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Tuesday 24 February 2009

Should I rejoice at ‘Slumdogs Millionaire’ Success?

World sings ‘Jai ho’ around this globe While the poor man sits outside a gate Wearing garb of poverty His tattered crown bringing fame and show From rags to riches, the world rejoice While we tread through those narrow lanes Seeing hollow eyes, bloated tummy Can we be proud of our helpless folks? I am not sure if I am proud of eight Oscar awards. But here, this is the truth that we try to hide under the carpet and pretend that it doesn’t exist. There are always resigned attitude of many Indians saying ‘What can we do?’ This movie “Slumdog…” hits us hard, real hard. Many of my friends (abroad) have pointed out this to me many times in the past saying that they are very much troubled by the poverty of India, especially when they are in their relaxed state in the luxury of their car, munching on a bar of chocolate and then see a dirty, stained face, peeping into their car window with helpless look, begging piteously. Former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh quotes, “The film was a fairy tale and shouldn't be confused with what life is actually like for India's poor and that Boyle had to make "Slumdog Millionaire" upbeat because the true story of what it is like to live in a slum wouldn't have appealed to audiences.” And this is the truth, the reality that only Indian who lives in close proximity to those shanty slums finds it hard to ignore. It made me squirm, cringe, reject and reluctantly accept. It was so honest that I was benumbed by its content. There were times that I wished that he had not stripped my City of Mumbai like this. But the story worked! One year ago, when it was released, no distributor was willing to buy it and now, world rejoices at its success. Eight Oscar awards! It suddenly acknowledges India’s existence and indirectly, Bollywood importance in world cinema. Hopefully, world’s attention will clear the debris. I only hope that those child stars, Azharuddin and Rubina, who walked the red carpet at Oscars will not return back to their shanty lives. I hope their life will change forever……

Saturday 21 February 2009

Delli che...kem che.....

I came out from the theatre after watching Delhi 6 and met a friend just outside the theatre. She asked me whether I had enjoyed the film. I told her that the film bumped and went over my head. I am not sure if I understood the film. Till interval I was trying to figure out where the story (if any) was leading. The crowded and narrow streets of Delhi, the cow giving birth in the middle of the road, the temple with hundred bells, the blind faith of people in the city, all this was very confusing to me. Moreover the acoustics of the theatre were bad too and many of the Abhishek’s dialogues were just mumbling sounds (I think I am going deaf) In the film, there was news report of ‘Black Monkey’ causing havoc in the city and I keep wondering what is it trying to portray? Is black monkey the blind faith of the people, is it superstitions or is it the imagination of one person that is aped by others in agreement? And then this Sonam, who has conservative father, manages to dress in the weirdest costumes with belly button et al, ..pines to be Indian idol….is her father just unaware of his daughter’s activities or is he too dumb? Can’t decide. There must be reason for Mehra to show Ramleela throughout the movie, maybe there is the connection somewhere, I fail to understand. I think I don’t seem to understand movies any more!

Thursday 19 February 2009

Day out at 'Kala Ghoda Festival'

After lunch, my friends and I headed towards south Mumbai to experience ‘Kala Ghoda Festival’. Being last day of the 10-day-Festival, it was too crowded and we kept getting lost into the crowd. It was like every thirty minutes we would call on our mobile to find each other. We all had different interests and while I spend most of my time shooting the pictures, my friends were more interested in shopping knick knacks or eating. Somewhat, not only do the art in any form attracts me but even the artist at work. This man worked skillfully on sculpture of a man, I moved closer to see this artist shape a strip of plywood There were also some children learning Warli painting for Rs100, they had made cute greeting cards. There was a big crowd near the stage where there were different performers at different times, there was music playing all the time and everyone could be seen shaking their heads and tapping their feet. We stopped there to have a cup of coffee. And there was bigger crowd at food stalls, Imagine a Pani Puri for Rs35. I get better Pani Puri in my lane for just Rs12! How they loot public at the fairs! There were kiosks where they abused political trouble makers And others that abused their own government for bad sanitation in the country Children enjoyed the story telling session at BHNS auditorium And towards the evening, I enjoyed the performance poetry at Sassoon Library, which was the nodal point for literature and poetry. It was a very tiring day though fun, fun, fun!

