"Never Forget Your Parents" said Franklin Pierce Adams

"They've worried and cared whenever we hurt, with words always loving, though sometimes quite curt.
They may have made blunders but always have cared, and good times alike they have shared."

(The two latter verses are a light foundation that sets the tone for the powerful ballad that comes to stage below)

To all my lovely readers,

Today, I quote a popular ballad composed by the famous 

"Franklin Pierce Adams"( Born-Nov 15,1881,New York City). 

He was an American Columnist well known by his initials F.P.A., and Wit, best known for his newspaper column "The Conning Tower", and his appearance as a regular panelist on Radio's "Information Please" . A prolific writer of light verse. 

"Never Forget Your Parents"

A young man once was sitting

Within a swell cafe,

The music it was playing sweet--

  The people was quite gay.

But he alone was silent,

  A tear was in his eye--

A waitress she stepped up to him, and

  Asked him gently why.

He turned to her in sorrow and

  At first he spoke no word,

But soon he spoke unto her, for

  She was an honest girl.

He rose up from the table

  In that elegant cafe,

And in a voice replete with tears

  To her he then did say:

Never forget your father,

  Think all he done for you;

A mother is a boy's best friend,

  So loving, kind, and true,

If it were not for them, I'm sure

  I might be quite forlorn;

And if your parents had not have lived

  You would not have been born.

A hush fell on the laughing throng,

  It made them feel quite bad,

For most of them was people, and

Some parents they had had.

Both men and ladies did shed tears.

  The music it did cease.

For all knew he had spoke the truth

  By looking at his face.

The waitress she wept bitterly

  And others was in tears

It made them think of the old home

  They had not saw in years.

And while their hearts was heavy and

  Their eyes they was quite red.

This brave and honest boy again

  To them these words he said:

Never forget, etc.

Take The "HIGHWAY"

Good afternoon, Guten Tag, and Masah Al Khair,

This Review/Thought/Article of mine has been inspired on many levels by the movie
"HIGHWAY" - starring 'Randeep Hooda' & Alia Bhatt directed by Imtiaz Ali.

Let me start by saying that I was absolutely floored by Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt's acting skills. I cant think of ANY two actors who could have pulled off such RAW and HUMANE Roles. All credit goes to the amazing Imtiaz Ali who directed this piece of ART and Why I call it a piece of Art, I will explain below.

                                             This is my take on "HIGHWAY"

The movie show's two characters from two different strata's of society drawn into SPELL-BINDING Moments of Brutality, Truth and Trust that bring out a strange connection between the two.

There are these precious moments of vulnerability and softness in the character of a have-not leader of a local brute gang (Randeep Hooda)  in charge of the young girl's abduction and then the freedom and truth in the character of the young girl(Alia Bhatt) who finds so much peace and inner rest in the company of her kidnapper rather than the twisted and fake home she feels no sense of belonging in.

The character of Veera (Alia Bhatt) is one of INNOCENCE yet she has a sense of Extreme Maturity when it comes to dealing with the idiosyncrasies of this Hot-Headed Don (Mahabir Bhati ).
She has an INFECTIOUS effect on this gang-leader who even through his tough, angry shell , feels for her and is at times baffled by her innocent yet quirky nature (pataka guddi that she is ;) )

In the scene where Veera opens up about the immoral acts she was coerced into with her uncle in the movie, you definitely can feel the pain she exudes, but is immensely relieving for her to share her deepest darkest secrets with her kidnapper (something she wasn't comfortable expressing to people she was related to by BLOOD and even if she did, she would find so solace.)

Randeep Hooda  has for sure, put in hours,days,weeks of work in understanding how the local Gujjar gangs speak, act, eat, stand, look, stare etc. However, even in his ragged clothes there was a sense of awesomeness about him which I am still yet to decide if it was due to the fact that he is THE Suave Randeep Hooda or if it's the Rugged, Raw Role he played of Mahabir Bhati.

Now I'm not a fluent speaker of Hindi, neither is it my mother tongue, hence there was a lot in the movie I wasn't able to understand but the accent and attitude he pulled off in his dialogues were downright real. I can say that much because I've heard a lot of people speak that way in North India and it's usually the drivers and the rickshaw-walas so Mr. Hooda gets full credit for that. He was Bang-ON.
Even his complete and absolute silence in some parts of the movie CRIED OUT.

ALL in ALL, I think I made more of a Real Connection with Randeep Hooda since HIGHWAY - not that he would really be concerned that I did - but The way he played his role I feel said more about HIM as a PERSON (not that I'm judging) but it's nice to know there's some REAL Actors out there, who don't mind rolling up their sleeves and getting down and dirty once in a while. I feel he isn't a fake, even through his interviews he sounded grounded and down-to-earth and genuine which is hard to find in Men, leave alone Actor's these days.

