on the eve of the 63rd!

As I sit sipping my green tea, browsing the various pages that tell me about how much my country has improved in the last 63 years...i realize that even with a lot of optimism in people...there is so much more left to do..for example..we boast of an increase in the literacy rate from 12% at the end of British Rule to 66% in 2007 and on the other hand, it is still way below the world average of 84%.

Out of my RARE yet genuine dedication for my country and surrounded by the continuous rhetorical questions all over the television of "Kya aap azaad hain?" which translates to are you actually free, I sit down to jot what independence means to me...to start with, on a personal front, independent I am...I have always been given the freedom to choose things the way I want and my parents have always respected my decisions in important matters concerning me..here a small clarification seems necessary...for all the 22 years that i have lived...i have been given just about everything that i have wanted if it was feasible...I have been a pampered child, but that did not take away the independence from me...the freedom of thought and action prevails...

So, I continue, is India as a country actually free...i happened to read about the national flag today...not that i wasn't aware of it before :). So, saffron stands for renunciation of disinterestedness of the politicians (and NOT Hindu!)..green stands for attachment to the soil (and NOT muslims!) white stands for truth (and NOT peace between the two aforementioned!) and the Ashoka Chakra in the center for the motion that leads to the progress of the country (and NOT just taken from the stambh itself!)...

The point is, has India progressed as much as it should have? I had a discussion with a friend today, and we both agreed on how Indian laws are more on paper than actually being implemented and how we have such a badly maintained history. Ironically I am reading about buddha's life on a site http://www.ancientindia.co.uk/ ...because the history of our country is much better preserved by the outsiders than by us..! We know more about the great wall of China that we do about the Chaar Minar! Even worse, we care more about visiting the former than the latter!

I speak about this to my grandfather..about the issue...and he asks we what i am writing about..and he puts in his views...about how its not the laws which are rigid in the country, but the people who are implementing them. We speak about how criminals are not put to the books here, because they are either supported by the ruling party, to show that the police forces have done a great job in finding them or by the opposition, that wants to prove that the ruling party is no good...who is suffering? People like us...who feel scared before stepping out of their houses, who are becoming so skeptical that they don't trust anyone...

Im not equipped with the essential statistics for what all I wish to write...but its my endeavor to just put across the feeling!

I really like what a Tea advertisement says: Roz subeh sirf utho mat...JAGO!

Till then...Jai Hind! :)

The census- 2010

Recently what caught my attention was an appalling piece of information on how housewives have been put in the category of unproductive class along with beggars and prostitutes! i feel insulted on behalf of the millions of house wives in India...

I have grown up in a household wherein my mum has been a very competent housewife...and i choose my words very carefully to say competent...because that is what I think...

The work of a home maker, as they now call it, is at par with that of those who go out to earn a living...and it is a thankless job too..if it was not enough that the people of the house do not appreciate a mother's work..now the Indian Government has made it official too..

And to top it all...the other " nominees" are beggars and prostitutes? i mean..really?? are we so closed to what is right and what is wrong...with due respect to all the sex workers...they have a huge business and they are not unproductive at all...circumstances or personal choices have driven them to what is considered a demeaning way of making a living..but so what? they do the work..they are paid for it..they make people happy...and demand and supply continues..

As for the beggars...i do not want to comment about the racket that exists, which has been successfully shown in many of our movies..but it is definitely not worth being put in the category of the afore-mentioned..its the work of the lazy..

Surprisingly..the NGOs and so many other organizations for Naari shakti are hush about the inclusion of this clause in our census..when awareness is actually required..we see the rather influential keeping quiet..

I wish to do just that and also salute the women who make our lives so much simpler...on a personal front..my home would not be the way it is..had it not been for my mother..if we need someone to earn the money...we need someone to know exactly where to put it too..

I want India to awake to this feeling...and to say the least...respect it!

Pyaar Panga aur MMS

Aaj Tak pe aapka swaagat hai…! We deliver news to you which no other channel does…I say, obviously!

You wonder where this comes from..it is a news bulletin…they talk about how a struggling actress from Bhopal was publically assaulted by her so called husband. There are scenes of hair pulling torture flashing across the screen…cut to, an aggressive young girl, screaming in defense in the news studio…and the boy all wounded…both kept far way from each other..to avoid further drama!

