Mentor Your Mind, Tested Mantras For the Busy Woman by Mamta Singh

The book i received had a very interesting title, albeit long, it had me curious to see what the pages held within... It was-  

Mentor Your Mind, Tested Mantras For the Busy Woman 

by Mamta Singh

Genre: Self help

Pages: 168

Published by Sterling Publishers

This book is a guide, rather a handbook for every woman who feels she is busy and has no time for life! There are some woman who am sure will call this book their Bible, it all depends on how much it helps you or not! 

I found it quite fascinating. Within the first few pages, it becomes evident that the Author has done her share of research or belong to the sect of women who needs some insights and tips on dealing with their crazy schedules and lives. 

For the urban women, the women of today, who look forward to carrying off the corporate job, and manage their homes, taking and maintaining their body is an essential aspect, it is not enough just being healthy.  

This book is divided into three broad categories- Mental Fitness.. Physical Fitness and Spiritual Fitness! Each of these talks about the areas that fall within and that needs to be addressed....

We see in our daily lives how many people inspite of being "Fit" fall ill, or suffer from ailments. This is primarily because of the unhealthy lifestyle, eating habits, or no control of the mind. The book talks about how valuable it is to control our mind, rather to mentor our mind, give it the guidance it needs to help detox the body, mind and soul.  

Be it Meditation, or Physical Exercises, the chapters contain not just guidelines or explanations, there are surveys and questionnaires to allow us, the readers rate ourselves. This gives much more depth to the lessons held within the pages, the words make more sense and they help us get clarity on what we need to do, or which direction to take. 

In the chapter" How can you tell it is time to see a doctor", the Author talks about various circumstances and how people react to each of them... With a little summary at the end of every chapter, there are little points given that will help make ones life better, giving them  better health , both physical and mental... 

There are interesting quotes scattered through the book, take a minute to read them, think about them and see what they really mean.... 

“The walls we build around us to keep sadness out also keeps out the joy.” ~Jim Rohn [this is a quote at the beginning of Emotional Fitness Category]

 If work or life has been bogging you down and you are looking for something to help make your daily life better, then i suggest you pick up this book and spend some time reading through the words.... There are tips, guidelines, schedules, examples, surveys and so much more that will help us define our lives and work towards making them better!  

To Summarise- The book address 6  key mental maladies, 6 of the worst emotional afflictions and offers 7 spiritual self-service techniques that  the urban woman are most commonly faced with. And this has been done via - 3 simple self-evaluation questionnaires; 13 easy-to-follow step-wise action charts, and illustrations; 20 mentoring  based schedules; and then there are the detailed 16 explanatory tables....  I can promsie you this- the book is not boring, the book is not preachy or like a lecture! It is interesting and well chalked out... 

Hats off to the Author Mamta for coming out with this book, keeping it simple and straight forward!! Good luck! 

I Am

I had been listening to I Am's OST for a few months and finally i found the movie, it was one movie i was looking forward to watching...!! The movie is about 4 individuals, it is 4 stories, it is 4 lives, ... it is all about PEOPLE!! Though the people involved in the plot are from different corners of the country- Kolkata, Bangalore, Srinagar and Mumbai, with the stories ranging from artificial insemination, child abuse and gay prostitution, they're connected by a common thread of disenchantment.

Onir's I AM opens with a Rabindranath Tagore's quote from Gitanjali, 'Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high...'
 

Meet the ‘I’s:


I am Afia

The 1st story opens with Afia [Nandita Das] looking for a sperm donor to fulfill her wish of getting artificial insemination done. She meets her doctor, and insists on meeting the man before taking a call, which is how she meets Purab Kohli. They spend time getting to know each other, breaking barriers before going ahead with the procedure. Their relationship goes through a transformation at the fertility clinic while waiting for the doctor to come in.

I Am Megha

Megha [Juhi Chawla] is a Kashmiri Pundit battling with life and emotions after having been chased out of Jammu & Kashmir when the military took over the land. She goes back, meets their Muslim family friends Manisha Koirala but interacts with them quite curt and to the point. There is a lot of anger and resentment in her voice during the one day she spends in town. 

I Am Abhimanyu

This is a story on Child abuse..the victim is Abhimanyu [Sanjay Suri] who grew up abused by his step-father on a day to day basis... He grows up bitter, severing all ties with his family, quite unsure of his sexual preferences..  The entire movie flows through the stories, while showing the different phases in Abhimanyu’s life, as the abused child going on to a manipulative adolescent and thence to whining adulthood, in a very short share of the total running time. It is only when his mom calls to announce his step father's death that he finally confronts his demons and lets it all out to her...

