“Peepli Live” Another Bollywood Hit Flick!

An ‘Amir Khan’ production ‘Peepli Live’ hits the cinemas with high expectations. Thus the movie caters to a larger cinema and proves to be one of the masterpieces of the Indian cinema. It is based on the subject matter of farmers suicides witnessed in India, in the last few years, due intolerable droughts and low levels of income.

The story revolves around “Natha” a poor farmer from ‘Peepli’ village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of obliged farmers who have committed suicide. Therefore as a means of survival Natha can choose to die also. His brother (Bhudiya) is happy to push him towards this, but Natha is reluctant. The scenario of the village, where local elections are about to take place and what might have been another unseen event turns into a big ‘issue’ with everyone wanting a piece of action from it. The question on every one's lips "Will he or Won't he?" As the passion rises what will be the fate of Natha becomes the new gossip in the village, without caring how he really feels. In addition ‘Peepli Live’ highlights how electronic media can raise a small matter to the extreme and give chance to create scope of games in different level. But the main subject is eventually left uncared. However I must say that the movie has both positive and negative vibes to it. It provides us with utmost seriousness, along with much comedy. I felt that the movie is made on a serious issue, but it fails to provide much of the audience with a substantial reasoning of the core question. ‘Peepli Live’ does touch upon the troubles of poor farmers, but only in a very fine and limited manner. Besides highlighting the dilemma of poor farmers, it also focuses on people who exploit to the situation for their benefit, starting from the politicians to the bureaucrats, from television reporters to the local people.

I must say that ‘Peepli Live’ entertains, moves and most important of all, sends a message to everyone. I enjoyed watching it. For many of us this concept may not be new and it may be boring, but it depicts the barren reality about farmers in India. Finally I would like to say that this movie should be watched as it tells us the current situation of the rural societies, how the politicians play with hearts of the poor people and especially the role of the manipulative media today. This tragic plus comedy satire is not to be missed.

Does being a feminist mean abandoning cooking?

"The 20th century "

"The 1950's era

Feminism or should I be saying “Womanism” is about advancing equal rights for women in the social, political, professional, and economic domains. People call those females feminist who actually stand up and express their sentiments, fight against their rights, which differentiate them from other females. Our society with a pre-set mind believes that women have to play the usual role of cooking and looking after the family or in other terms a classic housewife.

However as a career woman of the new millennium, the thought of going into the kitchen and cooking, make you cringe as it invokes up images of the 1950’s era where women, dressed in heels, perfectly starched dresses and a string of pearls, slave away all day in the kitchen baking bread and preparing pies and everything in between? However a  much modern  example can be given from one of  the prominent characters of the famous television show "Desperate Housewives” of “ Bree Van De Kamp”. She is known for her perfectionism and home making skills, particularly her gourmet meals, breakfast treats and pineapple bran muffins. A much updated character of the 1950’s. Nonetheless, in a hectic fast-paced era, with flourishing takeaways on every block, the kitchen is going into extinction, but is not cooking just a factor of time or is it about asserting feminist ideology? An article in “The Daily Mail” sparks a debate by stressing that feminism is the cause of our fast food culture and childhood obesity. The author suggests that because the passionate feminists of the Sixties made cooking into a symbol of woman’s oppression, the decline of domestic cooking spurred a demand for the convenience food industry. The consumption of ease food has no doubt increased progressively with the dominance of two-income families, rising by as much as 300 per cent between 1997 and 2008. Many people are found eating at the fast food restaurants than at home. I don’t consent with the author’s thought, that feminism is causing childhood obesity. 

Just because women have become dual income owners in almost 70 percent of the households, thus spending much time in the kitchen doesn’t seems reasonable, along with managing demanding careers , commuting time and taking care of the kids. I’m sure my opinion here sounds like I’m a pure feminist. Equality with men does not mean that women should abandon cooking and other traditional female roles; rather, it means that culinary and other domestic responsibilities should fall equally on the shoulders of men as well. Where there are dual income owners, responsibilities should be equally shared. However I believe that media and the rising number of cooking books have made cooking an extremely fancy act, one should just choose cooking patterns in the way it fits best into their lifestyles.

Is blogging age restriction required?

With the passage of time Internet is normally becoming too accessible to pre-teens.  Social net working sites such as Face book, My Space, Hi5 and blog spots are now obstructed by under-aged, over- devoted kids. However my focus is specifically on blogging. It is growing more popular amongst children, especially above the age of ten.

