F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Who hasn’t heard of “Friends”? This ubiquitous group of six friends struggling to balance their love lives, career, relationships and finding solace in their redeeming friendship, has spawned generations of fans or what me and my sis call Friends’ Fanatics. We’ve lost count of how many times we’ve seen the re-runs, re-re-runs, re-re-re-runs and so on and so forth. But not once have we tired of watching the repeats. We know the dialogues by heart and could rant them off in our sleep, but we still laugh every time we hear the very same jokes.

Ross’s histrionics, funny faces and expressions, Chandler’s sarcastic gags and a knack for getting into awkward situations, Joey’s slow brains and smooth “How you doing?”s, Monica’s finickiness and obsession with cleanliness, Phoebe’s weird and ludicrous antics and Rachel’s girly habits all make you roll with laughter. So here are some of my personal favorite episodes. Spoiler alert for all of you who aren't Friends Fanatics. :)

1. The episode where Chandler’s hyper-annoying girl-friend, Janice with her “Oh my God”s and a laugh that drives you up the wall, proclaims that it’s impossible for six people who are such good friends, so close to each other and who spend so much time together to have never gotten involved with one another. Now, we all know about Ross and Rachel, and Monica and Chandler. But this proclamation has everyone scurrying away from the scene as they reminisce about their past ‘almost encounters’.
   
   
2. The episode of ‘What-If’s, where sitting at Central Perk, all of them try to imagine how different their lives would have been had Rachel married Barry, Monica still been fat, Phoebe accepted a job proposal to work at Meryl Lynch, Joey still been on ‘Days of our Lives’, Chandler quit his job to pursue comic writing and Ross still been married to Carol. Hilarity ensues!
3. The series of episodes of Ross’ doomed wedding to Emily when Monica and Chandler hook-up and do everything within their power to keep the affair under wraps and how each member of the group finds out. Phoebe pretends to hit on Chandler to freak him out and worm the truth out of him, and Chandler (on Monica's instructions) in turn pretends to reciprocate, to give Phoebe and Rachel (who is Phoebe's partner in crime) a taste of their own medicine. The kitschy competition between Phoebe and Chandler is uproarious.
4. The Las Vegas episode where Rachel and Ross try to embarrass each other in a bid to prove that the other one gets more embarrassed. They however, go overboard and get married in a drunken stupor. Ross’ obsession with not getting a third divorce is hilarious.
5. Monica and Chandler's wedding episodes in which Chandler, finally in keeping with his character, gets cold feet at the eleventh hour, triggered by the epiphany that they are soon to become the "Bings". Ross and Phoebe leave no stone unturned in trying to catch hold of Chandler and eventually do manage to find him and bring him back, while Rachel stalls Monica at her apartment. All is well and Monica completely in the dark till Joey blurts it out right in the middle of the wedding ceremony. Once the cat is out of the bag, all the secrets start pouring out including, Chandler and Phoebe's belief that Monica is pregnant.
6. This is the next one in which one by one everyone except the real father realize that it is Rachel who is pregnant, not Monica. They start the hunt for the real dad whose identity Rachel has kept secret, only to discover that the real father is, hold your breathe, none other than Ross!!!
7. The episode in which Ross buys a new couch and being too stingy to pay for the extravagant delivery charges, takes it on himself to carry it, without successmof course. No point for guessing that one. Then he takes Rachel and Chandler’s help with disastrous results and rib-tickling entertainment.
8. The Unangi episode in which Rachel and Phoebe take self-defense lessons which Ross thinks are not enough, much to his own chagrin. According to him they need to have “Uangi”, a state of constant and total awareness, to protect themselves from danger. He tries to prove his point to them and ends up getting beaten up himself.
9. The episode of Ross’ inappropriate song, where Ross makes his daughter with Rachel, Emma laugh after singing an inappropriate, sexist song “Baby got back” and Rachel is furious. But after many failed attempts at making Emma laugh again, she too resorts to the same means and finally both end up singing and dancing to the raunchy number to make Emma laugh, only to be caught by the rest of the Friends.
10. The episode where Rachel's sister Amy visits her for Thanksgiving and joins the celebration at Monica's place. It no longer remains a celebration as she broaches on a rather sensitive but comical topic of who would get Emma's guardianship after Ross and Rachel's death. What follows is a cat fight between the two sisters & a laugh riot, and one that I'm not gonna ruin for you.  

