An Open Letter To The Educated Class

Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos 

                                                                                                                                   - Joker, Dark Knight

Dear Reader,

The above words truly depict the current state of affairs. Whether you would like to believe it or not, YOU are becoming an agent of chaos, and just as the Joker, you’re thinking that it’s fair. 

You’re being manipulated in ways you cannot comprehend and you are falling in a downward spiral, becoming a victim and an accused, all at the same time.

Who am I? I am an ordinary citizen, just like you. I go to office 5 days a week, watch movies, satiate my appetite, read some novels, follow some news channels, and as any other educated person, I have an opinion about most of the things around. What separates me from others, (it’s fractional but I will tell you the advantage that it gives) is my little bit understanding of the human nature.

In my graduation days, I was a small time student leader. I became so by reading the fellow students, identifying the ones who were easily gullible or too meek to stand for themselves. I made sure that they are in my camp and remain loyal. The next comes rogue ones; for them I used power of the crowd (people of the first set) to suppress their voice or orchestrate events to nullify their position. The last and biggest chunks were the neutral ones. All I had to do was to plant a shadow of doubt and let them argue among themselves. Remember, I was not there to incite those arguments; I always played behind the closed curtains, identifying people who would open up their minds and allowing me to take advantage.

This helped me in living a king size life throughout the four years of my B.Tech. I was never caught for any of the fights, never expelled from the hostel, never fined! While a lot others were!

One more thing, we were 3-4 power groups. While we differed in ideology, we never fought among ourselves, as our prestige was at stake, and everyone was getting his share of  the pie. Crux of the matter is, that while we ruled, there were pawns that would fight for us. This may sound insulting to my juniors and some friends, but this is the blatant truth.

The above incident was from a small college, and I was a small time leader. Now enlarge this scope to a million times, where the geography is as large as a country is and the leaders have a plethora of think tanks whose only motive is to polarize their followers. That is because, gone are the days when people would wait for the parties to declare their election manifesto. The current sets of voters are intelligent and are blessed with long term memories. Election is not just a matter of a couple of months in every five years. It’s an ongoing activity and various events are the part and parcel to keep feeding your voters, your agenda.

Sadly enough, there is a complete industry which is a parasite that harvests on our emotions; the media industry - Social media, News Media and Print Media.

The question is then, what is the best course of action? The answer is pretty simple. Their fuel is our dialogues and discussion. Stop giving them that and their agenda becomes insignificant. Do your job/business, enjoy with friends and family and ignore these discussions and debates.

Certainly, the people who want us divided would not stop there, but they would need to come out with a new strategy!

If we keep on arguing like cats and dogs, this great nation would be torn into pieces, which I believe, none of us wants.

So, Either be yourselves or be Batman. Be Batman!

Cheers!

The flight

......I couldn't help, but giggle.
My lovely co-passenger on the plane, looked at me in suspicion..

I, showed her the trademark Indian hand signal, to wait so that I can explain..

I took out my mobile, opened the notepad, and started typing...

Now, she was looking at me..capriciously..

I finished typing and showed her the phone...

"I've always dreamt about such kind of a situation, that I am on a flight, sitting next to a damsel when I start a witty and funny conversation and by the end of the flight, we both are into each other"

I continued typing while she was reading the text..

"But there you are; here is my moment to shine, but all I feel like is a blockade in my voice-box. I may even stammer, if I say hello to you..so I am laughing at the cruelty of irony and my general sense of nervousness when trying to break the ice"

She giggles too, and some higher notes of her voice were also heard by the other passengers. She kept one palm on her mouth to prevent a loud laughter.

She then took out her mobile, opened the note section and wrote..

"Well, that's a new one! I have heard a lot of other stuffs, but trying to impress using a fail theory, is a first time for me. I just hope you're not a deaf-dumb :P :D"

I giggled too, and wrote on my mobile

"Who knows if I am also a psychopathic killer? :D"

Then as if in a pact or some silence challenge, we type-talked to each other for the rest of the 2 hours of the flight, from love, science, religion to politics and food.

As the plane was about to land, the sense of reality kicked in.

I saw her face. She already knew, what was I going to ask. She wrote in her mobile and we had the following conversation:

She : "Do you believe in destiny?"
I      : "Yes"
She : "Do you like the movie 'Serendipity?"
I       : "Yes, who doesn't? :P"
She  : ":)"
She  : "Then we'll see each other again, if destiny has something in store for us"
I        : "What can I say... :-|"
She   : "Don't spoil the moment, is all I can say. Even if we never meet, I will remember these couple of hours"

I didn't say a word. We just looked at each other and she even held my hand when the plane touched the ground. We parted, while smiling at each other, hoping to meet...again..

#figmentsofimagination

Cinema and I

For the myriad, cinema is an escape from the normal world. People want to escape from their daily routines, work and family related stress and enjoy the 1.5 to 2.5 hours in a movie theater, which is fine with me. What is not fine is when the same people start to judge a piece of cinema based on their shallow or little knowledge of what goes behind into making it. It’s like a person who knows little or nothing about paintings, trying to pass some verdict on a Picasso piece.

For me, Cinema is art, in its most beautiful form. Cinema is like a painting in motion, with beautiful and sometimes even unheard of sounds; where the characters are not stuck in a time-frame but are moving through different stills to show you a world which never was, and make you believe that what’s going on that 70 mm screen is happening right in front of your eyes.

A good piece of Cinema is like mom’s food. The aftertaste of mom’s food lingers in your mouth for a long time and you never forget the taste of her hand. A great piece of Cinematic art has the power to take you in a different time zone, a great piece cinema can alter cultural dynamics of the society, a great piece of Cinema can inspire science and a great piece of Cinema can change the way you see and think about the world.

I had my first tryst with cinema in 1996 when cable TV came to my hometown. I had watched TV earlier, but cable gave me some sort of moral freedom. First time ever, rent was being to watch TV and someone had to utilize it. Also, dad’s job and business at hand gave me enough time to sneak into TV from time to time. One of the first movies I remember seeing is Rajesh Khanna’s Anand, which still holds highest regards in my heart. Very soon I found out, that Indian cinema is not the only one on this planet when, one fine day, I stumbled on Star Movies while surfing channels.

