X for A movie 'X' based on your life (Guest Post)

Again today is a guest post written by a blogger friend Anuradha Khanna Pentapalli. She is a mommy blogger who blogs at Mom And Ideas, where she writes about her experiences and journey as a mom. I love reading her posts; they like a breath of fresh air. Her humour and how she makes light of every situation are commendable.

         Let us ask Annu (as she is lovingly called and known to us 💖💖) what she has to tell about her favourite movie in this post.

 

A movie ‘X’ based on your life

 

         Remember that X variable of your Mathematics problems? Oh, the joy we had when we found what it was and the disappointment when it left us confused!

         Now, what if there was a movie to be made based on your life? After all, our life is nothing less than a hit movie story, isn't it? Emotion, drama, romance or crushes, failures, achievements, struggles… It has all the ingredients of a movie script, right?

         Let me call it ‘X’, for now until you figure out (and please share in the comments) what you would like to call it.

         It is not that I am unable to find Indian movies with the letter X in the title, but let me assure you that your story would be way better than the four of these:

            Mr. X (1957): starring Ashok Kumar, involves a potion that makes him invisible. Innovative, particularly at that time, but it wasn’t a hit.

        Mr. X in Bombay (1964): is a romantic sci-fi film starring Kishor Kumar and Kumkum -  definitely not a hit but it had a beautiful song Mere Mehboob Qayamat Hogi.

           Xcuse Me (2003): would make the movies above seem much better. Excuse me, but let's not talk about it in this blog series that lists some of the most wonderful movies of our times.

           Mr. X (2015) is a 3D sci-fi film starring Emran Hashmi. No, not worth talking about it here. Don’t even ask why!

            So, coming back to your X, where X is the title of the movie based on your life. I am certain that it is way better and more interesting than the ones above. So what would it be? What would be the plot?

 Would it be about romance, finding or losing love?

Would it be about your struggles and challenges?

Would it be about friendship?

Or a thriller?

Or the drama in your life?

Or just the fun parts?

          Would it be a biography focussing on your achievements? Trust me no achievement is small when you overcome the difficulties in your life. You don’t need to be a famous person, everyone’s struggles are real.

            Okay, let me lead by eXample!

           My X would be a series as I can go on and on as you can figure out by the length of this post. I am still awaiting that call from some Academy award-winning director who would make a movie on my life… and then that movie would be a hit, then there would be a book, interviews, money… then a movie on the new success… it can go on and on ;)

Maybe my X is Daydreaming… LOL. What is yours?

To check out other posts of A to Z challenge click on links below

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V for Vaaranam Aayiram (Guest Post)

Today’s post is a guest post by a very dear friend of mine Deepa Duraisamy, who owns a blog called FictionPies. Writing short fiction is her heartfelt passion. I love reading her posts, and her short stories. They are humorous and quirky but in a good way as they are different. 

 

So, now let’s hear from her about her favorite movie for today’s alphabet and why she loves that movie. 

 

Vaaranam Aayiram (Language: Tamil, Release: 2008)

 

Thanks to Aparna doing her A-Z on film recommendations, we discovered some English, Hindi, and Marathi gems here, and reaffirmed some of our all-time favorites as well. So, I thought why not bring in something completely new here? My recommendation for today is a Tamil movie called Vaaranam Aayiram (translated: A Thousand Elephants). 

 

The younger Suriya plays an army officer, and the movie outlines his growing up years, circumstances that lead him to join the army, personal tragedies that he goes through, finding love, re-finding love, and comfortable solace, all the while with the support of his mother, played by the beautiful Simran and of course, his father played by – Suriya again! 

        Playing both the son and father in this movie, emoting, and acting out the characters physically and emotionally going from 10 to 72 with such aplomb and ease, you can see why Suriya is so well-liked. 

 

The reason I pick this movie is for a few reasons. Firstly, the way it covers a gamut of relationships, emotions, and phases in life. And I can say with much confidence, if you re-watch it at different ages/stages in your life, you’ll relate to it differently every single time. What warms your heart consistently is the beautiful, emotional strength-filled father-son bond throughout – even when both characters are not sharing screen space, the faith and knowledge that his father is there for him, shine through – this is the stuff fathers are made of. 