     I could go on and the so would my list of personal favorites. But I don't wanna kill the fun of actually watching the episodes for all of you out there reading this blog, who haven't seen all these episodes. As for the rest who remember all these episodes and nodding your heads and laughing, welcome to the the club of Friends' Fanatics.

     PS: I'd love to know your favorite episodes :) .

Why women hate women?

   Sounds familiar or absurd? Well if you’re a woman, I’m sure it doesn’t sound all that absurd. At some point of time in life, you too must have taken that instant dislike to some fellow woman for no apparent reason. Mind you, I’m saying apparent, but deep down you might even know the reason, but choose to ignore it. May be she has a better face, better body, better job, better salary, better house OR this one’s gonna hurt, better boyfriend. By now we all know there is no such thing as a better husband.
Have you ever realized:

• How if you were to be given a choice to pick a co-worker, between one male and one female, you would, most of the times, automatically pick the male?
• How if you were to give a girl or a guy your car to drive, you would throw the keys towards the guy faster than he or she can say, "Sure I’ll drive"?
• How if your cable company sent you a female technician to fix a technical glitch, you’d be surprised and instantly express your doubts about her capabilities, in a not so subtle way by nudging your poor husband in the ribs?
• How, way back in school and college, you felt your female professors always favored the guys?
• Imagine you're having one of your small coffee breaks/ gossip sessions at the office vending machine with your gang of girls and a gorgeous woman passes by. Men are not the only ones checking her out. You and your gang of girls do it too, but only with the purpose of finding faults. Her top is too tight, her hair is messy, shoes are out of fashion and so on and so forth.

   Bottomline is we women bitch too much and worse we bitch the most about each other. In one movie that I recently saw, called "Mean Girls", one of the female teachers conducts an impromptu attitude adjustment session for the entire female population. She asks everyone to close their eyes and raise their hands if they've ever felt that their female friends have bitched about them behind their backs. Not surprisingly, all the girls open their eyes to find each hand in the auditorium raised. Then she asks them to close their eyes again and raise their hands if they have ever bitched about their female friends behind their backs. No points for guessing that once again they all open their eyes to see each and every hand raised. Says it all about female mentalities right?
   But have you ever wondered, why our brains work this way, why instead of admiring the women who’ve done better than us and empathizing with the not so lucky ones, we’re jealous of the former and gloat at the latter? I have! Many times over, but never really found any logically satisfying answer. And then one fine day when I was watching TV, I came across this movie being aired, in which a divorced women’s group met every once in a week to discuss their problems, share it, more like, exchange advice and basically do everything else that divorced women are likely to do together. Something about what one of them said hit me, hit me hard! According to her, we women are raised to perceive each other in a certain way, to hate each other since childhood. It’s engrained in our systems; we don’t even realize we are doing it. We might be staunch bra-burning, protest marching, loud thinking, screaming from the rooftops feminists, but we still hate the next girl’s guts. And the answer is simple; it’s because we're so used to seeing each other as competition. It starts right from school where the competition is for scoring better in exams, getting male attention, then for a better college, better job, better husband, better this better that.
   When will we give it a rest? Only after we rest? We women have enough issues to deal with already; female infanticide, sexism, eve-teasing, molestation, rape, dowry, the list is endless. Wouldn’t it be better if we all could always bank on each other at least for support, for comfort, for empathy? Who would understand better than another woman? That’s what girl friends and agony aunts are for right? Why don’t we start seeing each woman we meet as a potential best friend rather than competition? I know it's extremely diffcult to change deepset attitudes even if they are towards one own gender. It might be too late for some of us OR may be not.