Tuesday 17 February 2009

Just thinking...........

Is it right to criticize someone in their absence? I think we have no right to criticize anybody if we do not have guts to say the same thing on their face. By criticizing we are only conditioning the opinion of other person to look at the person from our angle. We are not giving people chance to make their own opinion. And what are we trying to prove? Are we trying to say that we are superior to them and that person is too week or selfish to meet our standard of expectations? And how does it help us? We are just wasting time in spreading negative vibrations and getting entangled in this web too. And what is the use? If we must criticize, then we must have the courage to do it on their face so that he can improve. There are people who can never change. We have to learn to accept them as they are. For example if the person is having hatred for everybody for no particular reason, then it is not possible for us to help her. How can we help her if she does not know that the problem exists? So, our criticizing her is not going to help her at all, on the contrary, it could make the matter worse. We can only help those who are ready to help themselves. The person has to first admit that the problem exists, she has to be aware that she is hating everybody for no reason at all. Once she recognizes that the problem exists then she can make an effort to change herself. We cannot help anybody who is not ready to accept that the problem exists. In that case, either we accept them as they are, or steer away from her horizon so that it does not bother us. But we are most concerned about people who we love. So what is love? Love is feeling in harmony with the other person, of being on the same wave length and accepting the person as they are, so that there is no conflict at all. Love is feeling oneness with the other person so that you begin to think like them. But many times we don’t understand the meaning of love and we start to suffocate the other person by getting too attached to them. By attaching our self to other, we are only causing pain to our self. We have to learn to live in this world in a detached manner. What is detachment? Detachment is unconditional love. It is unselfish love. A love without any expectation is detachment. To maintain a relationship with attachment is impossible. Too much attachment makes us encroach on their private space and then there is conflict. …….

Sunday 8 February 2009

Randomness

The recent and most popular post that I see on the FB is this randomness where you write 25 facts about you, and tag your 25 friends to share your post. It is quite interesting to read different posts by different friends..and I have read the posts of all my friends who post it, whether they tag me or not..... Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you. (To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page on the FB, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.) So Now about me: 25 random things about me... 1. I love children, their smiles, their movements, their innocent talks and I love watching them play 2. I enjoy the company of people who have good sense of humor 3. My motto for cooking is to enjoy my food the first time but don’t ask for repeats.. I can’t reproduce the same taste…. 4. I don’t like dogs but they love me, can’t understand why? Whatever happened to those mutual feelings? 5. I love listening to music on radio and also all that bakwas 6. I prefer watching films in the comfortable and nice theatre. 7. I used to love watching TV once upon a time but after internet, it is now, an excess furniture. 8. I love eating in fancy restaurants and attending wacky parties on OPM (Other People’s Money) 9. I compliment ‘Me’ in the mirror everyday and remind myself that I am the best. 10. I don’t like chocolates, cakes, sweets, fruits, ice creams and pastries, spicy food is tasty 11. I don’t crave for anything that is beyond my reach and I am most contented with whatever I have 12. Three questions I ask myself whenever I go for shopping, Do I need it? Is there enough storage available for new purchase? Is it worth it? I will buy only what I really, really need. 13. I am impatient with people who are untidy, disorganized, irritable and nags 14. I love to travel comfortably and like exploring new places. 15. I love my freedom and my life that I like to live on my own terms 16. I am offended when people mistreat or abuse their spouse in public and I am angry at people, who can’t stand up for their rights. 17. I don’t like to draw any attention to myself and prefer to do everything quietly. 18. I don’t care if some one else takes the credit for the work that I have done and feels happy wearing my crown. 19. I have great faith in my God and I believe that His Grace always protects me and makes everything easy for me. 20. I am very honest to myself and I don’t feel the need to lie because I am afraid of nobody 21. I had a very unhappy childhood. For first ten years of my life, I lived away from my family and was abused by my teachers because I was stupid. When my family came to live with me, my life changed for the better. 22. I am afraid of poor attendance at my funeral 23. I love playing cards and lexulous, online and offline. 24. I neither drink nor smoke but still I am always intoxicated by different moods. 25. Writing 25 things about me was a very difficult exercise for me but tagging 25 people is quite easy

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