Been away from action for a long time now, presumably preoccupied with other more mundane activities of life called "JOB". However i took a break and visited India over the long weekend in Singapore and that inspired to me to dump it all down here.
Well its Sept in India and Monsoon is waning off, however the sun still shines brightly and when it does the humidity is indeed overwhelming. One such afternoon i went out for a walk to get some cash from nearby ATM. Seeing the huge queue in front of the lone SBI atm at this place called "Adra" i decided to take a detour and buy some banana's (come on i am still a young monkey at heart). Soon i was sweating profusely and so i rushed back to ATM machine to get some temporary relief at ATM (which is air conditioned and works as well !!!). Thankfully the queue was less by this time and i was able to get some momentary relief. Couple of transactions later it was time for me to be back on same sapping streets.
Why was i feeling this hot when everyone around seemed perfectly at ease with the surroundings? Was it that after staying out of india for better part of last 2 years i was finally getting out of touch with realities of India and slowly turing into "NRI" the dreaded "Non-Returning Indian" i always hated? maybe and maybe not and so i decided to a reality check.
On returning home i promptly took a shower and asked mom "Is it really too hot out there or i have really become a foren babua?" To which she replied "Nono.. its actually very hot wait till your dad is back even he is gonna crib today" So taking heart from the response i decided to skip the afternoon siesta to watch a romantic Drew Barrymore movie. Halfway into it it became really unbearable and believe it or not mom and dad (post his cribbing about heat and power cuts) were sound asleep and looked pretty comfortable. Mind you even after much insistance mom simply refuses to buy into my argument to get an AC installed. "Let me not spoil my habbit in a country like India with erratic power supply" is her standard reply. And so there i was huffing and puffing out in heat which seemed to target me (foren victim) specifically and relentlessly.
Finally at about 4:00 in evening I started to feel better.... and before i knew it there was a sudden gust of wind which tore into the home threatening to tear away all the curtains. Wow what a feeling it was i grabbed keys to my favourite scooter and went out to roam the streets returned fully drenched in rain with a smile on my face. How many of such evenings have i missed out in singapore where this is a dialy phenomenon !!! i mused to myself.
Joys of life probably come in little packets.. like the raindrops of Indian rain.
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Friday 10 April 2009
Ragging... Myths and Reality
After seeing lot of bullshit on TV's newspapers magazines etc etc... i am taking this opportunity to set the record straight. The purpose is not to justify ragging as such.... but to ensure that we donot throw the baby with the bath tub and keep our colleges as places where we become what we eventually do. lets start off with the myths:
1> Seniors are all subhuman creatures filled with harted
2> All ragging is brutal, vulgar and emotionally cruel
3> Ragging causes kids to commit suicide
4> Juniors walking into college are all innocent kids
5> Ragging is unfair on young minds
lets Start with myth No1
"Seniors are all subhuman creatures filled with harted"
Reality: NO... remember we all were once freshers and became seniors. Remember your first day in college.. walking along in long queues with heads looking down... doing a mugal style 90 wish to all seniors who cared to look along? I am sure u do.... Do you remember your first day in school?? (I changed a lot of schools and so i know) It took almost 2 months for me to know all my classmates in school. How long did it take in college 1 day.
The point i am trying to make here is:
--- We all walked in as "innocent" kids in first year and not as inhuman creatures and i refuse to believe that i became one after 1 year. (Innocence in first year is also relative i was not !!! and that amused my seniors a lot.. but that's another story)
--- The real danger of being caught alone in college made us all from the first year stick together in groups enabling us to become best friends and pals. Some of my greatest pals till date are from college and not school.
Myth 2
"All ragging is brutal, vulgar and emotionally cruel"
Reality: NO In almost 99% of cases ragging is more about witt and intelligence. Thinking of amusing ways to make an audiance laugh in the most unfriendly scenarios. If u sieze up during ur first interaction with your senior... things become tough naturally.... But as far as i have seen/ragged/got ragged i know its never physical abuse and generally there is enough goodies at the end of it to make you get over your mental abuse. The point i am trying to make is:
--- Its easy to blame ragging for all suicides that happen and blame it on cruel forms of ragging. And like everywhere else... policing and laws will only drive the activity underground/make it more brutal.