Those days, English channels were sort of a taboo. It was thought of as a bad influence on growing kids. Censor board too, was much more liberal and not like a moral police as in today’s times. Kissing scenes, killing scenes and smoking scenes were shown in their full glory and you had to be quick with your short range TV remote, so that you can change the channel whenever parents were around, while the characters were about to get intimate.

I enjoyed the late 80’s and early 90’s classics until 2002 when I left home to continue with my higher studies. In Lucknow, I was denied the luxury of a TV, but now, there was no one to stop me from going to theaters. Morning shows were my first love and I had even found some shabby theaters where the balcony seat was as low as Rs 15. I remember watching my first Vin Diesel movie "XXX"  in one such theater.  The name of the movie resembles a porn title but it’s actually a great action movie of that time. Watching Vin jumping out from a car in the middle of the air gave me goosebumps.

Years went by and came 2006, my second year of Engineering at Ghaziabad. Like most of the students, I too, succeeded in befooling my innocent parents to buy me a desktop, as I had a lot of educational stuff to do on that. I am an Electronics & Instrumentation Engineer, so you know I didn’t have any programming to do. Did I forget to mention that I also got an external graphic card installed in there?
Anyways, apart from gaming and listening to music and watching videos, my system was used for one whole sole purpose – Movies.

A computer and infinite access to internet in college hostel opened my windows to world cinema. I also came to know about something called IMDB, which till today, happens to be the Google of movies. I started with Tarantino, Ritchie, Spielberg, Scorsese, Allen, Zemeckis, Hitchcock, Eastwood and Leone to name a few. I then moved on the best actors of all time, then to cinematographers, then the screenplay writers until a time when I started to think, what next?

Through internet, I started reading and noticing about the various international film festivals and movies that were making a big mark there. I also came to understand that language is no barrier for a great piece of cinematic art. Emotions transcend through the barrier of language and you have Subscene dot com and Subtitles dot org to give you a helping hand.

The complete collection of a singer or a musical band is called discography. I am proud to have completed the discography of many cinematic greats of all time. Like in the case of novels, movies too have some taboo. Almost all have read or seen it, but will never confess it. I mean if you have read novels, you must have read Eleven Minutes by Paulo Coelho and if you ever have watched international movies in the confinement of your hostel rooms, you must have watched Melina and Irreversible. Watching the latter was a soul shaking experience. To see rape enacted in a movie which was no less disturbing or terrifying that it must have been to the victims of this ghastly crime!

Movies are a part of my existence. It’s like a world of 3D emotional experience for me, where I feel the love, happiness, hatred and all sort of other emotions a character undergoes. For during the run-time of a movie, I am the protagonist and the antagonist, I am the male lead and the female interest, I am the right hand of the hero and I am the taxi driver he has a casual chat with and I am also the father of the beautiful heroine and I can feel the emotion while he caresses his daughter’s hair or cover her in his embrace. I am the old guy from the Notebook who loves his wife and I am also the Joker from the Dark Knight who is nothing more than a dog chasing cars.

Even with the most modest of calculations and taking only 9 straight years (since 2006), of watching movies every day, I have watched 9*365 = 3285 movies, which, trust me, is less than actual half of the movies I have watched. Even today, I watch one, everyday.

Everybody hates to and is fearful of dying. One of the things I will miss most in my afterlife would be that piece of 70 MM art which the world calls a motion picture!

The Video Game Console

What I am going to share with you is surely one of the funniest and yet one of the most embarrassing moments of my life, so far.

Back in my home town, Deoria(U.P), we own an electronic shop.

It actually started as an agency for Nelco Radio, way back in 1973 (The radio you saw in Barfi Movie). As it happened, we couldn't cope up with the changing times and what is left, is a small time sell and repair shop. These days, mostly Dad’s (retired) friends visit the shop as a junction for evening time Tea- Snacks and also a platform to discuss local issues.

We (I, my elder sister and younger brother) feared our father too much. Ironically, dad never beat us for our mischievous acts. In fact he practised non-violence with us. But don’t take a wrong clue from it. He has the power to give long lecturing sessions, non-stop!

That’s where the fear stems from. If disgraceful dialogues could kill, I could have died a thousand times by now. I believe the reason behind not beating would be the same - When he could slap us with his lectures, why to spoil a rod?

Dad’s school schedule was as follows ( No he didn't study till his fifties; he was a lecturer) :-

10:00 AM to 1:00 PM – School

1:00 PM to 1:45 PM – Back to home for a tea break and spend some time at the shop

2:00 PM to 4:30 PM – School

4:30 PM onwards – Home

I was in 07^th or 08^th standard (that would be 1999-2000). Dad had brought a hand held Videogame console from his recent visit to Delhi. Actually, I and my younger brother had literally begged my father to bring it. There were 2-3 games on it; one was Tetris and another one was Car Racing. I don’t remember the 3^rd one. The console was powered by two Pencil Cell batteries. I and my brother played so much on it that the batteries wouldn’t last for more than a couple of days.

It was not more than a week since we had our toy that we were showered with tons of lectures on the topic, that how this console was ruining our life and how we would end up opening a Pan Shop, or a Grocery store, among other things. The console’s battery was almost over and I and my brother were craving to play.

Saturdays used to be the day when school would get over early. If I remember correctly, it closed around 12-12:30 PM. According to my plan, if I left school at 12:35 and reached home by 12:45, I would’ve beg mom to give 10 Rs so that I could get a couple of batteries, then would go to the nearby shop to buy them and return by 1:00 pm. The plan was perfect. Dad usually got home by 5 past 1(1:05 PM).

