Rang de Basanti

I had wanted to see the movie right from the time I saw the promos. Finally I watched it, almost a week after its release. As I have said earlier, I don’t consider myself as a reviewer at all since I know zilch about the technical aspects of filmmaking. However I wanted to comment about the content of the movie, a topic I am really passionate about, something I really feel strongly about. I would be giving my personal take about various issues addressed in the movie. Ok, there are so many thoughts brimming in my head after watching the movie that I just don’t know where to start.

About the movie in short:
All the actors have essayed their roles wonderfully. They have lived their roles. I loved Sukhi aka Sharman Joshi in the movie. He is just way too cute. There was an element of Saif Ali Khan hangover. But, he was the cutest in the movie. Siddharth Narayan was also awesome. His character was so Ajay Devganish….Aamir Khan’s character is kind of similar to the one he essayed in Dil Chahta Hain. Not overtly similar, but the essence is kind of same. Kunal Kapoor is HOT. I thought he could have done with a better dialogue delivery. Personally I feel Atul Kulkarni was like super best. Amazing Actor, loved him in the movie. Soha Ali Khan and Madhavan were also good. Special mention for Alice Patten. Lovely actress. She actually spoke HINDI and emoted so well, WOW. Music is rocking. The saying, “A thing for beauty is a joy forever” just fits in so well with regards to his music. God bless you Mr Rehman, you have no idea how many hearts you gladden with your wonderful music. Words fail me to express the brilliance of his music.

My views:
I am really impressed with the subject tackled in the movie. After all candyfloss movies which dominate Hindi cinema today, this movie is such a welcome change. I felt the same when I saw YUVA. Probably I think most of the Hindi movies do not portray the youth of India in a proper manner. I don’t really subscribe to the violent extremism adopted by the protagonists in the movie. I do not think it is a solution at all.

Took a stand:
However what I loved about the movie is that it took a stand. The youth took a stand which they were convinced about. The youth in the movie decided to adopt violence as a mean to achieve justice. You know what is criminal? Indifference is; Apathy is. Indifference coupled with cynicism is a dangerous combo. The fact that the youth took a stand is refreshing enough. Nowadays, I see a lot of indifference amongst us.

Anecdote 1:
The other day I was attending a seminar wherein the topic addressed was, “Is youth activism alive in India?” A speaker made a very interesting comment with regards to Mumbai. He said, youth activism in Mumbai is not all that rampant. However impose a dress code and you will see the rebellion. You will hear voices against it. I just wondered that it reflects such a sorry state of affairs. Only if personal freedom is threatened, does a youth protest. Agreed, dress code is stupid, however it is sad that the consciousness is aroused only when the personal freedom is threatened. Other more important things don’t really evoke extreme reactions.

Anecdote 2:
The movie talks about how we have to participate in the process to make a difference. I totally agree with them. I remember a conversation I had with a friend who was a Delhi university student. She narrated to me some of her misadventures with the campus elections at the Delhi Uni. She told me how pointless it is to stand for elections if you are sincere even at a campus election. While hearing her, I was totally consumed by envy. I told her how lucky she is to actually witness the whole PROCESS firsthand. The process is a part of the system we are a part of. The more we get acquainted with it, the better. This will further help us generate solutions for the umpteen number of problems we are saddled with. Mumbai University doesn’t have any sort of campus election. The youth is not acquainted with the system. Mumbai is where political apathy is at its worst especially amongst the youth.

History repeats itself
The juxtaposition of past and the present is amazing. I am referring to the Jallianwalla Baug incident and the shootout that takes place at a peaceful rally in the movie. Well, no wonder, people say that history repeats itself. But there something about that juxtaposition that bothers me. It is real. I can’t even dismiss it off as a filmy concoction. When the government we elect becomes tyrannical, then where are we heading to as a society and a country sometimes really worries me.

Let me cite a simple instance. In Ulhasnagar a far flung suburb in Mumbai was in news recently. Acting on a PIL, the High Court had ordered the demolition of 855 illegally constructed and hence unauthorised buildings. However, the Maharashtra Government brought about an ordinance safeguarding most of the structures. The reason that was given that Ulhasnagar is a special case. Humanitarian grounds were also cited. It is a place wherein the Sindhis who had fled Sindh province from Pakistan during partition were given plots to start their lives afresh. I sympathise with the Sindhi Community, but I don't agree with the ordinance. They knew what they were getting into. No point in being linient. However what were the government and the civic body doing when so many illegal constructions came up? If you would note, the very same chief minister had ordered the destruction of lakhs of slum dwellers since according to him they were staying in the city illegally in encroached land. Ok, so aren’t the people staying in illegal constructions in Ulhasnagar staying illegally in Mumbai? Why such different yardsticks for citizens of the same city? This is a direct discrimination against the poor slum dwellers and the comparatively richer and well-off residents of Ulhasnagar. It can be anywhere for that matter, I am just citing the example of Ulhasnagar since it was a recent case. This has just set a dangerous precedent.

