Today, I watched Dilwale Le Dunia Le Jayenge again after 6 years (?). Yeah, I know some might raise their eyebrows and say, 'Argh... this woman, when is she going to wake up and realize that there is more in life than Hindi movies.' I just couldn't help it. Lately, I find some kind of solace and peace when I watch Shah Rukh Khan and friends in movies. Not that  I am reminiscing the past or my so called 'youth.' Somehow, watching the movies allows me to escape to another world -- a world where there is no limit, a world where things just happen as it ought to happen. In other words, I am trying to re-capture another life in another world. I know it doesn't make sense. But the 2 1/2 - 3 hours spent watching the movies has given me the space -- enough space -- to dream (to ignore the truth of reality, more likely). Talk about living the life of our dream. Let's be honest to ourselves, how many of us in this world is truly living out their dream life. To start off, each of us has different expectations in life and none of us is ever truly happy with what God has given us. If we are truly 'satisfied' with what or who with are, then why did we 'scrub' our face with  some branded cleanser in the evenings (and not with some common soaps, or better still with plain water), why did we bother spending a lot of money on cosmetics, on beautiful or should I re-phrase it, 'presentable' clothes, why do we ( I am talking about women, most women anyway) worry about what to wear the next day or next week. The list is endless. We make all kinds of tremendous efforts to make sure that we look good (for ourselves, of course). We make sure that we don't have smudged lipstics on our lips(before we have a meeting in our boss's office, in my case, before I meet my supervisor), we practise smiling in front of the mirrors whenever we see a mirror ( I do it anyway) and we go through all this rituals (sometimes unreasonable to some other people) day in, day out, regardless of the ocassion. We do it anyway, not really because we want to look pretty to others (in my case, what is the use of me looking good for my supervisor: I am happily married :-); my supervisor certainly doesn't look twice at me) but because we want to maintain law and order in our life. Because we don't want to do things that violate other people's notion of norms. Clearly, to most of us, we don't want to be ostracized, just because we are different. Where all these regularities are concerned, some of us do it extremely well, some of us pass with flying colours and some try their best but don't really expect to maintain the regularities very well. As long as people don't give you that odd look, you feel 'safe' with the thought that you are doing OK. Yeah.. But do we really live out our dream life -- which is not necessarily perfect. Never in my life have I ever imagined that I am going to look the way I am today. Honestly, how would I know that I would be graced with all these extra fat after having two kids. Spots on face at the age of 32 or is it 31? Somedays I can't even remember how old I am. My dream life doesn't include that part where I have to wash my kids' bottom. It certainly doesn't entail daily rituals like cooking or hoovering the carpet.  I can go on and on about the many parts that are excluded in my dream life or what I would imagine my life should be. The truth is we live our life as it is. We can plan for tomorrow, but we never know what is going to happen the next day. Just like how would I know that the Central Library of Manchester does have Hindi Movies that we can rent for GBP 1 for a week. It's just my luck that I found Dilwale Le Dunie Le Jayenge yesterday at the DVD Rack. I was meant to watch the movie anyway. And indeed watching the movie makes me think how awful Shah Rukh Khan looks when he was younger. I also notice that Kajol has a very smooth complexion in the movie (is it the real thing or just loads of foundation). I also notice several things that I have not noticed before when watching the movie. That's another story of course. I find it interesting that DDLJ means ''Come ..find love." The English subtitling is good. Honestly, the movie reads better in English subtitles than Malay.  I understand the dialogues much better and the lyrics of the songs, beautiful poetry that touches your innermost feelings. Try watching! What the movie leaves me with at the end is that -- you have many choices in life. Like the character Raj Maholtra says 'The are two paths in life --the right and the wrong path.' The right path might present you with a lot of hurdles but you will find success in the end. The wrong path is smooth and easy but you will not succeed in the end (you may not find happiness in it). It reminds me of Robert Frost's poem ' The Road Not Taken.' In life, some of us prefer the smooth and easy way. When given a task, we always ask 'Is it easy to do it? Or is there an easier way to do it?' It doesn't matter how the task is accomplished, as long as we can get it done in a short time without much hassle. What do we get at the end? More profit, more money, praises from our colleages, superiors, excellent service reward. How about True Satisfaction? Knowledge? How often do we feel satisfied with a job that we do? Frankly, not often, right. We always tell ourselves that we could have done better if given the second chance. Does it mean then that we have not chosen the right path? :-P


Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the differece.  -- Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken