The Conjuring 2 (2016)

I absolutely love 'The Conjuring' and it is one of my favorite horror flicks. 'Hide and clap', demons crouched over cupboards, behind doors, hanging and floating bodies ... I watch the movie every time it is on television and so you can only imagine how much I've anticipated the release of the second part of the film. So with bated breath and fingers crossed I watched this film on a cloudy morning at the cinemas. Now why morning? Good question! Just a precaution on my part that by nightfall, the effects of the film would have faded substantially. So with goose-bumps, here goes ..
The year is 1977! Ed (Patrick Wilson)  and Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) continue to give talks on television and at universities on the paranormal. However during a séance, Lorraine gets a vision convincing her that she no longer wants any part in exorcisms.  However, their help is sought by the church to investigate claims of paranormal and demonic activities in Enfield, England. Here the Hodgson families is convinced their house is haunted. Will Lorraine be able to get over her premonitions to help the family in need? I can't tell you any more and spoil it for ya ...
James Wan has managed to up the ante on the suspense, fright  and creepy element. It is a nail-biting and hands down, horrific movie. Please do watch!
Oh and by the way, I am back to sleeping with the lights on, again!

Word for the day :-
dendritic - having a branched form resembling a tree

Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

This feels like it happened an aeon ago, but I vividly remember the morning of one particular birthday. I woke up to a beautiful, bright and sunny day. Next to my pillow, gift-wrapped in a lovely pink was a little package. The size and shape told me it was a book. I tore into the gift and Lewis Carrol's, 'Alice in Wonderland' was all mine. So years later when this book was made into a movie, watch I did and now when the sequel came out I told myself that this one I could not miss.

It's Memorial Day and we thought what better way to end the long weekend, so off to fantasy world it was. After six years, it was good to watch and remember Alice.

Alice's father is no more and the family is in deep financial stress. Alice risks losing her father's ship, on board of which she has travelled the high seas having enjoyed many adventures. Alice returns from a trip to China and gate-crashes Hamish Ascot's, her ex-fiancé's, party. He has taken over her father's company and she hopes to wrestle back their family home in exchange for the ship. There Alice follows a butterfly, Absolem, through a mirror  and returns to Underland. Alice's help is sought after by the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) and other well wishers to save The Mad Hatter's (Johnny Depp) life. Hatter believes his family was killed during the attack of Jabberwocky Day. So Alice has to fight Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and steal the Chronosphere to time-travel to the past, in the hopes of finding Hatter's missing family and in turn saving his life.

It's goodbye to Alice, Hatter, White Queen and Queen of Hearts.

So follow Alice through the looking glass and wait for the fantastical adventure to begin .. and remember, hold  on tight...

Word for the day :-
anathema - something or someone that one vehemently dislikes
and also
a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.

Una canción desesperada - a song of despair

It was the evening of Mother's day and I was at my mum's for dinner. We were just about  done with a scrumptious meal and the telephone rang. I received heartbreaking news - A beautiful woman, a gifted teacher, a loving wife and the doting mother of two beautiful girls, had been taken from this world. My maternal grandma, who is the oldest of four siblings had lost the youngest and the only other survivor of the brood. Grandma cried with the initial shock, but, being the strong woman that she is, she got a hold of her self and we collectively began to reminisce ....

Granny remembered carrying her sister, fondly called Paapa (baby), as a little child and being a surrogate mother to her. They come from a family that loves movies, and now that the 🐈 is out of the bag, you know where I get the obsession from. I would get reviews of latest releases whenever Paapa and I would speak. Anyone who knew her would never forget her easy and radiant smile that was always waiting to burst forth and which could light up the darkest corners. Paapa was classy and always dressed to perfection, an epitome of elegance and good taste. She was an amazing cook and she prepared finger-licking good fish pickles, biryanis - to name a few favorites. She never hesitated to part with recipes when asked. She had a green thumb and a little thriving garden to prove that. She never hesitated to give of her time, advice or help. She was always a patient teacher. Being an avid reader she introduced me to my now favorite crime writer.
And she was married to the love of her life with whom she had spent 50 glorious years. They shared a true passion - travelling. These globe-trotters had many beautiful stories and pictures of their adventures together. She was a wonderful homemaker with a beautiful home filled with souvenirs and she was always kind enough to remember her family and would thoughtfully pick something up for everyone.

Her niece gave a touching eulogy, likening Paapa to an angel - an angel who had flitted into our lives, an angel who lived like one and with a gentle whisper of her wings, when she was called she flitted away like one.
There was no time to prepare for the days ahead making it an uphill task for the family.

Being a fan of Pablo Neruda I am fond of this particular poem:
When I die I want your hands on my eyes:

a new dawn, a new hope, a new life

I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me one more time

to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep,

I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind,

for you to smell the sea that we loved together

and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

I want for what I love to go on living

and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything,

for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

so that you reach all that my love orders for you,

so that my shadow passes through your hair,

so that they know by this the reason for my song.

 --Pablo Neruda, Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada. Cien Sonetos de Amor. Plaza y Janés. Ave Fénix 205-2. Sexta edición, junio 1998. 

