The recent speech by the PM seems like yet another case of diversion tactics.
Coming from the man who's credited with the economic reforms (though it was the forex-crisis which forced to take tough decision, still no one can question his wisdom and service to the economy),it shows the frustration and political compulsions.
Are CEOs drawing fat pay-cheques, people spending on lavish weddings responsible for the inhuman conditions in which millions of our countrymen live ? It could to a certain extent in few cases, but isn't it the duty of the Government to prevent any exploitation of the poor and the labor class?
What has been done to tackle corruption in the last three years ? We have some of the best policy makers, one of the best delivery mechanism in place - the local self govt. bodies, panchayats, and innovative welfare schemes. But all this is rendered useless due to the inefficiency and leakage (for those who want to avoid the word 'corruption').
What is more disgusting - pocketing the money meant for drinking water in villages or spending one's money on family wedding ? Who is more irresponsible - those government school teachers who never turn up in classes or the CEOs who get paid in crores?
No doubting the intention behind the speech, but it is a matter of individual freedom and conscience as to how one spends one's money. You can't eradicate poverty by bashing the rich, neither would you get votes doing that !
Charity they say starts at home, lets see what the PM can do (if allowed to do).He's one of the weakest PMs who's forced to have murder-convicts in his cabinet and let go an efficient minister.
Till then, let's see how many Netas in Delhi refuse to attend lavish wedding receptions !
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
India Shining , India Poised ??
While there's celebration (some well-deserved) over India one the move, you come across a shocking incident of a teacher spraying goumutra on Dalit students to purify them (and also of the effects of an earlier Dalit headmistress) ! You don't have to go into the interiors of one of the Bimaru states (as most of us would assume), it happened just under 100 kms away from one of the biggest city in Central India, a city with an International Airport, the orange city Nagpur !
Some might dismiss it as a one-off incident in Maharashtra - one of the progressive states, but it's an indication of how deeply rooted the misconceptions still are.
While most of us have been lucky to have parents who taught us to treat everyone with respect and dignity, there are still a lot of young minds where the seeds of the prejudice are being sown by the society around them.
And as we cry out against the discriminatory remarks on an international celeb show,perhaps a time for some collective introspection at how we deal with the grim realities in our own backyard ! At least, lets not deny that these issues still exist.
Will we continue to cruise along the path of economic progress, but as a lot of social scientists say, a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots is not a healthy sign for any nation in the long run !
Some might dismiss it as a one-off incident in Maharashtra - one of the progressive states, but it's an indication of how deeply rooted the misconceptions still are.
While most of us have been lucky to have parents who taught us to treat everyone with respect and dignity, there are still a lot of young minds where the seeds of the prejudice are being sown by the society around them.
And as we cry out against the discriminatory remarks on an international celeb show,perhaps a time for some collective introspection at how we deal with the grim realities in our own backyard ! At least, lets not deny that these issues still exist.
Will we continue to cruise along the path of economic progress, but as a lot of social scientists say, a huge disparity between the haves and have-nots is not a healthy sign for any nation in the long run !
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Miss Palampur - My Take !
For the uninitiated, there's a television commercial for Cadbury featuring Big B. Thanks to Youtube, you can view it online too - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8f8VOkdtlo
ok, getting to the point. Last night, as the News channels were reporting the 'imporant' dates for the 'crucial 'AB Baby Aishwarya marriage, the remote came handy to avoid further torture, and there you had the Big B selling Cadbury on the other channel.
It got me thinking, how the plot could fit in the marriage thingy.
Junta : Amitji ! badhai ho !! bahurani bahut sundar hai !!!
Big B : haan bhai !! Lijiye muh meetah kijiye !!! yeh Miss World chuni gayein thee , ek sau pacchis se bhi jyaada deshon se ladkiyaan aayi theeein !!!
Junta : Bahurani kahin nazar nahi aa rahi .....
Big B : O bahuraani !!
Cut to - Aishwarya comes in and greets them.
Cut to - Big B and Aishwarya in the frame n
Big B to the Camera : "Agale saal se filmo mein Nahi aayegi ! "
Here's hoping she continues to work and not disappoint her fans (Deven, in case you read this ....apologies to you n the Ash fan fraternity :D )
Gosh ....I need to cut down on my television time !!!
ok, getting to the point. Last night, as the News channels were reporting the 'imporant' dates for the 'crucial 'AB Baby Aishwarya marriage, the remote came handy to avoid further torture, and there you had the Big B selling Cadbury on the other channel.
