Boldness at the Cleaners

So I hear a director called Anubhav Sinha finds the song ‘Bhaag DK Bose’ vulgar and was personally disappointed in Aamir Khan for created a song like that. He was apparently worried about the influence the song would have on his young son and many other young kids. Well, it’s a popular song whether he likes it or not and technically what’s wrong with the name D K Bose??? What a friggin hypocrite… He directed Cash which is nothing short of a skin fest. Yet, he has the audacity beyond hypocrisy to think it’s perfectly fine for his son and other young kids to watch skimpily clad women shaking their biscuits (:-P) but not to listen to a name which when spoken continuously sounds like a swear word which, if I may add, those young kids would be hearing everyday in any case. I mean unless they are growing up at religious aashrams/schools with no contact whatsoever with the outside world.

The fact of the matter is some directors jsut don't have the (Delhi) Belly. And worse still, become hypocritical in judging others’ work. They’d be better off in acknowledging the bold creativity that is simmering under and will soon enter the main stream cinema.

Fact is, people will always criticize bold creativity..especially those in that particular field as they did not (could not) come up with it due to lack of creativity or cojones or both thereof. I am tired of those who keep doing the tried and tested (e.g. Violence and Sex in Bollywood) and are scared to do the different. Hope Delhi Belly will inspire the kinds.

Way to go Ram Sampath…your next number should be ‘utha dhoti dikha moti’ or something like that.. till then Bhaag..

Mob (in)justice in India

Juts stumbled upon a collection of MMSes that sent chills down spines of (the regular law abiding) Indians in the year gone by. One video is of a little boy not more than 12-13 yrs old stripped and tied to a palm tree and being tortured. The good for nothing eunuchs inflicting this trauma on the little boy show how dick-less they are by further stamping him on the chest. Now, I don’t know what the little boy’s crime was but he definitely didn’t deserve this. Even if he killed someone, the law should have taken its course not the lawlessness more often referred as ‘Mob Justice’. If God exists, I hope the little boy bears the grudge in his mind until he grows up, develops enough muscles to kill those bastards who did this to him. And the poetry about this justice would be if our authorities are unable to pin the crime on him. I would love it…

Then there’s this MMS where a teenage girl accused of witchcraft is stripped naked and paraded around the village. This when village men of every age group walk all around her teasing her, pulling her hair and doing all sorts of things that go against the very culture we Indians harp about all day long. I hope that girl turns into another Phoolan Devi and kills each one of those bastards who made her go through this harrowing incident.

These are mere few of the 100s (1000s I think) of incidents that happen across the country on the diktat of either the local panchayats or hoodlums. I cannot imagine the plight of the victims of such atrocities who more often than not can really not pick up their lives together after something as horrid. Where’s their justice? Whatever their crime, did they deserve the punishment they got? Who decides their punishment? These and many more questions will remain unanswered till the law doesn’t start protecting the helpless. In this country the authorities are only on the sides of the more powerful ones. Simple.

You know I often wonder what these kind of people live for because they are bloody no good to no one and can only cause menace to society. When their menace becomes so traumatic for certain individuals I hope the same individuals are the ones who put an end to their useless good for nothing lives. Yes, yes only God has the right to take away lives but then if God was exercising his rights so well we wouldn’t have had such MMSes rather such incidents in the first place.

P.S: video link is on ndtv.com

Criminals ki Dilli

It may have wider and better roads, cleaner surroundings, better infrastructure and even Mr. Sreedharan’s Delhi Metro but it still is a shameful blot on the country. The crime rate in Delhi is mind-boggling especially considering the number of police personnel in the city. It is our National capital with VIPs, VVIPS, VVVIPs thronging the city yet the anti social elements muster enough guts to do the wrong day in and day out.

The city tops in ‘Crime against women’ as per the 2008 report by National Crime Records Bureau and this should be no surprise if you know women who live in the NCR. They will tell you how it is not safe to travel in public transports at almost any time of the day let alone late night. Delhi Metro maybe a whiff of welcome change to that notion. The recent rape incidents have shocked the nation if not those in the corridors of power in the capital. I had only seen in movies that a woman would get raped in a moving car by a gang of hoodlums until I realized that this happens in Delhi too. Not sure who inspired whom. I think it’s not the people it’s the absence of fear of law in their minds. The same will not dare think of doing anything like that in a middle eastern country.

Mumbai on the other hand is a very safe place for anyone anytime of the day. Of course random incidents take place here and there but by far Mumbai can be classified as a safe place (for women) where as the National Capital cannot be. In fact, I read an interview of an internationally proclaimed DJ who was performing in Mumbai and what I remember till date was his remark on how safe Mumbai was even at ungodly hours.

I hope for the sake of people (especially the women) in Delhi the authorities start instilling enough fear in the anti socials so that they think twice even before whistling at a women. Unless that happens we might have to change the name from NCR to NCR (National Crime Region).

India has gone to the Dogs!!!

A soldier dies and there’s absolutely no coverage in visual media (maybe a times new roman 8 with 20 words in print) but an anti-national (stone pelter, maoist, militant etc.) dies and the media goes into a frenzy. They go to the extent of showing their families wailing and air it prime time. It’s not that the soldiers (Army, BSF, ITBP, CRPF etc.) don’t have families or that their families don’t shed tears.

Barkha Dutt (who I respect and thus warrants space here) wants to give prime time to the anti nationals while happily painting the Indian soldier with one common brush..rapist, killer of innocent people, misuser of AFSPA. Barkha Dutt’s claim to fame is her brave and unprecedented (in India) coverage of the Kargil war but do give it a second thought while we are at it. She wasn’t there serving the nation or doing her normal duty. That was her chance to claim lime light and reach newer heights in her profession and she took it well. The ones she was covering fighting for the country were doing their duty. It wasn’t a shot at fame for those soldiers like it was for Barkha Dutt. The soldiers (women included) were not there because they got 'an opportunity of a lifetime' rather just because the bugle called. Barkha Dutt, through her exploits, earned the highest order of respect (deservedly so) and ears everytime she spoke or interviewed. The stature that she has earned should not be wasted on prejudiced TV shows or news reports and it would be in the best interest of India and journalism itself if she didn’t take sides and showed both sides of the story. Instead of empathizing with loss of life of an anti-national she should do journalism favour and take a more balanced and objective view. A life is a life..whether that of an anti-national or that of a soldier but think about it - the anti-national died working against the sovereignty of the country while the soldier died defending it. So you decide.

I don’t deny some (very very few actually) soldiers have wronged the society (for which they have been duly punished or are being tried) but to paint all of them with the same negative brush is treason of the highest order. And when the ‘responsible journalists’ do that they also show the plight of the ‘affected’ people thereby creating victims out of the culprits (if u go shooting or stone throwing at a soldier you cannot expect flowers in return). As a result the soldiers become the culprits.

On another day, I would recognize the important work that some journalists are doing but today I want to highlight what the majority of the TRP hungry journos are doing. I wish they would get out of their air-conditioned lives and see what a soldier goes through on just a normal day at his/her work. Instead of realizing AND recognizing what heroes our soldiers are they leave no stone unturned in making them the villains and creating heroes out of the anti-nationals.

This country has gone to the Dogs and the politicians and journalists are mainly to blame. Can’t expect better from politicians as most just care about votes, but again, most journos just care about TRPs. Cheap bloody journos!!!

Tarun Vijay has wonderfully put in words the feelings I have regarding this matter..read the poem at the end, brings tears to my eyes.
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/whose-man-is-that-soldier-fighting-in-kashmir

Newer heights of Mediocrity

Four of us (me, Ar, Ad, Gunman) started from our humble abode aboard Ad’s swift (my a-star just wouldn’t seat us comfortably) picking up S on the way. We had managed to get our tickets through A’s friend and what an achievement it itself was. As, one ad rightly says ‘the biggest ticket in town’- IPL T20. Chennai Super Kings were entertaining Deccan Chargers at home – MA Chidambaram stadium at Chepauk. We knew parking would be a pain around the stadium so Ar advised that we better leave our wheels at Marina beach and take onto the three-wheeler(auto if you would) from there on. It was a task in itself to find a parking spot on Marina beach on that Sunday evening and after one full length we realized we weren’t the only smart ones. So, we turned back to find 4X2 m (or less) for Ad’s car. Finally, after being good Samaritans - we helped one person with his parking and also got our space in the process.

