Woh bachpan ki yaadein, woh baarish ka paani…

Ahhh…those days, childhood days! Still remember the first drop of monsoon, the first day of summer chuttiyan, and the never-ending homework/charts/projects. The days of pony tails and frocks, and the school uniform combined of white shirt with grey skirt; socks covering half the leg. Fighting over one crayon, getting jealous from a fancy binding of a book. Wow…

Life was possibly easy back then. We were too much occupied with siblings, cousins, school, friends, paints, playground, the terrace and the sky. These days kids are engrossed with Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Raven, and all the high profile Disney characters. Back then, the day started with waking up, getting into school uniform, school, recess, chutti time followed by playing hike n seek in the evening and lastly homework. I don’t deny the fact that children these days are way smarter and globalized. Significantly more aware and considerably more tech-savvy! And also very weight conscious. Kids today are granted with gym class which means serious business for a lot. Whereas in my childhood days we had PT [personal training, can’t believe we used to call it PT] class, which basically meant an escape from studies for 50 minutes. Loosing weight was never an issue for anyone in my childhood days. We were all fit in our own ways, actually quite perfect!

In the past decade, life took a 360 degree turn. Everything is glamorized, publicized, socialized today… Anything can be fixed by Google. Facebook has become the core network for socializing, gossiping, networking, and infact matching as well. Even 8-10 year old can be spotted on Facebook with their personal profiles. What life, eh??? Let’s not even get started on the mobile privileges. In my childhood days, it was a big deal to have a landline let alone owning a mobile.

Let’s see what all developments/innovation we’ll encounter in the next decade. Till then, relish life!

Ekta Kapoor and her World…!

From the bahus to a 20-year leap in one day to the love triangles; our highly regressive households. This is what Ekta Kapoor has done in the past decade. The daughter of our former legendary actor; Jeetendra. Till date, she’s the youngest most successful business woman across India.

I do no count myself in her fan list. I hate the fact that the life shown in these serials is surreal. The dawn of the day starts with the daughter-in-law humming bhajans and a feet-touching exercise. The breakfast table is decorated as a center-piece on a wedding reception – and mind you, this is an everyday day task. The rest of the day is spent showcasing the culinary marvels in the kitchen followed by some gossiping and bitching. There’s always a vamp who entangles a love story with the eldest son/daughter of the household; in the hope of taking over the so-called-some-100crore-property. Three generations will go by but ‘Baa’ apparently survives each generation. Wonder what tonic she’s been taking? Almost every episode has one function or wedding or festival. The bahu of the clan is portrayed as a sacrificial lamb. Be it early morning or late at night, the makeup never gets tarnished. Not to mention the diamond jewelries/trendy hairstyles/lavish sari’s/and an absolutely dirtless villa. With the obvious not seen by the fabricated artist in these dumbfounded serial, the viewer’s blood pressure rises to a point where they literally want to crush Ekta and her team into pieces. In today’s day and age, where do you derive such cordiality in a household? Such is the insidious blandishment of Ekta’s serials.

Ditto like Google, Kapoor has the entire Indian domiciliary in her palm. Infact, not just India, even the neighbouring countries are ambushed in the charisma of our television serials. Another major factor is that 70 percent of the publicity is done via serials in this modern age. Be it a movie, a product, a designer, a song, everything is commercialized in today’s world.

One can rattle on all day on this cunning topic however; one must also not forget the good deed hidden in such business. With the way poverty level is growing in our country, Ekta has done a colossal business by bestowing a role [or a job, if we may call it] to hundreds and hundreds of people out there. No wonder all these serial actors consider Ekta as their Guru. Despite the fact, Ekta is on everyone’s hit list, I still think she’s the most felicitous person in our country. She surely has done wonders to the television industry. Its no more called a ‘chota parda’!

Honour Killing: Sheer act of cowardness!

A part of me was trying to avoid writing an article on honour killing. It’s too caustic and grievous. I gathered all my courage today to engross on this crimson issue in our democratic country. Yah, I’m from a democratic country, per se. It was none-other-than media who came up with the phrase ‘honour killing’. What’s the honour in killing your own daughter or son?

Didn’t we learn in schools/colleges, ‘Live and let live’? Then why not follow the same mantra throughout our lives? Let’s not ridicule ourselves by captivating the new generation into the same ole’ traditions. What’s the point of giving good education to the genX if our ancestors choose not to become open-minded? What’s the point of having democracy if we still have to obey Khap Panchayat and their so-called-laws? Guys cut the crap and get practical! Forcing a girl into a marriage will be equivalent to forcing her into adultery. Getting infuriated to see your son/daughter elope is still legible. Howbeit, killing your own offspring for such reason and afterwards claiming an ‘honour’ in this murder in front of media is an absolute disgrace to our country, our religion, our tradition and evidently to our society. People should understand that back in the day’s; laws, culture, rules, regulations were made in order to make life better, convenient and happy. But where do we stand today? Instead of boycotting against honour killing and proposing a restrictive order against it, the number of killings are increasing by the day. On top of that, the murderers aka the family of the dead are openly alleging their so-called-good-deed. Com’on, good-deed???

I hail from a country where parents live for their kids. A country where a father dreams for his daughter’s marriage from the day she opens her eyes. A country which bows down for Mata Rani, Lakshmi Devi, Sita Mata, and Parvati Ji. A country where Gotra also plays a major role. However, I can bet that 90 percent of genX doesn’t even know which Gotra they belong to? Here’s an example: the other day I went to Temple for a Pooja. Pundit ji were performing the Pooja while I sat there with my hands folded facing Shivji & Parvati ji, expressing my heart to Them with my eyes closed AND… suddenly Pundit ji asked, ‘beta, aapka Gotra kya hai?’ I opened my eyes with a blank expression and in a confused state nodded ‘I don’t know’. Does this mean that my Pooja was not successful? Is a prayer bounded to a Gotra?

Ditto for marriage! A relationship is not dependent on a lineage or clan assigned to a Hindu at birth. I guess, people are just looking for reasons to kill each other these days. Is it really painful to see a happily married daughter? Is it that easy to gather that motivation and aggression to murder your little girl who grew up with you? The brutal sins executed by the family members won’t be forgotten. Jo jaisa karega, woh waisa bharega…!

Unthinkable, Unimaginable, Unattainable…

As always, every week I eagerly look forward to weekends. This past Friday, I left sharply at 4:30PM from work. Went home, got into my PJ’s and had chai with my dad. Ahhh, how a cup of chai can melt away the tiredness of an entire week is still a mystery. Minutes later, my cousin showed up at the door and we started to chit chat. Later at night we girls went out for Thai [the-only-food we are fond of].

Saturday flew by in a flash and before I knew, it was Sunday already. How can I ever forget the strenuous exercise this past weekend? The intense workout with the girls on Friday night in a parking lot followed by a hardcore workout at the gym on Saturday morning and then the dance party at my friend’s place later in the evening. Phew… All my bones were screaming to me…Rest, Rest, and Rest! However, I’m me! Rest is not something I’m too fanatic about. Sunday evening, I lied down on the couch and asked my brother to put on a movie. We started watching ‘Unthinkable’, somewhat related to ‘A Wednesday’ from our Bollywood films but directed on a larger scale.

The plot starts with an average guy recording himself and declares to the entire world about his set-up of three nuclear bombs in three different cities of U S of A. Moments later, the tapes aired on the entire news network. The antagonist forces himself to get into the police custody and goes through a violent interrogation. While watching this movie, I started getting panicky. With so many terrorist activities occurring everyday, I firmly believe this could be based on a true story. One thing which startled me was, that the antagonist clearly stated his motive behind the nuclear bomb setup and while describing he mentioned ‘Allah’ loves His people. I want to question everyone, “Why these deadly act in the name of ‘Allah’?” Why terrorize the entire nation? Why become responsible for someone else’s death? Why impose on other people that ‘our’ God is better than yours?

In the movie, the antagonist was suffering through such agony and torture. The interrogator cut his fingers, got him naked and threw cold water on him, gave constant electric shocks, pulled his teeth out of his mouth. And no, the suspect did not break down. He remained unshaken, unaffected. The stoical body of the antagonist was rock-solid. The interrogator slit the neck of his wife in front of him. And still, he did not speak. His kids were placed in the interrogation room as well. I won’t give-away the ending… Watch it and find out!

These terrorist have no purpose in their life. They want to blow up innocent people and later on take the name of ‘Allah’. As if ‘Allah’ will grant them heaven for executing such brutal operation. There is no mercy for such transgressors. Either today or tomorrow, they will rot in hell…! Period.

