War has no victors :(

The picture is of a Palestinian father and son lying on a mattress after their home was made into a piece of rubble by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Strip last month. It made me really really sad :(

Courtesy: HT

What a senseless post is this?

I remember a line from Pulp Fiction when Bruce Willis says,“I am an American, our names don’t mean anything!" Can the same be said about Indians, absolutely not! We people give special emphasis on names of not only the people but also anything of significant importance. The Bard said, “What’s in a name”? Everything if we can say so!

The recent controversy over the inclusion of the word barber in the SRK’s Billu Barber seemed ridiculous but its not the first time such a film has mired in controversy. Bombay has been called Mumbai, don’t know why when Bombay sounds so cosmopolitan. Bangalore is now Bengaluru. Why why? When Bangalore is so cool .

I have always heard the names of Indians from the Ramayana, the Mahabharta or some other religious epic.Names like Kaushalya, Sumitra, Urmila, Rama, Lakshman and so on are very common. But the one name that I have never heard of a living person is Kakayi. Yes, the much hated woman who was responsible to send Lord Rama to exile. But personally speaking, I have always had an issue with her treatment. She was not a bad person per se .Yes, she sent Rama to exile but she did for her own son Bharata. Look at people how atrocious they are today! Moreover, she did this as she was brain washed by Manthra, her servant. Haven’t other people in history made mistakes? Yudhisthira is always remembered as someone who follows the right path? But he gambled his own wife in a game of dice? Is that acceptable? But we are highly superstitious people so we will never name one of us as Kakayi.

In F.R.I.E.N.D.S., Phoebe wanted her name changed to Princess Consuella Bananahammock, which actually means a speedo!!!In order to show the stupidity of her act, Mike changed his to Crapbag. Michelle Obama thought that her husband’s name is funny, Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard the chidren’s name there? Nicole Kidman’s daughter is named Sunday Rose, Angelina Jolie's twins are named Knox Léon and Vivienne Marcheline. What do they mean?

But,I too have a fascination with good names . A friend of mine, whose name is Karyl is one the most beautiful names I know,which means the first leaf of a plant. Another friend’s name Kshitij, which means the horizon is also beautiful. A good name sparks a distinct aura. When we haven’t met a person, we make first impressions about a person from the name. A surname like Oberoi or Malhotra just adds you the next billionaire’s list. I find my name just okayish.Not great but I dont want to change it.

I don't know why I am writing this senseless post. Hopefully, next one would be better :)

Dev D

Dev D!

Hail Anurag Kashyap! One of the most radical films of the Hindi film industry. It was so different, it is almost hard to believe that this is an Indian film. As the name suggests, its a contemporary view on the Sarat Chandra Chatterjee's tragic hero Devdas.

This was one film where the response of the critics has been so varied. Sample this-

Taran Adarsh *

Rajeev Masand**

Anupama Chopra**1/2

Indiatimes***

Khaled Mohammad****

Raja Sen****

Nikhat Kazmi*****

Well, my rating?

Pankaj Sachdeva :P ****

Since the movie was so different, I would not write the usual bland review of mine.

Abhay Deol(Dev) *****

Mahi Gill (Paro), excellent*****

Kalki Koechlin(Chanda)***

Music by Amit Trivedi *****, brilliant. Just listen Pardesi, Emotional Atyachaar, Dhol Yaara Dhol, Nayan Tarse!

Cinematography by Rajeev Rai ***** especially the Delhi shots in neon lights.

Screenplay ***

Editing**, second half drags at places and it could have been more crisp, the only thing that acted as a spoiler.

Dialogues***

The dialogues are blunt, too straight forward (which some people may find offensive), into your face, the language is the common language which the youth of today would understand.Sample- " आप ने अभी तक उसकी ली नही ?"

There were references to Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas like Chanda watching Maar Daala song and a poster of Shah Rukh as Devdas was shown near the place where Chunni takes Dev.People say that Kashyap is mocking at Bhansali's Devdas. Well, I don't know, maybe it might be his intention but I believe that a film is a director's vision and his interpretation of the subject , Bhansali might believe in grandeur and spectacle while Kashyap has its own contemporary take on the subject. Like Bhansali made Chanda and Paro dance together!!! and Kashyap makes Chunni a pimp!!

Since the last few years, many bold films like Murder have been coming which is nothing but a euphemism for the explicit sexual content in them but Dev D has no sex scenes rather it is the sexual undercurrents that are so bold and completely new. Like Paro's openness about her sexual desires, she takes a gadda to the fields riding on a bicycle! This is the new woman. Lenny having a boyfriend much older than her age while still in school!

Good films are those that treat audiences as sensible people so that the viewers can discern the director's idea and those films which give attention to the minutest detail. Like there was this scene in which Chunni asks Dev 'कोई बीमारी तो नही है?', obviously making references to HIV, but not giving a lecture on it. Or another one like Chanda and Paro meeting for the first time on a train just for a fleeting second, as it happens in original Devdas.At the risk of sounding a pervert, I would point another scene. In the bus, when Dev is sitting with Rasika, the camera focuses on the ladies seat where महिलाये is written, the म is scratched off.

The song Pardesi, beautifully picturised on the Twilight Brothers though I could not understand their significance in some scenes.Music is another star of the film, the songs take the story forward. I read someone's blog he had beautifully explained the entire film as a musical. His blog link is blessed-curse.blogspot.com .

I loved the scene, where Dev puts his face in water and the camera captures this and he stares at us and the water pool starts becoming red.And the scene, where Dev sitting in a bath tub and says that he has never seen Paro.When Chanda says, half the country saw the clip and they call me a slut. It is actually very true and the DPS MMS scandal and BMW cases nicely woven in the script.

I mean how could anyone think so differently.Its a great effort. It is truly the coming of age of the Indian cinema.The film surprises and shocks. Watch it for its sheer audacity.Eagerly waiting for Kashyap's next Gulaal.

P.S.- Could you tell me the books Chanda was reading? I could only see one clearly called Contempt, there were two more, want to know their names!

Child is the father of the child, no pun intended

Well, I am shocked, actually to say shock would be an understatement. The Sun reports that a 13 year old boy Alfie Patten in Britain has become a father of a girl named Maisie who was conceived after Chantelle, 15 and Alfie - just 12 at the time - had a single night of unprotected sex.They found out about the baby when Chantelle was 12 weeks pregnant. But they kept it a secret until six weeks later when Chantelle’s mum Penny became suspicious about her weight gain and confronted her. Alfie said,“I thought it would be good to have a baby.I didn’t think about how we would afford it. I don’t really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me £10.” This issue has understandably created a huge uproar in Britain. I mean how naive these kids are? To bring up a child is no easy task. I don't understand who to blame for this, after all they are themselves kids. This incident raises some serious questions about ethics and values that have to be inculcated in kids of this generation. Yes, it is their life and are free to do whatever they want, but please you have to be a sensible adult to take an enormous decision of such consequences.Its somebody else's life they are putting at stake. Did they think how are they going to bring her up, who and more importantly how will they pay for her upbringing? And to feel no shame or embarrassment for their actions and moreover selling this story to a tabloid! There has been an alarming increase in teenage pregnancies in the past few years and some very famous ones include Sarah Palin's daughter and Britney Spears' younger sister. And that too in countries where Sex Education is taught! But at the end of the day, you do feel sorry for Alfie and Chantelle and what should be done is to support them in all possible ways.

