Movie trials

There was a time when my husband and I were regular movie cinema goers. For obvious reasons, since my son's birth there have been only a few occasions when we have gone to the theater to watch a film. Feeling that the time spent was worth it has become quite important for me. Recently, we came out of the movie hall in the intermission of the newly released film, K.G.F. While we saw its Tamil-dubbed version, it was still possible for me to understand the film overall because the story was so standard fare. Practically every scene was dark and had multitudes of goons belonging to different gangs, who finally were easily getting beaten by the hero. However, I am hearing that despite the redundancy, K.G.F. has become a success even in its dubbed Hindi version.

Another film that I saw in the theater to have disheartened me last year was Mani Ratnam's Chekka Chivantha Vaanam  (meaning the crimson red sky). Boasting of a stellar cast of Aravind Swamy, Jyothika, Vijay Sethupathi, Simbu, and Prakash Raj, the movie was interesting in its first half, leaving me guessing which of the three brothers was responsible for ordering the attack on their father, a don's life to inherit the empire after him. However, post interval the film lost its intrigue, and the ending seemed to be as if Mani Ratnam and his co-writer did not know how to close the movie. I found it even comical, though I am sure that was not the director's intent, so much so that it diluted whatever impact Chekka Chivantha Vaanam had initially registered.

My movie trials are far from over even watching a film together with my husband at home. At the end of a tiring day, if it is not able to hold my attention, I end up falling asleep even if I am the one to have selected the film. Therefore, it was a pleasant surprise to watch Andhadhun on Netflix on Christmas. We could not see it in one shot as our son woke up after his afternoon nap. However, despite the breaks, the movie did not lose its flow for me.

The story line of Andhadhun is that a blind piano player, Akash (Ayushman Khurana), becomes an "eye witness" to the murder of an aging film star. Akash had been invited by the film star to give a private concert to his wife Simi on their wedding anniversary. While Akash is giving his musical performance, Simi is disposing off the film star's body with the help of her lover. In the events that follow both the witness and murderers make all possible efforts to protect themselves. These situations are thrilling, scary, and even funny occasionally.

After a long time, I felt completely invested in a film. I would recommend anybody who has not yet watched Andhadhun to definitely see it. Considering that I have such high standards these days, you will not be left disappointed.



(Photo source: all are official movie posters)

Papanasam

Remade in Tamil from a Malayam film Drishyam, Papanasam stars Kamal Haasan, Gauthami and Asha Sharath. After a long time I found a movie with no frills managing to keep me gripped solely on the strength of its story and acting.

Suyambulingam is a cable operator living with his wife and two daughters in a small town by the same name. Though educated only till 4th class, he has acquired for himself a home, 5 acres land, a jeep and a bike. Many of the things that he has learnt have come through the movies that he watches daily. Everything is going well, until one night in his absence his elder daughter Selvi accidentally kills her blackmailer Varun (IG Geetha's son) and his wife helps to dispose off the body. When Suyambulingam returns and finds what has happened, he quickly grasps that an inquiry regarding Varun's disappearnce would be imminent and the connection to his daughter will for sure be revealed. He then uses all his knowledge from films to protect his family. The fact that the steps that he takes are intelligently crafted and are not predictable make the film interesting till the end.

Keeping the entertainment quotient of the film aside, I would like to highlight something which struck me here. In the first half of Papanasam, Suyambulingam is shown as a hardworking and upright man. He refuses to accept a delayed dowry from his father-in-law. He stands up against an arrogant, local constable, Perumal who tries to make use of his power and troubles people for personal gain. When told to be careful in his behaviour towards men with authority, he says that being innocent he is not scared of the police and only fears God. But this God fearing nature is instantaneously pushed aside the moment Suyambulingam is himself put to test. He does not take much time in hatching plans to keep the truth from coming out. As he proceeds in his endeavour, that he has a guilty conscience is never really shown. Only towards the close does he express his sadness at having taught his children to lie.