--- Seniors generally use this opportunity to spot newer talents for that quiz forum... college band etc etc and enables seniors and juniors to mingle together and know each other. Else there is no way to enable so many people to know each other. (apart from fresher parties... but in my college they also were banned along with ragging)
Myth 3
"Ragging causes kids to commit suicide"
Every year thousands of kids all over India join Engg/Medical/Science/Arts colleges... How many commit suicide? One? two? in 4-5 years? I mean why blame everything on "Ragging" why not say that some people are just too weak emotionally. I mean more people commit suicide after getting betrayed in love... . Put in place a ban on all forms of love (sexual asexual bisexual homesexual). The point i am trying to make here is:
--- Poeple who donot value their life will commit suicide... if ragging doesnot get them something else will in long life ahead
--- being emotionally/mentally weak is not enough excuse to ban something which is as harmless as ragging (put in place measures which allow esclation in case it goes overboard)
Myth 4
"Juniors walking into college are all innocent kids"
I will say just one line which was repeated many times by my english teacher ~! In this world noone is innocent.... when a kid is born first thing it does it catch his mother's breast !~
Myth 5
"Ragging is unfair on young minds"
Yes it is... and so is life. Your company.. your boss your coworkers/competitors will not treat you with kid gloves which your parents used. Ragging helps you to get emotionally stronger... keep your cool even when things donot go your way... maintain focus on the larger goals/objectives regardless of background noise... keep your mind working even when the chips are down. The point i want to make is:
--- you walk in a boy in college.. you walk out a man ragging is an important part of that metamorphosis
--- its easy to get carried away when tragic incidents like students' committing suicide happen in colleges which are supposed to be places of learning. But putting in a blanket ban against ragging is tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bath tub.
--- ragging forms should be treated as just another part of the growing up process of children. Its more like learing to ride a bicycle for the first time.... just because you may get hurt doesnot mean it should be banned. Poeple who get ragged/do ragging turn out same as others if not better... they donot deserve to be treated like criminals and psycho killers.
Think about it... If you have a chance to relive your college days... will you like it to be ragging free? bland and boring like corporate culture? Come on we all know its just too much fun.. nothing to freak about or go paranoiod about. Think and only then arrive at an answer.
1> Seniors are all subhuman creatures filled with harted
2> All ragging is brutal, vulgar and emotionally cruel
3> Ragging causes kids to commit suicide
4> Juniors walking into college are all innocent kids
5> Ragging is unfair on young minds
lets Start with myth No1
"Seniors are all subhuman creatures filled with harted"
Reality: NO... remember we all were once freshers and became seniors. Remember your first day in college.. walking along in long queues with heads looking down... doing a mugal style 90 wish to all seniors who cared to look along? I am sure u do.... Do you remember your first day in school?? (I changed a lot of schools and so i know) It took almost 2 months for me to know all my classmates in school. How long did it take in college 1 day.
The point i am trying to make here is:
--- We all walked in as "innocent" kids in first year and not as inhuman creatures and i refuse to believe that i became one after 1 year. (Innocence in first year is also relative i was not !!! and that amused my seniors a lot.. but that's another story)
--- The real danger of being caught alone in college made us all from the first year stick together in groups enabling us to become best friends and pals. Some of my greatest pals till date are from college and not school.
Myth 2
"All ragging is brutal, vulgar and emotionally cruel"
Reality: NO In almost 99% of cases ragging is more about witt and intelligence. Thinking of amusing ways to make an audiance laugh in the most unfriendly scenarios. If u sieze up during ur first interaction with your senior... things become tough naturally.... But as far as i have seen/ragged/got ragged i know its never physical abuse and generally there is enough goodies at the end of it to make you get over your mental abuse. The point i am trying to make is:
--- Its easy to blame ragging for all suicides that happen and blame it on cruel forms of ragging. And like everywhere else... policing and laws will only drive the activity underground/make it more brutal.
--- Seniors generally use this opportunity to spot newer talents for that quiz forum... college band etc etc and enables seniors and juniors to mingle together and know each other. Else there is no way to enable so many people to know each other. (apart from fresher parties... but in my college they also were banned along with ragging)
Myth 3
"Ragging causes kids to commit suicide"
Every year thousands of kids all over India join Engg/Medical/Science/Arts colleges... How many commit suicide? One? two? in 4-5 years? I mean why blame everything on "Ragging" why not say that some people are just too weak emotionally. I mean more people commit suicide after getting betrayed in love... . Put in place a ban on all forms of love (sexual asexual bisexual homesexual). The point i am trying to make here is:
--- Poeple who donot value their life will commit suicide... if ragging doesnot get them something else will in long life ahead
--- being emotionally/mentally weak is not enough excuse to ban something which is as harmless as ragging (put in place measures which allow esclation in case it goes overboard)
Myth 4
"Juniors walking into college are all innocent kids"
I will say just one line which was repeated many times by my english teacher ~! In this world noone is innocent.... when a kid is born first thing it does it catch his mother's breast !~
Myth 5
"Ragging is unfair on young minds"
Yes it is... and so is life. Your company.. your boss your coworkers/competitors will not treat you with kid gloves which your parents used. Ragging helps you to get emotionally stronger... keep your cool even when things donot go your way... maintain focus on the larger goals/objectives regardless of background noise... keep your mind working even when the chips are down. The point i want to make is:
--- you walk in a boy in college.. you walk out a man ragging is an important part of that metamorphosis
--- its easy to get carried away when tragic incidents like students' committing suicide happen in colleges which are supposed to be places of learning. But putting in a blanket ban against ragging is tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bath tub.