It is now being observed that, children are now found blogging about a diversity of areas ranging from politics to toys. The question here that comes into my mind is blogging even meant for children? This has perhaps started a hot debate raising some ethical issues as well as questioning whether such great exposure of social net working sites appropriate for children. However I believe these websites also affect children academically. The Internet should be reserved for their knowledge during these critical years, where there brain is till developing. I remember the time when I was a teenager, my access to the Internet was very limited. I would rather be spending time in playing games or doing art. Also I think one reason of using these social net working sites is because these days Internet has become a necessity for everyone. The educational institutes are heavily dependent upon Internet access as well. They enlighten children to make use of it. Social networking sites have become a part of daily routine of youngsters all around the world. Research has found that some of You Tube stars, who earn over $60000 from their shares of the advertising revenue, are under-aged. Sadly, this is attracting more popularity within younger age categories. Also latest studies have found out that 2% of 8-11 year old and 15% of 12-15 year old are blogging. Of those who haven’t set up their blogs yet, 1 in 4 is interested in starting up one. Sonny To and Maelo Manning are some of the many children blogger that have followers by the hundreds. Although Sonny is only 9 and Maelo is 11, they have been blogging for years.

I believe there is no point in putting an age restriction on websites. There are arguments that consent that these sites help people to find their niche and thus increase social interactions. Nonetheless I truly deem that technology will continue to be a larger and a much larger part of our everyday lives, but with a computerized world there comes along many unadventurous risks. As adults it is our responsibility to protect our children as we set up their future for them. The thing here that is to ponder is that do we want to secure our children for the future or the future for our children. This ought to be a concern for every parent these days. This perhaps would lead to another debate on Internet safety for the children, which I believe should also be given a lot preference too.

10 Most healthiest ethnic cuisines!

The growing variance of foods that is available to us at our local stored and eating-places only helps to confuse and tantalize us into new culinary experiments and delights. In today’s world where leisure time carries more importance, so lesser time is spent in cooking and preparing food, as a result many of us end up with eating a cheese burger and fries. But is it right just to be dependent upon fast foods and not indulge into any kind of healthy and nutritious meals. We need to steer clear of such versions and opt for healthy food.

Daphne Miller, author of “The jungle effect: The Healthiest Diets from around the World-Why They Work and How to Make Them Work for you. She has asked experts to rank 10 healthiest cultural cuisines globally and reveals what makes them good for us.

 The Mediterranean diet: traditional Greek foods like leafy veggies, fresh fruit, high-fiber beans, lentils, olive oil, and omega-3-rich fish deliver lots of immune-boosting and cancer-fighting ingredients that cut your risks of heart disease.

The Californian diet: All about enjoying seasonal, local foods that are tossed together, low-calorie, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables.

The Vietnamese diet: Full of fresh herbs, vegetables and seafood. Cooking methods use water or broth instead of oils and when prepared the conventional way flavors rely on herbs, rather than coconut based sauces and frying, hence the result is lower in calories.

The Japanese diet: This diet is rich in cancer-fighting fruits and vegetables. The cooking method is stir fry and light steaming. That’s why it is claimed that Japanese are far likely to get breast or colon cancer.

Indian Food: A mix of aromatic spices, such as turmeric, ginger, red chilies and masalas. According to a recent research turmeric and ginger help fight against Alzheimer’s. Rates of Alzheimer’s are four times lower in India than from America. Indian food has a range of divergence in it.

The Italian diet: The best for digestion with its super ingredients of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, oregano, parsley, and basil. Studies have shown that the lycopene in tomatoes may help protect women from breast cancer.

Spanish: Tapas are great for eating a number of small portions of tasty fare and making an entire dinner of it. The Spanish eat lots of fresh seafood, vegetables, and olive oil—all super stars on the health scale.

Mexican cuisine: An authentic Mexican cuisine can be healthy and even slimming. A Mexican diet of slow-release foods such as beans, soups, and tomato-based sauces helped lower women s risk of breast cancer.

 Thai food: Made with shrimp, coriander, lemongrass, ginger, and other herbs and spices. Thai cuisine is known for being spicy. It is spicy, sour, sweet, salty and bitter that is optional. A normal Thai family meal will have rice in it.

