Funny Face

The problem with Hollywood actors these days is that they are trashy and cheap, and there is nothing more to be said on this. Most people in old Hollywood were just as messed up in alcohol, drugs and cigarettes as every other person in Hollywood right now, and yet they did it with class. How can Lindsey Lohan and Megan Fox ever compete with this?

In which Pan gets butthurt

I've been living in Europe for long enough to not let these things bother me because I know that asking for things to change would be asking for too much. I let things go by without trying to let them affect my mental state. So, its okay if I am always called aside when I'm travelling to have my documents checked and double checked. Its fine if I get shifty looks from old women on the tram or while I'm going to pay the bills. I've even had someone asking me what vaccines they need to take if they are going to Malaysia for a holiday (it was because India and Malaysia are so close to each other, you see!) I don't let these small things bother me, not because they are okay, but because I really couldn't care less. However, when I see full blown advertising campaigns like this one, I get really irritated.

These are some of the pictures from the new India themed Zegna campaign that are plastered all over Milan lately. There is this huge blown up version of the picture below at the airport here that I saw a few weeks ago.

If you show the above advert to any other person living in this country they will not find anything wrong with it, but it seems to be making my blood boil. Look at the sari clad native woman welcoming the handsome white man in a suit and his Indian sidekick (who looks like Mohinder Suresh, by the way). Why is she bowing down so submissively, unable to even look him in the eye? Am I the only one who is overreacting at this advert? No one else seems to have noticed it apparently if they've covered half the airport in this city with the picture.

The thing is that I don't think that the adverts were made with a malicious intent. The Zegna marketing department didn't wake up one morning thinking that all Indian women are shy and submissive. The problem is that they don't even realize that they are being inherently racist by playing up to the Indian stereotype or that there is something clearly wrong with their ad campaign. It is them having some ridiculous notion that there is nothing wrong in showing subjugated Indian women bowing before their handsome European saviours. It is a classic form of white privilege, and white privilege bothers me so much more than the most obvious forms of racism because its so much scarier.

Look at this other picture from this campaign. Doesn't the above picture bring back fond memories of the Raj? The natives playing a wonderful game of polo on elephants while the Europeans enjoy the show in the gardens of their palaces. This blatant display of Raj nostalgia is just really creepy actually. I don't know how to put it in more eloquent terms. The above advert actually scares me. It scares me because it is celebrating a period in my country's history that no one is proud of, at least not so openly. I am just astounded that other people are unable to notice these things given the fact that everyone seems so keen on being politically correct these days. If this campaign was a German 1940s retro military themed advertising campaign, the world would have exploded right now. I am not trying to compare Nazi Germany with the British Raj, but trying to show how the campaign is a romanticism of a terrible period in the history of my country.

I know that I'm probably overreacting and making an issue out of something so trivial. I also know that if I was living in India right now, I wouldn't have even noticed the racist undertones of this campaign. I've read so many articles written by Indian journalists about how proud India should be that international fashion designers are turning to our country to film their campaigns and are seeing India as a new consumer market. But, you don't wake up one morning and start noticing these things, its more of a gradual realization which comes with experience. Although, I have to say that I haven't yet experienced any humiliating forms of racism yet because I simply tend to let things go and am generally out of tune with what is happening around me.

There seems to be this trend on the internet and also in real life about fetishizing the Orient and anything else that is seen as exotic from western standards, and this is frankly disgusting. We just seem to be unable to get over racial stereotypes. I do know that stereotypes stem from facts and everyone uses stereotypes, even without realizing what they are doing. I probably do it too. However, I do feel that it is our duty to try and overcome them and not let things continue the way they are. The problem is that no one seems to be trying, people are just really worried about being politically correct, but that isn't changing their way of thinking or the things they actually believe. Realizing that we are faily idiots is the first step towards trying to work on the problem, but how are we going to get people to admit that we are all racist assholes?