The reason why I broached this topic is that I see a very dangerous trend. Well, Here I see that our government totally disregarding the law is using the legislative powers to draft rules which are unfair only catering to the privileged sections of the society. This is just a small example. I don’t see lot of difference between the erstwhile rulers that we were ruled by and the current government. In the pre-independence era, we could battle it out against the outsiders, the Britishers. We could easily blame them. However this time around it is different. The fact that hurts is that this time around we can’t really blame anyone. We elected them, can we really crib? We have to fight amongst ourselves, with the government we elected. That’s not a nice feeling I will tell you. There are loads of injustice perpetrated by the Government themselves that it is not even funny. Many a times they aren’t even reported in the mainstream media. But well, all is not hunky dory at all.

Don’t approve of the violent stand
As I said, I did not like the option of violence that the youth took. In the movie, loss of one life lead to loss of almost all the protagonists. If loss of lives could have stirred the conscience of the nation, the killers of Satyendra Dubey and Manjunath would have been rotting in jail by now. Things don’t happen quickly. We are an ‘Instant Coffee’ generation. We want everything to happen NOW. That is unfortunately the message reflected by the movie. When loss of lives will not bring about a drastic change, what’s the point in violence? I sincerely believe that there are other ways to bring about a change in the society and though it may take time, we rather use them. I think that’s an incorrect way to deal with any situation. An eye for an eye makes everyone blind. I really do believe in the adage.

Final take:
I don't agree with the option that the youth took. However, the movie deserves a watch. The movie made me think, made me intrsopect. Not many recent movies have succeeded in doing that.

A request:
Anand felt that Rang De Basanti was a regressive piece of Hindi trash. His is one the most extreme negative reaction I have read till date. Anand, I would really like to know why you felt likewise. Care to elaborate? Here, Anand explains why he hated the movie.

Republic Day

First of all a very happy Republic Day to all of you :)

I got the following message from my friend on Jan 26.

“By sending this message to you, I am wasting 2 bucks when we all know that in the other side of the border, Re 1 can avail a roti. So, let’s take a pledge on our republic day…Let’s keep sending messages to each other and starve the PAKIS”

When I read the message, I just started at the screen for some time since the absolute inanity of the message took some time to sink. I mean, nothing in the message makes sense. I wouldn’t have taken this message seriously if not for the last line. It completely put me off.

How does Pak bashing justify our patriotism? I fail to understand it completely. Sending stupid messages like these just spoil the mood of Republic day. People don’t really understand the significance of republic day. For many of us patriotism is aroused only during an Indo-Pak war or worse during Indo-Pak match. Che, whoever is the originator of the message is an absolute waste mind.

Also, seriously do we really need the republic day parade? The show of the military might on the occasion of republic day bothers me. What kind of message are we sending to the world? What are we sending it to our countrymen? If the government needs to display its military might, there can be another day for it? But please stop doing this on a republic day.

I think there are other wonderful ways to celebrate the republic day. In further years to come, I am afraid that republic day will be relegated to just another formal occasion and a holiday for the commonfolk in India. I think we really need to think out of the box in order to celebrate the republic day so that more and more youth who have been born decades after the freedom struggle relate to it, symbolically. Also, I think display of the arm power is unnecessary during a republic day. Rather than showcasing our arms strength, why can’t we showcase people’s power? India is one of the biggest and healthiest democracies. India is also one of the most populous countries in the world. Why not celebrate the great human resource that we have?

We have community festivals like Mumbai festival, Celebrate Bandra, Juhu harama etc. Why can’t we have similar such festivals all over India on Jan 26? I mean we could have all the schools in India coming together with something creative. The youth of India can redefine Indianness. I mean all we need is to toss some ideas, think out of the box and well, we could celebrate republic day in a real better way. I am sure loads of you reading this post might have ideas brimming. Please do share it with me. I think a change is long overdue.

I wonder about life....

Well, off late I am talking a lot about my career. Ha....do I really have a choice, especially when I spend more than 12 hrs a day at work. Not that I am complaining...I am enjoying every bit of it. But well...I am gonna talk about something related to work only.

