How equal are we.........?

Ironical as it may sound, but the terror attacks in Mumbai, have actually united this city and also the country to some extent, like never before. People are speaking in the same language; people are asking the same questions; people are showing solidarity; people, irrespective of class, creed, religion, economic status, are coming together and voicing their opinion. After a long time, we are witnessing a sense of oneness in this diversity, which is the strength of this dynamic country.

 

Adversity does bring out the best in us. And in an increasingly interconnected world, the woes of one nation are no longer, hers alone. These attacks have made no discrimination. The terrorists have ruthlessly murdered people. They have killed without mercy, reason or distinction. The line between the haves and the have-nots was blurred.

 

But let’s pause for a minute and think. Think about the double standards that we, as a society have so deeply entrenched within our psyche, that only a catastrophe is able to remove the blinkers that we have put on. A pavement dweller is overrun by a car of a moneyed class young man. A case is filed, litigation ensues and at the end of it, the criminal is scot free. A young woman is shot in cold blood for ignoring the overtures of a MP’s son. Nobody bats a eye-lid.

Hundreds died in a natural calamity because the same government didn’t take any precautionary measures to evacuate the people on time. We shrugged our shoulders. The same jawans and commandoes, who guard our borders, face the enemy from close quarters, risk their lives and win wars, are hailed as heroes, but only just. Nobody speaks about police reforms and the pittance that our security personnel earn as salaries, for putting their lives in the line of fire and ensuring our safety then. But when a terror attack happens in the heart of our city, the very same people are lauded for the efforts, they get glorified by the media, and rightly so, and the Government gets cornered into initiating (or at least talking about) police reforms.

 

Why, pray why, do we need a terror attack, to awaken our souls? Why are we selective in assessing all the wrong doings in the society, unless we are subjected to the same? Why is our righteous self come to fore, only if there is trouble in our own backyard?

 

I think the time is ripe for some soul-searching , even as we go about collecting the pieces of our lives, and rising together, to face the sinister side of humanity , among other things.

The end of a beginning….

As I sit down to pen the thoughts that are raging inside me about the terrorist attack on Mumbai, I am at a complete loss for words. How can one express the multitude of emotions that all of Mumbai was feeling, as those savages mercilessly kept on killing, innocent, unarmed and hapless people? How can one articulate the level of disgust at an administration, which is only adept at issuing banal statements, which further scar our souls?

 

Are nouns like anger, fear, hatred, disillusionment, frustration et al, enough to describe my true feelings? I don’t think so. And, like me, most of the mumbaikars, are reliving those horrendous moments, daily, even as we go through our everyday motions.

 

It only took a group of 10 odd jehadees, who were armed and trained for combat, to hold the financial nerve centre of India, at ransom. In hindsight, it looks almost trivial to think that, even with the most sophisticated weaponry and a consummate military training, these savages could carry out this heinous mission.

 

The images of people running for cover, bodies covered in blood, strewn all over the place, shattered glasses, empty canisters, tell only part of the story. Our dented spirit, the loss of life and our scarred souls, though not visible to the naked eye, hold the true essence of the fall-out of this ghastly act.

 

Mumbai has always been on the terrorist-radar and been attacked before. Be it the train blasts or bomb blasts of 1993. But each time when the people of this city were faced with adversity, the fabled spirit of this dynamic city came to fore. We bounced back. Only to be cruelly getting knocked over again. We started to take our first step to regain our basic rights of being free citizens of the second largest democracy of the world. Only to be reminded, that a spineless political class, which clamors for power without responsibility and accountability in this country, is inept to protect even our basic rights.

 

 

Conspiracy theories are doing rounds now. There is malicious exchange amongst us all, as we try to search for somebody to provide us reliable answers to some of the questions raging in our minds. How long will we continue to be sitting ducks to such attacks? How long will we suffer because of a callous, inefficient and opportunistic political class? How long before we see some concrete remedial measures being taken to counter terrorism? How long before we feel safe in our own homes, streets, cities, states and our very own country? How long before we see these so-called elected representatives of the country deliver on their shallow promises?

 

Its time we stood up for ourselves. Its time we start demanding what is rightfully ours. Its time we do away with our chalta-hai attitude. Its time, when we, as the people of this country, stand united and speak in ONE voice. Its time we make our political class, irrespective of their so-called ideology, squirm. ITS TIME WE TELL THE WORLD THAT WE WILL NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED ANYMORE!