--- ragging forms should be treated as just another part of the growing up process of children. Its more like learing to ride a bicycle for the first time.... just because you may get hurt doesnot mean it should be banned. Poeple who get ragged/do ragging turn out same as others if not better... they donot deserve to be treated like criminals and psycho killers.
Think about it... If you have a chance to relive your college days... will you like it to be ragging free? bland and boring like corporate culture? Come on we all know its just too much fun.. nothing to freak about or go paranoiod about. Think and only then arrive at an answer.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Bankrupt Beggar from Bihar
Statutory Warning : This article is meant to be causing inflamed passions and provoke readers into posting abuses on my blog (since i failed miserably in my attempt to get positive publicity i am trying out tried and tested publicity gimmick this time... no-no please reserve all thanks for Bollyhood film producers !!!) Question: Identify the correlation between... Bihari -- India and Mallu -- World. Your options are:
1> Both are expatriates (Consider Bhaiyas and Gaijins [Japanese for foreigner] equivalent)
2> Both are notorious (consider shooting and eating to be equivalent)
3> Both migrate (Consider Indian railways and International Flights equivalent)
4> Both have similar occupations (consider Tea stall and cooliegiri equivalent)
5> All the above
6> none of the above
Confused??? (i assume bihari bhai's and Mallu checha's are not reading this else its too easy for them !!!). Well allow me to blabber about for 5 mins and then i will give out the stuff on my own :P
So, lemme start off the story. Once upon a time in Bihar there was.... guess what!!! a "Garib Bihari" (as if there is something called as "amir bihari") who used to cycle his way to school and dream of owing a car someday ( of course that long one and not those hatchbacks ).... day dreaming of long road trips to Goa (complete with hot blondes) and drifting on snow clad Himalayas (yes with scantily clad cheerleaders who got job less after IPL). Then he moved to college and came to know of latest way of making quick and easy money (yes the sunrise IT industry). That "Garib Bihari" is none other than your's truly.
Cut to final year (details of my drinking spoils are omitted here as I is about to get married and so I cannot risk any complications u see !!! ) and he finds out about another new and even more easier way of fooling companies into giving you huge salaries i.e. "MBA" (its 2009 and I find that kinda amusing to know that i was actually right about all these MBA grads fooling companies about their productivity figures.... and before all u MBA's reading this start planning my assassination lemme say something comforting to u "Fuck off". Even we are fooling clients this is not your copyrighted way of making money!!!!). So coming back to MBA stuff in final year..... I tried like hell kept going to all these coaching classes like headless chicken.... shouting off mathematical tables and pasting square's and cube's in shit holes (yes my college toilet was worse... don't laugh its Bihar!!!!) Come one... even the government is bankrupt there.. Everyone’s’ poor so no tax collection its easy-peezy to understand)...... but alas........ Nothing happened. Not that it had happened for the first time in my life but well for the record one more time i ended up on the side of losers like me. But this time it was different..... I was neither unhappy nor sad... actually i was happy and said "Fuck u MBA" and like those horny English ladies i cried out in ecstasy "ooh my god ...... IT i am arriving... aah" (mark my words.. English ladies don’t say I am coming!!! they arrive :O and so next time u take that hot blonde u don’t know the name of up the mountains of pleasure.. u know how to distinguish between English and American shit !!!)
Jump to Infy Training.... (Rest of final year is again confidential) and i was in heaven... have u seen a place in India where u get a laundry service next to your swimming pool !!! (Just strip.. drop off everything in laundry and by the time u enjoy that dip in pool and steam bath ur laundry is done !!!). Beggar from Bihar was getting the first taste of what being rich was all about ;). But life... as someone famously said "Life is unfair" soon the training was over and i was paying rent for my stay and getting bumped around in Infy bus every morning!!! But by now this Bihari was some what rich and so.. Upgraded to a new motorbike... and life was never the same again. Next few months were again spent day dreaming about zooming past trucks on highway with a hot pillion trusting up her assets at my back with every jerk of Brake pedals :D. This went on for couple of months and wait slowly turned to desperation... and finally to despair. There comes a point in life when u stoically reconcile yourself to your fate and stop trying.
Then this fool from infy.. my friend actually (That explains the friendship) suggested that u better get that car of your's.... as chicks these days don’t prefer bikers as there are just too many of them !!!! So, i decided to start saving for my car..... and since that was not possible with my meagre salary (yes the princely salary had now been reduced to minimum wages thanks to inflation and Infy effect of cities) another round of day dreaming started with me dreaming about stay in Onsite locations and getting that dream car of mine with a saving effort of just 3-4 months !!! The interesting thing to note here is that the rate of day dreaming is about inversely proportional to the cash in your pocket (I have had some of my best dreams when having road side “wada pav” with Rs50 in my pocket with three more days to go for salary!!!!). So i am coming down to the generalisations now.....