Breaking Dawn

After watching Eclipse I felt obliged to read the next book of the Twilight series. For the uninitiated, this is the fourth book in the series of the Twilight saga penned by Stephenie Meyer. In this captivating, edge-of-the-seat thriller this unusual love triangle between a human, vampire and werewolf takes some totally unexpected turns. It centers around three characters. Bella Swan, an average teenager who has an uncanny knack for attracting trouble, and who falls in love with Edward Cullen, a vampire. He belongs to a coven of vampires who consider themselves vegetarians since unlike others of their kind they feed only on animal blood. The third protagonist is Jacob Black, a werewolf and a family friend of Bella’s who also loves her. The love triangle ends in a new element of surprise as Bella and Edward tie the knot much to Jacob’s chagrin.

If you thought this was mind-bogglingly intriguing, then wait till you get to the biggest twist in the tale when Bella gets pregnant, raising a million questions about her unborn child. What will the child be, a human, a vampire or a hitherto unheard of hybrid? Will Bella survive as the child grows stronger than her and in some bizarre pregnancy sickness, keeps her from eating normal food? And even if she does can she remain human or will she have her heart’s desire of becoming a vampire fulfilled from Edward, in his fight for her survival? Yes, that’s what she ultimately yearns for, to become a vampire and live happily ever after with the love of her life, Edward, locked in a beautiful body that will be forever young at eighteen. How will Jacob and his pack of wolves, which considers it their mission to save human life at all costs, take this new and strange development? And most importantly what will the all-powerful Volturi, an ancient coven of vampires who are akin to dispensers of justice and who are responsible for protecting the secret of the existence of vampires from the other species react? Will they allow this latest addition to the Cullen family?

If you’re a fan of the Twilight saga, it won’t get any better than this, or will it? And if you’re not a fan yet, you only have to pick up this book, to become one. So go read it for its raw suspense and thrills!

Pen Pencil Paper

I miss the good old days of writing on a piece of paper or a notebook with a half-chewed off pencil or a much abused pen in my hand.

I miss my school days when I used to sit by the window watching the rain. Sometimes pouring down in torrents, sometimes blowing gently with the breeze. I used to love watching the trees getting wet and the water drops sliding slowly off the leaves. Standing by my window, with the breeze spraying my face with gentle splashes of water, I started writing poetry for the first time. Being my first muse, the rain still holds a special place in my heart.

I remember when our English teacher used to give us some new essay topic; I used to rush home to get cracking. I only had to put the pen to paper and the words used to start flowing, flooding sometimes. Ah, the joys of writing!

Time passed and English was ousted from the list of important subjects in junior college. It was in fact banished to the list of 'will buy the textbook one day before the exams, if I get anytime off from the Big Three (read Physics, Chemistry, Maths)' subjects. So no more tons of essay and story-writing. But I didn't let go. In 12th  I used to commute all the way between Vile Parle and Dadar to attend coaching classes, by bus. Fortunately for me the bus passed from the Bandra sea face where I found my second muse. The sea! I can still feel the tidal wave of emotions that the sea invoked in me those days and the endless number of poems I composed then, some while sitting/standing in the bus. That's the handy thing about pen, pencil and papers. You can get down to exactly what you wanna do anytime, anyplace. Some will say the same holds true for laptops, but well how many students in India carry laptops?

I might still have a couple of those poems, but I dare not read them. I'm afraid they'll make me way too nostalgic. In school that was just a word I used because it sounded nice and fancy and grown-up somehow. Now I know what it really means. Isn't it ironic how in those days we all couldn't wait to grow up and now that we have grown-up, we miss our childhood?

Years passed and I barely wrote, until the recent past. I was consumed by a sudden inspiration, a yearning to to write again. And here I am sitting in front of my PC, staring at the screen , struggling with the keyboard to type faster. I can't help but remember the good old days of a simple pen and paper. No fancy blogs, no colors, no audio-visuals to jazz things up. Simply penning away your thoughts. THAT felt like writing. This feels like typing and God knows, even after all these years, my typing speed sucks!!!