 

 

Keep the fire burning, till every corrupt bone of this country , is reduced to ashes……

 

 

A Wednesday

People….this movie are a cinema buff’s delight. A debutante director packs in enough punch, to give you this edge-of-the-seat thriller. Coming in the wake of serial bomb blasts that have rocked the nation in recent past, one would imagine, that this ‘I-hold-the-metropolis-at-ransom drama would be more remorse and empathy evoking then anything else.

 

But this movie is anything but that. A Hollywood offering like ‘Die-Hard’, roughly on the same premise, but a budget 10 times bigger, gives you a adrenaline rush. But this movie relies more on a water-tight script, some gripping performances by the two protagonists, Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher, and a screen play , that keeps you ‘in-sync’ with the going-ons on the screen.

 

Anupam Kher as the Commissioner of Police and Nasseruddin Shah, as the “Man” who starts it all, are a treat to watch. The versatility of Naseeruddin really strikes you and you wonder, why are the veterans like him, relegated to the doing ‘2-bit roles’ in other Bollywood films.

 

A telephone call to the police commissioner informs him about the ‘time-bombs’ implanted at various location across the throbbing metropolis of Mumbai. And what the caller wants in return of revealing the details of his ‘flawless’ plans, is the release of 4 notorious criminals, who are under trial for terrorist activities undertaken by them

 

The tension and drama that unfolds, as the 2 men try to optimize their position in this race against time, is a treat to watch. The film, also touches upon, the vulnerability, as it was, of a city, which is the financial hub of the nation.

 

Though the director has taken a few cinematic liberties (when you see the movie, you will know what I am talking about) and made it look really simplistic, the ideology of the ‘Man’ behind this mayhem blows you away in the climax.

 

 

Talking too much about the movie, will let out the climax, which gives you the goose bumps. But the sterling performance by the protagonists is the icing on the cake.

 

The supporting cast in form of Jimmy Shergill, as the imperious and over-zealous police officer, and others lend a helping hand. It’s a movie which turns on its head in the climax. Watch the movie ..it promises to blow you away!         

 

 

 

Singlehood and ways to cope with it!

As dramatic as it may sound, this is something a situation a almost 30 something bachelor grapples with. And this aint no beginners guide either ( can’t imagine me writing the Level 1, Level 2 etc on the same subject!!) And it’s a practical situation and a real-life problem…so people, please spares all those sniggers and snide remarks!

Just when you seem to have got a sense of stability on the career front (well, you aren’t in ‘bulge bracket’ yet..long way to go!!), the daunting task of changing your status from ‘available’ to ‘committed’ is thrust into your face..by all and sundry ( the hints are subtle in case of friends and not-so-subtle in case of family, but they are there, all the same). It doesn’t help, that most of your single guy friends, your beer-binge and Saturday-night-out buddies are already celebrating the advent of the ‘love of my life’ in their lives.

The ‘drink-n-dine’ sessions and movies, which were a norm , not-so-far ago, suddenly become a bi-monthly affair ( point to note is, the craving to get back to ‘old days’ resurfaces soon, depending on the intensity of their newest , freshest, deepest , love affair !! if there is a hint of cynicism here, its purely intentional). Now no self-respecting, chauvinistically-tilted male, will want to admit to the fact, that a woman brings a sense of completeness, fulfillment and a wave of joy in his life( this isn’t meant to be a sermon on the goodness of the fairer sex, so I stop RIGHT HERE!!!!)

Now, to keep the sinking feeling of being a ‘loner’ at bay, you target the cyberspace! A virtual world, can at best, provide a virtual respite!( which again is a no-brainer) So, if the ‘boys’ are busy exchanging cute-little-nothings with their lady love, your single female friends come to your rescue, but only just! What they say about chemistry between opposite sexes…which you have always been rubbishing all this while, comes to fore. So your ‘platonic’ friendships with your female-friends also face a lurking danger of sabotage…thanks to your muddled head, which conjures up images of ‘courting’ the same gals, who, till no-so-long back, were your ‘good ol’ buddies’! (Of course, you have already reasoned it out in same muddled head, that, ‘both of us are at that age and single, so what the heck?’)

Now, presuming you have weathered the storm, you have found solidarity in the other yet-to-be-hooked guy friends and your social life isn’t all but dead, your parents will pop the quintessential question ‘so, when do you plan to get married?’. if it isn’t enough that you haven’t been able to bond to that level , with any member of the opposite sex, you have your hands full , with your folks, who quite naively believe , NOW is the right time to marry and SHE is the right girl for you. Luckily, it’s a scandalous thought to question your child’s sexual orientation, in this part of the world, YET! So, you won’t be inundated with ‘proposals’ just to keep you from becoming a social outcaste, because of your assumed tilt towards homosexuality!!!