Randomisms

Ah, after almost 20 hour of travel I am finally home and too tired to be coherent, which is why I shall resort to one of my favourite forms of communications: lists! They're a great way of communicating a large amount of unrelated information using few words and this is why I love them so much.

1. I have a new found insane love for German airports. They have free coffee/tea machines and places where you can plug-in electronic devices. What more could a tried traveller who has to kill three hours with a dysfunctional laptop whose battery doesn't last for more than 20 minutes want? Ok, there wasn't any free internet, but that would just be asking for too much, right?
   
2. I totally stole tea packets from the airport tea stash. I'm Indian, hoarding freebies is in our blood, and this makes my behaviour totally excusable!
3. Why hasn't anyone mentioned the awesomeness of Battlestar Galactica before? I have gone through almost three seasons in less than three weeks and I have no idea why I hadn't bothered with it for all this time.
   
4. I have a crazy lecture time table for this week and I can think of so many things I'd rather be doing than attending lectures. Why can't I stay at home and watch BSG all day?
5. After you've been out for a while, its really good to be back home. Nothing makes me happier than sleeping in my own bed after being away for long.
6. I am officially immune to jet lag and can fall asleep at any given time at any given place.
   
7. I hate unpacking more than I hate packing. I also hate putting the clean dishes away or folding up clean laundry so much more than washing dirty plates and putting wet clothes to dry out on the clothes' line.
   
8. I have been desperately craving for something fried and unhealthy for the last few days, but I shall be strong and not give in to the pressure.
   
9. I watched High School Musical 3 and Twilight on the plane. I'd like to think that it was time well spent. The guy next to me kept giving me odd looks at my hysterical laughter from time to time.
10. This swine flu pandemic is really scaring me. I used to be a crazy dystopian fiction reader when I was younger, and a disease pandemic is like the start of every decent dystopian novel. If we are all going to die, I might as well skip lectures for the week, right? Right?

Meh, I should really be working on my thesis.

Buildings

I've mentioned it before and I'm going to say it again, I love skyscrapers! This is the fabulous view of the city from the terrace of this house and the pictures barely do it any justice because of my muchly lacking photography skills.

Y HALO THAR

I know, I know, its been a while, and I haven't been updating and I have no actual excuse for my absence. I am currently in the lovely city of Hong Kong, sitting on a sunny terrace, under an sun-umbrella looking at a spectacular view, which looks even more spectacular at night by the way. Growing up in a city of more than 10 million people doesn't seem to have put my off big cities. On the contrary, I love them. I love crowded places, traffic, congestion and all the things that people normally hate. This could be because I don't drive because apparently your perceptions of traffic and cities change when you learn to drive. Plus, I've always been attracted to bright lights and tall buildings, so I do suppose that I'm being very biased in my appraisal.

Hong Kong is as fabulous as one can imagine it to be. In fact, I'd like to say that its even more amazing than one would expect it to be because the food here is simply delicious, and its full of restaurants that are filled up with people eating at all possible hours. Food has always been Pan's biggest weakness and its very easy to bribe her with good food to make her like a place. But it is actually crazy here, and there are people everywhere, at all given hours, and it makes me wonder what all these people actually do for their living because all they seem to be doing is shopping all the time. That said, the best thing about being on holiday is to see other people going to work, and I get much pleasure out of watching people going to work in stuffy suits in this humid weather while I'm happily sightseeing all day long.

I'm going to be all girly and squeal right now about all shopping the that I've done, so go ahead ignore me! I have no idea how I am going to manage to fit so much stuff into my suitcase while going back home. I love shopping for junk and other things that I am probably never going to wear more than once but that always seem like a good idea to buy at that time. Of course, the things that I actually need are long forgotten. But after living in Milan for almost seven years now, everything seems inexpensive here when things are not even that cheap and how can I possibly stop myself?

