Riveting yes, but a little too rigid

This was my first, 'proper' horror film I saw in the theatre. And quite an entertaining one, I'll say. The trailer manages to instill enough spook into a person, and the accompanied rhyme just adds to the creepiness. The trailer opens with a shot of toys, with no voice over or background music and a sinister rhyme follows:

‘During afternoon tea, there’s a shift in the air,
a bone-trembling chill that tells you she’s there.’


There are those who believe the whole town is cursed,
but the house in the marsh was by far the worst.’


‘What she wants is unknown, but she always comes back,
the spectre of darkness, the woman in black.’


This reminded me of the catchy rhyme that is often repeated in 'Dead Silence', which went something like this – Beware the stare of Mary Shaw, she had no children, only dolls. If you ever see her in your dream, make sure you never ever scream!


Well so much for Dead Silence, onto The Woman in Black.
I will confess, I was intrigued to watch Radcliffe in this role. Not that I had plastered his face as Harry Potter (December Boys helped clean the slate a bit), but I wanted to see if could really carry the role forward. Playing the role of a lawyer based in London, it took me some time to digest that he has a 4 yr old boy. C'mon, he just left Hogwarts! My friend, with whom I went to see the movie, expected him to swish out his wand anytime! After the success of Harry Potter, Daniel will really have a tough time breaking through the mould. But this movie, should make things a little easier.


The movie opens with a chilling shot, of three little girls at a pretend tea party. Out of the blue, as if they were being directed, they just walk right through the window. This definitely leaves the audience baffled, creating a sense of curiosity. Cut to London, where Daniel or Arthur Kipps, is getting ready to leave. With the death of his wife during childbirth, he does portray an image of a father who loves his child, but cannot help being a little distant. With an unshaven look and crusty sidelocks, I almost saw Hugh Jackman in him. I just could not help comparing their likeness (not the body, obviously).

When he arrives at the little dull and drippy English town, the locals seem mystified by him. The local innkeeper gives him a queer look, trying not to provide him with any accommodation. However, his wife puts him up at the attic. The minute you see her open the door, you realise that this was the children's playroom, from where those girls took a leap. I felt bad for Arthur, who even in the face of danger plodded on with his work due to pressure from his boss, and his debts.


The drive to the mansion are pretty, however haunting they may look. The single path is flanked with marsh on either side, making the mansion a little island when the tide is high. My friend once strayed into a 'marsh like' area on the beach in Daman, so I am pretty much aware how dangerous they can be. The mansion is the locus of the enigma that hangs low over the town. A perfect setting for a horror film, its draped in creepers. Here, Arthur first sees the 'Woman in black' in the thick of the woods, nearby.

Definitely, Arthur reaches the town a rattled man, however, he is still oblivious to the entire mystery behind the deaths of the children.


The sightings of the woman in black are few, but it does send a tingling chill down your spine. Especially her sighting in the mansion's nursery, when Arthur looks out of the window and she floats into the frame...downright creepy!

The movie is entertaining, worth every rupee I spent and am even contemplating to watch it again. Daniel had a lot of responsibility in the movie. However, I felt that in certain spooky scenes, though his eyes had the fear in them, his face went very rigid, his jaws clenched and everything was so stiff. But, other than that, The Woman in Black is definitely a must watch!

The Death Knell

Amidst a series of pending official work left, my roommate and colleague whisked me off for a visit to the parlour. A meeting that had been long pending. At 3 in the afternoon, in the hot sun, we walked. Ugh...imagine my frustration.


Anyway, while she was inside getting special services, I waited in the lobby, watching other customers get their share of 'feminine' treatment. A mother-daughter duo walked in. They were locals and were not of the upper class strata. The beaming woman sat next to me, while her giggling girl stood against the recently-done wall cabinets. She was ebony-toned, dressed in garish green salwar-kameez. (I do not discriminate on the basis of colour, just merely describing the scene.) Another client had been in line, but the owner attended the girl first. “Shaam ko ladke vaale dekhne aa rahe hain,” her mother said. Are you serious! It had been near 15 minutes and no one had even heard her speak! Jeez! Politely, the customer who was due stepped aside and the entire conversation changed to marriage.


