Friends

Nautanki/ Drama

Film Review

Hip-hip-hurray, just like that!
[Source – Filmfreeway]

That high school year passed too quickly, swiftly, madly and you could not believe it – holding unsaid messages in one hand and uncertain life decisions in the other, you had stepped out of the school gate.

Footsteps, voices, promises, laughter, you could hear it all, but when you had turned, you saw no one there.

Suddenly on your own, with phone calls, messages not being good enough and the classroom meetings of everyday, of every month, for so many years, suddenly took over by hostel walls, you were hit strongly.

The everyday meetings become few, fewer, rare… and the bond?

Presently, it makes a good happy place within you.

If you remember that last high school year, the last month, friends leaving town, and maybe you too leaving for a hostel, all by yourself, then you will love Nautanki*.

Remember…? Yeah, ha ha ha!
[Source – Filmfreeway]

A 2022 feature film, Nautanki, is a coming-of-age drama that calmly, brightly, innocently tells its story. It never forces any thoughts nor is it in a hurry to reach a dramatic point in the protagonist’s saga.

A very rare film that allows the viewer to be on a journey without the burden, aggression of being on one. Not fulfilling a duty, but just observing and exploring honestly, as much as one can.

Joshi will leave the town after his 10^th standard exams and his best friend, Priti, wonders if he has learnt anything at all, to pass the exams and in life, in general.

Experimenting with the flow, twisting the technique, the film progresses beautifully – where to, you ask, we don’t know for we too are moving with Joshi.

Fun times and fights with friends, that ‘not-speaking-anymore’ zone, the reunions that colours our high school years give us a tool for sure before thrusting us towards the end, the beginning.

A tool that navigates.

And with our very own – skilled, unskilled, aware, unaware – hands we write our life’s drama.

Joshi, who knows simply to be – not in the moment, he is ‘moment-free’, he is super careless/carefree – eventually will be pulled into the world’s drama…

Yes, no? And what role will he play in the Nautanki?

Here’s the trailer –

Watch Nautanki (1h 31m) anytime on YouTube, it is FREE, thanks to the director and his team.

*Nautanki is a Hindi word that means drama in English. It is used to refer to a style of theatrical performance that is usually more showy, exaggerated and over-the-top than traditional types of theatre. Nautanki performances often include elements like music and dance.

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Agent P

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Jagriti Rumi Belief Friends Hats Love Rays Myth Peace Keepers Perry - Agent P Pets Phineas and Ferb Platypus Secret Agents

Mixed Fiction

Agent P
He’s Perry, Perry the platypus
(You can call him Agent P)
Perry
(I said you can call him Agent P)
Agent P!!!

You must meet Agent P before going ahead –

There is an unsaid belief, upgraded as a myth and downgraded as a silly joke by some funky chaps, that our pets are, in reality, secret agents who fight/win/end battles and run against time, all the time, to save our planet. Wow!

Our furry, feathery, fierce, cutie-pie, moody friends follow a code covertly so as to fool the humans, carrying on with their tasks, living as undercover agents, pretending to be hungry all the time.

Calling for a cuddle, they plan their next move in the arena, darting love-rays through eyes, they confuse us, excited for a walk, they patrol the region thoroughly.

Agent P [©Disney Enterprises Inc.]
©Disney Enterprises Inc.
©Disney Enterprises Inc.
Doofenshmirtz, the evil scientist, thinks he can beat Agent P. ©Disney Enterprises Inc.
“I’ll keep trying”, says Doofenshmirtz. [©Disney Enterprises Inc.]

Legend has it that a pet platypus, called Perry the Platypus (Agent P), holds a record for defeating his nemesis – an evil scientist – and saving the day, every day. Ha-ha!

So much so that an animated series, Phineas and Ferb, showcases this legends’ legendary acts.

Hmm! This makes our dear pets more awesome; they are our lovely cool-cool peace keepers who know top-secret stuff, wear stylish hats and win battles usually before it even begins.

Meet the evil scientist, Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz and see Perry, I mean Agent P, in action –

Enjoy Agent P’s theme song, the extended version –

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Queue to Meet Rossetti and His Friends

Posted on February 10, 2018 by Jagriti Rumi God Knows Why Goodbye Old Lane Queue To Meet Rossetti And His Friends Red House Walking Whispered

Literary Nonsense

Walking in that old lane by the red house, who is that, oh, that is me. I turn left and bump into someone. Someone who happened to be a part of a long queue. Queue to meet Rossetti and his friends.

Don’t push, I said out loud, so that ten people before me and ten people after me could hear it. I said so in advance. And when the twenty some whispered, I shushed them.

**Frontispiece: Rossetti in Childhood**.
**[Source – Wikipedia]**

**Rossetti’s Name Is Heard In America.**
**[Source – Wikipedia]**

From the Frontispiece: Rossetti in Childhood to the last one, Rossetti’s Name is heard in America, I maintained the same attitude. I warned and shushed with an irresistible polite smirk on my face.

Walking in that old lane by the red house, who is that, oh, that is me. Allow me to bid goodbye now, I am in a rush, for those twenty some, god-knows-why, are following me.

Read about Rossetti and His Circle by Max Beerbohm here.