[If u wanna make it big.. dream big.. and to dream big ... be a begger first]
Fast forward 1 year (please account for this time in GCAL.. the Infosys code for time pass activities which include drinking... sleeping.... watching movies... couple of more failed attempts at CAT etc etc). There i was standing smartly waiting for my first international flight to Tokyo!!! Mind you i was still a beggar (relax i am coming to mallu aspect soon!!!) all the stuff packed in my suitcase (and even the suitcase) had been bought with borrowed money and i was having superb day dreams!!!! Finally i landed up in Tokyo.. Started saving and bingo i was ready to buy that dream car of mine. I was itching to go back home (Yes i have the "mallu" by now and he is my greatest pal in Tokyo) but this Infy projects.... they never end.. Remember i told u about fooling the clients into giving us money!!!! and i was forced to stay on for another 6 months.... and in the mean time my savings grew to unbelievable amounts for a beggar like me (yes on of the favourite pastimes being to log into ICICI banking and check the balance over and over and over again).
Man is a unique animal.. he is never satisfied (yes.. he is basically an asshole hell bent on squeezing out all happiness from his life). And one of the ways to achieve this is to start dreaming bigger and bigger as soon as one dream is satisfied!!!! So, this beggar started to dream of flats and Bungalows and Farm houses (complete with 4X4 soft top Tata safari and hot village maids!!!!). And for all this he needed more and more money (Dreams don't come cheap u see) and very soon even his onsite savings started to seem small!!!
All this while ... this mallu .... kept enjoying his life like hell... complete with trips to .... umm well I can't disclose that u see because however unbelievable as it may sound he will also get married some day (no plz... see i am not claiming anything here.. but mallu's do get married.... and yes they can manage these things apart from their drinking activities !!!!). I was busy trying to be a beggar... saving more and more money and living out a frugal life in the hope of a better life tomorrow (seemed ominously similar to the ranting of fundamentalists from fight wing religious groups who promise a better tomorrow in heaven in return for making your and others life hell on earth). Bottom-line being..... the "Garib Bihari" remained precisely that "Garib"(this change was in control but was termed as "no defect") and "Bihari" (this being the design flaw nothing could be done)
So.. with all the blabbering behind me we can come down the question of "genesis" here.... What is the similarity between Bihari--India and mallu--World? Answer is: What a Bihari is to India.. mallus are to the world. But like all generalisations... one mallu was exception (there maybe more.. but i am yet to find another) for he did things and remained happy.... and i did things and still remained a beggar !!!!
Identify the correlation between... Bihari -- India and Mallu -- World. Your options are:
1> Both are expatriates (Consider Bhaiyas and gaijins[japanese for foreigner] equivalent)
2> Both are notorius (consider shooting and eating to be equivalent)
3>Both migrate (Consider Indian railways and International Flights equivalent)
4>Both have similar occupations (consider Tea stall and cooliegiri equivalent)
5> All the above
6> none of the above
Answer: All the above one beggar and the other rich !!!!
So, what was the point of writing out this blog.... Well i have no idea (i know u want to curse me and beat the shit out of me for making u read all this crap.... but i warned you before !!!!)
1> Both are expatriates (Consider Bhaiyas and Gaijins [Japanese for foreigner] equivalent)
2> Both are notorious (consider shooting and eating to be equivalent)
3> Both migrate (Consider Indian railways and International Flights equivalent)
4> Both have similar occupations (consider Tea stall and cooliegiri equivalent)
5> All the above
6> none of the above
Confused??? (i assume bihari bhai's and Mallu checha's are not reading this else its too easy for them !!!). Well allow me to blabber about for 5 mins and then i will give out the stuff on my own :P
So, lemme start off the story. Once upon a time in Bihar there was.... guess what!!! a "Garib Bihari" (as if there is something called as "amir bihari") who used to cycle his way to school and dream of owing a car someday ( of course that long one and not those hatchbacks ).... day dreaming of long road trips to Goa (complete with hot blondes) and drifting on snow clad Himalayas (yes with scantily clad cheerleaders who got job less after IPL). Then he moved to college and came to know of latest way of making quick and easy money (yes the sunrise IT industry). That "Garib Bihari" is none other than your's truly.
Cut to final year (details of my drinking spoils are omitted here as I is about to get married and so I cannot risk any complications u see !!! ) and he finds out about another new and even more easier way of fooling companies into giving you huge salaries i.e. "MBA" (its 2009 and I find that kinda amusing to know that i was actually right about all these MBA grads fooling companies about their productivity figures.... and before all u MBA's reading this start planning my assassination lemme say something comforting to u "Fuck off". Even we are fooling clients this is not your copyrighted way of making money!!!!). So coming back to MBA stuff in final year..... I tried like hell kept going to all these coaching classes like headless chicken.... shouting off mathematical tables and pasting square's and cube's in shit holes (yes my college toilet was worse... don't laugh its Bihar!!!!) Come one... even the government is bankrupt there.. Everyone’s’ poor so no tax collection its easy-peezy to understand)...... but alas........ Nothing happened. Not that it had happened for the first time in my life but well for the record one more time i ended up on the side of losers like me. But this time it was different..... I was neither unhappy nor sad... actually i was happy and said "Fuck u MBA" and like those horny English ladies i cried out in ecstasy "ooh my god ...... IT i am arriving... aah" (mark my words.. English ladies don’t say I am coming!!! they arrive :O and so next time u take that hot blonde u don’t know the name of up the mountains of pleasure.. u know how to distinguish between English and American shit !!!)