On second thoughts, when I think more of this, I mean this incident could spark an outrage in UK but looking at our own country where girls are married at such tender ages of 9,10, it presents a sad picture of our society.Child marriages are openly practised in our country and no one even cares. The show Balika Vadhu which at this moment is the number 1 serial in the country is about child marriage. Thousands of girls are married and are forced to have children and and the maternal mortality rate is the highest among them. There was this huge controversy a few months ago where it was argued that should sex education be imparted to children, of course it should be but what is urgently required is education and sensitising the adults especially the oldies who think too much of themselves about the consequences of living and following archaic customs and beliefs. Then only we can call ourselves a truly developed country. Hope too see a better India during my lifetime:)

Luck By Chance

Luck by Chance is one of the few films that have been so intelligently made that it simply makes you fall in love with it at the first shot. Well, after reading so many reviews about the film, I couldn't wait for it and watched it and I loved it. Luck By Chance is the story of two struggling actors Sona (Konkana Sen Sharma) and Vikram (Farhan Akhtar). While Vikram gets a big break in a Romi Rolly (Rishi Kapoor) film after Zafar Khan (Hrithik Roshan) backs out and he becomes a big star, Konkona remains what she was, a B-Grade actress. Both of them make compromises to get whatever they want though not morally correct. The beauty about the film was that it was not preachy and makes subtle comments that there are no free lunches, everyone works for himself and luck does play an important part in our lives. While we have seen Madhur Bhandarkar's realistic cinema, this film by far has been the most accurate and believable portrayal of our Hindi film industry, how things work, how difficult it is for a newcomer to be in a film. Zoya Akhtar's story and screenplay are absolutely brilliant as Rajeev Masand says that it needs a repeat viewing to understand its finer nuances. Music though is a bit of a letdown, though I loved Yeh hai Zindagi and the background score. Baware looks colorful. And, and the performances, well I could find no flaws at all here. Konkana is brilliant as always, she is a terrific actress. Dimple Kapadia is stunning (watch her in that scene where she says how she was abused), Farhan is good but Rishi Kapoor as the producer steals the show. Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor, Isha Sharvani, Aly Khan deliver commendable performances, even the minutest of roles of Lakshmi (Sona's friend) and Abhi (Vikram's friend) are good. Dialogues from Javed Akhtar are superb (Crocodile in a chiffon saree!!)

The film has a lot of cameos from various big stars - Aamir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, Abhishek Bacchan, Ranbir Kapoor, John Abraham, Karan Johar, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Akshaye Khanna, Anurag Kashyap, and Manish Malhotra.

There were so many great scenes though I am writing a few of them here, the list, however, is not exhaustive though!

1. Anurag Kashyap as the writer of Dil Ki Aag where he says murder kar dete hain when Niki is not able to say khoon :D

2. Shah Rukh when he says to Vikram that only friends who know you before your success matter and Karan Johar when he explains how does a newcomer gets a role.

3. Hrithik and the street children, beautiful camera work showing two sides of the divide.

4. Rishi Kapoor when he breaks down after Zafar refuses to do his film.

5. Vikram when he first meets Neena (Dimple Kapadia) at a party.

6. Konkana in the climax.

7. Yeh hai Zindagi where people from the chaiwallahs, tailors, watchmen, painters, spot boys, make-up artists, helpers whose contribution is never recognized.

Thank God that we still have people like the Akhtars- Zoya, Farhan, and Javed who actually know to make a film. It has average box office collections but when terrible films like Ghajini make 200 crores, it is a bit disappointing though that audiences are still not ready for some good quality cinema. But great work Zoya! Anurag Kashyap in his blog calls it the best debut film in the last 10 years, though I will still give that to Dil Chahta Hai. Watch and watch it again. ****1/2.

P.S.- Though I do not understand the exquisite details of filmmaking, these are my views and you may disagree but still who cares, I loved it. :)

Children Of God: Nick Vujicic

Today, I saw this picture of Nick Vujicic in HT and I was shocked. I then googled about him and reading about him made me so disturbed.He is limbless, has missing both arms at shoulder level, and having one small foot with two toes protruding from his left thigh. But still, he lives his life better than most of us.Nick is a hero, he is a great great man. I mean can you imagine what kind of difficulties he would face every day, in fact every single moment, to do even the smallest of things. We all crib about our own messy life and keep complaining all the time about our lack of perfect bodies and what not. But after seeing and reading about Nick, I just thank God for giving so many things in life. Nick earlier in his life contemplated committing suicide but after he came to know of people suffering with disabilities, realised that the he is not the only one who struggles.He then went to complete College and graduated in Accounts and Financial Planning. He has started an organisation called LIFE WITHOUT LIMBS for specially-abled people and gives motivational speeches to people. We all have read about Helen Keller and her story "They see with their Fingertips". She had said that you realise the value of sight when you are blind. And most of us, do take our senses for granted. I again thank God for making us whatever he has made. I pray to God to give strength to people like Nick who face difficulties every second of their life. Children of God.

Boys Do Cry :(

Did you see Australian Open 2009 yesterday? The tennis was a treat to watch but Roger Federer lost to Rafael Nadal again after their first meeting in a Slam final since the Wimbledon's epic classic last year. Roger was in tears and he brokedown after the match. He couldn't even speak a few words. Nadal has cost him 3 Grand Slams making that 14th Grand Slam for Federer to reach Pete Sampras' record so elusive. Though Roger cries even when he wins,but the sight of his head down and crying was so overwhelming.Even hardcore Nadal fans would have been moved at that moment.When Roger cried, the world cried with him, even I did :(

As reporter Eleanor Preston rightly puts it, “He cried, and it was hard not to cry with him. The sight of Roger Federer’s lower lip trembling would have been enough to start most soft-hearted observers off, but by the time his tears started flowing, a far proportion of the 15,000 at Rod Laver Arena and the millions watching around the world were probably reaching for the tissues too. If that had not done the trick, then the sight of Rafael Nadal, his conqueror, putting his arm around him in friendly consolation, would have set off a worldwide outbreak of sniffles. Australia, perhaps more than any other nation on earth, values mateship, and you will not better embodiment of that than the sight of one great champion comforting another.”

There are very few people whom I genuinely idolise and Federer is one of them, though I cannot even hold a racquet properly. Federer is the greatest player of all time. Federer has given evrything to tennis.Well, as for Nadal, he is a machine, he just gets better and better everytime he plays. Nadal stands in his path.

As Roger Federer puts his defeat in his own words, “You can’t go through your whole life as a tennis player taking every victory that’s out there. You’ve got to live with those, you know. But they hurt even more so if you’re that close, like at Wimbledon or like here at the Australian Open. So that’s what’s tough about it.In the first moment you’re disappointed, you’re shocked, you’re sad, you know, then all of a sudden it overwhelms you.The problem is you can’t go in the locker room and just take it easy and take a cold shower. You can’t. You know, you’re stuck out there. It’s the worst feeling. It’s rough.”

Nadal said,"Rog, sorry for today,I really know how you feel right now. Remember that you are a great champion and you are one of the best in history and you will beat Pete Sampras’ 14 titles for sure.”

Awwww :(
Come on Federer, Great champions don't cry. Just get Rafa out of your mind. Your fans are with you. All the best.

Movie Time

Well, I watched a few movies which I have been wanting to see for a very long time.