The character of Mahabir Bhati played by Randeep Hooda is by far, honestly one that I'm most impressed with. Impressed and relevant to the extent that I was in tears in most parts of the movie while people around me and behind me at the theater sat laughing. It was EMOTIONAL RIDE throughout.

HIGHWAY - especially gives us an understanding into the lives of the have-not class of people we usually tend to stay away from, of course within Reason.
However there is a reason they are the way they are.
Life is tougher for them than for us, Life is more unfair to them than to us, and most of the time it is this way solely because they were unfortunate enough to have been born into a certain class of society we deem fit and unfit to approve of. It isn't fair. Of course it is not always the case.. I may stand corrected but there are various dynamics which strive on the culture and country they belong to.

Many components of the movie made so much sense to me and I felt a personal connection with the movie and the message it was trying to convey.
After the movie, I heard many say that there was no real "MORAL" of the story in the movie.
To Limit this movie - HIGHWAY to just a Moral would be unfair. There are a million messages in this movie through every scene and I'm so glad I got mine.

I'm hoping the director of this film IMTIAZ ALI , the cast and other contributors would understand that their Movie made a 100% sense to at'least ONE Viewer. (if not many)

In Reflection to the my latter notes, I contribute the below :-

Life takes us many places, 
through different routes, 
over different obstacles, 
through dark tunnels, 
through strange tracks,
complicated Roads,
Scary Highways 
and Meets us with most unassuming characters and surely one day,
You will find that one person who puts your life either in perspective or in motion.
You will find that one person who will be your SAFE HAVEN,
even if they have nothing to their name but their name.
Someday, your plush home, your expensive wardrobe, and expensive pleasures will seem to be futile among'st the FAKE INHUMANE REASON your stab yourself with.
Take the "Highway" 
(please don't wish to be kidnapped, neither try to make friends with local goons and gangmembers)

Love,
Frieda

ReArranging The Stuff In Your Life.

Got up this morning and braced myself to take the cold outside and go running and Boy! Did I feel good..

Heartbeat gets racing and you breathe in the fresh chill air ..Nothing could beat it... Leaving me Feeling Good about Life once again.

It inspired me to blog today about something we all have to do at some point in our life - REARRANGE

Sometimes Life just builds these huge roadblocks or barriers that you need to fight through everyday.

I could say I've hit many if not a few big ones to get to this very day - 21st January 2014 and one thing I've learned is that Fighting through each day can be so much harder than Rearranging. 

Example: Your kitchen cupboard - When you see your cups and bowls are harder to find and you always end up knocking something over in the pursuit to pick out one particular cup your'e looking for, you don't just drag them all out and throw them .. neither do you break them all.. You Just REARRANGE.

Example: Your Wardrobe - When your clothes are in a mess, I'm sure we hardly just throw them all out the window. We just pick out a good time to think through a process of arranging them and we REARRANGE. Your socks in a sock drawer.. Your Delicates in another.. You Hang up all your clothes..Your Suits, Your Party Dresses etc etc...                    

Just REARRANGE

Sometimes and this happens most times , when we little humans hit a wall in life's everyday pursuits, instead of thinking it through and working our way around it, we find it easiest to abandon or just break it down or throw it away.

I've learned it so much easier and wiser to just prioritize, take stock of what's holding you back and REARRANGE. It might take longer and might require stability to do it well but it's better than being irrational and making big hasty decisions that leave you regretting later.

Many might say that well sometimes you just don't have an option but to throw some stuff out...like the old stuff...the rotten stuff.. {like your old clothes than have gathered moss}... or old stuff that just spoiled over time.. and I agree.. Sometimes you do have to get rid of the Rotten Stuff... like bad choices, the wrong people who have had no good influence or are just no good being a part of your world, bad habits and Well, we all have a List :)

I think my morning run has just inspired me to write this much today or usually I'd rant on...

Before I end, I just want to implore all those who get a chance to read this out there that 

Your Life can be much easier and give you true happiness, If you just REARRANGE and PRIORITIZE. 

You don't need to really get banged up to realize this much. 

Take it from someone who's gone through a lot more than a 25 Year old should. 

Today I'm 25 and I am loving life to the fullest after a long time and I have my priorities right and I'm happy today and I know it's only going to get better every single day. I love my whole family and I think of each one of them who's played such an important role and being part of this Gift Of Life.  

When the day comes and I'm having a bad one, I will first JUST REARRANGE. 

Good Day, Guten Tag and Masah Al Khair.

Love

Frieda