Jump to Infy Training.... (Rest of final year is again confidential) and i was in heaven... have u seen a place in India where u get a laundry service next to your swimming pool !!! (Just strip.. drop off everything in laundry and by the time u enjoy that dip in pool and steam bath ur laundry is done !!!). Beggar from Bihar was getting the first taste of what being rich was all about ;). But life... as someone famously said "Life is unfair" soon the training was over and i was paying rent for my stay and getting bumped around in Infy bus every morning!!! But by now this Bihari was some what rich and so.. Upgraded to a new motorbike... and life was never the same again. Next few months were again spent day dreaming about zooming past trucks on highway with a hot pillion trusting up her assets at my back with every jerk of Brake pedals :D. This went on for couple of months and wait slowly turned to desperation... and finally to despair. There comes a point in life when u stoically reconcile yourself to your fate and stop trying.
Then this fool from infy.. my friend actually (That explains the friendship) suggested that u better get that car of your's.... as chicks these days don’t prefer bikers as there are just too many of them !!!! So, i decided to start saving for my car..... and since that was not possible with my meagre salary (yes the princely salary had now been reduced to minimum wages thanks to inflation and Infy effect of cities) another round of day dreaming started with me dreaming about stay in Onsite locations and getting that dream car of mine with a saving effort of just 3-4 months !!! The interesting thing to note here is that the rate of day dreaming is about inversely proportional to the cash in your pocket (I have had some of my best dreams when having road side “wada pav” with Rs50 in my pocket with three more days to go for salary!!!!). So i am coming down to the generalisations now.....
[If u wanna make it big.. dream big.. and to dream big ... be a begger first]
Fast forward 1 year (please account for this time in GCAL.. the Infosys code for time pass activities which include drinking... sleeping.... watching movies... couple of more failed attempts at CAT etc etc). There i was standing smartly waiting for my first international flight to Tokyo!!! Mind you i was still a beggar (relax i am coming to mallu aspect soon!!!) all the stuff packed in my suitcase (and even the suitcase) had been bought with borrowed money and i was having superb day dreams!!!! Finally i landed up in Tokyo.. Started saving and bingo i was ready to buy that dream car of mine. I was itching to go back home (Yes i have the "mallu" by now and he is my greatest pal in Tokyo) but this Infy projects.... they never end.. Remember i told u about fooling the clients into giving us money!!!! and i was forced to stay on for another 6 months.... and in the mean time my savings grew to unbelievable amounts for a beggar like me (yes on of the favourite pastimes being to log into ICICI banking and check the balance over and over and over again).
Man is a unique animal.. he is never satisfied (yes.. he is basically an asshole hell bent on squeezing out all happiness from his life). And one of the ways to achieve this is to start dreaming bigger and bigger as soon as one dream is satisfied!!!! So, this beggar started to dream of flats and Bungalows and Farm houses (complete with 4X4 soft top Tata safari and hot village maids!!!!). And for all this he needed more and more money (Dreams don't come cheap u see) and very soon even his onsite savings started to seem small!!!
All this while ... this mallu .... kept enjoying his life like hell... complete with trips to .... umm well I can't disclose that u see because however unbelievable as it may sound he will also get married some day (no plz... see i am not claiming anything here.. but mallu's do get married.... and yes they can manage these things apart from their drinking activities !!!!). I was busy trying to be a beggar... saving more and more money and living out a frugal life in the hope of a better life tomorrow (seemed ominously similar to the ranting of fundamentalists from fight wing religious groups who promise a better tomorrow in heaven in return for making your and others life hell on earth). Bottom-line being..... the "Garib Bihari" remained precisely that "Garib"(this change was in control but was termed as "no defect") and "Bihari" (this being the design flaw nothing could be done)
So.. with all the blabbering behind me we can come down the question of "genesis" here.... What is the similarity between Bihari--India and mallu--World? Answer is: What a Bihari is to India.. mallus are to the world. But like all generalisations... one mallu was exception (there maybe more.. but i am yet to find another) for he did things and remained happy.... and i did things and still remained a beggar !!!!
Identify the correlation between... Bihari -- India and Mallu -- World. Your options are:
1> Both are expatriates (Consider Bhaiyas and gaijins[japanese for foreigner] equivalent)
2> Both are notorius (consider shooting and eating to be equivalent)
3>Both migrate (Consider Indian railways and International Flights equivalent)
4>Both have similar occupations (consider Tea stall and cooliegiri equivalent)
5> All the above
6> none of the above
Answer: All the above one beggar and the other rich !!!!