We took an auto and the driver happily agreed to fit all 5 of us in it on our short ride to the stadium. Surprisingly, the cops at the signal where we waited for a good 6-7 mins didn’t blink an eye at the sight of 5 (mix of healthy and bulky) of us struggling to stay within the frame of the three-wheeler. I thought they would wave us to a side for this transgression but they simply waved us on as the light turned green. Maybe they have bigger things (but like what??) to worry about than stopping an auto for plying at overcapacity.

We were supposed to meet V outside the stadium near the entry gate but that never happened. Had we envisaged the management (or lack of it) we would have not planned it like that. But that was hardly a disappointment (probably cos we weren’t there with our families) compared to the excitement the frenzy outside the stadium brought about. It was crazy…people draped in yellow blowing their lungs into those paper bugles. I was particularly impressed with a group of Deccan Chargers supporters who were face painting for free. Gunman thought of getting his face done (being a proud APite that he is) but our line had started moving and we didn’t wanna get late. Next time Gunman! Me being too critical of the mismanagement of the crowd could because I am a biased Mumbaikar who is fine with the idea of being pushed around on his way to office but not on his way to the cricket match :o). On second thought, local trains do have separate gents and ladies compartments.

My previous IPL outing was at Wankhede (IPL-I) and though the management was too good the crowd was nowhere close to the Chennai crowd. The Tamil masses were charged up to no end…awesome atmosphere. Little did they know that the Chargers will spoil the party. The row ahead of us was full of DC supporters so Gunman had good company, he even borrowed their placard charts for those Kodak moments. V joined us in as we couldn’t find him outside the stadium. I am not going to write about the match as it is not supposed to be a match report- we all know it was a non-contest with CSK unable to chase the total put up by DC. However, an incident on the ground during the DC innings is worth mentioning (actually is the reason for the title :P). There was a stray dog running around on the ground during the play. Initially, the play stopped and there was a less-than-half-hearted attempt to chase him out of the playing area but to no avail. And then, we Indians showcased our adjusting nature by letting the dog stay on the ground for good 12-13 overs of the first innings. Maybe it was a ploy by CSK to have another fielder on the pitch which nobody objected to ;-). The dog was having a gala time- running around the inner circle, occasionally being shoo-shooed by the players… all this while the match was going on. Guess the dog caught the best possible cricketing action- talk about VIP passes. Huh! Someone mentioned jokingly that that was actually a display of high security provided by the police- the dog was a sniffer dog. :-D

Now, I can totally understand if a dog had wanders into any ground, building, and place in India. I mean after all it is India and we have too many of those stray dogs and I truly believe they can actually get in anywhere. But atleast and I mean ATLEAST try to get it out of the pitch (that it had come in) – it’s a $4.13 billion brand after all this IPL. For Mr. Lalit Modi’s sake? The bloody game is being telecast to the whole world and this is what impression we cast on the world. The 1st world countries don’t think highly of us anyway and incidents like these don’t help one bit.

Anyway, I had a great time watching as a neutral and witnessing bantering between the majority home crowd and the dozen or so DC supporters in our stand. At break we went out looking for some thirst quenching liquid and some would-have-been-heavenly snack but only found empty stalls (we were too late), however, we finally spotted a fruit stall and savoured some life-giving fruits.

Getting out of the stadium was much easier, probably because most dejected home fans had left by then. V and Gunman had to bid farewell to the DC cheerleaders who were really awesome. More so because one of the CSK cheerleaders was a guy (that’s not the problem) who was... EXERCISING!!! Even I could put up a better show than him that too without being drunk. Honest.

Ar pointed out yesterday that he read about the (THE) dogs on the ground the other day in an article which said they had grown up in the ground and that they didn’t bite! What a piece of information to mention in an article. Ways to hide our mediocrity anyone???