25.07.2002 | 11:48 p.m.
Writer's block is a royal pain in the ass.

I'm having an affair with Bakul, the clerk-cum-owner of Sarvodaya. I don't know this of course; Kanika discovered it. It's the only reason I've spent half the summer in there. She's always going on about how that's the only possible explanation for my film obsession. I told her I'd been a customer since I was 14 and apparently that only validates her point. I went to return the DVD of "Deconstructing Harry" and she came along. I asked him if it was okay if I took a movie and paid later, and he smiled and said, "Of course." Kanika started giggling right then and I had to nudge her so she would shut up. Bakul is quite a funny character except he doesn't know it. I wanted to rent "Waking Life" but it wasn't in. I really couldn't find anything else I wanted to watch so I asked him to send "Waking Life" when the person returned it. He looked at me and said "You know, your taste is unlike all the other kids your age." I smiled, not knowing what to say, and Kanika started giggling again. Silly girl. Then he told me he was impressed that I rented so many foreign movies and uh, I haven't rented any foreign films since I've been home this summer. I told him that and he said "Oh. Well. Okay.." It probably doesn't seem as funny as it was.

So that got me thinking that we're the antithesis of ethnocentricism. In fact , Bombay is almost Amero-centric sometimes. *ALL* the English movies in Sarvodaya are technically foreign films! I thought at first that they were called foreign on the basis of being Hollywood/Un-Hollywood, but the "normal" section is filled with British movies. I guess it's categorised on the basis of English/Other Languages,but how come Indian movies are under foreign films too?! Not commercial Bollywood, but art house cinema. In any case,it makes no sense to me at all.

Oh I'm finally getting my nose pierced tomorrow. Mama's been goading me to do it for a while now. I figure if it looks bad, I'll just wear a lot of ethnic clothes until it heals and then I can take it off. I've yet to see an Indian woman dressed in Indian clothes who didn't look pretty with a nose ring/stud. So I will take solace in my pointless observations and take the plunge. If you're nice to me, I'll take pictures and scan them. If you're not nice to me,you're not missing anything much.

deja vu? | jamais vu?