Life's Strange Ways...!!!

  There’s a scene in *Revolutionary Road* (2008) that has forced me to reflect upon our life choices. The lead characters  Frank (Leonardo DiCaprio) and April (Kate Winslet)  announce their plan to move to Paris, when  John (Michael Shannon) and his parents visit them at their home. Afterwards when,   Frank, April and John  are walking in the woods, in the midst of casual conversation, John asks them, what they’re running from and what's in Paris?. April answers, “A different way of life.” Frank, after a pause, admits: “Maybe we’re running. We’re running from the hopeless emptiness of the whole life here. ”  When we reflect on this, Frank’s words are not just about them—it’s about us too. Many of us know what that hopeless emptiness feels like. The routine of a job we don’t enjoy, dreams that never take off, relationships that lose their spark. Life starts to feel like something we just go through, not something we live.  April’s failed acting ca...

 There’s a scene in the movie "Song Sung Blue" (2025) that seemed like deja-vu. The lead character, Mike Sardina, after sitting through an alcoholics therapy group, joins the circle as they recite the following words that feel almost too familiar:   " God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. " I’ve heard this prayer before, but in that moment it didn’t sound like a ritual.  It sounded like a truth earned the hard way. When we’re young, we don’t think much about serenity or wisdom. We’re restless, eager to conquer, convinced that every wall can be broken if we just push harder. Courage is the only virtue we recognize and we wear it like an armour.  But life has a way of softening that armor. Defeats arrive, sometimes quietly, sometimes with a force that leaves us shaken. Dreams bend, ambitions stall and the world reminds us that it isn’t ours to command. Slowly, a...

 In "Landman" series season 2, episode 7, there’s a scene where Tommy takes his father TL for lunch reluctantly, since he's in a hurry to attend to some issue at his oil company. When TL is eating slowly enjoying the food, Tommy urges T.L., to eat faster. T.L. looks at him and replies:  “What’s your hurry, son? All those problems you’re racing home to fix is problems, when you get there. And once you solve them, there’s a whole new set right behind them. You got to enjoy the moments between the problems. Otherwise… problems is all you’ll have. ”  Isn’t this exactly how most of us live today? Always rushing—racing from one task to the next, one deadline to another, one ambition after the other. We convince ourselves that once we solve this problem, life will finally settle down. But the truth is, problems never stop lining up. They just change shape and colour. And in that endless race, we forget the small pauses—the laughter over dinner, the slow walk at sunset, the joy o...

 One of old post from wordpress ... Dec 2017.... ******************************************** With Diwali gone by and Christmas coming soon, this is the season of Love and Sharing 🙂 Recently, I was witness to the spirit of giving in action. It so happened, I was returning from my hometown to my workplace in a train. There was this young boy(maybe aged 15-17 yrs) who was seated in my opposite seat(lets call him X). I didn’t observe the boy much till the time, the train reached (maybe) Tumkur station. Here one boy(lets call him Y) and his father got into the train and they sat next to this boy. The two boys were having some usual conversation for sometime. At one point the boy Y, asked boy X what was pinned to his bag?  There was a smiley sticker pinned to boy X’s bag. Boy X said its a smiley and he had many of them and after giving some of them one was left with him 🙂 . At this point boy Y, asked if he can get that smiley? Boy X, immediately took the smiley from his bag and g...

  The other day, I was watching Season 2 of the series "Landman". In this series, T.L. (father of the lead character Tommy Norris) has spent decades grieving the loss of his wife, the mother Tommy was never fond of. After the death of their daughter, her soul broke and she slipped into alcoholism and abuse. That tragedy scarred both Tommy and T.L. alike. In its aftermath, T.L. stopped living in the present. He clung to the past, surviving on memories of the “joyful woman” he once married, instead of creating new ones by setting his life straight. Because of this, Tommy and T.L. grew estranged for decades, only reuniting after the death of Tommy’s mother.   In Episode 6, there’s a moment that struck me. Tommy is driving with T.L. and mentions that he needs to decide about re‑marrying his ex‑wife, Angela, who has returned to his life after their divorce. At this point, T.L. tells him:  “ Your making‑memory days is about behind you, son. And trust me, living off of...