After a few questions and quick replies, I realised that she was just 16! And already she had people coming over to see her. What is it with the world? I obviously looked the other way, careful that no one see my shocked expressions. (I have often received criticism for my expressions. My mother says some make me look very snooty. Whatever, I'm actually a different person inside. Very genuine :))


But that was not the end of the topic for me for that day. When I reached office, and settled into my little corner, my boss read out a status of a former professor and dean of my college. Summarised, he spoke of how it seemed he wasted hours teaching a student, who worked briefly in a media organisation, but now has been taking care of her husband and child. Point noted, so the only conclusion I draw, is that, does marriage ruin everything? Also, when one does enter into matrimony and build a family, then there are two possibilities that come up. Either she works hard at her job, then people allege that she neglects her family or she is made to choose one over the other. Why?


When people cannot handle the drama in their lives, they should just delete the number of characters.

Why I am warming up to ebooks

One sits listlessly in office, swatting at flies no can see, catching a few winks in between chai breaks. This was something I did not perceive would ever occur to me. Like everyone else, I dreamt of a profession that pays, sends you on trips and possibly kept you within the confines of an office, as little as possible. And I still dream on. Journalism. Sounds like a snazzy job to be doing, but truthfully, part of it can become quite monotonous. Resting your bum on a chair, for 6 hours! Heck I definitely did not dream of this.

And just as sure I was about my job, I was about ebooks. They suck. I was never in favour of new technologies like the Kindle. I'm pretty old school when it comes to books. For me, the touch, the feel and the flipping of pages added to the entire experience of a book. Every time I bought a new book, I plunged my face within its pages and would smell the pages. If it was a second hand book, then the yellowed pages would draw me closer. It was just something else you could not argue with.

But with spending six hours in front of your office desktop, wasting atleast half that amount felt criminal. Till, I discovered the real joy of reading an ebook.

I had started Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, but something better came along the way. Do not misunderstand me. Do not assume that I am degrading Salman Rushdie, its just that his book was not ideal for an office environment. One must ruminate, ponder over and patiently digest his words. But, for me, Michael Crichton, or Stephen King can be gulped down. They hold your focus, till they suck the life force out of you. And before I knew it, I had finished, Pet Cemetary and The Shining by Stephen King, and Sphere and Airframe by Michael Crichton, and currently reading Disclosure by the same author. Where earlier I had thought that office had killed the insatiable thirst for books, I just discovered a way around it. The link below is a treasure trove of long lost books! And the book 'Do Androids dream of electric sheep' is available!!!
http://www.freebooks2u.com/

In the SPHERE and back

After near 5 days of being buried in an ebook, during office hours, I feel like a baby just out of the womb. I feel vulnerable, yet am able to retract into that space, that place inside, unknown to me before. I slip back into the SPHERE, where even I lived for the past 5 days. The movements around me, people and their reactions seem like a motion picture to be seen through the porthole. Everything is silent inside, but the noise hurts the ear when woken up from the dreamless phase, the seamless world of the ocean. I wonder if the book helped unlock an inner state of being, a place I always wanted to reach. I thought meditation would help, funny what a book, a submarine and the endless ocean brought me.



But then again, people say its easier to lock oneself in another realm, ignoring the present. Why not? If it helps to better understand the present, to better cope with the difficulties or even brace for the future. The mind knows not what it can hide, surface, resurface or never disclose. A maze of endless possibilities? My world hides in there, and so do I. Like drifting in the ocean, a floating buoyant object, drifting away....staring at the sky above. Swimming through space. Where emotions don't matter, complicate or even bother. A passive motion, effortless without pain, or even stoic instincts.


However, I will snap to the present, the gravitational pull of the current spaces, of the energy of the bodies around me will bring me back from my stupor. I wake up. To the present, the so-called known and the pain. Is it worth it you ask? To live a dreamless yogic life as opposed an impassioned world of emotions, anger or anxiety. Open up yourself to another person, open to get hurt, or even face extremely frustrating times. To fall back against a wall, smash your fist through it...but the pain never ends. But ITS WORTH IT. Every bit.


I may contradict myself, but who doesn't. There are times you like an apple, there are times you prefer that melon. But its necessary to be true, to what you feel then and there. Time changes, its not static, why should you? If you do, is it worth it? If it is, then hang on to it.

A close friend in her many quirky moods...

This one's for me!

I hate being the centre of attraction, and shy away pretty easily but I wanted to explore my way with the camera. Self portraits give me the heebie-jeebies, average looking girl like me...what aspect must be played on the most? The shots may seem a little blurry, that is because they are and I like it that way. The mirror is not very clean and thus gives a very grainy look. Well, life in a PG is tough. 

Timepass on the terrace

The ordinary gravel took on the beautiful golden colour of the setting sun.