I have no idea why but I haven't been taking too many photos. I think its because now that my dad lives here I know that I'm eventually going to make it back sometime, so I'm not feeling the need to have a lot of photos. But, I should really get around to charging my camera because this city has some of the most amazing signs that I have ever seen and everyone knows how much yours truly loves those.

I am going back home on Friday and I can think of lot of other things that I'd rather be doing than returning to uni because the next two months are going to be absolutely terrible. But duty calls, and I must get back to work, right? At least its spring in Milan right now, and that is already cheering me up a bit.

PS: Ever since my previous post, the amount of people getting redirected here by google searching for the term 'A Bug's Life porn' is most disturbing. But this is the internet, nothing seems to surprise me any more.

PPS: I had gone to the hairdressers here today and I must absolutely write a post about my enduring fear for that species.

Food Porn

I'm so hungry right now, and there is nothing edible in sight. I could of course, get up from the couch and walk to the fridge and get something to eat. But that would mean having to actually get up from this couch, which much harder than it sounds because I am the laziest person in the whole world. This is why for the last 10 minutes, I've been doing the next best thing apart from eating food, which is looking at pictures of food!

Last summer I spent some time in Singapore, and I have to say that the best part of the whole trip was the food. I have no idea how this was possible but every single thing that I put in my mouth was delicious, and everything was such a novelty to me that I couldn't stop taking touristy pictures everything I ate.

Lastly, how can anyone visit Singapore and leave the city without having an authentic Singapore Sling?

And now I should really go get that apple from the fridge, shouldn't I?

and yet another post where Pan whines...

I've been so busy that I don't even have time to think how busy I am, and this is when I don't even have exams (those are still two weeks away). I know how silly that sounds, but its absolutely true. I'd like to make one of those amazing lists that I'm so fond of lining up the things I have to do, but I think looking at them might just freak me out, so I'm not going to do that.

No one ever told me university life is this difficult. Everyone always keeps mentioning how much fun it was for them, what an amazing time they hard, best days of their life and all that rubbish. Why do people forget to mention the important parts? Like standardized testing, lack of employment opportunities, impossible expectations grad schools combined with impossible fees and trying to handle your courses and exams through all this pressure. Its like the universe is trying its hardest to make your life as difficult as possible, and mind you, I'm one of the lucky ones because my life isn't even all that hard! I know I complain and whine all the time, but at the back of my head, I know that I don't have to struggle half as much as other people.

Its March already! MARCH! How did we end up in March? In fact, we are more than half way through March and I just noticed today that we were already in March and its almost spring, which is the most fabulous season of all time. I think the best time to enjoy Italy is spring. Its one of those periods where you are walking on the road and it suddenly strikes you that you are actually living in Italy. Who the hell even lives in Italy apart from the rich people and people photographed in postcards? At least that is how I imagined Europe to be when I was young. Its way past 6 in the evening and there is still daylight outside, and absolutely nothing that can make me unhappy right now. How can one possibly be unhappy in this weather? Its even making someone as grumpy me cheerful lately, even though I have absolutely no reason to be cheery.

Actually, I do have a reason to be cheery. I have exams until the 6th, but after that I'm going to go visit my dad half way across the world for two whole weeks. I'm really excited because I can't seem to remember the last time I had a vacation. I still have to work on my thesis during that period, but I shall conveniently ignore thinking about this for the time being. Two weeks in Hong Kong, what more could anyone want? Plus, I haven't seen my dad since January and I miss him! I also suspect that he misses me too, which means that he is going to pander to all of my irrational whims, and I'm really not going to be complaining about this.

Jai Ho!

When half my city was taken over by terrorists, there was not a single person who asked about what was happening or if I was doing okay, but now that Slumdog Millionaire has won a whole load of Oscars, I have random people asking me about Bombay at least once a day for the past week.

