International Film Festival of India

IFFI which was recently held in Goa, is perhaps one of the best places where you can see movies which have been critically acclaimed and interact with actors, producers and directors. The ten day festival which takes place in the city of Panaji in Goa, is almost situated at the coast, in fact one of the theatres has the beach in its premises. The festival is not only of Indian acclaim but it also receives appreciation from a worldwide audience and  the guest list includes directors and actors of international national fame. This year was no different with stars like Amitabh Bachan, Akshay Kumar, Amir khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Ilyana D’cruz, Imtiaz Ali, Muzzafar Ali, Vinay Pathak and many others attending the festival from India and the likes of Ang Li (world premiere of his Life Of Pi took place here), Suzane Bier ( Oscar winning director), Jacob Switzer, Jakub Tarkowski and Tomasz Leniask ( Polish directors) were among a long list of other international guests who attented the festival. Although the approximate number of movies screened during the 10 day long festival was 250, one movie which remained the centre of attraction was Ang Li’s “Life Of Pi” which had its world premiere during the same time. The International Film Festival, remained true to its words, with it telecasting movies from around the world and celebrating world cinema in its true form, and once again allowing people to come close by giving them a platform to meet and know the world as seem through a camera lens, for it is said “that movies are the mirror of society.”

Spitting glory !!!

We all, over the years have come across, the periodic discoloring of walls, buildings, stairs and mostly all of the public property that we see daily, but what we fail to grasp is that, this excellent piece of modern art and graffiti is not one of the projects undertaken by the government. Rather it is the excellent work of some men amongst us, who achieve a sense of glory when they recolor the public places. But sadly this art of theirs is not a dying one, although tobacco still continues to be hazardous to life and is being banned throughout the country, the art of spitting still continues.

 This is, I guess, the dedication of these men that makes sure that this, no good; danger to life, art form, is still prevailing. The reason that this art form is still prospering is because it gets the support of the educated, urban class with much status and dignity, how else do you explain it exceedingly doing well in the metropolitan cities. I mean for a country to prosper, it is essential that it continues to believe in its culture and spitting has over the years become our culture. But as a nation is this what we want us to be seen as, a bunch of HOMO SAPIEN SAPIENS, who can walk, talk, eat, and most imp of all, have power of endless spitting. 

I know that my saying all these things won’t stop people from spitting, but I hope you do think about it for a minute, I mean if you won’t do it in your own house, why do it outside it. Yes I understand that this has become a habit and old habits die hard but they do die, change is inevitable no matter how big or small, things change and that is the hope with which I am writing this article. Hope this brings some change and for some good.

karma: Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”

karma: Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”: Neil Armstrong, he made to the text books of every child but what really made us remember him was the landing that he perfected on the mo...

karma: SC: Tourists go back !!!

karma: SC: Tourists go back !!!: The Supreme Court in July, in reply to a petition filed by the Central government, imposed a ban on tourism in the tiger conservation area...

SC: Tourists go back !!!

The Supreme Court in July, in reply to a petition filed by the Central government, imposed a ban on tourism in the tiger conservation areas. But what it seems to have completely ignored is that tiger tourism is a 10 billion rupees industry in India.  The Centre soon realized this error and also the fact that many states opposed the ban, saying that it would create a lot of unemployment and since then it has been trying to seek a review on the petition. Although this saw the Apex court being critical of the Centre’s petition as to on what basis did it seek the ban in the first place.

 All this is what has happened in the last six months, from trying to ban the tourism as a whole to imposing a restriction of 20% on it but the final result is still to come. While all this has been happening, what seems to be missing is the core issue, the conservation of tigers and no one seems to care about, because had it been the scenario people would have realized that the tiger population has actually risen, from 1400 in 2006 to more than 1700 today and all thanks to the funds that the forest department generates from tourism. The Centre while seeking the ban to preserve this royal animal seems to have forgotten that people need to be made aware of  what they are trying to protect, for if they don’t know what they are protecting they actually might not protect it. The ban on tourism seems to have not gone down well with the various states and thus they have opposed it leading the Centre to reconsider its petition.

