The Family Tree

Sorry for the 'you-you' cross-posting. This! This is exactly why we converge on boy-girl spontaneous afflictions but not man-woman equipoised amour because boy-girl testament is endearing whereas man-woman scrutiny lacks that playfulness. Though the actors were adults, the scene played out the childlike ludic in them. Grown-ups lack that imaginative and emotional richness in relationships. Imagine two adults acting like adults in that film.

Mr Bradley: Would you slip your hand to affirm your secular and neo-liberal views?
Miss Ann: Darling, I need to talk to my lawyer and insurance agents on the indemnity to claim if my arm is snipped away. In the meanwhile, can you sanitise the grungy hole with a disinfectant.

I was in Rome a few years ago and there was a huge queue around this “Mouth of Truth” amusement. One can hear the guide blaring, “Ladies n Gentlemen, this is the famed scene from the Roman Holiday”. I bet the site was popularised by the movie.

Ha! I am thinking should I vote for GP in Roman Holiday (RH) or To Kill A Mocking Bird (TKAMD). Gregory Peck advanced from youthful to rugged roles by the time he did TKAMD. Hmm, you put me in a quandary. You know that if I pick Peck in RH it means downvoting Clark Gable in It happened one night and Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca

Bogart boggles me! I've watched Casablanca at home pleading “Play it again, mom”. Over the years my reaction has drastically flipped from copious tears to uncharitable slur ‘you are a jerk’. Last time I watched I slammed my pillow and burst out that one can have Paris but one should also look out for Vegas, Madrid, Darjeeling and Sydney. Stacking up Peck against Gable and Bogart, aargh! I am so confused.

Cheeniya: Remind me, what are talking here? I remember drawing an ancestral family tree in the title but how did we deviate into a hollywood tree of performances?

Ira: As Umberto Eco once said, Casablanca is “not one movie; it is 'movies.'”. Similarly your blog is not one blog, it is blog of blogs that provokes all kinds of discussions. You asked for it.

 

Dear Cheeniya sir,

In our family too, there is always an uncle or cousin who takes the responsibility of keeping these details. As for us non resident Indians are concerned (at least my family), there is a running joke that if there is a rock sitting quietly in a corner, we will find a way to find a lineage and start a relationship seeking family connections. You know staying away from family has made us proactively seek any cousin with gusto and enjoy the benefits of family. My kids get quite annoyed that I have the benefit of so many cousins while they have to make do with just a handful of them.

In the same vein of tracing, DNA testing is also quite popular here and I can see why and recently there was a segment on radio which though touted the virtues of knowing where you come from, hastily added that sometimes this can also be very unnerving as we may find out things that one should not ;-) What if someone from your lineage was a pirate or some such. It indeed made a very interesting listen!

The best part is when I teach though. I get hear all the mixed heritage kids come from. Sometimes it can be mind boggling and always very interesting. Have you ever watched this video? If not, I urge you to watch it. What happens there is well.....watch it!

But then, doesn't Richard Bach assure us with a "The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life." ? and reminding us that “The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.” Trying to answer these makes me seek that family hastily