So, what was the point of writing out this blog.... Well i have no idea (i know u want to curse me and beat the shit out of me for making u read all this crap.... but i warned you before !!!!)
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Salaam Mumbai
What is Mumbai?
a> City of stark realities and deep rooted divide
b> Underworld capital of India
c> Cultural melting pot of India
d> City of dreams and ambitions
Why am i trying to start this blog with a question.... because that's my latest addition to the known ways of starting a story, story of an endless, untiring, unblemished perusal of love epitomed in the movie called "slumdog millionaire"
A love story enthralling and of epic proportions.... but is that the only reason why people are going crazy about this movie? I believe there is much more to it, and would like to compare this to the epic novel Sir Salman wrote "Midnight's Children"
So here I start...
Salim and Jamaal.... two kids grow up together facing the same brutalities of life.. poverty, communal violence, abject poverty, brush with crime etc etc. Still in spite of all this both of them turn out into different persons. Salim probably is what has become of India and Jamaal.. He represents the India that could have been shinning land with possibilities and dreams. There are other plots and subplots that run throughout the movie but the stark undercurrent remains the same...... of people taking different means to achieve the objective.
But before I come to Salim (my favourite anti hero) i would like to set the record straight. yes slumdog does show India in poor light, but we don’t need to be intolerant of this... we don’t need to be defensive... we should not hang our head in shame because its only in India that directors like Danny Boyle can make movie like slumdog. Unlike communists in China/North Korea we don’t brush our problems under the carpet/impressive shanghai skyline. The magic of India lies in it being a land of contradictions and inequalities. We have problems.. Illiteracy.. Slums.. Corruption.. Organised crime.. population.. u name it and we have it and we should not be in denial about any of this because like every other nation in this world we also are not perfect.
We don’t need Danny Boyle to tell us we have slums, neither do we need Amitabh and other self appointed custodians of Indian pride to tell us what is offensive and disgraceful for us and what is not. Never the less, the bottom-line is we are getting there and we will get there!!!!!
So coming back to the topic of discussion.... salim the perfect anti-hero the nation India has become. Why did he do things he did..... What transformed him into a hard broiled murderer and a gangster? And why did all these factors failed to have the same affect on Jamaal?
I believe that this is all because we all each on of us are either dead pessimists or eternal optimists. (The demarcation is not in black and white as it seems.... remember the days when nothing goes right and u end up having a fight with the first person that comes before u !!) Jamaal Malik the "Chaiwala" signifies the optimists in us all.. the hope that things will get better. The mirage of a better life we keep on chasing all our life... whether its the endless wait for electricity in rural India or the hope for better roads when dodging every pothole in a metro the belief that things will get better and that there is light at the end of every tunnel is part if the psyche of every Indian.
What makes Salim .. what does he represent? ironically like all great characters this guy also imbibes a powerful undercurrent that's present in us all. The resolve to make our own rules.. the urge to break out and make a difference. The significance which is associated with every spontaneous outburst of democratic protests to every angry violent demonstration..... The passion to fight it out .. slog it out is always there. This is a nation of young people who will go to any length to realise and live out their dreams (the similarity of baby boomer generation of the US of 1960's is erringly similar)
And so that makes Salim more like us human and vulnerable.... and so he is not a villain, he is not hated... we cheer out for Jamal but end of salim makes us sad. But like all great ideas Salim's assertions of life live on. The perfect “anti hero”.
"Slumdog Millionaire" has won 8 Oscars at academy awards today. Low budget film with unknown Indian actors... probably “D. its written”.
Mumbai..... What is it? I think its "D"
D. City of dreams and ambitions
D. Destined to be great
D. Diversity
Salaam Mumbai...
a> City of stark realities and deep rooted divide
b> Underworld capital of India
c> Cultural melting pot of India
d> City of dreams and ambitions
Why am i trying to start this blog with a question.... because that's my latest addition to the known ways of starting a story, story of an endless, untiring, unblemished perusal of love epitomed in the movie called "slumdog millionaire"
A love story enthralling and of epic proportions.... but is that the only reason why people are going crazy about this movie? I believe there is much more to it, and would like to compare this to the epic novel Sir Salman wrote "Midnight's Children"
So here I start...
Salim and Jamaal.... two kids grow up together facing the same brutalities of life.. poverty, communal violence, abject poverty, brush with crime etc etc. Still in spite of all this both of them turn out into different persons. Salim probably is what has become of India and Jamaal.. He represents the India that could have been shinning land with possibilities and dreams. There are other plots and subplots that run throughout the movie but the stark undercurrent remains the same...... of people taking different means to achieve the objective.