The plan of the schedule was tight but I had to take the risk. I was using my sister’s cycle as my cycle was puncture. As per plan, I left the school, as soon as I could. For most part of the journey (from my school to home), I was cycling in an upright standing position for maximum speed. Not once did I rest my bums on the seat! As soon as I reached home, I threw my clothes, wore shorts, t-shirt, begged mom for mercy and pedaled my way to the market. I bought the pencil cell, pedaled back, but alas; I was late. Fate was cruel to me that day. Dad was already standing on the counter of the shop and he saw me.

He signaled his hands to come over. Obstinately, I cycled myself all the way to the counter, crossing the big open drain which is just outside the shop. Dad asked me, “Where have you been?”, “Had your lunch?”

I told him that I went to meet a friend and expectedly, dad didn’t buy that. He asked me to show my pockets and I said nothing’s there, but he was adamant to check my pockets.

As soon as he tried to open the counter of the shop to come outside, I tried to drift my cycle and run away. I don’t know what went wrong, but the next moment I know, I was in the drain! Cycle above me, all muck covering my face, body and hair. The drain was around 5 feet deep (almost of my height at that time) and 5 feet wide, but in non-rainy season, its level is generally around 3 feet, enough to drench me, not enough to drown me or take me with its current.

We had 2 working staff at that time and they both ran towards the drain. As they were trying to lift me up, I could hear my dad say, “let him be there for another 5 minutes”.

I couldn’t believe my ears! Then he continued, “he was being too smart, he should learn a lesson”

I was angry as well as distressed, so, If I would have opened my mouth, the drain sludge would have entered my mouth; all I could do was to make a squealing sound while my mouth was closed!

Finally I was lifted up, and was made to wash myself with mud in the garden area. Then the maid was deployed to wash me and she literally washed me like a dirty linen. A lot of shampoo and a new bathing soap was sacrificed to cleanse me up. I ended up having cold due to the long procedure, and was still being lectured till late in the evening.

It has been more than a decade and half but the memory is still so fresh that sometimes I can feel the sludge all over again :P

The whole incident taught me one thing, if you think you are smart, remember that your parents are smarter! Do Not Lie, especially if you’re a kid, since you've nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Insomniac

The year was 1993.
It was dinner time and everybody on the table was hooked more to the tv than the food lying in plates.
It was the age of Doordarshan and the program running was none other than prime time news.
Aarav could see his dad swing his head in disgust and his mother making sound like "tch-tch-tch"
Honestly, those expressions were as watered down as can be from a troubled guardian. A serial killer was on a spree, murdering 4 people in the past month and these numbers were the confirmed cases; a dozen more were in the investigation phase.
The mode of killing was brutal in each case. Police suspected a sharp weapon had been used and the victims were all random, innocent people - teenagers, men-women in their middle or old age.
To make matters worse, these murders were happening in the city Aarav's family was.
Dad, as usual, was playing cool yet authoritatively protective. He asked everyone to lock all windows and made sure himself that entry as well as back doors were properly locked.
They all wished good night to each other and headed towards their respective rooms.
It was 1 am when Aarav woke up. Actually, he wasn't even sleeping this whole time. He heard some rattling sound coming from the kitchen area. He went there, and switched on the light; only to found that a kitten had found it's way in and making utensils fall. He shooed it away, but sensed an odour coming from the dustbin and opened the kitchen window before going back to his room. It was 1:15 AM by then.
He locked the door from inside, opened his closet and took an old suitcase out of it. There was a big plastic bag inside it, which he unzipped, wore the track suit, cap, gloves and sport shoes, then headed straight towards the window of his room. He opened it, walked on the windowsill that was protruding outside and grabbed the septic tank pipe which had always helped him to skid to the ground.
He walked a couple of blocks before fading into a dark alley. He was continuously checking every other house for open windows or unlocked doors till he found one! There was an open window.
Aarav peeped into to see what was looking like a living room. He entered as silent as shadow. He was finding his way when he saw a staircase at the end of the hall that was leading to the first floor. He took it. The floor had only two rooms, one on the left and one on the right. He tried to open the right one, but couldn't - it was probably locked from inside. He tried the left one- it got open. There was a girl lying on that bed - may be in early twenties. Aarav sat on the side of the bed for a couple of mins. He was staring at her face. He then smiled, took a deep breath, took out a meat cleaver from his jacket, grabbed the mouth of the girl and within a split second made a precision cut on Adam's apple. He had severed her voice box- all audible sound she made while gaping was like 'hiss'. Blood spurting from the wound like a fountain with every systolic movement.
He jumped upon the bed, sat on her chest, grabbed both her hands and started mumbling slowly while looking right in her eyes.
"Don't fight it or it will be prolonged and painful, stay calm, it will be all over soon..and no it's not your fault, neither mine. You're just the chosen one...shhh....shhh...". Her fight till then had been reduced to occasional body thrusts as her eyes rolled back before drooling finally. Aarav kissed her forehead, went back downstairs to find the master bedroom and the girl's parents sleep in peace. He repeated the ghastly act, entered the bathroom, cleansed himself and walked out from where he came from.
He went back to his home, packed his things back in the plastic bag and then in the suitcase before keeping it back into the closet. He took a bath, then his sleeping pill- Alprax, which he wasn't taking for the past three nights. He was insomniac and hadn't blinked an eye since he took the medicine last time.He went to bed then quickly to sleep.
He woke up to a strange noises. Someone was shaking him vigorously. He could barely open his eyes. He gathered his senses to see that it was a policeman. His face turned pale, he thought he got caught. He wanted to say something but couldn't find any words. He could also see some more cops surrounding him and some outside his room.
Then someone said - are you alright? How long have you been sleeping? Did you hear any strange noice? Why didn't you opened the door?
Aarav couldn't understand a bit!
All he could say was- What happened? Why are you here? I didn't do anything?
A cop sat beside him while another one comforted his shoulder- Beta, some serial killer killed all your family last night, he couldn't get to you as your room was locked from inside. I'm sorry. We got a call from your milkman. We had to break open the front door. It was too late by then. I'm sorry!

Apple Announces iPhone 7, Takes The World By Storm!

Apple stunned the world, once again, on Thursday by announcing the release if its next flagship super smart phone, the Apple iPhone 7. It’s been only three weeks since the company launched iPhone 5 whose sales have smashed all statistical forecasts. The company is however pushing the launch of iPhone 7 to the end of October.