South America die: From a traditional diet of fresh fruits, vegetables and high-protein grains like quinoa to the famous huge steaks. A typical South American meal of rice and beans creates a perfect protein along with ceviche; a mélange of fresh seafood tossed with a variety of spices and ingredients, from cilantro and Chile peppers to tomatoes and onions.

 I believe this categorization of the healthiest cuisines helps us understand what sort of food is healthy and nutritious for us. From the above ten my favorites include, Thai, Italian, Indian and Mexican cuisines and I’m sure many of you fall in at least two or more of the above mentioned categories. Therefore try avoiding fast food and indulge yourself in these kinds. So next time if you plan on taking away food or ordering it for deliveries make sure you choose from these.

The much awaited ‘INCEPTION’ hits the cinemas!

The blockbuster movie, Inception, hits the cinemas on July16th 2010. After watching the movie, one might be apparently perplexed and ponder whether reality as we see, it is a dream or whether one is truly awake. Being a huge fan of ‘Leonardo’, I couldn’t wait to watch the movie. The trailer of the movie was indeed very fascinating for me and increased my level of expectations for the movie. But the Hollywood flick didn’t let down my expectations.

The movie is regarded as Hollywood’s first existential heist movie. The movie revolves around an essential plot that is; Leonardo plays ‘Cobb’ a spy who steals secrets from his victims when they dream, sometimes as they dream within a dream (Telegraph). However the unusual element is that Cobb can set an idea in an unconscious mind, where it can take root. He says, “The toughest parasite is an idea”. An idea is it positive or negative can take a root and get bigger into either evil or good that is true of human nature. It is a catharsis of life. However it can be said that the story is ambiguous and beyond belief. One of the most exciting ideas in the movie is when time is passing by quickly within a certain dream, and more rapidly still in a dream fixed within another dream, so does that mean months can pass by in a matter of seconds. This is pretty much astounding isn’t it? The story of the movie thus creates a dream world for the audience. One of the several dilemmas the movie creates is if you capture yourself in an alternative world created by your own brain, are the laws of Physics observed?

Inception, is a refined, pompous ride, thus I believie it is a movie which should not be missed out and should be watched. This is a film that is more to admire about and be fascinated about.  So drive yourself crazy in order to cope up the sci-fie- epic, if you can’t get hold of it in the first go, go for it the next time. Audiences today have opened up to intelligence cinema and such genera of films is gaining acceptance.

“Stalkervile”

Face book has become an essential part of our daily lives. By staying connected to face book we are able to bond around with the people around the world. In other words, I would say that it rather keeps us updated with almost everything that is going around in the lives of our peers. Well face book has come up with another new function for its users all around the globe. It allows its users to subscribe every step or action one takes. It may be a dream come true for many or a worst nightmare for the rest!

Face book is found testing a new ‘subscribe to’ feature, which will allow users to receive alerts every time any specific friend will take some action on the social network site. This does sound interesting to me, however many who read this will be a little unsatisfied. According to  a report on Mashable.com the feature is being tested and only selected face book users can see a ‘subscribe to’ button under the profile pictures of those individual who they want to keep a follow of. Thus, this new feature will make sure that we do not miss the activities of those individuals who we have subscribed too! Way to go face book! Now you will become more addictive. However I see some positive elements of this feature, for example in the case of people involved in relationships, the spouses, best friends ‘the subscribe to’ feature will be  a dream come true. The hassle of opening inbox, wall posts, photos every time will be over, this it will also make sure that not a single action is missed out of that one special person who they are keeping a track of. Moreover, the feature will initiate a new level of understanding in the form of each growing list of new ‘subscribers’. This will actually tell us who are your true friends or which ones are just another statistic in the Face book world. It is not easily acceptable to update someone with your actions 24/7.

However, I also see some negativity attached with this feature. It can lead to arguments amongst close friends, especially best friends that why they are not allowed to ‘subscribe’ to your every face book move. Even there are a few things we do not like sharing with our best or close friends and want them to remain private. Sadder would be the part that all those other friends in your list would actually be waiting you to subscribe them, thus this will show if you consider them significant or not. To add in this new move to reduce privacy online by allowing people to follow your constant updates is a risk, to put it gently. In addition, one should be prepared to take mental notes of who is on their ‘subscribe to’ list every time they do an action. This can be troublesome! For Face book addicts this will be pure entertainment of online stalking. Gone are the days of Orkut stalking, now we can say Face book has it all!