1. The Pianist

****

A brilliant film based on a true story about a Polish Jew and his family during the beginning of the Second World War when Germany had invaded Poland. Adrien Brody's portrayal of the pianist is topnotch and he deservedly won an Oscar. The only hitch- no subtitles when the German officer speaks to him.

2. Kill Bill Volume1

***1/2

Quentin Tarantino's fourth film but the first I have seen. I haven't watched Pulp Fiction as yet. It is about the revenge the bride plots after her whole family and her unborn child were butchered by professional assassins on her wedding day by Bill.The film has got style and Uma Thurman does some great stunts. The gory blood scenes were repulsive to watch but I liked the film. Have to see Kill Bill Vol2. before I forget the first.

3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

****

A beautiful concept mixing romance with sci-fi starring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. Joe ( Jim Carrey) decides to erase everything about his girl friend Clementine ( Kate) from his memoery using a professional service offering the same after he learns that Clementine has already done so, but when he does that, he doesn't really want to erase her memories be that sweet or not-so- sweet. I think this would be Jim Carrey's finest performances and a nice change to see him in a serious role instead of comedy. Kate Winslet is brilliant as a girl whose hair colour changes with her moods. The film has been voted in top 100 best movies of all time. I loved the poem from which the movies' title has been taken. It is a poem by Alexander Pope.

4. Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

***

I had heard such horrible reviews from people that it is a bad film but somehow I liked it. Yes, the film is totally illogical but Shah Rukh as Surinder Sahni was great. Anushka Sharma is just passable and Raj, SRK's alter ego was irritating at times. Vinay Pathak as Bobby was good. It didn't turn out to be that bad. Haule haule, the film has grossed 180 crores worldwide!!

5. Welcome to Sajjanpur

***1/2

Shyam Benegal's satire on the rural life is immensely watchable. The film had a take on a lot of issues- illiteracy, migration, widow remarriage, superstitions and politics. Dialogues are good. Performances are excellent. Shreyas Talpade, Amrita Rao deliver good performances, Ila Arun was brilliant and I forgot the name of actor who played an eunuch, he was too good. One of the best scenes was when he came to Madhav( Shreyas) asking him to write a letter to the collector asking for protection from the village goons who opposed his candidacy for the election. Benegal makes subtle comments without being preachy such as the comparison that an eunuch was able to sign where as the incumbent sarpanch's husband did a Angootha signature, that is why Shyam benegal remains India's finest film maker.

6. Aamir

****

Raj Kumar Gupta's contemporary story about a man caught in a difficult station is very different. Rajeev Khandelwal shows he is a great actor. Amit Trivedi's music was exceptional specially that song Ek Lauh Zindagi ki, no wonder his music in Dev D is getting attention. A good film.

Indian Of the Year

NDTV and CNN-IBN are bringing out their usual Indian of the Year Awards 2008. I also am giving my Indian of the year awards. Any sponsor would do :) Till then the awards are called PANKAJ Indian of the Year 2008 awards. You may not agree with my choice but here it goes.

POLITICS

1. Dr. Manmohan Singh for carrying out the nuclear deal with US and actually emerging out as a real politician.

2. Sheila Dixit for becoming the CM of Delhi for a record third time, especially in the aftermath of the 26/11 attacks.

3. Omar Abdullah for taking a principled stand in Politics and being the CM of a very very complex state. Just hear his speech in the Parliament on the nuclear deal.

SPORTS

1. No prizes for guessing, Abhinav Bindra for bringing India's first gold medal at the Olympics, despite of the government.

1. First again,Saina Nehwal for being one of India's youngest and finest badminton players.

3. The King of Chess, Vishwanathan Anand for winning the World Chess Championship in Bonn.

BUSINESS

1. Ratan Tata, for bringing out the NANO and for being a mascot for corporate India.

2. C B Bhave for his role as SEBI regulator. In the disastrous year for Business, I am not able to think a person who stands out in this category.

ENTERTAINMENT

1. The channel COLORS for their out of the box thinking bringing great shows like Khatron ke Khiladi, Balika Vadhu and Jai Shri Krishna usurping Ekta Kapoor as the queen of Television. Bigg Boss 2 and Ek Khiladi, Ek Haseena were quite popular too.

2. Small budget films on the common man like A Wednesday, Amir, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Oye Lucky Lucky Oye.

UNSUNG HEROES

1. M Annadurai and other scientists working on Chandrayaan- India's successful lunar mission bringing us in the elite club of space powers.

2. Prakash and Mandakini Amte for continuing the legacy of Baba Amte.

GLOBAL INDIAN

1. The musical genius, AR Rehman for putting India in the global map and enchanting global audiences with his score in Slumdog Millionaire.

2.Salman Rushdie for winning the Booker of Bookers for his exquisitely beautiful Midnight's Children.

INDIAN OF THE YEAR

The Indian soldier who continues to lay down his life for the country. The heroes of Mumbai- Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar, M.Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Karamvir Kang, Tukaram Omble, the NSG, the TAJ Staff, the announcer at Chatrapati Sivaji Station and so many many people who lost their lives in that horrific attacks of 26/11. The city of Mumbai deserves a special mention.The concerned citizen, clamouring for change in the system- all these people are and will always be our heroes.

Short review: Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye! is Dibakar bannerjee's second film after the brilliant Khosla ka Ghosla and he totally lives up to the expectations. It is the story of the eponymous 'Superchor' Lucky who can steal anything, even a dog! The film is witty and the one-liners had me in splits! The performances are brilliant by Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal, Manjot Singh( the young Lucky, absolutely fantastic) and others including Archana Puran Singh, Bangali (don't know his real name). There is no story as such.However, the attention to details like houses in old Delhi, Karol Bagh,etc. is fantastic. The music is somewhat okayish. The film has its flaws but you do not bother as long as it entertains.The film could have been a superhit but suffered as it was released in the week Mumbai was attacked.

Rating ***

The Underdog Slumdog!!

I finally saw Slumdog Millionaire and I am cursing myself that why did I read the book first! It took the whole suspense out of it. Though the movie's screenplay is very different from the book Q&A and it is a great adaptation, I still knew most of the things. The plot of 'The Three Musketeers' and Latika as Jamaal's childhood friend doesn't exist at all in the book. Instead in the book, the hero falls in love with a prostitute Sapna when he visits a brothel and there is also a 'Sholay' type ending to the book with an element of a biased coin which was the defining moment of the book. Yes, there are limitations of a movie but the book was better. But still as an independent movie, Slumdog is a wonderful movie. The screenplay is absolutely brilliant. Danny Boyle's direction is excellent. The most beautiful thing about the film is the exceptional performances by the child actors. Dev Patel and Freida Pinto are good but clearly the child actors stole the show!! There is no doubt about it. The film exposes the darker side of our India, a Mumbai which we do not want to see. The horrific claustrophobic conditions in Dharavi, the world's largest slum are shocking. The community toilets, the huge mounds of garbage, the narrow alleys where sunlight doesn't ever enter, the chawls show a different face of India. The genius A. R. Rehman's great music score!! well, what to say about it. He deserves another post.I loved that tune which goes something like this 'Ring ring ringa, ring ring ringa, ringa ringa'. He has already won the Golden Globe, the first by an Indian and clearly a favourite for the Oscar. Shobhaa De in her blog made some comments that after Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, the world's attention will shift to India. It is India's time. With Shah Rukh Khan being invited to present an award for the Golden Globe, it is recognition of the Indian film industry which makes the maximum number of films in the world.

