Dream on... my heart! ;)

"Desert Rose"

I dream of rain
I dream of gardens in the desert sand
I wake in vain
I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of fire
Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire
And in the flames
Her shadows play in the shape of a man's desire

This desert rose
Each of her veils, a secret promise
This desert flower
No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

And as she turns
This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams
This fire burns
I realize that nothing's as it seems

I dream of rain
I lift my gaze to empty skies above
I close my eyes
This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love

I've been listening to this song repeatedly for the last few days... Exquisitely written lyrics... I really loved them! Man dreams and dreams... I guess that is what finally keeps us alive?

I dream of rain and green gardens in the desert that my life is... Is it possible that it might come true? nevertheless, I dream on... I wake up from the dream as I realise that it might not be true...? But I still continue to dream... of love... the one thing that everyone on this earth keeps looking for... not many may find it, but we dream on... Time runs through my hands... time goes on, doesn't stop... doesn't run backwards... always runs on... and I dream of love... maybe I will find it some day?

I dream of fire... sometimes I do... my desires, imaginations, dreams dancing like shadows in front of the fire... dream of them... is that all I can do? The dreams of course never tire... they run like a tireless horse... every time I sleep... sometimes, I dream with my eyes open as well...

The desert rose... my one love? with lots of secret promises... each promise meant to be kept? ... or broken? The sweetness of the rose... the smell... the beautiful moments... torture me? do they? they are just dreams... and the great thing is that I can shape things as I want in my dreams... I dream on...

Finally, realisation of reality strikes? Nothing is as it seems... everything is unreal... But I still dream... longingly gaze at the empty skies to open up sometime... close my eyes and immerse in the sweet intoxication of love... memories... sweet memories... besotting memories! A state of euphoria!

Taare Zameen Par... a movie with a message that touches the heart!

I had a few expectations when I went to watch this movie... and I am happy to say that I was totally satisfied. The movie is about a dyslexic child and how he is misunderstood and mistreated by everyone, including his own parents. It is a story of hope, where the child finally overcomes his obstacles, with the help of a teacher who himself has been through the same problem. His family finally accepts him and we have a happy ending... (what can I say... I am partial to happy endings... :P)

The protagonist of the movie Ishaan Awasthi, played by Darsheel Safary, is very real. I think child actors are really giving great performances these days... The astounding performance of Darsheel was reminiscent of the phenomenal performance of Freddie Highmore in August Rush. The other actors in the movie all seem very real. Not many known faces in the movie, which is a sort of a beneficial factor; the good thing is that each of the characters has played his or her part to perfection. Aamir is at his usual best! Of course, we can overlook the three professors at the boarding school; not that they haven't delivered, but their characters seem unbaked or too hypothetical - there could have been more depth provided to at least one of them. We can also neglect the fact that the movie could have been a few minutes shorter... The movie, as a whole, makes up for all the flaws.

Music in the movie is good too... and so are the lyrics! I was really touched by the song "Maa...", where the child sings out to his mother. "I have always been afraid of the dark, but I did not say anything... I always cared for you, but I may not have shown it... but you always knew me, you always knew everything... please do not leave me... do not send me away... am I really that bad, my dear mom?" The lyrics are really poignant. And the picturisation is great too. The other song that moved me was the title song. They really brought tears to my eyes.

The very concept of the movie is so real. When people do not understand you, or what you are going through, they just follow the traditional path, saying "you are just being stubborn, you can do anything if you really put your mind to it." This has been perfectly captured in the movie where the father of the dyslexic child just thinks that the child is acting up or is just being stubborn and hence, is not being good at school-work. That is the problem with the close-minded educated people... they "think" they know everything... but very few realise that there is always something that we do not know, something that might be true and real if we just try to understand!

In the movie, the teacher puts the father in his place when he asks him to read Chinese... saying he just has to make up his mind, he has to work hard and he would be able to do it... the exact same words that were used for the child who just could not get it! The helplessness of the child then dawns upon the father, but again being "practical", his comeback is "what would he do in the society? how will he live?" Hmmm... that makes sense and is something that needs to be thought about too. But again, what is society? It is we who make up the society! If the society has to accept something or realise the issues, someone has to pioneer... First of all, we should ourselves understand the issues and then, accept it... only then do we have to think about the society...

The child was really lucky to have found a person who has been through the same problem, else he might have ended up becoming a withdrawn, depressed person, or a socio-path or might even have killed himself... I personally have seen my own friends going through lots of problems since they could not do well at school... they might all not have been dyslexic, some might have been... some might have had other issues. We basically have to try to understand the problem, instead of being stubborn about it and pressurizing the person involved. In a broader sense, we should try to understand, feel and recognise what people might be going through, instead of just being judgmental and bigoted. If we just make an effort to educate ourselves of the issues, instead of putting them down without even thinking, it would be a real help in most situations. And it shows that we care. I wish to see more Indian movies with good themes like this... Overall, a really wonderful movie with a ray of hope and a good message.