It appeared to me that the story tends to justify the protagonist's actions in terms of his belief that the law will not consider Varun's death an accident, that Varun was blackmailing would not be revealed and that his daughter and wife would be sent to jail which would besmirch their names. But God knows our hearts and we wouldn't be able to absolve ourselves as easily in front of Him.

The Bible tells us that He wants us to be holy and perfect, just the way He is. In Matthew Chapter 8, Jesus Christ has warned:

7 Woe to the world because of offences! For offences must come, but woe to that man by whom the offence comes!

What He says further in verses 8 and 9 tells us how strict or disciplined we have to be with ourselves to match the standards expected of us.

8 If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it out from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.

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(Image source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com)

Gulaab Gang - violence begets violence

(Image source: official poster)

Gulaab Gang is one movie that I was very much looking forward to. Starring the once competitors Madhuri Dixit and Juhi Chawla this was meant to be a clash of the titans. When its trailer first came out I had thought the film will be crackling. But sadly it was a great let down for me. 

Simply put the story is of Rajjo (Madhuri Dixit) who runs a group called Gulaab Gang which is ever ready to put the danda (or rod) to use. Enters Sumitra Devi (Juhi Chawala) as the vicious politician to add to their troubles. Both power wielding ladies are soon pitted against each other. Who wins - the good or the evil? forms the rest of the movie.  

Personally I felt that all the good dialogues were used up in the trailer. The songs and dance seemed ill placed and slowed the pace. I wish the story to have been more of a battle of wits than weapons. In my view the character of Sumitra devi dripped of vileness in every scene and expression from the get go which robbed the audience of any twists or surprises. On a different note it also made me ask some questions. For instance,

If those who use their positions for personal gain, do so as openly? While extreme in nature, Sumitra devi mirrors the reality. I was revisiting the first season of Satyamev Jayate - Episode 3 in which a video recorded as part of a sting operation carried out by a bride-to-be showed her prospective in-laws loudly shouting and unabashedly demanding dowry from her parents and brothers. 

Why is it that having a choice between the right and wrong and between heaven and hell some people would still go for the latter option in each case? I suppose knowing is one thing and believing another. 

If today the Lord was to speak from the heaven would it help? The book of Exodus is full of instances of His glory and power. Most of us are at least aware of the part where He saved His people from the Egyptian Pharaoh and his soldiers by parting the Red Sea. Through their journey He was with them - as a cloud during the day and as fire by night. But when Moses did not come down from the mountain for a long time, they turned to other gods. 

In the film some cases were shown in which Gulaab Gang went to the rescue of ill treated women. But not once were they successful in appealing to the reason of the perpetrators and always ended up resorting to various forms of violence - slapping, breaking bones, cutting ears, and even killing. The action packed climax ends with Sumitra devi's mighty hand being both literally and figuratively cut off and with Rajjo also getting jailed. It reiterated for me what Jesus Christ had said when stopping his disciple from coming to his defence against arrest:

"… for all who take the sword will perish by the sword." (Matthew, Chapter 26, verse 52)

A lot of young men and women these days are inclined to think that the solution to all corrupt and deplorable acts is to simply lynch the criminals and offenders. But that does not change wrong practices nor put an end to all kinds of deceit and lawlessness. Martin Luther King, Jr. had phrased it way better:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy, instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder the hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." (Ref: Where do we go from here: chaos or community, 1967, pp 62-63)

Satyamev Jayate (5): Child sexual abuse

(Image source: http://www.glogster.com)

Following the heart tugging first episode on Female Foeticide of Satyamev Jayate (see all posts about the tv show here) I was awaiting what Aamir Khan and his team would have for us in the second one. Would it be as effective and eye opening?

Theme of the episode
The show started with Aamir Khan saying how special children are for their parents and how much protective the latter are for the former. He went on to share his own concerns and worries for his children. The audience comprising of young parents were asked to guess the percentage of children in India who are victims of child sexual abuse. Different people made estimates of which the maximum number was 10%. So when Aamir Khan revealed that according to the findings of a research carried out by the Women and Child Development Ministry in 2007 53% respondents (across different parts of India in both rural villages and urban cities) reported to have undergone child sexual abuse it left everyone shell shocked. In the light of this staggering information the question of how safe our children are was brought up.