Cost of poor: Dead bodies sold for Rs. 1 lakh. Injured sold for Rs. 25,000.

‘Rich gets richer and poor gets poorer’. National anthem of our country. I feel ‘disheartened’ to write this article, however, at the same time ‘tempted’ to spread the awareness of Bhopal Gas DISASTER in India. An industrial catastrophe which occurred in 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. At the time, UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of the US Company Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), presently Dow Chemical Company. The ‘raavan’ [as Bhopal people would like to call him] Warren Anderson ruled the company in 1984.

About twenty six years ago deadly toxins from the plant were exposed to over 500,000 people. Around 22,000 dead. More than 1, 20,000 injured. Studies show that symptoms are related to eye problems, immune disorders, cardiac failure, female reproductive difficulties and birth defects among children born to affected women. Basically, it never ended; it’s an on-going suffering.

Along with Anderson aka Raavan, six others were convicted in this ghastly act. Anderson bribed the government and flew off to US and only 2 years of jail for the remaining accused. Wow… This is called justice. This was the verdict on the most deadliest gas tragedy till date in India. From the past 26 years, people of Bhopal are living on a hope to see Raavan behind bars, waiting for our Government to take stricter action on this holocaust. However, what is our government doing? Relishing the fringe benefit paid by Raavan. $450 million!

All these years, people of Bhopal did everything possible to get justice and so-called-compensation. They protested, they cried, they begged, they filed court cases, they sat hungry and faced police lathis on roads and most importantly: they hoped! Little did they know, there culprit was living life king-size in a mansion in New York. And the bastards ruling the government in India were having a ball with corrupting gift.

British ruled us for 150 years and gave us independence. However, did we really get independence? Aren’t we still being ruled over? The only difference is, instead of British, now it’s America. Kehne ko we live in a democratic country. Kehne ko we have freedom of speech. Kehne ko sky is the limit for us. But the fact still remains that it’s the Americans who are driving our country and the dollars. Actually, it’s not a particular currency, its just money that matters in this kalyug.

The victims have always alleged that Bhopal tragedy happened because of negligence by the Union Carbide and that was cost-cutting measure taken by Anderson. Anderson is a criminal, surely he’ll do anything in his power to protect himself but what is our government doing by letting this mass-murderer go scot-free. Is it because he’s an American? Does this mean Americans can visit our country anytime and kill the poor? Will we not fight back? Is it because higher level authorities had no family members who suffered from this disaster? Is it because people of India are worthless?

Poor has no say in anything because poor doesn’t have money.
Poor will rot in hell because he was born as poor.
Poor has no value.

We never got independence and we never will, until India decides to stand on its feet!

http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/aidaustin/bhopal/bhopal.JPG

‘Rajneeti’ – A powerhouse package!!!

Worth the wait, ticket price well-spent. Never had I been this excited to write my article. Waited too long for the movie. Ahh…I would highly recommend, Rajneeti. A splendid performance by each actor. Needless to say, hats off to Prakash Jha. I was captivated by the very first opening dramatic kissing scene between a 20 year old girl and Nasserudin Shah. That very minute I understood Jha will take the audience on a roller-coaster. It was a hell of a ride. The trailers were certainly misleading. Katrina Kaif was not the center of the movie. It was a powerful film surrounded only by Men.

Nana Patekar, once again gave an excellent performance. Arjun Rampal, a well educated guy trapped in ‘kurta-pajama’ only because he wants the gaddi; very well executed. Ajay Devgan, well suited for the role and convinced the audience with such ease. For the last two men, I cannot praise in a one-liner. Manoj Bajpai, literally stole the show. I want to salute Prakash Jha once again; he couldn’t have picked a better actor than Manoj Bajpai. Bajpai is filled with talent; only a few directors know exactly how to squeeze out the talent from this proficient artist. From his dialogues to his looks to his dress designers, all deserve an applaud. And lastly, Ranbir, ‘Boy O Boy’, the young-sinister-strategist proved his presence in the movie. He gave the oomph-factor to Rajneeti! No doubt… he will do wonders on the screen. Now that SRK is counting his days and Aamir produces one film per year, Ranbir has the khulla maidaan for him. Remember the days when his dadaji made the Kapoor surname so synonymous with Bollywood? Surely Jha did an outstanding job by focusing on Katrina alone for the teasers. The audience got full on surprises in the movie, I’m sure everyone is happy with minimal role of Kaif. Halfway through the movie I realized, Mahabharata is still alive even in this day and age. Rajneeti portrayed a sophisticated side of exploitation. This is for the reel-life.

And now, the Real life. Our ruthless, conniving Rajneeti. One must get chills down the spine after coming out of the theatre. An entire family murdered only for a gaddi. The air gets polluted by corruption only for a gaddi. Love, sex, dhoka only for a gaddi. I must say, our Rajneeti is like no other. Obviously aam-junta gets allured by popularity, money, lavish lifestyle but the picture behind this man-made, pretty looking endurance is very shallow. Big politicos have utterly no emotions, feelings, belief, and saturated with malevolence. Call it coincidence or karma, you and I are much better off as ‘the-mango-people’ instead of being associated with Rajneeti. These big names can hide their black money; manipulate the ‘mango-people’, swear on bull crap, make promises [faulty ones], show themselves in the simplest roop-rang BUT aarey babu, yeh jo public hai yeh sab jaanti hai…PUBLIC HAI !

Bollywood ka tadka…!

Our Bollywood Industry produces about a thousand films in a year. A common man’s best time-pass revolves around B’wood films. Till date each generation have been huge fan of our famous, charismatic, alluring, and glitzy actors.

Let’s start with none-other-than; yes we all can think of only one name: Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. Of course, who does not know this personality? His portrayal, individuality, character, posture, peculiarity is extremely noteworthy. He’s been the face of Bollywood from the past 4 decades. Jaanta goes ga-ga on his bollywood ishtyle. Literally! And I bet the coming generation will also hum his songs…dekha ek baar to yeh silsiley hue etc, etc. And guys don’t forget our Dharam paaji. Gone were the days! Ahhh, he’s got vogue of enticement. No wonder, Hema Malini went fida on him. We could see what she saw in him [wink, wink]. The loop cannot complete without Vinod Khanna, Rajesh Khanna [good-looking], Jeetendar [weird looks and style], Rishi Kapoor [the only guy spared from controversy], Mithun Da [the pelvic moves] and our very own chahe mujhe koi junglee kahe, Shammi Kapoor. Yahoooo…!

Moving on to GenX now…The list starts with Hrithik Roshan, the heartthrob of millions. His macho looks and suave personality electrifies each hormone. And mind you – the guy got the best body in our industry followed by the shareef-est guy; Abhishek Bachchan. Seems like the Jr. AB is still under curtain. The man needs to flash and flaunt his talent. I guess that department is only held by his dear wifey. Since we are on Ash’s subject, we cannot bypass Sallu’s topic. The hunk! However, an unstable man, not-so-loyal, I guess. SRK and Saif are no more in the picture. Them’ two are too busy playing homos, which I kind a think they are. Yeah, laugh it up! SRK was in full hype in his DTPH, DDLJ, KKHH days. Definitely the lover boy of every girl. And now, I’m eagerly waiting to talk about this one dude – Akshay Kumar. Gosh, flashback a bit, fall into the teenage mode, and mesmerize the days of Khiladi No. 1. Yup, the hormones start to kick in. For me AK steals the show. Period. Tall, dark, handsome – a complete package. Lastly, Aamir Khan, one word – perfectionist. End of story.

Switching gears…Gossip time! First and foremost, Aishwariya Rai Bachchan. Even though she’s my least favorite, the lady is capable of anything and everything. Miss World Pageant, debut w/ Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Chokher Bali, Raincoat, Provoked, Jhodhaa Akbar, Devdas, Cannes festival, Hollywood, The Letterman Show. My Lord, name the thing and she has done it all. Ms. Rai is the face of Bollywood in West. And lastly, stole the most eligible bachelor: AB Baby… Now, that’s a success story! Oh well, enough about Bachchan’s. Few respected names come to my mind such as Madhuri Dixit [dancing diva], Tabu [innocence personified], Karishma Kapoor [the bubbly one], Priyanka Chopra [sky is the limit for this girl], Katrina Kaif [Barbie doll], Kareena Kapoor [the bitch]. After all, a bitch is necessary in all fields. Apologizes for profanity!

This is our B’town. Without these names, our life is quite monotonous. Oh, speaking of b’town, eagerly waiting for Rajneeti and Raavan. Picture, abhi baaki hai mere dost…!