When I sat and talked to my day (part 13)

Last few days have been hectic. Travels, work and duties - they were with me. So, in essence I was not bored, but I could not find time to pen down some thoughts to share with you all.

What has happened with me in the past few days? Well, as stated, some travels, I was at the shores of the Baltic Ocean and spent a lot of time to drink the beautiful moist air, to listen to the near-silent waves of the sea and to hum a few lines.

Visiting the seashores of southern Scandinavia brings several emotional highpoints -

• The Baltic Ocean is blue and obedient. It is relatively calm, almost like a river. But a sea cannot be a river. A river meets a sea, and not the other way around. So, the sea is hierarchically higher placed. Therefore, Baltic sometimes shows its higher status - it soars and disturbs its own serenity. This interplay of emotions of a sea is wonderful.
• The neat and clean surroundings of the Ocean is exemplary. Any beach you visit in Sweden, like, Malmö, Lomma, Simrishamn - there is not an ounce of dirt that could be found. This is despite the fact that there is enough pressure on a city like Malmö to cater to its inhabitants, especially during the mid-August when the city dazzles in the light of its festival. Walking through the clean beaches give immense satisfaction. Often it can trigger a spiritual enlightenment - who knows!

• There are enough kiosks, shops, cafes to hang around while visiting the seashores.

Moving on: the last week was also memorable because we celebrated the birthday of one of the greatest Indian poets of all time, Gulzar. He turned 92, but we can put the second number in front as well. Yes he is still the young 29 year old Sampooran Singh who had to leave his hometown to make a mark in the city of dreams, modern day Mumbai.

It is difficult to bring a towering genius like Gulzar into one single write-up. But let us talk about topics that media is mentioning. We all seem to have forgotten that apart from being a story, screenplay and dialogue writer in Hindi cinema, and apart from being an exceptional song-writer and even apart from being a renowned poet and story writer in Hindi/Urdu, he is also an extremely important filmmaker. He made films that he liked, owned and wanted to. And look at his range.

• Mere Apne was a movie for the youth, their anguish, their frustration, their sorrows.
• Koshish was about two couples with impairment - how revolutionary was the idea.
• Khushboo was simply a "beautiful" adaptation of the eminent writer Sarat Chandra Chatterjee novel "Pandit Moshai".
• Hu tu tu was a politically relevant and engaging story. I still remember the press conference of the movie release - actor Nana Patekar, who played a pivotal role in the movie, stated that Gulzar Saheb is there, therefore such movies are there!
• He made many other remarkable films, like Andhi, Angoor, Namkeen, Maachis, Kinaara to name a few!

Recommendation friends : find time to watch these classics.

Signing off now, will connect soon again!