Wednesday 24 December 2014

Video Wednesday: Nostalgia



One of my favourite places to travel is down Memory Lane. I’m not making a wise crack, I really mean it. Childhood is a beautiful place now that I look back. Of course when I was a child I wanted to be all grown up. :D

I have so many memories of those times, the things we ate, watched, played, felt, saw, experienced,… When I look back it seems the world is changed and so different from the one I knew. (And yet at most times the only world I know is the one I live in.)

In keeping with the feeling of nostalgia I’m enveloped in, here are couple of videos of things from my childhood. But first a list of 20 things I remember (partly thanks to the videos :D), things that make me smile; smile wide.

  1. pepsi colas

  2. Mario bros

  3. Chandamama magazine

  4. covering school books with brown paper

  5. going to the neighbours for phone calls

  6. Malgudi days

  7. Brainvita

  8. Air Mail

  9. fake Phantom cigarettes

  10. Bajaj ads not just of scooters but also bulbs

  11. the Surabhi program

  12. the rubberband game

  13. hopskotch

  14. Amul icecream

  15. spinning tops

  16. piggy banks

  17. T-series tapes

  18. Hero ink pens

  19. Nataraj HB pencils

  20. Goldspot


 

The 'Jab Bachche They' advertisement by Paper Boat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJIrU9jZo4M

 

Woh Din - A tribute to the 90's by EmotionalFulls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ1zZ8VaN7M

 

Old 90's INDIAN Ads on DoorDarshan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x2wA6jQEB0

All nostalgic? The videos make you all gooey and soft inside, don't they? What do you remember from your childhood? How many things do you associate with from my list? How many can you list? ;)

Wednesday 17 December 2014

Video Wednesday: Rats, Socks, Cameras and Letters



I’ve come across a few really nice short films recently. Not sure if these can be called films, or are they just clips? Well, no matter what, each of them has made an impression - some funny, some touching, others baffling, stunning and what not.

One thing though common to all is that watching the video led me to hit the Subscribe button on Youtube. Let me know if you reacted the same way after watching them. :D

Khat by Fully Emotional

A grandfathers advise to his new born grandson in a letter. Sounds cliched but I listened to it twice and want to keep coming back repeatedly, for it’s not often that you hear such sound advise.

http://youtu.be/h_yJ0wfRiIY


Kamera by Purani Dilli Talkies

A little boy aspires to be someone who will put smiles on peoples faces. Then one day he finds a camera in the land fill and life is never the same again.

http://youtu.be/Y0nPCc1ZpIY


“OP” Stop Smelling Your Socks by Sriram Dalton

Remember I said baffling at the start. This is the video that has be baffled. Watch it to know why. :D

http://youtu.be/VVQP-IpZZaU


Eli - A Sexy Tale by Black Money Productions

This one I saw sometime back on a recommendation by Che. It’s in Tamil but does have subtitles. Worth the watch with an awesome end but to really get it, you have to follow the story!

http://youtu.be/cm_-F3owiP0

So those are my selections for this week. Have you watched anything interesting recently? Any recommendations?

Wednesday 10 December 2014

Video Wednesday: Emma Watson and the HeForShe Campaign



Along with the rest of the world I first came across Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone where she played Hermione Granger. Of the three main characters I remember attaching more to Hermione more than the others. I guess this was a carry forward from the books but she struck a chord.

Over the years I watched her through the Harry Potter series and to a large extent wrote her off like I do most child artists. I usually expect child artists to grow up and become snooty mediocre actors. But Emma Watson proved me wrong.

Her choice of movies after Harry Potter had me sit up and notice her as a an intelligent woman. (If you haven’t seen 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, you should.) Her life off the screen had me in awe as she studied and followed the dreams she had before and outside of Harry Potter. She did get blinded by Hollywood.

Then I came across this… Her speech at the UN when introducing the HeForShe Campaign. It isn’t just the campaign that is beautiful, as I listen to her talk and I realise that here is a woman to reckon with, a girl who has grown up into a woman who knows she has the power to be heard and uses it to change the world.

The word ‘feminist’ has become a negative one in the last few years, a word most women do not want to associate with. Emma in her speech made me proud of being a feminist by reminding me of all it means and all that it isn’t. Kudos Miss Watson for reminding me that I'm a feminist and proud!

http://youtu.be/gkjW9PZBRfk

This video is an excellent follow to the video I shared earlier about gender policing and the work the organisation No Country for Women is doing. Emma Watson is the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador and will advocate for the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign in promoting gender equality.
Here’s what she had to say about her about her appointment.

“Being asked to serve as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador is truly humbling. The chance to make a real difference is not an opportunity that everyone is given and is one I have no intention of taking lightly. Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role.”


What do you think of Emma Watson's speech? The HeForShe campaign?

Wednesday 3 December 2014

Video Wednesday: Awesome Threesome



I’ve been away from my blog again. And it’s been the same reasons, I’ve been ill with a blaady common cold for a couple of months now and it’s just making life tedious and then there is also that part of me struggling to write because I can’t seem to make it all fall into place. I can’t seem to find the perfect answer for what my blog is about.

Anyway, those thoughts are for another post. Video Wednesday is one of my favoured posts because I want to share and talk about so many videos I come across and Facebook is too short lived a platform for that.

So without much further ado… Here’s some videos I’ve come across recently that struck a chord…

Not a simple hula hoop…

http://youtu.be/EGuvNtS5kb8

Rachael Lust is a 26-year old mom from Ohio who started hooping first in 2011. Today she is quite a phenomenon, and if you've watched the video you know why. :)
Rachael Lust on Facebook


Push Button to Add Drama

http://youtu.be/316AzLYfAzw

TNT a TV channel in Belgium launched themselves by placing a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. And when that button gets pushed, full drama happens. :D

Day in the life of India

http://youtu.be/8qcjfCrkaAs

This hilarious yet thought proving film by Boot Polissh Films has won the won a Gold at the Spike Asia 2011. Directed By: Shujaat Saudagar Written By: Swati Bhattacharya Actress: Paromita Vohra
Boot Polissh Films on Facebook

Which one did you like the most of the three?
Have you come across some simply awesome videos recently?