Amreeka

I just watched a movie called "Amreeka". When I had heard this name for the first time, I thought this has to be an Indian movie, because that's how us Indians pronounce "America" :) But, when I read about it in National Geographic, I learnt it is an Arabic movie. Since then, I was curious to know what the movie was all about. "Amreeka" beautifully portrays the hardships and hopes of a single mom and her son in their homeland, Bethlehem and in a foreign country to which they emigrate, USA.

I am blessed to have been born and brought up in a free country, where one can lead a life at his/her own will. But, what about Muna (mom) and Fadi (son)? Where do they belong? Unfortunately, these Palestinian people do not have a country that they can call their own. They do not even have the right to simply walk into their homes, without being questioned by "law-enforcers" every single day of their life. Somedays, they make it home and somedays, they are stuck at any one of the multiple checkpoints along the Israeli wall. But, in spite of such hostile circumstances, they manage to maintain their sanity in the most gracious manner. My heart and my prayers go out to them.

Of course, things aren't any different for Muna and Fadi in post 9/11 USA. Because, if you are an Arab, then you have to be a Bin Laden relative and most definitely, you have to be a Muslim. How simple! They are gawked at, ridiculed, and even threatened. But, it is heartening to witness that within this sea of prejudiced people, there are a few, who perceive Muna and Fadi as what they are, harmless humans in search of happiness. I hope we can teach our children to have such tolerance.

As is evident, I simply loved the movie and all the actors, especially the adorable Muna. I think the movie leaves you with a good message and a good feeling in the end. So, I definitely recommend it :)

http://amreeka.com/html/af.html

Change (Yes we can!)

Once you reach the late 20s, it's hard to change the very core of your nature, especially (probably only) the bad shades of it. If you are socially awkward, you will be such a person for a long time to come. Like me, if you are under-confident, you will probably suffer from this syndrome for a significant part of your adult life. Well, that's what I believed, until now. I think, we can change for better whenever we want. The key is to move on, forgive your self and forget the past. I started thinking on these lines when I read about (arguably) the greatest tennis players of all times, Roger Federer. Years ago, when he was a newbie to this sport, he let his temper get the best of him. However, today his biggest weapon against other players is his "mind". His mental strength far exceeds any of his opponents. Maybe, because a two-set down Federer forgets that he's lost those two, but remembers that he still has three to win and change the course of the game completely. I think that makes all the difference; to have a clean slate; to prevent our past from fogging away the present and future; to let it go and start afresh with a positive attitude. At 30, we still have 40 more years to get it right and brooding over the past ain't gonna get you anywhere, honey! Of course this change requires active efforts from our side. For instance, my way of dealing with my dwindling confidence is to say "Yes" to every little thing I fear. So, if I feel I wouldn't be able to pass a goddamn class, I will dive in and sign up for it. Sounds easy, isn't it? Well, it has helped me so far! But, since I have been using this strategy for such a long time, I wish the next time I won't fear or doubt myself at all. The next time, all I would remember is that I have succeeded these past few times, so I will be fine. I know it's hard, but overcoming the slightest weakness, might help us take the biggest step of our lives one day and living under its fear, might leave us stagnant. So, apparently, the choice is quite simple. Just need to grab it till we can :)

Women...

In these modern times, when equality transcends race, religion, color and gender, sometimes you want to be treated unequally or dare I say in a more special way. Of course, I don't mean this in a bad way, but in a silly good way. Like, when I get into a tiff with my husband, it gets blown out of proportion by our very logical point by point argument. This goes on endlessly, as neither of us is ready to simply "accept and apologize". My thinking cloud, however, is constantly saying "Why can't he just give in and lose because am I not his beloved WOMAN????". But, I don't say this out loud as it would hurt my liberal image, wherein, I am EQUAL to him. Unlike a typical TV serial wife, I don't even demand gifts from my husband or complain (investigate) about his whereabouts. But, once in a while I do wish for that silly gift or gesture that says how much he loves me. Of course, if I expect that, I should also reciprocate and do something for him every now and then. But, my illogical emotional (womanly) side sometimes wants gifts with no returns. I know that's horrible, but these are just my fleeting thoughts that I don't listen to. To be fair, I am periodically showered with great gifts from my super-cute husband, who doesn't get into too many arguments with me. Still....there are always the stupid thinking clouds :)

The Beginning

This is my first attempt at blogging. It's been some time since I have had the desire to "pen" down some of my thoughts. But there is always the question of what to write and how much to divulge. Today, while I was reading my friend's, Amarjeet's, blog, I decided to take the plunge into the blogosphere.

