Thursday, October 24, 2019

Happy Birthday R.K. Laxman, India's Finest Cartoonist!

Rasipuram Krishnaswami Iyer Laxman would have turned 98 today but before leaving this world on January 26, 2015 at the age of 93, he did enough to ensure that he will always be alive in the hearts of millions of people across the globe. His depiction of The Common Man was perfect in the most literal sense. It is hard to believe that someone as gifted as R.K. Laxman failed to get admission in Bombay's J.J. School of Art. While rejecting his application, its Dean told him that his drawings are not good enough to make him a part of this prestigious school. Such a pity!

This was his only dream that failed to convert into reality. After working for newspapers and magazines of little repute, his first full-time job was for the Free Press Journal, Mumbai as a political cartoonist. Since then, he never looked back. After joining The Times of India, his popularity transcended the boundaries of India. For more than five decades, he was an indispensable part of The Times of India.

While working for The Times of India, in 1951, through his daily comic strip, You Said It, he created his most famous and acclaimed cartoon character, The Common Man. Through his cartoons, Laxman was able to beautifully represent the miseries, fears and hopes of the common people of India. How he managed to express everything through his cartoons is something that we mortals won't ever be able to answer.

Today, he is not with us physically but through his cartoons, he will always be alive in our hearts. There have been many Indian cartoonists, there are many and there will be many more but holding a candle to R.K. Laxman is something that will always be impossible for them. We should always feel blessed to be a part of a world where R.K. Laxman lived for 93 years...

Saturday, October 5, 2019

With fond memories of Sense and Sensibility, Happy Birthday Kate Winslet

Kate Winslet, one of the most comely mortals of all time, saw the light of day on October 5, 1975 and made this day divine. During the course of her memorable career that has lasted more than two decades, she has proved herself to be the perfect synonym of versatility by portraying positive as well as negative roles with equal grace. She has been awarded a Grammy, an Academy and an Emmy Award. The prestigious Golden Globe Award has been awarded to her thrice.

I still fondly remember her beautiful portrayal of Marrianne Dashwood in the cinematic adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Most of the cinematic adaptations fail to capture the soul of the concerned novel but fortunately, Sense and Sensibility is an exception to this fact. Portraying the role of Marriane Dashwood on screen was one of the toughest things to do and Winslet did it perfectly in the most literal sense.

Jane Austen's Marriane was a beautiful 16-year-old girl who was an extrovert. She loved to read and believed in love. She always wanted her elder sister Elinor Dashwood, younger sister Margaret Dashwood and mother to be happy. She lacked patience and her decisions were not always the best for her. She was full of life. Kate Winslet in the movie was exactly like her and whenever I think about Jane Austen's Marriane, Kate Winslet is the only person who vividly comes to my mind.

Her portrayal of Rose in James Cameron's Titanic (1997) was also ineffably beautiful to say the least. Through her memorable performances on screen, she has become an indispensable part of Hollywood and she will invariably have a special place in the hearts of millions of her fans in all parts of this world. Blessed are the ones who have watched her act even once...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

You Hailed her, Nailed her and then left her? Yes! You Suck!

These days, there is no dearth of such men in the world who have divided their life into three stages in terms of relationship. First of all, they do everything they literally can to impress girls. They pay their bills, take them to their favourite movies, candlelit dinners, they never run out of adjectives while appreciating a girl's beauty and they pretend to love her more than anyone else in the world.

By doing all these things, they successfully accomplish the first of the three stages. The second stage involves the acquisition of the physical assets of the girl. The accomplishment of this stage for such men is of absolute importance. A girl gives her consent for making love only because she thinks that he really loves her.

She thinks that her refusal may take him away from her forever therefore she says yes to lovemaking. This stage continues until she continues to excite him physically. So, is it the girl's fault? No! How would she know that his love for her is fake? Consequently, he is able to accomplish the second stage.

The thirtd stage is something which should not exist because it involves his planned and deliberate goodbye forever. Therefore, this stage is also accomplished and then his game ends. After a few deep breaths and a few cigarettes, he plays the same game again with an all-new girl. Such men have a penchant for this game and therefore, they play it on a regular basis.

Men are well within their rights to end a relationship if their partner does something which she should have never done but entering into relationships just for sex is something which can't ever be accepted and forgiven. Such men think that they rock but the fact is that they suck...