I am Omar

This is probably the most devastating story in the movie, the one that will shake you up. It is about Gay relationships and this plot is about  Jai (Rahul Bose) and Omar (Arjun Mathur)... Jai, who is obviously doing well in life meets Omar at a coffee shop one lazy evening. He is drawn to Omar, takes him out and giving into his strong feelings, wants to go all the way. Omar convinces him to just get naughty in his car, only to get accosted by a vulgar homophobic cop, who scares Jai beyond repair. It is later than Jai comes to know Omar is a con and was playing him all along... Abhimanyu Singh as the cop was so ruthless and brutal with his foul language and crude behaviour, quite revealing how people react when they come across a Gay guy...

I AM is more than a movie, it is not exactly a documentary either. It tells the tales of people we meet on a daily basis, but whose lives are so deep, and go beyond what we see on the surface.  Each and every story has its own unique rhythm. The emotions and feelings, the experiences that each of the actors portray is quite surreal, making us think while the credits roll on the screen at the end of the movie... 

Cast : Sanjay Suri, Radhika Apte, Shernaz Patel, Anurag Kashyap, Rahul Bose, Arjun Mathur, Abhimanyu Shekhar Singh, Nandita Das, Juhi Chawla, Manisha Koirala, Purab Kohli & Anurag Basu
Music : Amit Trivedi, Vivek Philip & Rajiv Bhalla
Director : Onir
Producer : Onir & Sanjay Suri

Siya Seth Decides to Die by Sneha Mehta

Siya Seth has committed suicide. After her death, she decides to bare it all, telling the world her story. Siya, a school girl [17 years of age] was a victim of parental abuse since she was 8. Though she tries doing everything possible to gain her some peace and comfort, her hidden secrets keep haunting her, not letting her rest, driving her over the edge at the end. 

Review of Siya Seth Decides to Die...Pages 255. Rs 100

Publisher- Diamond Books, Delhi

When i 1st read the title, i was taken aback. Made me wonder if the author had been inspired by Paulo Coelho's Veronica Decides to Die, but as i read through, i realised this is fairly different.  

The opening lines -

“Life sucked me dry. I felt like a diagonally parked car in a parallel universe. People rolled up, collided, had accidents, and recovered; while I lay bruised. externally and internally. Seen and unseen. I committed suicide. For my own good.”

had me engrossed.. Though i kind of knew where the story was headed, i was curious to see how Sneha's novel would be... 

Siya seems to be a a regular teenage rebel, one who is very bold, and yet on other hand she is coming to terms with adulthood, trying to deal with changes in her physical appearance and inside of her. She goes on with life, with only a best friend- Reva.  

Although she has it all, Siya does not seem to live in peace. There is something that is haunting her, giving her sleepless nights and endless nightmares. She even dates the good looking Randeep, which does not sit well with her best friend Reva. She bunks school, bribes a policeman in Marine Lines, bluffs her way through the day, visits a man who is proficient in Past life related issues, who claims to heal her soul for just Rs999. But, none of this seems to help... And we, the readers wonder why?!

Siya is a depressed teenager who has a dark secret buried deep inside her heart. She is depressed, lonely and sad. She is also stinking rich, an only child and has servants attending to her day in and day out, so nobody can understand why a filthy rich and good looking teenager could be miserable. As readers we do know it has to do something with her dark secret.

No prizes for guessing what Siya’s dark secret is..you will know it if you have read the blurb on the back cover of the book, or if you read through the 1st 50 odd pages.  The book starts off strong, but after a while makes us wonder where it is headed. Siya takes her own sweet time in revealing the truth, and what was really going on in her life, and why she committed suicide. 

The abuse, the victim and the culprit, the emotions running high and the society's role in all of this could have been highlighted better. I felt the plot kind of fizzled out after a point, and the extent of Siya's trauma dint come through the pages.  Also, there were quite a bit of grammatical errors and typos here and there, which the author and editor should spend time in polishing! 

But hats off to Sneha for taking such a sensitive and prevailing issue and attempting to bring it out to the world!

About the Author

Sneha Mehta is a student of organizational psychology and a freelance writer. 

Rules Kidaiyathu... 180.. Nootri Enbathu

Couple of days back, 25th June to be exact saw 3 good friends, bloggers march into Escape Cinemas in Express Avenue and get all set to watch the movie 180- Nootri Enbathu... We had all seen trailers, all but me had been tripping on the music and now we were curious about the story, the plot, the acting, etc... 

Cast: Sidharth, Priya Anand, Nitya Menon, Mouli, Tanikella Bharani, Gita, MS Narayana, Laskhmi Ramakrishna, Janaki Sabesh, Sricharan, Misha Ghoshal, Cees Van Toledo, Xango Henry, Manager Cheena аnԁ others
Director: Jayendra

Music: Sharreth

Here is how the movie went... 

Ajay or Aj (Siddharth) is sitting on the foot steps of Ganges river in Varanasi while a small kid performing the last rites for his father plays around with a toy car... We then come to know that Ajay has come to India when he moves into a space in Mouli-Geeta's house.. He pays them 6months rent in advance and says he is going to be there for only 6 months. He befriends the paper boy, is one day seen ironing clothes, the other day racing an auto driver who demands an exhorbidant amount from an old lady... No one really knows who he is or what he is upto? It baffled us to see him throw around money like he was a millionaire and yet not see him do any work.  

