#1 'No Other Name'
Written by Vara Hariharan, the first film in the series 'No Other Name' featured Varalackshmi who hated her name. Her father had added a letter C to her name for good fortune. She hated it because she had to spell out her full name on every page of any examination paper- 28 letters. Varalackshmi A/P K.-S. Hariharan. Oops. I feel her pain. Everyone called her Gowri instead of Vara or Varalackshmi. She spoke of how her teachers mangled the pronunciation of her name, and the first teacher who called her by Vara was her Primary 6 teacher, Mrs Surin. Her world is divided into people who called her Gowri and those who called her Vara. Now she battles Starbucks baristas. Hahahahah.
When she got married, she called herself Mrs Durai, and had a break from humans, but no break from passports, banks and clinics since she didn't officially take on her husband's surname. She finally did a deed poll and changed her name to Varalackshmi Hariharan, and also the option of Durai. 21 letters! She now has the option of using a 17-letter name. Heh.
"Numerology had dictated my name. Marriage, friendship and citizenship let me change it. But it is my faith that defined it."
She also had the option of changing her name when she got baptized as a Christian at 34 years old. Perhaps to swop out a vowel from Vara to Vera. She didn't do so. Years later at 43 years old, she then discovered that her Tamil name meant 'blessing', to give 'blessings' to others. As hilarious as it is, I'm keenly aware of how names affect people, and learning how to pronounce names properly should be basic courtesy that all of us should have, especially in a language that we're not familiar with, regardless whether it's a Chinese, Thai, Norsk, German, Vietnamese, Tamil, or Malay or name.
#2 'Nursing Memories'
Written by Mary Ng Soon, 'Nursing Memories' lets us in the mind of a retired nurse Mary, where in first scene, wanted to get out of hospital and go home. She seems to have dementia, happy reliving her own memories, not quite recognizing her own home, and wondering why people write down everything for her, including her address and NRIC number. She's envious of her friends who have money, husband, children and maid. And asks, "What do I have?"
The film ends with her at home fretting over getting help to clean her five-room flat. However, she's also feeling happy seeing her plants. She lives alone. She seldom talks to her brothers. They complained that she is grumpy, long-winded and forgetful. We understand she gets visitors and phone calls from friends. Dunno if that's enough to help her as her illness progress.
#3 'Rules of the Game'
'Rules of the Game' written by Nooraini Majeed sees a woman who reflects upon the choice of a life partner, the traits we value. She navigates rules of the game in a marriage, "negotiating with love, harmony, conflict and struggles within family relationships." She boils it down to the relationship dynamics between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law. Hahaha.
She recalled an episode where she and her husband have their own home away from her in-laws; yet after she went home after a long day, it was to see her mother-in-law seated there, an uninvited visitor criticizing her for the lack of cooking and making her son (the husband) do all the work. He literally only went out to buy dinner.
"If I ignore her, she will purposely create drama and extend her stay in my house, or worse, consider my house as her own."
The protagonist wonders why mothers-in-law and daughers-in-law can't get along in order to have a peaceful relationship. She suggests some core values to remember, one of which is to "compromise only if to do so, it doesn't violate my values and beliefs." She pretty much suggests that there should be a respect of differences, and for mothers-in-law not to impose their value systems on their daughers-in-law.
#4 'What's in a Name?'
This one looks at the life of writer Shahnaz Ali. Her monologue in 'What's in a Name?' summarizes her life as a 'nomad' before she stays put in Singapore for a bit, since 2010. She recognizes that home is a 'feeling', more than a 'place'. She is "thankful for a life that is kaleidoscopic." Her father's surname is Ali. She didn't give up 'Ali' after marriage. This small step mattered to her because "a marriage has to be on equal footing."
Her name has Persian origins and it means 'The Most Worthy of Pride'. Why Persian and not Indian? Shahnaz wondered that too, why would a name could change the atmosphere in the room, making clear the identity as a religious minority [in India].
"Why do minorities in Indian take on non-Indian names? To stand apart in self-identity or to stand within? To be accepted?"
I was hoping that the writer would go deeper into this line. But she didn't. Instead she embraces diversity in a room, and went on to talk about the rest of her life from after marriage, and also her children. I lost a little interest after that. She talks about her life in different cities and countries, from Bombay to Calcutta to New Delhi and back to Bombay, and countries from India to Japan, Indonesia and back to India and Bangalore, then to Philippines, Canada and finally to Singapore where they have lived since 2010. But her life across different cities and countries offers her a diversity that complements her name.
#5 'My Mama And Me'
'My Mama And Me' by Anne Lim is full of uhhh statements about aging and how one deals with it, as well as nostalgia and recollection of her Peranakan grandmother. It tells of the Peranakan grandmother's strong matriarchal influence as the writer reflected on the challenges of growing older, with grace. Anne described her relationship with her grandmother Gek Neo as a love-hate relationship. Her grandmother was in her eighties when she passed, and Anne was in her thirties.
Now that Anne is closer to her grandmother in age, qualifying to be termed as a 'Senior Citizen', she wonders, "When did I get used to being old?" She discusses about this idea of 'being old'. How older folks age, and sure, superficially one looks different, but inside, one feels the same, with nothing left to lose instead of striving for perfection. I laughed at this line that her grandmother told her, "better to break your heart than have your heart turned into stone."
The second scene was a tad confusing till I realized that Anne was acting as her grandmother Gek Neo when she was in the hospital, and waiting for her daughters to visit her. And a tad meta when the character acted as both Gek Neo and granddaughter Anne. The third scene continued with more memories of the grandmother that Anne remembered as a child. It seemed to be Anne at Gek Neo's funeral. It's a lot of family history. Of a strong woman who survived two husbands, kept her children and family together. But now, the threads are broken, leaving only memories and tenuous threads for the living.
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