It got me thinking, how the plot could fit in the marriage thingy.
Junta : Amitji ! badhai ho !! bahurani bahut sundar hai !!!
Big B : haan bhai !! Lijiye muh meetah kijiye !!! yeh Miss World chuni gayein thee , ek sau pacchis se bhi jyaada deshon se ladkiyaan aayi theeein !!!
Junta : Bahurani kahin nazar nahi aa rahi .....
Big B : O bahuraani !!
Cut to - Aishwarya comes in and greets them.
Cut to - Big B and Aishwarya in the frame n
Big B to the Camera : "Agale saal se filmo mein Nahi aayegi ! "
Here's hoping she continues to work and not disappoint her fans (Deven, in case you read this ....apologies to you n the Ash fan fraternity :D )
Gosh ....I need to cut down on my television time !!!
Over and Out !
Over-enthusiastic fans, over-charged by the discussions of over-talkative ex-cricketers being aired on over-hyped TV channels, fueled by over-optimistic media managers, who bought over-priced Ad slots and then ....a set of over-rated players performing to their potential .......
That's how the World Cup 2007 got over for India !
P.S. - Yours truly was rooting for Dinesh Kartik from day 1, but the chap was never pikced up :(
That's how the World Cup 2007 got over for India !
P.S. - Yours truly was rooting for Dinesh Kartik from day 1, but the chap was never pikced up :(
Sunday, March 04, 2007
How many more Black Fridays ?
Saw the movie Black Friday couple of weeks back.According to the filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, the movie is a reproduction of a book by the same name from Hussain Zaidi. Apparently the books draws details from CBI/police records and the does not have inputs from the accused .I liked the movie for it seemed to put up the facts without giving an impression of taking sides and makes you think. Although some people I watched the movie with didn't seem to agree and felt that the movie was trying to justify the motive behind the blasts. In my view, it only puts in perspective the reasons quoted (however foolish/unreasonable it may seem) by the accused behind carrying out such a dastardly act.There is no question that violence of this kind can be justified.While those involved in the crime justify the blasts as a revenge for communal riots and a preceding event which triggered the riots, killings innocent people is inhumane. The high point of the film is a dialogue by Kay Kay Menon's character, where he says that people become chutiya(apologies for the profanity...but in usual parlance it's just a strong word for stupid) in the name of religion. It's puzzling how a person can be brainwashed and provoked to an extent of mercilessly killing a fellow human being.
Just a couple of days back, it was the fifth anniversary of the Godhra incident and the carnage that followed. It's disturbing to see the stories of countless orphan kids, widows whose lives got changed forever for worse just because some religious fanatics thought massacre was the only way to prove a point. Again a case of people trying to justify one wrong by quoting another wrong.
In each of the cases starting from 1992 to 2002, negligence and to a certain degree complicity by those who could prevent things from escalating (read police, politicians, bureaucrats) seems to be a major cause for such colossal human loss.Had there been a historical precedence of firm action and stringent punishments for those involved in communal riots a many of these riots could have been easily avoided.
Some might say it's easy to talk about secular values when one is not at the receiving end or the victim, but I'm sure apart for a very few people (irrespective of the religious beliefs) most of us would agree that killing Innocent people as a punishment for the crimes committed by a deranged gang of fundamentalists (from any religion) is simply irrational.
Anurag Kashyap, rightly closes his movie with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
Sadly though, in the seemingly unending war between the saffron and the green, a lot of red flows on the streets ......
Just a couple of days back, it was the fifth anniversary of the Godhra incident and the carnage that followed. It's disturbing to see the stories of countless orphan kids, widows whose lives got changed forever for worse just because some religious fanatics thought massacre was the only way to prove a point. Again a case of people trying to justify one wrong by quoting another wrong.
In each of the cases starting from 1992 to 2002, negligence and to a certain degree complicity by those who could prevent things from escalating (read police, politicians, bureaucrats) seems to be a major cause for such colossal human loss.Had there been a historical precedence of firm action and stringent punishments for those involved in communal riots a many of these riots could have been easily avoided.