The stories
To break myths such as (i) children are most safe at home, (ii) only girls are sexually abused and (iii) the effect of what happened in one's childhood does not affect the future, many victims came forward to open up about their stories.

         Cinderella Prakash told how when she was just 11 years old her mother was in the hospital. Taking advantage her being alone at home one of her parent's friend, a man old enough to be her grandfather, one day came home on a pretext and sexually abused her. Hearing her account of the extent of abuse and her feeling of disgust at her own self at that point, was deeply disturbing. From them on she would try to run away whenever this man would come to visit her parents. Cinderella further, revealed that it was just four years before that she actually told her parents of this incident. She urged those who have suffered or are suffering from child sexual abuse to break the silence and vent out.

        Harish Iyer a grown up man now, was raped multiple times by a relative when he was just 6 years old. The abuse continued until he became 18. In this long duration of pain and suffering there were two occasions when he tried to tell his mother. But both times he was too young to be able to express himself clearly. Even when his mother understood, on the show she regrettably admitted, that she did not know how to respond as it was a family member who was involved and kept silent on the matter and didn't take any action. Harish said that it was like he was trapped in a cycle and continued to give in as his uncle would threaten him, until one day he mustered all his courage and said a resounding NO to the man.

       Ganesh Nallari, a fashion designer, recounted how he was abused by his uncle from the age of 5 to 17 years. What happened in the past affected his future life so much so that that it was hard form him to form relationships. While breaking down he expressed that He held a grudge against God but that he was trying to forgive his abuser as only then he would feel free.

What is behind the silence?
Anuja Gupta, who runs an organisation called RAHI which provides counselling to victims of child sexual abuse, described what is really going through the child's mind: the victimised children, though  young, can gauge that something wrong is happening but think that no one will believe them and worse still instead of the abuser they even might be held responsible for the ghastly act. Anuja further opined that parents are ill prepared for such situations and so for the children in her own words "silence is a kind of self preservation". Further the silence could also be a part of the abuse due to the direct or indirect threats they may receive from the abuser.

          Anuja most importantly outlined the different steps parents must take when a child approaches them:

1. Believe in the child
2. Infuse confidence in him/her
3. Apologise for the abuse happening on their watch and
4. Take a step to put an end to it. 

Through the example of a case where a 2 year old girl was being abused by her grandfather, she illustrated how if the abuser is someone from within the family one could hold a meeting of all the relatives and openly confront the person in question so that the act is never repeated.

Unmasking the abuser
Dr. Rajat Sharma, a psycologist by profession, who has in his research talked to prisoners in jail on charges of child sexual abuse was asked to help identify who an abuser can be. He revealed that such people normally have no guilt, treat the child as an adult and believe that the kid enjoys the experience. In his view such culprits carefully mark their target and plan their actions. They normally have charming personalities and are able to win over the confidence of the children, parents and even neighbours. Though in India we give a grave significance to our children respecting the elders, he wisely expounded that we should rather tell the children to respect behaviour and not age.

Turning it around
On the bright side we were introduced to an agency called CHILDLINE India (click link) which is the world's largest children's helpline reachable by the number 1098. The service is available 24 hours a day and they come to the chid's aid within an hour.

At the time this episode was aired there was no stringent law against child sexual abuse in India. There were many loopholes where insertion of a body part into the mouth verses a vaginal penetration was not considered a criminal offence. Nishit Kumar of CHILDLINE narrated their long 10 year struggle, because of such gaps in the law, in bringing to justice two ex-naval British officers who on the pretext of running a shelter in Mumbai for homeless children forced them to perform obscene acts. He highlighted the great need of sensitivity by the police, medical staff and lawyers in treating the victimised children during the entire investigation process.

Action
At the end of the episode Aamir Khan conducted a short workshop (see video here) with a few kids in the age group of 5-10. He asked them if they knew what was danger and what did they identify safety with. He informed them about the three danger points in their body that no one should touch, not even a doctor in the absence of their parents. In a friendly way he made the children remember a set of three actions to carry out if someone touched them in those danger areas - (1) scream loudly, (2) run away and go to a safe place and (3) go to the person they trust most and tell them what has happened. He finally suggested that parents carry out this workshop with their kids once every six months.