Few days ago one friend of mine told me, I think journos are more grounded than people from any other field. I nodded in affirmation. She then proceeded to narrate her experience as an intern in an ad agency where the prime concern for the people after a hard day's work would be where to party....well, that's not bad, I am not generalising out here. But she just felt it was more of a shallow existence. Anyways, I just began reflecting at our lives in general and over here I mean, a journalists' life in general.

We lead different lives. Every single day is different. One day I could be in a slum, the other day i could be in a highrise apartment. I am some of the very few ones who actually see life very closely. I am happy about the fact. However every day poses to me a new challenge. Some days I meet an AIDS victim, other day an AIDS victim's family. One day I meet an artist, one day I meet a pauper. One day I get a chance to go to a discotheque, another day i go to a municipal school. Still there are days when I go a little beyond Mumbai and I feel, shit, how restricted is my reporting....There are thousands of worlds which live here in Mumbai and lakhs beyond it. Not many report about that, including me. I wonder when I will do that.....one day I shall. There are days I meet a mother who has lost a baby, there are days I meet a mother whose son who tops a race. I see pride and grief in a matter of few hours. Sometimes I wonder how to cope up with such myriad situations I inadvertantly become a part of. Sometimes I wonder what it does to me emotionally. In the past few days I have met two families....one wherein one member committed suicide and one who lost her one day old baby. When i listen to them talk, I am sometimes numb. Most of the times numb infact. I think that's the key to survival. Otherwise we species come across so many problems that we would simply die if we aren't numb. but sometimes I wonder if this numbness would lead to indifference. i hope not coz that's a day I will cease to be a human being :|

I remember one day my colleague told me that he's doing a story about a boy who was spanked so hard by his teacher that he had to be admitted to the hospital. Immediately on hearing the story I went like....Oh shit, poor chap, split second later I go like....Super story man :| Typical journo talk I tell you. I sometimes wonder how insensitive I have become. All in the business I think....every thing is a story. As they say, the system has a way to co-opt u....hmmmmm. Finally I pacify myself saying..."Shobha.....thankfully you didn't go Super story and then poor chap....atleast you had the empathy to say poor chap first...."

Patriarchy

I hate patriarchy.....I hate it. i hate it that I live in a society seeped in patriarchal values. Hate it. Yup, i agree, I have full freedom to live the life as I please, but well.....I do not have absolute freedom either and patriarchy is just so immense that one doesn't even know how it has made an impact in our lifestyle, thoughts, beliefs etc.

Some time back, I was at some party wherein there was ample booze. Now there's this acquaintance who offers me a drink which I refused saying that I don't drink. He looked at me with a smile and said, "Acha hain, ladkiyon ko peena bhi nahi chahiye." {Girls should not drink} I was aghast. I asked him the reason behind such a statement. He looked at me with a look that said, 'How dumb, I am suprised that you are even asking that question :|' There was an awkward silence and then he looks at me and says, "Well, acha nahi lagta na...." What do you mean bya cha nahi lagta? Aur kisko acha nahi lagta? I sometimes don't get it. My being a teetotaller has got nothing to do with the fact that I am a woman. I personally do not like it. and I have lot of problems with men or even women for that matter who think I don't drink because of values, culture and all bull shit. This is not the first time I am coming across reactions like these. But still I am appalled everytime I hear reactions likewise.

This article surely sets me thinking.

She was furious about the reported statement of some senior police officers that she should not have gone to the pub alone or had drinks. “Girls who drink are not necessarily of loose character,” she snapped. “We drink to relax, not to get drunk. It does not give a guy the licence to rape.”

Precisely the point I wanted to make across. It is sad that in our country, even the socalled educated lot harbour thoughts like this. The very notion that women boozing is bad, unmoralistic is what promtps these stupid men to make statements like these when they themselves have no qualms in getting drunk to glory. Blooody arseholes....

The other day I was talking to a friend of mine when I casually asked him if he misses having a sister in his life {he doesn't have any}. He replied in an affirmative. But later added that, having a sister would have meant lot of tensions in his life. I wondered how and asked him. he said that well, I would have been over-protective about her. I personally wouldn't like if she had a boyfriend......I went saying.....How hypocritical :| "You can be a casanova, but she can't have a boyfriend?" He coolly replied yes and walked away. He's a nice chap but I just wondered at the varied thought processes and beliefs people have. In India, over-protectiveness is glorified. I think over-protectiveness is just a masked verion of hypocrisy, it just reeks of it. Being over-protective doesn't mean denying freedom and basic rights to your sister. What applies to you applies to her as well. But some people don't understand it and suprisingly some girls understand it neither.

