Peace with God

My two darlings, ammi and baba left for their hajj trip today along with my mama & mami. I pray for their safe trip. We've been talking about this trip for a while and now the day has dawned on us, and i feel terrible that i'm not with them. I take comfort in the thought that I helped them pack, at least that. I’ll miss talking to them on a daily basis, but I’ll be with them in spirit. Love you both…

Lagee kya…

I love creative ads that tickle ur brain and heart. Like the Corona beer’s ad, simple yet with clear message. Anyway, I recently came across this one in India, where a little kid is enjoying his chocolate under the tree, while a cabbie is reversing his car with the tree in the back,
The oily haired pan chewing cabbie turns around and asks “oye, dekh lagee kya”
the kids says “nahi nahi, aajao”
so he backs a little and asks “oye, dekh lagee kya”
the kids looks again and says “nahi nahi, aajao”
so he backs a little more and hits the tree and looks at the kid angrily
and so kid replies “haa ab lagai”

With his eyes naughtily smiling, he returns to peacefully sitting under the tree and unwraps his remaining chocolate. Some simple pleasures just cant be interrupted.

Kabul Express at 4.15 on Sat

After few loads of laundry and one in the washer, we decided it's time to take a break and headed to see Kabul Express in Doylestown, PA. It's about 45 minutes drive and hmm...i'd say about 45 miles away. The movie was into 3 minutes when we got there. But loved the rest of the story.

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia
Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

My fave part about the movie apart from Arshad and John was Hanif Hum Ghum. He adds the "regular Afghani guy who's seen it all" kinda character to the movie, he's someone you'd love to meet in real life.

The power of gun, the fear of death, the love of Indian cigarettes, common ground of Md. Rafi, longing to meet families, and not to forget the localites prank of donkey on travellers...drives these people to understand and tolerate one another. The movie almost humanises the face of one of the talibs but the responsibilities the journalists and reporters carry on their shoulders is enormous.

There were few shots i really liked, one's in the car where the talib says, at gun point to Arshad that "thumhari duniya alag hai". Meanings to such sentences come to life only in such situations. The stark difference in the preciousness to life and no fear of death between these people is amazing to notice.

Another shot is when the talib is doing his wazoo before namaz, looks at this american female journalist. You'd think that he's looking at her with bad intentions but as the movie goes on, you'd know that he sees in her what he'd have seen in his daughter. This is a must see movie, it briefly touches the politics of war but takes us into the journey of 3 journalists, one driver of Kabul Express, and the talib who meets his fate in the hands of his own country men.

You walk out of the cinema, wondering who to blame, if u see a quality of a friend in ur enemy, does it make the enemy your friend, who really is your enemy then?