My comments

Soon after the episode the Parliament of India passed the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences Bill. So things seem to be looking up. As taken from Wikipedia:

"The new Act provides for a variety of offenses under which an accused can be punished. It recognizes forms of penetration other than peno-vaginal penetration and criminalizes acts of immodesty against children too. The legislators tried to draft a gender-neutral Act, but failed, using the pronoun 'he' in the description of various offenses. With respect to pornography, the Act criminalizes even watching or collection of pornographic content involving children. The Act makes abettment of child sexual abuse an offense. It also provides for various procedural reforms, making the tiring process of trial in India considerably easier for children. The Act has been criticized as its provisions seem to criminalize consensual sexual intercourse between two people below the age of 18."

While there may be others, the only film that I have seen to sensitively talk about child sexual abuse is Monsoon Wedding which released 13 years back in 2001. It rightly captured everything that this episode of Satyamev Jayate talked about:

• the abuser being a well respected family friend who has always helped them in their hour of need
• the young girl trying to push away the abuser 
• the long silence for years on part of victims
• the disbelief, laying the blame on the victim and initial non-response from family members when the truth comes out. 

Amidst the wedding festivities the father figure (Naseeruddin Shah) of the victim first feels helpless but finally confronts the abuser in front of all the family saying: "These are my children and I will protect them even from myself if I have to". This is the rule that all parents should adopt.

In India we are mostly close knit families and the worry of what people might say is often a great influence behind our inactions. However, in matters when a child's safety is at stake such paralysing thoughts should be quashed. It is important to realise that there are certain occasions where silence is definitely not golden.

Like Ganesh Nallari there must be many other victims angry at God, some may have even turned away from Him completely and others might have taken the wrong path. One of the victims interviewed, Nazneen said that to forget the pain that she suffered she took to drugs and alcohol. It is therefore, imperative that these innocent victims are given all the love, care and confidence that they need so that they learn to stop hating themselves and to distrusting everyone around them.

Sometimes those guilty to have broken beautiful spirits may go unpunished by our laws, but what Jesus Christ says is in store for them is quite frightening:

"But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Mathew, Chapter 18, verse 6)

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani: What difference does it make?

Differences and commonalities in a relationship

In the recently released Hindi movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) and Naina (Deepika Padukone) have very different dreams for their lives. While Bunny wants to explore the world, Naina is perfectly happy with being in one place and living the daily grind with her family. Some time in the second half of the film each is trying to convince the other about their respective preferences. Putting a stop to the competition Bunny says the following line,

"Tu right nahi hai Naina, bus mujhse alag hai."

meaning

"You are not right Naina, just different from me".

I remember towards the end of the very first day that my (then yet to be) husband and I met, he introduced me to a close friend of his. We were happy to tell her how the two of us liked many of the same things. She very sweetly and wisely expounded that while it is good to have similar thinking with your spouse, what is more important is how you handle your differences.

Any relationship brings together two separate entities who have been raised distinctively and have had their fair share of unique experiences leading them to form personal views and beliefs. So it is definite that there would come many a moment when in spite of their deep love the couple will have a conflict of opinions. The issue in contest may be a complicated one or something really small. How does one then avoid squabbles in such a scenario?

I had read in an article that instead of attempting to change the other person, try to alter yourself. Eating the food, watching a movie, and wearing clothes of your spouse's liking every once in a while could help increase the common ground. Ordinarily we all like to get our own way, but it is not so bad to give in either. Furthermore, it is most important to submit happily and not out of anger or with frustration.

For the more big topics, just like Bunny and Naina, one could simply respect the opposing party's contrasting thoughts instead of trying to out do each other.