Tim Cook was all smiles while introducing the phone in an invitation only press conference held at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, CA. In his own words, “This device that I am holding is not just a smart phone, it’s the future.” He went on adding, “With a 4.02 inch screen it’s going to revolutionize user experience. The processor is now 1.1 times faster than iPhone 5 and we have included 1152 Mb Ram a significant 12.5% increase over the former model.  The Camera is now a massive 8.2 mp compared to the smaller 8mp variant in iPhone 5.” “Not just external”, Timmy emphasized, “The external body is completely revamped. The design is not rectangular but oval, so that it can be also used as a vanity accessory. We have used an all stainless steel body to make the phone sturdy, with very small change in weight.” Apparently the iPhone 7 is reported to be a meager 524 gms in hand. Other features include a wireless connection ability to share and exchange data with other devices which the company has name iConnect. On being confronted that it’s Bluetooth renamed, Apple supporters thrashed the reporter in the conference room itself. Similarly the Wi-Fi is renamed as iFi, music player as iMusic player and internet browser as iBrowser. The move is to separate niche` users of Apple products from the herd of cheap Android users.

World markets have soured since the news broke and Wall Street is all praise for Apple. Analysts and Strategists have recommended small time and big players to invest in iPhone 7 rather than shares or gold since the demand is going to be so high, that the returns by selling an iPhone 7 in grey market would pay much more dividend in too less a time.

Some Apple users were interviewed and they were more than happy about the news. An American woman in her mid thirties was in tears, “I had lost faith in God, but then came Apple, I am overwhelmed. I will buy a dozen of those.” Another skimpily dressed girl in her teens said, “This Apple to me is what Adams’ Apple to Eve was!” Another man in his mid twenties said, “This is huge, I mean I have an iPhone 4 with 4” screen but 4.02” is big, I mean really BIG. It’s going to be awesome!”

Gauging the inclination and interest of common man more towards smart phones and other gadgets than Economic status of the country, the government has announced a subsidy when the phone gets launched in India. Millions of smart phone users have applauded this move.

Meanwhile Samsung has decided to up the competition by announcing plans to launch a 15’’, 4Ghz , 8 GB RAM smart phone in the next quarter with storage capacities up to 1 TB.

Digvijay Launches His Own Blog, Draws More Flak Than Followers!

Senior Pokes Person from Congress, Digvijay Singh once again found himself amidst deep waters when all he was trying, was to be more open to the common man. The gaffe happened when Digvijay Singh was about to launch his own blog the presence of hundreds of reporters and a huge fanfare. All was well when suddenly the auditorium, where the press conference was scheduled, burst into laughter as soon the unveiling of the online blog went live on screen. This happened because the blog which was reportedly titled as “Diggy Raja” appeared on-screen as “Doggy Raja”.

Digvijay was shocked and at the same time infuriated by the disgraceful behavior shown by the media persons. He could only speak after having few glasses of ice cold water. His first reaction was much of an anger outburst than an explanation, “See, this is what RSS is all about, since they cannot malign my public friendly image, they have taken into cheap tactics to make a mockery of me. I am sure my account was hacked before launching.”

On asked that maybe it’s a “typo”, Digvijay rubbished it by saying “I double spell-check my own name before publishing, I am sure there is RSS hand in it, period.”

HRD minister Kabil Sibbal said he was disgusted by the whole incident, “I stand by Digvijay Ji’s remark, but for a moment, if I agree to you people too that it might have been a typo, still it must have been corrected by the blogging site operators.” He further added ,”See, prominent personalities don’t have much time to think before they speak or write, as they have dedicated much of their cognitive powers towards nation building. So even if we speak or write something that appears to be out of context or misleading, it’s the responsibility of the social media to present our views in a better way to public. ”

An insider from the I&B ministry, later told the reporter that Kapil Sibal concern is very serious in nature and I&B ministry is framing some tough norms for the Social Media to curb the issues Mr Sibal discussed earlier.

The PMO, informed that the PM won’t be able to express his views right now, as he has been into an state of emotional turmoil since he has watched “Barfi.”

Interestingly at the time of this report being published, Digvijay Singh has garnered some interesting personalities to be his followers, namely Veena Malik, Rakhi Sawant, Sherlyn Chopra, Ashmit Patel and Mamta Banerjee.

Also, news has come in that reporter and journalist of national fame, Arnab Goswami was held outside Digvijay Singh’s residence later that night in an inebriated state, shouting “The nation demands an answer.” 

Rahul Gandhi To Marry Veena Malik

Amidst political instability and growing chances of Mid-term elections, Congress yuvraj Rahul Gandhi is all set to tie knot with sizzling Pak actress and Model Veena Malik in a simple ceremony. Sources close to the two confirmed the news. The marriage will however take place in a swayamwar style where 100s' of decoy suitors from the Congress party and SP, BSP will be dressed as Groom when Veena will select Rahul among many.

It is learned that since chances of money laundering cases against him can be filed against him after the elections, he decided that this is the right time to marry, when the cash is in surplus. The duo is expected to leave for a world tour, expectedly on government borne expenses. The PMO on queried about the same issued a statement saying, “Rahul Gandhi has given his blood and sweat for this country, this is just a small gesture of the government to pay him back.” 

Sonia Gandhi is said be on her toes from the day she got the news from Rahul baba himself and is planning a party at Silvio Berlusconi farmhouse on her next visit to Italy.

Several members of the party and opposition were contacted by our reporters to record their views about the matrimony. Here are some excerpts from a selected few.

Senior Pokes Person from Congress, Digvijay Singh was more than happy to express his views, “We are very happy that Rahul baba has finally decided to marry, but as an elder of the Congress family I’m also concerned about him, carrying the household duties on his shoulder at the tender age of 42.”