Two days after this…I switch on to the same channel…and what I see is the same people, the same background but a different story..the story of the videos, MMS, SMS and the love-letters that the boy has given to the channel o make his stance stronger. His claim: they got married (which the video proves) and after the girl shot to fame in the TV world ( I don’t know what their standards of fame are, that girl is one serial old! ) she broke the marriage and refused to get back to him…there’s a twist in the tail…coz now instead of defending themselves, they hurl allegations at each other’s families!

What is bizarre here is not that a) a news channel is showing all this or b) that the story grows in leaps and bounds every time you watch but c) that I don’t believe any of this.

With such convincing arguments also, the psyche of a normal human being has been moulded such that we tend not to believe anything that is shown…everything is a publicity stunt…one shot to fame! And I think that is what they are getting out of it…it is truly said that public memory is short-lived..while nobody will remember the negatives of their families…everyone will remember them if they are seen on TV…
So my verdict is ,that is what it is…nautanki is what we call it…to do it on the stage you have to do it off stage first! I hate to be so skeptical but that is what the trend says!

Tere Bin Laden

I happened to take my first steps out in the "Gaon" called Gurgaon...and i boarded the esteemed Metro to reach where i had to..the Metro journey was indeed a pleasure...and well maintained too...comfort is all i ask in this city now...!

Coming to the point...the movie Tere Bin Laden is an ebullient one...a satire on the way America looks at Pakistan...and the existence of "The Laden".

All in all i enjoyed it thoroughly..it starts with the dream of the ullu da pattha repoter..aka Ali Hassan..played marvelously by the good looking, Pakistani Popstar, Ali Zafar. His dream is shattered when he is deported from USA for suspicions of his being a part of the Taliban.

He does not give up hope and thus starts the zestful attempt of the novice reporter to get what he wants. He gropes in four other people, a make up artiste, a Radio Jockey to mimic Osama, a frustrated editor from the news channel he works for and his faithful friend. The team does the unimaginable.They make a gaon ka murgawala, who is gifted inherently with uncanny resemblence with Osama Bin Laden, to record a tape to be released in the media.

It all goes well till the team realizes that the repercussion of their act has had "deadly" effects on the masses, literally so to say. The Americans realise that the Pakistanis know where Osama is hiding but that does not stop them from bringing down parts of Afghanistan. When asked why this is being done, the prompt reply is that they have $100 million to find Osama and they have to spend it somewhere!

The movie is a perfect satire made even more apt by the recent comments made by Hillary Clinton on Osama's existence in Pakistan. The movie is welcomed well by the irrepressible laughters of the Indian movie goers, more-so as the movie is brilliantly shot for the Indian audiences depicting the "Amreeka" and Pakistan relationship.

Appreciable acting by Pradyuman Singh who plays "OSAMA", Ali Zafar and Barry John. If my mum, who is more of a love stories watcher, liked it, anyone will :)

Nani ka ghar !

The deviation from the pre decided account on Pune is for valid reasons. I am visiting and truly so, my birth place, the erstwhile Patliputra now known as Patna. A short 7 days stay here has allowed me to explore the various aspects of this city, some as a mere tourist while others as a resident as I reminisce the childhood days I have spent here. My span of stay in this city was never more than 1 month at a stretch because we visited it only during the vacations. I remember vividly shuttling between my maternal and paternal homes.
A lot has changed; to start with, my paternal home is no more there. It’s being made into a more luxurious house that will be more comfortable for us or so they stay. I went there a few days ago and realized that the land, on which it stood erect till a few years ago, seems much smaller than our home did. The mango trees, the talaab at the back, are all gone.
I get goose bumps every time I even think about it. The hailstorms we played in as children in that house, the usual fights that happened among the cousins every vacation when we met there, all come flashing by when I think about it.
I feel how beloved we are of our grandparents. I remember how my dadi would save me from my mother’s scolding and pampered me with everything I asked for. Dadi is no more, neither is my Baba.
Nani’s house always had a lot more action in store for us. With many more cousins we would rampage the house every time we came. I remember how my nani would hide the Rooh Afzaah bottles from us which would otherwise have emptied in a day. On the other hand she would make my favorite dishes for me and shower us with all the things that we craved to eat, the pizzas from Sweet Home, the noodles from Chow cart, the Dosas from Vasant Vihar, and the Golden ice cream we would wait for every evening.
My nani was a woman of very strong principles and they were more often than not right. When I hear about them now, I think how well sorted out all her decisions were. I remember when nana would yell at us for our tom foolery, she would get livid and forbid him from it. I miss her and all my grandparents. They left us very early in life. It’s all a lesson learnt, to cherish all the memories and to make the most of the time I have with my Nana.
I came here 2 years ago last time and I see a clear change in the way the city is. Better traffic, more cleanliness, and most of all a much improved law and order system in the city. People here are a lot more carefree now, and shops are open till late in the night too. Modernization is on its way with the plush hotels coming up. Finally the taxes we pay are being put to good use!
I’m still here and living every moment of it. The nothingness also is a way of enjoying what is there and what may not be because as a rule of nature, nothing is forever. But no, the memories will last for as long we live and for ever more. 