One day, Vidya (Nithya Menon), a photo journalist spots Siddharth, is fascinated by what she sees and tracks him down. They get friendly, start hanging out, pretty soon Vidya falls for him... Every now and then we see Ajay go into a blimp, spaced out and lost in thoughts. It does make us wonder what the story behind that is, but we are kept captivated by his naughtiness and liveliness.... 

All is well till Mouli tells Ajay 6months is up and the very next day, he is off with his bags packed, ready to scoot off into the horizon.. And then, there is the photograph that the ironwala kid hands over saying he found it in Ajay's trousers.. 

You can also listen to Rules Kidaiyathu here

The 1st half is quite enthralling, with amazing visuals and fun songs.. The photography is simply wow.. As my friend Gils said, we were getting 3D effect at 2D rates!! :D

Anyways, let me not digress...

Ajay is off to the bus stand when Vidya comes looking for him, to profess her feelings. She chases him on her bike, and as we watch, she meets with an accident.... This is where the past is revealed and we learn more about this elusive Ajay..  Vidya has a spine injury and Dr Ajay kicks into action, taking charge and getting his Chief in USA to be prepared to operate on her. 

His past involves his friend Sam and sweetheart Renuka(Priya Anand). He's a well accomplished doctor in USA who falls in love with Renukam marries her and has a fairy tale life till things take a turn completely. This is the stage where we understand why the movie is called 180. It signifies the 180days he has left to live...  

As he discovers news of his illness, he distances himself from Renuka

Decides to disappear from her life

Packs his bags and leaves the country...................... 

he almost fakes his death and remains invisible to all those he knew in USA! 

And now, because of Vidya's injury he was back in USA... Was he ready to reconnect with Renuka? or will he choose Vidya and start a life with her? Does he live or does he die? The director decides to take us on a journey so long and winding that at the end of the movie, we felt like we had been sitting in the theater for 180hours!!  uff....

My Analysis:
The movie starts off light and fun, but suddenly goes through a tunnel and comes out after what seems like forever. The director got caught and dint know how to cut the chase... Wish the movie was crisper and shorter, more to the point... 

The visuals are amazing... it shows that the director has an Ad background.. The colours, outfits, camera, photography are simply amazing.....  

Positives:

Camera work.
Siddharth, Nithya, Mouli, Geeta, Priya have all acted very well... 
Rules kidaiyathu song picturisation was fun!!
The final Climax.

Negatives:
The story.
Dragging 2nd half

Unnecessary twists...
Overacting in some places... 

Overall rating: 2/5 [merely for the camera work] 

Wait for it and watch it on DVD or TV!!

[Movie] The Soloist -"Based on a True Story."

Director: John Wright

Cast:

Jamie Foxx (Nathaniel Anthony Ayers)

Robert Downey Jr. (Steve Lopez)

Catherine Keener (Mary Weston)

Tom Hollander (Graham Claydon)

Rating: ****3/4

The Soloist opens with Los Angeles Times Columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) riding his bike down a slope and crashing head first on the ground.... But the real story begins when he meets Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a talented musician who's been playing a two-stringed violin while living on the streets and battling mental illness[hears voices in his head] ...Instantly drawn to Ayers’s passion for music, especially Beethoven, Lopez begins to write a series of columns about his new acquaintance while attempting to get him off the streets and perform again.

The lady who sends the Cello she has used for 15odd years before Arthritis confined her to a chair, and how the Cello rides to Lopez is a beautiful scene... The way Nathaniel looks in awe at the New Cello, how he does not want to let go of it are heart wrenching scenes...  Amidst numerous achievements and setbacks, Lopez and Ayers develop a friendship based on mutual respect despite their many differences, and Lopez rediscovers his humanity.

The movie uses sound and silence very well. Two great examples are a flaming car passing Nathaniel’s window in a flashback during the race-riots and Steve jumping into his fancy car to escape the sights and sounds of the homeless around him. This is a perfect way of showing two different worlds.

The voices in Nathaniel’s head give us an insight into how frustrating life must be for him but there are too many scenes with people sitting listening to him play. The sequence with neon colours flashing on screen while an orchestra performs has quite an effect on the audience...

The driving force behind this movie is, without doubt, the lead actors in the form of Foxx and Downey Jr as they prove to be a powerful combination. Foxx is left to run with his character of Ayers, whose only desire is to play music, and his performance is every bit as good as that in Ray.

Jamie Foxx- with his eyes darting, head bowed down, wacko sense of dressing, anger on a low simmer, doesn't cheat in his portrait of Ayers' illness. Something inside him will always remain unreachable. Downey's eyes finally come to reflect that acceptance, capturing the film's heart.  

The Soloist isn't about Big fancy moments, a fairly slow movie, it leaves you wondering what happens next... even after switching the DVD off...!!  beautiful is how i would describe the movie!!