rain

A-walking, a-humming, The road stretches on, Your twenty-dollar bill, Crumbling in your fingers, Whistling a concerto, You heard long ago, Playing in a dream, Or playing in your head, How does it matter When you won't ever be dead? Down to your last penny, And you throw it away On a man ...Read More

Walking In The Rain

eyes

One of the most important lessons I learnt in life happened when I was least expecting it to spring itself upon  me. I sat as part of a large audience, listening to the speaker, who was a charming young man, and ...Read More

Close Your Eyes

duo

Surprisingly, a lot of writing  happens when the senses skid into a realisation that sinks into the innermost layers of the self. And a bit of writing also happens when the self stretches itself and brushes accidentally or intentionally, into ...Read More

Alone But Never Lonely

pather_panchali3_pix1

Ray devised an innovative way to work around Apu’s stiffness and awkward gait. Like much of his journey into making the film, this also is a lesson for wannabe filmmakers: "I had learnt a lesson. All my preparations over the years… ...Read More

The Birth Of Pather Panchali-4

im02

It’s a well known fact that Ray was a master film maker who was revered, practically  worshipped, in the West – especially Hollywood (list of his admirers include Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, James Ivory, Elia Kazan, Danny Boyle, Wes Anderson…). What’s ...Read More

The Birth Of Pather Panchali-3

1976_satyajit_ray

Satyajit Ray, as a rule, visited the movies every Saturday afternoon. In this he was accompanied by a handful of like-minded ‘film-buffs’ he met and befriended. One of them was Bansi Chandragupta, who was destined to be Ray’s Art Director [a ...Read More

The Birth Of Pather Panchali-2

rayslide1

Like all great endeavours,  the timeless Pather Panchali by the legendary Satyajit Ray faced many obstacles on the way to immortality.Well, how this excellent story by Bibhutibhushan Bannerjee made its way onto the celluloid is an engrossing, fascinating tale in itself. Here goes…. As most of us know, Ray started ...Read More

The Birth Of Pather Panchali-1

first drive

This is something many of you will identify with– the day you actually took a car out on your first drive. I must add, though, that the motor training experiments do not exactly qualify as "first drives" for obvious reasons. The ...Read More

My First Drive

jolie

Enter the crime scene: Oscars 2012. The sleuths: the audience. The perp unmasked: Angelina Jolie. After years of wondering whether the lady's People's Champion banner was just a tad exaggerated, with one out-thrust leg, a husky laugh and speaking dialogue ...Read More

Angelina, Interrupted

whitney-houston-

I did not want to write about Whitney Houston's death because like Amy Winehouse, she  too as been turned into a cautionary tale about the failure to deal with success, wealth, adulation and fulfilled dreams. When a glistening firefly crashes ...Read More

Abiding Memory

meryl-streep-

Before I plunge headlong in this piece..a few questions.. What was Angelina Jolie's leg doing on the Oscar stage? What? What? What ? Did it mistake the podium for the set of a Mr and Mrs Smith sequel ? Was it ...Read More

For The Artists

basket

For knowing that I needed to be left alone instead of being comforted For traveling miles to see me when you were the only one who could brighten up my day For knowing I could accomplish anything, instead of just congratulating me when I did For ...Read More

Thank You Again…