PUNE-Part 1

Thought about this a great deal before I actually penned it down. Thought so much that i realised that Pune would not be not complete in one blog post...it required t
two or maybe more. :)
Its about a journey that started when I was a kid. In 2001 when I was just a tiny gawky 13 year old...yes I know at 13 some of us are really old and mature but I was a definite exception.. not worldly wise...far from street smart...short tempered and miles away from being diplomatic (which i am even now!)...
I remember entering the hallowed gates of St Mary's, I felt a pinch of anxiety and awkwardness mixed with a whole lot of supremacy having arrived from Mumbai..the Land of Awesomeness :)
I remember how I was dressed in my plain civil clothes while the girls around me were in perfect blue pinafores. They would have been nice if
a) all of them would not have had their own group of friends.
b) I had been a little more accommodating.
c) If I had allowed myself to be bullied by the rest :)

Talking about the last, I was nearly bullied by one such person..juvenile as we were, we found childish thrills in playing tree to tree :) and I was made to give the Den by unfair means! I was aghast at how I was being treated... in fact i remember having even tried to save the other new students (read easy targets )from being bullied...but they wouldn't listen to me...so i walked off..carefree and sure that i had done what was only right!
later on these new girls turned out to be my best friends in school...those with whom i spent the next two years...and actually the last two years of school life...they were great friends and now as we are all in different parts of the country, i feel sad to have lost the connection...but then FB lives on...bringing hope.

Its my duty to mention in Part 1, that I had great detest for this city when i had moved in...a slow life...having to make new friends...great comparisons with everything which was mumbaiyaa and the continuous struggle of trying to be better than the former!

This contempt however transformed as i realized that for me moving was a natural way of living...like i had from Calcutta to Bombay..i was bound to develop a way of making new friends. .as for the way Pune was...it was just a struggle of the people to ape the better...or to put it in better words...to live up to what Charles Darwin had said...It is the survival of the fittest...

Thus ended 2 years of a relatively boring period of my life in Pune...the city that gave me a lot...love luck and happiness in the years that followed..for then it just promoted me from a school going kid to a college going adolescent...to learn much more and to enjoy much much more...cheers to that thought ...
more to come...
:)

P.S.: A pic of my 1st home in Pune :)

The heat and it all...

I browsed through my previous blogs.. realised they all start with how I am always writing after a long time...lol...this time that will not be it..
im back home..after 6 months...feels great..although Dilli is not the place to be in this heat...it can kill you if u cant afford the luxuries of the AC!! Social segregation is not my thing..but i have to say it now! imagine what happens to your body at 47 degrees! But i guess the thrills of enjoyin the other benefits of ghar cover up for that..
the late waking up..doing absolutely nothhing the whole day...woching loads of TV..n getting good food whenever you want it...wow! people keep asking me to enjoy these 4 months before i join work as much as i can...coz once im at it...i will never get such a long break...so im trying to do justice to it...i start off by visiting my relatives all over...from mumbai to patna :)
Dilli too is a place where around 60% of my family is based..will meet them too...however its a bizarre place..the people here are weird...i wonder why they cant be themselves...always trying to show themselves as the ever so blessed breed of people..a small example would be the tabloids that get delivered to my place here...they have only pics...of the "influential" page 3ites!
i also wonder how people can be so money minded here...its all about the money honey..yes it is...when u are in SONI DILLI it is..! like the other day we visited a mall that gave a discount to fathers on Father's day..while we stood in the line gleefully...after a great deal of shopping...a lady came up to us...dressed well...seemed well off..and asked if she could get her stuff billed with us...coz there was no "male" with her...just to avail the discount of 300bucks...!! i was flabbergasted..obligations dnt go down well with me i think...not when im at the receiving end..i would rather oblige than be obliged!!
but then these are all facts that should not be used as instruments of generalizing people...coz there are some from the same place i know...who are awesome and very different from the above...:)
but again...the majority speaks..
other than that i love my stay here...im catching up with old friends...and having fun..its all good :)