But before I come to Salim (my favourite anti hero) i would like to set the record straight. yes slumdog does show India in poor light, but we don’t need to be intolerant of this... we don’t need to be defensive... we should not hang our head in shame because its only in India that directors like Danny Boyle can make movie like slumdog. Unlike communists in China/North Korea we don’t brush our problems under the carpet/impressive shanghai skyline. The magic of India lies in it being a land of contradictions and inequalities. We have problems.. Illiteracy.. Slums.. Corruption.. Organised crime.. population.. u name it and we have it and we should not be in denial about any of this because like every other nation in this world we also are not perfect.
We don’t need Danny Boyle to tell us we have slums, neither do we need Amitabh and other self appointed custodians of Indian pride to tell us what is offensive and disgraceful for us and what is not. Never the less, the bottom-line is we are getting there and we will get there!!!!!
So coming back to the topic of discussion.... salim the perfect anti-hero the nation India has become. Why did he do things he did..... What transformed him into a hard broiled murderer and a gangster? And why did all these factors failed to have the same affect on Jamaal?
I believe that this is all because we all each on of us are either dead pessimists or eternal optimists. (The demarcation is not in black and white as it seems.... remember the days when nothing goes right and u end up having a fight with the first person that comes before u !!) Jamaal Malik the "Chaiwala" signifies the optimists in us all.. the hope that things will get better. The mirage of a better life we keep on chasing all our life... whether its the endless wait for electricity in rural India or the hope for better roads when dodging every pothole in a metro the belief that things will get better and that there is light at the end of every tunnel is part if the psyche of every Indian.
What makes Salim .. what does he represent? ironically like all great characters this guy also imbibes a powerful undercurrent that's present in us all. The resolve to make our own rules.. the urge to break out and make a difference. The significance which is associated with every spontaneous outburst of democratic protests to every angry violent demonstration..... The passion to fight it out .. slog it out is always there. This is a nation of young people who will go to any length to realise and live out their dreams (the similarity of baby boomer generation of the US of 1960's is erringly similar)
And so that makes Salim more like us human and vulnerable.... and so he is not a villain, he is not hated... we cheer out for Jamal but end of salim makes us sad. But like all great ideas Salim's assertions of life live on. The perfect “anti hero”.
"Slumdog Millionaire" has won 8 Oscars at academy awards today. Low budget film with unknown Indian actors... probably “D. its written”.
Mumbai..... What is it? I think its "D"
D. City of dreams and ambitions
D. Destined to be great
D. Diversity
Salaam Mumbai...
Sunday 9 November 2008
Ode to Tiger
Imagine a lazy saturday afternoon 25 years from today. Your's truely sitting around in warm November sunshine with wife knitting that new sweator for the latest entry to the "Family" lementing about the ways of the new generation. Wife dear is specially agitated about the "Papa ki Ladli's" latest antics with her newest boyfriend.
Next door neighbour Sharmaji, "are bhai wohi IBM wale" decides to scrap his afternoon siesta and have that friendly chit chat he's been itching to have ever since formar India skipper "Dada" decided to open a new cricket coaching academy in cash-starved Sudan (where as per latest reports Allied troops lead by US are almost within a mile of catching Isama Bin laden).
"What is the need to spend money and time on Sub Saharan Africa, tell me kumar saheb !!! Dada should be focussing on Eastern Zone cricket academies na."
"Come come Sharma ji, Kindly prepare some tea for him na" This sheelu's Mom always gives that look when u ask for a cup of tea, doesnot even understand people like me and sharmaji can now understand the signals after being married for 20 long years. And immediately, my mind races back in time.... time of the "Fab Five" the Golden era of Indian Cricket. I still remember the time when we as a nation were starting to realise the potential that we all had hidden and wrapped inside. And boy o boy cricket........ to say it was national obscession is to call Manhatten Kandivalli.
What were the defining moments that Dada gave us? What are the things that immediately comes to your mind when u think of him even after so many years? Here is my only pick:
1> The "Soccor" style celebrations among a suit clad audiance of lords. Purists screamed "Blasphemy", Indians shouted "well done Dada"
That moment was an epitome of all that Dada has done for indian cricket. The no holds barred attitude, the die hard commitment to young talent, the zeal to reform the ills plaguing Indian Cricket. Dada's contribution to Indian Cricket is not just confined to the number of runs he scored or the number of matches he won for India or the number of series he won as captain. Dada showed the way, like a pathfinder..... he was there to lead, nurture and inspire a whole crop of young cricketers. Dada was not missed... not beacause he was no longer required, but because his lads didnot allow us to say "had Dada been there ......."
"Sharmaji.... the Indian cricket needs captains like Dada in these times. What do you think?" .... and saturday afternoon is gone in a blink !!!
---My small tribute the Tiger we all knew as the Prince of Kolkata.---
Next door neighbour Sharmaji, "are bhai wohi IBM wale" decides to scrap his afternoon siesta and have that friendly chit chat he's been itching to have ever since formar India skipper "Dada" decided to open a new cricket coaching academy in cash-starved Sudan (where as per latest reports Allied troops lead by US are almost within a mile of catching Isama Bin laden).