I don't want you to get me wrong, regardless of what I feel about the film, I totally wanted it to win in every category it was nominated for at Oscars. Its a weird Indian solidarity thing that we are just born with. And yes, I do know that its not actually an Indian film, but who really cares about these small details? Plus, I cannot think of anyone in the Indian film industry apart from A.R.Rahman (I love it how every person who reads the nominations out in award shows is unable to pronounce his name right. If you are called out to read the nominations of a certain award category, the least you can do is take some effort to get the names right!) who deserves this kind of recognition. The funny thing is that his soundtrack for this film isn't even one of his best works and yet, incredibly it seems to be getting crazy recognition.

All this said, I actually liked the film. I do think that it is overrated and the second half of the film was quite weak due to the inability of the two lead characters to act. This is really sad because I love Dev Patel and Freida Pinto. They're adorable in interviews, and Dev's next role is going to be as my favourite character in my favourite television series of all time, and I can't help but be ridiculously excited about this. In any case, my pleasure while viewing the film was muchly diminished because I kept getting distracted by Dev's fake Indian accent and Freida's pretty smiley face.

The first half of the film is fabulous. Its very Danny Boyle, and kind of reminded me of Trainspotting, which is an awesome film (I'm not not just saying this because Ewan McGregor has a naked scene in it!). As a side note, I'd like to say that I really do love all the Danny Boyle films that I've watched. Sunshine was amazing, and I don't care if I'm the only human being who liked it. I thought that it was really well made. Also, I know The Beach was awful, but I was going through a post-Titanic, Leonardo Di Caprio phase at that time and have fond memories of that movie. But I digress as usual, coming back to what I was saying, the first part of Slumdog Millionaire is really good. The child actors are brilliant, the colours, the imagery, the music, and the story have a great flow, and I can see why exactly the film was considered Oscar worthy. Then suddenly something happens, and I don't quite know what.

Actually I do know what happens, the kids grow up, the lead kid grows up into an awkward Dev Patel, who has this blank expression all through the film as if he doesn't quite know what he's doing there. His Indian accent kept making me cringe and distracting me from the actual film itself (Its a big budget Hollywood film, the least they could do is make sure they hire someone to help the lead actor get the accent right). Then, there is Freida Pinto, who smiles prettily all through the film. She barely has around 15 to 20 minutes of screen time in the film, so I suppose its hard to judge someone in that short a period, but she doesn't seem like a girl who has been sexually molested, almost sold off into prostitution and grown up in the most deplorable of circumstances, i.e the slums. You don't feel anything when you watch her on screen, apart from the thought at the back of your head about how way out of Dev's league this girl is in real life. The best adult actor in the whole film is the boy who plays the lead character's older brother on screen, the actor who has gotten the least publicity and recognition out of the entire film.

I know I sound really critical of a film that I claim to have actually liked, but I did like it. I'm just being knit picky about things that bothered me. There is also this whole part where the first half of the film is in Hindi with English subtitles and the actors randomly start talking in English from somewhere in the middle of the movie which I found a bit weird. But I kind of understand why they needed to have most of the film in English for international audiences.

The film tries hard to reach to the hearts of audiences and show them a kind of poverty, lifestyle and imagery that is completely different from what they have imagined or experienced. Everyone hears about poor people living with bad sanitation, children being sold off into prostitution and these kind of things, but here you get to see it first hand and are actually able to relate with the main characters even though they are so different from yourself. They are just two people who come from nothing and still end up being happy despite their lowly circumstances. What could possibly be a more heart-warming chick-flicky plot?

I suspect that I'd have enjoyed the film much more if I was a stranger to the country, rather than someone who has experienced and seen things like poverty, religious clashes and slums in Bombay. The people in India understandably haven't warmed up to the film. I think this is because the film hits on a nerve by portraying an aspect of the country that we are clearly embarrassed about. Do you know how slum viewing has become the next big tourist attraction in Bombay? Guided trips through the slums for foreigners to get a first hand experience of how poor people live. I hate this, and yet this is what is getting the slums the attention they clearly need from international organizations, charities and from the Indian government.