One of the few good things that has happened in this last one year of forced sabbatical besides finishing my PhD, is that I have had the chance to catch up on a lot of shows and films I have been planning to watch as well finish reading a number of books that have been sitting on my bookrack over the past few years. I am an enthusiastic buyer of books and Film DVDs and I immediately earmark any good show, film that I hear about. But something or other always needed my immediate attention – from mundane household chores like laundry and cooking to work related things, time was a rare commodity. I also noticed that I had started developing an aversion towards reading for pleasure, watching films and shows for pleasure, for entertainment. In hindsight, I think this was happening primarily because of the pressure I was under to complete my PhD. So reading had to serve a purpose – of being citation worthy. Watching a film or a show had to serve a purpose as well – of having a connection to the topic of my thesis, being worth a mention in it. Reading a book, watching a show for the heck of it was a luxury – I told myself.

But now that the PhD was out of my way, I could afford this luxury once again. So I went back to it with full gusto – reading and re-reading books, watching earmarked movies and shows. And funnily enough, now that I don’t HAVE TO analyze what I am reading, watching, I find it increasingly fascinating to do EXACTLY that.

In this section of my site, I intend to share my opinions on some series, films that I have watched in the recent times while understanding the socio-political context they are situated in. Some of them are German, some are Indian while some others represent a completely unfamiliar, yet exciting terrain that I haven’t explored much before but am curious to find out more about.