I have been wanting to do something about a flight debacle that I had in March while travelling to my country, India. I booked my tickets way in advance with North West (NW) and had a convenient flight from Chicago to Delhi via Amsterdam. However, my itinerary was changed without notice to an additional stopover at Memphis before I flew to Amsterdam. Being an incessant worrier, I periodically checked my itinerary and fortunately noticed that I barely had half an hour at the Memphis airport to catch my next international flight. I called NW and let them know about my skepticism. Although the agent insisted that 45 minutes was a valid stopover, he changed my flight from Chicago to Detroit and then to Amsterdam, with a slightly longer, one hour, stopover at Detroit. I was pretty happy with the change. On the day of the flight, I received a voice mail from NW that my itinerary is being changed to the previous one due to flight cancellations. Because of their short notice, I had already boarded the bus to Chicago and ended up reaching the airport 7 hours before my flight. I expressed my concern of loosing the connection at the Memphis airport to the agent at the check-in counter. However, she was quite confident that I would be fine and reminded me of the validity of the short stopover. After the long wait at the airport, just as I was starting to get excited about my impending flight, the computer screen started flashing a delayed take off time. I rushed to the agent and explained him my predicament. He said that I could postpone my ticket to the next day, but that there was no guarantee of a timely departure of the flight to Memphis on any day. I was appalled by the nonchalance and indifference of the NW crew. I felt helpless and decided to try out my luck with the Memphis flight the same day. I must admit that the agent was nice enough to change my seating so that I would be the first to get off the plane in Memphis. After a delay of half an hour, our plane took off from Chicago to reach Memphis. My heart was sinking awaiting the fate of the Amsterdam flight. As soon as I found an agent, I asked about the flight and was informed that it had already taken off. I still had a glimmer of hope and rushed for the departure gate. Alas, It was closed! I couldn't believe I had missed my flight because of a foreseen problem and cursed NW with all my heart. I went to the gate crew and explained my situtation. I was alarmed at how unapologetic and indiffeent they were to me. They plainly told me that I would have to wait for another day to catch the same flight to Amsterdam. I was still in shock to believe that I was trapped in such an awful situation. I requested them to change my flight because I had a very short layover at Amsterdam as well. They booked me on a flight from Memphis to Detroit the next morning. This meant I would have to stay at the airport overnight with all my luggage. I requested them for a hotel room, which they rudely refused on grounds that it wasn't their fault that my flight got delayed. I was extremely furious, but could not channel that anger and demand a decent accomodation or compensation. I meekly accepted my situation and collected all my baggage and waited near the check-in counter overnight. Luckily I had company as another unfortunate soul had been booked on the same horrendous flight. We ate some junk food at the only shop that was open and took turns sleeping on chairs, while watching our luggage. We were exhausted due to lack of sleep and food. The only consolation was that I was waiting to fly "home". The next day we checked in again and were happy to be at the gate of our next flight. After a while, I noticed a delay in this flight as well. I was really mad and approached the agent, who was surprisingly nice enough to immediately book us on an earlier flight to Detroit. We reached Detroit without any hicupps in the journey. After a four hour long wait, we took off for Amsterdam. I was as giddy as a kid with his favorite toy. By the time we reached Amsterdam, we were extremely tired and had to wait for three more hours. The flight got delayed for an additional hour before we boarded it. I chugged a wine bottle with one of my best flight meals and dozed off. I finally reched the Delhi airport safe, sound and exhausted.

In the end, I feel that the airline crew can't help the air traffic or the delays or the awful connections, BUT they can be polite, humane and understanding. The least they can do to assist you is to book you in a decent hotel for an overnight delay or just look you in the eye and apoloize, empathize. As far as the airline is concerned, I vehemently believe that they should make a 45 min stopover invalid, especially for an international flight. AND the next time this happens to me, I am going to fight till they secede to my demands.