Well, I have to rush now.....I just had to type this out. But more to follow later, in the next post.

Remembering 2005....

A Very happy and a prosperous new year to one and all.....Oh well, 2005 just flew by. But I think this has been one of the best years of my life with so many things that happened in my life. To share a few with you guys....

• Spent one of my best new year eve nightouts with a bunch of cool buds of mine
• My Pakistani friends finally came to India, got to meet them. Got myself involved in tons of activities. It was a whole lot of fun.
• I GRADUATED. That's a small landmark of my life.
• I visited the tsunami affected areas, a trip that will remain etched in my memory. A life-changing experience for sure. Also made couple of friends, life-long friends for that matter.
  
• GOT MY FIRST JOB. Yayyyyyy.......It was my high school dream to be a journalist. I have not yet reached the place I aspire to be. However I am content about the fact that I have begun my journey. I like the sound of it :D
• Almost made to Pakistan....well some how did not....it's fine....great experiences.....better luck next time for me....
• Met most of my favourite bloggers. Met Ridhish, Vidya, Bhai >:D<

This year has been one of the best for me personally. So many things happened, so many enw developments took place that sometimes when i sit back and think, I freak out at the fast pace at which things have been happening. My first job has changed a lot of things in my life. Sometimes I feel freaky when I think, Oh my god.....I actually am working, i actually am responsible and that certain people have certain expectations from me and I HAV E TO BE SUPER RESPONSIBLE SINCE I AM PAID FOR ALL THIS......it's a schizhoprenic feeling since am considered as this total kid and an irresponsible one at that at home whilst outside at the professional front, i can be anything but that. Sometimes I wonder where do i stand....am I an irreponsible brat like my parents think I am or am I the so-called responsible person.......oh well.....Let me not even get into it. I have my few resolutions for this year. Well, those are private ones. Lets see if they are fulfilled. I will surely blog about them when I have succeeded achieving them. But now, have to rush coz I am all sleepy. Chalo bye.....

Satyendra Dubey- Part II

This is sad. Death of Indian Oil Corporation's employee and an IIM-Lucknow's graduate, Manjunathan is simply depressing to say the least. I don't know what else to say because I am just speechless.

This is just a replay of what happened to Satyendra Dubey, an honest man who lost his life to the mafia during Vajpayee's tenure. I had blogged about it, never did I think I would blog about something similar again. Che....

For me patriotism was a value. I don't think it is any longer. Don't take me wrongly but well, I have become cynical. I have to keep reminding myself that i lvie in a democracy. When Satyendra Dubey died, i felt bad. I wanted him to be treated like a martyr. He was treated like a Martyr, but so what? Who knows what's happening to his killers? The last I know is that one of them escapes from the police custody....wow...amazing na.....What a treatment to someone who died for something that was just.... He died for us....He died protesting against irregularities for a project which was funded by OUR money and would have been beneficial to ALL of us. But what happens. Nothing....we all, including me remember only when another honest Indian dies in a similar fashion. As if one Satyendra Dubey was not enough, we now have another.....just the name changes, but another honest citizen dies. Why? I simply don't think it is worth it, losing one's life for this country, for this country's citizens.

I know each and everyone of us has felt bad after these deaths. But why is it that there is nothing being done apart from constant cribbing about the state's indifference....if the collective angst of citizens is so strong, why doesn't it result in the accused being nabbed or being given a harsh punishment. Simply because, I have come to realise NOBODY CARES. NOBODY FUCKING GIVES A DAMN. NO ONE, ABSOLUTELY NO ONE and this includes me too. SAD. Coz had we, the citizens of India really cared, there wouldn't have been a repeat of Satyendra Dubey- Part II. Rather than sitting here and cribbing and protesting about an innocent man's murder, a pro active action by the government would have prevented another innocent death. This would have been possible had we cared, had the citizens been pro active and exerted pressure on the concerned authorities. I am saying citizens since my faith in governance has long gone....only WE THE PEOPLE can do something, concrete if we really wanna. For the MSM also, this is just a piece of news. But when, even a piece of news doesn't manage to evoke public outrage in a large scale manner, then whom are we to blame? That's another story that MSM simply did not care for a few days before it reported about the news....but well.....that's another story in itself. In this country, deaths are easily forgotten. We the citizens of India deserve this and much worse.... No one should loose their lives for a country that doesn't care, for a government that doesn't care. Why, simply why should someone become martyrs for a lost cause? I am not negating the efforts of those people who have not forgotten Satyendra Dubey. but the fact remains that nothing concrete has come out of it which is very sad.