I would have been more happy if an Indian had made a film of this type. It takes us a foreigner to show us the underbelly of Mumbai. But I still feel that the film is not a complete representation of India. It is just one aspect of it. Sometimes I feel the world doesn't want to see India's growth story, I may be wrong. They want to see it as a the stereotyped land of jungles. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga which was a bad book did not deserve the Booker in comparison to Amitav Ghosh's brilliant Sea of Poppies and Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence (which did not even get nominated for the Booker!).The White Tiger is also a story of a person from the Darkness, a euphemism which Aravind uses for poverty stricken villages. But no doubt, the film is great. Slumdog is the Underdog for the Oscars. Watch it. My rating ****.

Xatted + Fashion

I had my XAT on Sunday. The paper was tough, really tough especially the Decision-making part. They included negative marking of 0.25 for first six answers and then 0.5 for further incorrect answers. English was also pretty confusing. There was only 1 passage doable but rest 2 were really difficult. I loved the passages though. I will write it. They were beautiful, though I couldn't attempt the questions. I am writing one of the passages that I found to be very interesting.

Since power is itself a value, forms of influence which include power in their scope are usually themselves forms of power. The king's mistress, though she has only influence, not power, over the king, may have power over his subjects to the degree of that influence.Forms of influence based on power are themselves forms of power only if the scope of influence is included within that of the power in question.The king may exercise influence over standards of morality, say, by virtue of his power position, but he does not necessarily exercise power over morality.

Isn't it so thought provoking?

And the topic of essay was-'The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings, the inherent virtue of socialism is unequal sharing of miseries'.I wrote it and it was the only thing I was happy about :/ I wrote about sub prime crisis, vices of capitalism, the rise of China and India's mixed economy. Don't know that it was what they wanted but I wrote it and I liked what I wrote :/

FASHION
***
I saw Fashion today finally. Had it saved on my PC since the last month. Its a good movie.I have been a fan of Madhur Bhandarkar's cinema since Chandni Bar. His Page 3 is one of my favourite movies. It is the story of Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra), a small town girl who comes to Mumbai and has the dreams of becoming a supermodel. She although does not struggle much and easily displaces Shonali (Kangana Ranaut), the reigning supermodel and becomes as they say 'Show stopper'. However, success makes her arrogant and ultimately leads to her own fall, losing her self confidence. She then strives to come back again. When Meghna falls, one doesn't really feel bad as she totally deserved it. The screenplay is good. Salim Sulaiman's background score and music is also pretty good. I loved the song 'Marjava'. Well, people say Kangana stole the show. Not exactly. She had a very small role very similar to Geetanjali Nagpal who was found roaming on the streets of New Delhi.She was brilliant in the Wardrobe malfunction scene. It is Priyanka's film totally. She is there in almost every scene and gives one of her finest performances after Aitraaz. Mughda Godse was also pretty good. Almost everyone delivers a good performance- Samir Soni, Kitu Gidwani, Arbaaz Khan and Arjan Bajwa. However, the fashion industry shown somehow seems artificial. Not every fashion designer is gay but the film portrays it otherwise. Samir Soni however does not play the usual stereotypical effeminate gay but a more realistic portrayal. Finally Priyanka's return to form after four disasters in the year- Love Story 2050, Chamku, God Tussi Great Ho,Drona. My rating ***.

Welcome 2009!!

I had written the previous post for today. But it is showing the date as 31 December, 2008. But I want to write something for today. I did nothing much today, kept thinking and sleeping :/ Was at home and did some work on the internet. My sister got GITA as a gift from someone. I was planning to by it but I don't need to now. I want to rea Mahabharta again. Read it in school last. But it is definitely as they say 'The Greatest Story ever told'. It really is. More on that in another post. Just about to finish The Kite Runner and it is a beautiful story. I love sad stories. Enough for today. Welcome 2009!!

A Not So Happy New Year

2009 has started. I am writing my first post of the year. And being the eternal pessimist that I am, I will start by a not so optimistic post :(

I am dreading 2009.I don' want to go to 2009. Personally, 2008 was one of the worst years of my life but still I don't want to start the new year. I wish time could stop. I have so many things going on at present and things are going to get even more difficult in the coming year. It sounds like an escapist's thoughts but I cannot help it.Small, small incidents keep happening which make me feel like a loser.

My college will end in 2009. I also do not want that :( Everyone will go different ways. I will have to start my life afresh. I take a lot of time to adapt. I am happy that my friends will reach great heights but I am sad for myself that I could never catch up with them. And the people I do not like at all, well I don't want to talk about them. People would change. After 2-3 years, everyone will start getting married!!!! Life would never be the same :(

But as Khaled Hosseini says in Kite Runner-Zendagi Migzara, life goes on. I don't make new year resolutions but have some ideas to do in 2009.

1. Watch movies, learn from them, understand them, learn about the different aspects like cinematography, and review them and be a good film critic. In 2008, I watched so few films- Jodhaa Akbar, Rock On!!, Jaane tu ya jaane na.. being some of them where as in 2007 I had watched so so many movies more.

2. Read, read, read, read and more read. I have to read more of my favourite author Salman Rushdie :) I also have to read more of books on philosophy other than Ayn Rand. I have to start reading non fiction also. I have to read more classics. I have to read more famous books like One Hundred years of Solitude, LOTR, Hitch hiker's and more.......

3. Try to blog more often.Write more of book reviews.

4. Improve my boring and dull personality, do something creative like learning tap dance or playing flute or learning some folk songs.

5. Give more time to my journalistic ambitions(yeah! you can laugh at that ), write views to newspaper editors, meet Vir Sanghvi- my idol :)

6. Buy new clothes.

7. Try different foods.

The Legacy of 2008

The year 2008 will be remembered as one of the worst years that we have had to face. The legacy of 2008 will not be something that we wish to be proud of. Here is a look of 2008's the good, the bad and the ugly.

1. India gets a historic nuclear deal after so much brouhaha and that shameful Cash for votes scandal, finally ending years of nuclear apartheid.

2. Democracy wins. The historic elections in J&K, Sheila Dikshit's third term as CM of Delhi, BJP's first govt. in a south Indian state proved India's strong democratic credentials.

3. Barack Obama, definitely the face of the year and a man to watch out for.

4. Abhinav Bindra's gold, Vijender Kumar and Sushil Kumar's bronze, V.Anand winning world championship in Bonn, India's cricketing histrionics, Sachin Tendulkar, IPL, Saina Nehwal, MC Marykom made 2008 one of the finest years of India sports.Not to forget, the removal of KPS Gill as Hockey chairman.

5. The Sensex fell from 21000 to 8000, people losing crores.

6. Inflation reached record highs, oil touching 147$ a barrel in July, making life more difficult.

7. The decoupling theory finally busted, economy in a slowdown phase, world economy in recession, fear of job losses still remains, exporters losing out. Forecasts show 2009 to be even more worse.

8. The fall of capitalism, iconic institutions such as Lehmann Brothers, Bear Sterns, Meryll Lynch, AIG went bust. The word SUBPRIME became etched in our minds. Bailouts, housing bubble, Keynes, meltdown, depression, recession, unemployment....

9. The year of Terror- Bangalore, Surat, Ahemdabad, Jaipur, Malegaon, Delhi, Aiazawal, Assam and finally 26/11 Mumbai. India is clamouring for change. A start has been made by citizens. Hope something happens and the 'Non- State' actors are controlled. Pakistan has to act.