 

The second reason is more personal, but then I suppose more shared too. Watching this movie, especially the parents – older Suriya and Simran (their younger love story is also shown!) I kept catching glimpses of my parents so much in the movie, once the movie ended, I ended up making an ISD phone call just to talk to them and tell them about it, and at that moment, I missed them so much! Parents usually are such an emotional safety net, even when they don’t make it obvious, even when they don’t spell it out, the silent confidence that they are around to catch you if you fall – it’s a Godsend. 

 

Gautham Vasudev Menon does a fabulous job with direction, and Harris Jayraj’s music is amazing. A couple of numbers stay with you! I still hum them from time to time. This isn’t a teary-eyed emotional drama (well, a little maybe) with lots of lectures or ‘gyaan’ as they say. There is no social message. Except what it leaves you with is happy emotions and warmth filled heavy heart. And isn’t that something really good? 

 

As of this writing, you can watch Vaaranam Aayiram on Voot, Zee 5, Hungama Play, MX Player, and VI movies. 

To check out other posts of A to Z challenge click on links below

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U for Understanding your Homeopath(Guest Post by Dr. Gopikrishnan Nambiar)

    Nowadays people prefer alternative medicines and out of them huge number are referring Homeopathy. But most of the times we hear people say “Homeopathy treatment is a slow process. It will take time to recover” or “Why does the homeopath need to know about my lifestyle or personal details? What has that to do with treatment for my cold or a headache?”

          Well today’s post will answer all those questions and try to clear common misunderstandings about homeopathic treatments.

Today’s guest post is by Dr.Gopikrishnan Nambiar who is a well-known Homeopath, practicing since 2001 at his clinic Homeoworld at Goregaon and Andheri and also at Bhaktivedanta Hospital, Mira road, and blogs occasionally at Homeoworld.

We were referred to a homeopath by our family physician a few years back as my daughter had recurrent vomiting and stomach infection issues and allopathic medicines used to take a toll on her. Now it’s been five years since she is under Dr. Nambiar’s treatment and her recurrent issues are much under control.

Dr. Gopikrishnan Nambiar became a homeopathic doctor by choice; after the “sweet sugared pills” relieved him of his childhood sickness when other medicines failed. After finishing his graduation in 1995 from Fr. Muller’s Homeopathic Medical college, Mangalore he started his practice. Then in 1997, he joined his MD (homeopathy) in Materia medica at A. M. Shaikh Homeopathic Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka.

After his completion of MD studies in 2000, he has been working as a Consultant in his clinic “HomeoWorld” since 2001 which is jointly run by him and his wife who is also MD in Homeopathy and as a Consultant in BhaktiVedanta Hospital since 2002.

Now let’s hear what Doc has to say.

Understanding your Homeopath and Homeopathic treatment

Homeopathy is a system of medicine, notable for its practice of prescribing medicines that do not contain chemically active ingredients. It has a wide and growing popularity in areas where it is practiced today, but the way homeopathy medicines work and many of the fundamental principles of homeopathy like the theory of the vital force and chronic miasms are still hotly debated.

Generally, when you visit a homeopath for the first time, you are asked many questions regarding your personal life, mental and emotional status etc. Many of the patients don’t like it and get irritated as they feel it’s not necessary and not related to their ailment. They say “what has my lifestyle got to do with my stomach ache or headache. Just give me medicines to relieve me of my pain.”

Now, that’s where homeopathy tends to differ from other systems of medicines.

Homeopathy as a science of medical treatment has a philosophy of its own and its therapeutics is based on certain fundamental principles. These are:

• Law of Similia,
• Law of Simplex,
• Law of Minimum,
• Doctrine of Drug Proving,
• Theory of Chronic Disease,
• Theory of Vital Force,
• Doctrine of Drug-Dynamisation.

As we all know, a tree’s growth depends on the depth and health of the roots, similarly a person’s aliment depends on what is causing it. Homeopathy acts on the root cause rather than superficial symptoms.

For example, if you have got rashes, it’s necessary to know the root cause. Itching and redness are the symptoms, which are just a tip of iceberg. The main and important thing that a homeopath must know to treat and have effective and permanent cure is the main cause of the rash.