:(

I wanna blog about so many things. if only I get the time and the energy. Should be blogging about many things soon. Will reply to the comments also soon. Che...I am so irritated....

Expectations

Expectations cause sorrow, stop expecting things....ultimate path to happiness....

STOP THIS BULL CRAP I SAY.

If you can tell me how to stop expecting things, tell me NOW. Tell me how to go about it. Don't give me faltu ka sermons....As if it is so easy living life like a saint. I am a normal mortal boss.... Anyone who gives me I do not expect things from others and therefore I am content and stuff, I am gonna beat them to pulp....

Doubts

I was recently talking to a friend of mine and he just told me how useless he feels now that he is in his final year of graduation. "The whole degree is useless", he told me. And I replied, "You feel just three years were a waste, I feel the whole education system in India is a waste." Yup, that sums up my feelings towards the education system in India, a system I literally abhor and I really do not subscribe to.

..........and then I read This article in TOI. It really made me think.

MUMBAI: Three-and-a-half year old Annapurni is a bundle of life and energy who prattles away in four languages and loves reciting her favourite folk tale about a farmer who spills ghee on the grass. Her parents, die-hard environmentalists Ganesh Subramanium and Sarita Pungaliya, have not sent her to school.

Like a small but growing number of parents in the city, they have decided to skip the process of formal education, avoiding the paranoia of school admissions, college entrances and the education rat race. Sampat and Vidya Shetty, parents of a bright four-year-old girl, Sanskriti, are also staunch believers in home-schooling.

"The current education system is more about stress, pressure and rote learning, less about knowledge," says Sampat. "Education today is all about mass-producing clones. With the high level of competition children lose their originality altogether."

The Shettys have both been journalists who in the course of their careers discovered how corrupt the institutions of higher education actually are. Yashodhara Kundaji and Kanwarjit Nagi read up extensively on various systems of education before deciding against putting their six-year-old son Anant in uniform.

"I remember how traumatic my initial years at school were because I didn't want to be separated from my parents," says Yashodhara. "I didn't want to put Anant through it." Outside the structured confines of the classroom these parents have much more freedom to explore other means of education, such as travel.
Continued...

This article talks about how few set of parents in Mumbai who do not believe in the mainstream education system do not send their children to school and prefer schooling them from Home. They echo similar sentiments that I have in mind against the education system in India. They walk their talk, they practise what they preach.

I suddenly began wondering would I be ever as courageous as them. Disgust and contempt towards the current education system not withstanding, is it a right decision to not send your kid to school altogether? Will the child be psychologically affected if s/he doesn't undergo the traditional schooling method? I mean, I am all for alternative schooling and education methods. But is pulling the child out of school totally recommended?

I think whatever said and done, school is one of the most important areas of socialisation for a kid. Howbeneficial it would be for a child? I am just wondering.... There is a quote in the article which talks about how the current education system is a all about massproducing clones and how children loose their originality all together. Well, I believe when you subscribe to a particular system, one does tend to loose the orginality to a certain extent, not completely. It takes lot of guts to do something which goes against the tide but which is something you believe completely. I do not know. I salute these parents coz they are following a path that they believe in despite the obvious opposition. Just makes me glad that ideals still work in this world. However I have my doubts. Can a child be taught about various other things, skills in life while going to a regular school? if not, is taking a child off school completely a right thing to do? I don't know. In future, the child has to survive in this society. Would lack of schooling mean lack of development of social skills? There are just loads of questions inside my mind.

I am all for alternative methods of schooling. But I feel uncomfortable when I think about a child being schooled at home. Coz, the child then misses an important part of his/her socialisation, which is very very important.

Hey Hey hey

Oh well, hello guys. I am back. Yes, I am very much alive. It's just that work has taken so much precedence over my life that blogging is the last thing in my mind. Anyways, my stupid faulty net connection also did not help matters.

Anyways, I am just wondering what to post. I suddenly realised that tomorrow is Saturday, my weekly off. Yayyy...But I would be working this Sunday, like I have been working for the past many Sundays. :( Man, that can be depressing sometimes. Especially when I ahve Sunday morning blues......Sounds funny na? I remember having written this post Nowadays I crib when a sunday approaches coz it means work after my saturday chutti. Booo hoo...My Saturday also gets over so soon. But for now, I am excited coz I am gonna attend my first catholic wedding, in church and all. What's life if there is nothing to look forward to? So a big, huge reason to cheer and hereby I retire to bed.

Dammit, my most useless post till date, I swear..