 The Supreme Court, which is yet to give its final decision on the subject should consider the various aspects and the appeals of the various NGOs and societies working for the revival of the tiger population before it bans the tourism altogether. The ban might just help in the extinction of the royal animal from the minds of the people and the nation and reduce it to just being a chapter in the children’s books.

Neil Armstrong: The Original “MOON WALKER”

Neil Armstrong, he made to the text books of every child but what really made us remember him was the landing that he perfected on the moon. The real moon walker of the world. The guy who walked the walk is sadly no more in the world. Mr. Armstrong, who captained the mission TO MOON in 1969, rose to fame even quickly than his rocket reached the moon. Being an idol of all those who dream to be astronauts, he paved the way for generations to come. Although what used to be the single most celebrated event in the history of mankind, got lost somewhere.

 He, who was a household name in the 70’s and 80’s ended up becoming a question in history and G.K. text books. A phenomenon reduced to articles and questionnaire. Although what really made him different from others was the modesty, his simplicity, his down to earth attitude and the most important capability he had his quotes. How can we forget his good luck Mr. Gorsky, or “this is one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” But the best example of his modesty was seen when he came to India and apologized to Mrs Indira Gandhi, when he came to India during his world tour after his return from the moon. He come to know that the then Prime Minister had stayed up late, just so that she could see the landing on moon, he very humbly said “I apologize for the inconvenience we caused you, Madam Prime Minister. Next time, I shall make sure that we land on the moon at a less unearthly hour” that was the greatness of the man who is no longer among us. Although his absence will always be felt, for the things that he did and the future that he left for the rest of us, but it is certainly good to know that he is in a better place now and his name will always be immortal , even though only in text books, but still it’ll remain immortal. Neil Armstrong farewell to you may you explore heaven in the same way you explored the moon.

PARENTS : THE BORN KILLERS

The worst thing that could happen to a child is that his parents don’t have faith in him.yes it happens at times  But it took me time to realize it till , when it happened to a friend, who thought that ending the life was all she could do. By saying that “he is nothing but a failure “, you have already killed him. This method of teaching might have worked on you, but is it necessary that it would work on every child as well??? The constant need to do what your parents did to you is nothing but a way to transfer your child hood issues onto them. You need to realize that they are children, your children and should be treated likewise. The feeling of losing support when you wanted it the most, at a time you needed it most, can be the most fatal mistake that you ever make. everything a child dreams of, from his parents, when that comes crashing down, they want to live can often shatter .you should try and realize that everyone in this world is not a genius and for that matter neither are you, then how can you fail to accept that the child has the same blood as you, the same DNA as you .to think that he can be something, you could never be makes you an abuser of the child just like a pedophile. I mean is that what children are for, just to fulfill your wishes, wishes that you couldn’t fulfill by yourself. If that’s the scenario then you don’t need a child, you need a paid laborer, who can do your daily chores and the same time manages to recapture your goodwill in the society. It’s good enough that children are your means to flaunt pride, but to make them your trophies to achieve a fake sense of status in the society, just brings shame to the relationship of a parent and a child. The sacred bond of a parent and child, dented by the sole fact that he couldn’t give a sense of glory is nothing but an effort to make them do something that you couldn’t. Do well …..the words that started everything seem to lose their meaning , the words which initially meant hope you do well , somewhere in between change into you have to do well, for our sake .Although they seem to be your friend , the truth is that , they can never be . The fact that they have been through the same situation doesn’t make s them ease out a bit; rather it makes them do the same thing to their children. I must say that I read somewhere that parenting was hard, but what they forgot to mention was, it was because of children that they became parent, yes a parent which is not a title, nor a position rather a bond which is so easily that it sometimes leads a child to take harsh measures, which often makes parent regret their decisions.

I must say that when these things happen to someone close to you, it makes you realize in what agony that person must have been living in. But that’s it no more shall this continue, my friends , my readers if you are facing the same problems , I advise you not to take harsh steps rather talk to somebody and if you have none then mail me , I’ll be there for you ………

This blog is dedicated to you ....