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Crane on Turtle Candlestick Holder

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Jagriti Rumi Blacksmith Capture Childhood Contorted Crane on Turtle Candlestick Holder Flamboyant Frame Friends Hai Hai! Japanese Vintage Memories Molten Metal Never Fades Old Random Thought Time Two Kids

Flash Fiction

“We are old friends.”
“Hai-hai!”
**[Japanese vintage candlestick; source – ebay]**

Our blacksmith picked up the mould and studied it. His expressions were not discernible, but the sweat on his forehead highlighted his precision as he poured the molten metal into the mould.

Whilst he worked, many frames, metal shapes – some contorted, some flamboyant – stared at him, acknowledging and appreciating in utter silence.

Our blacksmith, on his way back home, saw a little kid who was standing against a wall along with his friend, wasting time, living.

That little kid whispered something to his friend and they both started following our blacksmith, copying his gait.

A silly game, a random thought, a reason to smile.

Dear reader what does time say?

Time says it is next day.

Every frame, every metal shape was eagerly waiting for our blacksmith. Roller shutter made its habitual noise and our blacksmith entered his workshop, and along with him came his two buddies, those two kids we saw earlier.

Quickly they went and stood next to his grand table, jumping with excitement.

Our blacksmith finally showed them what was now ready in the mould – it was a crane on turtle candlestick holder.

The two kids laughed and so did our blacksmith. He said the crane and the turtle were friends and the kids inquired if he had seen something like that in real.

Our blacksmith nodded and said that when he was their age he went with his father to a lake side and saw a crane standing on a turtle’s back.

Childhood memories capture time that never fades.

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Ode to the Book – Easy SUDOKU Puzzles

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Jagriti Rumi Book Creative Juices Damn Easy Sudoku Puzzles Feelings Forget Forgive Friends Ode Oops Stingy

Literary Nonsense

Su-Do-Ku time, anytime!
[Image by Marie from Pixabay]

There is a book and it goes by the name

Easy SUDOKU Puzzles, it’s part of a series –

Medium SUDOKU Puzzles, Hard SUDOKU Puzzles.

All I can say is don’t buy the Easy ones.

The reason is damn straightforward,

Easy ones are way too easy and damn

Full of mistakes and it begins from the

Very first page. It makes you feel stingy.

Instead of creative juices flowing in your brain,

You fall asleep on the book and drool all over it

The book then sits eating dust and you forget it

Completely. And when you look at it, you start crying.

Friends might mock you for buying the book -Easy SUDOKU Puzzles;

They will crush your feelings and not understand,

Some will even question you as an individual.

Forget them, forgive yourself and solve the puzzles nevertheless

Or you can write a blog about it and kill the readers,

Oops!

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In Light and Darkness

Posted on December 11, 2014 by Jagriti Rumi Feeling Film Friends In Light and Darkness Spell Theatre Wild Roses Yellow Flower

Flash Fiction

Sitting in a theatre hall, watching a film, in light and darkness, in the noisy quietness, I realised how fast everything is moving and how static I am, busy running in my mind, alone.

The image of the yellow flower, growing peacefully in the sunlight is still fresh and I too can feel the warmth. I am running madly and my friends are running behind me, we are happy, and finishing the game means everything to us. There is a rush to catch and not to get caught.

After school hours, it wasn’t a routine to play on the way home, it was us, we were simply playing. I was fast but so were the others, with school bags on our back, we didn’t care of the world around us, we bumped into it passionately and made it alive. The lost adults often said, ‘You kids!’ and we replied with a ‘Sorry Uncle’ and a pure laugh.

The image fades away and suddenly I am walking all alone in the park. It is a rose garden but everywhere I see, the roses are pruned, they look like humans who know how to grow better, but not how to live. Wild roses are happier.

The protagonist is running wildly, furiously, shouting to express his anger…. When did I last run like him, wildly, shouting to express my anger, my happiness? Just before I was pruned, I guess.

Soon I’ll be forced out of this strange meditation class, soon the film will get over. The lights in the theatre hall will make me blind. But before that happens, let me take one last plunge, in that same memory that doesn’t leave me, of that yellow flower.

I walk passed it and then came back, I sat next to it and observed it. My friends were not around and the nature was talking and I was listening.

Why was that little yellow flower getting the entire attention there; the sun rays were perfectly falling on it and the trees were providing it enough shade, the earth was softly wet and the pebbles were guarding it in a funny way. I looked at it for some time and then one of my friends called out for me. I wasn’t startled; the spell broke but I was charmed and the feeling survived. It’s still living.

The film is going to end; there is a wave of calmness and acceptance in the air. People will clap and the ‘hypnotised all’ will come back in the normal world.

And I…I am not sure about myself, I like being in light and darkness.

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Greetings!

A storyteller, following the ancient tradition of cave chroniclers, standing in vrikshasana (the tree pose) on a hill top (it is sunny, but windy), breathing in and out stories (relishing it all, but at times overwhelmed), declares animatedly that she will continue to – tell stories, share rare story gems, and connect with the pacy universe while also keeping the website ad-free.

Big thanks to my readers. Stay tuned!

Also, a humble request to the new subscribers to check the spam folder after subscribing. Silly (but necessary) confirmation emails often land there instead of the bright inboxes. Merci!

Ya-hoy!

Chiming Stories (formerly Home Chimes)

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