Do not be judgemental

(Image adapted from http://www.flickr.com/photos/cheesyfeet)

It was quite a while back that I saw the Hindi movie English Vinglish but I still clearly recall being moved by the speech that Shashi (Sridevi) makes at the wedding in the end. She tells in her sweet demeanour the newly married couple to not be judgemental of each other. I feel this piece of advice is to be followed by every one of us, not only in our relationships but also in the way we simply see the people in our vicinity when we travel, drive to the market or go for a jog.

John chapter 7, verse 24 says that we should "not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgement." Unfortunately this rarely happens. We are prone to jump to conclusions based on our predetermined mindsets formulated through the news we hear or on beliefs passed down generations. Imtiaz Ali's Hindi film Cocktail for instance is most clichéd in its characterization. The girl who parties, drinks, is in and out of relationships and has uncaring parents is named Veronica. While the girl who is shy, prays, and cooks and cleans is named Meera.

A sad case in point is of Brown University's student Sunil Tripathi who went missing about a month back. When the yet to be identified hazy photos of the recent Boston Marathon bombers were released by the authorities, somebody's comment on how Sunil bore a likeness to one of the pictures led to a chain of posts on a website discussing whether he could be one of them. Many others got on to the bandwagon and some believing him to be guilty even went on to hurl abuses on the facebook page that Sunil's parents had created in a bid to reach out to him. Eventually the truth came out but in that short span much pain and anguish was caused to the family. Worse was to come when some days later Sunil's body was recovered and he was found dead. I wonder what made it so easy for these accusers to pronounce their verdict and what are their thoughts now.

In the New Testament there is a story of how once a crowd had gathered around a sinful woman to throw stones at her as a punishment. When Jesus saw this He asked that the person who has never committed a sin should be the first one to throw the stone. But as there was nobody sinless, soon the woman was left alone. Even today it is no different. We might be "not bad" but that does not mean we are without a single blemish.

The Bible tells very clearly what happens when we judge others and how we really have no right to do so. The following words in Mathew, chapter 7 guide us in this regard:

1 Judge not, that you be not judged. 
2 For with the judgement you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 
3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 
4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 
5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

Barfi! - how to be in a relationship

Barfi! is a Hindi film that released in 2012. Directed by Anurag Basu, it is the story of a deaf and mute boy, played by Ranbir Kapoor, who because of his speech difficulties ends up introducing himself as Barfi (an Indian sweet) instead of his actual name Murphy. The film for most part is in flashback with different people recalling their encounters with Barfi. This narrative unfolds the series of events leading to the loving relationship that he develops with an autistic girl, Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra).

Something that I remembered long after watching the movie was the manner in which Barfi tried to test whether those he loved would leave him. He would cut the wooden pole of a street lamp, then stand a fair certain distance in front of it hand in hand with the person in question, and wait for the lamp to fall in their direction. Only Barfi knew that it was just the right amount of distance so that nobody would get hurt, but close enough to scare. To his great disappointment he found his friend and his first love Shruti leave his hand and move away on seeing the pole beginning to tilt. Later in the film when Jhilmil starts becoming an important part of his life, Barfi repeats the act with her to find that she does not even flinch and remains staunchly by his side.

In life it is when we are going through a rough patch that we need a show of support the most. If on one side the above scene tells us about what kind of person we should go for in a relationship, then on the other it exemplifies through the character of Jhilmil how we should ourselves strive to be. 

Giving a loving embrace, kind words of encouragement and a hand kept on hand might not do anything to change a difficult situation but it could help the person to carry forth longer. Instead of playing the blame game, every effort should be made to show the pride you have in them to boost their confidence. Read between the lines and the unsaid words. Keep aside your own worries and look instead through their eyes. 

If there is ever a time that calls for you to express your love then it is not Valentine's day, but when the going is bad.  

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Image (top) source: http://movies.ndtv.com

Jab Tak Hai Jaan - what's the deal?

For those who don't know Yash Chopra is an Indian film maker legendary for bringing heart tugging romances on celluloid. He passed away in October 2012 just weeks before his directorial venture titled Jab Tak Hai Jaan was slated to release. The audiences were already looking forward to the movie as he had taken over the reigns after a gap of eight years. His sudden demise increased the curiosity factor even more. People wanted to see how he had wielded his magic this last time round.

