologize later. She is the one who looks the most delicate or fragile in your family portrait, but she is your strength. The house crumbles when she falls ill. You need her around for positivity. She is a mother, a housewife, the core of the household. She is completeness. She is love. She is the balance of life. She is what you need to live.

'Tune' In To My Heart

Music moves me.
In MBA, we get to know about all these types of people. There are so many differentiations  they will make your head spin.There is Type A and Type B. Then there is the differentiation that depends on types of learning styles- the auditories and the visuals and the kinesthetics and what-nots. All these differentiations are supposed to help you understand yourself better.
I am a visual learner by definition. I can't retain half the things said to me, I space out. I remember things I read. Now this is supposed to help me understand myself. Sadly, it doesn't.
There is one cranky quality no one has explained to me yet. When I watch a movie with my friends, they cry at the words said, they ooh and aah at the beautiful locations, they appreciate the acting of protagonists. I , strangely , am obtusely oblivious to that. Only one thing affects me- the background music.
Music has that effect on me. It can reduce me to tears in seconds, it can make me want to dance, to look in the mirror feeling that I am special and beautiful, or to start ruminating about the wonder that is the world around me. I admit it is crazy but a 30-second long piece of music has that effect on me, more than a visual or thousands of words heard or read. If I am ever motivated to change the way I think, it will be because of the inspiration I get through a piece of music, and nothing else.
This is the reason, every once in a while I get stuck on a particular section of a song or a particular scene in a movie. I just relive it , yes 'Live' it again and again, till the moment comes when the music is stored in my memory for eternity.
For me , the music is the star. I could watch crappy actors in a silent film if the background score is good, because that's what gives character to the scene.
What 'type' of individual does that make me? I wish someone would try to explain that !


PS : My latest obsession (actually its relapse, I have been addicted to this tune in the past) is the minutes 1:28:45 to 1:34:46 of JUST MARRIED (Ashton Kutcher, Brittney Murphy). I fell in love with the movie because of that music. :)
Cheers !!