10. Communal politics and divisive agenda threatened the idea of India- the brutal assault against Christians in Kandhamal, that scumbag Raj Thackeray's attack against North Indians, politics over the Batla House encounter, Amarnath land transfer, Malegaon blasts and the use of the word 'Hindu' terror or 'Islamic' terror, Antulay's shocking remarks over Karkare's death shamed India. Terrorism has no religion.Period.

11. The terrible floods in Bihar exposed the preparedness in face of disasters.

12. Internationally, the Maoist's win in Nepal, end of military rule in Pakistan, Sheikh Hasina's victory in Bangladesh, end of Gayoom's regime in Maldives show some signs of improvement in India's hostile neighbourhood. Israel's brutal assault on Gaza continues unabated.

Hope 2009 brings happiness to India and the world.

Sad.Bloodied.Unbowed by Vir Sanghvi

A must read article for all of us.

Source: Hindutsan Times, December 26,2008.

Has life returned to normal in Bombay? I asked myself this question last Sunday when I attended a function to mark the re-opening of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

Many of us who went to Taj were surprised to see that it was back in business: we had been told to wait several months for things to return to normal. So, we weren’t sure what to expect: would sections of the lobby be cordoned off as the builders worked to repair the damage? What about the Shamiana where grenades had been flung? Was it true that the MF Husain painting that hung over the reception desk had been damaged?

In the event, all of us were stunned. The Taj seemed as complete and as timeless as before. If you did not know that terrorists had taken control of the hotel for three nights, then you would not have noticed anything amiss.

I went to the Zodiac Grill, where guests spent an uneasy night as gunshots resounded around the building. It looked exactly the same. The lobby was just as it had always been. The poolside was as tranquil as in the old days. The Shamiana had been so perfectly restored that you could not imagine that grenades had exploded and that a brave manager had been murdered on the premises. I wandered to the old wing. The ground floor was a classy as ever. I went all the way to Joy Shoes where it was business as usual.

Then, of course, the function began and it all came flooding back. The Taj’s Vice Chairman R K Krishna Kumar spoke movingly and brilliantly of the sacrifices made by those caught up in the carnage. Priests from five different religions mourned the dead. By the time all the employees who had been on duty that night paraded through the lobby, there was not a dry eye in the house.

As the tears flowed, we realised that everything was not really back to normal. The first floor of the old wing was damaged. The fifth and sixth floors would have to be completely redone. The Golden Dragon and the Harbour Bar were closed — perhaps for a very long time. And as I spoke to the Taj staff, many of whom I have known for decades, it was clear that nobody had really got over 26/11. I didn’t know what to say to Karambir Kang, one of the true heroes of today’s Bombay. But I spoke to Hemant Oberoi who had lost five of his chefs. I talked to the bellboys who had ducked for cover as the firing began. I asked an old waiter at the Shamiana about the events of the night.

“It was the worst day of my life, sir” he said sadly. “Why do you want me to talk about it?”

Yes, I know. The Taj is not a metaphor for Bombay. VT Station means much more to most of the city’s residents. And South Bombay emotion has been given a bad name by the twits and twats who appeared on TV to recommend carpet-bombing and non-payment of taxes as solutions to our problems.

So I should be wary of reading too much into an afternoon at one of the world's greatest luxury hotels. But, political correctness be damned: there was something about the Taj function that seemed to me to epitomise the state of Bombay nearly a month after the attacks.

On the outside, things seemed to be returning to normal. The gleam, the sparkle and oh yes, the spirit, were all back. But no smiles reached the eyes. There was no joy that was not tinged with sorrow. Each time you hugged a friend, you felt grateful that he was still there. And every time you looked around at this greatest of all Indian cities, you felt both proud and indescribably sad.
It’s fashionable now to rubbish ‘the spirit of Bombay’.

But, you know what? It’s all too perceptible, all too visible, and all too evident.
The spirit of Bombay lies not in the mindless patter of page three people as they slip into designer dresses two sizes too small for them, dye their hair blonde and talk about privatising the police force. Nor does it lie in some magic desire in all our hearts to overcome every adversity.

The truth is, we hate adversity. We hate the terrorism that never seems to end. We hate the loss of life. We hate the floods that submerged North Bombay three years ago. We hate the incompetence and ineptitude of those who are supposed to administer our city. And we hate the constant struggle that life sometimes seems to have become.

The spirit of Bombay is not about adventure and challenge.
It’s about bouncing back; about survival.
No Indian city can take so much adversity, so much misfortune, so much mayhem, so much chaos, so much terror and so much governmental ineptitude and still hold its head high. We don’t bounce back because we enjoy being down. We wish to God that we never sink that far again.
We bounce back because we can.
That’s the spirit of Bombay. It’s a spirit of survival, of resilience, of never-say-die.
And that’s what I saw in the Taj that afternoon. And all over Bombay that weekend.
We are sad. We are bloodied.
But we are unbowed.

And yet, just because we can bounce back, that doesn’t mean that they can keep knocking us down. We need now to ensure that the lessons of 26/11 are never forgotten; that we take the steps we need to protect our city and our lives.
It’s not, as the TV talk shows would have it, a simple or one-way process. It’s no good raving and ranting; foolish to add up how much we pay in taxes and demand some bania-like equivalence in government services; and silly to pretend that what happened to us is unprecedented when we know that other Indians share our problems and our concerns.
Each person who loves Bombay will have his or her own take on what we've learnt in the month after the tragedy. This is mine:
First of all, we need to celebrate the diversity and unity of Bombay. In an era when Bal Thackeray calls for more Hindu terrorists and his juvenile delinquent nephew sends his goondas to beat up Biharis, it is sometimes difficult to remember that Bombay’s claim to fame used to be its cosmopolitanism.
The most re-assuring aspect of the way we reacted to the attacks was the manner in which we clung to our cosmopolitan spirit and found unity in our diversity.
The police asked the army to patrol communally sensitive areas fearing that Hindu would attack Muslim homes. The foreign press went on and on about how the attacks would damage India's already fragile communal balance.
In fact nothing happened.

We saw the attack for what it was: mindless terror by mindless Pakistani jehadis.
It had nothing to do with India’s Hindus or India’s Muslims. The terrorists killed both as well as Christians and Jews, and Sikhs and people from every community.
Terror has no religion.
The response to the attack should also show up our latest Marathi Mouse. Just as the Maharashtrian Hemant Karkare died fighting the terrorists so did the Malayali Sandeep Unnikrishnan and the North Indian Gajendra Singh. The head of the Bombay police is a Muslim and the head of the NSG is a Bengali.
This is a country built by Indians; not by Maharashtrians, Gujaratis, Malayalis or whatever. And not by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs etc.
Bombay has always epitomised that great truth. And perhaps the only good thing to come out of this tragedy is that we were able to tell the world that in our city, our unity comes from diversity.
The smell of fear can sometimes become a stench. I’m not going to be very popular for saying this but the sad truth is that the stench of fear turned some of Bombay’s C-list celebrities into televisual morons; terrible advertisements for our great city.