On questioning about Veena’s Pakistani roots, Digvijay’s reaction was acerbic: “Who told you that Veena is from Pakistan?” “Certainly there is RSS hand involved in this!” “I have documented proof(holding an A4 size paper that seems like a birth certificate) that she is as Indian as Sonia Ji herself and after marriage she will be the country’s Bahu and who knows might be the next Sonia Ji of Congress”.

The last remark however didn’t go well by other Congress leaders and the reporter was told that the remarks made by Digvijay Singh are his own views. News is around that he has been deported to Bangkok for three weeks while the reason being given by Congress is rather questionable: “Digvijay Ji is having a stiff neck from past few weeks and has gone for a thorough massage session in Bangkok”

BJP: - This is yet again a move by the Congress party to distract common mans’ attention from rising inflation and a policy paralyzed government fighting its own allies.”We oppose this decision and ask for the PM’s resignation for the 50^th and final time. We will disrupt the parliament in the winter session till the PM hand’s his resignation”, Arun Jaitley was quoted as saying on behalf of his party.

When informed that the marriage was scheduled to take place in the coming fortnight, the senior BJP leader, after a brief silence, said that then they will call for a nation vide “band” on the 30^th of this month.

President: President Pranab Mukherjee was more than happy to receive the news by the reporter. He called for “Rosogulla” and honored the reporter by making him have the dessert with his own hands. He said, “The country is eager to see Rahul baba  in a bigger role, and what better than this.”

It is learned that Superstar Ashmit Patel will perform the Kanyadaan ritual in the marriage ceremony.

The Dark Knight Rises

I believe that writing a movie review is tougher than writing news articles. The reason is quite simple; while the latter is based on facts and inferences, the former is based on perception which virtually is unique to everybody.

Movie is like an art, most flock to see it, some bother to decipher it, even lesser understands it and only a handful have knowledge of it. That’s why the Scorsese, Tarantino, Ritchie, Nolan are one of the rare found species of the movie world.

Coming to the point, The Dark Knights rises is the best befitting ending a movie has ever got. I am not saying “could” because I haven’t seen the future. The 164 mins of runtime seems less and you end up wanting for more. Some may find it a bit slow paced but as earlier mentioned, depends on what do you expect and want of a movie.

Technical Part: Every single frame is watermarked with the name “Christopher Nolan” over it. Nolan has proved his mettle in directing right from Memento till date, so for that part I would say just go and enjoy the delicacy he has to offer. But it’s the screenplay that leaves you gasping in awe. Undoubtedly the best Nolan has ever written.

Cinematography is again handled by the genius Wally Pfister. If “who?” pops in your mind go to IMDB and search his name and when you will see the list of movies like Memento, Italian Job, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, Moneyball in his name, you may question yourself; is it by any chance possible that this man has 360 degree viewing angle?; because in this very part, the detailing in every frame is so vivid you come to believe that Yes, Gotham is somewhere in this world and not a fantasy.

For editing I would just say go and figure out, say, 10 mistakes if you may (yes just like in the kids section of newspapers). Believe me it will turn out to be one of the hardest jobs you ever picked up!

The actors may pull of their parts, the director may build an aura of his own and a cinematograph may take you to a world you have never seen before, but story is the one and only one thing that differentiates a great movie from a good movie. That is why I rate this as one of all-time greats. Every loose end gets tied up till the very end and you get answers to all of the questions that popped in your mind from the very first part.

Performances, Comparisons and Character Sketches:

Bane: Even before watching the movie, I was sure that Tom Hardy would justify his presence; he gave me so much confidence in him from “Warrior”. I can see/hear lot of people comparing Bane with Joker. While I agree that Bane doesn’t gives you chills and frills as the Joker did, but I think the comparison is wrong since both these characters are set poles apart. While Joker was an agent of chaos and randomness, Bane is all about destruction and discipline. Actually he pulls off from where Joker left. For a city already once marred by a psychopath and no Batman for quite a few years, Bane comes as a Tsunami. He quickly takes on your nerve and his brutality is so cold that you begin to hate him so much so that in the climax, you can see and hear the theatre thundering in applause.

Catwoman/ Selina K: I have to admit that I have not been a much fan of Anne Hathaway (although I have watched all her movies that too because she is so beautiful :P). The reason is her inconsistency, whether be the choices she made in doing the movies or her acting. Focusing on the character she plays in TDKR, it is a very layered one and she pulls it off just right. No more, no less, just perfect. I won’t comment on how beautiful she looks in every single frame because that would take me in to the pervert category but I would say right from the action sequences to where she has to play by her eyes, she takes you in her grip so firmly, you won’t let your eyes off her.

Gordon/ Blake / Alfred/ Fox/ Miranda: The Dark Knight Rises only because of these characters, period. You have to see the movie to understand what I am saying.

Batman/Bruce Wayne: He isn’t afraid, he is angry!

Christian Bale has always scored a home run right from the “American Psycho”, his first movie that I ever watched. He took me again by surprise in “The Machinist” losing 40 kg’s for a role and then came the Batman trilogy. Talking about TDKR, you can see that a superhero is still human. All these years of fighting war has taken a toll on him, the pain and frustration of failed love and wrong indict that Bale carries on his face is marvelous, but the moment he wears his cape, he is again the Batman, fighting evil the best he can and yes, You believe him. It won’t be wrong if I say that his movie is only and only for and by the Batman and his Rise. And believe my when I say when he rises; he doesn’t rises in style, in fact he rises against all odds.

Just don’t go watch it, Savor it again and again!

Avengers AKA IronMan and the SideKicks!

Good things first. Only director Joss Whedon can click so many superheroes in a single frame, period! Mind it when I say, “Superheroes”, if it would be about the number of characters clicking in a single frame than I would rather say Martin Scorsese (and that’s hell good of a thing for Joss to be compared with the latter).

I am not quite a big fan of WWE and Marvel when it comes to movie making, but this one is far better than what these two had to offer ever, especially in terms of script and dialogues. The punches can never be more hilarious and aptly sarcastic as they have been woven in this film.

The cinematography and action sequences are in league with Transformer series and you enjoy every bit of it. However, the aliens and their ships don’t leave you gasping in awe as they did in the Transformer series and I felt that they were a bit too fragile in breaking up and tearing down!