"What is the need to spend money and time on Sub Saharan Africa, tell me kumar saheb !!! Dada should be focussing on Eastern Zone cricket academies na."
"Come come Sharma ji, Kindly prepare some tea for him na" This sheelu's Mom always gives that look when u ask for a cup of tea, doesnot even understand people like me and sharmaji can now understand the signals after being married for 20 long years. And immediately, my mind races back in time.... time of the "Fab Five" the Golden era of Indian Cricket. I still remember the time when we as a nation were starting to realise the potential that we all had hidden and wrapped inside. And boy o boy cricket........ to say it was national obscession is to call Manhatten Kandivalli.
What were the defining moments that Dada gave us? What are the things that immediately comes to your mind when u think of him even after so many years? Here is my only pick:
1> The "Soccor" style celebrations among a suit clad audiance of lords. Purists screamed "Blasphemy", Indians shouted "well done Dada"
That moment was an epitome of all that Dada has done for indian cricket. The no holds barred attitude, the die hard commitment to young talent, the zeal to reform the ills plaguing Indian Cricket. Dada's contribution to Indian Cricket is not just confined to the number of runs he scored or the number of matches he won for India or the number of series he won as captain. Dada showed the way, like a pathfinder..... he was there to lead, nurture and inspire a whole crop of young cricketers. Dada was not missed... not beacause he was no longer required, but because his lads didnot allow us to say "had Dada been there ......."
"Sharmaji.... the Indian cricket needs captains like Dada in these times. What do you think?" .... and saturday afternoon is gone in a blink !!!
---My small tribute the Tiger we all knew as the Prince of Kolkata.---
Wednesday 5 November 2008
THE CONCEPT OF A NATION
"We the poeple" have come a long way from the nomadic hunter gatherers to the present day civilisation. We have done well, we have made progress and made a better life available to everyone. But are we perfect, is this the pinnacle of the human civilisation, do all the roads lead down from the dizziying heights of our achievement.
Or should we look forward to a greater world, a better world free from terrorism, hate crimes etc etc. And before i get to rhetorical lemme set the context first. Who am i, where do i belong to, what is my national identity? what is my sub-national identity? and why does this "sub-nationality" exists"
Historically nations have been fromed on the basis of ethnic identity. People belonging to a particular tribe/race/religion grouped together and fromed states with the leader appointed as the "king". Progressively we moved to stronger concepts of nationhood like "Republic" and away from "princely" states. we invented governance and greater dissipation of power among the people in habiting the nation, we created "Democracy, Theocracy, Military rule, Communism" (Order not in any order of importance or merit). We created wars, redrew boundries, established world order and still there is something wrong....... wrong with the way percieve things .... interpret our freedom .... judge our success or failure.
When i am asked outside India where are you from i say "India"
When in India i say "Bihar"
When in Bihar i say "central Bihar" ...... so on and so forth
For the same question the response is different, and so lets be clear on one thing there are no simple explanations and solutions. There are no black and white answers. Well then where do we start the "objective" analysis?
We have a natural instinct to get identified with a group, as they say "There is something that doesnot love a wall". There is something inside us which doesnot respect Unity, which hates great congegretion of humanity called "Country". Is this an unsurmountable force which cannot be overcome or reasoned with? What is its name? Why are we infected with it? What good has it done ever except give wars and death? This force is Individualism. And yes its not "evil"
This instinct has kept us alive through the dark ages, get over huge mountains and seas..... but is it a Franskeintein monster now destroying the very tenants of humanity that we have created with ardous labour in the past 500 years of modern civilisation (Assuming last 500 years constitute the modern world..... and the figure is just a figment of my imagination if at all there is a phase in human evolution called as the modern age). Like all basic instincts this is simple as well
"Stick to a group to survive and resort to individualism to grab the maximum possible share of the spoils" Evolution if u believe me has changed the "group" of hunters to nation of today and "individualism" has evolved to fancy names like "Fundamental rights" "Human rights" "Right to live" etc etc . But at the heart of the issue is still the clash of the group interest and self interest.
The smaller the group i belong to the greater will be the my chances to outdo others for the largest share of the spoils and lesser will be the security cover against the attack from a more powerful group.
We can see this clash playing out in all spheres of our life, right wing political parties in every country trying to appeal to smaller and smaller sections of society to get a foothold and try to justify their existance as a voice of the people, and still trying to keep the flock together and not destroy the concept of the nation.
So, lets not blame Raj, here is a guy who wants to desperately try and justify his existance without the title he has "Thakrey" and to become relevant atleast in state level politics. He is just playing by his instincts. All those people and politicians who oestracise him now first try and look within and ask the questions "Have i not tried to appeal to my constituency on the basis of caste/religion/state/tribe" People like you and me.... have we not answered "Marathi,Bihari,Tamil" to the questions concerning your identity sometime or the other or asked someone "where in India?" to the friendly guy at London tube or New-york subway?.
"He who hath not sinned throw the first stone"
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