Read a good book. Watch a good film.

There are many ways you can entertain yourself. To kill a couple of hours on a lazy Sunday afternoon, you might rather watch the dim-witted American Pie series than rack your brains in Inception. Alternatively, you might prefer exploring the remarkable cinematography of The Diving Bells and the Butterfly to fantasizing how one day, you too would be one half of a couple as loving as one shown in P.S. I Love You.

I think you get the drift. Entertainment means different things to different people and I cannot, of course, hold it against you if you’ve never even heard of Ayn Rand and you brag about how cool Chetan Bhagat’s novels are! The way I see it is why waste time in something that you already know, from the very beginning, is substandard.

It is true that sometimes you are too tired to indulge in some serious stuff and all you care about is to relax. At such times, I’d rather go for a drive or call up a friend than read/watch something stale!

Moreover, I feel a certain amount of pride in that I’ve shown my kid sister a variety of good films till now. She is currently in class 12 and has already watched a wide variety of animated films (which include some serious ones such as Grave of the Fireflies and Spirited Away), collections (such as Star Wars, Back to the Future etc.) and a few Oscar winning films (such as The Artist and Titanic). I also feel elated when she calls me up to discuss some difficult films like Casablanca and The Others! I was properly introduced to Hollywood only when I entered 2nd year in college and I wanted my sister to have that chance early on. It remains to be seen, however, what taste she eventually develops!