It’s all very well to blame TV channels for inviting Simi Garewal, other small-time actresses, self-aggrandising ad-men, pompous midgets, and has-beens in ill-fitting toupees to comment on events in the city. But that is also the reality of Bombay. We’ve become a city that worships pointless celebrity, where people are famous only for being famous, where those who talk sense are marginalised by those who hog the limelight, and where appearances count for more than substance.
I know that these people do not represent my Bombay and I cringed each time one of them opened his or her mouth on TV to hold forth on how India should be run or how the fact that terror had come to South Bombay demonstrated that democracy had failed.
Their bombast and their anger came from fear. Their arguments came from their own tiny little minds.
But the fact is that we have allowed these people to become the faces of Bombay; allowed the media to portray the city as a vapid metropolis full of glamorous folks who imagine that they are living in Manhattan.
When times were good, we never complained that these people turned up on channel after channel representing Bombay’s interests. Can we complain now just because they’ve embarrassed us when times are bad?
In the month after the Bombay attacks, I was in four or five different towns and cities. And each time I heard the morons being rolled out on TV, I wanted to hide under the sofa: there was such a complete disconnect between these jokers and the rest of India. They came off as self-obsessed and trapped in some state-less bubble.

Bombay has always had a complicated relationship with India and indeed with the rest of Maharashtra. We are no less patriotic than any other city — in fact, sometimes I think we are more patriotic than most.
But we always feel like the one member of a family that does so much for all of the others and never gets his or her fair share in return. Maharashtra survives on Bombay’s revenues. Yet its politicians see the city as nothing more than a golden goose. They raid it for the golden eggs but never care enough to do anything for it.
So it is with India. Bombay should be our country’s advertisement for itself. But if you were to add up the kind of money that has been spent on Delhi over the last three decades and compare it to the amount the Centre has spent on Bombay you would realise why Delhi has broad roads, clean colonies and a fly-over at every corner. Delhi is India’s showpiece — at least from a governmental perspective. Bombay is merely the city that pays for everything.
Outside of Bombay, people do not realise how the citizens of this, India’s largest and most cosmopolitan city, resent the way we are treated. We are happy to do our bit for Maharashtra or for India. But deep in our hearts, we feel that we’ve never got our due.
When the attacks occurred, this deep-rooted resentment came tumbling out. The prevailing sentiment was: look we give so much for India and get so little in return. We don’t mind that you can’t be bothered to fix our infrastructure. But can’t you, at the very least, protect our lives?

That feeling came out the wrong way, alas. It emerged as anger against state politicians. Both Vilas Rao Deshmukh and RR Patil were seen as representatives of a Maharashtra political structure that ignored Bombay's interests.
And it turned up again as the crass threat to refuse to pay our taxes until the Centre guaranteed the safety of our families and children.
Both responses were wrong. I think Vilas Rao was unfairly targeted. And we made many enemies in the rest of India when we arrogantly declared that we would not pay taxes. We forgot that without politicians there can be no democracy. And when this was pointed out, the morons who went on TV blustered: oh, let the army take over then!
In the process, we misrepresented our case and lost the sympathy of much of India. We did not really mean that we would not pay taxes or vote.
What we meant was this: when are you guys going to give Bombay its fair share of attention and resources?
It was — and is — a valid question.

But because we asked it so badly, we abandoned the moral high ground and came off as spoilt children.
So, what now? Well, let’s stop being so angry and so frightened. Other Indian cities have lived with terror as indeed have we. The 1993 bombings targeted South Bombay just as much as the suburbs. Global cities have learnt to cope — for all of the 1970s and the 1980s, London was regularly bombed by the IRA.
So let’s be realistic. This is not the first terror attack. And it probably won't be the last.
But we will cope. Great cities always do. And given the choice between the 26/11 attacks and the 1993 riots, I would pick terror over massacres. In communal riots, your neighbours came and burnt your house. Your life is uprooted, your family dies, your daughter is raped and things are never the same again. The people who lost everything in the Bombay riots are still suffering.
So, yes, 26/11 was terrible. But a riot is worse. We can guard against Pakistani gunmen. But it’s much more difficult to guard against the hatred within a society.
So by all means demand accountability from politicians; create hell when you see them interfering with the police force; ask for an infrastructure that works; demand the security that is our due; and make it clear that Bombay has had enough.But don’t forget why Bombay is Bombay. Never forget what makes us a great city.

Our city was ceded by the Portuguese to the British. It was built by Gujaratis, Parsis, Muslims and Maharashtrians. Its film industry was revitalised by Punjabis, many of them refugees after Partition. Its education has been enriched by Christians. And each day, five hundred families from all over India make their way to the city of dreams.
That’s what Bombay is about. It is a city where all things are possible. Where the hierarchies of the rest of the India do not operate and genuine advancement is relatively easy. Where the world never seems more than a quick step away.
And where nobody is a Muslim, a Hindu, a Maharashtrian, a Punjabi or whatever.
Where we are all Indians.
Lose that dream of a cosmopolitan city of opportunity, allow the politicians to divide us and let third-rate socialites become our spokesmen, and we lose the city’s soul.
We lose the dream.
And eventually we will lose Bombay.
So, never mind the blame game. The answer must come from within.

Pankaj Film Awards 2008 :)

The year 2008 is going to end and it has been a bad year for the Hindi film industry.So it is time for Film Awards 2008 by Pankaj, the famous film critic( I know kuch zyada gaya!! ).Some might not agree by my choice which people say is *yawn*. Some awards I may not remember and have no idea.

Best Actor
Naseerudin Shah- A Wednesday

Best Actress
Priyanka Chopra- Fashion and Dostana

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Arjun Rampal for his brilliant portrayal of Joe Mascerhanas in Rock On!!

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Bipasha Basu- Bachna Ae Haseeno
Kangana Ranaut- Fashion

Best Debut Male
Farhan Akhtar- Rock On!!
Rajeev Khandelwal-Aamir
No, I did not like Imraan Khan in Jane tu ya jaane na..

Best Debut Female
Mughda Godse- Fashion, the best choice among Mughda, Jannat girl, Karzzzz girl and Haale-e-dil girl. Still have not seen Anoushka Sharma in Rab ne.. and Asin Thotukumal in Ghajini :(

Pankaj's Special critic award for Best Actor
Amitabh Bacchhan- The Last Lear
Anupam Kher- A Wednesday

Pankaj's special critic award for Best Actress
Shahana Goswami- Rock On!! ( Remember Debbie!!)
Ratna Pathak Shah- Jane tu ya jaane na- A small role excellently played.
Shabana Azmi- Sorry Bhai!

Pankaj's special award for Best Social Satire
Welcome to Sajjanpur- Shyam Benegal

Best performance in a Comic Role
Abhisek Bacchan, Kirron Kher and Sushmita Mukherjee -Dostana

Best Music
The Genius A.R.Rehman for Jodhaa Akbar, Yuvraaj and Jane tu ya jane na.

Best Lyrics
Javed Akhtar- Socha hai (Rock On!!),Meri Laundry ka ek Bill( Rock On!!) and Yeh Tymhari meri baatein( Again, Rock On!!).

Best Story
A Wednesday

Best Choreography
Raju Khan- Azeem-o-Shaan Shehenshah (Jodhaa Akbar)

Best Background Score
Amit Trivedi- Aamir

And the most awaited awards....

