Lessons
learned so far from Lockdown include that life can go on under any conditions;
nothing is indispensable; and there can always be a plan B.
Normal
days saw delicacies prepared in one home being exchanged among floor neighbours.
In this context we miss Geeta-Hari (3191, now in Dubai). Like in some houses it
is music channel that runs 24x7, in their household Food channels reign supreme.
And not just watching them; Geeta tries some with success and shares the output
with us. Aunty returns such gestures with traditional preparations. In these
Lockdown days it is just intercom-call exchange of movies watched.
Yes,
the movie-bug bite was more pronounced last week. We watched movies with a
vengeance. One was a World War 1 British movie, 1917. Don’t get scared. It has least infantry or artillery actions.
A thin storyline - a letter from General to be delivered in time to the Commanding
Major in the battlefront not to make the planned major offensive next morning,
because the German army’s retreat at the other side a day earlier was a trap. A
particular corporal was chosen to deliver the letter because his brother was a
Lieutenant in that battlefront battalion and hence the Corporal had a stake in timely
delivery. We didn’t just watch the movie, we felt we had to deliver it. It is
still not on in Amazon prime I think, but our son in US did a jugad for us. Worth waiting for its
release in India. 4.5/5
The
other movies that we watched included Survivor (4.5/5), Patriot Game (3.5/5),
Equalizer2 (3.5/5), John Q (3.5/5) - the last three featuring Harrison Ford or Denzel
Washington who seldom disappoints you.
You
specialize only in English movies, uncle? No way. Some of the Indian movies watched
were: Jawani Jaaneman, Good Newzz, Luka Chuppi (Hindi); Ayyappanum Koshiyum;
Anveshanam, Viyaum Pournamium (Malayalam), and Rachhasi, Katrin Mozhi in Tamil.
I would give 3 out of 5 to all. Reason? Anything less than that is dispensed
with at the press of a button.
Surely,
there is more to it than movies. I undertook (or, was assigned) other projects
too. There was a WhatsApp message that the best way to stop pigeons from making
a habitat of your balcony is to hang old CD plates. Their glare would keep them
away. It worked – for two days. By then they learnt I was making a bewaqoof of them and invaded, this time
with family. They made only marginal movements to our attempts to scare them
away. We found our earlier experience of selecting 19th floor to
reside repeated. We selected 19th floor to rid ourselves of mosquitoes. But
they too have become wiser and have upgraded their techniques. Now they reach
still higher floors. Also, they seem to relish blood of higher-floor residents.
Watching
movies left, right and centre is not without its side effects. You carry the
guilt that you miss your japam. So I made sure to continue Rudram, Chamakam. I shall
be sharing my solo chant with my peer group for a critical appraisal. But I
have my own doubts if they will be forthright. For them age takes precedence. Nonetheless
in the event they decide to break free, a more vigorous chanting is in store
for Week Two of Lockdown.
Aunty
kept herself busy reading Devi Mahatmyam and Sundara Kandam. She has completed
Devi Mahatmyam, and is all set to finish Sundara Kandam on Rama Navami, that is
tomorrow.
Side
by side, she also made Ribbon pakoda at home, with blank knick-knack shelves in
Foodworld staring at us. With one item after the other draining out at home,
she had to make-do with sambar powder instead of red chilly powder for its
preparation. The ingredients however took a backseat as we ate it watching more
intensely movies.