Ten reasons why British rule "ROCKED"

1.       No petrol problems ……..we didn’t have enough cars…..all we needed was some cattle fodder and we were all set for the day….no one cared If there was a price hike

2.   No TV…….even if there was a petrol price rise , people couldn’t come to know

3.    No schools ……people were not educated enough …..You could do whatever you want …..No one would care, if no one knew about it…..but I don’t think that we are educated now ……ehhhh who cares……. RIGHT???

4.    No law and order problem……people were actually scared of police …..therefore thought ten times before going against them….not like these days , when it’s the other way round

5.       No money, no problem ……..money was not a problem…the British took ‘em all …thus all our problems too….but I guess our ministers are doing their jobs these days.

6.    No racial discrimination …….no matter where we came from, we were all treated as “BLOODY INDIANS “(remember the old movies)……therefore no chance of discrimination …..No north eastern …..No south Indian …..no north Indian ……just plain old “BLOODY INDIANS “

7.     No match fixings ……there was no IPL …..No ODI …..Just plain old simple Cricket …..Also the fact that they had robbed us of everything, might have moved them, from the match fixing ….it is also possible that they had not met cricketers from Pakistan …..

8.     No listening to anyone ……it was a typical monarchy style rule ….no one was allowed to say anything …..come to think of it ….Mamta Banerjee seems to be inspired by them

9.     No tension of food price rise ......whatever the price was people couldn't afford it.…they couldn't afford then ....they can't now 

10    No scarcity of electricity ……we did not know what electricity was hence we did not want it…therefore there was no scarcity of electricity ……just like in most of India , today

But the point is , that   do you really need 10 reasons to realize that nothing has changed since the last 65 yrs in India ……it is a matter of immense shame that we are still in the same position and fighting the same things that we were fighting 60 yrs ago……I guess British rule did ROCK India in way that it is still trying to come to its senses.

This article was not written to demoralize anyone rather to raise questions and try to bring about a change that has yet to come.

No to meter …..Yet somehow the first ones to say no to corruption

Probably the makers of dictionary and the word “hypocrisy” had been to India, when they first thought to coin the term “hypocrite”. the meaning of the term can be at best understood In the case of India and especially in the case of the auto rickshaws (wallahs), which were initial started keeping in mind that these would improve the condition of public transportation, but all they have managed to do is form an union and support anything that is not in their favor or anything that is against the government. Perhaps it’s this ruffian characteristic of the city auto wallahs that any political situation that arises in the city, manages to get their   support so fast (in some cases even before the members of the political group who started the whole thing). But what is surprising to see here is that these auto wallahs have absolutely no problem in torching the buses, creating a chaos situation, damaging public and private property …..Yet would never stop rather have any problems in charging extra (well actually everything is extra what they charge especially because they never seem to travel by meter). they supported Anna Hazare’s movement in Delhi with full enthusiasm , making sure that it was a good show but they contradict their own morals and beliefs when a passenger is sitting in their vehicle , they themselves charge more than the actual fare , that my dear friends is also a type of corruption . Yes corruption the same thing which you fought over in the Anna Hazare against corruption movement. the 31^st of may 2012 was another perfect example of the double standards they set for themselves and us , the so called common man , fighting against petrol price hike , they gave full support to BJP called “Bharat bandh”    ( that too in a case where they run on CNG in Delhi and on diesel in the rest of the country , whose price is yet to increase though but hasn't happened so far ) which can be justified up to an extent but how in the world do you justify the chaos they caused on the streets of the entire country . From charging double the fare to in some cases demanding it as much as four times high, creating a havoc on streets to getting in fight with those who did not believe in the “bandh”, it was a day when they could get away with anything because they knew that they had the support of the one thing that could save them “a political party”. Though it should be duly noted that it was a protest for raising the voice of the common man , one who has struggled the most , but wasn't this style of protest just adding fuel to the fire , adding to his miseries , for in no way can the destruction of public and private property be in the interest of the people.