But I guess, in the end, the only way to work around “singlingitis” is , get hooked up buddy!!

Taare Zameen Par- A Review

This ‘gem’ deserves an unequivocal 5 star rating. A movie, which I am sure, has cut across every ‘segment’ of movie-goers and has appealed to all and sundry. And what makes the movie special is that, it’s a movie with a ‘heart and soul’, which beats in tandem with the pulse of the audience. The simplicity of the story is its hall-mark. And without an exception, this master-piece would have tugged at the heart strings of every single person in the audience.

On the face of it, it’s a story about a boy, who is suffering from dyslexia and is bogged down by the expectations of a rigid curriculum at school and a indifferent and ignorant society at large. At a more sublime level, it is a eye-opener for a society, which is hung up on academic excellence alone without making a effort towards a more holistic development of its children. For people who are differently challenged, we only seem be guided by our preconceived notions and half-baked knowledge. And this same ignorance stops the differently-challenged individuals, to become part of the main-stream society, in any and every walk of life. So lives which are already rendered difficult and in many cases full with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, become even more difficult to live.

The protagonist, Eshaan Avasthi, played by the debutante Darshaan Safarry, suffers from dyslexia. It’s a condition, which stays undetected and undiagnosed, because his poor academic scores and inability to get even ‘passable’ grades are attributed to ‘laziness, stubbornness, indifference and the like by his so-called erudite teachers. And a warped education system which doesn’t factor in the natural abilities and inclinations of young minds in the age-old curriculum and instead sticks to a straight-jacketed method of evaluation, adds to his woes. This nine year old cannot admit to his helplessness at understanding simple words, for fear of being ridiculed and mocked, by peers, seniors and parents too. A impressionable and malleable mind of the boy, which can dream a thousand dreams and is more talented, though not in the conventional sense, then his classmates , who are adored and adulated for their ‘ academic’ excellence, has to forcibly ‘fit’ in the same ‘ groove’.

His dilemma and helplessness is also misinterpreted by his parents, who are also guided by the same opaque view about their ward, which is painted by his teachers and people around them. They are worried about how a complacent, lazy and incompetent boy would grow up to face the challenges thrown at him by this increasingly competitive world, which measures everyone on the same scale, irrespective of the individual’s personal interests and natural skill-sets.

The last ditch effort and an apparent panacea to Eshaan’s woes, is a boarding school. A classic case of missing the forests for the woods, the parents and the academicians set out to treat the boy’s symptoms, rather then addressing the root cause. This proves counter productive, as the ever-chirpy , gregarious and playful chap, slowly withdraws into a shell, even as the ‘culture of discipline’ of this school tries to correct’ behavourial’ flaws in this boy, but it fails to correct them, because they aren’t flaws in the first place.



This ‘savior’ for this wilting sunflower comes in the form of his arts teacher, played by Aamir Khan. He introduces a sense of vibrancy and joyfulness in the otherwise staid portals of this institution. For someone, who was a dyslexic himself and who overcame it with sheer determination and grit, he becomes the cool shade to give respite to this young, innocent , parched and tattered soul.

What follows thereafter is a poignant and moving tale of a teacher and his student, who together, set out to battle the odds and overcome those same seemingly insurmountable obstacles, which were holding back Ehsaan.

The belief of one man, who has just known this boy for a very short period, turns his life around. And people bereft of empathy ,many of who have known this boy for a very long time, did very little but to admonish and penalize this child for his ‘short-comings’.

The movie is a tale of the triumph of ‘human spirit’. It’s a sordid account of a myopic society, which uses the same ‘mould’ to shape everyone; It’s a story, which touches every raw nerve inside you, and awakens emotions within you, which you had lost touch with; It’s a movie which reminds you that your fist-sized organ is much more then a pump, and helps you connect with your own conscience.

Brilliant performances by child-actor, Darshan and Aamir Khan, form the crux of the movie. The chemistry between them is beautifully captured and portrayed, within the time-bound frame of a bollywood movie.

The music score by Ehesaan-Shankar-Loy complements the script very well. The essence of the movie is held together by the music of this movie. And the supporting cast has also delivered good performances, to complete this pièce de résistance.

Whether this film wins accolades at any awards function is not a matter of any consequence. Aamir Khan has proved again, that conventional wisdom can be turned on its head and yet deliver the goods. A simple story can also become a commercial success, if told the right way. But what’s more important then the box-office success of this movie is the impact it has had on its audience. And if the moist eyes of every person coming out of the movie hall is any indication, then perhaps, we can safely assume that this movie has earned itself a place in the Indian cinematic history and carved a permanent place is the psyche of the audience.