Am I Anjali from K3G?

I remember watching Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham back in 2001 when it first came out. I remember going there with literally my entire extended family, I think maybe because the movie’s selling line was “it’s all about loving your family“. 19 years later, I’ve memorized the movie that it doesn’t even need to be playing for me to recite the dialogues. So, while Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayenge reserves the spot of my favourite movie (and still not on Netflix!), K3G comes somewhere in the top 10 favourite Bollywood classics.

In an effort to raise morale and give us something to watch, Netflix recently uploaded all the KJo classics – including Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, and no surprise, I found myself watching it when I had a sudden realization (with a little help from my friends) – am I Anjali?

Anjali is clumsy. She breaks gamlas (vases) whenever she goes to the Raichands.

I cannot even begin to tell you of my adventures of clumsiness – but here’s a read about how i consecutively and repeatedly broke both my feet/ankles – https://swatiness.com/2020/03/06/story-time-mulling-over-mules/

I’m not even going to go into the different Givenchy Beauty (or related) events that I have somehow – with no additional help necessary – injured myself in some way or another. I’m talking hitting my head (and getting a mild concussion) 15 minutes before the event begins, burning my foot from the smoke machine (don’t ask), falling flat in the middle of the presentation and more.

Anjali has NO filter.

It’s like the brain and the mouth do no talking sometimes. I’m often biting my tongue – or wishing I did.

I am constantly asked…

Anjali isn’t afraid of telling the truth through poetic sarcasm and pure sass.

Obviously, I’m elaborating when I’m saying the sarcasm is poetic – but it was witty. Especially the Ek ka vadda dil, dusre de vadde vadde bill and aagayi kamini bachi chodhne.  

Anjali is excellent at mocking people.

Oh hello Mrs. Spritely – would you like some tea? Ask my family and friends – I love copying and mocking people, very lovingly of course.

Anjali thinks she’s funny. But, also, she is!

Anjali’s hilarious, and honestly, so am I. I’m not even going to begin to expand on this.

Anjali’s loud as hell

I’m not saying I’m loud, but I can’t whisper to save my life.

Coming back to the real question – am I Anjali from K3G?

‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ and Some Revelations

As every new year begins, everyone has new resolutions. My resolutions aren’t dependent on the new year, but rather on how far away my birthday is (February 23rd). I get into the full swing to get working on my birthday body roughly about in September/October.

In the gist of that, as Taylor Swift dropped her new album in November 2017, you cannot possibly imagine my excitement to go running listening to the album. It’s my jam. So, come January 2nd, I’m still running, still listening to Reputation. And just as my pace starts to differ and slow down, ‘Dress‘ comes on. It HAS to be the sexiest song on the album.

To recap, my exact emotions when I first heard the song were:

OH.MY.GOD.

This is a very, very sexy song. With an emotional touch. I am at a serious loss for words. I feel like this should be in 50 Shades of Grey.

“All of this silence and patience, pining and desperately waiting.”

As the lyrics mooned on, with all the “ah-ah-ah-aaaaahs”, it got me thinking – this song obviously makes me feel a lot of things. Things that another PR girl (read: Samantha Jones from SATC) will proudly raise a toast to. But, while this does make me “feel” a lot, there are more songs that probably have the same effect.

Taking my thought process as a freaky clue, ‘Suraj Hua Maddham’ from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham starts to play, making me blush to my cheeks and thanking my stars for it being dark on my track.

It was the year 2001, and I was 8 years old (if you are doing the math, I’m 24 for another month and 21 days), when I first heard/saw the song. And since then, it’s been my ultimate love song. Till date, if I hear the song, I automatically start to blush. In that Egyptian backdrop with those plain effortless sarees and Shah Rukh Khan’s lusty looks, I had my “awakening”.

As a vain kid who didn’t know what sex was, I assumed, when people went on honeymoon – mostly in Switzerland or Egypt, they danced and ran to each other in slow motions and BAM, that was it. I was proven very, very wrong at 12 when I read my first ever Jude Deveraux. But, that’s a story for another time.

So today evening, as I walked back home, blushing pink with a huge cheeky smile plastered on my face from just listening to two songs, it occurred to be – I can’t be the only one who has a few songs like these – the kind that would make one blush in a busy room.

I can’t, right? 

 

Life Lessons I Learnt from Jab We Met

Don’t know if you know, but Netflix loaded my favourite movie- Jab We Met. The movie starring Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Shahid Kapoor is one of the best and most relatable movies ever made. A first by Imtiaz Ali shows India as the perfect tourist location- highlighting Rajasthan and Shimla.

I’m not going to tell you the plot, because if you’ve stumbled here without watching the movie- I strongly advise that you get a pack full of popcorn and bundle yourself in for an amazing 3 hours. The music score of the movie is top notch- with all my favourite songs ever being from the movie.

Here are a few life lessons that I learned from Geet and Adi.

1. Be your own favourite

   

   Loving yourself is so important- because if you are not your own favourite- then how do you expect someone else to make you their favourite. You know what I mean?

2. Make your own decisions and get ready to bear consequences

   

   Whether it was running away, or staying away- Geet stuck to her decisions. Her reasoning behind everything she did was she didn’t want to blame somebody else and would know whatever life is because of her own decisions. She stuck to her decision of running away and bearing the consequences of the rejection that followed. She could have gone back home but decided to stay.

   “Aagey kya hone wala hai, is pe kisi ka control nahin hai. Toh aise mein main wahi karti hoon jo mera dil kehta hai. Meri life jo bhi hogi, mujhe pata hoga ki meri wajeh se aisi hai. Toh I’ll be happy.”

3. Never settle

   

   Decisions bring me to a third lesson- of never settling. We make our own happy ending- and it’s simply by choosing what really makes us happy- and not giving into thinking what we think our hearts want.

4. Childish madness is sometimes a necessity

   

   Sometimes the best way to dealing with things is through the utter childish madness. Whether it’s burning and flushing a picture of your ex, or you know, casually calling them up and screaming every imaginable swear word you know. Trust me- it works.

5. Keep talking

   

   It’s okay to be that person who keeps talking- even when she’s sleeping. You don’t need a special occasion to keep talking endlessly (and filter-free). Although- do add some filters.

6. Be thoughtful

   

   Be your own favourite, keep talking, make your own decisions but in all that, always be thoughtful about others. The whole plot of Jab We Met revolves around Geet missing her train because she went to get Aditya back to the train. She supports his case in front of the ticket collector in the train and literally stops him from falling to his death.

7. Everything will eventually be okay

   

   This is something this movie teaches me every time I forget, or need hearing it again- that it might take a while till things are better, but they will get better.