Keeping the family in our prayers .. 

                                                                                            Pic By Jessica Jones

Mum's The Word .... World

A Mother's job is a labor of love and pain ~ Pain for the way she brings forth her progeny  into this world and the love and fiery passion that she pours into nurturing her little ones. She will fiercely protect and will dive in headfirst to stave off storms - both metaphorical and real. This highlights two beautiful sides of her - a pillar of strength, a beacon of hope and security.

As a woman she has worn many hats from the day she was born - she has played the role of a daughter, sister, grand-daughter, wife, mum and she comes full circle when she becomes a grandmum. She is always giving off of herself as the moment demands, all selfishness and thoughts for herself aside, This very prospect can be so daunting but it's one that she is able to pull-off with aplomb. And the thought has crossed my mind, don't we all have the same 24 hours in our day?
She is a skillful juggler ably handling home, a family and a career.
Will saying Thank you, suffice? It would never be enough - But here goes:
Thank you, Mom for having instilled good - the will to think, do and the will to be good, against all adversity; To treat one-and-all with love and respect.

Thank you, Mom for teaching me to pray …To have faith, to believe that God will not give me more than I can handle, that I have to put my trust in him and give it my best; His love will never fail!
You helped me overcome all my fears - you ironed away the wrinkles that life leaves behind and you've helped me be positive at all times, building morale every step of the way. Your soothing voice exudes comfort even in the darkness, when the thunder rolls and lightning crashes and Thank you for driving away night-time monsters too. 

My heart swells with love for you and for all that you’ve done: -

for the countless tears you've wiped, for tirelessly nursing me back to health; For a pat on my back on my accomplishments and for a hug when I was down.
For encouraging me to compete in all fairness, letting me know that I am no less and that I too stand a fair chance.

The years have slipped by, but my treasure chest of memories continues to grow.

I feel rich when I count all the gifts I have that money can’t buy – the gift of love, integrity and dignity.

This is to ALL women - we are born nurturers and are natural mothers.



So a Happy Mother's Day!

Summer musings!

It's summer in the Indian sub-continent and I am not a happy camper! There have been no good movie releases and to add to my woes, I have writer's block. The one time of day I look forward to is days' end. As twilight paints the sky in a mélange of shades from amber to purple and midnight blue, beckoning dusk to fall, the hot summers' day is thankfully drawing to a close ...! The garden has been watered and the earth smells divine and this beats all my favorite perfume choices right from Christian Dior to Lancôme. To me the best scent in the whole world - the smell of wet earth.
The sparrows, robins and bulbuls are chirruping and are gathered, seemingly to exchange their days'  stories. Oh the cacophony, how lovely! I wonder what they have to say to each other. The cuckoo has stopped it's "incessant cooing" and decided to call it a night. The bats are taking a whirl too. The garden is abuzz with activity from the insect world... The crickets are out and in chorus, there are grasshoppers and oh let's not forget the annoying buzz of mosquitoes, smack one and the busybody ants  whisk away the smooshed mites in the blink of an eye. I can hear the distant call of peacocks ... And if you wonder where I live, this is my piece of heaven on earth. While the night jasmine releases it potent and hypnotic fragrance that will soon lull you into a sense of deep calm, the Brahma Kamal and the Dutchman's Pipe Cactus are abloom in all their glory while the rest of the plant world nods off to sleep.
Truly, nature's miracles.

Dutchman's Pipe Cactus

Night blooming jasmine

 I have an intense longing for the monsoons, aren't we all - for the fireflies with their warm glow, for the crash of thunder, a flash of lightning and the rainbow at the end of a squall.
We just have to hold on for a little longer.
 ...... Just a little bit longer!

A beautiful life begins with a beautiful mind ...

Up (2009)

Little Carl Friedrickson (Ed Asner) and his playmate Ellie are both travel enthusiats and fans of the great explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer). As time flies, Carl and Ella get married but a miscarriage changes how they see things - like their dream to visit Paradise Falls in South America. But their dream stays one, lost in the pages of a scrapbook that is as old as they are.
However, in their old age, knowing that time is of the essence, Carl plans to surprise Ellie with a trip to the falls. But it's a little too late when fate intervenes and deals a cruel hand when Ellie dies. Depressed and lonely Carl stands firmly rooted to their home and refuses to sell their house and land to upcoming high-rises in the neighborhood. Grumpy, old Carl is deemed by court a public menace and is ordered to be sent to a retirement home.

Contemplating a future course of action Carl plans an escape to the falls, before being whisked away to the retirement community. He ties numerous balloons to his house and is almost ready when his doorbell rings. He opens his door to find Russel (Jordan Nagai), a wilderness explorer, at his doorstep offering to help Carl in any way he can, in the hopes of scoring the last badge he is missing, 'to help the elderly badge'. Carl tells Russel off and Carl is soon blissfully floating in his home high UP in the clouds. However, unbeknown to him, Russel is his steadfast companion whether Carl wants it or not. And so begins the biggest adventure of both their lives.

Come and live an adventure in this animated, heart-stirring movie