Now Comes to the Critic Part:

This film is highly, HIGHLY over-rated. If there would be a superlative for “highly” I would’ve used that. The current IMDB rating is 9.0 from I believe 21 thousand kids alone.  Because 9.0, whatever be the genre, makes the movie stand at par with Shawshank, Godfather, Good Will Hunting which it is not and no mature movie viewer would  ever believe that.

The first half is too long. I could literally hear people chatting around just because the narrative was not catchy enough if not boring. Since the viewer knew almost nothing about  Black Widow and Hawkeye, some sequences were just built up to give some form to their character, but even after that they ended up nothing more than a side kick. Same goes for Thor and (worthless) Captain America. Even Iron Man takes every possible dig on him and on his lesser knowledge of the “New” world if not for a less IQ.

Only One character takes almost all of the loaf, and that is Iron Man. With best punching lines, maximum on-screen time and a fair role in climax leave every other character except the Hulk look like a sidekick, and I’m not saying Hulk as a sidekick because he has the minimum time on-screen but has the maximum impact and even the “hero” Iron Man compared him to an army in one of the scenes with Loki (the villain).

One more thing that I want to mention is the cheap tactics that is being used by Hollywood is to gain the viewership of Indian audience by mentioning India’s name or show a scene or two of this “Exotic” country. I mean the scene where Hulk is seen residing in India is not more than 30 sec long comprising a Hindi dialogue is nothing more than cheap publicity. Also at the end of the movie, we can see graffiti “Nayak” on some wall with Iron Man’s pic on it, lauding the superhero. I mean what needs to be questioned is that why in the whole world such a graffiti would be made in our country when the aliens attack only New York this time and not even the whole of America(like every other superhero movie).

Conclusion: Avengers is a good movie in its own genre. Go and enjoy with a popcorn and cola and you will laugh every now and then as the punches are nicely placed and well timed in the movie, just do not expect a masterpiece like Dark Knight or anything. The movie is a real entertained and I would give it a cool 7.5/10.

The Great Indian Dowry Market

India is a very unique country. Today with over 1652 languages, more than 7 religions, 28 states and 7 Union Territories we all are unified in more than one way.


Almost all of us have a BMI above 25(the prescribed is 22), all have a broader waistline, we all love to gossip, and we all are lazy.

We all like to talk about love and worship it too (in the form of Radha & Krishna)but if we find a girl in love we label her of a low character and a guy in love as an Oxen trying to mate(in other words no love but a sexual obsession). Its just like we worship Lord Krishna and talk about his “Leelas”, about Radha and her devotion towards Krishna, but nobody would like a Radha or Krishna in his own home….and then you find there are the “honor killings”.

All the guys love girls/women in skimpy outfits, but none wants that girl to be his sister, daughter or wife!

One more thing is common and that is our “path” towards marriage.

What I mean is that you have to follow a set of rules to marry.

1. There should be a mediator(Without that the proposal is not even worth a penny, no matter the family is an Ambani or Birla, or the guy/girl is even from Harvard/Venture Capitalist)

2. The most respected and valuable “team-member” from both sides is the mediator.(How cunning/liar/boastful he might be he MUSTT,this is the new word I formed recently i.e right now, U can use it in a context as we have replaced IFF for “If And Only If”, be respected)

3. We don’t take dowry, We accept only GIFTS, that too of our choice(In the end it is US who have to use it.)

4. It is mandate for the girl to be well versed in English(Convent Educated preferred), highly educated(B.Tech/MBA preferred), highly skilled in household activities(cooking/washing/sewing/stitching/painting/etc..), should be soft spoken, her features should be RAZOR SHARP(nothing less than the yesteryears Meena Kumari/Rekha or currently Aishwarya/Katreena), she should be MILKY WHITE(And people say we live in the country of browns!)

5. The guys pockets should be stuffed with money, everything else is secondary.

6. Atleast 20 pics of the girl are required, that too in different pose and outfits, However a single pic depicting an Eighth claas kid playing football, of the “groom to be”, suffices the need.

7. The “groom to be” is seldom below Six Feets.(right from 150cms to 183 cms all are equivalent to 6 feet!)

8. We don’t have a car and even if it is, its too old to carry the magnificence of the “bride to be” and the pride of the family.(We want a car in GIFT).

9. Clothes for all the “Khandaan” members.

10. The marriage ceremony would take place in an airconditioned hall(Even in January)

11. The Girl should be loaded in Jewelleries(Khandaan ki IJJAT).

12. The Grooms mother should be equally treated as the bride herself.

13. Same with the Groom’s Siblings.

 14. A thousand more(Including the Tent to the Menu)

Price according to trade are

IAS/PCS/CLASS ONE OFFICER: 25 lacs

Doctor: 20 lacs

Engr: 18 lacs

Lawyer: 15 lacs

Businessmen: Price may vary according to the business.

Jobless: 5 lacs

Others: 2 lacs



*Issued in Public(read GROOMS TO BE, atleast they should know their price!) interest(that too cumulative interest!).

"MY" "GOD" : Part 2

I had to go for a second post hand by hand because of the content. You might read ahead some lines ahead which might offence you, so reader's discretion is advised.


I had to take a 360 degree turn because without this discussion this post isn’t complete.

Here are some questions.

1. Where is God when the world is burning in war?

2. Where is “He” when a girl’s chastity is torn into pieces?

3. Where is “He ” when a mother loses her only child?

There’s not to talk much on point one because the pages of history are soaked in blood, in war, they have been there and often been justified, but there can’t be a justification of a killing spree of millions of men, women & children.

God Loves violence, & all this blood empathy & agony is a proof of that.

Elaborating situation 2, a quantitative approach tells there are two people involved, the culprit and the victim.

From this point onwards, when I want to think over the situation, I start to feel uneasy & I’l tell you why?

The first question is that is this the work of God? NO, promptly answers the heart, our God is so pure he must not be involved in this, this is probably the work of the Satan!