Best Director
Many many contenders.
Neeraj Pandey- A Wednesday
Abhishek Kapoor- Rock On!!
Dibakar Bannerjee- Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!
Ashutosh Gowarikar- Jodhaa Akbar
Nishikant Kamat- Mumbai Meri Jaan
Raj Kumar Gupta- Aamir

Finally, Best Film
A Wednesday.
Jodhaa Akbar.I will be a bit partial here :)

P.S.- I do not remember playback singers.
P.P.S.- And the Razzies for worst films of the year
Tashan( Vijay Krishna Acharya you gave us Dhoom and Dhoom2, what were you thinking?)
Drona
Love Story 2050
Yuvvraaj
Bombay to Bangkok. Nagesh, Aashayein should be a hit:)

Dichotomy of Irony

I have changed my blogspot to Dichotomy Of Irony. I loved my old one Inheritance Of Loss but thought to change it, just like that. :)

2008 : A Watershed Election

Today was the last phase of the elections in J&K. The seven phase poll was successfully completed today. The election of 2002 was a historic election being absolutley free and fair. But the elction of 2008 is a watershed moment. The turnout is huge. People rejecting calls of the separatists' boycott especially those of the Hurriyat. But to call this as acceptance of India would also be too far fetched. The people have voted for the local issues,for development and for peace. The harsh weather conditions also did not dampen the spirit of the people. After the needless controversy of the Amarnath land row, many thought that elections was not really a good idea. The Mumbai terror attacks also brought attention. Moreover, the militants also did not spread violence and create panic among the people. In all the seven phases, the turnout has been excellent according to past experiences. The people of J&K have had enough. India has also committed excesses in Kashmir. This should be taken as an opportunity by New Delhi to bring Jammu and Kashmir into the political process and to make amends. Let the people live in peace. Waiting for results on Sunday.

End of an Era

Well, as we know Chanda Kochhar has been appointed the next CEO of ICICI Bank, India's largest private sector bank. She takes charge from Mr. K. V. Kamath, one of the most respected faces in the banking sector, which is definitely an end of an era.This also marks another prominent woman in the banking industry along with Naina Lal Kidwai and Meera Samuel.The next year is going to be very very tough for all of us when the effects of recession actually start to seep in. She has a tough job ahead. Wishing her all the best.

Book Review :Q & A

Remember Harshvardhan Nawathe? The guy who won one crore rupees on Kaun Banega Crorepati and instanly became a celebrity. The book Q & A by debutante author Vikas Swarup talks about another person who won five billion rupees on Who Will Win a Billion but the person did not become a household sensation, instead he was arrested and accused of cheating because he is an illiterate poor waiter and how could and illiterate eighteen year old know the answers to such questions. That is the premise of Q & A. The protagonist Ram Mohammad Thomas ( yeah! this is his name) is rescued by a lawyer to whom he explains that he did not cheat but just got plain lucky and he knew the answers as each of the question had something or the other related to his real life experiences. Then he narrates his story and explains how each question is related to his life. The book is an easy read, the plot is fast paced though illogical at times and it is more like a movie script. The narrative tells us how he was adopted by a christian priest, orphaned again, sent to a juvenile home, picked up by a gangster, how he worked at various places as a servant to an Australian Diplomat ,an aging actress Neelima Kumari, a contract killer and finally as a waiter. There are numerous typical Bollywood potboiler sequences and connotations like the tragedy queen Neelima Kumari (resembles Meena Kumari), the lucky coin (ala Sholay), Armaan Ali (looks like a gay Salman Khan), adultery, friendship, betting, cricket, train dacoity, prostitution, sexual abuse, poverty, love and even black magic voodoo! The epilogue is touching. It also shows us the dark side of India which is not 'Shining'. The poverty of slums in Dharavi, the lives of always-taken-for-granted-and-assumed-as-theives servants and the ills of child labour and their sexual exploitation.The timeline of events were not sequential which sometimes were confusing. The book drags a bit towards the end. Still, the book throws numerous surprises and I ended up having a smile on my face. The book has already been made into a movie Slumdog Millionaire by David Boyle and is making waves everywhere. A.R.Rehman's music score has been nominated for Golden Globe for the film and there is a huge possibilty that it could even win an Oscar. The book is not great but not bad either.I found it better than the Booker Prize Winner The White Tiger.A good effort by a first time writer. Read it :)

Randomness

Well, I am back. Its ages since I wrote here. Was too busy the last month :( So much has happened in the last month that I wanted to write but couldn't spare much time. So I will randomly write what has been happening.

OBAMA is the President of the USA. It was a historic moment. By choosing a black man as their President, America proves why it is the greatest democracy in the world. His speech after winning is one of the best speeches I have ever heard and specially the line where he said 'We are the not just a collection of red states and blue states but we are the United States of America'. It makes me wonder whether we can have our very own Obama. No, I am not talking about Mayawati! I always believed that America is a deeply deeply racist society and the 'Bradley' effect would come into play and thought John McCain would win but it was the economy that brought down McCain otherwise Obama's margin of victory would not be that big. Lets hope the world becomes a less bellicose place.

26/11 made us all really really scared. The sight of watching a live war on TV with gunshots and live encounters made us aware how insecure we are. More than angry, I feel sad. Innocent lives were lost and we could do nothing. Any noise just makes me scared. We cant sleep at night. A fear psychosis has crept on our minds.What will happen to two year old Mosche? Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Sabina Sehgal Saikia, the Jewish Rabbi and his wife Rizka and hundreds and hundreds of other people were massacred by those bloody terrorists. The shocking response of India's polity made all of us shameful. Whether it was the Congress, the BJP, the Left how could politicians behave like this. The Kerala CM's remarks that 'not even a dog would look at Sandeep's place', R.R. Patil saying 'Bade shehero me aise chote hadse hote rehte hain' ( Mr. Patil I seriously wish you were in the Parliament on 13 Dec and then we could say the same thing back to you!), Modi's shameless opportunism by announcing an award of a crore rupees for Hemant Karkare who till the other day he accused of acting under his 'Congress' bosses, Naqvi's lipstick remark, Vilasrao's terror tour with Ram Gopal Verma, the senseless Narayan Rane shocked us all and we wonder what are they made of.

And the media. There has been criticism of media while covering the ghastly attacks. But they were only doing their job and all of them did fine. By blocking news channels, rumour mongering would take place and that would even be more dangerous. Information is required. But smses like stop paying taxes, bomb Pakistan, etc, are ill conceived measures. If we stop paying taxes, who will pay the NSG who have done a brilliant job. We have to realise that India and Pakistan are nuclear armed states. Any error in judgement could wipe off Delhi or Karachi in seconds. The best solution is to use America to pressurise the Pakistan Army and maintain peace and strengthen the civilian government in Pakistan. Hope these attacks are a wake up call for our society.

The Assembly elections took place in Delhi.I voted for the Congress though I am no Congress fan but I perceive it to be the lesser evil among the current breed of politicians. I am anti-BJP . There is no alternative except the Congress, though a no-vote would be a better choice.

CAT exam went by. Mine was bad. I did well in Quant and English but screwed DI totally. No chance at all and am not even hoping against hope for a call. Looks I will have to wait many years more. Sob Sob :(

I read 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga which won the Booker this year. It is about the 'suffering' India or people form the 'Darkness' and how there is a huge disconnect between the rich and the poor in India.It is not a great book though and 'Sea of Poppies' by Amitav Ghosh would have been a better choice. And now I am reading 'Q & A' by Vikas Swarup, the book on which the movie 'Slumdog Millionaire' is based, which is making waves in the West now.

Would try to post reagularly from now:)

Yeh Honsla Kaise Jhuke...