Some might say it's easy to talk about secular values when one is not at the receiving end or the victim, but I'm sure apart for a very few people (irrespective of the religious beliefs) most of us would agree that killing Innocent people as a punishment for the crimes committed by a deranged gang of fundamentalists (from any religion) is simply irrational.
Anurag Kashyap, rightly closes his movie with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".
Sadly though, in the seemingly unending war between the saffron and the green, a lot of red flows on the streets ......
Lagey Raho !!!
Last weekend one of the many Hindi Film awards were declared.....that reminds me of some movie reviews I'd written last year, for the Office Mag Darpan. Reproducing them here -
Dor
Nagesh Kukonoor has the knack for story telling and he proves it again with Dor. It's a story about how a single incident drastically affects the lives of people around, how two women from altogether different background are impacted and 'tied' by the event. It's about optimism in face of adversities and the triumph of human spirit.
Kukonoor has done a good job at taking us through the lives of the two lead protagonists and how circumstances bring them face to face with each other. Very complex emotions have been portrayed effectively without being too loud.
The film has is brilliant at places, some scenes which impress you a lot - e.g. a impromptu dance in the middle of a desert, or the one where Meera's character just wants to be an ordinary human-being who can be selfish and ask for revenge. Both the leading ladies Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia impress with their histrionics. Shreyas Talpade demonstrates that and he has the ability to tickle your funny bone. The music and background score perfectly gel with the theme of the movie.
Dor might not be as good as some of the earlier movies by Nagesh, but its definitely worth a watch, for it's different .
Lagey Raho MunnaBhai
Big star-cast, huge elaborate sets, flashy designer wear ....seem to be the pattern for most hindi movies these days !As one of the legends of the Hindi film industry Hrishikesh Mukherjee passed away, there were discussions on how straightforward movies with middle class values are no longer made. It's rarely that you come across a simple movie, which provides good entertainment .
Lagey Raho Munnabhai is one of those. ....although not exactly from the Hrishida genre, its a welcome change from the usual grin.
It's said that Cinema is a director's medium and this movie proves it. Takes a lot of courage to handle a potentially volatile/controversial subject and even more talent to pull it off very well. There could have been a lot of places where the story could have gone astray ....say a 5 min speech on the state of affairs...or a long melodramatic scene....But all credit to the director Rajkumar Hirani, he has shown a lot of restraint, not got carried away and maintained a very good flow.
Must dekko !!!
Dor
Nagesh Kukonoor has the knack for story telling and he proves it again with Dor. It's a story about how a single incident drastically affects the lives of people around, how two women from altogether different background are impacted and 'tied' by the event. It's about optimism in face of adversities and the triumph of human spirit.
Kukonoor has done a good job at taking us through the lives of the two lead protagonists and how circumstances bring them face to face with each other. Very complex emotions have been portrayed effectively without being too loud.
The film has is brilliant at places, some scenes which impress you a lot - e.g. a impromptu dance in the middle of a desert, or the one where Meera's character just wants to be an ordinary human-being who can be selfish and ask for revenge. Both the leading ladies Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia impress with their histrionics. Shreyas Talpade demonstrates that and he has the ability to tickle your funny bone. The music and background score perfectly gel with the theme of the movie.
Dor might not be as good as some of the earlier movies by Nagesh, but its definitely worth a watch, for it's different .
Lagey Raho MunnaBhai
Big star-cast, huge elaborate sets, flashy designer wear ....seem to be the pattern for most hindi movies these days !As one of the legends of the Hindi film industry Hrishikesh Mukherjee passed away, there were discussions on how straightforward movies with middle class values are no longer made. It's rarely that you come across a simple movie, which provides good entertainment .
Lagey Raho Munnabhai is one of those. ....although not exactly from the Hrishida genre, its a welcome change from the usual grin.
It's said that Cinema is a director's medium and this movie proves it. Takes a lot of courage to handle a potentially volatile/controversial subject and even more talent to pull it off very well. There could have been a lot of places where the story could have gone astray ....say a 5 min speech on the state of affairs...or a long melodramatic scene....But all credit to the director Rajkumar Hirani, he has shown a lot of restraint, not got carried away and maintained a very good flow.
Must dekko !!!
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