Zindagi ka Language

Zee Studio is showing 'Mind Your Language'. Finally 7pm has a fresh show to see, after nearly a decade of F.R.I.E.N.D.S rerun on the same slot.

MYL is a terrific laugh riot. Each episode is a gem. They should really coin a phrase - 'as patient as Mr. Brown'. Phew what a class of students ! Each one better than the other.

There is a certain innocence / naiveté in watching these retro shows. Zee Studio is also showing 'Doogie Howser MD' & 'Wonder Years', which were a rage on Star plus, when cable television was brand new in India.

And much before that, we had 'Yeh Jo Hain Zindagi' on Doordarshan. That must have been 1984-6. I had vague memories from it. I always thought that Shafi Inamdar, Swaroop Sampat & Rajesh Bedi & Sathish Shah were the integral part of the show. So the exit of Ranjit & Renu, midway during the show, to Dubai, was a big surprise. And as I child I seriously wondered every week, as to why didn't Ranjit, Renu & Raja realise that it was Sathish Shah every time in different getups ? :)

'Jane Bhi Do Yaaron' also came around this time. Sathish Shah in this movie gave me a scare. My impression was that, this was a horror movie, rather than the sarcastic comedy it actually was. Again, I was a child then, and watching him as a corpse in all that night lighting in theatre did give it a scary feel.

About 'Yeh Jo Hain Zindagi', a few months back Star Plus showed it every weekday morning. It was a good thing to run in background while getting ready for office. When compared to the sophisticated sitcoms of today, it does appear more tacky or naive.

But that was a charm too. To see how things were in the early 80's. Their home, furniture, the phone & Fridge. Parathas for breakfast. Social life before mobile phone & cable television. And a lot of today's TV & movie stars appeared in this show, when they were gangly newcomers. Vidhu Vinod Chopra appeared in one episode as a film director. It was a short comic role and it was funny to see how gangly & awkward he was.

This show must have run as a weekly for years on DD. But showing it daily on Star Plus, exhausted it in a short time.

In Love

As on July 12th, I crossed a major milestone in my life. I became a Mom ! To my lovely Daughter !

To sum it up - Absolutely unbelievable ! I am still reeling in disbelief. Hubby is equally affected. Even while going through the mundane routine, we still manage to float in a dreammy world. Her face, her smile, every little twitch of eyebrow, her eyes, everything leaves us speechless.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows

The first book I read, in my new life, was Harry Potter Book 7 ! My Hubby remembered to buy it dot on 21st July, even while hunting around for baby stuff. And I read it while my baby slept. So I pretty much gave up my sleep time as well. But unlike other HP, I didn't sit through the night reading it. I am not that much of a superwoman.

Was good. Was definitely better than HP-B6. In sharp contrast, things move a lot faster here. Actually a lot of things happen here. Any crawling would mean, trible the size of book. And things get solved so fast, so obviously that its pretty incredible. But fine, since we want to know how it all ends, this is acceptable.

So much of the stuff was pretty crisp. Her trademark humor was sprinkled only a little bit. Everyone we knew, everything we knew, make an appearance here. And the Dumblerdore-Snape arrangement, that was not much of a surprise for me. From the way Snape kills & Dumblerdore dies in HP-B6, it definitely looked like an arrangement. And good thing it was.

And death, boy there is atleast one in every chapter. The only ones that moved me were the 3 during the war.

Happy New Year !!! 2007 !!!