My Impressions -- The 18th Jio Mumbai Film festival @ PVR Andheri Infinity and Citi Mall on 18th October...

Celebrated my birthday @ Jio Mumbai Film festival @ PVR Andheri Infinity and Citi Mall ( as couldn’t find any other day to visit the festival) last week

A very catchy title caught my friend Asmita Sen's fancy and we went to watch the Zambian film –I Am Not A Witch.. by writer –director Rungano Nyoni. The film is a very poignant tale of a young girl who “agrees” to declare herself as a witch based on allegations and superstitions. I am not a Witch has got lot of praise from audience and critics at Cannes 2017 and is the director’s first film. There is an element of surrealism along with stark reality woven in the film. The young witch- christened as Shula has to go with a spindle and ribbon tied to her forever in her new home- the witch commune. As you can imagine she can go only as far as the ribbon can take her.. This is the way all witches are treated in the commune so that they lived a tethered existence and can be monitored. Shula chooses this life as the other option is that she could have converted into (surprise, surprise)- a goat!!

The film takes you thru Shula’s journey from a young child found in the village to the commune where she along with the other witches become frightful objects of veneration and even display to tourists so some easy money can be made-almost as if they were zoo animals. The scenes are fraught with customs and superstitions that are meant to make our young protagonist look supernatural.. At another level the ribbon and spindle that chases her, ties her reminds us of life and its numerous bondages &challenges that hold us back.It also make us think if we have the courage to overcome them else they stay as ribbons and spindles holding us back not allowing us to blossom. But that’s a choice we have to make, isn’t it?

You can watch the film trailer here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOtcU_-KuaQ

Another film which caught Asmita Sen’s  fancy was the Sicilian Ghost another heart wrenching story of the coming of age of 2 children in an Italian village and the Mafioso in the background..

So ended a day filled with witches and ghosts—almost made me think of Halloween.. rather than birthday.. But excellent cinema and indeed some splendid work of art.. three cheers to Asmita for her enthusiasm and to the Jio Mami Mumbai film festival for bringing  great cinema in our lives..

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/oct/22/i-am-not-a-witch-review-magical-surrealism-margaret-mulubwa-rungano-nyoni

At the Mami Filn Festival on 18th Oct, 2017

Coherent Rambling Series-Inspiration, Flow etc...

Coherent Rambling Series

Inspiration

Seeking inspiration

Inside and outside

In  your heart, mind and soul

So that the plan for tomorrow

Can be drawn nicely

With patience, planning, charm and love

Looking at it outside

For fresh views, ideas and insights

Examples that motivate and drive

That’s inspiration for you

Both inside and out

To look at the sameness

With different lenses

To find new meanings and new vision

In the scripting and directing

Of this movie reel of life

God’s selfie

It’s a selfie

Clicked by God

Himself

To showcase his vanity

Look at this wonderful creation

The thunder storm and lightning

The view is indeed unparalleled

(on unexpected thunder and lightning)

Flow

The flow of life

Is after all a flow

We don’t where the

Flow will take you

But you can change the course

Add a new path

After all what were embankments and dams made for?

Sculpture

It’s a sculpture

The chiseling and shaping

Is what gives a finite form

To a mass of clay and mud

Persistent efforts by the sculptor

To get the desired form , color and grace

The efforts, thought and drive

The heart’s desires

The soul’s longing

Inner turmoil, zeal and thought cyclones

All intermingle to create this sculpture

Called life…

Loss and gain

A loss

A failure

A lost cause

All part of the journey

To succeed

To achieve

To soar even higher

Focus

As single minded focus

A plan

A desire to follow it

Thru and thru

A sharp eye on the objective

That’s the fuel

That drives you

Day and night

A calm mind

Despite the passionate activity

The focus only grows

Day by day

With the passage of time

New ways and new solutions Emerge

To complete the goal

Achieve the unthinkable

Which only the focus could bring

Here and now

Here it is and now it is gone

This the play of life

Inspired now

Down tomorrow

Helping hands

And bitter tongues

Sweet and sour memories

Are intertwined on this path

A good laugh hearty one

Followed by a howl, a cry

That’s the play

Of day and night

Of daily life

To emerge out of this play

To accomplish something

Beyond the rules of this play and game

Seems to be the driving force

For every new creation

For every great accomplishment

A piece of sky

My piece of nature

Captured from the framed and caged window

Behind the eager eyes

 caught between

The frame and the bird nets

So much a part of the urban life

Where there are nets and grills

Where will the freedom come from

The freedom to be in the midst of nature

Is nature itself free here

Caught between the high rise, the skyrise

Which aim to even capture the sky

Here I am

Trying to get my piece of sky

My part of greenery

My favorite part of nature

Captured in this camera

Which itself is a modern day wonder

A camera that speaks, thinks and directs

But does it feel..

Does it know the pangs

Associated with a piece of sky that has been forever hidden by the high rise towers

Does it yearn to see the starlit sky at night

Does it know how the flower blooms

Does it feel like breathing in the fresh air from nature

Does it yearn for its piece of sky ?

It’s time to change

It’s time to discard the old

We have heard it many times

But there couldn’t be a better time for it

And the time is now

Move from the survival of the fittest mode

To the survival of the wisest mode

How do you gain wisdom

Can you measure it day by day

Hour by hour

Moment by moment

Know when an insights happens

How does a perspective get formed

How does a thought emerge

Do you learn to watch this process

These patterns unfold

Or do you entangle yourself

In the being fit game

Not knowing where

Your mind is

Along with the soul and body

To be in the whirlwind of the being fit game

Of playing it at times

As you knew no other game

But when the time come

To switch

It’s indeed a game

Yet again

But a game of the mind

Of thoughts, ideas, insights

Of learning  the new

Discarding well both new and old

And re-emerging everyday

Like a water bubble

And yet going

With the flow of time

Of pausing to witness this flow

At times

And getting an idea

Of that unknown facet

How does a thought emerge

How does a perspective get formed

To think and feel

At times think

At times feel

To dive deep

Into the chosen area

Or just fleet thru several

But it’s is a continuous process

Think, feel, learn, unlearn

Change and grow

Move from being just being fit

To being wise

It’s indeed a difficult terrain

To walk on

With no elevators and speeding cars

Only the dusty roads and hilly walks

Where not vehicle goes

Other than the YOU

It is a long journey

To freedom

From trying to be fit

To learning to be wise

From being just fit  at one go

And then lo and behold

Suddenly wise