I love this song...look at lyrics so beautiful and so very true :)

Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,Yeh Aarzoo Kaise Ruke

Manzil Muskil To Kya,

Bundla Sahil To Kya,

Tanha Ye Dil To KyaHo Hooo

Raah Pe Kante Bikhre Agar,

Uspe To Phir Bhi Chalna Hi Hai,

Saam Chhupale Suraj Magar,

Raat Ko Ek Din Dhalana Hi Hai,

Rut Ye Tal Jayegi,

Himmat Rang Layegi,

Subha Phir AayegiHoooo

Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,

Yeh Aarzoo Kaise Ruke

Hogi Hame To Rehmat Ada,

Dhup Kategi Saaye Tale,

Apni Khuda Se Hai Ye Dua,

Manzil Lagale Humko Gale

Zurrat So Baar Rahe,

Uncha Ikraar Rahe,

Zinda Har Pyar RaheHoooo

Yeh Hosla Kaise Juke,

Yeh Aarzoo Kaise !!

A Fascinating Election!

Well, I am simply hooked. To what? To the American presidential elections. What a fascinating election it is turning out to be! In less than a month from now, more precisely on 4th November, Americans will choose their next President and the most powerful man in the world. The kind of system they follow simply proves why America is world's biggest democracy. USA is a biparty system consisting of Republicans and Democrats. Initially, from each party prospective candidates contest to secure their party's nomination. These contests are called primaries or caucases. These are informal meetings of people in which they decide who to pick as the party's candidate. That is why we had Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama fight out with each other during the Democrat primaries. The nail biting contest between Hillary and Obama in which Obama finally triumphed to get Democrat nomination was simply full of surprises. The Republican party chose John McCain who had a relatively easy path to leave out Rudy Guilani and Mitt Romny. Can we in India ever have this system that the prospective Prime Minister has to win the support of the people? We have Manmohan Singh who was appointed by Sonia Gandhi to be PM. He did not fight general elections. We were lucky that he is an honest man and has been one of our finest Prime Ministers. But we may not be lucky every time. Imagine the next election. If no party secures the mandate, then they will choose a compromise candidate acceptable to all as happened in Pratibha Patil's case. The American President has to go from top to bottom to be acceptable to the public. Anyways after both Obama and McCain were chosen, the next interesting fight was them picking their Vice -Presidential candidate. Obama chose Joe Biden, a foreign policy level expert to compensate for his own lack of experience. But McCain made a surprise move by picking Sarah Palin, Alaska Governor, Hockey mom who was virtually uknown and grabbed instant attention. The prospective candidates also have to fight three live televised debates where they state their positions on different issues such as the economy, foreign policy, etc. Can we in India have such a contest where prospective PM candidates debate live on television? Would we ever see Sonia Gandhi and LK Advani fight out with each other on screen?Absolutely Not! Another issue that is concerning American voters is McCain's age. He is 71. It seems a bit funny. In India, the average age of MPs would be on the higher side of 75. L.K. Advani is 80, Vajpayee was 83.Age is not an issue in Indian politics.

There are still so many unexpected turns in the American election that have the world hooked. If Hillary would have won the nomination, she would have become the first woman candidate for President and if she had won the election, she would have become the first Woman American President. If Obama wins, he would become America's first black President. If McCain wins, he would be the oldest President to be elected for the first time and Sarah Palin would become America's first woman Vice- President. Who would win the election. Well no one knows. Well I would like Obama to win. His VOTE FOR CHANGE message has inspired many and his speech given at a campaign reminded us of Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech. Till the results come, I am simply hooked.

Portrait Of A Lady

Yesterday in my dream I saw my late grandmother. Just felt like writing some anecdotes about her. I remember reading Khushwant Singh's story 'Portrait of a Lady' in class XI which was about his grandmother. He had written a very interesting line that to him, his grandmother was always old and the thought of his grandmother being young was unbeleivable. For me and most of us too, it is true. For us our grandparents have always been old. Our grandmother, we used to call her 'Bhabhi'. She was a very strong lady. Having seven children and settling them all by herself without her husband was no easy task. Out of all her grandchildren (excluding bua ke bacche..vo to favourite hote hi hain), she used to like me. Before you scream that I am a boy..No it wasnt that but just that I was obedient to her:) One day my cousin Sumi asked her that who she liked best and she said 'Pangad'. Yeah, she used to call me 'Pangad' instead of Pankaj. Not only my name was distorted but my cousin's too...like Divya was called Diibiiya..Chintu was Tinchu and Yamini was Jamini:P:P She used to say to my Dad, " Pangad ko doctor banayi" as treatment these days is too expensive..but I never wanted to be a doctor:/ She used to smoke 'bidis' and our whole household knew she did that but she used to pretend that we did not know...funny..one day she asked me to get 'Bidi' for her!!! I remember I was in Class IX and was so embarrassed. I went to shopwallah and asked "Bhaiya bidi de do" and that shopkeeper said" Arey! kab se peena start kar di"..lolz How do I tell him that it was not for me and then he said "Kaun si cahaiye?". I said "502 pataka bidi" ( the only bidi brand we all know).. and when my mom came to know of this she scolded me..hehe but when I remember now I find it so funny.She used to call me to help her walk the stairs. She used to speak Multani and sometimes we didn't understand what she spoke and just to say 'Haan, Haan'. She had a powerful voice. The day her brother died she screamend so loudly that people from two blocks away came to ask 'Kya hua mataji ko'. She used to sing a hilarious song in Punjabi in marriages called 'Mainu Gaddhu Deve' meaning 'Get me a groom'. It was seriously very funny. She used to eat everything and was old fashioned in her ideas...can't blame them its generation gap. She was married at the age of nine!!!She used to tell tragic stories about the partition and how she came from Pakistan. Her favourite gali was 'Namurad':P As she came in my dream last night, I just wanted to write something about her. May she rest in peace.

A Cathartic Post

I am sad : ( When ever I am sad, I want to write something to take out my feelings of distress and frustration. Blogging is my way of catharsis. I have written many sad drafts but have not posted thinking that the reader will be bored! But who cares. My blog is my own. Anyways today I met someone who used to be a very good friend 5-6 years back. But we had not been in touch for these years and you do not call a person friend if you are not in touch with him. We both had come to attend an event. I was so happy to see him but did not feel the same from him. I felt he was giving a forced acknowledgement from his side of my presence. I was already sitting and when he came I waved and smiled to him and he simply smiled and went some other way!!! At least he could have come and said hi and then moved away. After the thing we had come for was over, I went and met him. But he seemed uninterested.At least I thought so :/ Imagine meeting someone after eons and still no sign of happiness. I became very sad. Sob! It made me think of any instance where I wronged him ever ? Had I done anything to him during these years? Why then did we drift so apart that we do not even exchange mails. Some will say that if I wanted to be in touch I could have done it myself and I should stop blaming him. But you know I will blame him !! He used to come nextdoor to my place every third day and did not even have the courtesy to come and say hi!! We used to talk regularly after about one year we parted but all of a sudden in the next year absolutely no communication.Probably he found better friends. Maybe he thinks I am too disgusting:( I had stopped caring but you know it is really difficult to forget the good times you spent together since childhood. His behaviour today made me feel unwanted *sigh* . Anyways I will try not to think of this and concenterate on my own life. I have many things to take tension on rather on a silly topic.CATis coming in just a few days and I am very scared:( Hope the next post is my usual signature of a movie or a book review. Wanted to write about Abhishek Kapoor's 'Rock on' and Amitav Ghosh's 'Sea of poppies"! Will try to do so :/