HP & LOR

For the ardent fans of literature, especially fiction (including me), J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter has proved to be a literary treat. A tour de force into the magical world which transports us to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, with all its intriguing features, Harry Potter is a book that truly transcends all boundaries of time and age. With crores of readers all over the world and money more than the queen of England, J.K. has spawned a whole new generation of Harry Potter fans, whose following borders on reverence of their favorite character, Harry. 

Next to Harry the most mesmerizing character of the books is the Dark Lord, Voldemort himself. Dark Lord, does the name ring a bell? It is said that, “The English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and those who are going to read them”. Those belonging to the former category will know that Dark Lord is the Sauron of LOR and that the similarities between The Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series are undeniable.

Harry & Frodo: Frodo Baggins, the protagonist of LOR and Harry, have more in common than their fates that predict their roles in the ultimate destruction of evil. Both have been raised without parents by their near relatives. Harry is raised by his mother’s sister Petunia and her husband Vernon Dursley, muggles (or non-magic people) to the core. Frodo, though the book does not say why and never mentions his parents, has been raised by his beloved uncle Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is like a father figure to Frodo as is Sirius Black to Harry. Sirius is Harry’s father James’ best friend and Harry’s godfather.

Both Frodo and Harry live comparatively uneventful lives till they come to know the fate that awaits them. For Frodo the moment of epiphany comes when he discovers the true identity of the Ring, which he inherited from Bilbo and for Harry, the turning point of his life comes when he is told that he is a wizard.

Voldemort & Suaron: The next most prominent characters of both the books are Lord Voldemort of HP and the Dark Lord, Sauron of LOR who are splitting images of each other. In fact both Lord Voldemort, ‘You know who’ or ‘He who must not be named’ as most of the wizarding community calls him, is referred to as the Dark Lord by his fellow Death Eaters. Both are consumed in their own evil, torturing innocents, murdering their opponents, creating an equally evil band of followers in their bid to become all-powerful and dominate all life forms.

Sauron is vanquished after being separated from the One Ring, when Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand, and Sauron’s spirit fled. He did not die but was out there bidding his time and hoping to be re-united with the One. The One has the power to control all the other rings of power which themselves ruled the fates of their respective races. Three of the rings of power belonged to the elves, nine to men and seven to the dwarf lords, all of whom were deceived as unknown to all of them, Sauron forged another master ring in the fires of Mount Doom, the One Ring to rule them all. Indeed without the destruction of the One, Sauron could never have been destroyed entirely. The Dark Lord and his One Ring are one in spirit, for he poured much of his malice and power into it when he secretly forged it.

The same fate befalls Voldemort, when he tries to kill baby Harry and the killing curse rebounded on him because of the shield provided by Harry’s mother who herself died protecting Harry from Voldemort. But as he himself proclaims, he has gone further along the path to immortality then anyone else, does not die, but is only reduced to something barely alive. The reason being, that his soul is divided into at least six known parts in the form of Horcruxes. Much like Sauron’s One Ring, Voldemort put parts of his soul in Horcruxes and was on his way to making the seventh one when he tried to kill Harry. Horcrux is an object or sometimes even a living being (as in case of Voldemort) in which a person conceals a part of his soul. This splitting of the soul is made possible by a supreme act of evil, by committing murder. Note the fact that both Sauron and Voldemort have their souls cleverly concealed within objects outside their bodies without whose annihilation their own death is impossible. Just the way Sauron is indestructible without the One being undone, Voldemort is an immortal while his Horcruxes remained intact.