But is the Satan so powerful that he can interfere in the kingdom of almighty? Even if he can then can’t HE stop him? After all, there’s a little bit of him in everyone of us. So for a second if we consider that the God inside the culprit is been replaced by Satan, Isn’t the God inside the girl powerful enough to take over Satan?

A rational approach, free from prejudices will see that God & Satan are not two different entities, they are the shades of the same being. Very much like the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang. Both very powerful, very dominating, very much like ourselves.

So recently I came to a conclusion for myself, for “MY””GOD”. MY GOD is very much like me & very much like the people I see every day. HE has many shades in his personality. Shades of love, of hate, of peace & violence, of sanity & insanity, & in his knigdom there’s no good no bad, he just does things & I love him for what he is & I don’t need to tell him everyday.

I have come to my conclusion of MY GOD, its time for your inception

"MY" "GOD" : Part 1

Its hard to imagine how many books, articles ,notes and publications have been written earlier on this topic or rather entity. Some influential ones are read at times of distress or need, and some more intriguing and well written, better known as the Upanishads, the Bible & so, are followed by people, the laws which are altogether named, calles and followed as a "Religion".


I am not here to challenge the existence of these religions nor to hurt anyone's sentiments, I am here to present my views about 'HIM', the almighty.

Yet again it is better to clear some air. I am not an Athiest nor a proper Theist. I vary between these two extremes, you can say I'm a wanderer by choice, not by compulsion or confusion.

Here I go. The world runs on certain "Laws", some of the laws of the nature, what we can see or feel, like air, water, fire, earth, sky. Some "Laws" which are defined by humans & always been emphasised as the Laws of the almighty himself. I'l like to concentrate on the latter.

I believe these laws are very much confused, a better yet harsh description would be flawed, just as they are from the past thousand years. They are assumptious, prejudiced, biased, & more often than not tailor-made to fulfill our needs.

Has anyone thought, that why our beliefs and image about him not altered a bit in thousand years?, Is it that our belief too string about him?, or is it that he never broke our utopian expectations?, or is it that we love him too much?, or it that deep down inside each and everyone of us are cowards?, too afraid to think about Him the either way, too afraid to explore His world on our own, too blind to open our eyes & see by our own sight, not plagurised by the beliefs of other mortals?

This is a question I will leave upto you to ponder.

Meanwhile, I will jot down some famous phrases, spare me If I miss some(after all I'm too a mortal.)

1. We all are his children.

2. God loves peace.

3. Not a leaf twingles without his will.

4. He is a shining light of purity, one which we cannot imagine.

5. We should pray to God regularly.

6. We should fear him.

& the best of all

6. Everything that happens, happens for good!!

Taking on 1,5 & 6, My question is whom do you love/respect most in your life?. Leaving special cases & some exceptions I think the answer would be “Parents”, so do you tell your parents every morning that you love them, No because its understood. Even if you don’t express the love at both sides is unbound, very pure, because the souls are integrated. The love is there when you are with them or away, either when you are angry or they are angry from you, even when they are upset or you are, its there.

The point is that, this must be the case between us & God, after all we are his children, so why it is necessary to tell him every day? And he should be forgetful and forgiveful sometimes just as our parents are.

Mr. & Mrs. Potter

It is often heard that life's lesson are learned the hard way & experiences in the journey, but I believe life gives us its best only when we don't expect it to. I am in a uncanny mood these days because of obvious reasons, but they don't hold a meaning with regard to this post, except the fact that no matter which mood you are in, love touches your soul. You might have a similar experience. Some days,  when you are in a pensive mood, sitting alone in your room, at one corner of the bed, looking out of the window your Mom arrives from nowhere, and she starts whisking your hair. You reply "Mom, not now", but inside you know, that touch soothes you!

So, this real life story goes this way, I and my brother were returning today from a "Brothers dinner party", because none of us has the pleasure of having someone of opposite sex as a mate!

Now, It has been five years since I am in NCR region. I don't know how longer I'l be here but two things would never evade my thoughts , the scorching sun and the spine chilling cold.

It's summer and I decided to buy a pot(pitcher to be exact) for I don't have the means to take pleasure of a refrigerator here( God knows how much I miss my engineering hostel's watercooler, because I think the company forgot to put a thermostat there. So, water there, was directly from the arctic itself!).

I asked a grocery merchant, if there was a potter nearby and he lifted his arm to point his fingers in the forward direction of our walk. I could see the vendors sprinkling water on vegetables to make them look fresh and I could hear them yelling the prices of vegetables almost one third of what they speak during Primetime i.e. 6-9 pm. I was thinking that the IIM's should consider making a case study on these small fruit and vegetable vendors as they lack basic education yet they know how to shell out maximum penny from your pocket. We( I and my brother) thought that we were going the wrong way when one on of the other merchants on being enquired answered that we were standing two homes ahead of the potter's.

We stepped backwards in that dim light to find a short and timid, bald-old man about the age of 90 lying on a khaat. 

I asked "Baba, do you have a pot?"

"Many!",he replied. I was impressed by the repartee!

He stood while clinching the sides of the khaat with both of his hands. A normal procedure used by the elderly as the body is too weak to lift its own weight and the spine turns stiff.
He opened the already peeking doors and invited us both in. Being the Indian Viking version(I'm 182 and my younger brother is 186 cms!). We both had to enter at one time; the height the gate was barely 5 feet and width, barely 2.5 feet.

Now here I can describe the extreme poverty and filth as an award hungry western journalist but my intentions are different here.
For readers appetite, I would just say it was not the poorest household I've ever seen, but wasn't too far either.

There was a 5' * 5' bed probably 50 years old which occupied most of the room's space, a sky blue sheet on which the prints were barely visible, anymore. A few utensils on the open cupboard, a hanging mirror, and most of the left out space occupied by pots. The adjacent "place" might have been built for storing purpose but here it was a kitchen cum washroom cum store.