and life goes on..

And life goes on...i just happened to watch the song "kabhi kabhi"...its my all time favourite...so much so that it urged me to write...after soo long..rakhi looks gorgeous in the song...n sashi kapoor...who wud think that a man like him would look like this in old age..
and while im at it...i wonder and write about what Sania Mirza must be going through right now...I see no reason for anyone other than her near and dear ones to even think about it though...she takes a very bold decision...to marry a foreigner...and thats not the bold part..the country she chose is...India and Pakistan have been enemies for as long as i can remember...but then why do people now put the burden of solidarity and peace on poor Sania. she isnt the "dove" here...she fell in love and so she shall marry! there are these political honchos making a hullabaloo about it...Bal thackrey had the audacity to say that she had no fame because of her game before...it was all because of her " tight fitting clothes"! and that now after marrying a Pakistani...she must represent Pakistan in international Tennis.. i mean...she was rank 18 in 2007...no indian has been such an achiever before...and all that people think about are her controversies!
i feel bad for the girl...just when we thought things were getting fine...shoib malik, her would be, got himself into one of them too...his ex wife emerges...and all she wants is " a legal divorce" and nuddin else...like we believe that...before anything conclusive happens...i want to believe his side of the story...even though the miscommunications he had are hard to digest..
my sympathies for sania prevail!

and i have a lot to say...

To start with yet again...a long gap it has been...the writing just never happens... but now i have a lot to say...been wondering fo a while...wat is love all about...jus liking someone...wanting to be with someone...or adjusting with a situation u have been put into...the first two i mite even identify with but the third...not a chance..it doesnt get down well with me..strangers in the path cant mingle n say the sacred I LOVE YOU...its d prerogative of us...the more compassionate and yet independent lot..i see around me a bizarre couple..met by circumstances...bound by compulsions...thats anything but love...its an adjustment i would never ever give on to..marriages are not made in heaven nd not even on earth!! i see these two ppl talk like they have known each other for ever...the craving to meet...the mushiness...where does all this come from???...just a family's decision to get you together...i think not...its an arrangement...a rosy one for the first one year..n then a trench u cannot come out of... i speak like i know it all..a little i do...hypocrites who once said they were against the " concept " of being in love...are very much there...n very deep too...i thot for a while...am i being too mean or excessively judgemental...but no...its the noble truth.. correct me if i am wrong...can you be the Prime Minister of a country without knowing is flaws..?? rhetorical these questions are...maybe juvenile to some too...for me they are innocent musings...of my observations...the practical bum that i am...i end up thinking about the pros and cons of all...n here i think its only the cons...and the funny part is...they camouflage and appear as the pros!! good luck folks...i know you will sail throug it...coz you are destined to..but here you dont make your own destiny...it is at the mercy of someone else..!!
adios!!

the day that was

It seems weird when you part ways with someone.. i wonder how ppl do it again and again...and then the final parting when it actually comes...its all a huge biochemical reaction in our system.

that was abstract... but something i thot about...its just so weird when you get close to people and they get indispensable..

on a more practical front...im at it again...im talking about blogging and also about my never to be broken oath to lose the extra kilos...another attempt to look my best...i get abstract again and say...why are looks even so important...but then again i know they are for me...to be confident...to be able to speak well as if i know it all...for me its all inter-related...and yes its power yoga this time...the kareena kapoor mantra...one class and i know that it hurts...and sooo hard too...

im in a process to deviate again to yet another abstract thot...but that mebe later...