Delhi's Italian topping
For the last few days Delhi is not reeling under cold but it's typically Delhi style winters... chilly, grey and foggy. For the last two days it was foggy and typically grey. Infact, many psychologists have sounded a red alert, for this kind of Delhi winter is the reason for depression for many people.
I like dark because I prefer the night rather than the day to write. I have no particular answer why it is so. But I feel that at night I think better, creatively and aesthetically. The mood also seems perfect, for in the day I am grumpy. Nights bring me calmness and I can think better when my mind is calm thought I admit that most of the ideas I get to write about things comes from two places. One, when I'm under the shower and second, when I’m driving. I see a similarity between the two activities. When I'm under a shower I'm doing something which more or less requires no use of an active mind. The water is flowing by itself, my hands are scratching the soup on their own and therefore the mind can concentrate on the essential part - Thinking. Same goes for driving. I have been driving for a while now and though any neglect or a lost-in-thought attitude can prove to be an accident, my reflexes now are trained enough to spot any untoward activity happening on my way to sound the alarm bell to my main CPU, while my sub-conscious is busy thinking about a topic. Though I admit that at times it has almost lead to small mishaps.
Ending that point, I want to mention a beautiful photograph I saw in the latest issue of the Outlook Magazine. It's included in an article on certain Gina Lollobrigida, an Italian screen icon of the 50’s, who made a documentary on Indira Gandhi when she was the Prime Minister. She said the Prime Minister used to live in a small house and Rajiv and Sonia had one room in which they were perfectly happy. The picture, it says was taken in the mid- 70's. There is Maneka on the left, but not seen fully seen and Rajiv Gandhi (a little out of the frame) on the right. Next to Rajiv is a gorgeous Sonia Gandhi, who looks like a 70's European model brought straight from a fashion show. She is wearing, what seems like a pair of trousers with a silky red shirt and a woolen over coat. Her hair is hanging loose up to her chest and part of them is in front while her eyes are fixed at Rajiv. She is standing with her hands one in another(see pictures below) with red nail polish clearly visible on her left thumb (so very typically Sonia), exactly the way she stand outside her 10, Janpath residence in front of the cameramen these days. Next to Sonia is Gina Lollobrigida standing with Indira. She is wearing a black Chinese styled dress with flowery print with several pearl necklaces. She has a short boyish haircut and her eyes quite look like an Italian Brigitte Bardot. Indira stands next to her in a brown Saree with a little smile. I'm mentioning this because of Sonia Gandhi. Since the time I’ve seen some of her old pictures from her book - Rajiv. I have developed a deep fascination for Sonia, especially before she joined politics. I like her for her Europeaness more than her Indianess though I think today she is more "Indian" is every sense of the word we assume Indian to be. I would love to see Gina's documentary, who is marrying a guy 34 years her junior (She is 79 now). Time goes by so fast...
I like dark because I prefer the night rather than the day to write. I have no particular answer why it is so. But I feel that at night I think better, creatively and aesthetically. The mood also seems perfect, for in the day I am grumpy. Nights bring me calmness and I can think better when my mind is calm thought I admit that most of the ideas I get to write about things comes from two places. One, when I'm under the shower and second, when I’m driving. I see a similarity between the two activities. When I'm under a shower I'm doing something which more or less requires no use of an active mind. The water is flowing by itself, my hands are scratching the soup on their own and therefore the mind can concentrate on the essential part - Thinking. Same goes for driving. I have been driving for a while now and though any neglect or a lost-in-thought attitude can prove to be an accident, my reflexes now are trained enough to spot any untoward activity happening on my way to sound the alarm bell to my main CPU, while my sub-conscious is busy thinking about a topic. Though I admit that at times it has almost lead to small mishaps.
Ending that point, I want to mention a beautiful photograph I saw in the latest issue of the Outlook Magazine. It's included in an article on certain Gina Lollobrigida, an Italian screen icon of the 50’s, who made a documentary on Indira Gandhi when she was the Prime Minister. She said the Prime Minister used to live in a small house and Rajiv and Sonia had one room in which they were perfectly happy. The picture, it says was taken in the mid- 70's. There is Maneka on the left, but not seen fully seen and Rajiv Gandhi (a little out of the frame) on the right. Next to Rajiv is a gorgeous Sonia Gandhi, who looks like a 70's European model brought straight from a fashion show. She is wearing, what seems like a pair of trousers with a silky red shirt and a woolen over coat. Her hair is hanging loose up to her chest and part of them is in front while her eyes are fixed at Rajiv. She is standing with her hands one in another(see pictures below) with red nail polish clearly visible on her left thumb (so very typically Sonia), exactly the way she stand outside her 10, Janpath residence in front of the cameramen these days. Next to Sonia is Gina Lollobrigida standing with Indira. She is wearing a black Chinese styled dress with flowery print with several pearl necklaces. She has a short boyish haircut and her eyes quite look like an Italian Brigitte Bardot. Indira stands next to her in a brown Saree with a little smile. I'm mentioning this because of Sonia Gandhi. Since the time I’ve seen some of her old pictures from her book - Rajiv. I have developed a deep fascination for Sonia, especially before she joined politics. I like her for her Europeaness more than her Indianess though I think today she is more "Indian" is every sense of the word we assume Indian to be. I would love to see Gina's documentary, who is marrying a guy 34 years her junior (She is 79 now). Time goes by so fast...
And for those interested in reading the articles...here's the Link
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