On the bed lay an elderly woman who too might well be in her 90's. The tests of time had made her look like a stiff rod, while the wrinkles told their own story. She was almost as thin as the sheet itself for she occupied less than half of the bed area. She again ,after seeing us clinched her hands to the sides to sit up, for reasons already mentioned.

The old man showed us various shapes and designs. Each time I asked about the price , he would ask his wife to tell us so.
A normal eye would find nothing but usual business in that, An untrained eye would say the woman having her say throughout her life, but a mature eye would see the real thing. The man was not asking her to tell the price because it was her say, but because he still wanted her to feel equally important and to listen to her voice. Obvious as they couldn't talk much because both of them were not in the best of their ages nor health and they also had the "boon" of poverty.

I first thought of bargaining, but my conscience responded by telling me that I wasted more money in the day on useless things than I will save here. Meanwhile, the old woman asked me to sit beside her. A generous show of care which is no more relevant in our "civilized" society. I sat beside her while she asked her husband to bring some water to check if there is a leakage. I could see the happiness on the man's face being asked by her, even if its just water to check a seepage!

While the old man was off to fetch water the old lady told me " He gets troubled the whole day, I am too sick from two years, I wish...." she stopped in the middle as her husband had arrived fetching water, but her unsaid words were clearly understood. I gave the old man the money which he redirected to give to his lady love. She took the money generously and tied it in a knot in her saree. I could see the grin on her face. Maybe, today's medicine could now be bought or a meal for another time. As I stood up she blessed us" jeete raho beta" to which I answered "chalte hain dadi".

This episode taught me numerous things and above all, about love. Love for a 90 year old man for his wife and the unparalleled affection of his wife towards him. Their degrading bodies couldn't degrade their love for each other nor the poverty. I wonder whether the recent researches of the type "Being in good shape for a good marriage" ,or "Sex, the most essential part of a relationship" have any real meaning!

I didn't write the head of the post as Mr. & Mrs. Potter because they were not two different people for me. They were One.

For me one would be blessed to get a love like this. I ask the Gods to bestow me with one and you too!

Have The Gods Left Me?

I wonder whether the Gods have left me?

Standing alone in the midst of dark woods, I can hear the sound of crickets rattling in, the dark silence craving in,
Something which the cranium can't take anymore in.

I feel like a Gladiator, losing honor  in arena; my face covered in the ruble of dust, I can hear the voices of people surrounding me, some cheering me up, the most mocking at me, for the one who thought himself as Hercules has now given in.

I can feel them spitting on my face, I can stand , retaliate but the mind choses to stuck on the ground while the body is still breathing , the heart has given in, for I am a mortal; even a diamond, at some point breaks in.

My laughter is now fake, as fake is the sorrow, there's only flesh left behind, the soul is dug deep inside in a grave, I can't reach my within, Sometimes I wonder whether the Gods have given in, sometimes I wonder have the Gods left me, I now can't take anymore in!

Mother Of All Emotions : Prejudice

It's been a long time since I wrote something. Well most people would agree if I would say my work kept me busy, on the contrary the truth is a void kept me busy, built with the walls of apprehensions, agony and age old unanswerable wrath tipping emotions, the "why me?" and all that sort of crap that lead to nothing but expanding the void.

The question is what if I want to phrase the reason of not being myself ?

The answer is very simple PREJUDICE, prejudice about a dark future, prejudice of not achieving your goal plus a million other prejudices. How simple things would have been, if we as human beings could be like the laws of universe, simple and free from prejudice. For example, if you jump from the top of a building the law of gravity doesn't asks you whether you are a good person or a bad person, or anything of that sort, if you jump you are sure to be attracted towards the ground no matter what!

So, what as a human being can we do if we can't free ourselves from prejudices? In this case I suppose it would be best, that if we have to be prejudiced let us be prejudiced in a positive way. For example if you are going to meet someone for the first time, then think that person will be good to you. If you are meeting your new colleagues just think that they will be good to you, and mark my words your world will change!

...Well ironical to the context I have written and being an engineer I have to also keep in mind the exceptions, and in this it would be better if you be negatively prejudices when you go to an eating joint for the first time, because if then you will get something good to eat then the delight and taste doubles!!

FOREWORD

TO LOVE, WITH LOVE

Dear love, i don't know from how long I love you. I ponder where you are, who you are, how do you look, is the color of your eyes black or blue..or are like a deep green sea, ......are you brown as me or fair, .......your face is oval or long, how do you keep your hair, are they cropped or a cascade, are you shy or extrovert......Wherever you are I only want to say I love you and care for you...hope to meet you soon..

TO FRIENDS WITH LOVE

I'l stand by you, day and night, laugh when you laugh, and will share your pain in moments of grief, whether you can see me or when I'm out of sight.

I can't promise to be present at all happy times, yet in tough times I'l be at your side even if I'l have to travel through hell. I can't boast to spare my life for you but I can promise that I can spare someone else's for your sake.

I know I'm not good showing my emotions, but believe me I'm proud of you to be my friend, I adore you and I love you...Thank you for accepting as I am..

TO FOES, WITH LOVE

I'l come in YOUR arena, I'l not retaliate when you'l hit my face, I'l let you take your moves and play tricks with me, I'l let you kick me bring the worst out of me, while I'l read your every move. You will be happy and I'l be sad for you.

I'l wait till blood oozes from my body and sweat from yours, when pain and breath take over animosity, when fierce moves turn into small impulse,when both find tough to stand , when you think its going to be over soon, and yeah you will be right but the either way because then I'l gather my whole strength, I'l clinch your fist and twist it till you cry in pain, I'l grab you by the neck and confiscate your moves. I'l bring you closer to my face so that you can hear what I say and see what I want you to see i.e. the clear blue sky and the sun for the last time, because I'l break your neck and leave you to fall in disgrace. You will ask for death but I can't give you that because I want you to feel the fear of death and let it embrace you slowly.

When I'l leave I will tell you the truth

You beat me because I let you, Not because you are good at it...

and remember "I never forget, Nor do I forgive"...I'l come in your arena, learn your every move and I'l beat you at it.

And as they say in Hollywood "I'M YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE !"