Of changing times and endless youth...

I am on shaky ground as I write this because none of my posts online in the past two years have ever been more than a hundred words, thanks to Facebook and Twitter. At the suggestion (coercion) of friends, I dare to do this. But really more so since so much happened this past week that I actually felt like writing about. And for a change this post isn't going to be about any movie I saw :) I didn't go to the pictures at all and yet I have something to say... how about 5 things that happened last week that have changed a little of how I think.. most of this I attribute to my new smartphone and twitter actually coz otherwise, there's no way I would've read so much. So thank you to my new connected world!

1. The telegram is gone forever. My heart did sink a little the first time I heard a few weeks ago. All that romantic poetry, reference to 'maa, bhaiya ka taar aaya hai' in the movies, all gone with one last note :( Was it the same feeling when we moved from pigeons to post I wonder! On a funny note, most of these 'condolence messages' including my own are really on social media which has taken us far far ahead of telegrams anyway. So why mourn something that we never used to begin with? Well, I still do. So sue me..

2. While this change was less significant, something monumental happened in Ireland which will certainly transform the country's future. I don't think the rest of the world will realize just how significant the passing of the legislation on abortion really is! I certainly am not an expert on this. All I know is that the death of a young pregnant woman not so long ago led to this discussion in parliament and I have respect for the way the process played out to its closure.

3. Malala Yousafzai's speech at the UN I will never forget for the rest of my life. Truth be told I did not know of her until last week. But the more I read and saw and heard, I marveled her as did the world. The universe stood and applauded as this young girl, all of 16 - battered by a terrible incident - spoke of power, respect, fearlessness and above all, peace and education for all. I am a sucker for hope and she gave me oodles of it last week!

4. Nuff said about Ashton Agar? This 19 year old played his first test ever, came out to bat at number 11 and left after making 98 friggin' runs. Hell no! We're not done talking about Agar yet :) I am also not done referencing Benedict Cumberbatch wherever I go so deal with this one too... He plays William Pitt the Younger in the 2006 film 'Amazing Grace' (decent film but what I'd pay to see is the rendition of the song on bagpipes and flutes at the end. Google this NOW to see what I mean!). So Benedict has this line in the movie - “We're too young to realize certain things are impossible, which is why we will do
them anyway.”- Nothing can describe what Agar did better than this! My moment of the game had to be the way he just shrugged and walked away after sending the ball straight to Swann. How incredibly symbolic of youth. 
Not to mention that this cracker of a match has now restored the faith of many a cricket lover in test cricket. The gentlemen's game is back! 

5. My number 5. would have been Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and the usual review on the fervor and focus it garnered (which frankly is still beyond me so I'll have to watch it before proving my point). 

But the 5th reference is something that sadly overshadowed the original plan and indeed most of what I have written so far. We said goodbye to Glee's Cory Monteith last week and none of us were prepared for it. He left the world in shock and sadness with yet another statement on how sweet and harsh youth can be at the same time, especially in the wake of overnight success. You may think I was a huge fan of him or at least the show. I was really neither. I enjoyed the show and thought it was entertaining - thought Cory was particularly sincere in his role as Finn Hudson. But tears still rolled down as I read that we had lost another young star on the anvil. 'Don't stop believin' is immortal coz of the show and in part, coz of him. 

My video add on to this post would have been Ashton Agar's shrug if we hadn't encountered Cory Monteith's untimely death. 
My tribute to him here is the scene from Glee that for me, truly introduced him to us all - as Finn Hudson - the character he will always always be. O Youth! for years so many and sweet! 

RIP Cory and thank you for the music! 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjcKhKi_qmI