I finally got to watch Jab Tak Hai Jaan yesterday. I found that in true blue Yash Chopra style the film's story was a love triangle, its protagonists were genuinely good people, the two heroines were presented beautifully and the film was shot in some picturesque locations. In this post I am not going to review Jab Tak Hai Jaan more than this but write about one of its leading characters Meera played by actress Katrina Kaif.

Whenever Meera wants something in her life she prays to Jesus Christ and in return gives up something she likes. For instance, when she asks for a boy to not want her hand in marriage she decides on never wearing fur coats if it so happens. Her philosophy is that you will get as much as you will give. She tells the hero Samar (Shahrukh Khan) that if everyone keeps asking from God without giving back then how will He have enough good to divide amongst His people. According to Meera to get something you have to lose something.

I could not help but disagree with a large part of Meera's thinking. To begin with you do not make deals with God when praying. He does not answer our prayers because we have promised to be good in return but because we already are living our lives according to His will. In the Bible the book of 1 John in chapter 3 verse 22 says:

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.

It is then of course right to be giving like Meera does by helping the needy. However, such acts can only be meaningful when done from the heart and not out of fear or external force or desire for a reward in return. Further, we should not consider the giving back as a loss. After all whatever we have has come from Him.

In the case that we still make a bargain with the Lord then we should stick with our end of it even if He doesn't as a sign of our belief in Him. In the film Meera always receives what she asks for. Its never shown or mentioned that she gives up those things precious to her inspite of her prayers being unanswered. In fact as the story progresses and she ends up having to forgo her love as a promise to God for saving his life, disillusioned she stops her practice which had worked until then in her favour.

I feel instead of making such "deals" we should simply ask with faith. We should put all our worries to Him and have confidence that He will hear us. Most importantly we should approach Him with a repentant heart and thanksgiving. Apart from asking for forgiveness we should also forgive those who have hurt us. We should not remember God only when things go bad. We should daily praise Him for all that He has given us undeserving as we are with all our faults.


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Image (top) source: http://yashrajfilms.com

Trial and error (1): Pan-fried lamb chops

One of the promises that I have listed to keep this year is to try out new recipes [Refer post 2]. To add a seriousness to it I have decided that on a minimum I will make one such attempt per month. Clearly I am no Julie Powell who completed the challenge of cooking all the 524 recipes from Julia Child's cookbook titled "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". While I admit I haven't read Julie Powell's book nor her famous blog where she wrote about her trials and errors, based on the movie Julie & Julia it looks like when she undertook the Julie/Julia Project she loved cooking and already had some skills in the kitchen. As I am not as much of a cooking enthusiast the low cap that I have self imposed can be forgiven. At the same time for having already begun on this journey so soon my determination should be applauded.

Wanting to start with an uncomplicated yet delicious recipe requiring little expertise, I chose Grilled Pan-fried lamb chops.

How I did it?
I followed Giada De Laurentis' recipe from foodnetwork.com but substituting thyme with mint leaves and adding juice of half of a lemon when making the marinade. For pan frying I used a little canola oil letting a tablespoon of butter melt into it before placing the lamb chops. I used shoulder lamb chops which are a bit harder. Since I wanted them well done, I cooked both sides of the chops for 10 min each. I served the chops with based potatoes and boiled peas with a dash of butter.

Notes on cooking technique.
My first comment on the final outcome is that I should have made either more portions of the chops or served an appetizer before, as one piece was not filling enough. Secondly, it turned out that in my first attempt I had employed a cooking time of 15 min on each side which was more than necessary and made the meat slightly firm. When I remade this dish a couple of days ago, based on directions given on ehow.com I first fried each side for 5-6 min. But I found that the meat remained undercooked. Frying each side additionally for 5 min on high flame made it just right. The meat was cooked through as well as slightly tender.

My husband's verdict.
His rating for the dish: 7/10 which for me equals "not bad". He was happy though I made an effort.

This is how the Pan-fried lamb chops came out looking:

Pan-fried lamb chops for dinner