So just giving medication and treatment for itching and redness won't completely solve the problem, and hence to know the root cause a doctor must know your lifestyle details and other information and hence the detailed questioning, which some feel are irrelevant.

A common misunderstanding that people have about Homeopathy is that it is very slow. In my clinical experience of more than two decades, I have heard this from people that they think Homeopathy is slow.

It is a natural system, obeys the laws of nature and takes optimum time to cure. Well, the treatment of chronic diseases depends on innumerable factors patient compliance, extent and intensity of damage, age, nature of previous therapies, the physician’s competence, etc. So homeopathy works faster than people normally think.

Because once the root cause is known, the treatment is started which directly attacks the root, hence the effect of medicines is fast as compared to the contrary belief of the ‘slow effect’.

Homeopathy has a two hundred year track record of curing illness. Homeopathy received widespread public attention through its effectiveness during epidemics of cholera in the 19th century. During the great influenza epidemic of the 1920’s, homeopathic hospitals reported low death rates, while hospitals employing conventional medicine reported death rates of 20% to 30%.

The important point that I would like to point is

“Each person is a unique universe, so homeopathy makes the attempt to take into account that wholeness.  Homeopathic medicines are not substitutes for allopathic drugs.  Homeopathic treatment restores the life force, so that your system can recover optimal function.”

N for NRI Housewife (Guest Post by Rubina Ramesh)

Today’s guest post is by another well-known Indie Author and admin of most sought-after book promotion club, The Book Club, Rubina Ramesh.

 Rubina Ramesh is an avid reader, writer, blogger, book reviewer, and marketer. She is the founder of The Book Club, an online book publicity group. Her first literary work was published in her school magazine. It gave her immense pride to see her own name at the bottom of the article. She was about 8 years old at that time. She then went to complete her MBA and after her marriage to her childhood friend, her travel saga started. From The Netherlands to the British Isles she lived her life like an adventure. After a short stint in Malaysia, she finally settled down in the desert state of USA, Arizona. Living with her DH and two human kids and one doggie kid, Rubina has finally started living the life she had always dreamed about – that of a writer.

One  can contact her at:

Her website: http://www.rubinaramesh.com/

Her Goodreads author profile :

 https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13831355.Rubina_Ramesh

Her facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/rubina.ramesh3

          My first read was The Knitted Tales, which is a collection of short stories ranging from romance to horror to mystery. I loved Rubina’s writing style as her stories always leave an effect on the readers, be it pain or romance or horror.

          I always hold Rubina in awe, as she is such an efficient multi-tasker, managing so many things. I always picture her as a mother hen (don’t let your imaginations run wild). Like a mother hen, she protects her chicks under her wings but when needed she gives the necessary pecks on their heads too. She is the most patient person I know, who is always there to help anyone out but can be a tough taskmaster too when the need arises.

So before Rubina makes me stand on a bench I better let her do her talking. 

NRI Housewife

A dream. Someone else’s dream. Someone else’s ambition is all that it takes for a woman to pack up her career and life and shift to the foreign shores, across those vast oceans from India. I can’t even tell you what it felt like when I had the first aerial view of New York. I had lived in The Netherlands for thirteen years, so being outside of India was nothing new to me. But hey, sophistication be damned, this was the land of dreams.

I am a movie buff. For me, movies are a projection of life. Shhhh…don’t judge me.  I am what I am and you all love me for that. So now, coming to the fact that when I saw movies where everyone came to the USA to fulfill their dreams, I too got down from the plane with a suitcase, two kids and a heart full of dreams.

And that was my only mistake in understanding life. After the first flush of excitement had died down and we transformed from being tourists to immigrants, the first reality that hit me was – I couldn’t work in this country.

A country where women are equal to men, a country where women are more independent, a country where a woman’s stride is no less than a man’s. Into this country walked in little me with a heart full of dreams, only to realize I don’t belong to any of the above categories.

I, Rubina Ramesh, was on dependent visa.

It didn’t affect me at all. When I first realized that my status was equivalent to that of a slave, who had the right to work in her house, clean her house, cook for her family, tend to every need of her family, but she didn’t have the right to open a bank account, have funds of her own and in general, had no right to have a single penny.