Frodo on wearing the One Ring gets transported to the world of darkness, the living dead wherein Sauron can see him and he can also see the Great Eye of Sauron, and his Ringwraiths in their true form. Harry too is connected to Lord Voldemort by the means of the lightning scar on his forehead which is a relic of Voldemort’s attack on him. As it is proved in Book Five, Harry and Voldemort have access to each other’s thoughts and emotions, an access undeniably made feasible because of the scar. Harry’s scar gives him excruciating pain when Voldemort is close to him or is particularly enraged. In essence, just the way Frodo and Sauron get connected after wearing the Ring, Harry and Voldemort are connected through Harry’s scar.

Dementors & Nazguls: Amongst the allies or rather servants of Voldemort, besides the Death Eaters, are Dementors. They are vicious creatures who suck the happiness and joy out of people, literally feeding on the happy thoughts and memories of a person, leaving him feeling miserable, reliving the worst memories of his life. They are capable of sucking a person’s soul by administering what is referred to as the dementor’s kiss. They instantly remind one of Sauron’s most evil and trusted servants, the nine Ringwraiths or the Nazgul, who were once upon a time great kings of men. Falling prey to their own avaricious natures, they accepted the rings of power from Sauron and one by one they started fading and in the end became permanently invisible. They fell under Sauron’s dark shadow as the One controlled them all and became Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead, his most terrible servants, endowed with powers to spread fear, discord and misery just like the Dementors in HP.

Dumbledore & Gandalf: Frodo’s mentor throughout the story, indeed the one who first set Frodo on the perilous trail of destroying the One, though at that time it was merely a quest to bring the ring to safely to Rivendell, the land of the Elves, was a very wise and shrewd wizard, Gandalf Greyback.Gandalf’s role in the story is the same as that of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, in HP. Right since Voldemort’s attack and Harry’s parent’s death, Harry has been under the watchful eye of Dumbledore and his loyal allies. The way Gandalf reveals the only way to destroy Sauron to Frodo, so does Dumbledore unearth the secret of Voldemort’s destruction to Harry, and the means to achieve it.

Gandalf falls in an abyss fighting an ancient fiery creature called Balrog in the mines of Moria and is believed to be dead before his miraculous return as the White rider. Dumbledore also meets his end when Severus Snape kills him as a part of a well-staged ploy.

Fawkes & Gwahir: Dumbledore’s pet bird Fawkes, a phoenix who is very powerful in his own right, has saved Dumbledore as well as Harry’s life more than once. He saved Harry’s life when he punctured the eyes of the Basilisk that Voldemort set on Harry. A basilisk’s stare is fatal to anyone who sees it and Fawkes’ timely help literally saves the day. Fawkes is also known to have saved Dumbledore’s life once during his encounter with Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic in Book Five. When Voldemort uses the Avada Kedavra curse on Dumbledore, Fawkes swoops down in front of Dumbledore, opens his beak wide and swallows the jet of green light whole, bursting into flames. Fawkes is reminiscent of Gwahir, the Wind Lord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, who rescued Gandalf from the clutches of Saruman, when Gandalf is imprisoned on the top of Saruman’s tower, Orthanc, staffless and helpless. Even after Frodo and Sam finally destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, the whole land starts filling with volcanoes, fire and darkness. Just when it looks like the end for Frodo and Sam, Gwahir and his fellow eagles Landroval and Meneldor bear them away from Mount Doom to safety.

Some more: In the days of Voldemort’s rise to power and terror, the good folks fighting against him had formed an organization called ‘The Order of the Phoenix’ to rally against Voldemort. Vis-a-vis in LOR, the group of people who volunteered to help Frodo on his quest to destroy the One are known as ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’.

Samwise Gamgee’s place as Frodo’s gardener and friend who accompanies him right till the end of his journey is taken by Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger in HP. Without the help of these trusted friends, neither Frodo nor Harry would have been able to fulfill their quests.

With the ‘Harry is a Horcrux’ theory being proved true in the seventh book, Harry could be called the soul-bearer akin to Frodo who’s the ring-bearer in LOR. Makes us wonder if the web of magic spun by J.K. Rowling has been inspired by JRR Tolkien’s LOR. My guess is as good as yours.