But it didn’t affect me at all. For I was numb. It was surreal. I am a very proud woman who was always independent in The Netherlands and India, but suddenly here, I was a nameless, account-less being.

But it didn’t affect me at all. I stopped caring with the passage of time. I stopped needing things with the passage of time. I stopped yearning for things other women took for granted over the passage of time. I had developed a blanket of indifference and pride which I didn’t allow anyone to penetrate. Not even my husband.

He thought I was happy, holidaying. He would go to work every morning while I took care of the kids, home, and family. Life, to the outsider, would look picture perfect in the house. But somewhere deep within me was an anger bubbling. You must be wondering what’s wrong with me. I had everything. I was in the USA, I have a loving husband who sees to it that I never lack ‘roti, kapda and makaan’ and kids I will die for. So what the heck is the problem?

Choice.

I don’t mind being a homemaker provided it’s my choice. My choice. Not a choice dictated by the government. Not a choice forced upon me due to law. Where is the progress in this kind of law? I wanted to rant, I wanted to go back home.

But I didn’t. For it didn’t affect me at all. I was, after all, a woman, whose wishes were the last in the list in a family. My kids love it here. My husband has a perfect job here. So I became the NRI housewife, where my every wish was granted, provided my husband granted them.

But it didn’t affect me at all. How could it? I didn’t have the permission for that.

So, dear youngsters out there – when you dream of USA, dream about your needs too. Not only of your spouses. I found a way to come out of it. But there are many out there who are still suffering. Their wants are squashed, their dreams are squandered and they are lost in life – just like their desires.

How I came out of it is a tale for another day. ☺☺

I For Indie Author (Guest Post by Sundari Venkatraman)

    Today’s post is a guest post by well-known Indie Author Sundari Venkatraman.

    Sundari requires no introduction. She is a well-known author, known for her romantic novels like The Malhotra Bride, The Madras Affair, etc and her recent mythological book MATSYA: The First Avatar (DASHAVATAR Book 1). Sundari is the author of 26 titles as of April 2018

Sundari with some of her creations in paperbacks (Sigh!!!)

• 19 novels/novellas
• 2 collections of short stories
• 2 short reads (one romance and one story from Indian Mythology)
• 3 collections

One can contact her at:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Sundari-Venkatraman/e/B00IBEUJV2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSundariVenkatraman/

    My first book was The Madras Affair and I just fell in love with Sundari’s work. I re-read her books especially when I am low and want an instant mood lift. Even though she writes romance, each story holds a hidden theme; about women, their various difficulties and problems. Like for example, The Madras Affair was about widow remarriage as a backdrop to romance.

Now it's better to hand over the mike oops pen to the author and let her writing do rest of talking. Over to you Sundari...

I for INDIE AUTHOR

Thank you so much, Aparna, for the opportunity to write a post on your blog. And of course, I have chosen a topic close to my heart, that of being an Indie author.

Some might say that Indie is synonymous with being a self-published author. But I wouldn’t agree with that statement. A self-published author is one who has published book/books by himself and that’s it. While an Indie author is one who has not only published book/books but takes charge of her whole writing/publishing/marketing journey, one who is the sole decision maker, one who takes complete responsibility for her book/s out there. All bouquets and brickbats belong solely to the indie author.

This definitely places a lot of weight on the author’s shoulders, but believe me, at the end of it all, it’s an amazingly satisfying journey indeed.

After trying to woo traditional publishers for 14 long years, I was introduced to the idea of publishing on Amazon KDP by none other than Rubina Ramesh, and as they say, the rest is history.

Today, I am the most successful Indie Author in India and I feel so fulfilled for being one. Being able to publish at my own pace, with a lot of encouragement from an ever-expanding base of readers and fans, makes me so glad that I have gone indie.

Writing is a lonely profession, they say. It draws energy only from self-motivation. So, how do I keep at it, day after day? It’s my dashboard on Amazon that’s updated hourly. When I watch the sales graph going up day after day, see tens of thousands of pages read, all I can say is that I am highly motivated to write and publish more and more.

WARNING: Just because it’s easy to publish doesn’t mean that shoddy content will make one a much-read author. Well edited and proofed content is the most important ingredient of a good book.

I am #PoweredbyIndie & #ProudtobeIndie